Bouncing her leg anxiously, Myles' hazel eyes are stuck on the two joined tables in Tondc's dining hall. The table is covered with scrap pieces of metal and wood, making a detailed three-dimensional map of the land around Mount Weather based off of the drawings the two Arkers had made. Clarke stands beside her and Major Byrne across from them, they're the only three Arkers still in the village, and the table is surrounded by a dozen high profile warriors from the commanders clan. Lexa stands with the rest of them, her face hard and stoic as Clarke argues back and forth with the warriors about a plan of attack.
The blonde had come to find her while she and Raven were showing Bellamy what to look for to communicate with them from within Mount Weather the night before. Clarke had gone to the commander to sort out a game plan, but the young woman had demanded Myles be present for the discussion, leaving Bellamy and Lincoln to traverse the reaper tunnels alone. Everyone else had gone back to Camp Jaha, including a portion of the grounders army lead by Indra, to train and prepare for the battle.
Myles hasn't participated much in this debate, not seeing the point in it. If Bellamy completes his part in her plan, then it'll be a straight shot, and the Arkers paired with the grounders army will be a force to be reckoned with. The tricky part will be keeping the 47 Arkers and the hundreds of grounders held hostage inside alive, which will be depend heavily on time. Clarke is vocalising a very similar method as Myles is thinking, but Lexa and her warriors are very straight forward thinkers. To them, it's cut and dry, any causalities will be nothing in the grand scheme of things once Mount Weather is defeated, and if they act now, they can get the majority of the army close enough before the fog reaches them.
"This argument is a waste of time," a warrior standing at the table named Quint bellows aggressively. "It is simple. If they can't breathe our air, why not just open the door and be done with it? Let them burn!"
Myles turns her head to look fleetingly around her when a chorus of 'burn', and 'burn them' flows from the dozen grounders in the room. Blonde hair shakes in the corner of her eyes, and Myles huffs dramatically, tipping her head back in exasperation.
Clarke is clearly not through with this argument, "no, because they have a containment system."
"Multiple airlocks," Myles agrees tiredly, reciting the words she's heard several times since the two teens had left Mount Weather. Lexa flicks her eyes from the table to her hazel, the black dust no longer across her face, "like we had on the Ark. It filters the air, keeping it clean and not letting anything else slip through. Our inside man can shut that down."
"If," Quint emphasises with his arms crossed, his dark eyes glaring at Myles and his angry expression accentuates the large, thick white scar under his left eye. "He gets inside."
"What if we shut it down from the outside?" Lexa asks, buying into the Arkers idea.
Clarke's face twitches, as she catches onto Lexa's train of thought, "the dam gives them power." Myles turns to lock her eyes on Clarke's blue, and the blonde continues haltingly, "we could take that away."
"It would take an inexpedient amount of power," Myles explains, "the fastest way would be to use explosives, or to damage the walls, but that would cause flash flooding. We could tunnel around it, make a small opening in one of the walls to stop the tsunami and let the water drain out away from their turbines and into the soil but that would take months, years. We'd need to have access to the turbines to cut off the power."
"So," the blonde Arker sighs in defeat, "if there's no way to take the dam down direc – "
Red eyebrows stay resting high on her forehead, but her silence as Clarke summarises her words is all Quint needs to fuel his anger even more. Cutting off Clarke by shouting wordlessly and smashing his fists on the table, the mans piercing blue eyes glare at the two girls before flying to the commander.
"All they offer," Quint spits out in disdain, leaning onto his hands on the table. "Is no."
Lexa's eyes are hard, her tone cold as ice as she warns the man, "Quint."
Their eyes stay locked together during an awkward beat of silence before the man straightens, his blue eyes wide.
"Apologies, commander," Quint says calmly, his voice level as he tries to relay his frustration. "But the biggest army we've ever had waits for us to give it a mission."
"I'm sorry," the red haired Arker offers sincerely, "we're trying to find a way that keeps as many people as possible alive."
"The longer that takes," the blue eyed man states, his gaze now locked on the redhead. "The more of our people die inside that mountain."
"It's the same for all of us," Clarke tries to reason and the mans offended expression stirs something inside of Myles.
Reaching her hand up to rub her aching temple, Myles screws up her eyebrows, "no, it's not. Do you realise how long they've been being taken and killed by the mountain men?"
"We've lost thousands," Quint reminds her in a quiet, disbelieving tone.
"Hundreds of thousands probably," Myles adds, pinching her nose in frustration. "200 years, Clarke. We've only got forty-seven in there, and they have hope of getting out of this. Two-hundred years of hundreds of thousands of innocent people without hope."
Opening her hazel eyes again, her gaze instantly finds Clarke who has the decency to look ashamed. Something that Myles said, or the way she said it, must've gotten Quint upset because his shaky voice speaks up again.
"She understands," the blue eyed man acknowledges gruffly, "but she refuses our ideas because she says she has a plan." Hazel eyes swivel to him, passing an increasingly uncomfortable looking Major Byrne, "I say, waiting for one man to get inside… is not a very good one."
One of the grounders standing beside Major Byrne leans forward, his strong voice speaking loudly in the room, "I agree with Quint. We have an army, let's use it."
"We will," Clarke instantly defends, and Myles can't help hiding her face in her hand.
"To avoid unnecessary casualties," the redhead jumps to elaborate before her blonde haired friend can make anymore enemies. "Bellamy is our best bet. After he lowers their defences and turns off the acid fog, we can ensure all of the army can actually reach Mount Weather." Shaking her head, her long red ponytail sways heavily as the men around her start to relax, "if we try and rush it now, they'll see us coming. That puts the hostages inside the mountain at risk."
"I don't care how many men you have," Clarke rushes out and the grounders tense up again, her tone slightly higher while she argues her point. "If you can't get to your enemy, you can't win."
"You," Quint grits angrily, staring pointedly at Clarke, "are the enemy."
"I'm sorry," the blonde irks obnoxiously, turning to squint condescendingly at the man. "Have I done something to offend you?"
"Clarke," Myles breathes out tiredly, rubbing her throbbing temple and watching the scene wearily.
The blonde huffs sarcastically and Quint steps slowly around the table. Myles and Major Byrne both bristle at the threatening movement, and the redhead slips quickly in front of Clarke as the blonde haired guardswoman shifts on her feet, prepared for a fight.
"Yes," the blue eyed man drawls out, stopping when he stands in front of Myles. Quints hard gaze is stuck on the teen behind her, "you burned my brother alive in a ring of fire."
All the breath leaves Myles at once as her eyes fall shut, feeling as if the end of that battle is brought up in every interaction with a grounder. Clarke tries to step around Myles, but the red haired teen flings her arms behind her to keep the blonde in place.
"He shouldn't have attacked my ship," Clarke replies lowly, her tone dark and hazel eyes roll impatiently.
Quint huffs an amused breath, "you're very brave under the commanders protection, aren't you?"
"You know," Myles starts, her red eyebrows dancing around her face. "I'm trying real hard to like you and stick up for your friends, but if you threaten my friend again, I'll smash your face in and burn your eyes out with one of those candles."
"Noumou," Lexa orders when Quint moves forward again and goes to say something else. [AN: "Enough."]
The blue eyed man freezes, a look of embarrassment fleetingly crossing his face before his bitter expression returns, "Ai nou na hon hukop… in kom disha kru." [AN: "I can't be in an alliance… with these people."]
Once Quint is finished spitting the words out as if they tasted sour in his mouth, the man turns and stalks back around the table. His blue gaze stays locked on the commanders, and her brown eyes follows his retreating form. Sighing, Myles spins to look at Clarke tiredly, the blondes downtrodden face looks almost like she's shocked this isn't moving smoothly.
"Clarke," Myles starts, her tone light while she watches the teen cautiously. "You are my sister in all but blood. I want you to know what I'm gonna say next is out of love and great concern for your wellbeing."
"What?" Clarke questions slowly, matching the redheads hesitant expression.
Lifting her good hand to rest on her shoulder, "you sound a bit insensitive."
"Insensitive?" The blonde repeats in shock, her harsh tone twinging accusingly and she stares at Myles incredulously, "How is helping them insensitive?"
"You know," the red haired teen slowly vocalises, her eyebrows flying up, "How shitty it feels to have forty-seven of our friends in that mountain?" At Clarke's querying expression of acknowledgement, Myles continues, "I want you to imagine it was 1,047." Blue eyes tear away as her thoughtful gaze starts to fade in horror, "that doesn't even begin to scrape the surface of how they feel."
"But I'm only trying to help!" Clarke exclaims defensively, and Myles takes a deep breath.
The redheads eyes meet Lexa's in exasperation before she closes them, removing her good hand from Clarke's shoulder and pinching the bridge of her nose. Paper rustles in the now silent room as the commander picks up the paper map of Mount Weather the girls had spent the night creating with her.
"Quint's right," Lexa states calmly and hazel eyes snap open as Clarke tenses. The commanders eyes hold Clarke's before flicking to Myles'. "Waiting for Bellamy is not a plan. It's a prayer," the thought that sending Bellamy in was a dangerous mistake looms over Myles' head, making her chest ache painfully. "And one that's not likely to be answered."
"Excuse me," the red haired teen rushes out, feeling nauseous and claustrophobic. "I… need some air."
As soon as the words are out of the redheads mouth, Myles turns and strides to the door, taking the short staircase two steps at a time. The room is silent, par from two footsteps echoing after her quiet boots, following her out. It's bright outside, the dull blue sky looks smoggy under the late morning sun and makes the greenery surrounding the village seem more vibrant than normal. Leaving the dining hall doesn't make the weight hanging over her lessen as the village only makes her feel more trapped, and her hasty pace heads straight for the gate to leave.
Stepping through the threshold to walk out in the open instantly relieves her body of tension, as if there were a dome keeping the air in the village thick and bitter. Jogging steps pound against the hard ground behind her, trying to catch up with her unceasing movements. Clarke slows her run to match Myles' speed, and the teens blonde hair flicks in the corners of her eyes.
"Thank you," Clarke says eventually, once the lively rustling sounds of the grounders living their lives is out of earshot. "For trying to make me sound less insensitive. And for sticking up for me."
"No need to thank me," Myles replies awkwardly, not used to being thanked for the stupid shit she gets herself caught up in. "I'm just disappointed no one else really tried to pick a fight. It was too boring in there."
"You're horrible," the blonde huffs in amusement. When the pinched expression on Myles' face doesn't shift, Clarke continues, "Bellamy will do it."
"If it was me," the red haired teen looks up at the suns position in the sky, "it would've been done already. Bell is handsome, but he's not used to these kinds of… heists."
"They had to get past the reapers," Clarke reminds her, "I'm sure that would've taken a while." Myles heaves a heavy sigh, and the blonde looks at her, "he'll be fine. We just need to give him time."
"That's the one thing," the redhead drawls out, meeting her friends blue gaze, "that we don't have."
Birds chirp happily above them, filling the tense silence that falls over them with lighthearted songs. They're a decent walk away from Tondc now, and they slow their pace to an easy walk as they contemplate their options, an uncomfortable itch scratching away at the back of Myles' head. When she turns around, Myles can no longer get a glimpse of the village, the settlement not within her sight or her hearing range anymore. Myles' itch remains but her heavy heart lightens the farther away they walk, feeling like they've left the burden placed upon the two teens' shoulders behind in the village.
Rustling behind her makes her steps falter as she whips her head around, and Clarke slows at the redheads paranoid stance. It was a fleeting and hefty sound, the empty forest behind her adding to her suspicions that something isn't right. No animal would make a short burst of sound and then immediately hide. Neither of them had picked up their weapons when they left, the small pistol tucked into her sock is the only weapon the two have access to and Myles can't help feeling very exposed. Coming to a complete stop, red eyebrows furrow as her hazel eyes scrutinise the woods behind them for any signs of whoever is following them.
"What?" Clarke questions worriedly, and Myles can't help the flinch that jolts her or how her left arm jitters anxiously at the loud question.
Keeping her eyes scanning the tree trunks and the branches around them for a moment more, making sure to say equally as loud, "nothing, I don't think." Turning around, Myles shoots her good hand out to grasp Clarke's arm and pull her to continue walking, the same burning itch chipping away at the back of her head. Speaking in a low tone so she goes unheard by anyone but her blonde haired friend, "we're being followed."
Myles finally recognises the scratching sensation, it's the feeling of being watched, and not the worry she's been feeling for Bellamy Blake. Clarke tenses beside her, flicking her blue eyes to look at the redhead before looking over her shoulder. The blonde faces back in front of them when Myles squeezes her arm in warning, their steps speeding up slightly when they start to make a subtle turn to loop back to Tondc.
As they're trying to change course, another loud rustling thunders through the quiet woods not far to their left. Both girls stop to whip their heads towards the sound this time, and Myles' heart stutters when she sees Quint standing menacingly almost 100 feet away from them. The warrior is standing still, but even through the trees the redhead can make out the bow gripped in his hand and the murderous loathing in his eyes. Clenching her jaw and tugging on Clarke's tense arm, Myles tries to ignore the pounding of her heart and pulls the blonde to stand on her other side.
They both walk haltingly with Quint now closer to Myles than Clarke, and the warrior matches their steps in the corner of their eyes, displaying the quiver slung over his shoulder that's packed with arrows. Swallowing, the red haired teen keeps Clarke walking forward, figuring that if push comes to shove, it'll be easier to break into a fast run if they're already moving.
"Get ready to run," Myles mutters lowly under her breath, trying to talk discreetly through almost closed lips. "Don't look back when you do."
The words makes Clarke snap her head to look at Myles in horror, and it eggs Quint on.
"Not so brave now," the warrior calls bitterly, never once taking his eyes off of the teens. Myles begins walking faster, pulling Clarke to match her pace, "are you, sky girls?"
Hazel eyes flick over to Quint, watching him as the two girls walk past a particularly thick tree. Both of their steps falter and slow when they pass the tree, seeing that in the two seconds that Quint was blocked from sight, he'd managed to disappear again. Myles' eyes land on him crouched behind a bush just as he lets an arrow fly, and the redhead wastes no time in shoving Clarke roughly.
"Run," the red haired teen orders urgently, hearing the arrow sink into the tree trunk beside where they'd stopped.
Myles stays a second behind Clarke, hearing two more arrows whizz near them as they sprint away from the man. Fear strikes through the redheads heart when her hazel eyes scan the land in front of Clarke, not recognising it when they quickly barrel past it. Her arms burn as they swing harshly beside her, trying to keep up with the momentum her pounding legs thump over the Earth with. Heavy footfalls echo behind them, and blonde hair flies when the girl in front of her tries to turn around.
"Go!" Myles shouts, shoving Clarke forward when trying to turn around makes the blonde haired teen slow. "Go, go!" Trees fly past them quickly, fanning their vision as the world slurs together and Myles knows they need to weave to lose him, huffing out, "right, go right."
Clarke listens to her panting friend, swerving right and continuing to run through the forest. Seconds drag into minutes, and the sound of Quint following them falls back slightly, sounding farther away before disappearing entirely. Myles' spinning mind doesn't relish in the fact, knowing that he has a bow and a large supply of arrows with him. Her muscles sear under her tight skin, the cold winter air biting her skin as she races through it.
She winds up dashing beside Clarke rather than behind her, "come on!" Myles wrenches the blonde forward again to push her to keep up her pace, but the girl is beginning to tire, "keep going!"
"I can't," Clarke wheezes, coming to a complete stop to lean over on her knees and catch her breath.
Skidding to a stop, Myles flails her arms as she turns around, her boots slide across the dirt for a short moment before sending the redhead crashing onto her knees. Her legs don't stop their frantic moving, though, quickly lifting her up and sending her smashing into the blonde. The running has made the never ending ache that's been present in her bones since they were drilled into amplify tenfold, making her movements sloppy and stiff, but she refuses to stop.
"Come on," Myles begs breathlessly, gripping Clarke and yanking her to continue forward. "We have to keep going!"
A rustling sound to their left makes Clarke freeze again, and Myles wastes no time in letting go of her arm to pull the small pistol from where it sits wedged into her sock and shoe. Flinging the weapon up and aiming it in the direction the sound came from, Quint is nowhere to be seen. Not seeing the warrior makes her blood run cold; if she can't see him, he has the upper hand.
"Where did you get that?" Clarke breathes out, the relieved lilt in her voice making her seem a lot more relaxed than her rapid breaths would indicate.
The rustling continues, and Myles slinks forward slowly out of an anxious desire to gain equal ground with the armed warrior. Clarke sticks close behind her, standing so close that the red haired teen can feel her hot breaths on her neck. A bittersweet feeling blooms inside of her, making her feet hurry towards the sounds when a disheveled Major Byrne comes into sight and heads towards them with her body turned to look behind her. Seeing the guardswoman feels sweet, knowing that Tondc must be closer than she realises, but the bitter taste that comes from the usually firm and strong woman's stance being sluggish and distressed makes her keep her gun up.
"Byrne," Clarke huffs in relief, relaxing behind Myles and moving to overtake her on their way to the guardswoman. "Thank god. Quint – "
Clarke cuts off in horror and Myles' steps stutter when Major Byrne turns around to face them. The woman's face is pale and the blonde hair that's escaped her signature bun frames her features. Byrne's pale and disheveled appearance isn't what stops the teens, however, but the sight of her right arm being missing. Her black guards uniform is in tatters and blood pours thickly from the woman's shoulder, the dark red muscles and flesh left behind is torn to shreds and dangling in short threads, sharp bone peeking out of the bloody mess.
"Save… yourselves," Major Byrne's hoarse voice pleads roughly, the woman gasping between the words.
The guardswoman's exhausted stumbling comes to an end as soon as the last syllable falls from her lips, and Major Byrne goes crashing to the ground heavily. Clarke stops her shocked steps towards her when the woman rolls to a stop, her head flinging lifelessly with her momentum and her unseeing blue eyes staring blankly into the distance. Myles doesn't stop though, an incessant pull in her chest begging her to help the blonde haired woman.
It's Clarke's turn to grip Myles' arm and tug her away, "run, Aggie!" Hazel eyes are still plastered on the pale woman's form, but the redhead lets Clarke pull her, "Run!"
Myles turns at the desperate urgency in Clarke's voice, and forces her aching body to start running again. The two sprint away from Major Byrne, heading in the opposite direction of where the woman had come from. Her lungs feel as if they're boiling inside of her and her thumping heart twinges with remorse for leaving the guardswoman behind. Fighting the urge to look behind them or throw up, Myles hopes that the warriors in Camp Jaha don't turn on the Arkers there as well.
The world blurs together again as they dart around the trees and over the uneven terrain blindly. Quint hasn't resurfaced, but he's nearby and armed with a long range weapon, and that's enough to keep the two girls trampling over the Earth eagerly. He hasn't hit either of them yet, and Myles can only hope that his aim is even worse with moving targets. It's hard to breathe through the burning pain all over her body and the ever present ache clouding her head, but the two girls refuse to slow down, even as the chase starts to feel as if it's dragged on for hours.
Just as Myles is about to flick her hazel eyes around them and give Clarke another direction to run in, a large and heavy force collides with her, knocking out the little air in her lungs and sending the pistol flying from her hand. Landing roughly on the hard ground, Myles' breathless grunt blends with Quints as he sits his weight on her chest and squeezes his hands around her throat. Frantic legs kick and her good hand clambers across the soil beneath her to find the gun as her airway is held shut.
"Aggie!" Clarke shrieks, but the redhead is too distracted with the angry man strangling her to look at what the blonde is doing.
The colours in the world flash vibrantly for a short moment as fear pumps through her veins at the familiar feeling of being suffocated, and her panic only intensifies when her good hand can't find her gun. Lifting her broken left hand up, Myles slams her hard splint on Quints bald head several times, causing white hot pain to soar through her arm. Quints hard gaze leaves her wide hazel eyes when Clarke approaches with a short, thick branch, and his grip abandons her throat completely to pull the blonde closer and punch her in the face when she tries to strike him with the wood.
Wet gasps take in greedy gulps of air while Myles kicks her legs desperately to try to dislodge the heavy man and her eyes quickly scan the ground for her gun. The thick brick of dread fills her gut when she sees it just out of reach, but Myles doesn't have long to dwell on it when a hand clamps on her throat again. Her head crashes into the soil harshly, making the holes in the back of her head be set ablaze with fiery agony as her vision flashes in pain. A sharp slicing sound is heard when Quint pulls a dagger from his armour and lifts it high above Clarke's fallen form beside Myles.
"For my brother," Quint declares, and the red haired teens heart stops but her violent thrashing intensifies.
The hand against her throat presses down harder when she struggles and just as the blade is coming down towards Clarke, a woman's grunt sounds to her left. Myles stills in shock for a second when her eyes see another dagger imbed itself into Quints risen arm, halting his attack on Clarke. Quint shouts wordlessly and drops his dagger onto the dirt, his grip loosening on her throat and allowing her to breathe properly again. Using his distraction to her advantage, Myles bucks her hips up and hooks her leg over his arm to plant her boot on his face and shove him off of her.
Clarke's hands grab at Myles as she clambers across the dirt when Quint flies back, her panicked breathing matching Myles' breathless gasps. Tearing away from Clarke's hands to grab her gun off of the ground, Lexa and Arleo, another one of her warriors, rush up to them. Arleo approaches Quint with his machete out and pointed at the fallen man threateningly, Lexa staling up behind him angrily. Myles tiredly rolls up onto her feet and stumbles backwards into Clarke with her pistol pointed at Quint.
"Thank you," Myles gasps loudly, leaning her aching body against her blonde haired friend.
Lexa stomps up to Quint and yanks her knife from his wrist, looking down at the man with a disdainful expression. Feeling confident that the two grounders will handle Quint, Myles drops her arm to hold the gun limply by her side.
"Jomp emo op en yu jomp ai op," the commander grits out angrily, and Quint looks up at the young woman in shock. [AN: "Attack them and you attack me."]
"Thank you," Clarke echoes Myles' words from earlier, her whole body sagging in relief against Myles'.
The commander turn her head to look at them slowly, "where's your guard?"
"Dead," the red haired teen huffs out regretfully, her heart twinging with remorse for the poor woman.
"He killed her," Clarke confirms when Lexa's expression falls in shock, and the commanders face twitches.
Quint snaps his head to the two girls as he pants on the ground, "em ste spich." Lexa's brown eyes flick down to the man scornfully, and he quickly rises to his feet. "Ai gonplei kamp raun emo en nou moun." [AN: "she lies. My fight is only with them."]
The commander's hard expression doesn't shift, staring at him blankly, "yu gonplei ste odon." [AN: "your fight is over."] Lexa turns her head to look at the two girls still catching their breaths, "the kill is yours, Clarke and Myles."
"What's a little more blood, right?" Myles asks rhetorically, leaning away from Clarke to stand on her own and point her gun at Quint as he turns to them with wide, fearful blue eyes. Her hazel gaze is strong and unwavering, "I warned you what would happen if you threatened my friend."
Clicking the safety off of the pistol, the group of five are all distracted by an animal roaring loudly nearby. The ground rumbles beneath her boots at the loud snarl, and her hand freezes on the trigger as her hazel eyes snap towards the sound. Thunderous steps thump loudly across the Earth, headed straight for them.
"What is that?" Clarke whispers fearfully, her shaking hands gripping onto Myles' throbbing bad arm.
Lexa doesn't flinch away from looking terrified in the direction of the sounds, "pauna." Quickly, the commander reaches for her sword strapped to her back and yanks it out, before slashing Quints leg with it. The man falls to his knees with a startled scream, and Lexa and Arleo spin to the two frozen Arkers. "Run!"
The sight of the absolutely terrified expressions on the grounders faces makes the hesitant grumble bubbling up in Myles' throat die on her tongue. Instantly spinning around to do as she's told, Myles grips her pistol tightly, and sprints with the other three in the opposite direction of the large animal. Her damaged body screams in agony at the jolting motions, but the redhead doesn't stop when the roaring sounds again and gets closer to them. Trees fall and tremble behind them, before Quints loud screaming echoes loudly in the forest once again.
His anguished screeching only fuels Myles' panicked limbs even more, pushing the red haired teen to run faster as her body vibrates with hot adrenaline. Arleo leads them through trees and down a small decline before weaving around to getting back on level ground. Lexa and Clarke follow diligently behind him, and Myles lags at the back of the three of them. Their frantic steps don't cease even when Quint stops screaming, and the large beast roars again, thundering across the Earth.
"We need to hide," Lexa calls out, and Myles scans her hazel eyes around the blend of colours that whizz past them.
"This way," Clarke answers, digging in her heels and swerving to the right. Myles almost rams into the back of her in her haste, but quickly catches herself and follows her blonde haired friend. "I found something."
A rusted, circular metal grate peeks out from under bright green moss, the hole hiding a large pipe inside of a stone wall. Tucking her pistol into her waistband, the Arkers pale hands pull at the gritty metal as the two grounders appear behind them. The metal grate is almost as tall as they are, and is extremely heavy, requiring all of the two teens strength to shift it. After only managing to pull it not even a centimetre away from the stone, Myles shifts gears to roll the circular metal out of the way.
Clarke quickly slips inside with Lexa right behind her, and hazel eyes fly to Arleo when he doesn't immediately follow. The man stares into the distance where the sounds of the beast echo through the woods, and the redhead reaches out to grasp his sleeve and yank him to the hole. Ducking in after him, her two freed fingers on her bad hand join her right hand to roll the gritty, heavy metal grate back to cover the pipe. The grate is only resting against the stone, but it's good enough for Myles as she hears her own heaving breathing mingling with the echoing retreating steps of the other three inside of the pipe.
Turning and awkwardly following their crouched forms to the grate at the other end of the pipe, Myles can't help skimming her fingers against the cool, smooth stone to support herself. The other grate falls away with a dull and muffled thud, and the groups echoing sounds leave the pipe altogether as the midday sun streams in. Myles almost walks into Arleo when she steps out of the pipe and stands up straight, her wide eyes following his quick gaze when it shoots around their surroundings.
Unnatural rock structures sit scattered around them, bones and decaying bodies of humans and various animals litter the enclosed world. The stench is sickening, the putrid smell of death hanging thickly in the air with hundreds of flying and buzzing bugs zooming around the dead carcasses. Long intestines are pulled from the half devoured body of a large bear on the ground to Myles' right, carelessly strewn about the soggy ground with the animals other internal organs.
"What is this place?" Clarke breathes out, her blonde hair whipping around in the corner of hazel eyes.
"It's the pauna's feeding ground," Myles answers immediately, looking at the lush greenery that's growing all over the stone walls boxing them in. Two signs on the white stone wall above the unnatural rock structures catch her eyes. The sign on top is a picture of a hand feeding an animal with a red circle and a line through it, the sign directly underneath of it says, 'No Feeding The Animals!' Realisation dawns on her, pictures from some of the books she read on the Ark flashing through her mind. "This was a zoo. It's an animal enclosure."
Lexa looks at her with a confused expression, before a loud roaring sounds around them. All four of them snap their heads up to look at the top of the stone walls boxing them in and Clarke grabs Myles' arm.
"Let's go," the blonde urges, starting to climb the rock structure littered with dead bodies beside them.
Myles and the grounders swiftly follow her up, the redhead having to use only one hand to support her as she goes. Clarke falters when she reaches the last step, and when Myles finally clambers on top of the stone, she can see why. A large moose lays dead directly in front of them, it's legs and lower half torn to shreds. Bones and innards poke out and lay scattered across the flat surface, various bugs flying around their faces when they step up to walk around the dead animal.
Just when Arleo is about to join the three girls on the top of the rock structure, a loud roar rings out, sounding as if it's right on top of them and they all freeze. Both of the grounders pull out their long blades and Myles yanks her pistol from her waistband when the snarl drawls out, leaving Clarke weaponless. Their rapid breaths pant for a moment while they look around anxiously for the beast.
The trees outside of the left wall start to shift and fall down, before a large gorilla jumps over the stone wall and roars loudly. Lexa and the Arkers take startled steps backwards, but Arleo can't do anything except cower in fear as the gorilla lands solidly beside him. The young man's screams when the beast starts instantly tearing him to shreds will echo in Myles' mind forever, but his pained screeches are cut off quickly. Arleo is flung across the enclosure and into the concrete wall, his bloody form splattering lifelessly to the ground. Clarke and Myles release panicked, shaky breaths as they watch the huge gorilla lean back and pound both of its fists onto its chests while it screams in triumph.
Myles snaps out of her horrified stupor when the beast looks at them on top of the rocks and she pulls the trigger three times. Each bullet hits the the gorilla, small spurts of blood indicating each hit but the large beast is barely fazed by the shots. The gorilla flinches when the first bullet lands directly in its neck, screeching angrily. A large chunk of rock or concrete is quickly flung at them, shattering against the top of the white stone wall behind them and Myles has to stop shooting to duck out of the way while the other two bullets barely have an affect on the beast.
Quickly flinging her gun up again, Myles pulls the trigger once more when the gorilla starts to climb up towards them. This shot takes the beast off guard and it falls off of the edge of the rock to land on the ground with a resounding thump. It stops roaring when it hits the bottom, and Lexa and Clarke release a relieved breath. Myles stays with her gun pointed at where the gorilla was, her hazel eyes staring at the empty space blankly in shock.
Clarke steps to the edge haltingly, leaning forwards to peer over the edge when the gorilla lunges up again, roaring loudly and the three girls jump back. Myles pulls her gun down to reach for Clarke and yank her towards Lexa and herself, and the commander quickly helps pull the blonde away.
"Run!" Myles shrieks in panic, turning sprinting towards the building to run away from the large beast.
Under the white stone wall is four wide concrete steps, and the girls jump down them hastily and duck under the man-made stone arch. The centuries old grey concrete is now various shades of green with age and lack of maintenance, but the colours of the walls quickly blend together when they rush past them. They're lead to a concrete floor that has another view of the enclosure, and they run to the metal railing to look down it for another way to go.
Nothing follows the metal railing, except a 20ft drop back into the enclosure, and Clarke's eyes are instantly drawn to a short door propped open by a metal beam in the corner of the stone wall. Something large clatters dully behind them and Myles whips around to see the gorilla looking directly at them from its spot perched on top of the white stone wall.
"Jump," Myles orders hurriedly, shoving Clarke's arm to jolt her into action as the beast barrels towards them.
Clarke doesn't hesitate like she did in Mount Weather, and the two Arkers jump down first. The landing sends sharp pain shooting through Myles' legs and makes it feel as if she's broken both of her ankles, but Clarke gets up quickly and surges forward. Myles stumbles for a moment after she awkwardly clambers to her feet, trying to breathe through the pain as her blonde friend dashes to reach the doorway. Just as she's starting to pick up her pace, Lexa jumps down behind Myles with a pained yell.
Myles stops in her tracks, spinning around to look at the commander while she lay on the dirt covered stone ground and grips her leg. Walking like she's had both of her shins kicked in, the redhead quickly reaches Lexa and wraps one of her arms around the young woman. Pulling her forward with a tight grip, the brunette limps heavily and Clarke meets them halfway to help the red haired teen pull the commander forward. A dull thump slams into the ground behind them as the gorilla jumps down and screeches menacingly, making the Earth rumble under their panicked boots.
Her blonde haired friend ducks down first, letting go of all but Lexa's hand and Myles keeps her arm around the young woman when they both slip through the short square hole in the wall. Lexa is suddenly yanked backwards, making Myles drop her gun as she desperately grips onto the commander with her good hand and the redhead kicks her legs out to frame the doorway when she slides across the floor. With Myles' burning legs keeping Lexa and herself from being completely torn away from the wall, Clarke's frantic hands grab onto the commander to help pull her back to them with a startled shout.
"Leave me," Lexa's voice pleads the two girls over the ferocious growl of the gorilla, and if Myles wasn't so focussed on keeping her grip on the young woman, she'd shake her head.
"Not a chance," Clarke declares, her voice overlapping with Myles' own protests.
"No fucking way," Myles grits out as she strains to tug Lexa away from the beast clawing at the commanders body. "Clarke, grab the gun!"
Clarke's hands leave Lexa and she picks the pistol up off of the ground beneath the doorway. The blonde haired teen pulls the trigger repeatedly, not stopping even when the gun clicks emptily or when the gorilla lets go of Lexa. As soon as the beasts grip on the commander slackens, Myles yanks the brunette through the concrete wall and on top of her. Clarke drops the gun when she finally stops clicking it uselessly, and Myles kicks the rusted metal beam holding the door up, knocking the metal sheet above them down with a stuttered, shrill clanging sound before scrambling back from the wall.
Lexa's limp is even worse now, the bloody scrapes up both of her legs and one of her arms clearly affecting the young woman as Clarke hauls her further away. The Arkers both falter when their eyes flick around their surroundings, seeing a very similar area to where they just were. It looks like they're in another enclosure, but this one is slightly skinnier and a lot longer, the walls predominantly lined with randomly sized bricks. Shooting forward to hook Lexa's good arm around her shoulders, Myles helps Clarke carry the commanders weight so she's not walking on her injured legs.
"Come on," the redhead grunts as Lexa groans in pain when they move forward. The gorilla growls from outside of the wall behind them, and it's only a matter of time before it finds them again, "Let's get the fuck outta here."
"Over there," Clarke quickly redirects, making them head to a rusted metal door that Myles couldn't see from her position.
Their hasty and frantic steps traverse the long room, before walking through the rusty door. A loud whine bursts from the centuries old hinges, making Myles cringe and her heart pound harshly. Random doors sit along through the large hallway, before Clarke shoves another door open, taking the girls to a closed off room with different stone brick walls. Like everywhere else, moss, greenery and rust colour the small room that resembles a prison cell. The only thing in the room is an old rickety ladder hooked up to chains with decaying plastic buckets hanging from them. Myles slips out from under Lexa's arm to pull out the sword that's tucked away on the commanders back.
"I need your sword," Myles declares, spinning around to slide the blade through the handles on the door.
Lexa continues making pained noises as Clarke carefully lowers her onto the ground. Sighing heavily, Myles turns to the panting girls before a loud banging on one of the walls outside of the room makes her jump. Bringing both of her hands to her head anxiously in bittersweet relief, both of Myles' shoulders sag while the redhead makes her way to Lexa and plops down roughly beside her. Clarke stands in front of them, her chest heaving as her blue eyes switch from the rust covered door to an injured Lexa.
"Dude," the red haired teen huffs breathlessly, rolling her head to look at the commander while she leans back on her arms to lie her tired body on the grotty floor. "Your life is so fucking hard. How do you do this everyday?"
Night falls quickly, chilling the three girls in the cold winter air, the moonlight streaming in from a small window on one of the walls hardly casting any light into the room. The gorilla had stopped pounding on the walls hours ago, leaving the girls in quiet peace to tend to Lexa's wounds. Myles is sitting on the floor in front of Lexa as she sits on the ladder and Clarke inspects the long scrapes on her right arm, hazel looking up at the other two with a bored expression. Clarke reties the sling around the commanders bad arm after checking the wounds, and Lexa's brown eyes flick to the blonde continuously while she works.
Swallowing, the commanders gaze gets stuck on the wall behind Myles' head before she speaks, "you should've left me behind." Red eyebrows twitch up and Lexa makes eye contact with her briefly before turning her head to Clarke, "now three will die here instead of one."
"You're welcome," Myles retorts dryly and Clarke rolls her eyes, stepping away from the commander.
"We're still new to your culture," the blonde starts tiredly, her lazy boots shuffling across the grimy floor, "but when someone saves your life… my people say 'thank you'."
"Not in my experience," the redhead scrunches up her red eyebrows, rolling her head limply to look at Clarke when she walks past her.
"I'm serious," Lexa states in a hard tone, and a clanging sound bangs behind Myles as her blonde haired friend yanks on the metal bars making up the wall opposite the door, leaving their only way out to be through the rusted door they entered through. "To lead well, you must make hard choices."
"Hard choices?" Clarke repeats in disbelief, stepping back towards the young woman. "You're telling me that?"
"I've seen your strength," the commander praises, pushing off from the ladder and stepping forward as well, "it's true. But now you waver. You couldn't kill Quint."
"Technically," Myles drawls out, feeling lonely suddenly, "I was going to kill Quint."
"You couldn't leave me to die," Lexa continues, barely sparing the redhead a glance. "That was weakness."
"I thought love is weakness," the red haired teen jibes awkwardly, and Clarke's face clouds over in confusion.
"You think love is weakness?" Clarke asks in utter shock, her blonde eyebrows lifting up high. Stepping back again, the blondes tone turns sour, "Is there anything you don't think is weakness?"
"Mockery is not the product of a strong mind," Lexa states calmly, watching Clarke walk back and forth slowly.
Myles snorts obnoxiously, rolling her head lazily to look at Clarke, "probably not, but we usually take what we can get."
Clarke stews silently for a little bit more, pacing back and forth as anger begins to sow it's seeds in her mind. The air is tight and tense, making Myles feel like she's a third wheel and she's watching a couple bicker back and forth.
"You wanna know why I saved you?" Clarke questions rhetorically, spinning back to Lexa and approaching her with faster steps. The antsy vibe flowing from the blonde doesn't bode well for the red haired teen, "because I need you. God forbid one of your generals becomes commander." Red eyebrows fly up in worried shock, terrified Clarke will dig her own grave, "You may he heartless, Lexa, but at least you're smart."
Flopping back to lie her back on a cluster of dead leaves cluttered over the gritty concrete, Myles brings both of her arms up to throw over her eyes and sigh in exasperation. A brief beat of silence follows the blondes snarky words, before the commander says with a small smirk in her voice.
"Don't worry," Lexa proclaims softly, "my spirit will choose much more wisely than that."
"Your spirit?" Myles queries, pulling her arms up to hold them in the air in confusion but not tilting her head to glance at the commander.
"When I die," the young woman explains gently, "my spirit will find the next commander."
"Reincarnation," Clarke summarises, the room goes silent again and Myles' aching mind grinds as it tries to understand what the fuck that means. "That's how you became commander."
"How are your leaders chosen?" Lexa enquires, shock and confusion displayed in her voice.
"The people," the red haired teen answers simply, propping herself up onto her elbows. Locking her hazel eyes on the commanders intrigued brown, "our people vote. A bunch of people who know the laws and the system say they want to be our leader, and everyone gets to write who they want to be the leader down on a piece of paper. The person who gets the most votes wins."
Lexa opens her mouth to say something when a loud banging shakes the ceiling, making flakes of the structure rain down on them. All of their heads snap up and Myles quickly scrambles to stand beside the other two. The banging continues, small chunks of the ceiling falling down on them before it ceases as the door rattles against Lexa's sword. An idea blinks through her mind, watching the rusted metal jolt and hearing the vicious growl from the gorilla.
"It found us," Clarke gasps out in fear, stepping close to the commander and pulling on Myles' arm.
The red haired teen opens her mouth to say her plan when the sword starts to bend at the violent force bashing on the door. Startled boots slip backwards, until all three of them are pressed against the metal bars in an attempt to get as far away from the door as possible. Myles' aching mind races through the fog cloaking her brain to figure out if they can still do the plan if they act now.
"Don't be afraid," Lexa proclaims breathlessly, and Myles would laugh at the absurdity of the statement if they weren't moments away from being torn to shreds. "Death is not the end."
"We are not dying here," Myles declares strongly, "give me a second, I'm thinking."
"We need your spirit to stay where it is," Clarke demands in a hard tone, and Lexa stalks with a limp towards the door.
"Then get ready to fight," the commander orders, coming to a stop and rocking on her feet slightly. "It's coming in."
"Then we'll let it in," the redhead suggests quickly, darting forward to stand behind the door. Where she's standing, the door will hit her when it opens and she can feel it bump and rattle against her as the gorilla pounds on it. "Stand over here," Myles looks from the two girls to the door, "get ready to move."
Lifting her shaking good hand to rest in the air under the middle of the sharp blade, her hazel eyes jut to the two anxiously shifting girls against the wall in front of her. Taking a short breath in to steady herself as the door rocks against her hand and side, Myles glances back to the sword.
"Now!" Myles exclaims, flinging her hand up to shove against the sharp blade.
The red haired teen doesn't feel the sting of the blade until after she ducks back into the corner to avoid the door rapidly swinging towards her. Instantly, the door flies open, and her bleeding hand catches it as the huge beast slides against the dead leaves on the ground until it rams into the metal bars noisily. Clarke and Lexa bolt through the door and Myles slips around it, yanking it shut behind her. Clarke's pale hands frantically pull the flat metal beam on the wall down to lock the door shut once again. Myles' ears start ringing at the piercing sound of the rusted metal scraping loudly as it is pulled down.
Quickly scrambling backwards against the hard concrete floor, the door rattles and shakes as the beast charges at it from the inside. Panting loud breaths, the three look at each other in utter relief, the cool sensation of there no longer being an imminent threat calming their racing hearts.
"Let's go," Lexa breathes, jolting the tired Arkers from their calm stupor and drawing their attention to finding a way out.
Breaking into an eager jog, Myles dashes forward the way they came. Clarke and Lexa's footsteps follow her, the latter's steps sounding sloppy from her limp. Backtracking their steps is easy, finding themselves with the bodies back in the gorillas enclosure within a few short minutes. It's not until they reach the pipe they entered through that Clarke stops the redhead.
"Woah," Clarke grabs Myles' right hand when she ducks down to walk into the pipe. "Your hand is bleeding."
"I grabbed the sword by the blade," Myles dismisses quickly, "I'm fine, keep moving."
It's significantly darker in the pipe now that the sun has set, but dull white moonlight flows in through the grate at the end, illuminating their path gently. Their hasty footfalls echo in pipe, before stopping when they reach the grate, leaving them with their echoing breaths. Pushing against the heavy grate, the rusted metal falls to lay on the grass with a dull thump.
"Come on," Myles urges, standing up straight and looking back at Clarke and Lexa as they exit behind her. "How do we get back to Tondc?"
"This way," the commander informs her, leading them south. "It's a few hours this way. We'll rest before going back, out of reach of pauna."
Hazel eyes lock on Clarke's worried blue as they follow the commander, "here, let me wrap your hand."
Myles rolls her eyes, gripping her grey shirt with her bloody hand and yanking it to tear the material. Clarke's pale hands help her rip the fabric and the blonde wraps the scrap around her hand as their steps slow in concentration. True to her word, after only walking for an hour, Lexa stops and declares this is where they will spend the night. Myles begins making a fire to keep them warm in the freezing winter air, and by the time she sits down, Clarke is already asleep. Lexa's brown eyes watch the sleeping blonde with a kind gaze that the redhead hasn't seen on the young woman before.
Turning her eyes to the fire, Myles watches the flames flicker and dance while she fights the alluring pull of sleep. Keeping her eyes held wide open, her hands twitch against her raised knees, looking between them blankly. She can feel Lexa's eyes turn to her, but she doesn't move to meet her gaze. Whenever her wide eyes blink, her fatigue threatens to hold them closed as her mind becomes fuzzy.
"You should rest," Lexa informs her after a few moments of silence. Hazel eyes fly up to look at her through the jittering orange glow, but she doesn't respond. "I will guard. Rest."
"I'm fine," the red haired teen mutters, glancing back to the fire blankly.
The commanders head tilts behind the fire pit, "You hardly rested on the walk to Tondc, and you didn't sleep at all last night. If you do not rest, you can't fight."
"Then you should rest," Myles suggests lightly, not shifting her gaze. "I'll be fine."
"Clarke lied," Lexa decides after a moment, the short sentence making hazel fly up and meet the young woman's brown eyes again. "She didn't save me because I'm smart. I would have died several times at the hand of pauna today, had it not been for you two."
"I'm not smart," the redhead refuses calmly, lifting up her right hand that's wrapped in a bloody scrap of her own grey shirt. "I grabbed the blade of a sword."
A smile cracks across Lexa's face, "even the bravest warriors must do stupid acts to win a battle." Myles tears her eyes away again, "why won't you sleep?"
Their eyes lock at the sincerity of the question, and Myles can't help the shiver that runs through her left arm, "Lincoln calls it brolhaken."
"Battle sickness," the commander translates, a knowing look cloaking her face.
Getting to her feet, Myles slowly walks over to plop down heavily beside Lexa. Lifting up her pant leg, Myles begins to pull at the gauze on the burr hole in her shin and show the commander the angry wound. Lexa takes a sharp breath of air in, her brown eyebrows furrowing at the irritated and clearly infected injury.
"The holes here," the redhead drops her pant leg to poke at her temples, "I have more on the back of my head." Turning to show Lexa the brutal injuries, "this is what the mountain men did to me."
"They put holes in your head?" Lexa asks in disgust as Myles lowers her hands from her hair and shifts to face the same direction as the commander.
Myles nods slowly, the motion hesitant and distracted while she leans forward to rest her arms on her knees again, "I hear them. All the time. Sounds that are only in that mountain, people who are only in that mountain." Her left arm shakes against her knee, "it never stops. I close my eyes, and when I open them again, I'm strapped to that table. They torture me again, and I see and hear things that aren't really there. Things that only happen outside of Mount Weather." Tilting her head sarcastically, "and then I close my eyes, and when I open them I'm in the woods."
"Hearing the mountain men," Lexa finishes with a knowing lilt to her voice. "They will pay for all they have done."
"That's the dream," the red haired teen sighs heavily, tapping her boots on the dirt anxiously. Silence falls over them again, and it takes a little while for the redhead to work up the courage to speak again. "May I ask you a question?"
"You may," the commander answers vaguely, not shifting her gaze from the sleeping blonde in front of them.
"What does 'yu gonplei ste odon' mean?" Myles queries, her eyebrows drawn together.
"Your fight is over," Lexa translates, glancing at the redhead with a perplexed expression. "You don't understand the words, yet you say them anyway."
"I don't need to understand them to know they have meaning," the redhead replies, shrugging lazily. "It could mean 'the sky is blue', I'll still say it because it has meaning to the people hearing it."
The commanders eyes stay on her for a moment, "that's why you crave death." Red brows scrunch together, and the young woman continues, "you want your fight to be over."
"I've been fighting to just…" Myles begins, thinking hard on her words, "survive since before I could walk. I'm tired."
"Skai-de ste ouska," the commander mutters after a long beat of silence, and Myles rolls her head to look at the young woman. "'The sky is blue'."
Huffing a quiet laugh, Myles shakes her head as she looks away again, feeling her long red ponytail sway heavily.
"I'll be sure to use that one next time."
The morning sun rises sluggishly over the horizon, lifting the dark veil of the cold night and fanning its beautiful, warm glow upon the Earth. Hazel eyes feel swollen as they stare tiredly at the flickering flames still burning in the small fire pit she'd made that night, her empty gaze trying to ward off the memories that threaten to consume her. Lexa sits between her and Clarke, watching the still sleeping blonde while birds begin to awaken and share with them their merry tunes.
Myles had spent the night making easy conversation with the grounder, telling stories of life in their separate worlds. Lexa had been shocked to hear that all they had ever eaten were tasteless, gritty blocks of dried nutrients, and Myles was fascinated to hear about the different clans. Grounders don't have last names, instead using their clan name, and Lexa had explained how they make their clothes and armour from cloth, leather and fur.
After trading knowledge and information about each of their peoples ways of living respectively, a comfortable silence falls over the two. Their relationship feels more friendly than professional now, and the shift is warmly welcomed by the redhead. Dotting her i's and crossing her t's with them had quickly become boring, and the rapidly skyrocketing anxiety she'd left Mount Weather with makes her restless and fidgety, needing something more to keep her interested.
The large gorilla roars in the distance, coming from the zoo and Clarke shoots up into a sitting position at the loud snarl. Both of the already awake girls look at the blonde, but Lexa is the one who speaks first.
"It's okay," the commander voices softly, and Clarke hesitates when turning around to face them. "You're safe."
Clarke's blue gaze flicks over the two for a moment before settling on Lexa, "how's your arm?"
"Hurts," Lexa answers simply, twitching her eyebrows.
The gorilla growls again, and blonde hair flies through the air as Clarke turns to face the way to the zoo again. If they're hearing the beast, it has probably broken out of that small room already, and will be looking for food.
"Now that you're up," Myles sighs out, rolling up and onto her feet. "We should go. Becoming pauna food isn't on my list of things to do today."
"Yeah," Clarke agrees, standing up as Myles stomps on the flames, sliding her boot around the hot ashes and ignoring the heat of the fire. "That cage won't hold forever."
"Wait," Lexa calls out suddenly, springing to her feet. The same tension from the room yesterday fills the air, and Myles takes an awkward step away from the smoking fire pit once the flames are all out, thinking about their plan for Mount Weather while they have their moment. "I was wrong about you, Clarke. Your heart shows no sign of weakness."
It's dead silent for a minute as the two stare at each other, before the gorilla shrieks loudly in the distance again. A thought crosses Myles' laggy mind and all of her movements still. Cogs grind in her aching mind, trying to quickly run through as many scenarios as possible.
"Holy shit," the red haired teen breathes, and the two girls turn to her.
"What is it?" Clarke questions, her nervous energy showing in her voice and the hesitant step she takes towards the frozen redhead.
"The cage won't hold," Myles whispers, spinning around to face her two friends. "I have a really psychotic idea to take Mount Weather, but I think it might actually work." Lexa's face lights up in shock and a relieved smile covers Clarke's features, "we've been trying to get inside, but they've already let us in."
"What are you talking about?" Lexa shakes her head, her brown eyebrows drawn in confusion.
"Aggie," the blonde haired teen probes when Myles only bounces on her heels anxiously as she wracks her brain for the right words.
"Your army is already there," Myles decides on, stressing the words and stepping towards them urgently. "Locked in cages. We just need someone on the inside to let them out."
"Bellamy," Clarke realises, turning her blue gaze from her red haired friend to Lexa.
The commander hesitates, meeting Clarke's eyes fleetingly before locking her strong gaze on Myles, "you have faith in him?"
"More than you'll ever understand," Myles answers without a second to think or hesitate.
"I hope your faith is well placed," Lexa states slowly, "because if he can't get inside, we can't win."
"He will," the red haired teen emphasises strongly, "he's the only one I believe can."
"Lexa…" Clarke urges as the two Arkers start heading south eagerly, "this is gonna work." The commander hurries after the two girls, "Come on."