"Atom!" Alia called and he quickly pulled back the door to the dropship and poked his head in. "I finished the plans, so I can go over them with you," Alia said as she made his way towards him and they stepped back outside so he could keep an eye on Octavia. She explained to him the different steps and the materials they would use.
"I don't think we'll have enough bungee cords and seat belts to tie everything together with," Atom expressed his concerns with her plans.
"I don't think so either, but do you see that over there?" Alia asked and pointed to something in a tree. "That's what Pike said we could use to make rope. He was going to teach us, but didn't get the chance. Luckily, I took a lot of advanced Earth Skills courses before I was arrested and I learned how. I can teach some others. We just have to strip it and then braid it so it remains sturdy."
"Alright. You get working on that and I round up a few guys to start helping me. How long are we thinking this will take?"
"A few weeks. It's not an easy task, especially without equipment or trained professionals, but we have enough strong kids here that it shouldn't take forever."
***
Alia was braiding rope. Most of the kids that had been helping her had abandoned her once it turned dark, but she didn't really mind. She hadn't seen Atom or Octavia in a while, but she assumed that she just wasn't really paying attention and was too focused on other things.
"They're back!" she heard a boy call. Her head immediately jerked up and she dropped the rope and rushed into the crowd of kids that had surrounded the returning members. She watched as Wells and Finn carried Jasper to the dropship with Clarke. Wells looked over and saw Alia looking over at him. He gave her a smile to let her know that Jasper was fine before he nodded his head over in the direction of Bellamy on the other side of camp. Alia smiled a thanks before he left to carry Jasper into the dropship. Alia pushed her way through the crowd to where she could hear Bellamy at the center.
"Who's hungry?" he called and the kids cheered. When she had finally made her way through, she could see a dead panther and Bellamy hugging Octavia. Alia sighed when she saw him standing there, safe. He turned and saw her, leaving Octavia's side and coming over to her. He wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her back to his chest as some kids pulled the panther onto a large stick and hung it over the fire to cook. "You hungry?" he whispered to her as they watched the food cook.
"Definitely. Where did you find this thing?"
"They were using Jasper as bait for it and it attacked us." Alia turned around, pulling out of his grasp. There was a worried expression etched on her face. "I'm fine, don't worry." He pulled her towards him and placed a kiss on the crown of her head. Kids started lining up and Alia squinted her eyes to see what was going on. Murphy was taking off their wristbands and then someone would hand them a piece of meat.
"Bell, you told them to do this?"
"No, but it's a good idea. I chose some good guys to be my seconds," he said.
"You shouldn't be forcing people to take off their wristbands for food."
"I'm not forcing them to do anything. They are willingly taking them off before eating."
"They aren't giving food to anyone unless they don't have their wristband off."
"We aren't forcing them to do anything."
"Yeah, but they'll give in after going so long without food. That's not fair."
"Alia," Bellamy sighed and ran his hands through his hair, "I'm doing what I think is right to protect you and Octavia and everyone else here."
"I know," Alia sighed.
"Come on. Let's get some food." Alia nodded and followed Bellamy. Murphy immediately handed Bellamy a piece and Bellamy handed it to Alia and motioned for her to go sit and eat as he handled distribution. Alia watched as Finn walked up and tried to take a piece.
"Whoa, whoa. Wait, wait, wait," Murphy said as he stopped Finn. "What, you think you play by different rules?"
"I thought there were no rules," Finn said without emotion as he picked up a piece and turned around, walking back to Clarke. Alia smirked at what she thought would be a change in everyone's attitude. Everyone watched and one kid decided to follow after Finn and he stepped out of line and reached for a piece.
"Hey," Bellamy said as he caught his hand and used his other to punch him.
"Bellamy," Alia scorned as she rushed in front of him. Without her eyes leaving him as she bent over and helped the kid off of the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked and he nodded. She stood back up and went to Bellamy. "What are you doing?"
"I have to go. I'm on first watch. We need to have them now with the Grounders," he said, obviously avoiding her question. Without another word, he walked away in search of Atom.
Alia huffed in annoyance as she walked off to where she had abandoned her braiding, needing something to do.
So, I know this chapter was short compared to the last chapter and they weren't equally divided, but I will post the next chapter next week instead of in two to make up for it. Let me know if there are any other shows you are interested in seeing a book for! Stay safe! Thanks for reading!