Taking charge
"Clarke. Pull her up. Pull her up." The others said as they helped Bellamy lift her up and pull her out of the whole she almost fell in. "Clarke, you're okay?" Finn was the one who asked her and she nodded at him, her heart still racing, it had been scary to fall especially since she was gambling that Bellamy would do the same he did last time. "Yeah, I'm fine," She said breathing hard as he helped her get on her feet and she looked at Bellamy. "Thank you," She said to him as she felt Finn's hands on her shoulders and she was back to business. She secured her bag on her shoulder and looked at the boy. "We need to get him down," She said to Finn.
"I'll climb up there and cut the vines." Finn said to her and she nodded and he moved forward before he looked at Mbege. "You, let's go." He said as the boy looked at Bellamy who nodded and he moved forward. Wells came to her and hugged her and she hugged him back resting her head on his chest, given the fact that they were okay and he was not jealous of Finn, Wells had not offered to help the boy instead coming to sty by her side immediately. "You're sure you're okay?" he asked her and she nodded at him. "I'm fine. Jasper is the one who needs our help right now. You see that?" she pointed at the boy and he looked at where she was pointing and so did Bellamy as the other boys got closer.
"That is a poultice on the wound." She said as she pulled back a little but not letting go of him completely just yet, she was still a little shaken up by the experience. "Medicine?" Wells asked her and she nodded. "Why would they save his life just to string him up as live bait?" he asked no one in particular and Bellamy answered. "Maybe what they wanted to catch like his dinner to be breathing," He said as Finn looked at them. "Maybe what they're trying to catch is us." He said having heard the conversation and everyone seemed to freeze except Clarke who already knew what was happening so she looked around for that panther but couldn't see it.
Meanwhile in the Ark, Raven and the other adults were in the council room except Jaha who Abby send to his room to rest a little, the wound still very fresh and needed extreme care. "Raven, there is a possibility that there was something engineering could do about the flaw that we haven't tried before but even if we found that, it would take us 6 months to do it, if it would work at all. In the meantime, there is another solution that some of the Council members feel is a better one and it is to float a certain number of people to help save oxygen." Jake explained and Kane shuddered.
Last time he was the one pushing forward that solution without knowing it was unnecessary and so many of his people died for nothing, he wouldn't let this happen twice. "That is wrong, Jake. You can't kill innocent people like that." She said readily to her boss and friend and he nodded, "I agree, we agree with you," He said motioning to himself, Abby and Kane since Callie wasn't part of the council. "But there are others who think is a good idea and if Jaha see his hands tied since we can't know for sure that the kids are okay on the ground, he might not have a choice and that's where you come in," he said explaining and she nodded.
"You want me to go to Earth to get you in contact with the hundred?" she asked him and they all nodded. "There is an old pod in here, I will show it to you later. I managed to convince Jaha to give us a chance. You will fix it and when it's ready, you will go down with a radio and make contact with us but pay attention to this Raven," Jake said and Abby continued the explanation, "You only have a short space of time to contact us. The Council agreed to what we suggested but they also stipulated that if there is no contact from you in five hours counting from the moment you launch, they will start preparation to kill 300 people." Abby finished the explanation and the young mechanic nodded at her.
"So if I manage to make contact with you as soon as I land, then those people will be safe? No one will be killed right?" she asked and Kane nodded. "Yes. If you make contact and it is positive that the Earth is survivable, we will start preparing for the exodus of all of our people to the ground." Kane said and she nodded. "Okay, count me in. I know those idiots will need a genius with them anyway or else they will just get in trouble. Where is that pod and when can I start working on it?" she said excitedly and the four adults smiled as well, things were looking better. Now Kane just needed to make sure that Raven got there exactly when she is supposed to and everything would be fine.
Back on the Earth, the boys continued to cut down the vines and suddenly, there was a growl from somewhere around them and everyone turned to look everywhere searching for the source of the noise. "What the hell was that? Did you guys hear it?" Mbege asked scared. More movements on the bushes. "Grounders?" Bellamy asked with a scared tone Clarke was sure he would never admit to it but she heard it and it almost made her smile if it wasn't for the danger waiting to pounce on them, literally. If it was all going down the same way, that means Wells has the gun though she has no idea how Bellamy hadn't notice that it was gone.
They looked at the panther coming their way and Clarke looked straight into its eyes and she remembered when she fought one of these before and Niylah took care of her and what happened next just as it growled and started moving in her direction. "Bellamy, gun!" she said and watched him looking for it in his belt and not finding it when suddenly Wells made the shot once, twice, when he finally hit it but on the leg and it kept coming and it hid in the bushes and Bellamy looked scared waiting for it to jump on him and Wells tried to find it but Clarke knew where it was so she simply moved towards Wells, grabbed the gun, aimed it and shot it and suddenly the noise and the movements stopped.
She moved forward and towards where she shot it. "Clarke," Wells said as she kneeled down in the bushes, grabbed the legs and started pulling it while walking backwards until she let it go of it right in front of Bellamy and she looked at him. "Grab some vines and tie the feet and grab a big piece of wood so that we can carry it back to camp," She said as she offered his gun back and he took it while still looking at her in shock and surprise, even maybe in awe. "Wells, help him and you two keep cutting before more of them come. This time, we're out of bullets." She said and moved back in front of the tree and noticed everyone looking at her.
Bellamy was still surprised but she could see some admiration there, Wells was flat out shocked and trying to recover, Mbege was scared of her and Finn was smiling at her. "Are you guys deaf or what? We need to get out of here fast, Jasper needs help so get to work and you two careful with him," She said and that seemed to have snapped as they quickly went to do as she said and she relaxed, one problem solved. Now, what's next? She though as she wiped her forehead as she overlooked as the boys got Jasper down, instructing them to be careful not to move him too much, she grabbed some vines as well.
"Put him down. You, Mbege, find two big logs of wood and Finn, help me get some more vines too. We are making him a stretcher," She said explaining it as she went to Wells, opened his bag and took out the part of the parachute he had brought and once they had everything, she and Finn tied very securely the parachutes to the logs with the vines they found and very slowly put Jasper in it. "Okay, Wells, you and Finn can carry Jasper. Mbege, help Bellamy with the panther and let's go, we should be getting back to camp by nightfall," She said and the boys switched place and did as she asked and they started on their way back with Clarke leading the way.
Back on camp, it was already dark and Murphy, Jessica and Charlotte were sitting around near the fire. They had finished building their tents. In the end, they decided on making it smaller but more of it, Jessica's suggestion actually, and a good one so it was decided that one would be for the girls and one for the boys. Others started seeing what they were doing and decided to make tents for themselves as well and now there were a few already. Good, which means less people inside the dropship and complaining about Jasper's scream because it was coming, he knew it was and it was quite disturbing so at least this was better. It also gives Clarke some peace and calm to work on the boy.
"They should have been back by now." Jessica said worriedly as she redid Charlotte's braid in two instead of just one. "They should be arriving here soon. It just got dark, must be harder getting back now but they will be fine, just have to wait a little longer," He said and she nodded still looking out at the entrance every once in a while. The kids had followed what Clarke had said and had started to build a wall and there was even a gate now so the three friends were sitting facing it so that they could see when the others came in and soon enough, someone called out. "They're back."
The three of them stood up to see the Clarke leading the way as the boys carried Jasper toward the dropship as Monty was just coming out of it. "Is he okay?" he asked Clarke as Octavia came closer as well and Clarke nodded at him. "He will be, don't worry. Boys, get him to the upper level as carefully as you can, I will be going there in just a second." She said to Finn and Wells and they nodded moving inside it as Monty followed them. "I need boiled water and strips of clothes for bandages. Can you get that for me?" she asked Octavia who nodded and quickly went to get it.
She watched as Bellamy and Mbege brought in the panther and everyone looked at it. "Who's hungry?" Bellamy yelled and everyone cheered but Clarke moved in. "Everyone, wait." She called out and they stopped to look at her. "I know that everyone is hungry and we never had proper meat before, not even in the Ark but we need to save it a little for tomorrow because we don't know when we will be able to catch one of these again so please, only one piece for person and the rest, there is a couple of plants here that we can use to preserve the meat for later. Okay?" she said firmly but also gently and they nodded agreeing.
"Okay, Murphy, come here," She called the boy and he went to her side promptly. She gave him the bag of plants. "You know how to use this, help them cook it," She said and looked at him and he understood that she wanted to avoid Bellamy monopolizing the food and forcing people to talk the wristband off for it and he nodded. "You got it," He said and she smiled. "Enjoy the feast." She said to them and everyone cheered at her and Murphy went to the boys. "Excuse me but I have a panther to cook." He said grabbing it before Bellamy grabbed his arm to stop him.
"You don't get tired of doing what she says?" he asked and Murphy shrugged him off. "No and for as long as she is keeping us alive and actually using her head to make life easier for all of us here, neither should any of you. Believe me, if she has a talent, it is for leadership. Blondie was born for this crap. The sooner you accept it, the better. For you." He said loud enough for everyone to hear and left shrugging Bellamy off as he took the panther to the little table they had made as he looked at Clarke talking with the girls and smirked before going back to his job.
Clarke smiled as she came closer to the girls and Charlotte hugged her tightly and she hugged her back. "We were starting to get worried," Charlotte said and Clarke nodded. "I know. Our dinner gave us a little trouble but we are all fine, including Jasper," She said as the little girl pulled back and she hugged Jessica too. "Wells is back and unharmed as I promised." She said saluting and the girl smiled at her. "Thank you." She said sincerely and Clarke shook her head. "No need. He is family and now so are you by the way." She said and the girl nodded before they heard Octavia calling for her.
"Clarke, I got what you asked," She said and the blonde nodded. "Get it up there, I'm on my way," She said and Octavia moved inside and Clarke turned back and looked at Charlotte. "Do you want to help me?" she asked the little girl who looked at her surprised. "Me?" she asked and Clarke nodded. "You're the only one besides me who knows anything about healing, thanks to your time with me and Mom in MedBay. I will need help," Clarke said and Charlotte nodded. "Lead the way, Dr. Griffin." Charlotte said and Clarke chuckled. "Jessica, can you go help Murphy?" Clarke asked and the girl nodded moving towards the boy and their food before the blonde and Charlotte went inside the dropship.