Day 21

CHAPTER 29 Wells

Once he’d packed, Wells walked quietly toward the little cemetery to pay his respects. Night had fallen, and the flowers draped over the headstones were glowing. Wells was glad Priya had thought to decorate the graves with living plants. Growing up on the ship, none of them had ever known true darkness, and this way, their dead would always have some light shining down on them.

But as he crouched down next to Priya’s marker, Wells shivered. Had she sensed that she’d soon join the others?

He stood up and walked over to Asher’s grave, running his fingers along the wobbly capital letters carved into the wood. He paused, wondering why they seemed strangely familiar. The writing on all the markers was different, yet he was sure he’d seen block letters like that before.

“Good-bye,” Wells whispered before swinging his pack over his shoulder and stepping into the woods.

He crossed the tree line and took a deep breath of the cool forest air. He was surprisingly calm about setting out on his own, more relaxed in the woods than he’d been all morning at camp. The sound of the wind rustling through the leaves was a welcome change from the malice-tinged whispers.

He’d indulged fleeting fantasies of setting out on his own before, although in those scenarios, Clarke had always been with him. Or, more recently, Sasha. His heart lurched in his chest as he thought about her returning to the camp and finding him gone. What would she think when the others told her that he’d left? Would he ever see her again? And what would happen if his father came down? Would he try to find Wells, or dismiss him as a disgrace?

“Wells,” a voice called out to him through the darkness. He turned and blinked as Kendall’s slim outline appeared in the shadows. “Where are you going?”

“I’m not sure yet. Away.”

“Can I come with you?” she asked with a mix of eagerness and wistfulness that made it clear she already sensed what his answer would be.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said carefully. “You’ll be much safer if you stay with the group.”

Kendall took a few steps closer. Hardly any moonlight filtered through the thick canopy of leaves, yet her large, luminous eyes were looking at him so intently, he almost shivered. “Are you going to find Sasha?”

“No… I have no idea where she went.”

In the darkness, Wells could see Kendall nod. “That’s good. She’s dangerous, you know. Just think what those Earthborns did to Priya.”

“That had nothing to do with Sasha,” Wells said, unsure why he was defending her.

“What kind of person would do that to someone?” Kendall continued, as if she hadn’t heard him. “Hang someone from a tree? Carve a message into her feet? You’d have to really want to make a point.” Her voice had taken on a strange, almost singsong quality, and a chill danced down his spine.

“You can’t trust the Earthborns, remember that.” She took another few steps forward, until she was standing less than a meter away from Wells. “I know she’s pretty, that girl. But she’s not one of us. She doesn’t understand you. She won’t do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

Wells’s breath grew shallow as an icy realization seeped into his brain. That was why the writing on Asher’s grave seemed familiar. The block letters—they looked a lot like the ones carved into Priya’s feet.

What if the Earthborns hadn’t killed her? What if—

“See you,” Kendall said with a smile as she bounded off to camp. Wells froze. Should he go after her? Warn the others? Was the dread in his stomach a real warning, or just paranoia?

A branch snapped up ahead and Wells whipped around, his heart racing. It’s probably just an animal, he thought, wishing that he’d swallowed his pride and asked Bellamy to teach him how to shoot. He hadn’t even brought a spear with him.

But then the shapes ahead resolved into three distinctly human figures. Wells tensed, scanning the ground for something he might be able to use as a weapon. A large stick, or maybe even a rock. He could fight hand to hand if it came down to it—he’d been at the top of his officer training class in combat—but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to handle all three if they came at him at once.

He found a sharp-looking rock and ducked behind a tree, holding it at the ready. And then, as the strangers moved closer, laughter rang out through the trees.

“Clarke?” he called out in shock, dropping the rock with a thud. The moonlight shimmered on her hair like a halo, illuminating her wide, delighted smile. Bellamy was with her… and was that Octavia?

When they spotted Wells, all three grinned and hurried over to him, talking at once. Slowly, he pieced together what had happened: Octavia’s capture, Bellamy and Clarke’s visit to Mount Weather, and everything Sasha’s father had told them.

Wells’s heart sputtered at the sound of her name. “So, you saw Sasha? Is she okay?”

He and Clarke locked eyes as understanding dawned on her face. She’d always been good at noticing the small details, seeing things before anyone else—it was what made her such a good doctor, he thought. She flashed him a meaningful smile, and Wells knew that she understood what Sasha meant to him, and that she was okay with it. “Sasha’s good,” she said. “She’s going to come visit soon, after she’s had time to convince the rest of the Earthborns that we don’t mean them any harm.” She paused, as if trying to decide how much information was appropriate for her to share. “I think she wants to see you.”

“Are you going somewhere?” Octavia asked, reaching over to tug at Wells’s pack.

Bellamy and Clarke exchanged glances as Wells told them what had happened that morning, how everyone was furious that he’d let Sasha go, how he had decided to leave before they could kick him out.

“That’s ridiculous,” Bellamy said with more indignation than Wells ever thought the Waldenite would muster on his behalf. “You can’t just leave because Graham and a few of the others threw a hissy fit. They need you. We need you.”

“Please, Wells,” Clarke interjected. “Everything’s going to be fine. Especially once we tell them how you were right about Sasha. If you hadn’t let her go, we never would’ve gotten Octavia back.” She shot a glance at the younger girl, who was already setting off down the slope, eager for her big entrance.

“I guess…” He shifted his pack from one shoulder to the other, then turned to Bellamy. “Congratulations, man. I’m really glad you found her. You never gave up on her, and it paid off.” He glanced at Clarke, then back to Bellamy. “I think we all have a lot to learn from you.”

Bellamy shrugged. “I don’t really know how to live any other way. I’ve always been taking care of her. It’s like… we aren’t born for ourselves alone. You have to take care of other people.”

Wells looked up sharply. “What did you just say?” Bellamy had spoken casually, as if that were a phrase that people used all the time. But Wells had never heard anyone say it on Earth. In fact, it had been years since he heard the saying spoken aloud, but that didn’t mean he didn’t think about it every day.

There were some things you never forgot.