As soon as the storm cleared, Cap Jonah began searching for Heda and Wanheda. He knew the chances of finding them were slim, and the chances of finding them alive were even slimmer, but he wasn't willing to return to Polis without having tried.
It was a long week of sailing up, down, and across the bay. Either Roosevelt and Bowie or Lang and Braddock were always on the deck at opposite ends of the ship, their eyes seeking any sign of the women.
On the sixth day after the storm ended, Cap Jonah surrendered to the inevitable and set a course for Polis. He dreaded returning there without his passengers. He would answer to Luna for his failure and willingly accept his punishment. While they sailed up Chesby, he spent hours brooding, missing his friend and the woman with her who had Lexa smiling for the first time in years.
100 – 100 - 100
Clarke and Lexa crawled out of the water and onto the small beach at the foot of the red cliffs. They were exhausted, hungry, thirsty and cold, but held on to each other while resting. Clarke woke first. It was late afternoon. They were a little less damp, and as much as she hated the thought of moving, knew they had to. She shook Lexa awake. "We have to go."
"Sha," Lexa agreed. They needed water first. She looked up and down the thin strip of sand and examined the cliff. Their only option now was to move up the beach and hope for a path of some sort.
Walking was no easier than pushing the tree through the water was. They leaned against each other, seeking warmth and comfort. Lexa spotted a worn path up the cliff and knew they had to take it. It was a slow climb because they had to be careful; the wet soil was likely to crumble beneath their weight.
At the top of the cliff, they moved several feet inland. Clarke saw brambles and pointed. They stumbled to the bushes. The ripest blackberries were on the ground, and they picked them up first. "Best food ever," Clarke moaned. Lexa was too busy stuffing her face to answer.
They ate their fill and took advantage of their renewed energy to find a way into the forest. Lexa boosted Clarke, and Clarke pulled her up, and they spent another night in a tree.
100 – 100 – 100
Cleanup was the order of the day in Polis and TonDC. The storm took down trees, damaged roofs and windows, and left a muddy mess in its wake. Bellamy finished the food in his cabin and went to check on the Ark before doing anything.
He didn't have to go far to see that the power was still off. He hoped it was something simple, because it could be a week before Raven and the others returned from Polis. Bellamy went outside and climbed up the superstructure.
He took a look around while he was up there. It was a beautiful day and he could see for miles. He saw, too, how much work had to be done before he checked the solar panels. They were covered in leaves, twigs, and pine needles. He carefully removed the debris from each. He was half finished when he heard Abby yell, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he yelled back, and kept clearing the panels until he finished. Getting down was trickier than climbing up, and along the way he caught his arm on a piece of metal. It bled like crazy, and a quick look at it when he reached the ground sent him to the Medbay.
He was the first visitor. Abby saw the blood trail behind him and hurried Bellamy to a table. She rinsed his arm and got a suture kit. "It's gonna hurt," she told him.
"It already hurts."
"Thanks for getting the power on," she said and began suturing the gash.
"No problem. I'm glad it was something easy. Raven won't be back for a while."
"Oh?"
"They'll have to make sure everything's still working there before they can come home."
"True."
"Anything else you need done around here?"
"No, everything's fine, Bellamy. Thanks for asking."
"Sorry for being a jerk to you before."
"I deserved it. Thanks for everything you do here."
"It's my job."
"I know, but isn't it nice to be appreciated?" Abby put in the last stitch. She cleaned around the wound again, put on a paste Nyko taught her to make to prevent infection, and wrapped it in gauze. "Come back in a week and I'll see if the stitches are ready to come out. Try to keep it clean and dry. You all right?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks."
"You're welcome. See you later."
Bellamy left, wondering about the change in Abby. Since they got back from the cave, she focused on her job and left him to his. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and at the same time hoped the new and improved Abby Griffin would stick around.
100 – 100 – 100
Wick scrambled up the ladder first, and said, "Oh, shit," when he saw the roof.
The tower was completely gone. One of the solar panels was shattered, the others too covered with debris to determine their status. Monty was next up. "Back to the drawing board," he told Wick and went around him to begin clearing the solar panels.
Wick looked down through the hatch. Raven was starting to climb up. "Don't. I'm coming down."
"What's wrong?"
"Tower's gone."
"Damn it."
"We need to figure out how to make another one. C'mon."
They went to the library while Miller went up to the roof. He helped Monty while Raven and Wick brainstormed. She got the plans for the solar panel cover, turned them over, and sketched a lower antenna. The building was tall enough to let them do that, especially since there was no electrical interference. They debated the plan, tweaking it until both were satisfied.
"Do we have enough stuff left?"
"I don't know. I'll go check and then we'll figure out what to do. Be back in a few."
While he was gone, Raven reconsidered both sides of the paper. If they didn't have enough parts, she would need more paper to draw the parts they needed Truxton to make. She heard Monty and Miller joking around on the roof. She was glad they came with her. They kept things light, and Miller taught Wick how to massage her back to ease the worst of the pain. She felt better on this trip than she had since being shot.
Wick came back quickly. "We don't have shit, he said.
"Ok," Raven sighed. "I'll go talk to Truxton."
"I'll go with you, Wick volunteered, and called up to Miller and Monty that they were going to the market and would see them for lunch.
Truxton had paper and charcoal, and Raven quickly sketched the parts she wanted. He looked at her plans and made some suggestions, and the three of them debated until they came an agreement. Truxton told them he needed two days to make the parts.
They left his shop and spent the rest of the day checking out every vendor in the market. Wick bought a box full of metal bits, LEDs, and assorted bits of tech from the guts of gadgets. "Hey, we should put lights on the antenna."
"There's nothing flying around to warn."
"Yeah, but everyone will be able to see it. Sorta like, Skaikru was here."
Raven laughed. "You put them on, I'll wire them up. There's more than enough power."
"See, you're not the only one with good ideas."
"Two in a week, that's a record for you."
"Not all of us can be geniuses, Reyes."
"You're all right anyway," she smiled at him.
"About time you noticed."
"I noticed. Just didn't want it to go to your head," she answered, and they both laughed.
100 – 100 – 100
Lexa woke before dawn. Clarke slept against her, her head on Lexa's shoulder, and Lexa fixed her arms more firmly around Clarke's middle. They were both shivering. She tried to figure out where they were but there were no landmarks to help. They were on Chesby's western shore, many miles south of Polis. All they had to do was follow the shoreline and they would eventually reach Polis.
Lexa tried to recall the map Raven gave her. There weren't many villages in this area. It was safer to stick to the coast. They might run into a seasonal fishing village. She was glad she kept her dagger strapped to her thigh. It was all they had besides their clothes. Their first priority today was water, followed by food.
Clarke groaned. "That wasn't just a bad dream, was it?"
"No. We will stay here until there is enough light to see."
"How are you?"
"I think I am ill."
"I think we both have fevers," Clarke said. "Is there anything around here?"
"I don't think so. We are on our own."
"Any idea how far we are from Polis?"
"Far."
"We'll get there," Clarke said confidently.
Lexa smiled and leaned forward to rub her cheek against Clarke's. "Sha," she agreed. They looked at the water. The limb provided a perfect view of the sunrise.
"Beautiful," Clarke said.
"It is," Lexa agreed.
They watched until the sun was half over the horizon. "We should go," Clarke said.
They climbed out of the tree and started walking toward Polis. They found another blackberry bramble a few minutes into their walk, and the collapsed ruin of a what looked like a small village. There was a pump in the center of the fallen buildings, and they took turns raising and lowering the handle until they washed the salt from their skin and clothes. After, they drank their fill and poked around, seeking anything useful, but found only a small metal cooking pot. Clarke cleaned it out and filled it with water, and they drank again before leaving.
Everything was wet, and that compounded the humidity. Clarke and Lexa sweated. They ate berries when they found them. It was too wet to start a fire, so there was no point in trying to catch anything more to eat. Late in the afternoon, they found another water pump. They rinsed their hands and put their heads and feet in the cold water before replenishing their supply and drinking their fill. After that, they looked for a place to spend the night. The safest place Lexa could find was a tree, and again she boosted Clarke and let Clarke pull her onto the broad branch.
100 – 100 – 100
Octavia kept Star strapped to her chest while she helped put the vegetable gardens back together. The work was primarily resetting trellises that were blown down and picking plants and their fruit out of the mud. It wasn't exciting, but they were outside with other people, so Octavia was happy. When she stood to give her back a break, she always looked for Lincoln, who was repairing roofs. "Wave to nontu," she told Star and waved her arm at Lincoln. He always knew when they were watching and waved back.
The Medbay was surprisingly quiet, so Abby walked around to see what damage was done. She saw Octavia and went to her. "Hi."
"Hey, Abby."
"I'll take her if you want a break."
"Thanks so much," Octavia said. She unwound the sling and Abby took Star.
"That's much better, isn't it, sweetheart?" Abby said to the baby. "How are you?" she asked Octavia.
"Good. Only one leak in our cabin. You?"
"Fine. The power was off most of last night, but Bellamy got it going this morning. Good thing, too, since I had to put some stitches in his arm."
"I'll check on him later."
"Thank you. I think Star needs a new diaper."
"Yeah, and I need to feed her. I didn't realize how long we've been out here." She started walking toward her cabin, and Abby followed.
Inside, Abby changed the baby's diaper after Olivia provided what she needed. She sat down opposite Octavia while Star nursed. "Tell me about Clarke and Lexa."
"Like what?"
"Tell me what you see when they're together."
"Heda loves Clarke, Abby. She'd do anything for her."
"If that's true, how did Clarke have time to do all that in the cave?"
"She didn't do it all at once. I think she got some of it done not long after she left us, and Heda made her stop when she found her. I don't know when she did the rest, probably right after Heda ended Azgeda."
"Where was Lexa then?"
"I don't know. I don't think she was with Clarke, but Clarke wasn't alone. You saw the buildings near the cave. Clarke didn't put them up."
"Who was with her then? Why didn't they stop her?"
"Nobody stops Clarke. You know that. They might slow her down or convince her to find another way, but you know when Clarke makes up her mind, there's no stopping her. My guess is Clarke took off right after the mess with the Ice Nation ended and Heda sent Clarke's guards to take care of her until she could reach her."
"Those two huge men who follow Clarke everywhere?"
"Yeah, Lang and Braddock. They're really loyal to Clarke. They won't say anything about her. Every time I asked them something, they told me that Skai Heda would tell me if she wanted me to know."
"So unless Clarke wants to tell us something, we'll never find out."
"Looks like," Octavia said. "I told you before and I'll tell you again. Clarke and Heda love each other. If you want to be in Clarke's life, you have to accept that Heda is going to be there, too. She's crazy about Clarke. She took care of Clarke herself. I mean, Lincoln and I helped, but Heda was the one who got her to eat and drink. She was the one who comforted Clarke when she had nightmares. She held her for hours. In Polis, she slept in a chair beside Clarke's bed."
"It doesn't look like love to me," Abby admitted. "It looks like she thinks Clarke is a possession."
Octavia laughed so hard that Star protested the interruption of her meal. "Heda will protect Clarke from anything she thinks is a danger, including you. Let's face it, you and Clarke haven't gotten along too well. Given what Clarke's been through, Heda must think hurt feelings are no different than a physical injury."
Abby sighed.
"She'll be fine, Abby," Octavia promised.