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justinewt · 2 months ago

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The End of the World - THE 100 REWRITE Chapter Thirty-Five

[THE 100 MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter (09/27/2024)

Summary: Everyone would share the bunker - 100 of each clan - and that rule applied to the Sky people as well. While Kane tried to ensure Octavia's condition was being respected, his daughter, Michelle, Clarke and Bellamy left the bunker to go get Raven before the death wave hit but with a 24-hour window and 10-hour long trips, there wouldn't be much room for error.

Words: 7k

Warnings: The 100 season 4 spoilers (episode 12 "The Chosen" & episode 13 "Praimfaya"), angst

It was chaos in the bunker. The Grounders had forced all the members of Skaikru into the rotunda. People were so crowded in the center that they were stepping on each other. They walked out of the office, Kane brought up the rear, and they faced the crowd. No one really knew what was going on and were quite confused and disoriented. People were repeatedly asking the chancellor, standing above them, what was happening. Announcing that 300 of them would be kicked out of the bunker and left to die in the upcoming death wave, which would arrive in just a little over a dozen hours. The situation was critical now. Grounders went to close the door to the dorms after having brought everyone in the room and loud shouting ensued. They pounded on the door and walls.

Jaha turned his head towards Bellamy, whispering, “Three out of four of these people are going to die tonight. You still think you made the right choice?”

Bellamy ignored him but gulped, staring ahead of him. He wasn’t even making eye contact with any of them lined up there. This wasn’t easy for any of them and hearing him trying to blame and guilt-trip Bellamy made Michelle clench her jaw, looking at Jaha from the corner of her eyes. They still had some time before having to read out the names on the list. They went back into the office and Abby sat at the radio to establish contact with Raven. She was yet to arrive to the bunker, still on that island they had gone off to the previous week. They wanted her to be part of the 100 to survive in the bunker, not just for them but because she’s a mechanic and one of the smartest engineers they had. They needed her for the thousand people in there with them. Eventually, Michelle, Bellamy and Clarke entered the room, along with Jaha, who received an umpteenth sidelong glance from Michelle the moment he spoke up, though quite quietly. She then glanced at her father, leaning against a shelf.

“Our people are scared, Marcus. We need to tell them something.”

“We just spoke with Raven. When she gets here, we’ll have all our essential personnel.”

“How many spots does that leave us with?” Clarke asked worriedly. Her mother stood up from her chair.

“Including the essential personnel, and the places that we’re holding for the children under 16, that leaves us with 80.”

“80.” She repeated gravely, glancing down. There was a heavy silence that befell the room before Jaha inevitably found something else to say. Michelle briefly closed her eyes, rolling them under her eyelids and crossed her arms over her chest. He wasn’t helping.

“I can’t believe about sending 364 of our own people to their deaths.”

“We’re lucky they’re giving us any space in this bunker at all.” Clarke looked at him, raising her eyebrows. Kane straightened up.

“Look. I don’t like it any more than you do.”

“Then let’s fight this.” Michelle couldn’t help it and sighed through her nose. She was glad her father went against him.

“No. Any sort of resistance will cost us all our lives. Our best course of action is to hold a lottery for the remaining spots.” Jaha approached, leaning on the desk. Michelle glanced at Clarke as the latter massaged her forehead, exhaling.

“It’s not going to work, Marcus.”

“It was your idea.”

His voice rose, “That was for the chance to survive.”

“And how is this any different?” Abby wondered.

“Until 20 minutes ago, our people believed they were safe. They let their guards down. They picked their bunks. They unpacked their bags. They imagined their futures. You try to rip that from them now, and, believe me, they will fight.”

“No one’s saying it’s gonna be easy, but we need to make the people listen to reason.” Kane said. The discussion was cut shot by Bellamy mentioning they still needed to go get Raven. He volunteered. Michelle nodded, glancing at him as she said she would go with him and so did Clarke, but Abby didn’t want to let her daughter go.

“Mom, look, Raven needs our help. I know the way to the island. I need to do this.”

As he took a few steps toward them, Kane agreed, “Well, be safe. There’ll be a place for the three of you when you get back. I’ll meet you in the airlock.” He put his hand on Bellamy shoulder as he sent them off. They left, heading for the airlock and once there, the trio took the hazmat suits from the walls and got ready as Abby came to join them.

“At these radiation levels, any amount of exposure is harmful. Keep the suits sealed at all times.” She explained, as she helped them with their suits. They had only 23 hours left until the death wave hit. “On a good day, it takes 10 hours to get to the island, and 10 hours to get back. That doesn’t leave you much room for error.”

“Mom, I know, okay? We’ll be careful.” Michelle glanced at them from the corner of her eyes as she finished zipping her suit and picking up their things with Bellamy. They spoke to each other in hushed tones and shared a tight hug. Abby then turned to the other two and crossed Michelle’s gaze. She gave her a sweet smile and went to give her a hug, whispering in her ear that Callie, her mother, would be proud of her. She knew, her father had told her already. Her eyes got slightly watery and she shut her eyes close, a tear falling down her cheek, which she wiped off once they broke the embrace.

“Take care of each other.” She looked at Bellamy.

“Yes, ma’am.” He turned his head to the airlock door when Murphy and Emori came in. “Murphy what are you doing here?”

“We heard you were going after Raven. We just wanna help.”

“I’ve been to that island dozens of times.” Emori added. “No one knows the water better than me.”

“Maybe it’ll help our chances if we bring home the chosen ones.”

“There’s a lottery. I’ll make sure your name is in it.”

“And Emory?” Abby looked at the grounder and parted her lips, quiet for a moment.

“I’ll do the best I can.” As she gave another hug and kiss to her daughter, Michelle heard the door open again; it was her dad. She instantly turned to him and locked her arms around him breathing against his shoulder. He softly rubbed her back, placing a kiss on her head and eventually, Abby and Kane left, giving their daughters a glance and a smile. They then put on their helmets, sealing their suits and walked out through the hatch. It creaked loudly as they closed it after them. Clarke showed them to way and Michelle followed suit but, looking over her shoulder, she saw Bellamy grabbing Murphy’s arm. She squinted her eyes, staring at them.

“What are you really up to, Murphy?”

He pulled his arm out of his grip, even glancing at Michelle behind them as he knew she was there, “You killed us when you opened that door, you know that? Oh, what did you think our people would do? Waste a spot on Emori? On me? We were safe, and you screwed us. You wanna know what we’re up to? It’s called surviving. There’s a bunker on that island. You’re our ride. That’s it.” Michelle shook her head, staying quiet. She couldn’t understand how she ever was in any kind of relationship with him.

“That bunker’s not stocked, Murphy. You won’t last 5 months, let alone 5 years.”

“No, we probably won’t. At least we’ll survive the death wave. We can’t all be essential personnel, or have a sister who’s queen of the grounders,” With a scoff, he then looked over his shoulder at Michelle. “or be the Chancellor’s daughter.” As he walked past her, he gave her a sidelong glance and she frowned, shaking her head. Bellamy approached, bringing his hand in her back and they walked away, cathing up with the others.

“Why did you come on this mission, Clarke?” Bellamy asked. The three of them sat at the front of the truck, with Murphy and Emory in the back.

“Raven’s my friend.”

“Yesterday, you were fine, leaving your friend out to die. My sister, too, Kane…” Listening, Michelle looked down, sighing through her nose quietly. If she hadn’t succeeded in convincing her to let them open the bunker’s door, her father would have been dead, and she couldn’t fathom losing him.

“I wasn’t fine with it, and you know that.” There were a few seconds of silence. “Bellamy… Michelle… I never meant to hurt you.”

“Aiming a gun at us is a strange way of showing it.”

“I didn’t pull the trigger.”

Michelle finally said something, “You did, actually. A warning shot is still a shot.”

“Whatever choice I make, somebody always dies.” She then said with a heavy tone, staring at the road. Bellamy shrugged, glancing at her with a smirk.

“Well, not shooting me- not shooting Michelle; that was the right choice.” They were exchanging glances and soft smiles when Clarke suddenly turned her head back to the road and shouted as someone walked in front of the truck. He couldn’t stop the vehicle nor dodge the stranger, so they crashed into them, crushing them under the wheels as he drove to the side, urgently, and crashed into a tree. The engine stopped, with smoke coming out. They were panting, looking around, confused and startled.

“He just jumped right out in front of us.” Clarke said, shocked. “It’s like he wanted to die.”

“You two, stay here. I’m gonna check the damage.” He opened the door and as he was about to get off, he was pulled out of the truck by a man who was shouting in trigedaslend. The two young women gasped, turning to the other door to get out but another grounder appeared on the other side, boxing them in until, like with Bellamy, they were dragged outside. Murphy shouted at the back, warning them others were coming, and the vehicle began to shake as they were slammed against it, beating them up, trying to take their suits off them. Arrows flew by their heads, shooting down their attackers. Someone seemingly came to their rescue on a horse, and that someone turned out to be the banished Azgedan spy, Echo. It was once she pulled down the mask hiding her face that they realized it was her but for the whole time she spent shooting arrows, throwing knives and slashing with her sword, they couldn’t tell who it was. The whole group was panting, looking at the newcomer.

“There might be more of them. We should get going.”

“Echo, what are you doing here?” Bellamy enquired.

“I know about your bunker on the island. I just saved your lives. I’m hoping you will return the favor.” She looked genuinely desperate. There was hopelessness in her eyes and the ever-growing level of radiation in the air was already affecting her breathing and face, on which there was a lot of redness, but maybe the fact that she was catching her breath was also because of the energy she had just spent on the fight. Bellamy was hesitant and looked around him, crossing the gazes of Clarke and Michelle beside him.

“Unless we can get another ride, no one’s making it to that island.” There was really no other choice but to let her come with them, and there wasn’t much time to talk this over anyways – they didn’t have much time to get there, and then return to Polis. As Abby said, not much room for error. But they still didn’t have another way to go there quickly since the truck was no longer an option after the accident and moving six people by foot would take twice as much time, if not more and they would never be able to make the return trip. As time passed, Bellamy kept on trying to establish contact with Murphy over the radio, but they didn’t get any response and Michelle was growing restless and anxious, going back and forth, staring into the void. She was quite frightened by what this delay would mean. She wouldn’t see her father for at least the next five years, during which the ground would be totally unsurvivable for anyone but maybe it wouldn’t be for much longer and not being sure about how long they would be separated made her feel like a cat on a hot tin roof. She glanced over her shoulder; Clarke was helping Echo put on their spare suit. Finally, after hours, Monty’s voice rose and Michelle swiftly turned on her heels, staring at Bellamy who urged to respond to their friend.

“Yes, Monty. I read you. Where are you?”

“Two clicks outside Polis. Almost there.” Michelle had almost forgotten that he had stayed back at Arkadia with Harper and the others but clearly, they had changed their minds and were making their way to Polis. This could be their ride to the island with the rover. “Everything okay?”

“Not exactly. Look, Monty. I hate to ask you this, but we broke down on the way to the island to get Raven. We need to come reel us in.

After a second, he said, “We’re on our way. Tell us exactly where you are.” Then, suddenly, Emori started coughing profusely. Blood was dripping from her mouth. Clarke rushed to take a look, and her conclusion was clear – she had been exposed to the radiations.

“How’s that possible? She’s wearing a suit.” Murphy asked, angry and worried about his girlfriend. Emory slightly turned around, and Clarke looked up.

“The seal of her helmet is torn.”

“Can you fix it?” Emory asked, fear piercing through her voice. Murphy was about as scared and said they could use tape to fix it but as Clarke went on to remind him, they didn’t have any tools or weapons. The only thing they had brought was this spare suit, which they had just given to Echo.

“So we give her the extra suit then.”

“We don’t have another suit.” Bellamy argued, raising his voice.

Murphy snapped, shouting, “Yes, we do!” His eyes then went to Echo. “Take it off, now.”

“I saved your life.” She stared at him.

“What were you gonna do if we didn’t get attacked, huh? I mean, you guys seriously think she was following us out of the kindness of her own heart? No. She was gonna attack us the second that we stopped. Give me that suit.” He threateningly walked towards her and Bellamy stood in his way, trying to stop him. They were yelling at each other, arguing and pushing each other around.

“You cut that suit and it serves no one.”

“I’m not letting her die.”

“Neither am I.” Everyone turned to Clarke, not expecting to hear her voice but a second later, she was already taking off her helmet. Michelle took a step towards her, parting her lips.

“No, Clarke—”

“Clarke, what are you doing?” Bellamy got concerned as well.

“I have nightblood.”

“Untested nightblood.” He cut her off.

“We’re testing it now. Take off her helmet.” Emori was gasping and coughing, breathing with difficulty while Murphy quickly took it off to replace it with Clarke’s. Bellamy and Michelle shared worried glances as they watched.

Monty came back over the radio, “Bellamy, you there? Come in.”

“Yeah, we’re here. Head northeast from Polis, and Monty… drive fast.”

Looking down at her watch, Michelle saw they only had about 12 hours to get to the bunker. She took a deep breath, raising her head and glancing at Bellamy next to her. He had seen the time on his watch as well. But to her, it was over no matter what happened. She wouldn’t see her father again for years, if they did make it to the island, if they lasted long enough there and Bellamy had already told Murphy that there would barely be enough rations for a few months. Clarke came up to them.

“We have to talk about it.”

“Missed the window.” Michelle closed her eyes at Bellamy’s words, letting out a heavy sigh. “Continue to the island, we won’t make it back.”

“What about them? Do we just save ourselves?” She looked over her shoulder at Emory and Murphy sat on the ground.

“Clarke, if nightblood works, we need to get you to Polis, them, too. We pull in as many people as we can before the death wave hits. If your mom can make us all nightbloods, we only need to stay down there until it passes. We can still save everyone.”

“Just not Raven.” She added gravely. The Rover's headlights illuminated them, and they turned their heads towards the incoming vehicle. Monty parked it in front of them and got out.

“We got here as fast as we could.” He noticed Clarke’s helmet was missing and frowned worriedly. “Clarke, you’re exposed. Come on. Let’s get you into the rover.”

“No, Monty. I’m fine.”

“I’ll grab the extra helmet.” Harper added. She brought an entire suit because the helmet didn’t match the suit Clarke was already wearing. Murphy took care of Emory. Echo had been somewhat affected by the radiations she had been exposed to and Bellamy and Michelle helped her to walk to the back of the car. They stopped in their tracks, looking at Clarke as they heard her cough and spit black blood. Bellamy let go of Echo and Michelle passed her on to Harper who continued to the car without the two. Monty urged Clarke to take the suit, adding that it was supposed to be with Jasper. That’s when Michelle realized that the latter was indeed no where to be seen. He had let himself die with the others at Arkadia. He was Monty’s best friend. Michelle couldn’t imagine losing Clarke.

“You should put it on. Jasper would want you to.” He insisted. “If we’re still gonna make it to the island, we better—”

“We’re not going to the island.” Bellamy declared. Neither Clarke nor Michelle understood why he was saying this – of course they were going to the island.

“Nightblood doesn’t work.” She spoke.

“We don’t know that yet. Luna got sick before she got better, so—”

“Even if you’re right, they won’t let us all into the bunker if I’m still sick. It took days for Luna’s resistance to kick in, and by that time, the death wave will already be here, and all our friends will be dead. Are you okay with that?”

“You know I’m not… Clarke, unless I’m missing something, there is no other way for all of us to survive.”

“What if there is?”

“What do you mean?” Michelle asked, shaking her head in confusion. Her idea was to go up – to go back to space with the rocket she had seen at the bunker. Hours later, they arrived at the island at last and entered the bunker. They were standing by the railing as they took off their helmets as Raven looked up to them with a subtle frown. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re not leaving you behind.” Bellamy spoke, climbing down the stairs leading to the laboratory below, where Raven was. She didn’t understand what they were doing. There was not time for them to go back to Polis. And as Clarke had suggested earlier, they weren’t going back, they were going up.

“Space? But we don’t have enough fuel to get down.”

“Sounds like a 5-year problem to me.” Harper joked. Raven looked back to Clarke, realizing what she meant by going to speace.

“you’re talking about the ring?”

“Seems like a shame to let a good rocket go to waste.” Bellamy added.

“Uh, how do we live?”

“They left a water reclamator there, and we know that go-sci has an algae farm.” She explained, holding her helmet under her arm. “We just get those two things up and running, and we have food and water.”

Murphy spoke with a dragging voice, “Algae salads and recycled urine. Sign me up.”

“Better than dying.”

He turned his head towards Emory, “Yeah, you say that now.”

“All right, slow down.” Raven went back to speaking seriously. “Breathing’s important too. What’s the plan for oxygen?”

“Based on what Murphy says about the lighthouse bunker, I’m guessing— make that praying— there’s an oxygenator there. We take it with us. You hook it up. Bob’s your uncle.”

“You’re an engineer, Monty. You do know there’s about a thousand things wrogn with that plan, right?”

“Yes, and every one of them kills us.” He shrugged. “Of course, staying here will kill us too, so—”

“Raven, we need you to get us off the ground before the death wave hits. What do you say? Can you do it?”

She turned to Bellamy, her arms crossed over her chest, looking at each of them, unsure about her ability to pull this off, “What do I say?” Taking a few steps away, she looked at a map on a screen, showing the progression of the death wave and the location of Arkadia and Polis, as well as the lab they were in. Arkadia was already gone but they had a little less than 11 hours before it reached them. “I say that death wave can kiss my ass.”

“Good.” Clarke nodded. “It’s settled then. We’re going back to the Ark.”

Michelle had her arms crossed, going back and forth the lab, kind of dragging her feet around. Looking over her shoulder, she watched Bellamy in the glass-walled room upstairs, sitting on a couch and talking through the radio. He was talking to Octavia. She was waiting for their conversation to be over so she could have a word with her father before not hearing from him or seeing him at all for the next few years. She was nervously tapping on her arm with her index finger, turning her head back around, sighing through her nose. She had to hope they would survive five years in space, return to earth and she would be reunited with her dad and all would be well. She had to be somewhat delusional that nothing bad would fuck up their plans because if there was no hope to see him again, she would lose it. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing both her parents after spending barely half a year with him as her actual dad after spending her entire life not knowing. She threw her head back, closing her eyes and exhaled as she then stared at the ceiling before approaching the screen to see the progression of the death wave.

She eventually walked up the stairs and softly opened the door. They locked eyes and she barely took one step in the room before stopping in her tracks, gulping. One glance at the radio and the microphone in his hand, added to his silence, let her understand that the communications had been cut by the radiations of the upcoming death wave. She turned to the side, clenching and unclenching her fist repeatedly and slightly flaring her nostrils as she breathed in and out. She felt her lip quiver and her eyes filling with tears. Bellamy’s hand grabbed her shoulder, and he turned her towards him, drawing her into a hug. She gulped air, squinting her eyes, her sight got blurrier from the tears, and they fell down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t say goodbye to your dad. We’ll meet them again.” He spoke quietly, trying to keep himself from getting emotional but she heard that he wanted to cry too and maybe it was because of her that he contained himself. She broke down and weeped, stifling a sob, gripping onto his suit, feeling his arms tighten around her. His chest heavied against her as he pressed his cheek against her face, his breath blowing in her hair. She tried to catch her breath in order to stop crying and she felt his head move away from hers and she looked over her shoulder. Clarke was staring at them worriedly. She slightly turned; the hug got looser but they didn’t entirely let go of each other right away. “The radio’s dead… won’t get to say goodbye to your mom. I’m sorry.”

Seeing her break down in tears got Michelle crying some more as she and Bellamy walked towards her to hug her. They broke the embrace when Murphy’s voice rose from the laboratory, telling them to come down. They were all gathered in front of the screen she was looking at earlier and they watched as the death wave hit Polis before their eyes. Michelle tried to steady her breathing, in order not to cry in front of the group but a few tears ran down her cheeks. Bellamy put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing it softly in his hand. There was shock on all their faces, but Michelle’s twisted with sadness, and she closed her eyes. It was too much to see, knowing her father was right under that tower. She knew he was safe in the bunker and yet her imagination couldn’t help but make her believe he was going to die.

“It’s 210 miles from Polis to the island.” Raven said. “According to what was our last drone, the wave is accelerating. If we’re not off the ground at least 20 minutes before it hits, the electromagnetic charge in the pyroclastic cloud will shut down the rocket’s avionics, meaning it won’t fly. That gives us 90 minutes to run a 6-hour preflight check, retrieve the oxygen generator from the lighthouse, turn a cockpit designed for two into one that can carry 9, and load the cargo hold with enough food to keep us from starving in space while we wait for the algae to bloom.”

“I thought you said it was gonna be hard.” Murphy commented.

“That’s not the hard part. Becca designed her rocket to dock with Polaris, not the ark. That means I have to pilot it into the hangar bay on the ring.”

“What’s so hard about that?” Harper wondered.

“That’s not the hard pat, either.”

“What is the hard part, Raven?” Clarke urgently asked.

“Assuming we blast off in time, CO2 scrubbers on a two-person rocket won’t support 9 of us.”

“So we use supplemental oxygen.”

“Our tanks only hold an hour of air.” Monty said, looking at Clarke. She and Bellamy turned their heads towards him simultaneously.

“Correct. We’ll have one hour to get into orbit, land in the hangar bay, and fire up the life-support system using an oxygen generator built to supply a lighthouse bachelor pad.”

“You suck at talking people into things. You know that right?” Murphy grumbled.

“Anyone still need to be talked into this?” Bellamy made eye contact with each of them, and they all shook their heads to confirm that no one needed to be talked into this anymore. They were all in on it. “Good. Now we know the many ways we might die today, why don’t you tell us what we have to do to live?”

Raven acquiesced, turning to the computers at the center of the room and began tapping on the keyboards before her, launching the final countdown; the last 90 minutes they had before being stuck in the bunker and dying of starvation within a few months. The seconds passed on the screen while they stared anxiously. They had to get to it now. The final stretch. Murphy and Monty went to walk through the woods to get to the lighthouse while the rest of them worked around the laboratory; Echo helped Emory at the rocket, bringing her stuff she needed, and Clarke, Michelle and bellamy worked on how to survive until they could use the algae farm to sustain themselves on the Ark. Michelle stood by Bellamy near the staircase, his hand on the railing, tapping on it with his thumb. They were looking at the two grounders at the rocket.

“Grounders in space, it’s an oxymoron.” He spoke as Clarke approached.

“Survival’s a team sport, especially up there. It was the only choice. Only choice, also an oxymoron, by the way.”

“So is cold sweat.” He sketched a tight smile with a worried frown. “Still holding out hope for that nightblood solution.”

“There was never any solution.” She shot up her eyebrows. “Alie was right about that.

“Our fight is not over.”

“My mom had a vision of me dying, just like the one Raven had that told her there was a rocket there.”

“You’re not going to die, Clarke. It is not the same thing.” Michelle shook her head.

“Yeah, they were both EMP’d.”

“And Abby will be fine, too.” He spoke. “Raven told her how to stop it.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. If anything happens to me—”

Bellamy grabbed her by her shoulders, widening his eyes, “Nothing is happening to you.” He walked to the computer, urging them to run the water numbers again but she insisted that he hear what she had to tell him too. Michelle was already listening, but he was reluctant to hear it and understandably so. None of them wanted to face the possibility of Clarke’s death. She was their best friend. Clarke plunged her eyes into theirs.

“We’ve been through a lot together, you and I. I didn’t like you at first— that’s no secret.”

“I didn’t either.” Michelle chuckled faintly. Looking back, it was crazy how far they had come since their first encounter at the dropship’s landing. Clarke laughed quietly too.

“But even then, every stupid thing you did, it was to protect your sister.” He gave a subtle nod, looking away. “She didn’t always see that, But I did. You’ve got such a big heart, Bellamy.”

“Clarke—”

“People will follow you. You inspire them because of it, but the only way to make sure we survive is you use this too.” She lifted her finger to his head, poking his temple.

He shook his head, “We got you for that.”

Her lips quivered faintly, “Raven’s premonition came true.” Their conversation was interrupted when a loud electric zapping sound caught their attention and Raven yelled. They came running towards the rocket to check if everyone was okay. Bellamy climbed the ladder to the cockpit, peeked inside.

“Raven, what is it?” He enquired.

“Oh, there isn’t enough time.’ She groaned. “We’re pushing too hard.”

“What’s happening?”

“Computer, systems check.” Once he stepped inside, Clarke and Michelle squeezed together on the ladder and climbed. The rocket’s computer’s voice spoke, listing the various systems and their state. Two out of three were optimal, aside from the life-support system. “It’s okay. We’re using completemental anyway.”

“All life-support systems are offline.” The voice declared.

“Just wait. Two more.” She shook her head, frowning in concern. The life-support systems weren’t the only one to be completely offline, the communication systems were as well. “Recommend repair options for communication system.”

“Who cares? There’s no one to talk to anyway.” Harper didn’t understand. Raven straight up told her to be quiet, waiting for the repair options, but all damages were beyond repair. They would need to replace the entire communication system for it to be able to work.

“Talk to us, Raven.” Bellamy urged.

She slowly looked over her shoulder and then stared into space, “We’re not going anywhere. Computer, terminate launch sequence.” She got up and Clarke and Michelle stepped aside to let her through as she sighed heavily and walked away. They all came after her, wanting her to explain herself.

“It’s simple. There’s no power in the ring. Two minutes ago, I though it wasn’t a problem because I could activate it remotely.”

“Over the rocket’s com system.” Clarke figured.

“So, we turn the power on from the inside.” Bellamy spoke.

“We can’t get inside. That’s the point. Without power, we can’t even open the hangar door.” She was beyond frustrated, but Clarke encouraged her to think harder, she had solved way bigger problems than this before. It would be quite difficult to do so in the 53 minutes they had left.

“It’s over, Clarke.” She shouted. “You know, maybe if I still had Alie’s code eating away my brain, I could figure it out. I’m not smart enough myself.” She let herself fall on the stairs to the rocket, hopeless. Clarke didn’t what else to do. She turned to the others, standing around and Bellamy approached, trying to talk to Raven, sitting beside her. She wouldn’t believe him when he insisted, she could do this.

“How many times have you saved our asses before you ever heard of Alie?” He asked.

“Oh, too many to count.”

“You’re damn right. We don’t need Alie on the ark. We need you.” Tear fell down her face and she wiped them and frowned. “What?”

“Alie was on the Ark.” She jerked to her feet. “I— I was right there, so close to the kill switch, but she got away by transmitting herself to the ring.”

“Using the pod in the temple.” Emory spoke.

“Yes. If she can do it, so can we.”

“Raven, we’ll never make it back to Polis on time, and the radios are dead.”

She took a few steps toward Clarke, “We have something better than radios— the satellite tower.” Turning back to Echo, Emory and Harper, she told them to get back in the cockpit and to finish to prepare the restraints for them during the flight, and then motioned to Clarke, Michelle and Bellamy, urging them to go put their helmets on and come with her. They geared up and went out. They could see the tower stretch out in the sky and according to Raven, it was less than a mile away. She repeated the instructions; all they had to do was plug a device into the junction box, at the base of the tower. Simple enough said like that. Once the tablet would be connected, it would align itself with the ark. She gave the rest of the directions. “Are there any questions?”

“Yeah. Why are you smiling?” Clarke wondered.

“Because without comms, even with the power on, we still can’t open that hangar bay door from inside the rocket.”

“Wait, how is that a good thing?”

“She gets to take her space walk.” Michelle was staring at Raven as she figured what Bellamy had been failing to understand, bringing the two others’ gazes on her. In the distance, behind Raven, they saw Murphy carrying the generator they needed, and they rushed towards him. He was panting loudly and struggling with how heavy that things was, eventually falling over. But something concerning that they noticed, was that Monty wasn’t there with him. Murphy was about to help himself up but took Michelle’s hand as she stretched it out to him. He told them that Monty was in trouble and had passed out in the forest. His hands had been touched by the radiations.

“If we go back now, we can get to him.” He pointed at the trees behind him. “You can be impressed with me later, we gotta go.”

“Alignign the dish is a one-person job. Clarke can handle it.” Raven said. “Michelle will help me with the generator.”

“Bellamy—”

“Clarke, if it’s one of those moments where you tell me to use my head—”

“No. I was just gonna say, hurry.”

“You, too. Lead the way.” He ran to the forest, following Murphy while Clarke went to the tower and Raven and Michelle carried the machine back to the laboratory to set it in the rocket. Eventually, Bellamy and Murphy came in, carrying Monty and sat him down to the side. Emory was relieved to see Murphy safe and sound and wrapped her arms around him. Harper rushed to Monty, wanting to look at his hands but there was no time. They would take care of it once on the Ark. They had just 5 minutes left ahead of them. “Clarke’s not back yet.”

“By now she should be on her way.” They had to finish getting ready for launch. Raven led them to the rocket, telling them all to refill their oxygen tanks and load up for the flight. She would tell them when to turn them on, so as not to waste any air, given they would have only an hour each.

“Where’s Echo?” Bellamy wondered. Only then did Michelle realize the grounder wasn’t with them. He left to find her while they all got strapped in. When Echo joined them, they only had 2 minutes left. Clarke was still not here. They waited until the countdown ran out, but Bellamy was still waiting outside the rocket, staring at the stairs, hoping she would appear any second now, but they had to go. The radiations outside were already affecting the ship’s avionics, so if they wanted to successfully reach space, it was now or never. He got in and reluctantly closed the cockpit door.

“Can we give her another minute?” Emory asked.

“We’re out of time.” Bellamy sat down next to Michelle and strapped himself in. Michelle looked down, hoping her best friend would somehow survive out there. “This is what Clarke would want us to do. If we wait, then we die.”

“Wait. How are we gonna know she got the power on, then?” Murphy wondered.

“We’ll know when we get there.” Raven closed her helmet, ordering the opening of the launching door. She initiated the countdown until lauch, anxiously listening to the numbers being spoken by the robotic voice. Michelle and Bellamy held each other’s hand, looking out the porthole. It broke their hearts to have to leave Clarke behind, but there was no other choice. The rocket fired up and flew out of the bunker. The ship shook a lot during the flight until they reached space.

“Welcome to zero G, boys and girls.” Raven smiled. She took control of the navigation, setting the rings’ coordinates and a few seconds later, they saw it on the screen, still quite a bit far away from them but they were getting there. The ring was dark, meaning Clarke must have had some problems with connecting the tablet to the tower and set the power on. But Bellamy and Michelle, though not entirely confident, knew she would have it done. She had to.

“Ready for a spacewalk, Raven?” He asked.

“You know I am, but if Clarke doesn’t get the power on—” One glance from him and she cut herself off. “Suiting up.” She detached herself from her seat and flew through the hatch in the floor and went outside. Michelle watched him as Bellamy got off his seat to float up to the porthole and take a look out. She observed his face, practically holding her breath until joining him to the window.

“I left her behind.” He mumbled, tilting his head forward in guilt. Michelle put her hand on his arm.

“She would’ve wanted us to do this. You said it yourself, and you know it’s true.”

“No, I left her behind, and we all die, anyway.”

“Guys, look.” They glanced at Monty before looking out the window again. The ark was lit up. She had done it. She managed to set the power on. Raven managed to open the hangar door. She pulled herself back to the rocket and drove it inside the hangar before closing the door, allowing everyone out. Home sweet home, as said Murphy as they entered. Raven was the first to be running out of air and Emory shared hers. The next to hear a beeping sound was Michelle. The oxygen level on the watch connected to her suit and oxygen tank showed she had almost nothing left.

“Bellamy, hurry up. Michelle’s running out of air.” Upon hearing Monty, Bellamy widened his eyes in worry and looked at her. Echo pushed him aside to open the vent quicker. She tore it off the wall. Michelle couldn’t breathe and let herself fall against the wall. Monty kneeled beside her, urging Bellamy to get the tubes and connect the generator. She was gasping for air. Monty couldn’t grab things because of his hand so Echo took off her helmet and gave her air from another tank. She inhaled deeply and shared it with Echo, taking one breath after the other. But they quickly ran out and were all on the verge of passing out. Michelle head rolled to the side and fell on Echo’s shoulder before her eyes closed. She came back to her senses, opening her eyes wide, panting and gasping and she looked around and stumbled towards Bellamy, collapsed on the ground. She groaned, pulling his helmet off of him so he wouldn’t suffocate in his suit. He looked up, breathing quickly, and held Michelle’s hand. They would be fine now.

After taking off his suit, Bellamy found an empty bottle by a window, looking down on the earth, now just a scorching ball of fire. Michelle walked up to him, touching his hand with the back of hers as they were joined by Raven.

“She saved us again.” She spoke under her breath. “Think we can do this without her?”

“If we don’t, she died in vain. And I’m not gonna let that happen.” Bellamy couldn’t take his eyes off the planet before them. It was unrecognizable. No blue or green left to see. “You with me?”

The two young women glanced at each other, and turned their head to him, “Always.” Michelle nodded, and though she said nothing else, she didn’t think any less. She would never give up on Bellamy and he knew it. She felt him grab her hand and she brought her other hand to his arm as they intertwined their fingers. It was the end of the world they had grown accustomed too, but, hopefully, not the end of the entire world.

[To be continued…]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter (09/27/2024)

Published (08/30/2024) by Andrea

Taglist: @mirellef2001

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justinewt · 4 months ago

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False Victory - THE 100 REWRITE Chapter Twenty-Nine

[THE 100 MASTERLIST]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter (07/23/2024)

Summary: The battle was over. Alie was no more, but that wasn't necessarily good news for the survivors. There was no real victory as they were already faced with the news of an impending doom, another praimfaya. They had to find a way to survive, or in a few months, the remnants of humanity will disappear completely, leaving no one behind. And it fell to Clarke, Bellamy and Michelle, to go figure out a way to survive what was coming.

Words: 4.4k

Warnings: The 100 season 4 spoilers (episode 1 "Echoes"), blood, aftermarth of the battle, fluff (but sad lol)

Bellamy, Clarke and Michelle got down the tower and upon stepping outside, and the first thing they came across was the body of a man lying on the ground, a large pool of blood spread all around his head. They saw the survivors piling up bodies, either distressed, crying over their dead, or completely disoriented and confused, having a hard time processing what had happened, after they had been chipped and mind controlled. This was a sad and unnerving sight. Michelle was thankful she hadn’t lost anyone, but she felt for those who weren’t so lucky. She could never have lived with killing her dead, because she would have done in a desperate attempt to save Bellamy. She wasn’t chipped and wouldn’t be able to tell herself that it wasn’t her doing.

“She’ll be okay. Octavia can take of herself.” Clarke told Bellamy, wanting to be reassuring. Michelle saw the girl kneeling next to Indra down the street. Bellamy didn’t meet Clarke’s gaze and shook his head.

“That’s not what I’m worried about.”

“She won’t be charged. Everyone will say that Pike had it coming.”

“Maybe we all do.” He said, eventually looking at her. Their three faces were all tainted with worry and concern. This whole day felt so strange. After what Clarke told them, it felt nothing like a victory. Clarke’s pulled her eyebrows together, the corners of her lips turning downwards. Michelle was listening to them, still watching the grounders gather their dead in the square.

“How do we tell these people that the world is ending after everything they’ve been through?

“We don’t,” Bellamy declared. “not until we know Alie was telling the truth.”

“It was the truth.”

“Still, we keep it to ourselves until we know what we’re dealing with and how to stop it.”

“Damn. You’re afraid of how people will react.”

“Yes.” He wasn’t about to try and deny it, but his seriousness quickly lightened as a smirk appeared briefly on his face. “Besides, I could use a break from keeping you alive. You gave them back their pain, Clarke. Let’s not add to it by telling them they’re gonna die in 6 months.” She quiertly nodded. “Good. Once everyone’s down, we go home, we get to work. We didn’t survive this long just to let a little radiation take us out.”

“Thank you, for keeping me alive.” Clarke then said softly. Unfortunately, the peace was short lived when a woman wailed nearby, leading to Clarke running towards her as the latter was kneeled next to the body of a man just sat there, his head falling forward. “He didn’t fall. He chased me in the city of light. Lexa killed him.”

“Wanheda.” The woman stood up, glaring at Clarke, accusing her of doing this. People began staring at the trio, surrounding them.

“Well, this isn’t ominous at all.” Bellamy and Clarke both gave her a look from the corner of their eyes. Michelle’s quiet observation wasn’t supposed to be this sarcastic, but Murphy was probably rubbing off on her, as he did when they were together in the beginning. They walked around and found Abby and Kane had come downstairs.

“Good. You’re down. We have to go.” Clarke exclaimed. “The rover’s in the north woods.”

“What about the wounded?” Abby asked.

“Grounders don’t want our help. Our people we’ll treat at Arkadia.” The girls agreed, nodding at Bellamy’s statement, when Raven’s voice came over the radio, trying to reach out to him. Michelle looked at her two peers’ step away to take her call and knowing they would tell Raven about the fate of the Earth; she went to join them. Raven was reporting to them. Telling them everyone was okay on their side. Bellamy spoke close to the radio. “There’s something we need you to look into.”

“First, tell me how my friends are. Did everyone make it? Clarke?” The latter took the radio to make herself known, thanking her for her help. Michelle assumed Raven somehow helped her in the city of light.

“Did Alie ever tell you why she created the city of light?”

“No... Why?” They looked up as they heard a grounder proclaim that King Roan was still alive. He had been shot by Kane himself before chaos unravelled in the throne room, but apparently survived. He needed a healer ASAP. Clarke sent Bellamy to take care of filling in Raven with the news while she looked back to her mom, and they ran toward where Roan had been carried. Michelle and Kane followed them there. They got down to his side and after she was told he was shot trying to help Clarke, Abby checked for an exit wound but there was none. They had to get the bullet out quickly but then, a blade was suddenly drawn to Clarke's throat, and she had to step away from Roan. It was an Azgedan woman, given she called Roan her king. Abby tried to reason with her, saying she could help if only she would let her, but the Azgedan dismissed her offer. They had their own healer and she seemed dead set on not letting them, Sky people, touch the king. Bellamy came rushing towards them, calling her by what was probably her name, Echo, and Michelle wondered how he even knew her already. Maybe he met her back at Mount Weather, among the emprisoned grounders. That was her only guess. Kane grabbed his arms, stopping him in his tracks.

“Let her go, Echo. Let her go.” He repeated through gritted teeth. He wasn’t playing when Clarke’s life was at stake. Echo wasn’t keen to talk with him, telling him off. Panting, Clarke attempted to speak with her.

“Your king is my friend. Let us help him.”

“I saw you in the city of Light. I know you destroyed it. Thank you for that.” She then uncermenously pushed her towards her peers and she stumbled, catching herself on Bellamy. “Look around you. Skaikru did this to us. Because of them, Ontari, your rightful commander, is dead. This imposter stole her flame.”

“No.” Michelle looked at her father as he rose his voice angrily. “Wanheda saved us, all of us – grounders and Skaikru.”

“There would have been nothing to save us from if not for you.”

“Azgeda has no authority here.”

“We do now.” She argued. “In the name of King Roan, as rightful caretakers of the throne of the commanders, Polis is now under Azgeda rule.”

Another grounder woman chimed in, walking towards her, challenging the claim she made, demanding where her war chief was, but as she then replied, the latter was dead. Michelle noted she called the woman ambassador. Echo, being apparently a member of the queen’s guard – the late mother of Roan who was previously Queen of Azgeda – informed that command of the army had fallen to her, until the king woke and came to his senses. If he even did.

“Until a new commander can ascend, Polis is to be ruled by ambassadors of the coalition. If Azgeda wants it, they must take it by force.” As she was speaking, Echo swinged her sword across from her, slitting the woman’s throat and Michelle’s eyes twitched, taking a step back in shock. Her father put his arm in front of her, grabbing her shoulder and making her move further back, bringing her closer to him in protection. Feeling her father pull her back, she reflexively brought her hand upwards and held onto her father’s arm and stared as blood poured heavily from the woman’s neck, her eyes wide as her body collapsed to the ground in a thud. With this act, Echo made it clear that Azgeda had taken the city. And she then declared that no Sky people was to leave the city, trapping the lot of them once again. And it would be so until Roan woke up, as he would, hopefully, restore and uphold the coalition and make Skaikru the 13th clan again, as Lexa did before she died, and it all went to shit. He people shouted in unison.

“Looks like saving the world will have to wait.” Bellamy mumbled to Clarke and Michelle. The two slowly turned their heads towards him, looking at each other with a concerned frowned. Roan was transported in a room inside the tower and Kane told one of Arkadia’s guards that came with them to gather the others. They couldn’t enter the room where Roan was so they stood in another, with candles all over the walls.

Michelle was standing near Clarke as the latter looked at the flame in her hands. She looked up upon hearing her mother talk to Kane, and so did Michelle. His wrist and hands were hurting, and Abby softly lifted the top of his bandage, peeking at his wound. Michelle’s heart sank at the though of her father out there on the cross, until he gave in and took the chip. And to think she was going to kill him… She desperately wanted to not think about it, but it was all she could think about, and the guilt it brought. He held Abby’s face softly as he spoke to her. Michelle and Clarke glanced at each other, a tiny smile raising the corner of their lips. They grew up together, their mothers being best friends and they became best friends themselves, and they always considered themselves to be like sisters, but seeing their parents be together, they really were a family, and it was a nice, recomforting thought in the midst of all these troubles. Indra and Octavia then came in and he walked towards them. They looked at each other and bringing an arm behind his back, she pulled him into a firm but friendly hug. Michelle took her eyes off her dad and turned around upon hearing someone walk behind her. It was Bellamy. He stopped by her and Clarked, his arms crossed.

“You’re not gonna like it.” He instantly told them.

“When you destroyed the city of light,” Indra spoke up. “there were a thousand Azgeda warriors inside the city of Polis.”

“Good timing.” Octavia commented.

“Only way to remove them is by force.”

“Then let’s remove them.”

“Slow down. You’re talking about a war.” Abby tried to talk to her daughter.

“Yes. Rockline, Flokru, and Broadleaf will join Trikru without question, but we’ll still be short.” Indra’s addition didn’t convince Abby, who still thought this was madness and while the idea of a war was indeed madness, they had to do something about the Azgedan hold onto Polis. Clarke wanted to act; her mother wanted them to leave the city with the others while they still had time. Michelle agreed with what her father then told her, because he was right. The Azgedan knew their whereabouts, they knew where Skaikru lived, and fleeing would only lead them to follow them back to Arkadia and attack their camp and they wouldn’t be able to fight an entire army.

“There are 8 other clans.” He continued. “How do we get them to join us?”

“I can do it, but I’ll need the flame.” Indra turned to Clarke, but the latter refused to give it to her.

“Clarke, the clans will follow whoever has the flame.” Bellamy said.

“Azgeda won’t.”

“Then we fight.” Octavia spoke. “That’s the point.”

“No. No, it’s not. The point is, there’s no time for a fight. We have to save Roan.”

“Save him? They won’t let us near him.”

“Wait a second.” Abby stared at Clarke, sensing something was wrong. “What don’t we know?”

“The reason Alie created the city of light.” She paused, glancing at Michelle and Bellamy before telling the rest of them. Pinching their lips, they gave her a nod. “Nuclear reactors inside the power plants that survived the bombs are melting down. Radiation levels are already rising. If we can’t figure out a way to fix it, all of us will be dead in 6 months.” Both Kane and Alie were somewhat doubtful of what Alie had told her but they had Raven looking into it and in any case, Clarke believed that the AI had said the truth about what was happening to the power plants.

“Even if it’s true, that’s 6 months away.” Indra noted. “There are thousands ice nation warriors on the street who want to kill us today.”

“They won’t kill us.”

“How could you possibly know that?” Octavia asked Clarke.

“Because we’re gonna surrender.” Everyone looked at each other, clearly baffled, not knowing what to say to that. It seemed there was really no other choice for them anyway. The group exited the room they were kept in and met Echo and the Azgedan warriors outside, pushing Jaha in front of them. He looked like he was in pain, and it was easy to assume they had beat him. He was, after all, the one who initiated this whole Alie situation, bringing the key with him and encouraging people to take it. Echo grabbed him, said something to his ear and threw him their way. He fell on the ground, held his side as he winced from the pain as he struggled to get up. Kane was the one to come forward and he helped Jaha as the latter stumbled in his direction. He spoke to him as he hugged him, because this whole encounter was actually just a distraction. Michelle carefully looked up to the side, to where she knew Bellamy was posted with a sniper. Michelle knew Jaha had brought them a body, supposedly Ontari’s, so that she would be with her people, but it was really Octavia being sneaked in the room to take out everyone there and clear the way for Abby and Clarke so that they could take care of Roan. Michelle knew she wouldn’t be of any use to her friend, and they didn’t need multiple snipers watching over them out there, so she just stayed with her dad.

Night had fallen. Michelle and Bellamy were talking with Indra and Kane, standing around the other guards from Arkadia, by the light of the torch. Michelle was quiet, leaning against the wall, starting to feel somewhat tired, barely listening to the conversation the others were having, and she stared into space, until she saw movement from the corner of her eyes, to her left and she looked yo, realizing it was Murphy walking towards them. He was accompanied by that girl she saw him hug back in the tower. She hadn’t paid much attention to her back there so she barely noticed her, but she could take a real look at her then. She had markings on her face, like some grounders they had seen before. They had stopped in their tracks, the girl telling him something, but Murphy crossed Michelle’s gaze. It seemed his girlfriend didn’t want to go towards them, so Murphy went ahead and approached Bellamy and Michelle. She slightly nudged him and motioned towards Murphy with her chin. Indra saw him look away and called him back to the conversation which revolved around Echo and the Azgedan. She was apparently part of the royal guard, which were literal spies, untrustworthy.

“That’s why she’s not marked. Very dangerous. Very loyal.”

“Not to the people who saved her life.”

“Bellamy, I know how you feel about her, but you can’t lose control.” Kane said. “You offer them technology, guns, whatever it takes to keep her talking. Is that clear?”

“I didn’t agree to give them guns.” Indra argued.

“Well, that’s probably because you’re not an idiot.” Murphy joined the conversation. Kane then assured it wouldn’t get that far, they only really wanted to buy themselves some time for Abby to save King Roan.

“If you want to help, grab a weapon, stand a post.” He then told Murphy and Bellamy handed his gun to him. He gave him a nod, but Michelle was staring at him, and she might be standing somewhat in Bellamy’s shadow, the flame’s light flickered in her eyes. And she actually knew Murphy quite well, and she knew he hadn’t walked up to them to simply offer his assistance. She knew he had his own agenda and with his girlfriend standing a few feet away, who she crossed eyes with for a second, she was sure of it, and then it was as if a light turned on in her head and she subtly shook her head. Murphy and his girlfriend wanted to take off, but the guards were in the way. That was the only possible reason why he even came to talk to them in the first place. She wasn’t disappointed, she expected something like this, and she stopped looking at him, kind of ignoring his presence, which he noticed because she felt his eyes on her but didn’t look back. Bellamy walked ahead of them, she stayed behind with her dad, Indra, Murphy and the guards as he headed towards the Azgedan, sat together in the distance. They immidietaly all stood up as he came in their area. Michelle saw Murphy go to stand in a corner as he was supposed to stand post and cover for him, but with everyone moved out of the way, he could leave if he wanted and as he turned around, he almost walked into Michelle as she stood right behind him. She wasn’t even going to stop him, but she wanted Bellamy’s gun back. She had a smaller gun in her hand and turned it around, putting the gun’s butt against his chest. He apologized, though he didn’t precisely say it was because he was leaving without a word, yet again, but they both knew she was already aware of his intentions so there was no need to say anything else.

“Just fucking go.” She spoke under her breath and grabbed Bellamy’s gun and watched him sneak away from the corner of her eye as she stood post in his stead. She leaned against the stone wall, in a corner and watched as Echo walked down the stairs to meet with Bellamy. After a few minutes of watching them talk, Echo turned around and Bellamy grabbed her wrist to stop her, prompting both sides to step forward, her warriors raising their swords. Michelle tightened her grip on the gun’s handle. She still didn’t take aim, keeping its butt against her shoulder, the cannon facing down. Echo didn’t take kindly to him grabbing her and immobilized him on the ground, putting her knife to his throat. She rose her voice to Michelle and the others.

“Guns on the ground or he dies.”

“We disarm, we’re done.” Indra told Kane, quietly.

“Abby’ll come through. Do what she says. Guns on the ground, now.” The guards obeyed, and Michelle came out of behind the corner, standing right beside her father as she put down the gun. No one had realized Murphy was gone. It really all happened the exact same way as months ago, when it took people an entire afternoon to figure out, he was gone. They had more pressing matters to tend to anyway, she wasn’t eager to tell anyone about him leaving. They had to watch as Bellamy was unceremoniously picked up by a guard and dragged away as Echo headed for the room where Roan was kept. They heard some yelling, but it subsided. No screams or ruckus. Roan had probably woken up. Azgedan guards then came for the rest of them, some fled, but Michelle, Kane, Octavia and a bunch of the guards were put in a cell, shackled to the walls. Sat on the floor, curled up with her cheek crushed against the wall, her eyelids twitched and opened as she woke up with a subtle jump after having a nightmare about the grounder strangling her back in the elevator. She sighed and frowned at the daylight coming through the barred window at the top of the wall. She lifted her head and kinda looked around before standing up, with Bellamy and Kane chained on both sides of her.

“Your cheek’s red.” Bellamy said, almost in a whisper, smiling softly.

“At least there’s no blood on it.” She was used to getting blood on her at this point, as she always managed to get herself hurt. She got on her tiptoes to try and look out the window but ended up just glancing at her chains after she pulled on, unconsciously bringing her hand to her neck. She kept to herself about her bad dream and stared at the wall until they heard noise coming from the cell door. The grouder keeping guard opened it and a whole bunch of them walked in with a determined step.

“Wanheda, on your feet.”

“Where’s the king?” Clarke stood up as Echo came to face her while the guards held their blades up to the prisoners. She cried out, asking to see Roan but a cloth was thrown over her head. Bellamy and Michelle immediately reacted, with Bellamy trying to call out to Echo but no one got any answer. On their way out, the grounders threw a punch at Bellamy, making him bend over, his arms pulling on the chains. Michelle instantly went for him, grabbing his arm as they watched their friend being taken away, helpless. But they were soon reassured when grounders came to free the rest of them and everyone joined the crown outside as Roan stood before them, with his bone crown on his head, addressing his people. Michelle knew he was a king but that was the first time she actually saw him as such.

“I know you’ve all come here for an execution, but no one else will die here today. The city of light has fallen… and there is no commander left to rule us. Until another Nightblood ascends, I – King Roan of Azgeda, eldest son of Nia, grandson of Theo – am caretaker of the throne, and keeper of the flame.” As he spoke, he raised his hand, showing the flame in between his fingers. Some people seemed to protest, though Michelle didn’t quite catch the meaning of their words, but she understood their tone. “Until another ascends, Azgeda honors and will defend the coalition of the last true commander – Lexa Kom Trikru, including the 13th clan. Let it be known that an attack against Skaikru is an attack against us all.”

After his speech, they were met by Echo. Bellamy walked up to her. She was impassible but her annoyance still transpired as she barely pronounced a few words, handing him something from the king. She unfolded the leather wrapping the small object and revealed Roan’s seal, allowing them free and safe passage in any of their lands. He grabbed it and she took a step towards him, her mask cracking. She didn’t look so threatening but Michelle had no idea what they were saying to each other. She could see in the spy’s eyes, the anger or annoyance or whatever emotion she previously had was gone and she seemed somewhat unsettled or disappointed or maybe both as she stepped back, glancing over his shoulder at the group standing behind him, her lips tight. “Welcome back to the coalition.” And she walked away. Bellamy turned on his heels and went back to them. It was time to leave the city.

“We’ll do our best to keep the king on his throne.” Kane assured.

“We’ll find a way to beat the radiation.”

“If either of you screw this up, we die.” Octavia then added, looking at Bellamy, Clarke and Michelle who were standing side by side in front of them. “No pressure.”

“This is serious, O. If anyone finds out why Roan helped us, it’ll be every clan for itself. The king will fall, and they’ll come after us.”

“It’s getting dark. Let’s do this.” Clarke spoke again, before the siblings came for each other’s throat again, or rather, before Octavia felt like it. At first, Michelle watched Clarke and her mother hug and wish each other goodbye, and her eyes then went to her own father. She didn’t want to say goodbye to him again, after having just reunited, a day prior. Sadness tainted her eyes. He shared a handshake with Bellamy, tightening his grip on his hand, the other on his shoulder, to make him look up at him.

“You turn the page, and you don’t look back. You do better than you did yesterday. You understand?” Bellamy subtly nodded, without saying anything. “Before you know it, you’ll deserve to survive.”

“I hope so.” With all that happened, it was understandable that he wasn’t sure he was worthy of surviving. Kane let go of him and turned his head to Michelle, looking at his daughter tenderly, tucking strands of hair behind her ear, before they drew each other into a tight embrace. He softly kissed her temple, stroking her back and she rested her face on his shoulder, closing her eyes, hoping this moment would last forever.

“May we meet again.” She finally uttered, opening her eyes again, a tear rolling over the bridge of her nose. She reluctantly stepped back, his hands holding her shoulders. It pained him to see her sad, and for her he held it together, but he was no less affected by the fact they had to go their separate ways again.

“May we meet again.” She knew how much they had come to mean to each other, and he was now, without the shadow of a doubt, the person she loved most but it really hit her in this moment. She saw in his eyes, how much love he had for her. She felt guilty for ever giving him the silent treatment when she was mad at him, or blaming him for the death of her mother. Later, she would apologize for it all, and he wouldn't even need to think about it before forgiving her. He cupped her cheek in his hand, “I’m proud of you.” and added in a whisper, only for her to hear, “I know your mother would be too.”

She nodded, her lips sealed tight so they wouldn’t quiver, and she lowered her eyes as they got watery again, taking in a deep but shaky breath before she took a step back. Bellamy put a comforting hand on her back and locked eyes with Kane. The two men looked at each other understandingly, giving each other a somewhat solemn nod before they turned around, and left Polis with Clarke. Michelle wiped off her tears and held her head high, looking straight ahead of her.

“Okay, princess. What now?”

“Now we survive.”

[To be continued…]

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter (07/23/2024)

Published (07/19/2024) by Andrea

Taglist: @mirellef2001

4 notes · View notes