Chapter 3 - I Know I've Been Actin' Easily Distracted, You Wish I could Focus


"Fuck!" the crash of a tool being thrown to the ground was heard around the camp. "I need more time to get these working if we are going to contact the radio. This isn't working!"

Raven came storming out of the dropship hands in her hair. She paced back and forth muttering to herself.

"Raven, Raven!" Clarke moved towards her. "Calm down, you can do this."

"No, I can't. Not in time to save those people." Raven's pacing increased as she got more agitated. Ticking off unsaid things on her hands.

"Yes, you can. Don't think about them right now, we just need to let the ark know we are alive down here." Stepping into Raven's path Clarke stopped Raven in her tracks, grabbing her shoulders. Raven's angry face met Clarke's gaze before a thoughtful expression slid across it.

"What if we can just show them, we are here. We don't even need to communicate with them, right? We can make flares."

"Will that work?" Hope started to bubble up in Clarke's gut.

"I think so. It's all about cloud cover and burn time and I know your mom will be watching. I've never seen anyone love someone the way she loves you." A smile softened the sharp edges of Raven's face. Raven's eyes trailed across Clarke's face slowly as the two stared at each other.

Pulling away Raven's angry countenance reappeared. "Besides, it's the only thing I can come up with on short notice. Unless you have a better plan."

Shaking her head, Clarke moved away from Raven's angry glare. "No, no, of course not. What do you need us to do?"

As Raven began to list off the things that she would need she started walking away from Clarke, grabbing more kids and giving them things to get. Clarke followed her until she stopped and turned around to Clarke. "Well, what are you waiting for. We need to get this done if we are going to get them in the air before they kill a bunch of people."

"Right."

The camp burst into activity. By the time the sun was setting the flares were ready to go. Raven lit the flares and stepped back. The crowd of kids stood back and watched the flares take to the sky, hope for the lives of their people silencing the crowd.

Sliding up to Clarke, Murphy looked at her as the flares peaked in sky. "You think they will see the flares?"

"I don't know. I hope so." Clarke looked back at Murphy. "You think you can wish on this kind of shooting star?"

Meeting Clarke's gaze, Murphy's amusement lingered around the corners of his mouth. Clarke shook her head. "Never mind."

"I wouldn't even know what to wish for. What about you?" Clarke looks over at Finn with his arm around Raven. Murphy follows her gaze. "Clarke, he doesn't deserve you."

Dropping her gaze. "I know," she said softly. "You know Murphy, I don't understand why you're being so nice to me but thank you."

XXXXXXXXXX

Bellamy sat deep in the throne beneath him. His heavy brows drawn low over his eyes; an unhappy line pressing his full lips, thin. His arms crossed over his dark leather clad chest. The waves of displeasure rolling off him as the Trikru ambassador stood humbled in front of Heda.

"Ambassador, care to tell me why I'm finding out about the Sky people from my sister? My sister who was supposed to be on a mission monitoring Azgeda at your borders? The borders that you begged me to assess because you felt Nia was testing your defenses?"

The slight man that stood before the commander, trembled under the pointed gaze that was directed at him. "Heda, you have to understand -"

"I have to understand?" Bellamy growled, cutting off the ambassador. "I have to do nothing, except get the truth from you. You will tell me why you did not bring news of this to me? Did you not think I would find out eventually?"

Bellamy paused allowing the man to attempt to mount his defense. When the man just continued to flounder, Bellamy rocked up forward up and out of the throne. Grasping the other man's clothes, he dropped his voice low. "You will tell me in the next 3 seconds, or I will find an ambassador who will."

"Heda, Anya asked for time to find out what these people want." The ambassador flinch at the end of his response. Bellamy's sharp eyes follow the movement closely.

"Yet, I hear that Anya is attacking them unprovoked. These kids."

The ambassador flashed angry eyes towards Bellamy but realizing that he was being stared at dropped his gaze back to the floor. Trying and failing to display submission. "But Heda, it wasn't unprovoked. They were attempting to join the mountain men and -"

"Are they still trying to reach the mountain men?" Surprise filtered through Bellamy, tensing up his shoulders. Pacing away towards the window.

"Well, no, as far as we can tell. We have them contained for now." The ambassador's tone turned hopeful as he watched the commander's agitated pacing.

"As far as you know? If you don't know then what good are you?" Anger at the lack of knowledge made Bellamy feel hostile. The other commanders crying out in his head, calling for action against these new enemies before they could hurt their people.

"Heda, please -" the fear was back in his voice.

"I will have answers, Ambassador." Bellamy came to stand right in front of the fearful man, looking down his nose at him.

"Yes, Heda. I will send for word immediately."

"Too late. I already have." Walking away, Bellamy turned and paused briefly at the door. "And Ambassador, see to it that you do not keep anything else from me. You will get no more chances."

He would not see this new threat endanger his people.

XXXXXXXXXX

The following evening as the camp settled down for the night, Wells and Clarke stood in her tent discussing supplies that they still needed to find or replenish. When the background chatter that seemed to always accompany camp dropped off, both of them stood at attention. Sharing a look with Wells, they exited the tent quickly to see the whole crowd staring up towards the sky.

"It didn't work. They didn't see the flares." Clarke clenched her fists.

"A meteor shower tells you that?" Wells looked at Clarke not quite understanding how she knew that they didn't work.

"It's not a meteor shower, it's a funeral. Hundreds of bodies being returned to the earth from the ark. This is what it looks like from the other side" Clarke looked away from Wells; unable to meet his questioning gaze.

"Damn it!" Raven stormed over to Murphy. "I have to get out of camp! I have to go find more parts! I gotta fix this damn radio."

"Not tonight, Raven." He grabbed her arms stopping her from moving forward. Raven struggled against Murphy's hold "Finn and you can go back tomorrow to look for more parts."

"Raven, he's right. We can't go out there tonight. It's too dangerous." Clarke moved towards the commotion hoping to keep it from escalating any further and worrying the other kids.

"No, Clarke, you don't understand. This is my fault. I didn't secure the radio. I couldn't fix it. It's all my fault." Raven broke down into tears. Leaning forward as she started to sob in earnest.

"Wells, get Finn." She nodded back towards her tent. "Raven, it was not your fault. It's no one's fault but the council. You can fix that radio, but not tonight."

Raven and Clarke looked up to see Finn as he jogged through the tent flap. Finn grabbed the crying Raven and pulled her tightly into his chest. Meeting Clarke's eyes Finn nodding before pulling the distraught woman out of her tent.

Following them out of the tent she watched Finn pull Raven into their tent before she headed back towards the dropship in search of Monty. Finding him on the second level she sat down next to him.

"What else do you and Raven need to get the radios working?"

"The radio transmitter fried last time we tried to link it into the dropship power. We need a new one." He looked up from the wires he was splicing together.

"Okay, what does something like that look like?" She stood up, bracing her hands on her hips.

"Why?" He stood up, setting aside his tools. "What are you planning on doing?"

"I'm going to go find this, transmitter thingy and be back at camp before Raven wakes up. I don't think she can take another loss. And 300 people won't be enough, they will need to sacrifice more people before long. They won't have a choice."

"Then I'm going with you."

Clarke started shaking her head. "No, Monty. I can't ask you to do that. It's too dangerous."

"That's why I'm going with you." Both Monty and Clarke started at the sound of Murphy's voice. Climbing the rest of the way to the second level, Murphy moved in towards them.

"Guys, it's not safe and too many of us will draw the attention of the grounders. I won't lose anyone else to them." She crossed her arms over her chest, drawing her face into an unimpressed countenance.

"You're right Clarke," Murphy agreed with her. "But we can't allow our leader to leave camp undefended."

"I told you Murphy, I'm not your-" Cutting her off as he hooked his arm over her shoulders, nodding his head but the smirk on his face spoke of his amusement.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say but I don't see anyone else sitting up at all hours of the night trying to come up with a plan to keep us alive just one more day, every day." He shoved her playfully. "So, I'm going with you."

"Well since it seems that I can't get you to stay, do you know what the radio transmitter thingy looks like." She shook her head, amused at his behavior.

"Nope, not a clue." Shrugging he shook his head. Laughter barely contained.

Sighing, her humor palpable in her exasperation. "Then you are no help Murphy."

"Well I guess that means I get to go then."

Throwing her hands in the air Clarke gave in. "Fine you can come, but no one else. And we do this without torches. We can't afford for them to spot us moving about in the night."

With the final agreement, they moved to head out of camp. Separating as they left the drop ship to keep everyone from noticing that they were leaving camp before meeting slightly outside of the camp.

They moved quickly to the art supply store hoping to make it back before the sun rose for the new day. The humor that had been present in the safety of the dropship faded into quiet tension. Once they reached the art supply store they rummaged through the containers, finding mostly blankets and clothing items.

"Nothing!" She throws the blankets down on the ground "There are no electronics."

"Wait, Clarke. I think I found what we need." Holding up a what she remembers from the vids on the ark is called a car but it's much smaller. It must have been a model of a car.

"Okay, then let's go."

Looking up to the sky as they exit the bunker, Clarke notes a thick cloud cover blotting out the stars. "We need to move. I'd like to back at camp sooner than later."

Silently agreeing to her whispered words, they head back to camp. Breaking through the woods the sight of the front gate, just as the sun breached the horizon. A tall shadow sat off to the side just barely catching Clarke's eye. Turning her head slightly towards the shadow. Noting the figure that had been trailing her, since the outing with Jasper, was still there.

Picking up the pace she moved toward camp ready to be back behind the safety of the walls. By the time they arrive in camp, everyone was waking up and Raven was standing off to the side of the dropship already fiddling with the wires. Finn sitting around the fire watching her carefully. Monty moved towards Raven with the toy car they had found.

Raven's face lit up at the sight of the car and her hands started moving wildly as she talked at Monty who's face carried a soft smile. As pair moved towards the dropship, Clarke the heavy weight of an unwelcome stare on her. Looking at Finn she saw he was preparing to get up and head in her direction.

"Murphy, it's been… well, it's been something. I'm heading to catch some shut eye, you should too."

"Yeah don't worry, I will. And I'll make sure you aren't disturbed." Clapping his hand on her back as she passed him. "Good night, Princess."

Shaking her head. "You know, that's not my name."

Smirking, he nodded. "Oh, I know." he said laughingly.

By the time Clarke woke up later in the day, Raven and Monty were attempting to hail the ark. "This is Raven Reyes. Calling Ark Station. Come in Ark Station. This is Raven Reyes. Calling Ark Station. Please come in. Can anybody hear me?"

"Ra- is th- ou?" A feminine voice called back.

"Hello, Abby? Is that you?" Raven's face was filled with excitement and the delinquents that were in the dropship began to chatter excitedly.

"Rav - tha- ou?"

"Yes, Abby it's me!" Raven turned her excited face to Clarke. "We got them! Clarke it's your mother!"

The excitement in Clarke's face faded at the mention of her mother. "Raven. I'm so glad you got them. I'll go let everyone know." Clarke turned and made her way to the exit.

Bumping into Wells on his way back in, he reached out to brace Clarke before she tipped over from the impact.

"Whoa, Clarke. What's the rush?" The bright smile at the sight of his best friend faded as he noticed her cold, distant countenance.

"They got the radios working. My mom is the one that answered. I - I can't be in there. So, I'm going to go let the others know that they will be able to talk to their families soon." Clarke refused to let the tears that welled in her eyes, fall. Shaking her head, she let her eyes wander away from Wells face and take in the camp.

More tents had been put up and they were making progress on the smoke house. The wooden wall was being reinforced with scraps of metal that were being salvaged from the surrounding area; pieces that had fallen off on their reentry. There was still so much that needed to be done to make sure they would survive the winter. They needed more clothes and more blankets, and they were running low on dry wood.

"Oh Clarke, I'm so sorry." Wells finally spoke after watching her survey their home; knowing her mind was moving in a million different directions, trying to keep herself from thinking about the complicated feelings she had for her mom. He pulled her to his chest. "It will get easier, Clarke. Just give it time."

Dragging herself away from him, she finally looked up to meet his eyes. Her hand coming up to wipe at her dry cheeks as if she had actually let the tears fall. "I'll never forgive her Wells, I can't."

Clarke turned and walked away from him before he could offer her more platitudes. Walking over to Murphy to set up more groups to go out and start collecting what they needed for the day and beyond that, she stopped at groups of kids along the way letting them know what was joyous news for everyone except her. She knew that later she would have to talk to the families of the kids who hadn't made it, telling them how she had failed to keep them alive. A task she dreaded more than the prospect of talking to her own mother.

By the end of the week, Raven had managed to set up video comms with the assistance of Sinclair, lead engineer on the ark. The only hiccup had been the massive storm that had toss the camp about. They were well underway to make sure they had re-secured everything, to replenish the lost supplies and repair what could be repaired.

Taking a deep breath after the conversation she had just had with the last parent of the kids who had died, she turned back to the screen in time to see Chancellor Jaha - Wells' father - councilman Kane and a few others that she didn't immediately recall names for. She did notice that her mother had been replaced with Diana Sydney, someone she thought she would never see in the council room again.

"Clarke, what can you tell us about the ground? What have you learned?" The excited face of Jaha leaned forward filling up more of the screen as he did so.

"We are doing everything we can do survive down here, gathering nuts and berries. Trying to preserve as much meat as we can. But the fact of the matter is we will freeze before we starve."

Clark darted her eyes over to Kane screen to watch him as he fiddled with the tablet just barely in the screen. "Good News on that front. According to old records from before the bombs there is an old outpost not far from the landing site. Here are the coordinates." He read off the coordinates to Clarke as she made notes on the scrap paper in front of her.

"Are you sure it will be intact?" Clarke looked back up at the screen.

"Well it was designed to withstand nuclear warfare so it should be. It may even be able to shelter the hundred until we can send the guard down." Kane responded.

"Well it's worth a shot." Clarke sighed, resigning herself to leaving the safety of camp again.

"I'm afraid I have to object." The nasally voice of Diana came loudly through the speakers. And if the pinching of both Jaha and Kane's face were any indication, she was being just as loud in the echoing room on the ark. "Project Exodus has been put into effect. The kids should stay put until the guard comes down."

Jaha's eyes narrowed in what must have been Diana's direction before he responded. "The temperatures are falling every evening. Even if all went according to plan the hundred would freeze to death before help could arrive."

"Sir," Clarke cut in unkindly. "Far be it from me to deny anything that might help my people down here, but we have actually taken measures to ensure that we survive with or without your help. However, I agree more supplies would definitely help. We will go check it out. Now if you will excuse me, I'll go get the next person you need to talk to if you will just give me a name."

"Clarke wait." Jaha called frantically as he noticed Clarke standing in on the screen in front of him. "If you would all clear the room, I'd like a moment alone with Clarke."

He paused as the room cleared around him, the other screens going blank as the council moved out of the room. "Clarke, we are so proud of what you have accomplished here. I know your mother would love to -"

"I have nothing to say to my mother or you. Now please give me the next name so someone who actually wants to talk to their parents, can." Cutting Jaha off was the easiest thing she had ever done in her life. It was so gratifying that she was unable to keep the corners of her lips from turning up.

"Clarke, please." He started again. "It's time to -"

She took her headset off setting it down on the counter in full view of the screen, before turning and exiting. She looked for Wells who was standing just outside of the tent. "Your father wouldn't tell me who is next, why don't you see if you have better luck. Then come meet me and Murphy in my tent. We have some things to discuss."

He nodded, heading into the red and white tent that was salvaged from the drop ship parachutes. Clarke turned in the opposite direction looking for Murphy. The kids around camp were packing pieced together ration bags full of the nuts and berries they had gathered. Occasionally munching on the rations, they were supposed to be packing.

Finding Murphy overseeing the last piece of construction on the smokehouse to expand it for more meat. She nodded at him to climb down and come with her. By the time they both made it to her tent, Wells had already arrived and was sitting in the threadbare blanket that made up her bed on the ground.

"You know, I was thinking we should make raised platforms for beds before the weather gets colder, the ground will leech the warmth right out of us if we keep sleeping directly on the ground for much longer."

"That's a great idea. Why don't you start working on that?" She smiles softly in his direction. "I guess that leaves me and you Murphy. We got the coordinates to a supply depot from the ark. They think it'll have stuff we need and maybe even be somewhere we can bunker down in until they come down."

"What makes them think that it survived?" The look he gives her is skeptical at best.

"I asked the same thing, but they said it was built to withstand nuclear warfare so it's at least worth a shot, right?" She looks over both boys faces. Wells nodding in agreement but Murphy still not looking super thrilled.

"Okay then, Murphy and I will go check it out. It should only be a day trip so if we leave soon, we should be able to be back before night fall. Wells you can stay and get some of the kids to start helping build the beds, just in case this place is not inhabitable." Clarke moves to stand up when Raven comes bursting into Clarke's tent.

"Clarke, Finn got hurt while he was out hunting. Please come look at him quickly. He's bleeding badly." Raven frantically fidgets with her hands.

"Okay, calm down Raven I'm coming. I just need to grab my bag of supplies and I'll be right there." Raven nods as she rushes back out of Clarke's tent. "Okay Murphy I'm going to go look at Finn and then I'd still like to leave if it's not too late once I'm done. Give me thirty minutes to assess and treat and if I'm not at the gate by then, then we will go tomorrow."

Nodding his agreement, the three of them part ways, thirty minutes later finds Murphy and Clarke exiting the gate opposite Wells and his party of delinquents headed to cut down some more trees.

XXXXXXXXXX

Bellamy runs his hand through his wild hair. The news of the fires that took out three villages weighed his shoulders down and drew his eyes together. His slow meandering pace following the sluggish flow of his brain.

"O, you said they were kids. You said they weren't warriors."

Octavia's shoulders slouched in discouragement. "I know big brother. What if this is retaliation for what Anya did, though? What if it was just an accident? What if -"

"What if it doesn't matter anymore. Though we didn't lose any lives, it easily could have been that." Slumping into a chair near him, his hands finding their way back into his unruly hair. "As it is, we have close to 50 people who have been displaced by their actions. We can't afford to let this go."

Bellamy watched from the corner of his eye as Octavia hastened around the table to his side. Gripping the arm rest tightly.

"What if we are able to secure peace? Let us try. Send Lincoln to speak with their leader. See if she will agree to meet with Anya. If we bring only weapons that can be hidden so they don't feel threatened."

Bellamy peered down into the hopeful face of his little sister. He knew that she was too trusting. For such a fierce warrior, she has such a kind heart and a free spirit. Her bright green eyes staring up to hold his hesitant brown eyes. Shaking his head at the voices of the commanders in his head. Calling out for the Sky Princess's head on a pike where all could see the consequences for making a move against his people.

"O. I'm not sure that is a good idea. Anya is not one for listening." He gripped his head tightly the other commanders pounding against the walls of his mind. He ground his teeth together against the force being used against his mind. "But if she doesn't start obeying her commander, she's not going to like the consequences."

"See brother, let's just try. Imagine real peace with these people. Imagine how we could shut down Azgeda's attempts at a coup." She grinned excitedly, her warrior braids dancing against her back as she swayed in eagerness. "If they can take down three villages on accident, imagine what they could do on purpose."

"O, don't get ahead of yourself. Let's send Lincoln since I know this was his idea. See if she will agree to a meeting with Anya." He stood. It was time for him to go have his war council. They would have back up plans if this fell through. "I will see you later, O. I know you are headed out soon. Take care of yourself. Tell Lincoln that he needs to be careful."

Launching herself at her brother, Octavia hug him as hard as she could. "You be careful Big Brother. Me, I'll be just fine, but those boring meetings you are in just might kill you with how dull they are."

She laughed as he swatted at her. Letting her pass him out the door and into the hallway. He adjusted the sign of the commander that sat between his brows. He turned to the page that tailed him "Bring Tristan to the council room. I find myself in need of him."