Chapter Text
“I’m almost done here, get everyone ready to move.” Clarke barely looked up from the bandages in her hand, “See who’s strong enough to help Raven and my mom, they shouldn’t be alone.”
“Clarke, surely it would be better to wait. Give everyone more time to recover. We can stay here tonight and leave in the morning.” Kane looked around the med-bay, “And it’ll give us more time to grab supplies.”
“Stay the night? Where? With all the..people in the dining room? Are you going to send someone around to look in the apartments?” Clarke's voice was hoarse, “Or maybe we should stay in the dorm where everyone was kept, prisoner.”
“No..I..Clarke.” Kane stuttered.
“This is a graveyard,” Clarke meant to sound harsh, but her voice wobbled too much, “And I won’t stay here a moment longer than I have to.” She stuffed the bandages into the backpack in front of her, already stretched to its limit with medical supplies. “I leave in an hour, come with me, or stay behind and hope someone else knows the way.”
She stalked out of the room, turning down the hall, her eyes resolutely focused on the far wall in front of her. Most people had been in the dining room, but there were guards who had fallen in the hallways. Kids still in classrooms, teenagers hanging out in groups scattered here and there. She had thrown up what little was in her stomach when she’d ducked into a room to escape her mother and found an old couple cuddled next to each other on the sofa, a book spread across their laps, hands clutching each other, burns spreading across their skin.
It had taken a few minutes after that to pull herself back together. The war was over, at least this one, but despite her sobs and the way the echoing in her head made her heave, she couldn’t stop Lexa’s voice from rattling around ‘The dead are gone and the living are hungry.’ She couldn’t mourn yet, not until her people were out and gone from this place.
Clarke turned down another hallway, not even needing to look at a map of this place, she’d gone over it so many times while planning this war. Not that it had turned out the way she planned. She shook her head, she couldn’t get caught in this, not again, not now. She finally reached the door and shoved it open.
“Clarke!” Raven called, “Please tell me you brought us something good.”
She forced a small smile and lifted the bag in her hand, “I don’t know about good, but it’ll be better than a drill in the leg.”
Raven rolled her eyes, “That is not going to be a fucking thing. You hear me.”
“I don’t know, it has a certain je ne sais quoi.” Wick nudged Raven in the side, not hard enough to make her shift, but enough to make her reach up and punch him in the shoulder.
“I’m going to je ne sais quoi your ba..”Raven broke off in a groan. Clarke had just poured something on her leg. “FUCK!”
“I thought we already did that,” Wick joked, wrapping his arm around Raven’s back.
“Just shut the fuck up,” Raven panted, sweat pouring down her face, “I’d take a little warning next time.”
“Wouldn’t have made it any better,” Clarke was still focused on her leg.
Raven quirked her eyebrow and glanced at Wick. He just gave a small shake of his head and she winced, Clarke was rubbing something over her leg now. “Well, I could have grabbed Wick’s hand.”
“You want to hold my hand?” Wick looked surprised and confused.
Raven rolled her eyes, “No, but I could have shared the pain.”
“Breaking Wick’s hand will not make you feel better Raven,” Abby was standing just behind her, supported by Kane. “What did you find?”
Clarke wiped her hands off on her pants before grabbing the bag and handing it over, “There are bandages and antibiotic cream in there, I also grabbed some vials of antibiotic, a vial of morphine and a couple bottles of pain pills. There are also a few needles in there too.”
Abby grabbed the bag and started sorting through it, “Kane tells me you’re insisting on leaving shortly.”
“Yes.”
Abby looked up, “I don’t think it’s a good idea, we can stay here for a few days, recover. Then we can go back to Camp Jaha.”
“No.” They both ignored the cusses coming from Raven and Wick.
“Clarke, you’re being selfish. We are injured,” Abby gestured between her and Raven, “The others are malnourished and dehydrated. They need a few days to recover before they make that walk. There’s plenty of food, water, and more than enough beds in here.”
“I am not staying here.” She gestured to the corner where they’d laid the bodies of the Mountain Men who’d died in here, “They may not bother you, but there are hundreds more outside of this room. I am not staying here with the dead, let alone eating their food and sleeping in their beds.”
The volume of their conversation had risen and others had taken notice. Other’s started voicing their opinions until it was chaos, but Clarke wasn’t moved, still glaring at her mother.
“Shut it!” Raven finally broke through the noise.
“We are staying. Monty, can you show Kane to the command center, we need to radio Camp Jaha and let them know.” Abby ordered.
“Uh..” Monty just shifted in place, “I can do that for whoever wants to stay, but I’m not.”
“Who wants to stay?” Raven broke through again, heading off Abbys explosion.
Most of the guard, Abby, and Kane all raised their hands causing Raven to suppress a laugh. You could take the kid out of school, but you couldn’t take the school out of the kid. “Who wants to leave.” Every single one of the remaining hundred raised their hands. Raven looked to Abby, “Looks like we’re heading out.”
“Raven. This is not wise. You need some time to rest and recover.” Abby protested.
“I’m not going to rest here.” Raven waved her hand to the corner, “They kind of fuck with that.”
“Language.” Kane interjected and Raven rolled her eyes.
“It’s been decided,” Clarke broke her silence, “We leave in 30 minutes.” She raised her voice so the rest could hear. “Monty, can you use the intercom system to tell anyone who wandered off?”
Monty nodded his head and took off.
“Clarke, you are not in charge here.” Abby grabbed her arm. “We are no longer fighting a war.”
“Will those pain meds work? Or should I go look for something else?” Clarke ignored her mothers' efforts to get her to change her mind.
Abby let go, almost wilting in defeat, “No. This will be fine for now.” She grabbed a bottle and twisted the lid open, pouring out pills and handing them to Raven before pouring out some for herself. Kane left to grab them water.
Clarke left and followed after Monty. She waited till he was done making the announcement. Only twenty minutes until she could get out of this hellhole. “Monty.” He turned looking wary.
“Is there a way to lock this place down?” He looked confused, “Make it so no one can come back. Move in.”
Monty’s head jerked back a bit as he realized what she was saying. “No one wou-”
“She’s already planning it.” Clarke interrupted. “She’s already thinking about what she can take, and how we can use this place.”
Monty looked horrified, “I – I Don’t-”
“Is there a way to lock the door? Keep anyone without a key out?”
Monty thought for a minute, “Yeah..Yeah, I think I can do that. There was a standby mode. I’ll need to double check really quick, but if it’s what I think it is, we just turn that on and then whoever has the president’s keycard or code would be the only one who could turn this place back on.”
“How much time do you need?”
“10 minutes. It’s already set-up, I just need to double check and turn it on.”
“Keycard only. No code.”
Monty nodded, “We’ll need the keycard,” He hesitated, “Cage..”
Clarke shook her head, “He didn’t have it. He had the guards on his side, but not the tech guys. Cage couldn’t make them change it without letting everyone know he’d instigated a coup.”
They had walked while they talked, distracting themselves from the smells and sights around them. Clarke shoved the command center door open, it had warped with the damage it had taken and walked in. She paused over Wallace’s body, swallowing down the bile that rose in her throat. She took a deep breath, then began searching his pockets for a keycard. Fortunately it was in the second pocket she checked. She handed set it on the table next to Monty, letting him type away.
“It’s done.” Clarke jumped. She’d zoned out, the sound of typing almost hypnotizing her. “When we walk out, you’ll need to swipe the card and type in 0000001#. The system will shut down, lock the doors, and enter standby mode.” He pushed himself up and away from the console, “The doors can still be opened with explosives, but they won’t be able to turn on the power for anything.”
Clarke nodded, “Thank you, Monty.”
He nodded, aware that she was thanking him for more than just this. “You were right, it’s the right thing to do.”
Clarke nodded, “I’m sorry about Jasper, too.” She hadn’t seen him since the dining room, for all she knew he was still there, but he had been almost hysterical when she had left.
Monty just nodded, not really sure what to say about it. They stood in silence for a few minutes, the weight of the day settling on them both.
“Let’s get going, you two.” Bellamy poked his head through the doorway, “I finally got Jasper up and moving and if he stops I don’t know if we’ll be able to get him going.”
They nodded and followed him down the hallway, joining the group of people headed out of the Mountain. They waited and ended up being the last group in the elevator and out the door.
Clarke closed her eyes and took a deep breathe once she was no longer surrounded by the Mountain’s walls. It was so strange, she’d lived within the walls of the ark for 17, almost 18 years, but a month on the ground was all it took for walls, any walls, to feel like they were closing in on her. She turned back for just a moment, opening the wall panel Monty had told her about and following his directions. It took a minute, but the screen dimmed, followed by a hollow thunk that she felt throughout her body.
Clarke could tell when the others started to recognize the woods around them, the chatter increasing as they got closer. It had mostly been a quiet walk. Everyone was exhausted, hungry and thirsty. Though most of them were more than happy to leave the Mountain it didn’t make the walk any easier. Especially for Abby and Raven. They’d managed half the walk, but four hours of walking after the torture of being drilled had left them both in a lot of pain. Abby had just needed help, help that Kane was more than happy to provide, though they’d started using the stretcher when she’d twisted her other ankle. Raven had done that for a bit, though eventually, Wick had just scooped her up, ignoring her curses and protests. He’d carried her the rest of the way, refusing help. Clarke was sure she’d seen a hint of red on Raven’s cheeks more than once, but she still hadn’t figured out if it was a happy blush or an angry one.
“How much longer?” Abby asked, looking around as if she wasn’t sure if she recognized the area or if the pain meds were making her fuzzy-headed.
“Another mile or so,” Clarkes voice sounded distant and hollow.
“Good,” Abby nodded, “When we get back I want you to go straight to Medical. Jackson can look you over and then you can get some food and rest.”
“Mom, there are others who need Jackson a lot more than I do. I’m fine. Nothing wrong with me.” Clarke only registered how monotone her voice was after she had finished speaking.
“Clarke, you will do as you’re told. I am your mother and the chancellor, I will not hear arguments about this.”
“Weren't you accusing me of being selfish just a few hours ago?”
“The other kids agreed with you, I still think it would have been better to stay.” Abby huffed, “It doesn’t matter, its done now, but you will not argue with me anymore.”
Clarke felt anger building inside of her, starting to break through the numbness that had settled in during their walk. “Seriously?!”
“Clarke,” Kane broke into their conversation, obviously trying to head off an argument between the two stubborn women, “This fight is over, the kids are safe and so are we. You can go back to being a kid like you should be. We’ll take care of making the decisions, you can take a break.”
A weird strangled sound broke through Clarke’s throat muscles, rage forcing itself through.
They broke through the tree line, the ark was in view now. Clarke used the noise, from their group and the ark, to give separation between her and Abby. Hanging back and watching the reunions taking place. Some didn’t have anyone to greet them, but others still had parents and friends who’d been worried for days, not knowing what the Mountain Men were doing.
She walked forward a bit more, still hanging outside of the fence. It was so...weird. Everything was so normal. People hugging, others just watching with happiness and joy. And through all of that others were continuing on with tasks, chopping wood, dumping water from buckets into large cisterns, tending to the vegetables, and corralling children who were using the distraction to run wild.
“I think we deserve a drink,” Bellamy broke Clarke out of her reverie.
Clarke paused a moment, yeah she could use a drink, but.. “Have one for me.”
“Hey. We’ll get through this.
“I’m not going in.”
“Look. If you need forgiveness, I’ll give that to you. You’re forgiven. Please come inside.”
“Take care of them for me.”
“Clarke-”
“No. Seeing their faces every day is just gonna remind me of what I did to get them here.”
“What we did. You don’t have to do this alone.”
Clarke turned a bit, looking at her mother being fussed over by Jackson, Raven and Octavia poking at each other. “I bear this so they don’t have to.”
“Where are you gonna go?”
“I don’t know,” Clarke reached up, placing a small kiss on his cheek. She stepped back and sighed, “May we meet again.”
“May we meet again.”