Hold On
Chapter One
Clarke was too late. By the time she got the Commander alone to tell her about the bombing they overheard while listening in on a conversation via Bellamy's radio, it had already happened. They heard the explosion and felt the earth break apart, the building they inhabited crashed down on top of them and suddenly everything was black.
Clarke came to slowly, the cries from above them muffled and distorted. She coughed as she breathed in the dirt the fell unceremoniously onto her face, choking on the hot air that smelled of blood and sweat. She slowly gathered her bearing, trying to figure out what had happened. Then it hit her, the missile. She remembered riding to Ton DC as fast as she could, heart heavy and filled with apprehension. She had to warn the clans and her people, but by the time Lexa had told her the only thing they could do was run and save themselves, the missile had struck.
Lexa. Where was she? Clarke tried to move but she was pinned down by a slab of concrete. Luckily she was wedged in between a large portion of rubble, which supported most of the weight of the concrete, keeping it from crushing her underneath it. Looking around, she spotted The Commander, whose fate was not as fortunate. Was she breathing? Yes, Clarke could barely make out the tiny rise and fall of her chest.
Lexa was pinned down under a pillar, trapping her right leg, and she had a nasty gash on her forehead. "Commander," Clarke whispered, receiving no response. "Commander," she said with more volume, again receiving no indication that she had been heard. Worry blossomed in the pit of her stomach and she tried moving the concrete off of her, but to no avail. Squashing the panic that threated to overtake her, she breathed in deeply, forcing herself to calm down.
Slowly, she pulled left her arm out, clenching her jaw against the pain of her raw skin scraping against the rock. Once it was free, she used her hand to help situate herself into a more upright position, pushing against the slab to free her other arm once she had slid back enough. Sitting upright, she was able to carefully climb over the massive rock and make her way over to The Commander.
Lexa was still unconscious but she was breathing, albeit they were shallow breaths. "Lexa," Clarke breathed into her ear, unconsciously putting her hand to brunettes' cheek. "Wake up Commander, open your eyes." The Commander stirred ever so slightly, turning her head into the hand that was caressing her cheek. Clarke continued to coax her back into reality, smiling when The Commander opened her eyes, but quickly frowned when she heard the groan of pain come from the girl lying next to her.
"Clarke," Lexa said, but it came out more of a croak. Her green eyes took in their surroundings, stopping once they reached Clarke's gaze, seeming to relax. "You're safe." she breathed, before closing her eyes. Clarke could only ponder those words for a second before she realized what was happening. "Lexa! No, you have to stay awake, stay with me!" she said, gently shaking the girls shoulder. Lexa strained to open her eyes, exhaustion clear on her face. "I need to remove this pillar from your leg, but it's heavy and I need your help." Clarke doubted the girl could offer much help, but she needed to keep her awake.
Lexa nodded her understanding, and Clarke slowly moved down to her legs, positioning her hand underneath the pillar, watching as Lexa propped herself up and did the same. Surprisingly, they were able to lift it long enough for Lexa to free her leg and scoot to sit back against the wall. Her leg was fine, but she had a long gash along her side that Clarke had missed and needed to be wrapped immediately, Lexa had already lost a lot of blood. Moving up, she took off her sweater and ripped it before straddling the commander, putting her knees on either side of the brunette. She grimaced her apology, but there was not enough space to properly address the wound and respect personal space at the same time.
Lexa's eyes never left Clarke's face as she put her arms around her to wrap the makeshift bandage around her torso. When Clarke was satisfied, she looked up and was caught in Lexa's gaze, piercing green eyes looking at her with an almost uncomfortable intensity. When Clarke finally looked away she realized their compromising position and quickly but carefully removed herself from Lexa's lap, essentially, and sat next her, resting her back on the wall behind her.
"We must get out of this hole, Clarke," Lexa said, after some time had passed. She moved to get up but Clarke moved to keep her where she was. "Absolutely not, I'm not letting you even think about digging us out of here. Not only could we make this whole thing collapse on top of us, you're in no physical condition for such a strenuous activity."
Lexa narrowed her eyes at this, "I do not take commands and I will not die here."
"One of those statements is true, we will not die here. Actually you might bleed out and die if you don't stay exactly where you are, but here you get to listen to me. There is no one here for you to command, but I do have a job as a healer, so in this hole, I'm in charge."
Lexa widened her eyes in surprise at the steel tone in the voice of the sky princess, but complied nonetheless. "We will be found down here, they're probably looking for survivors as we speak. All we can do is wait." Clarke said, looking above them.
They had no idea what was happening above them, had no idea how many people had survived. The feeling of helplessness was not one Lexa was partial to, but Clarke was right. All she could do was hope to be found down here, her people knew that their Commander and the Sky Princess had entered this building together; she only hoped they didn't assume they were dead. She supposed it didn't matter if they did, they'd have to dig through to claim their bodies anyway. If they thought her dead, they knew where her body was and it was their duty to give it proper burial rites.
