Love?

By the time the sun began to set, the camp was coming together — barely.

People were exhausted, hungry, afraid. Bellamy tried to keep order, but fear spreads fast.

Octavia sat by herself, watching the firelight flicker across the dirt. I walked over.

"Hey, you're Octavia, right?"

She looked up, surprised, then smiled. "And you must be Katerina."

"Just call me Kate," I said, offering my hand. "Your brother asked me to make some weapons. Wanna help?"

"Yeah," she said quickly. "I'd love to."

We started toward the trees when Murphy called out behind me.

"Kate! Here—" He tossed me a knife, the handle scratched with the initials J.M.

I caught it easily. "Thanks."

He looked down, then back up, the faintest smile playing on his lips. "No problem."

Octavia grinned as he walked off. "He's totally into you."

I rolled my eyes. "We've known each other for, what, four hours?"

"Yeah," she laughed, "and it's obvious."

We spent the next hour gathering branches, carving them into spears. When we came back, Bellamy was waiting.

"Glad you're back. Was starting to worry," he said, eyeing his sister.

"Relax, Bell," I said, patting his shoulder. "I kept her safe. Always will."

He nodded. "Good. Take those to Atom. They're making spears."

We dropped the wood, joined the others. I sat beside Octavia, sharpening a branch with Murphy's knife, the initials catching the light.

Then Bellamy called me over to his tent. Murphy was already there.

"We need a plan before Clarke comes back," he said.

I nodded, studying the metal bracelet on my wrist. "Who put these on us?"

"The guards," Bellamy replied.

"There has to be a way to make them think we're dead."

Murphy frowned. "Why would we do that?"

I looked up at him. "You really want them to come down here and take over again? What do you think happens to us then?"

"They said we'd be pardoned," Bellamy muttered.

I laughed coldly. "Yeah. Clarke, Wells, all the privileged ones — maybe. But not us. No one up there's fighting for us. We only have each other."

For a moment, silence. Then Murphy stood, eyes burning. "You're right."

Bellamy hesitated, then nodded. "Alright, Kate. What do you suggest?"

"Simple," I said, grabbing a plank of wood. "We take them off."

Murphy grinned. "Want me to do the honors?"

He sat down, pressed his arm to a rock. I shoved the plank under the bracelet. "This'll hurt," I whispered.

"Do it," he said through clenched teeth.

A crack, then silence. The bracelet hit the ground.

"It worked," I whispered, smiling.

Within minutes, Bellamy's and mine were off too. I climbed onto a stump, raising my voice over the crowd.

"Listen up! Most of us have been prisoners our whole lives. And now what? They send us here as experiments — promise us freedom. You believe that? We'll never be free if they come down here. We'll just be prisoners again!"

Faces turned. Fear shifted to fire.

"If you want to stay their pet project, keep your bracelet on. But if you trust me — if you want to survive — take it off. We're not prisoners anymore. We're survivors!"

The camp roared. One by one, bracelets hit the dirt.

Clarke pushed through the crowd, panic in her eyes. "You can't! If you take them off, they'll think you're dead! Your families—"

"Many of us don't have families, princess!" I shouted, stepping closer until she froze.

"Either take it off and stand with us... or keep it on and stand against us. Your choice."

I turned, walked back to Murphy. He smiled, hand out.

"May I?"

"It'd be an honor," I said.

He snapped my bracelet off, and I tossed it straight into the fire.

"I'll never be anyone's prisoner again."

The crowd erupted. Bellamy came up beside me, pride in his eyes.

"Nice work."

"Thanks, Bell. Just said what they needed to hear."

Across the fire, Clarke and Finn sat alone.

I watched them for a moment, then murmured, "We'll get that bracelet off her soon enough."

Bellamy nodded. "Murphy and I will go with you tomorrow. We'll handle it."

I smiled, eyes on the flames. "We stick together, Bell. Promise me that."

"I promise," he said.

And for the first time since leaving the Ark, I believed him.