AN: I've never been to America, so I used Google Earth to locate these places.
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Chapter 37
Adara had been released from the healer's tent later that day. She headed over to the Commander's tent to talk to her. Once she had entered, she saw Clarke, Octavia and Raven there. When they saw Adara, Octavia got up and flung herself at Adara, catching her up in a big hug. Adara returned it.
"I'm glad you're okay," said Octavia.
"Me too," said Clarke, from her position next to Lexa.
"Me three," said Raven, irreverently.
"Me four," replied Adara, smirking at Raven, who gave her a huge grin in return.
"Welcome," said the Commander. "Please join us." Adara sat down between Octavia and Raven who both put their arms around Adara's shoulders in a friendly hug.
"What's the topic today?" Adara asked.
"Where to put us," Clarke replied.
"Dwindling resources?" surmised Adara, looking at Anya who was on the other side of Lexa.
"Almost. We can support you for a few more days, but this area only supports so many. With a hundred of you, we are stretching our resources as far as we can and it's not enough," said Anya.
"I understand," said Adara. She turned to Lexa. "What do you recommend? I don't want my people split up, though. We need to stay together."
"I know an area that you could settle, but with the maunon after you, it might not be safe." Adara looked at Clarke.
"Did you tell the Commander of our conversation this morning?"
"No - well not all of it. I told her of your condition but not your abilities," Clarke replied.
Adara turned to the grounders - Trikru, she must remember that they are Trikru - in the tent.
"I seem to have some abilities - mental abilities - that have not been trained. I can heal some things like the cut on Monroe's arm. I also can see into the past - so to speak. I can see the ground as it was about 130 to 140 years ago. Not sure why that time frame but it's what I've got. I think I accidentally triggered it after healing Monroe. I was suddenly a few metres above the ground. I know in reality, I was still standing on it, but through my eyes, it looked as if I was walking in mid-air."
"What are metres?" asked Anya. Raven spoke before anyone else could.
"She said all that and all you focused on was the metres?!" Raven said, incredulously.
"Metres are a unit of measurement. What do you use?" asked Adara.
"We use the old method of feet and inches," supplied Indra.
"Oh, I'll try and figure out the measurement differences. A metre is roughly three feet."
"We call that a yard."
"A yard? I thought they were concrete attachments to houses where you played or parked your car?" said Raven, puzzled.
"Okay, I think we're getting off track here. Raven, you and Indra can have a talk about the different words we have in common later. Right now, I have to figure out a way to not get dizzy as I search the ground for stuff."
"What 'stuff'?" asked Lexa.
"Well, where we were hunting, I saw a hidden building. I think it was an old bunker. It may have been in someone's backyard," said Adara, looking at Raven and with a look telling Raven to keep quiet.
"How big was it?" asked Octavia.
"It was for a family. Maybe six people? It would do for a bolt hole for a small group of people, but that's all." Adara looked at the Commander and then to Anya and back again. "I would like to try and find us a bigger one. This whole area was the capital city of the USA - the country before the bombs. This was the seat of their government and across the Potomac river was the Pentagon, their foremost military base. It was the headquarters for all military operations. Between the two - government and top military - I'd think there should be quite a few large bunkers around here somewhere," Adara explained.
"And what then?" asked Anya.
"Depending on where they are, I think we could utilise one of them to house my people. A bunker is more defensible against the mountain men and my people would be safer there. Again it depends on where it is."
"Why does it depend on where it is?" asked Indra. Adara shrugged.
"If we find one within the borders of your village, it wouldn't really be viable as we would still be taking up your resources."
Everyone took time to consider her words.
"Commander, where do you suggest we look first? We would need hunting grounds that no-one else uses and a source of freshwater nearby."
"It would be better if you were further from the Mountain, that means towards the ocean, south from Tondc."
"If I remember the old maps of that area, there are a lot of inlets down there. I was looking at one of those maps last week… God, was it only a week ago that we were up there? Seems like a lifetime ago now. Anyway, the map had lots of small towns and villages and very few defensive places. I think the only defended places were the military bases and there were a lot of those. The Navy and Air force were strongly represented around here. To the south was Andrews Air force Base, there's Annapolis Naval base, but that's more up towards the Baltimore area. There was Anacostia as well not to mention the Pentagon. There are a few to choose from."
"Do you think you can find one of those maps?" asked the Commander.
"I hope so. I think if I can find the underground railway system they had in Washington D.C., then maybe I can find some things in them."
"Like what?" asked Anya.
"I don't know. They were used to move across the district and most of the stations - the places people got on and off the trains - had some places where they put papers with ideas of what to do in the city. Maps would be among them. These underground stations should have maps of the underground stations and lines saying where they are at the very least," replied Adara. "I just have to find them."
Lexa, Anya and Indra all looked at each other.
"What do these stations look like?" asked Lexa.
"Now? No idea. Most likely they would have been buried in rubble and soil from when the bombs exploded. Then? It was basically a hole in the ground with steps down, surrounded by a protective barrier so you wouldn't accidentally fall down it. It would have signs saying which station it was."
"We have one here in Tondc." said Lexa.
"What? A station?"
"Yes."
"Which one?" queried Adara.
"We don't know. We think there are two words to it, but we can only make out FO at the beginning and OM at the end."
"Well, once we find a map of the underground system, we'll figure out which it is."
"Where do you want to start?"
"I was thinking about the statue of Lincoln. It was such an iconic landmark that there should be something nearby we can use to figure out where we need to go or find things to use." Adara frowned. "Maybe across the Potomac river. The Pentagon should have bunkers either under it, or near it. It's the most important military place in the country. Should be something there."
"I would prefer you to start at the statue. We can guard you there. The place near the river is no more and we don't go there very much. Too much rubble to build or farm. The statue is the better option." said Lexa.
"Okay," said Adara. "When?"
"Later today, if you wish." Adara nodded and looked at the other three. "Any problems with that? Any problems with the hundred?"
"No problems and no problem with going later," said Raven as Octavia nodded her agreement. Clarke just shrugged at her, shaking her head. It was up to Adara.
"Alright, we go just after noon. I want Murphy and Monroe with us and I want Atom and Miller as guards. Commander, Anya, can you spare a couple of guides for us?"
"Yes, I'll send Tomac and two others with you," said Anya.
"Mochof," said Adara, turning to Clarke. She didn't see Anya look at her when she used trigedasleng. Lexa smirked at the look of shock on Anya's face. She knew Anya thought these goufas were more trouble than they were worth and thought they would be just like the maunon. So far, Lexa was surprised at the children. They were actually acting like mature people - even the youngest. Charlie was taking her lessons on how to make medicines seriously. They were all acting more mature that they did last time. Lexa thought that it could be because they knew they were sent down to die. They had to mature fast enough to survive. Lexa was sure that they would be better this time around.
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Walking to the statue, Adara was deciding on how she should do this. She knew she would have to have something or someone to hold onto. The dizziness would overwhelm her otherwise. She knew that it would be a long way down if she was correct about the statue.
"John," Adara said, "stay by me and when you see me start to sway, catch me." Murphy nodded and picked up a fallen branch. He started using it as a walking aid.
"How are you going to do this thing? Do you just look down and see the past or what?" asked Monroe.
"I think I need to concentrate to see what's there. The problem is that the statue rested on a plinth that was about six feet high, and that was on the portico of the building. There were stairs up from the ground. All in all, we may be looking at about ten to twelve feet off the ground just to his feet."
"Twelve feet!"
"We're not digging through that much!" both Murphy and Monroe said at the same time.
"No. We won't be digging around here, this is a sacred site. I'm using it as a starting point. It's the only landmark we can recognise."
"Oh, Okay. I was worried there for a moment," said Monroe, breathing a sigh of relief. They arrived at the statue and looked at it for a moment.
"So, where do we start?" asked Murphy.
"Right here. I think this building has a water… lake? Pond? I don't know what to call it. I think if I can find it, then I know I can do this. I just need to stay on my feet when I do." With that, she put her hand on the statue to steady herself. "Here goes nothing," she said.
Adara pushed her mind down as she looked at the ground. She tried to see below the grass and dirt. She struggled at first but eventually she felt as if the ground was moving away from her. It was being pushed aside so that she could see underneath it. She saw the ground part and saw something hard below it. It was probably concrete or tile. The ground was then pushed back further and suddenly the ground gave way and she was standing in mid air, several feet above the ground.
"Shit!" she said as she started to fall. She felt arms go around her and keep her upright.
"I got you," said Murphy. He kept his arms around her as she straightened up.
"What do you see?" asked Monroe, curiously. Looking around, Monroe saw that the Trikru were also curious.
"I see the ground about fifteen feet under me. It stretches out that way," Adara said, pointing to the right of the statue. "I can see the pool of water. There's a big… thin stone tower? Near it." She turned around and put her back to the statue. "The river is about 100 feet away and across the river is a big building, probably the Pentagon building." She turned back to the statue and closed her eyes. She clung to Lincoln's knee as she waited for the dizziness to pass.
"See anything else?" asked Murphy. Adara shrugged.
"There were a lot of empty green areas. A lot of parks? but not many buildings. There seemed to be some more buildings but they were in the distance. I think it was somewhere near Tondc."
"So, we going there?" asked Murphy.
"No, we go this way," said Adara, leading the way. They kept their eyes open for other hazards in this time. They walked for a while through trees and clearings to where Adara thought the buildings were.
Adara stopped and looked around. They were in a clearing with a small mound to one side. She used her second sight to look under the soil. To the left under the mound she saw a building.
"There's a building under that mound."
"Which building is it?" asked Monroe.
"Wait a minute, part of the sign is missing. I've got INGTON. And then under it TATION. I think it's Washington Station, hopefully one of the underground stations."
"How far down?"
"About a metre. I mean about three feet, maybe less,"
"Easier to dig here than at the statue," said Murphy, looking around. He turned to Tomac. "Any people live around here?"
"No. This is Tondc land. It is for hunting." Adara nodded.
"We will need digging tools. I don't know where the nearest... hardware... store is but from what I can see, there are a lot of government buildings and a hell of a lot of food places. It seems like there are three or four food places for every ten steps I'm taking." Adara shook her head.
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On the way back to Tondc, Adara kept looking into the past at what was. Murphy was keeping her upright and heading in the right direction as she was focused on what she was doing in the past. She suddenly stopped. She peered ahead of her and pointed west south west of their current position.
"There," she said, "There's an open area. Grass instead of buildings." She took another look around the cleared area. "I think this is the old government building that the President lived at. What was it called? Whitehouse, maybe. Can't remember," she said, shaking her head.
"Is that important?" asked Tomac.
"It could be. If this is this whitehouse, then it would have been the most protected place in the country. It's bound to have a bunker or bunker complex underneath it." Adara moved off towards the area. When they got there, the trees were thinning out and just beyond was a clearing. Adara had trouble discerning what was now and what was then.
"I'm seeing both times at once, but I can't tell which one is real. I'm gonna have to practice this ability some more."
"I see trees and a clearing," said Murphy.
"I can see a clearing and that big white house as well," said Adara. The two clearings are not in the same place. Our clearing is further away. It's beside the white house, to the left," she said, pointing towards the east.
"How far down?" asked Monroe.
"Hmmm… good question. I think if the building was still there, we'd see it, but if it's collapsed, we'd need to dig. We need a probe to figure it out."
"What's a probe?" asked one of the grounders.
"A long metal bar with a pointed end and a handle at the other. You push the probe into the ground as far as you can go and if it hits something solid, then you know how far down it is. If you don't, then you know you need to go down further." replied Murphy.
"How big is this probe?"
"It's usually about six feet long, but some of the probes have other parts that can be attached to make it longer."
"Okay, we need to get back to Tondc and report what we've found to the Commander and Chief Anya. We may have to jury-rig some stuff to make a probe, though," said Adara. Murphy and Monroe nodded before they all moved off back to Tondc.