Chapter 2:
Before her, she saw a city. It wasn't like the cities of old earth she'd seen in photos and film, but if a city is someplace where a lot of people are trying to squeeze into a small space, this was a city by that definition. It was as if they'd tried to locate a place with the least amount of damage after the bombs so they could try to recreate what once was.
There were tall buildings that were dilapidated. Stories were missing at the top, but the ones that remained were mostly open to the outside. Clarke guessed those buildings were lined with windows and the glass breaking left the floors open to the elements. People were clearly living in some of them or working in them. She wasn't sure which as she tried to take it all in from her bound position inside the cart.
There were homes leftover from the past that people were coming in and out of. Most of them looked like the man who had been pulling her. Grounders, but not warriors. Lincoln had told them all that only the warriors spoke English. Clarke and her people had only ever met the warriors. It dawned on her that the society here was made of up everyday people. There were probably people here who had never seen battle; never held a weapon.
The man walked over to another man who did have a weapon. It was a sword and it was carried close to his side with his hand pressing against it. Both of them looked her way and fear came over her as she worried about what they were going to do. She never should have used that gun, but she was starving and had no choice. She heard them talking, but didn't speak enough of the language to understand what they were saying. She tried to escape the binds, but there was no use. Even if she could get out of whatever was tying her hands together, her ankle injury meant it would be impossible to run away. Instead she just looked around, trying to take in as much as she could. If they didn't kill her right away, there was a chance she could find a way out later.
The man picked up the cart and pulled it along down what looked to be the main street of the city while the man with the sword followed behind them. The cart was dropped near a building that looked like it had once been a larger house. It looked as if it had existed in some way prior to the bombs going off, but that someone or maybe a group of people had taken parts from one house and added them to another and then covered it with tin sheets and other things to make it weather proof and livable. The man with the sword walked ahead and opened the door. The man pulling the cart just walked off into the crowd of people in the street.
"You will come here." The warrior ordered.
"I can't." Clarke explained. "He tied me up and my ankle-"
The man interrupted her with a grunt and walked over to help lift her out of the cart. He didn't untie her hands or offer to help her walk though.
"Now." He stated.
"Where am I?" She asked. "Is this the capital?"
"You will go." He pointed with one hand while gripping his sword with the other.
"Fine." Clarke acquiesced.
She walked up three stairs and through the open door. The man followed her and closed the door behind her.
"You will see our Commander. She will decide your fate, wanderer."
"Lexa?" She asked with both worry and excitement in her voice. At least she knew Lexa. She had no idea if Lexa's special treatment of her would extend now that the alliance between their two groups had been broken, but it would be a familiar face.
The hallway was dark, but lit with candles and some light from the outside windows that were mostly covered. To the right was a room that appeared to be a war room like the one they'd had at camp. There was a giant table with maps resting on it.
A few hobbles later, Clarke saw a room on the left. It appeared to be the kitchen. Food was sitting on an old counter and something was cooking in a big pot on the stove. Her stomach growled and she wished she could eat everything in sight. They made their way to stairs and crept up them. They'd been repaired over and over with different types of wood. Once she made it up the stairs and received a shove from the man, it dawned on her that she hadn't seen anyone in the house and she was alone with this man.
She started to think about how she could get out of the situation if she had to make a move and came up with nothing that would actually work. She stood in front of a closed door. The warrior still said nothing in reply as the door opened. There was a throne similar to the one she'd seen Lexa sit in many times before against the back wall of what used to be a bedroom. There were tables lining both sides of the room that had odds and ends strewn over them. Then, there was Indra sitting in that throne where Lexa should be.
Fear and worry spread over her, but this time these feelings weren't for herself, but for the commander who should be sitting in that chair.
"Sky Girl." Indra greeted with slight malice.
"Indra? Where's Lexa? What happened?" Clarke begged to know.
"You don't ask questions, Sky Girl. You were trespassing on our land while the alliance between our people is broken."
Clarke's breathing quickened. Indra was never a big fan of the alliance and she was definitely not a fan of Clarke's. Indra really only liked Octavia, but then Octavia betrayed her or at least in her mind she did.
"Heda?" Clarke began in an attempt to show respect. "I didn't mean to trespass. I had no idea where I was going."
"You were armed!" She yelled and the warrior dug her two guns out of his fur and tossed them on the ground along with the knife. The rest of her supplies were left in the woods when she was taken including her father's watch, which she'd so stupidly kept inside the backpack. Finn died because of that watch, she thought to herself.
"I left my people, Heda. After what happened, I left. I had the gun on me. I found the other one. I was only using them for protection and to shoot animals for food."
"How am I to trust that? The alliance was broken when Heda chose our people over you. You must feel revenge in your bones, Sky Girl." She stood.
"I don't." Clarke acknowledged. "I don't feel anything toward your people." It was the truth. She harbored no ill will toward the grounders. It wasn't their decision to leave and they were suffering too and long before the ark ever crashed down to earth.
"What to do with you…" Indra pondered as she took a few steps toward Clarke. She looked down to see that Clarke's weight was balanced awkwardly. "You're injured?"
"I hurt my ankle, but I'm okay." She didn't mention the pain in her head from being struck. Indra walked around Clarke as if examining her for some reason. "Indra, if you want to kill me, just do it." She stated and meant it. She'd never been the suicidal type, but death would mean the pain would finally end. She was hoping to be spared the death of a thousand cuts that she'd watched Raven almost endure and prevented Finn from having to die from.
"Oh, you want to die now?" Indra teased. There was something about that mocking tone that made Clarke question her previous statement.
"If you're going to do it, please just tell me what happened to Lexa." It was all she could think to say. She no longer cared about herself and her people were safe back at the camp. The only remaining lingering thought and worry was of Lexa.
"The Commander returns from a hunt tonight. I rule in her stead." She admitted and took her seat back on the throne. "And I don't think she'd like me to kill her pet Sky Girl."
Lexa was okay. Clarke sighed.
"Thank you." Clarke acknowledged the gift Indra had reluctantly given her.
"You shall remain bound and we will hold you until Heda can determine what to do with you. Take her." She ordered the warrior. Clarke hated the idea of remaining caged, but she had no choice but to listen to Indra. As she was turned and walked out the door by the man, she heard Indra shuffle behind them. "Clarke of the Sky People…" She started and Clarke turned. "What of Octavia?" She asked standing in front of the throne.
"She's fine." Clarke replied with a small nod. "She was protecting her brother, Indra. She only did what she thought-"
"Take her away." Indra commanded, but not in the same authoritative voice as before. It was more about her not wanting to her Clarke's reasoning for Octavia's behavior back at the mountain. Clarke suspected Indra had a heart, but her worrying over Octavia's life confirmed that she, like her commander, did have one. It was just used sparingly.
Clarke was taken out of the building and into another one close by. She was led into a room that had a bed and not much else. The warrior who'd escorted her closed the door as soon as she was inside the room and she suspected he was standing guard just outside it. She stood for a moment and looked around trying to see if there was a way out, but the one window in the room had been boarded up on the inside and there was no way she'd be able to do anything about it with her hands still tied behind her back. The only thing she could do was wait. She had no idea what time it was or what time Lexa would return and get to her to determine her fate as Indra had put it. She sat on the edge of the bed to take the weight off her ankle and she really wished she had an ice pack to help the swelling go down, but there was nothing she could do about that now. After what felt like a long time, she finally laid down uncomfortably on her back with her arms still behind her. She thought about asking the guard to tie them in front of her instead, but decided against it. He probably wouldn't anyway. She shifted a few times to try to get comfortable and eventually fell asleep.
When she woke, she didn't know how much time had passed, but the little bit of light that was coming from between the boards on the window earlier had disappeared. She sat herself up and looked to her right where the door was and nothing had changed.
"Hello, Clarke."
She turned to her left and saw her sitting there. She was stripped of her warrior gear and make up. She looked like any other girl Clarke would have encountered on the ark, but she wasn't. She was the Commander.
"Lexa." She whispered without really understanding why.