Chapter 8

"What massacre?" Anya echoed in a clearly bewildered tone. The general still had one hand resting on one of Taylor's elbows, ignoring the way how the blonde woman was still blushing so deeply.

"Finn …" Taylor stopped immediately, starting over again. How should Anya know the name of Finn yet after all?

"One of the invaders you had fought against, he was searching for Clarke and he thought that your people have her and his other friends" Taylor tried to explain, internally praying that the general would believe her and just bring her to Lexa. For a fleeting moment, Taylor wondered though if the commander would even want to try and save the villagers, while she remembered how Lexa had decided against warning TonDC of the missile.

Taylor tried to clear head again only a second later "One of your outcasts described him the way to Indra's village and the invader will kill 18 innocents there. If we act fast now, we can surely prevent this…". Taylor was looking at the general with pleading eyes, wishing with all her heart that the other woman would believe her. She could see a conflict passing through the general's brown eyes for a moment, before the older woman steered Taylor away from the tent.

Anya did not say a single word while she guided Taylor through the small village.

Taylor was not sure if this indeed even was a village. She could not spot a single building, but her location seemed to be more of a make-shift camp, made up entirely out of a few tents. She would not have recognized the commander's tent as it did not look any different from any other tent from the outside. For a second Taylor wondered if Anya actually even had brought her to the commander or not. Shouldn't the commander's tent be guarded somehow? She could not spot any guard.

"Wait here for a moment" Anya suddenly whirled around, giving Taylor a stern gaze.

Taylor barely had nodded her head, before the general had already slipped through the tent flap. She waited with baited breath for what would happen now, trying to strain her ears for a clue as to what was being said inside. She was not sure though if she caught any words and if she did, then the words were not spoken in English. With each second passing, she was getting more and more impatient, remembering vividly how Finn had blindly shot at the innocent villagers who had dared to move.

Internally Taylor was debating on just barging into the tent or not, when the tent thankfully was opened from the inside and Anya motioned her inside mutely.

If Taylor had not known beforehand how the commander looked like, she would never have suspected Lexa to be the leader. What she saw now, was a young woman just a few inches taller than herself, thick brown hair with a few braids and dressed in plain dark clothes, absent were the pieces which signified Lexa's station as commander in the show. The woman also did not appear to be wearing any kind of makeup or face paint right now and Taylor was slightly taken aback by her obvious youth.

For a moment, Taylor seemed to have forgotten what she wanted to say as she dumbly gazed at Lexa, fascinated by the depths of her green eyes. She was woken from her momentary daze though when Lexa's eyes turned suspicious and even slightly annoyed.

Taylor cleared her throat and she threw a glance at Anya for a second, before she met the commander's gaze again.

"You know who I am?" Lexa spoke up finally, not giving Taylor a chance to state what she wanted.

Taylor immediately nodded her head "You are Lexa kom Trikru, successor to the first commander Becca Pramheda. The commander of the coalition and one of the Sky people will massacre innocent villagers in Indra's village soon. I don't know if we may not already be too late, but there is still a chance that this senseless massacre can be prevented."

Lexa's eyes widened just a fraction and her gaze minutely connected with the brown eyes of her former mentor.

Anya only inclined her head slightly, as if saying "I told you so" mutely.

"And you say that you know that there will be a massacre in one of my villages?" Lexa prodded with a slightly raised brow. Her tone still showed how astounded the commander was by the fact that Taylor knew not just her full name but also the correct name of the first commander.

Taylor and she quickly summarised the details and the reasons of the massacre which was about to happen. When she had finished, she looked at the commander with pleading eyes "We can save them" she added with desperation. It went against her very nature to know that there would be 18 people killed, people which she believed could be saved.

"If there are only two of the invaders in the village, no other warriors have to come" Lexa finally said to Anya after a brief pause of contemplation.

Taylor guessed that the commander did not want to explain to any of her warriors the reason why they would hurry to one of their villages seemingly random now. So, it made sense to only keep Anya involved and no one else. She only hoped though, that the general was physical well enough. She had no idea of the distance between this camp here and Indra's village and Taylor was sure that the general would really need a good rest to recover.

"Can I come?" Taylor asked, not sure if the two women would trust her like this. She breathed out in relieve though, when Lexa inclined her head in mute agreement.

"Try to keep up" Anya addressed Taylor in a sharp tone once they left the tent.

Taylor nodded her head with a slight blush. She was not clumsy because she liked to be after all. She could only hope now that she had learned at least a little while trying to mimic Anya's walking earlier.

The walk through the forest was more a run for Taylor than anything else and she was so occupied with keeping upright and not falling to the ground, that she barely noticed the distance they travelled.

The moment that they got close to the village was obvious as suddenly a shot rang through the air.

"You did not say anything about guns" Anya hissed at Taylor, looking at the younger woman with angry brown eyes.

Taylor opened and closed her mouth for a few seconds, dumbfounded. In her mind it was totally logical that whenever Skykru was involved, it was a fight with guns, but apparently Lexa and Anya had not expected this.

"I'm sorry" she said lamely "I thought that was obvious. But it is only one gun" Taylor added immediately, lowering her eyes to the ground for a second. From the show she remembered that John Murphy also had a gun, but he had not used it for more than threats. It had been Finn who lost it and just blindly shot.

Taylor knew that they did not have much time left now. The shot they had heard only seconds ago must have been Finn's warning, signifying that he indeed would use the gun. Taylor's stomach twisted when she remembered how Finn had first shot the young boy in the show and chaos had broken lose immediately.

"We have to go now" Taylor urged both of them. Her whole mind was focused on saving these people, if they waited much longer, than they would be too late.

"I will go first" Lexa immediately said and one of her hands closed around the swords she had carried with her.

Taylor noticed how Lexa's whole demeanour had changed in just a few seconds and she was surprised by the sheer determination burning within the commander's green eyes.

She followed behind Lexa and Anya as the general had insisted her to go last. The view into the village had not been clear yet and Lexa had been cautious in getting nearer to the village. From the tree line, they watched for a short moment.

Finn and John Murphy were standing in the middle of the village, visibly debating between each other, while the villagers were kneeling in the flock. Just like in the show, John was trying to convince Finn that they should leave.

Taylor saw the commander tense and ready herself to jump into attack just a blink of a moment, before the woman indeed moved past the treeline, sword ready in one hand.

"Finn, come on, they are not here" John Murphy shouted, casting nervous glances between Finn and the villagers "Let's go, now!"

"They have to be!" Finn shouted back "They are lying!" his voice sounded crazed with desperation.

John had stepped closer to Finn, lowering his gun and reaching out to pull Finn away "We need to leave now before…" but he never got the chance to finish his sentence.

One of the villagers had finally saw the chance to try and flee.

Finn immediately whirled his gun to the movement and shot.

Taylor opened her mouth in horror and both, Lexa and Anya, suddenly sped up, still too far away from Finn to take the gun from him.

"Finn! No!" John shouted, clearly appalled.

Finn seemed to be in shock for a moment himself, but as soon as another villager began to rise in clear anger, wanting avenge, he started shooting again.

Taylor knew what would happen now, Finn would shoot blindly at any movement he saw. In the show it had appeared as if it took a few moments after the first villager was shot, but in reality, Finn almost immediately started to shoot around blindly.

Lexa and Anya had taken cover behind a small hut and right in this moment, Finn actually turned his gaze in their direction.

To Taylor it seemed as if time had suddenly turned into slow-motion. Finn turned his gun towards them, having spotted them and she saw how his attention seemed to be focused on Lexa. She knew that the commander was absolutely not allowed to die. It would mean even more chaos and death if Lexa died now. So, Taylor followed her instincts and just as Finn took sloppy aim, she gave the commander a strong push. She highly doubted that it would have had any impact on the younger woman if Lexa had payed attention to her, but the commander's attention had been focused on Finn and his gun.

The push she had given Lexa, put Taylor right into the position though where Lexa had just stood and she felt the bullet enter her body almost as soon as she heard the shot being fired.

Taylor felt Anya suddenly pulling her down and out of the line of shooting.

All the while, John Murphy was still shouting at Finn, beginning to pull him away, as more and more grounders fell, being shot by Finn.

"Yssa…" Taylor barely heard the general's worried voice against the loud rushing noise in her own ears. She let out a deep groan when Anya suddenly pressed down on the wound in her abdomen, seeing dark spots dance in front of her vision as she was on the verge of blacking out.

"I'm okay" Taylor brought out in a strained tone, letting Anya pull her to her feet "I can walk" she added, when she noticed the general's worried expression.

She did not understand what Lexa was saying to the general speaking quickly in a heated tone and Taylor followed the two of them back into the woods, while shots still rang out behind them.

"You pushed me out of the way" Lexa broke the silence between them a few moments later.

Taylor nodded "You need to survive" she explained with a slight groan. The wound was pulsing painfully with each step and she was not sure yet if it was a clean shot or if the bullet was still inside her. She swayed slightly on her feet.

Anya reached out quickly to steady her, watching the blonde woman in worry "You do not have to walk, I can carry…".

But Taylor interrupted the general's offer with a shake of her head and mumbling "I am fine, I can take it".

In the end though, she could not take it. After a few more minutes, Taylor suddenly lost consciousness and Anya thankfully had walked close to her, to catch the other woman's body, immediately scooping her lifeless form into her arms.

"How much has she told you about what she knows?" Lexa questioned. She was still puzzled that this stranger had willingly just taken a bullet for her.

Anya shook her head ruefully "She actually did not tell me anything specific. But she had asked for writing utensils, so, she will have written everything down".

Lexa nodded thoughtfully "I want to see those papers immediately…".