It's a strange thing, not being afraid. It is innately part of every animal's defense mechanism. Fear is what will ultimately kill you or save you. This wasn't the case for Clarke because there was absolutely nothing to be afraid of, until today.
For the last six years, the earth was silent, still, void of life, minus the 1,200 people that were hundreds of miles away stuck in an underground bunker, and of course, Clarke. All of the wildlife, the greenery, the forests; everyone and everything were gone.
A few weeks after the death wave, Clarke finally healed enough from the exposure to the radiation to begin her plan to survive. She had been living on rations, but she knew that would only keep her for a few months, and she stuck there for the next five years. After finding Becca's notebooks, textbooks and other research material on algae farms, she went to work. It took her weeks before she got the hang of it but she did, and soon she was growing her own food.
The hardest part was the solitude. Even the most excruciating pain would not compare to the torture that was being alone and confined for so long. After the first year, she would scream into the void as loud and for as long as she could, trying to find some semblance of sanity. Other days she would have imaginary conversations with Bellamy or her mother, using words she knew they would only use, saying things they would only say.
Nearly a year ago, the sunlight dripped off of her skin for the first time in half a decade. It felt so foreign, and so absolutely freeing. The earth was still scorched for as many miles as her eyes could see, but the perimeter of the lab had begun flourish. Small plants were sprouting from the ground, patches of grass found their way through the burnt earth and there were even small bugs crawling along the charred remains of tree trunks.
Her first thought was Polis, the bunker, her mother. They would still be alive if they had stuck to the plan they had devised 5 years ago. A day later she began her trek to Polis. The rover that was left needed too many repairs and she needed to go as soon possible.
It took her close to a week to reach what was once the teeming city of Polis. She found the area that the bunker should have been, but the debris was too large and too heavy and there was no way to go through. She tried for days, anything she thought of. The radio she brought was no use, there was no signal and no one had responded. It was an impossible feat since she was the only one there. She needed help and she had none.
She left, defeated and angry, and headed back to the lab, hoping that the help she needed and wanted were on their way.
Today marked a year and two months since Clarke had stepped outside again. She was laying on top of the rover that was now running. Her satellite was set up with her radio, as it always was. She had the radio on her chest and she would speak into it every now and again. It was a ritual at this point, doing the same thing every day at the same time
She was just about to shut off her radio and wrap it up for the day, when a loud noise broke the silence. She bolted upwards, half jumping, half falling off of the rover.
A spaceship had broken into the atmosphere and was headed for the ground. Just as Clarke thought it was going to crash, it leveled out, and hovered near the ground. She grabbed her rifle and looked through the scope to survey the ship. 'Prisoner transport' was stamped onto the side of it, but there were no other notable markings or symbols.
She didn't know who these people were or what they were doing here or if they were even her friends. But she knew she was afraid, and she hadn't felt fear in a very long time.