Homecoming

“Where do you plan to go?” Max didn’t sound surprised, and Bellamy appreciated the lack of judgment in his tone.

“I haven’t figured that part out yet. All I know is that I can’t just sit here and wait for them to come get me, and I can’t let anyone here risk getting hurt for me.”

“I understand how you must feel, knowing that there are people out there who want to harm you. But they don’t have the right to take your life, Bellamy. No one does.” Max paused. “And no one here is doing anything they don’t want to do. The truth is, I don’t think you’re any safer out there,” Max went on, tipping his head toward the woods. “There are greater dangers than Rhodes. I’m not sure how much you know about the others?” Max raised his eyebrows. “The people from our group who left us.”

“A little.” The last time he’d been here, when he’d come to rescue Octavia, Bellamy had heard the story about the Colonists who’d come down from the ship, way before the hundred had arrived. The Earthborns had taken them in, shared their food, but not everyone had been happy about welcoming the strangers, especially since the strangers were the descendants of the people who’d fled the dying Earth in a spaceship, leaving everyone else to perish.

The two groups had established an uneasy peace, but then something happened. An Earthborn child died, and chaos broke out. There was a faction of Max’s people who blamed the Colonists, and who blamed Max for letting strangers into their home. They demanded retribution, and when Max refused to let them kill the Colonists, they split off to live on their own, outside of Max’s authority.

The craziest part of the whole story was that Clarke’s parents—who she had thought were dead, sentenced to floating from the Colony—had been among that first wave of Colonists. They had been banished along with the others after the child’s death.

Max took another sip of his drink. “I grew up with them. We raised our children together, I thought I knew them.” He paused for a moment, as if letting the memories play out in his mind before continuing. “But now they’ve become unrecognizable. They’ve become obsessed with violence and claiming as much land as possible as their own. They’re angry, and they have nothing to lose. Which makes them very, very dangerous.”

“What do they want?” Bellamy asked, not even sure he wanted to know the answer.

“I wish I knew.” Max sighed and ran a hand along his gray beard. “Revenge? Power? What could they want that we didn’t have right here?”

They were silent for a moment.

“Clarke wants to go find her parents,” Bellamy said.

“I know she does. But it’s not safe. If the splinter group is willing to hurt their own neighbors and friends, they certainly won’t hesitate to hurt Clarke. And if they find out that she is their daughter—well, I’d hate to think of what they might do. The Griffins had nothing to do with the boy’s death, but these aren’t rational people we’re talking about here.” Max turned and locked eyes with Bellamy. “Do you think she understands the risks?”

Bellamy shook his head. “I don’t know. But she’s not going to stay here and wait around forever. She wants to find her mom and dad. Soon. I tried to convince her to wait until it’s safe for me to go with her. We need to find out more about where they might have gone. But she’s determined.”

“I don’t blame her.” Max sighed. “I’d want to find them too.”

“Yeah.” Bellamy knew what it was like to feel a desperate, primal urge to find someone you love. He got why Clarke wanted to start tracking her parents. But was he willing to let her die for it?

Bellamy’s thoughts were interrupted as a man raced toward them.

“Max,” the man said breathlessly, coming to a sudden halt in front of their bench. “There’s a group approaching the town. They’re about a hundred meters out. They’ll be here in a few minutes. And—Max—they’re armed.”

Bellamy’s heart leapt into his throat as a wave of guilt crashed over him. They’re here for me.

Max jumped to his feet. “Send out the signal. And dispatch a group to meet them and bring them in. Peacefully.” The man nodded and ran off. Max turned back to Bellamy. “Follow me.”

Bellamy tried to remain calm, but a surge of anger and fear welled up inside of him, the same combination of feelings that generally prompted him to do something stupid. He trailed Max closely as they jogged down the path and toward the town’s main hall, where people were already gathering, many bearing guns and spears. Clarke, Wells, and Sasha ran inside a few minutes later, looking anxious but determined. Sasha joined her father at the front of the room, while Wells and Clarke wended their way through the crowd to stand with Bellamy at the back.

“Don’t worry,” Wells said to Bellamy as the crowd chattered anxiously all around them. “We’re not going to let them take you.”