AU: Italics represent speaking in Trigedasleng. This is just my take on what could happen following season 4 finale. Just something to keep me preoccupied until the show returns.

She awoke before dawn and watched as shadows formed by trees grew and stretched around her. The clouds in the sky were illuminated golden orange and pink hues, and looked almost as though they had been from a painting. Slowly the rest of the world began to awaken. Dawn wasn't quite like what it was before praimfaya; the forest did not harbour the voices of birds singing nor the cries of cicadas. More significantly, there were no longer the sounds of other people.

In fact, as far as Clarke was aware it was only herself and one other person who was left to roam the surface of the Earth. She dodged the thoughts of the crushing loneliness, knowing that it could be worse. She was lucky to find a companion at all. The air was crisp, and left a biting sensation her throat, and was a strong contrast to the feeling of the sunlight on her pale skin.

"Wake up my little natblida," she whispered, brushing locks deep brown hair away from her companion's face. The young girl's nose crinkled as she frowned, her eyebrows bunched together in an exasperated frown.
"Just five more minutes," she slurred, only half awake. Clarke rolled her eyes. Nearly every morning they went through the same routine. It was in these five minutes that Clarke tried her luck in transmitting a radio signal to her friends up in the Ark. She couldn't afford to lose hope, somehow she just knew that they were still up there. Maybe one day they would hear me, she pondered hopefully.

Hope. She gripped onto it tightly, it motivated her every morning to get up. To try make the planet a better place. She needed it to fight against the hard times. Clarke set her small radio and satellite by the edge of the forest, and leaned against a tree. Wide eyed, she stared up at the cosmos above. She closed her eyes for a moment, and sighed deeply. She did this everyday, and the longer she didn't get a reply, the more she became nervous. There had been times where she had talked all day to the radio. Hoping, almost begging, that her friends would hear her.

"I know you're up there, I just hope that you hear this," she whispered into her radio. As usual there was no reply. "It's really quite beautiful down here, every morning I can see that there is more life coming back. I wish you guys were here to see it," she hesitated, looking over to her companion behind her. "The Earth has been habitable for over a year now. It's been six years and six days since I have last seen any of you. Two thousand, one hundred and ninety eight days." Clarke nodded to herself thinking about the figure. Saying out loud how long it has been since she saw any of her friends, she felt a strong sense of loneliness and worry over how they had changed over all this time.

She had only come to known them closely over the course a year- they had spent six times that amount of time with each other on the one space station. While their bonds deepened and developed, Clarke worried that when they did return she would be an outsider to them and all they had experienced. "I've tried to contact those in Polis, but they're also silent. The rubble is seemed impossible to move, everyday it seems there is more. Yet, I'll try move some again today. Maybe if I just move a little every day, it'll all be clear one day. But maybe there's no one even left to clear it for." Clarke closed her eyes tightly.

Her chest ached at the thought of those who she loved all perishing in the bunker. Her mother, Octavia, Marcus, Indra, the list went on. They were all strong, but she knew that they couldn't survive not having enough oxygen, water, or food. There were so many things that could have gone wrong. "I don't know why I said that. They have to be alive. If you were planning on landing today, again, just aim for this island of green that I'm on. The rest of the world appears to be," she paused before continuing, "a barren wasteland." Though she knew they could probably see it from the Ark, she felt guilty at the description.

She wondered how the twelve hundred people trapped inside the bunker would react to seeing the Earth as it was now. They wouldn't have the slightest clue over how things would be up here. Majority of the people who were inside the bunker were Grounders who had not known anything but life on a relatively lush Earth. Even Ice Nation would be shocked at how barren the Earth was now. Clarke worried that even if they weren't trapped under piles of rubbish if there would be enough to sustain them all here. As it was, Clarke worried that she exhausted the scant resources that the Earth had to offer her.

"I know that one day you'll return. I'll check in again tonight, but for now I suppose I don't have much else to report." She stopped holding down the button on the side of the radio which allowed for her to transmit her voice. There was no reply.

Clarke's companion walked over slowly, not wanting to disturb her. She knew that it could be tough talking to her friends, not knowing if they were listening or if they were even alive. Madi knew that she had to be strong for her companion and could not let her give up.

"Stay strong, you know that they're okay," she said, gripping Clarke's shoulder. Clarke forced a smile on her face, "I know, Madi, I'm lucky to have you." Madi poked her tongue out at Clarke playfully and danced away from her. "Yes you are lucky! Does that mean no lessons today?"

The older of the two let out a snort, rolling her eyes. She wished that Madi would understand the importance of the lessons she was teaching her. "You wish."

The two set upon their days in a comfortable silence. Rarely would they talk, they simply relished in each other's presence. They had a comfortable rhythm and a steady routine they followed most days. Often, they scavenged from what was left of villages and from Polis. Though the praimfaya had destroyed much, there were some things which had survived the nuclear wave. The two had a decent collection of weapons, medication, clothing and other non essential items. Though the two mostly lived in the rover and slept wherever the road took them, though they did have an official place they called home. The lighthouse bunker.

It was not the easiest of places to travel to, however, when they did make the effort, they were able to enjoy hot showers, comfortable beds, listening to music and watching old films thanks to the spare solar panels which Clarke had managed to set up. Often, they shared the same room. Though they had the whole world to themselves, the pair rarely were far from each other's sides. So even with the entire bunker to share, they usually slept in the same bed. As time passed, Clarke could see the need that Madi once had to constantly be around her was gradually decreasing.

Though fourteen years old now, Madi looked much older to Clarke. Her skin already seemed weathered from the harsh conditions of the Earth, and Clarke could see that sometimes her smiles did not reach her eyes. It was as though that already at such a young age, Madi felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. And in some ways, she did. Every day she was pushed to make the next day better just in case, as Clarke would put it, that her people returned from the sky or the bunker opened.

"It is our responsibility as the only ones on the ground to make it the best it possibly can be for others who may one day join us. We must do what is best for humankind," Clarke gazed into Madi's sparkling green eyes. Clarke's posture was strong, her voice stern and unrelenting. "It is our duty to our people."

Sometimes Clarke wondered if Madi was closely related to Lexa; they had similar eyes, hair, and smiles. It wasn't a far fetched theory, Clarke debated.

"Clarke, look above," Madi excitedly whispered, pointing to some of the trees above them. "When was the last time we had seen this many birds before?" she continued.

"Not since before…" Clarke trailed off, her breath hitching. It seemed that no large animals had survived the nuclear wave which had burnt most of the civilisation to the ground. Or at least, not in the green valley which the two resided in.

"They're beautiful, there's a nest of babies too," Madi whispered. Clarke smiled, happy to see her companion so entranced with nature.

At late afternoon, the pair were once again at the outskirts of the fallen city of Polis. The debris and rubble was intimidating, even after all this time. Clarke could barely locate where her friends were likely to be trapped underneath it all. Madi sighed, looking out at all of it.
"We're never going to be able to move enough of it," she grumbled sardonically. Clarke sent her a glare, "Well have you got a better idea on how we can get them out?" she snapped impatiently. It was rare that she lost her temper with Madi. The younger woman gave her a pained stare, "That's not what I meant…"
"No, that's exactly what you meant. And maybe you're right," Clarke conceded. For the first time in months, she simply walked back to the rover, ready to give up. She twisted the face of the satellite better, before asking if anyone could read her.

She felt a stab of guilt at snapping at Madi. She almost never did that. Madi gave her a pleading stare, conveying the apology that she wanted to give, but knew that she didn't need to vocalise.

"We'll think of something else. There has to be another way to get to them all," she said, hopeful. Clarke tried to smile, hoping that she was right. The two simply packed up the satellite and radio, and turned around the rover back towards the heart of the green valley.

By the time it was night, the temperature had dropped low, almost to freezing. One of the side effects from the changing environment of the world was the cold. Clarke and Madi sat closely around a fire, in a cave which protected them from the wind. "Tell me about another story of you growing up on the ARK," Madi asked Clarke who was in a world of her own. Madi loved to hear about what it was like on the space station, finding it enchanting that she lived among the stars.

"You know all about my friend Wells, but I don't think I told you the time he and I…" Clarke loved to share stories about her life growing up almost as much as Madi liked hearing about them. By the time Clarke had finished sharing her story, Madi was asleep. It was the perfect time for her to try radioing her friends again.

"Can anyone read me?"

"Here we go again," Clarke muttered to herself, sitting down on a dead log covered with moss. "Bellamy, can you hear me?" she looked out the expanse of greenery in front of her. "If you can hear me, it's been 2,199 days since praimfaya. I don't know why I still do this everyday. Maybe it's my way of staying sane. Not forgetting who I am." she let go of the button which transmitted her signal. No reply. She quirked her left eyebrow, "who I was." In a pained voice, she continued, "It's been safe for you to come down for over a year now," she gave a tight smile, her forehead creasing. "Why haven't you," she whispered. She felt a hollow. "The bunkers gone silent, we tried digging them out for a while but," she shook her head and looked at her shoes. "There's too much rubble. I haven't made contact with them either. Anyway, I still have hope. Tell Raven to aim for the one spot of green and you'll find me. The rest of the planet from what I've seen basically sucks."

All of a sudden, there was a loud sound that Clarke couldn't mistake. It was of a rocket breaking through the atmosphere. Her jaw dropped and she almost cried, standing up suddenly. The wind picked up around her, the branches of trees whipping in the wind. "Never mind, I see you," she almost dropped the radio entirely, and ran to the back of the rover.
"Sha ta strik, ma natblida," she cooed to Madi. "No lessons today," Madi grumbled. Clarke smiled, listening to the sound of the rocket descending. Madi's eyes widened, and she sat upright when she heard what was going on outside. "Took you long enough," Clarke teased, and the two climbed outside of the rover.
"I thought you said the rocket was small?" Madi enquired, confused at the spacecraft that was now not far from the ground. Clarke frowned in confusion. It was a small spacecraft. She ran over to Madi, joining her. It was indeed not small at all.

It wasn't unlike any other spacecraft she had seen. It seemed to hover midair slowly, making a controlled landing. Assessing the situation, she felt panic bubble up inside of her. "Madi, go grab my rifle, now." she demanded. Madi did not hesitate.

Clarke assessed the spacecraft and spotted the words 'Eligius Corporation' and 'Gagarin prisoner transportation' painted on the side of the spacecraft. She had never heard of that corporation before, nor of any other colonies that were out there in space in fact.

"We're here!" Madi cried out loudly, waving her arms around. "Get down," Clarke pulled Madi down to the ground with her. "I need you to back up the rover. Get it out of sight. Then get ready all of the guns." She spoke rapidly, knowing that she had no time to hesitate in her actions.
"All of them?"
"All of them."

AN: So I think I'm going to - for the first few chapters at least - break things up from the perspectives of those on the ground, in the bunker, and on the Ark.