Here we go, approaching the end.
(Mount Weather, Harvest Chamber. Bellamy Blake.)
For the first time since his entry into Mount Weather, Bellamy found himself back in the Harvest Chamber. He pushed a vent cover aside and climbed out into the room. Bellamy held his pistol at the ready, wanting to be prepared for whatever would come his way.
There were no grounders attached to the blood extraction machine. There were no mountain men inside. This was all good for Bellamy. He would hopefully have a relatively fresh force of men to help him take out the mountain men.
Bellamy took the key from his pocket. He spotted the young woman he'd spoken to during his brief time in the cage.
Bellamy decided to unlock her cage first.
"Get up," He said. "It's time to go."
Bellamy opened the door while the woman looked to him with an unreadable expression across her face.
"I told you I'd come back for you," Bellamy said as he helped her climb down.
Once he was confident she could stand on her own, Bellamy left her to unlock the other cages.
"Our people are marching on Mount Weather right now," He explained.
He unlocked a second cage and tried to help a gaunt looking man climb out of his cage. The man fired a kick out in his direction, holding his hands up fearfully. He thought Bellamy was one of the mountain men.
"It's okay," Bellamy reassured him. "I'm trying to get you out."
"Slow down," The woman said, holding him back with a hand. "They just bled him."
"Listen to me," Bellamy pushed. "There's an army inside this room and I need you to help me get them ready to fight. Can you do that?"
She nodded slowly, but still looked pained.
"Good, start with him," Bellamy ordered.
He moved off to unlock other cages while the woman spoke soothingly in Trigedasleng to the gaunt looking man.
Grounders pounded on the doors to their cages, now realizing what was going on. They all knew that Bellamy was freeing them, and they wanted out first. But they were too loud. Any surveillance would catch them in the blink of an eye.
"Too much noise," Bellamy said to the woman, hoping she would be able to calm them.
She said something in forceful Trigedasleng and the grounders immediately went silent. Bellamy nodded in approval. Short and effective, he liked her style.
"Okay," She said, walking back to his side. "How do we do this?"
"There's an army outside going for the main door," Bellamy answered. "When they get it open all hell will break loose. That is the signal for my friends to come here, and then-"
He was cut off by loud feedback from the intercom. Seconds later, Cage Wallace began to speak.
"My fellow citizens, this is your president speaking," He said. "I have news to share with all of you that will change our lives forever. For ninety-seven years, Mount Weather has been our home. It's kept us alive, but it's also held us captive. Most of us have made peace with what we've had to do to survive. We've done these things for one reason: so that our people could someday return to the ground. That day is today."
"He's going public," Bellamy whispered to himself.
"Before my friend Lorelei Tsing was murdered by the outsiders still at large in this mountain," Cage continued. "She found a cure. It was in their bone marrow."
That wasn't good. The delinquents would be in more danger than ever now. Cage was giving the citizens of Mount Weather an incentive to turn in the delinquents they kept in hiding. He had to help them.
Bellamy slapped the keys into the woman's hand.
"Here, I'll be back," He said.
"Where are you going?" The woman asked incredulously.
"He's trying to get his people to turn on each other," Bellamy explained. "They'll find my friends. I have to bring them here now. I'll send them in groups. You get your people ready to go, but you wait for me to come back. Do you understand?"
Bellamy rushed off for the door again.
"Wait," The woman said, placing a hand on his arm. "Thank you."
"You free your people," Bellamy said. "Protect mine when they get here. We can thank each other when we're all outside."
Cage continued speaking on the intercom, but Bellamy paid no heed to his words. He had people to save.
(Mount Weather Territory, Grounder Camp. Clarke Griffin.)
Sergeant David Miller, along with Akio and Charles, entered the Commander's large tent. This was a war council, the final war council hopefully. After this, it would all be over. They simply had to engage the mountain, break inside, rescue their people, and kill the opposition.
"Welcome Skaikru and Furlan," Lexa greeted. "Join us."
Miller was followed by a few more guards, all bearing serious expressions. War could do that to a person.
"Your mother wanted to be here Clarke," Miller said, greeting the blonde in particular. "She-"
"I know," Clarke interrupted. "But the wounded in TonDC need her more."
Miller stepped away from Clarke with a slight nod, taking his place around the table of maps and diagrams with the other leaders.
"Field commanders," Lexa said. "Today's the day we get our people back. The enemy thinks it's safe behind its doors, but it's not. When it realizes that, it will fight back. We need to be ready."
Lexa looked to Clarke, asking her without words to explain the plan. Clarke nodded in acquiescence.
"This is a rescue mission," Clarke addressed the group. "We are not here to wipe them out. There are people inside that mountain that have helped us. Children who have nothing to do with this war. We kill their soldiers, their leadership if we have to, but we are there to rescue our people. Is that clear?"
There were various slight nods from the leaders. They understood the plan.
Clarke was thankful Maynard wasn't here at the moment. It helped calm her nerves, knowing that he wasn't around to obsess over her every word.
"Then let's begin," Clarke continued. "There are four teams. Two of them, at the dam and in the mine, are moving into position already. The third, inside the mountain, is freeing the grounder prisoners as we speak. It is our job, as the fourth team, to keep the eyes of the enemy off of them as long as possible. To do that, we have to be in position at the main door with our entire army."
Clarke paused for a moment, allowing the group to think over her words briefly.
"The mountain men believe the door can't be opened from the outside, so they leave it unguarded," Clarke said. "Only, we can open it. First, we have to disengage the electromagnetic reinforcement. We do that by cutting the power, which is what Skylar's team will be doing."
"The mountain's electricity is generated at Philpott Dam," Clarke explained. "By now, they've taken the turbine room. It's their job to blow the power. It's ours to blow the door down. Thanks to the Furlan, we have a tank just for that task, which we have to keep hidden until we're ready to use it. If they know we have a tank, they'll come out to fight."
"There is a catch to all this," Clarke continued. "A backup generator inside the mountain will keep the power on and keep the electromagnetic reinforcement on. If the electromagnetic reinforcement is on, then we don't have a chance in hell of blowing the door. And, we will never get our people back."
"How much time do we have until the backup power kicks in?" Miller asked.
"One minute," Clarke answered. "That's the window."
"Small window," Miller commented. "Why don't we just take out the backup generator too? Bellamy's inside, have him do it."
"Leaving them without power for that long would kill them all," Clarke explained. "And as I said, that's not the mission."
Miller nodded, obviously not agreeing with Clarke completely.
"Besides," Clarke said. "We lost contact with Bellamy."
"When?" Akio asked.
"After he took out the acid fog," Clarke said.
"Bellamy's a warrior," Lexa said. "He'll be fine."
That was the nicest thing Clarke had ever heard Lexa say about Bellamy. She gave a nod to Clarke to continue speaking.
"As the Commander said," Clarke started up again. "Once the door is open, the shooting will start. They'll throw everything they have at us. But that's what we want. We want them looking at us, because while we're fighting at the front door, Maynard's team will be escorting the prisoners out the back, right through the reaper tunnels. Once all our people are free, they'll sound the retreat. We'll be back home before Mount Weather knows they're gone."
Now finished with her long explanation of the plan, Clarke stepped back, allowing Lexa to take charge once again.
"The mountain has cast a shadow over these woods for too long," Lexa said. "They've hunted us, controlled us, turned us into monsters. That ends today. Thanks to alliance with the sky people, the mountain will fall. As Clarke said, we spare the innocent. As for the guilty, jus drein jus daun."
Every grounder in the tent took up a chant.
"Jus drein jus daun. Jus drein jus daun."
It got louder and louder. Clarke watched Lexa join in, then she did too. Clarke spoke the words of the chant along with them.
Blood must have blood.
(Mount Weather, Reaper Tunnels. Maynard Draiman.)
We moved into position overnight, entering the tunnels quickly and quietly. I managed to convince the grounders and guards to abandon their traditional tactics to ensure that we wouldn't run into trouble with the reapers.
The grounders wanted to dash in screaming war cries and chanting, 'jus drein jus daun.' The guards wanted to flood the tunnels with flashlight and perform military style sweeps. Each of those tactics would expose us to every reaper in the tunnels, and our force would be overwhelmed quickly.
Though some stern words and vaguely threatening statements, I calmed them down. Then, we entered the tunnels in complete darkness, myself leading the way using my augmented vision to lead the group.
Raven walked just behind me and to my left, her rifle pressed against her shoulder ready for conflict. She was nervous based on her smell, but there was an even stronger scent of resilience and courage. Indra walked to my right, attempting to act as though she was still in charge of the grounders. Roan walked with the rest of the troops, maintaining a slight distance from them. He smelled apprehensive, though I guessed that was with regard to the grounders and guards not the reapers we would likely come into conflict with.
"You lead well," Indra spoke.
I was slightly surprised to hear her voice at the moment. She seemed like the type to maintain complete silence and professionalism until the job was done. Yet, here she was, speaking to me, and not only that but complimenting me as well.
"I try to," I replied, somewhat modestly.
"I'll admit," Indra said. "I wasn't sure what to think of you at first. But, you're a true warrior and you certainly deserve the title of Osleya."
"Thank ya," I returned, while my eyes continued roving down the hall in front of me.
We slowly approached a set of minecart tracks. We were getting closer to the door now. According to Clarke, we had to follow the tracks until we reached the door. It seemed simple enough.
Hopefully it would play out equally simply.
(Mount Weather. Bellamy Blake.)
Bellamy fired a single well-placed round into the guard's head. Miller immediately jumped into action, attacking the second guard with his handcuffs. He used them to choke the guard.
As soon as he heard the announcement over the intercom, Bellamy rushed to aide his friends. Some of them would be captured. He met up with Vincent, who explained that the guards were going door to door, searching for his friends.
So, Vincent and Bellamy made their way towards the marrow transplant room, heading off any transport involving multiple delinquents. Vincent blocked their path, while Bellamy hid in a nearby vent to avoid being seen.
Vincent quickly removed the vent cover, allowing Bellamy to exit. In the group of captured kids were Jasper, Maya, Fox, and Miller.
Miller slammed the second guard's head into the wall, sending him into unconsciousness. Bellamy climbed out.
"Good job," He complimented Vincent.
"Thank you," Vincent replied, somewhat breathlessly.
"Miller," Bellamy said. "You okay?"
"Better than you," Miller quipped while he used the guard's keys to unlock his handcuffs.
"We need to get everyone to the harvest chamber," Bellamy said, eyeing the hall for further threats. "You'll be safer there."
"Safe in the harvest chamber?" Jasper asked, confused.
"Just trust me," Bellamy said.
"Are the others there?" Jasper asked.
"Not yet," Bellamy said.
"Monty," Jasper spoke breathlessly.
"Monty's with the other group on level three," Vincent said. "Don't worry, we moved them after the last sweep." He pointed to Bellamy. "You should go there next."
Bellamy nodded, then spoke to everyone again.
"Go," He said. "Vincent will take you. I won't be long."
"I'm coming with you," Jasper stated, reaching down and taking the guard's gun from the floor. "I promise I'd protect them. That's exactly what I'm going to do."
He could use the extra gun. It would be helpful.
"Let's go," Bellamy nodded slightly to Jasper.
He turned his back and rounded the corner ahead of them in the hall. Off to level three.
Looking over his shoulder and scanning for threats, Bellamy noticed that Jasper hadn't followed him. He stopped and sighed heavily before walking back towards where he'd just come from.
Moments later Jasper came running down the hall with Maya on his heels. Bellamy just shrugged. The more the merrier he supposed.
(Mount Weather, Reaper Tunnels. Octavia Blake.)
"According to Lincoln's map, we're getting close," Octavia said while she, Indra, and Raven poured over a small piece of paper.
Thankfully for those of them who weren't Maynard, they had found their way into a brighter section of tunnel. It was lit by oil lamps, exposing the walls, floor, and ceiling to faint orange light.
Maynard and Roan stood just up ahead of the rest of the group, standing watch. Maynard thought it wise that the two most physically resilient people took point. If any reapers showed up out of the darkness, then Maynard and Roan could take whatever was thrown at them.
"It's a maze," Octavia complained. "Lincoln should be here to show us the way."
"He wasn't ready," Indra replied. "Even he knew that. He'll do well fighting with the Commander."
Octavia turned towards Indra slightly. Speaking of Lincoln made her think of Indra's brief conversation with Lincoln back in TonDC.
"It meant a lot that you forgave him," Octavia said.
"He earned that," Indra responded.
"What's the word guys?" Maynard asked. "Which way? How much farther?"
"Keep to the tracks," Raven said. "It's just a little farther."
Maynard nodded slightly, then gestured for the group to follow him. His senses were on high alert and he twitched seemingly at random while he attuned himself to his surroundings.
"I've known Lincoln since he was a boy," Indra continued. "He always questioned our ways. But if he ever chooses sides against the clan again, not even his bravery can save him."
"Heads up!" Maynard called from the front. "They're behind us!"
Octavia whirled around while one guard took two quick shots in the direction of the reapers.
"Stop shooting!" She screamed.
"The reapers are not the enemy," Indra growled as she shoved the man aside.
The reapers didn't approach immediately.
"Don't kill unless yer about to get killed," Maynard ordered lowly. "Jackson, get the tone generators ready."
They rushed their small group all at once, mostly from behind, while a few came from in front. Jackson activated the tone generator and the whirring sound started immediately.
Maynard visibly cringed as the sound penetrated his sensitive ears.
"Tranquilizers now!" Maynard ordered while still clenching his teeth.
Octavia dashed forward alongside Indra and inserted her tranquilizer syringe into one reaper's neck. She quickly performed the same action on a second reaper. Both men collapsed.
Looking around she noticed that the others had done the same as she had, and now the reapers lay prone on the ground.
"Tie 'em up," Maynard ordered. "And for god's sake turn the damn tone generator off!"
"Sorry," Jackson replied sheepishly as he powered the generator down.
"Thank ya," Maynard said gratefully rubbing his ears. "Get 'em against the wall. We'll come back and pick 'em up later."
Octavia reached her hands down to one man's shirt, grabbing tightly. She drug him to the wall on one side of the tunnel and left him there. As she walked back to the second man, she noticed a pensive expression on Indra's face.
Her mentor knelt over one of the reapers. He had long hair and lots of white face paint.
"You know him?" Octavia questioned.
Indra breathed heavily as she leaned over the reaper.
"He'll be okay," Octavia assured Indra. "Abby will help him."
Indra grunted in response, then moved the body up against the wall.
"Alright guys," Maynard addressed the group. "Keep movin'. We still gotta find the door. Stay sharp. Reapers could show up anytime."
(Mount Weather Territory, Philpott Dam. Skylar Artinakis.)
"Three down, two to go," Wick commented lightly as he walked towards the next generator in line.
"As soon as I'm done, you set the detonator," Skylar said.
"I got it," Wick replied jokingly. "I made this plan, remember?"
"Whatever," Skylar rolled her eyes.
As she went to work disengaging the crucial parts of the generator. Silence enveloped the two of them. To Skylar it didn't seem that strange, but apparently to Wick it was.
"So," He said. "You and Elena are…you know."
Skylar sighed and looked past the generator towards Elena. She stood calmly with a hand resting on one of her two swords. Skylar wasn't exactly sure what to think right now. Sure, she and Elena had slept together, but what did that mean? What did Elena really think of this?
"I don't know," Skylar sighed.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Wick asked with a smirk on his face. "That's a yes or no question. Did you do the sex, yes or no?"
"Yeah but-" Skylar started.
"So you are," Wick interrupted.
"No…" Skylar trailed off, unsure of what to say.
"But you just said you did," Wick said in confusion.
"Well, it's just…" Skylar trailed off again while she worked on the generator. "It's complicated."
"What's complicated about it?" Wick asked. "Do you like her?"
Skylar huffed and lowered her tools for a moment. She looked at Elena again, admiring her form. Elena turned back towards Skylar. She sent a small wave in her direction. Skylar sent a shy smile back.
"Yeah but it's more complicated than that," Skylar answered finally.
"How?" Wick asked, also glancing at Elena. "You like her, she likes you. Seems simple to me."
"I don't know if she likes me though," Skylar said.
Wick chuckled quietly to himself. At least he had the common sense not to let Elena know what they were talking about.
"Then you, Skylar Artinakis, are not as smart as I thought you were," Wick quipped.
Skylar just grumbled to herself under her breath. None of the words she said meant anything. They weren't even really words. It was more the feeling she was trying to convey to herself.
Wick huffed to himself and shook his head with a smile.
"I'm going to get started on number five," He said. "But if it were me Skylar. I'd just tell her how I felt."
Wick swaggered off towards the fifth generator, taking one bomb and a few tools with him.
Why did everyone have to try to butt into her life? Skylar was perfectly capable of handling her relationships on her own.
"Four-oh-two, please report, over," A woman's voice spoke over a radio.
"What was that?" Wick asked softly.
Skylar leaned away from the generator and glanced in the direction of the sound. There, in a small alcove of the wall, was a handheld walkie-talkie.
"Whose is it?" Skylar questioned.
Wick looked back to her curiously while Elena slowly walked in their direction, keeping her eyes trained on the surroundings.
"Four-oh-two, please report, over," The woman said again.
Then, from the shadows of a nearby corner, a man in a blue hazmat suit dashed straight into Wick. He sent the engineer tumbling to the ground while his tools and the bomb fell from his hands.
Like a blur, Elena appeared next to Wick, kicking the man in the hazmat suit off. He flew through the air about twenty feet and smacked hard into a wall. With a slamming sound, he dropped to the floor, apparently unconscious. Elena jogged over to the man, checking on him.
Suddenly, the man turned over, swinging a pipe from the floor in Elena's direction. He hit her across the face, sending her stumbling back a few steps.
The man rapidly sprinted over to the radio. He snatched it up as Wick attempted to catch him.
"We've got intruders in the dam," The man radioed.
Wick used a wrench, slamming the guy in the head. He went down instantly with blood coming from the top of the suit.
Wick stepped back, breathing heavily while he stared at the guy he'd just whacked.
"Come in four-oh-two, did you say 'intruders'?" The woman on the radio asked. "Four-oh-two are you there? Backup is on the way."
Great.
"Damnit they know we're here," Elena swore.
"Wick," Skylar called to the staring man. "They're sending backup. We have to do this fast."
He still stared at the man he'd just killed.
"Get a hold of yourself Wick," Elena said. "You've got a job to do."
Wick nodded silently while Skylar took the wrench from his hand.
"Give me the last bomb," Skylar said.
Wick looked around curiously, like he'd misplaced it. Then Skylar remembered, seemingly at the same time as Wick. They both looked to the spot next to the wall where the bombs had fallen. One of them was leaking red fluid. It was broken.
"What happens if we only blow four of the five?" Wick asked.
"The power stays on," Skylar said. "The door stays locked. Everyone we care about dies."
"Great," Wick sighed.
Skylar needed to sit down and think. There had to be a way to deactivate the fifth generator.
"Is there another way to shut the fifth generator down?" Elena questioned.
"Give me a second," Skylar replied.
She promptly sat down and delved deep into her mind, trying to come up with the solution to the problem they faced. Wick paced back and forth behind her, doing nothing but distracting her.
Every time Skylar felt she was coming close to something tangible, the tapping of Wick's shoes would interrupt her thoughts.
"Wick stop," Skylar said.
"I'm not doing anything," Wick replied.
"Exactly," Skylar complained.
"Hey, I'm not the one who didn't make enough bombs," Wick said.
"Five turbines, five bombs," Skylar said. "Maybe if you didn't drop the last one-"
"Any engineer worth his salt knows to plan for failure," Wick shot back. "Two is one. One is none. It's called redundancy."
"I know," Skylar responded in frustration.
"Hey, quit arguing and get it together guys," Elena ordered. "You two are the only ones who can fix this problem."
"Wait," Skylar breathed. "Redundancy."
"What?" Wick asked in confusion.
"They built more turbines than they needed," Skylar explained while she went to work taking out the mechanisms for the last turbine. "We blow four and this one takes the load. Then, surge protectors will ramp it down to keep it from-"
"To keep it from blowing up," Wick finished.
"Yeah," Skylar said. "We need to shut down this turbine Wick."
She looked back at him with a shrug.
"Catastrophic failure?" Wick questioned. "That's your plan?"
"When you say it like that, it doesn't sound like such a good idea," Skylar complained.
Wick eyed her for a moment.
"I'll set the detonators," He said.
Wick dashed off to set the one bomb they had remaining while Elena sent a smile her way.
"See," She said lightly. "I knew you could do it."
(Mount Weather Territory, Front Gate. Lexa.)
Clarke paced back and forth next to Lexa, obviously displeased with something. She seemed impatient, like she couldn't wait to put their plan forth into action. Lexa knew better though. Sometimes, you just had to wait to allow things to develop.
Currently, the plan was going well. They couldn't communicate directly with any of the other three teams, but the fact that the mountain men weren't out in droves yet, showed that they were doing well so far.
"It's taking too long," Clarke complained.
"It takes as long as it takes," Lexa returned calmly.
Clarke said nothing in return, but, just like yesterday, Lexa found herself wanting to know Clarke better. She wanted to talk to her.
"What will you do when it's over?" Lexa asked.
A strange silence enveloped Clarke. It was a silence that betrayed the fact that she had never considered this question before.
"I have no idea," Clarke responded after a while.
"Well," Lexa said, turning her head to face Clarke. "What do you want?"
Clarke's eyes dropped, obviously unable to come up with a response. She shook her head and opened her mouth as if to say something. Then, she closed her mouth again, thinking better of her words.
"Nothing," Clarke answered after the long pause.
She turned and looked to Lexa with genuine eyes. Clarke was honest. There was something about an honest person that made them attractive. Something about the fearlessness to speak the truth completely and wholly made you more formidable. She wasn't a perfect human being, but no one was.
"I want my people back," Clarke said. "I can't think past today."
"You should come with me to the capital," Lexa suggested.
Clarke looked to Lexa curiously. Lexa met Clarke's eyes with as much honesty as she could muster. She wanted to be genuine to Clarke in this moment, convince her what she was saying had no ulterior motive.
"It'll change the way you think about us," Lexa said.
"You already have," Clarke said softly.
Gunshots came from the distance. Lexa's thoughtfulness was broken by the sharpness of reality. She set her attention firmly on the world around her, trying to pinpoint the location of the sounds.
"It's coming from the dam," David Miller, one of the sky people, said.
"They know we're going for the power," Clarke realized.
"They know we're going for the door," Lexa added.
"Bring the tank forward!" Clarke ordered.
The crowd parted to allow the big behemoth vehicle to roll up to the gate. Charles, the Furlan with the strange accent, popped up from the hatch to look around.
"Fire once you see the lights go out," Miller ordered to Charles.
(Mount Weather Territory, Philpot Dam. Skylar Artinakis.)
"Today Wick!" Skylar shouted.
"I'm moving as fast as I ca-" Wick started to speak but stopped suddenly.
A loud ramming sound came from the door to the turbine room. Someone was trying to force their way in.
"Shit," Elena swore.
"I can go faster," Wick said nervously.
He bent down and added a few more parts. Then, Wick jumped up and sprinted away from the generator.
"Did you get it?" Skylar asked.
"Push the damn button!" Wick shouted back.
Skylar didn't need to be told twice.
Four small explosions fired as the four, armed bombs went off. The power still stayed on, however. Then, a screeching sound came from the final generator.
"It's working," Wick said.
"We're too close," Skylar said, standing.
She led the way as they moved as fast as they could away from the final generator, which would incinerate them if they were too close.
Elena and Wick followed just behind, feet pounding the floor as the quickly caught up to Skylar.
"Freeze!" One man shouted.
"Hands up!" Another said.
Obviously, the mountain men had gotten inside the turbine room. They aimed guns straight at the three of them.
"Don't move," One said. "Show me your hands."
Skylar raised her hands along with Wick and Elena.
"Just keep backing up," Wick said.
"Stop moving right now," The same man ordered.
"We're still too close," Skylar said.
"Not as close as they are," Elena replied.
Then, the generator exploded.
(Mount Weather Territory, Front Gate. Clarke Griffin.)
The lights around the door went down.
"She did it," Clarke murmured.
She turned and looked to the guys in the tank next to her and sent a nod in their direction, signaling for them to fire on the door.
"You got it," Chuck replied as he climbed down into the hatch.
They aligned the turret. It whirred lowly, like a great beast, then centered its sights on the target. Clarke held her breath in anticipation, awaiting the culmination of all their success.
Gunfire erupted from the hill above them. It was a long and continuous sound. Clarke dove behind a nearby rock just as the tank fired on the door.
Just a split second later, the door was blown wide open. Lexa looked to the warriors around her and ordered something in Trigedasleng.
A few men dashed off towards the trees, but Lexa stayed for a moment looking at Clarke and at Lincoln.
"I'm going to the ridge to take out the shooters," Lexa said.
"But the door's wide open," Clarke protested. "We can just walk right in."
"If we do, the men on the ridge will follow us in and attack us from behind," Lexa countered. "We need to get them off our back first."
"Won't the men inside have more time to prepare?" Clarke asked.
"They've already had plenty of time," Lexa answered. "Lincoln, stay with Clarke. I'm going to the ridge."
She stood and dashed off with another contingent of men at her heels.
Now that she thought about it, dashing for the door was stupid anyway. They'd all be gunned down as they ran, accomplishing nothing.
From her right, the creaking sound of a hinge reached her ears. She looked up to see Charles closing the hatch of the tank. She wished she had an armored vehicle to hide in right now. It would be a hell of a lot better than the small rock she cowered behind.
(Mount Weather. Bellamy Blake.)
The group of people ran through the halls with sleeping bags in their arms. There were women, men, and children, all probably heading for a secure location they could be safe from the incoming army. The power had gone out for around a minute earlier, so something was obviously going on.
As soon as they were gone, Bellamy shoved the cover off the vent.
"We don't have much time," Bellamy said as he jumped to the floor beneath him. "The last twelve are on this level."
"Including Monty," Jasper added as he jumped from the vent after Bellamy. "Which way?"
"This way," Maya answered as she climbed out.
She pointed down the hall while Bellamy and Jasper took up the lead, guns at the ready. Simultaneously, an alarm blared from the ceiling and a robotic voice spoke over the intercom.
"Attention," The voice said. "Class one quarantine protocols now in effect. All citizens must report to level five immediately. Hard-seal lockdown in T minus twenty minutes."
Maya stopped abruptly and stared up at the speakers above them in obvious fear. Jasper, wanting to take care of Maya, turned back towards her.
"Listen," He whispered. "It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. We're not going to let anything happen to you, will we?"
Jasper looked back to Bellamy, who shook his head in response.
"Jasper," Maya said. "In thirty minutes, all backup power gets diverted for species continuity. That means level five for life support and security. Radiation will seep in everywhere else. I can't go to level five without being shot in the head."
That was bad news. Maya couldn't find a safe place to hide from the radiation, yet she couldn't go to the only known safe space either. She would be killed for showing up.
"Guys," Bellamy urged, trying to steer the topic away from Maya's dilemma. "We need to keep moving."
"We'll get you a hazmat suit," Jasper said. "And extra oxygen, enough to last until the engineers get the power back on."
"Then what?" Maya asked. "You think Cage Wallace will let me live here after that?"
The intercom started again, but they all ignored it.
"Then we kill him," Jasper concluded resolutely.
Bellamy nodded to Jasper. He liked the plan. It was simple, or at least, the goal was. Achieving that goal might be less so.
A gunshot followed by multiple screaming voices came from down the hall in the direction they were supposed to be travelling.
"Monty," Jasper whispered to himself.
Bellamy and Jasper once again led the way in the direction of the sounds.
"Move!" A man's voice shouted. "You heard him! Let's go!"
Jasper looked ready to charge headlong into the action, regardless of the consequences. Bellamy held out a cautioning hand in front of him, signaling him to slow down and think.
Bellamy raised his pistol and stepped out in front of Jasper as they walked around a corner in the hall. Just as he did, an elevator closed on whatever guards had just been in the hall. As more of the hall was revealed, Bellamy saw, in front of an open door, the body of a woman. She was quite obviously dead.
"It's Mrs. Ryan," Maya said, walking past Bellamy towards the body.
"She was hiding the last twelve," Bellamy said.
"Where'd they take them?" Jasper asked.
"It's got to be level five," Maya answered.
Jasper headed straight for the elevator. Bellamy stepped in front of him, acting as a buffer between Jasper and his willingness to make poor choices.
"No," Bellamy stated.
"Get out of my way," Jasper ordered lowly.
"Every person inside this mountain is on level five," Bellamy returned. "Every soldier. Tell him." He looked to Maya hopefully.
"Jasper's right," Maya said. "After the lockdown, it'll be almost impossible to get them out. It's now or never."
Bellamy sighed, "Alright," He conceded. "But how do we even g-"
A loud creaking sound came from inside the room with the open door. Bellamy and Jasper both turned straight to the sound, aiming their guns just in case.
To Bellamy's shock, Monty slowly peeked his head around the corner.
"Monty," Jasper gasped.
He lowered his rifle gratefully. But, Monty didn't come towards them. Instead, he bent down next to Mrs. Ryan.
"What's wrong?" Bellamy asked.
"They know about the grounders," Monty said. "That's why I hid. I didn't do anything to save the others. I let them kill Mrs. Ryan."
Monty was on the verge of tears. His voice broke repeatedly, and his eyes were rimmed red.
"What do you mean, they know about the grounders?" Bellamy asked.
"It's on a soldier's walkie," Monty said. "They're going for the harvest chamber."
The gravity of Monty's discovery hit Bellamy like a slap in the face.
"If they take it," Bellamy said. "We lose everyone."
Bellamy dashed off, leading the way to the harvest chamber. They'd have to save their friends later.
(Mount Weather, Reaper Tunnels. Raven Reyes.)
They were nearly at the door when everything went wrong.
Maynard was speaking to Roan, while Octavia walked next to Raven. The others in their group seemed relatively relaxed since their encounter with the reapers. After all, what reason was there to be concerned if they had the tone generator, capable of incapacitating the reapers at any moment.
Their overconfidence proved to be their downfall.
Maynard turned back towards the shouting a warning just as a volley of arrows flew at them from a side passage. Octavia was hit in the side while Raven dropped to the floor, barely before an arrow passed right through where her neck had been.
Octavia emitted a cry of pain as she fell. A few others in their group cried out as they were hit as well.
"Where's that generator Jackson?" Raven asked.
"One of the arrows hit it!" Jackson shouted back from behind a rock. "It's done for!"
Great, now they couldn't subdue the reapers.
Raven raised her rifle and fired into the oncoming crowd of reapers. Many went down while Maynard and Roan, who an arrow buried in his shoulder, charged the reapers. Indra was only moments behind, drawing her sword to land a powerful slash against one man.
The battle was short but bloody. In the end, they won, taking out all the enemy reapers in under twenty seconds.
"Check behind," Maynard ordered. "There might be more."
Two guards from camp Jaha nodded and quickly hurried off to check their rear.
"Jackson," Maynard continued. "Take care of the wounded."
Jackson nodded and quickly ran to Octavia's side.
Raven pressed herself up, making to stand and join Maynard. Roan tore the arrow from his shoulder, then, only seconds later, the wound healed itself. As she stood, Raven felt a sharp pain in her thigh and collapsed with a cry of pain.
She used her hands to catch herself before her head cracked against the ground and made matters worse.
"Shit," Raven swore with clenched teeth, fighting through the pain.
Looking down, Raven noticed one of the many arrows shot at them was now stuck on the backside of her thigh. It hurt like hell and could be even worse because the tip of the arrow was still buried inside her leg at an odd angle.
"Ya okay?" Maynard dropped to the ground next to.
Raven hissed as she touched a hand to the wound. Red blood coated her fingers as she withdrew from the stinging sensation.
"Just a scratch," She muttered.
"Not really," Maynard returned as he appraised her wound. "Looks pretty bad."
"Thanks," Raven said sarcastically.
Roan jogged up, his hair bouncing up and down behind him as he ran.
"The entrance is just around the corner," Roan said.
"It would be," Raven grumbled.
Maynard clenched his jaw but said nothing. He was quite obviously attempting to hold in his anger and frustration at the events.
Finished with Octavia for the moment, Jackson inspected Raven's wound.
"How bad is it?" Maynard asked.
"Well," Jackson said hesitantly. "I can't pull it out. We don't have the surgical tools to remove it safely. So, I think we're going to have to push it through."
"Through my leg?" Raven asked.
"The arrow has a barbed head," Jackson explained, holding up the arrow he'd removed from Octavia. "Pushing it out will cause the minimal amount of damage."
"Fucking great," Raven huffed.
"You might want something to bite down on," Jackson said.
Maynard quickly snatched a stick from the ground and handed it over to Raven. She grabbed the wood between her teeth. Field surgery, great. She loved new experiences like these.
Maynard gripped hold of Raven's hand tightly, giving her something to squeeze against. More importantly though, he gave her something to ground herself to during the pain. She stared up into the gray eyes, noticing great concern there.
Pain tore through her leg as Jackson pushed against the arrow. The fiery sensation spread throughout her body until she felt it touching her very soul.
(Mount Weather Territory, Front Gate. Clarke Griffin.)
Finally, the shooting had stopped. Clarke wasn't sure whether that was a momentary blip in the hail of bullets, or whether Lexa's force had taken down the Mount Weather troops.
Clarke could see, inside the gate, that men were forming up. Some of them wore hazmat suits and some didn't, but they all looked deadly serious. Each man had a rifle held in his arms, but not aimed at the grounders still hiding behind the rocks outside.
"Lexa did it," Lincoln breathed in relief.
"Now we have to get past those guys," Clarke replied.
"Good," Lincoln said, standing.
He called out to the grounders in Trigedasleng, sending out orders that Clarke imagined were along the lines of 'form up'.
Carefully, the grounders began shuffling about, forming into rows and drawing their weapons.
It seemed that the men weren't firing on them thanks to the presence of the tank. If they shot at the grounders, then Akio and Charles would light them up with an explosive blast from hell.
"Prepare to fire!" Clarke ordered to the tank.
Just as the tank whirred into life, a sudden puttering sound came from the gun.
"What's wrong?" Clarke asked.
"The turret malfunctioned," Charles returned.
Then another shout came from behind them. It was Lexa's voice, Clarke was sure.
The grounders parted aside to allow Lexa and her troops through. Right next to Lexa walked a man Clarke would recognize anywhere, Emerson.
"What is this?" Clarke questioned as she came to her feet.
The men inside the door still hadn't opened fire, which Clarke was grateful for.
"Hey look!" One of the guards shouted from the back of the army. "They're coming out."
Clarke turned her attention back to the eviscerated gate to see that the mountain men had parted in the middle to allow grounder prisoners to walk through. She felt relief and elation spread through her body. Had they surrendered?
"They're surrendering?" Clarke asked Lexa.
"Not quite," Emerson replied instead of Lexa.
Clarke looked back and forth between Lexa and Emerson, trying to put all the pieces together. The men hadn't fired on them. Emerson was with Lexa. Now that she thought about it, there wasn't a single mark on anyone who was part of Lexa's force. No battle was won without a little bloodshed. Something wasn't right.
She turned her attention solely onto Lexa, wondering just how this had all happened. A feeling of dread settled over Clarke.
"What did you do?" Clarke asked.
"What you would've done," Lexa answered. "Saved my people."
A tense silence hung between them for a long moment. Clarke stared into Lexa's unflinching amber eyes, trying to discern her emotions. Nothing was there, not that Clarke could see.
"Where are my people?" Clarke asked.
"I'm sorry Clarke," Lexa said. "They weren't part of the deal."
Deal?
Now it all made sense. Lexa was able to return with no casualties because she had cut a deal with the mountain men. If she withdrew her force, they would release the grounder prisoners.
"You made the right choice Commander," Emerson stated.
He smirked at Clarke, then walked back inside the mountain, the men shuffling aside to allow him to pass through.
"What is this?" Lincoln questioned while more grounders stumbled back out of the mountain.
"Your Commander's made a deal," Clarke said.
"What about the prisoners from the Ark?" Lincoln asked.
"They'll all be killed," Clarke answered gravely. "But you don't care about that do you?"
"I do care Clarke," Lexa replied. "But I made this choice with my head and not my heart. The duty to protect my people comes first."
"Please don't do this," Clarke said, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry Clarke," Lexa said again.
"Commander," Lincoln interjected. "Not like this, let us fight."
"No," Lexa said. "The deal is done."
The mountain men closed ranks as the last of the grounder prisoners walked into the outside air. They all raised their rifles to their shoulders, prepared to fight, then slowly backed down the tunnel. They wanted to make it harder for the sky people to attack them. For any assault to be made, they would have to walk down the tunnel.
One grounder blew powerfully into a horn, sounding the retreat. The grounder army turned around without much thought and walked away.
"You too," Lexa ordered to Lincoln. "All our people withdraw. Those were the terms."
"They'll be slaughtered," Lincoln said. "Let me help them."
Lexa coldly ordered her guards in Trigedasleng. Two men grabbed hold of Lincoln's wrists, but he began to fight back.
Lincoln knocked one man to his knees and engaged the other man. Quickly though, a third man approached from behind and landed a powerful blow on the back of Lincoln's head.
Two grounders lifted the unconscious Lincoln and carried him away with the rest of the army.
"May we meet again," Lexa said, twisting the Ark's most sacred words in the worst way possible.
(Mount Weather, Reaper Tunnels. Maynard Draiman.)
We moved to the door just a few minutes ago. There were a few reasons for this. First, when Bellamy led the grounder prisoners out, I wanted to be there. Second, if more reapers showed up, we would have to fight them, thanks to our lack of a tone generator. It was easier to fight with our backs against a wall so no one could sneak up behind us. Third, it was good to be in a safer lighter environment to allow the wounded to recover fully.
Of our small group, five had been injured in the reaper attack. They all either sat or laid against then nearby wall of the tunnel. Octavia sat, rolling her shoulder uncomfortably despite Jackson's cautioning her not to. Raven was passed out on the floor. The hasty surgery had taken a lot out of her. She'd passed out part way through, probably due to the pain.
As she rested, I found myself thinking over the events. I knew I couldn't blame myself, and I didn't, but I couldn't help but wonder if there was something I could've done to help Raven.
I shook my head, worrying about that was pointless.
I heard a sound in the distance. It was familiar, the sound of a horn. Obviously, I was the first one who noticed it thanks to my augmented hearing. The sound signaled retreat, but the question was why. The prisoners hadn't come through the door yet. Maybe the mountain men had surrendered?
No. They wouldn't surrender. In their minds, they were on a righteous quest to reclaim their homeland no matter what the consequences. They wouldn't give up on that goal and would fight right down to the last man.
That meant that something else had happened. What that something else was, I wasn't sure. At the moment, I didn't see any logical explanations. I just needed to think more.
As the horn sounded again, my companions began to take notice as well. Indra whipped around quickly in the direction of the horn.
"We're retreating," She breathed.
"That can't be right," Octavia disputed from her position against the wall.
"We have to go," Indra said. "Now."
To my surprise, none of the grounders sheathed their swords or moved. They all turned back and looked at me leaning up against the wall. They awaited my command, even though Indra was the leader of their village. Maybe that was because Osleya outranked village leader? I wasn't sure.
"Indra wait," Octavia said, slowly rising to her feet and positioning herself between Indra and the exit. "They're still in there."
"And our Commander's out there under attack for all we know," Indra replied.
"I don't trust her," Octavia said. "Not after TonDC. Neither should you."
Indra both looked and smelled incredulous. She couldn't believe that Octavia would challenge the Commander.
"I gave you a direct order," Indra said stonily.
"Please," Octavia begged. "This was the plan. It we're not here when they come out th-"
"Plans change," Indra interrupted harshly.
The grounders in our group still looked back and forth between Indra and me, not sure whose orders to follow. I hadn't given any orders yet, and it was obvious they were waiting to see what I would say.
"I'm not going anywhere without my brother," Octavia stated firmly.
That was strength. I could respect that. She wouldn't compromise or sacrifice for anyone else. At least Indra hadn't brainwashed her out of her autonomy.
Indra drew a knife from her belt and placed it against Octavia's neck. Roan stepped closer, resting a hand on his own sword. I remained still and calm, determining from my sixth sense that Indra was not going to harm Octavia.
"You are no longer my second," Indra said.
She made a slight nick against Octavia's neck. As she did, Roan relaxed, coming to the conclusion that he needn't intervene.
Indra walked off down the tunnel, yet none of the grounders followed her still. Realizing this, she turned back to them.
"Let's go," Indra ordered.
The grounders shuffled sheepishly, not sure what to do. I needed to give them my command now, but what to say?
I wanted to make a decision that would serve me properly, without forcing anyone into anything. There were a few considerations. The grounders would become enemies of their people if they joined me and ignored the order of retreat coming straight from Lexa. There was no question that I was at least one position down the totem pole from the Commander.
Simultaneously though, I didn't want to compromise my decision simply because I wanted what was best for someone else. I wanted what was best for me.
There seemed to be only one option.
"Do what's best for ya," I said. "It's up to ya'll whether ya stay or go."
"The Commander is waiting," Indra said impatiently.
Slowly and begrudgingly, each and every grounder, even then wounded ones, followed after Indra. They disappeared from sight as they rounded the corner up ahead, leaving just the few sky people who were part of the group.
Honestly, I was pissed. Lexa sounded the horn of retreat, why? Was she just giving up? Or had she cut some sort of deal with the mountain men?
"What about us?" Jackson asked.
"I'm stayin'," I asserted. "I'll leave ya with the same choice I gave the grounders. It's yer choice."
Jackson turned back to the guards, then looked at Raven's body on the ground. He was obviously wondering whether or not he should take her. They were going to leave. I could smell it on their skin.
"Leave her," I ordered angrily.
Jackson shook his head, "Come on," He said to the guards who joined us.
He left a small pack of what I knew contained medical supplies, then left with the guards. That left me alone with Octavia, Roan, and Raven.
The anger began to build up inside me. Why had I made such a stupid choice? It was obvious why I did. I was giving those around me the freedom to choose their own paths.
I began to pace back and forth grumbling to myself. Lexa had sounded the retreat, why?
It had to be that she cut some sort of deal with the mountain men. It was the only solution that made sense. But what deal? And why?
The answer to the question of why came to me first. Her goal was to rescue her people, the grounder prisoners inside Mount Weather. That was her only goal in this operation, while everything else was either irrelevant or convenient.
So, if she had made a deal to rescue her people, then what deal had she made?
I thought for a few more minutes pacing back and forth, getting more and more angry at Lexa and the grounders, but also at the sky people for deciding to leave. I knew I gave them that choice, but I didn't care. I was still angry.
Deep inside me, the prickling of the shadow, threatening to stretch up and over me, touched my soul. It wanted to be let out, to be set free to cause havoc, and I wanted to let it out. I was just too pissed.
Then, the answer hit me.
The answer came as a result of thinking of the mechanism of deal making. I loved deals. In a good deal, without blackmail or other such crony tools, both sides benefitted. Both sides gained value from the trade because they believed whatever they were trading for to be more valuable. So, that meant that both sides of the deal, Lexa and the mountain men, had to believe they were gaining something from the trade.
What did Lexa want most? To free her people, the sky people in Mount Weather didn't matter. What did the mountain men want most? To return to the ground, they didn't need the grounders. They just needed the sky people's bone marrow.
Lexa must have agreed to withdraw the grounder force, and, in return, the mountain men would set her people free. Win, win. The mountain men had escaped the war and seemingly won it through deal making.
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting," I whispered to myself, thinking of Sun Tzu.
The mountain men hadn't needed to lose lives, because they had the necessary assets to make a deal. Only thing was, with this deal, the third party, or in this case, we, had lost during the deal. We lost the grounder support and alliance, and our people were still trapped inside the mountain.
The mountain men thought they had won. I wouldn't let them.
My anger and rage were palpable now. They seemingly touched my skin, pricking at my eyes.
I gave in to the Shadow, allowing the dark side of my personality to take control.
It was an odd experience, much like the other times the Shadow had taken control, it was more like I was a passenger along for the ride in the car. Just like Dexter it seemed.
I growled to myself and stalked towards the door without a word. It didn't look that hard to break down.
I kicked it hard. The door shook violently and creaked ominously. One more would do it in.
I barely heard and ignored the questions from my companions as I kicked the door again. It burst open to reveal the inside of Mount Weather.
With an evil smirk, I walked inside, heedless of the shouts of protest from my companions behind me.
This was going to be so much fun.
(Mount Weather, Harvest Chamber. Bellamy Blake.)
Bellamy through the door to the harvest chamber aside. He stalked forward, gun in hand and at the ready with his finger just above the trigger guard.
There were no grounders inside, but there was one person there. One dead person, a familiar one. It was Vincent, Maya's father. He was shot in the head with a pool of blood lying beside him.
"No!" Maya cried. "No!"
Tears fell from her cheeks as her voice broke emotionally. She fell at her father's side, weeping. Jasper quickly followed, reaching an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.
Bellamy walked forward, heading for the larger part of the room where all the cages were stacked in some sort of tower. They were all empty. There was no one left. What the hell happened here?
(Mount Weather Territory, Philpott Dam. Skylar Artinakis.)
Skylar groaned as she came back to reality. Dust filled her lungs as she tried to breathe. That wasn't a great idea. Skylar coughed raucously, trying to clear the shit from her lungs.
Then, she realized how much everything hurt. Her head was the worst, still ringing from the explosion. Next, unsurprisingly came her knee. That thing seemed to be the source of most of her problems these days.
"Hey," It was Wick's voice who spoke.
Skylar finally found the strength to force her eyes open and look around. Wick sat over her next to a pile of rubble created by the explosion. He fiddled with a piece of her brace which squeaked back and forth annoyingly.
"Broken," Wick grumbled.
Wick coughed. Apparently, his lungs were full of shit too.
"Where's Elena?" Skylar asked.
She glanced around the wreckage, then finally spotted her body. She was up against one of the walls with blood slowly dripping from her nose. Elena wasn't moving.
Skylar felt her heart start to race. What if she was dead?
She tried crawling towards her, but the pain was too much.
"Slow down," Wick eased. "Let me help."
He worked an arm underneath her shoulders and helped her walk towards Elena. It hurt to walk, even though Wick was doing most of the work. They finally stumbled to the ground exhausted just a few feet from Elena. They'd moved a grand total of ten feet, and it felt like a marathon.
Skylar scrambled towards Elena and rested two fingers against her neck, checking for a pulse. She felt the thumping of a heartbeat. Skylar sighed heavily in relief.
There was another problem though, now that they knew Elena was okay. They had to figure out how to get out. One of them was very weak, the second was crippled, and the third was unconscious.
"Wick," Skylar croaked painfully. "You should probably-"
"No way," Wick said, crawling after her. "I'm not leaving you."
"What's that?" A loud voice asked from the other side of the room.
It was slightly muffled by a gas mask. There was only one kind of person who would be down here with a gas mask, a mountain man.
"This is tac team five," One man said. "Tell the president the turbines are down."
Another man walked towards them and appraised them from behind an obscuring mask.
"You're coming with us," He said.
(Mount Weather Territory, Main Gate. Clarke Griffin.)
Clarke stood staring at the blown open door. The force of mountain men still waited inside there. They would slaughter anyone who tried to go in the front door. Now, they didn't have the men to make a frontal assault.
She refused to believe that this was how the war ended. They couldn't lose. She wouldn't let it happen, no matter the cost.
"Clarke," Charles spoke, having hopped down from the broken-down tank. "Let's go. We'll come back with reinforcements."
She just stared at the door vacantly, unable to comprehend her failure. It couldn't be over.
"Clarke come on," Miller encouraged.
Clarke turned to face Miller, who looked broken. He was leaving his son behind. How could he do that?
"It's over," He said. "I'm sorry."
Clarke just kept on staring.
"It can't be over," She whispered to herself.
There it is, the penultimate chapter of Season 2. Things wrap up in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading.