The Mountain – Alternate Ending
Clarke is just about to pull the lever that would eradiate all of level 5, killing 382 people, when she stopped suddenly. She looked at Bellamy, who stood loyally by her side and whispered, "My father."
"What?" Bellamy asked, confused by the randomness of Clark's thought process.
"My father," she repeated. "The video…the culling." It was clear that Clarke was lost in her thoughts and not paying any attention to Bellamy or Monty. But then she looked at Bellamy and for a moment he thought he saw a soft smile on her face before it disappeared to be replaced by the more familiar look of determination.
"Clarke, what are you talking about?" Bellamy asked softly.
She spoke while taking her hand off the lever. "You said that there had to be another way. Since Cage is unwilling to negotiate with us to save the lives of his people, maybe like my father's video, we tell the people of Mt Weather the truth of what is happening and let them choose." Clarke looked at Bellamy with such hope, it hurt his heart. He knew that if they had to kill all the people who lived in the mountain, both guilty and innocent, that it would take a huge gouge out of Clarke's soul. Not trusting himself to say anything, he gave her a sharp nod of approval. On the other hand, Monty was more vocal in his relief, also nodding his head at Clarke. "Do it Clarke. Tell them what Cage is doing in their name."
Clarke smiled at Monty. "Okay then. Can you show me how to use the PA system so everyone throughout the mountain can hear me?"
Monty returned her smile, once again grateful for the way Clarke's mind worked. He'd never known anyone who could compartmentalize the way she did, putting aside the fear and chaos of a particular moment to see the bigger picture, while at the same time understanding the minutia that would make it all possible. Pointing at a microphone stand on the left side of the desk, "there, that will reach everyone."
Taking a moment to think about what she wanted to say, Clarke turned back to Monty. "Can you bring up the records for all the children under the age of 18, then compare it to the list of their soldiers? I want to see how many of them have children that would die if I pulled this lever."
"Sure," Monty said, already typing instructions into the computer.
She took a deep breath, gave Bellamy and Monty one last hopeful look, and pressed the button.
"People of Mt Weather, my name is Clarke Griffin, proud member of The 100, daughter of Jake Griffin, Senior Environmental Engineer of the Ark space station, and Dr. Abigail Griffin, Chief Medical Officer, and Council Member of the Ark, currently Chancellor to the citizens of Camp Jaha here on Earth, and today I need to talk with you about your future. I have tried talking to both your past and current presidents, but both Dante and Cage Wallace are proving that they are willing to gamble away all your lives, including your children's, so they can continue the torture and murder of 48 citizens of the Ark, 42 of whom are children under the age of 18." Seeing that she now had the attention of everyone in the dining hall and the dorm where her people were being held, Clarke turned to Monty. "Can you use the monitors throughout the mountain to show what is happening in the dorm?" Monty looked down at the computer screen and the different files. "Yes, I can do it." "Okay, tell me when you're ready."
While Monty typed away, Clarke pushed down on the intercom button. "At this very moment, while you are sitting at your dining tables enjoying your evening meal, your president and his group of armed guards have my mother strapped to a different kind of table and are drilling into her flesh to extract her bone marrow. And, even though you have plenty available, they have chosen to use NO anesthesia."
"Ready," Monty sat with his finger perched above the button that would stream the video from the dorm throughout the entire mountain.
Clarke nodded for him to do it, and after a few seconds, the screams of Abby Griffin were echoing throughout the dining hall and all the individual living areas, causing the citizens of the mountain to stop what they were doing, and stare at the images on the screens in horror.
"They are torturing my people so yours can live outside this cement bunker. I know that you all are aware of the fact that for over five decades your people have murdered thousands of innocent citizens of Earth, kidnapping them, holding them in small cages, then hanging them up like cattle to drain their blood. Referred to by your leaders, doctors, and guards, not as fellow human beings, but as 'blood bags.' However, I believe that by seeing what your leaders are doing in your name with your own eyes, you might do the right thing and stop them from murdering the teenagers that you previously welcomed into your home, sharing meals at the same tables some of you are currently sitting at."
Taking a deep breath, steading herself, Clarke continued. "I will be honest with you, due to the radiation that is slowly leaking into Mt Weather, you will not live without the blood or bone marrow from those of us who are able to live outside. Those of you who willing accepted the stolen blood from Earth's citizens, will not be given anymore. However, I am offering life to those who didn't take the stolen blood, and to those who helped hide my friends when your guards came after them." Looking down at the numbers Monty had given her for the breakdown of the citizens of the mountain, she continued. "Most importantly, I am offering life outside of this mountain for the 26 children currently under the age of 18 who are not at fault for the decisions of their parents or their leaders. We will voluntarily give our bone marrow so they can live full and happy lives outside this cement prison."
At some point during Clarke's speech, the sound of the drilling had stopped. She looked at the monitor for the dorm and could see that the guards and the doctors were looking up at the speakers, listening to what she was saying.
"I know that you will be sacrificing your lives, but I believe in the good in humanity, and I believe that you would rather give your lives, than have all your children die a horrible, painful death…which is what will happen if you can't stop your president from drilling into and murdering my people. I am giving you a choice, something Cage Wallace is not giving my people. Make no mistake, if you do not stop him yourselves, I will eradiate all of level 5. You will all die, except of course for Cage Wallace and Carl Emerson, who have already received the bone marrow treatment after murdering five of my friends. That's right. There would have been 53 of my people chained to the walls in the room you are looking at, but your leaders and doctors have already murdered five teenagers. So, believe me when I tell you that I am more than ready to eradiate this entire mountain. All that is left is to pull the lever, stopping the fans that currently keep the radiation-soaked air out of this mountain."
Taking a moment to let her words sink in, she looked down at Monty's computer screen and then continued. "Sargent Ableton, Corporal Washington, and yes, even you, Carl Emerson are just three of the eight guards who currently have children under 18 who will die a terrible death if you don't stop what you are doing. Is that what being a parent is? Letting your children burn to death, just for the false hope that you can walk outside? Because that's what it is…a false hope. Have no doubt that I will pull this lever the moment I hear the sound of another drill." Taking a deep breath, she ended her speech, hoping with all her soul the people of Mt Weather would come through, just as the people of the Ark had. "So, what will it be citizens of Mt Weather? Will you help me save the lives of your children, or will you condemn your entire society to extinction?"
Clarke, Monty, and Bellamy stared at the dining room monitor, waiting for the reaction to Clarke's speech, each unconsciously holding their breath. Clarke watched as one of the guards in the dining hall turned to the camera and she could see the murderous rage shining from his eyes. She understood then that there might be some who were scared enough to believe that they could still overpower them and win; probably waiting for Emerson to blow the door and free them from this threat. Without thinking, she picked up the microphone. "To the guard in the dining hall, I see you. I see that look in your eye. You think you still have the upper hand because you have an automatic rifle in your hands. You think that Carl Emerson is going to succeed in blowing up the door to the control room, saving you all. Well, let me be perfectly clear, if Carl Emerson does manage to blow the door, I have a tight grip on the lever controlling the fans, so if I fall, I will pull the lever on my way down. And, if any one of the residents of this mountain, including you, lift a finger to harm any more of my people, I will kill you all…innocents and children alike. Please do not doubt my resolve. I have already taken the live of Dante Wallace, because he encouraged his son to stay the course, even while watching one of my friends being drilled into. Murderous and unrepentant to the end."
There was no movement for about five seconds, but then it happened…an older woman stood up and said something to the guard who was still staring into the camera. Not getting a response from the man who seemed to be locked inside his rage, she hurried over to him and laid a hand on his arm, saying something, that after a moment of silence, must have had some effect, because his whole body shook as he came back to the present, lowering his eyes and his rifle. Then, one after another, more and more of the people in the dining hall stood and looked straight at the camera, nodding their heads.
"Yes!" Monty pumped his fist. "Way to go, Clarke," he added, smiling at his leader.
Bellamy, let out a sigh of relief, just a little more hopeful that they could both come out of this with their souls intact. However, he knew that if needed, he would be right beside Clarke, helping her pull the lever. "Inspiring as always, Princess," he smiled at her.
They watched as the older woman walked up to another one of the armed guards that were supposedly protecting them and again, laid her hand on his forearm. Whatever she said, had the man nodding his head in agreement and taking his gun off his shoulder, placing it on the floor. Then he too looked at the camera and pulled out his radio. "This is Corporal Leonard Washington; can you hear me Ms. Griffin?"
Clarke grabbed the radio laying on the desk. "I hear you Corporal, as can your president."
"I want my boy to live." Looking around at his fellow citizens, he added, "we want our children to live. We get that we have to stay here in this mountain, that's on us, but you're right, they had no say in what we've done."
Clarke watched the resignation, but determination on Leonard Washington's face. "We will allow your son to live if you can get your president to let my people go. You have my word on that."
He nodded once, bent down to pick up his gun and with a soft kiss to the cheek of the older woman who still stood beside him, he handed her his radio, said something to the other dining room guards. All but the one who was still coming to grips with what was happening, nodded in agreement, and followed him out of the dining hall towards the dorm.
After they left, the older woman held the radio up and faced the monitor that was streaming video from the dorm. "You listen to me, Cage Wallace."
Standing in the dorm, the current and last president of Mt Weather looked at his radio in confusion. "Mrs. Andrews?"
She nodded not realizing he couldn't see her. "I've known you your whole life, and I admit we gave you certain allowances when you were younger because we knew the weight that would one day be on your shoulders, but not this. No, we will not make allowances for what you are doing to those children. It is monstrous, and we won't have it, you hear me!?"
"Mrs. Andrews," Cage said with the condescension that had become a constant ever since he imprisoned his father and took over as president. "I am doing this for our people. The ground is our birthright."
"Maybe it was our birthright," She responded. "I know that's what so many of us told ourselves over the years, to ease the horror of what we were doing to all those innocent people." Standing straighter, knowing now that they would have to pay the price for taking all those lives, she almost shouted into the radio. "But not anymore, you hear me?! Not anymore and not with those nice children who have already endured so much since their leaders sent them down here to die. We won't be a part of that, so you can just stop what you are doing right now and get Clarke's mother off that table!"
"Mrs. Andrews," Cage wasn't even trying to hide his disgust anymore. "I will not stop. You may not agree with what I am doing, but when all our people are on the ground, then you will understand why I did this."
Before Mrs. Andrews could respond, Clarke pressed down on the PA microphone, so everyone could hear her response. "If you think for one moment that I or the Grounders will allow you to live freely on the ground after what you did to get there, you Cage Wallace are living in coocoo land. Remember where I am standing. We have already disabled your remaining missiles, your acid fog is gone, and even you will run out of bullets before you can kill everyone. You know nothing of living on the ground, but the citizens of the 12 clans have been surviving out there for almost 100 years. Half of you will be dead before you even know they are there, so if you want at least some of your people to be able to live on the ground, then listen to the people who you are supposedly doing this all for, and let my people go."
Just as soon as Clarke stopped talking, Mrs. Andrews raised her radio again. "Let them go Cage. Your citizens won't follow you anymore if you keep on with this." She shook her head, and as Clarke watched, she could see the realization on the faces of the other people in the dining room that their president, who they had trusted with their lives, was in reality a psychopathic murderer. "Did you even try asking these people if they would help us?" The older woman asked in disgust. "Clarke said her mother is a doctor. I think she said she was the chief medical officer of a space station that was originally occupied by doctors and scientists! Don't you think that instead of torturing her, you should have asked for her help?!" Mrs. Andrews was furious at how her leaders had handled the radiation sickness they had been suffering from for decades. And, she was also angry at herself for her own decisions made over the last 50 years. After all, she was old enough to remember when this all started, so her disgust was twofold.
Before Cage could respond, the door to the dorm opened and Corporal Washington and his fellow guards, charged into the room, training their guns on Cage, the doctors, and their fellow guards, who up until that point had been standing there with their guns pointed at the ground, listening to the conversation that was taking place over the radio and PA system.
Clarke, Bellamy, and Monty couldn't hear what anyone was saying, but it became clear what was happening when the guards took their hands off their guns and the doctor closest to her mother started to undo the straps holding her to the table.
Monty looked at the screen in awe. "You did it Clarke. You found another way. We don't have to kill everyone."
Clarke took a deep breath and smiled at Monty. "If the rest goes the way we hope, we don't have to kill anyone. The radiation will kill the adults, unless they choose to end their lives another way, and I'm giving Cage and Emerson to Lexa, so they can have justice."
"Clarke," Bellamy said in anger. "Why would you give them to Lexa? She left us here to die!"
Clarke gave him a soft smile. "I know. And if Emerson had given me the same deal, I probably would have taken it. I can't see passed getting our people out of this mountain. You saw, I was…am, willing to do anything to achieve that. Lexa made the same decision for her people."
"But," Clarke interrupted him before Bellamy could finish his sentence. "Besides, I'm not turning them over to Lexa for her benefit, I'm turning them over for Anya, and Indra, Lincoln and Nyko, and the thousands of families who have lost loved ones over the years. THEY deserve justice. Lexa's just the middleman."
While they had been talking, the adults in the dining room had started to gather all the children. Wanting to make sure they didn't miss anyone; Clarke spoke over the PA system again, her voice full of gratitude. "Thank you, citizens of Mt Weather. Thank you for showing us all the meaning of sacrifice and of love. At this time, could all the adults who helped my friends gather in the dining hall, and please, to all those who are not currently in the dining hall, please take your children there for safe keeping."
Looking again at the dorm, Clarke could see that the guards were freeing everyone from their handcuffs, and the doctor was holding a bandage over the invasive wound he had just caused in her mother's hip. Back in the dining room she watched parents holding their children just a little bit tighter, knowing that they would soon be saying good-bye for good. It was heartbreaking to watch any parent have to give up their child, knowing they will never see them again, but Clarke put a damper on her compassion because of the destruction those same parents had caused countless other families. She felt relief when she saw that one of those parents hugging his two young children was none other than Carl Emerson. At least he was no longer trying to blow the door to the room they were standing in.
Looking at the monitor for the dorm, Clarke picked up the microphone as she watched Jasper help his fellow delinquents. "Jasper, could you please come to the command center. I want to give you the list of children and adults who will be receiving the bone marrow treatments."
Clarke looked down at Monty and asked if there was an extra tablet they could give to Jasper with all the names of the people they would be saving. He nodded his head in agreement and started searching the drawers of the long desk he was sitting at. Then once he found a tablet, went back to looking through the files of the individual citizens.
Pressing the PA microphone again, Clarke looked at the dining room monitor. "Maya and Octavia, once you have everyone gathered, please take them to the president's personal residence, then start fitting them all with their protective suits for the trip to Camp Jaha." Octavia, not giving away any of her emotions, turned toward Maya while giving Clarke a thumbs up. Fortunately, the mountain had made sure their citizens were prepared in case of an emergency and there were plenty of adult and child size suits for those leaving the mountain, and the president's suite had its own air filtration system, so they will be safe from any latent radiation coming into the mountain until it was time to go.
While they were waiting for everyone to get sorted, Bellamy and Clarke just stood in silence, taking in the moment, incredible relief flowing through them for not having to commit genocide. Obviously not all were as accepting of what was about to happen, but for the most part, their arguments were drowned out by the majority. Many of the adults in the dining hall were sitting in silence, the gravity of their decision finally hitting them. One woman was holding onto a young woman who was sobbing on her shoulder, while another older couple were holding hands, murmuring what she could only guess would be words of love to each other.
"Hey Clarke," Monty interrupted the silence. "Look at this." He pointed to his computer screen, giving Clarke a moment to read what was on it and come to a decision, one he'd hope would align with his own thinking. After a moment, she placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Thank you, Monty." He just smiled in satisfaction and nodded to her.
Clarke again picked up the PA microphone. "Cassie Eckland, are you in the dining hall?" The young woman who had been crying into the shoulder of the older woman, lifted her head in surprise. Looking around, she seemed unsure at first, but then looked into the camera and slowly raised her hand.
"You just turned 18 a month ago, is that right?" The girl tentatively nodded. Clarke smiled and looked at Monty and Bellamy, knowing this was the right decision. "My friends and I all know the deadly consequences an 18 birthday can have." The young woman started to cry again at that statement, but Clarke continued. "In the month since you became an adult in the eyes of your people, you have not visited the doctor for any kind of medical treatment, is that right?" Cassie straightened in her chair and nodded, a look of hope replacing that of heartbreak. "Then we, The 100 would like to invite you to join us on the ground, if you would like." Both Cassie and the woman who had been holding her let out sobs of relief. Smiling through her tears into the camera she clearly answered Clarke in the affirmative. Clarke and Monty high-fived while she pushed the button on the microphone, her smile bleeding into her voice. "Good. I'm glad, and I think you are going to like the ground, and I know you are going to like my friends. There may be only 47 of us left from the original 101, but we are strong, loyal, determined, and persistent as hell!" She smiled, knowing her friends heard her…which they did. She could see Jasper, Octavia, as well as all the 'delinquents' in the dorm, standing a little bit straighter, lifting their chins just a little bit higher after hearing the words of their chosen leader.
A half an hour later, the children and adults who will be receiving bone marrow were all in the President's residence, getting suited up for the trip to Camp Jaha. Jasper and Octavia had volunteered to stay with the children and adults, to make sure they were safe during the exodus from the mountain. The guards had all turned over their guns to their fellow citizens, collected by the ferocious, but compassionate Mrs. Andrews, except for two who had to be subdued after they stubbornly held onto their belief that they could still win.
While that was happening, Monty, under Clarke's orders, had locked down the systems for the mountain under two different passwords. Anything that had to do with military or weapons was secured by a 16-digit password known only to Clarke. And all non-military systems were locked under a four-digit password known to Clarke and Monty. Once they were all safely back in Camp Jaha, Monty would use one of the mountain's radios they were taking with them to contact the mountain and give them the password, so they at least had control over the life support systems of their home, soon to be tomb.
Even though the guards were now unarmed, Clarke didn't trust that someone might take up one of the many guns they had stored throughout the mountain and come after her or her friends. So, once everything was secure in the control room, she once again spoke to the citizens of the mountain, telling them to all head to what had been the harvesting room. It was big enough to hold all of them, and even though it was a little cruel, she wanted them all to see the cages that until earlier that day had been filled with innocent people, who were methodically being bleed to death. She explained to them that once all her people and the innocent adults and children were free of the mountain, Mrs. Andrews would let them out. She was the only one who Clarke trusted to keep her word.
After a head count, and Monty assuring Clarke that all 382 citizens of Mt Weather were accounted for, she let out a huge sigh of relief and only then, finally released the lever that would have taken her soul if she had been forced to pull it. The three heroes made their way to the dorm, where before going to the harvesting room, Corporal Washington and his fellow soldiers had unceremoniously tied up Cage Wallace and Carl Emerson, leaving their fate to Clarke and the Grounders. Emerson had put up a fight, arguing for their loyalty, asking them to let him go since he had received the bone marrow treatment and could live on the ground. He enough told them that he could keep an eye on their children, which as far as Corporal Washington was concerned, was the wrong thing to say. Since wasn't going to be able to watch his little boy grown up, he had no sympathy for Emerson, arguing back that it was because of the very bone marrow treatment he received, that they were all going to die, so why should he be spared. The other soldiers agreed with Washington and had pounced on Emerson, incapacitating him without another word spoken.
"Clarke!" Her mother reached for her as soon as she walked into the room. "Mom!" Clarke rushed over and engulfed her into a hug neither one of them wanted to end.
"Your father would be so proud of you, Clarke." Abby smiled at her daughter, who had saved them all, along with 37 innocent children and adults. "I'M so proud of you," she added, then continued as she squeezed her arms. "Thank you for being one of the good guys."
Clarke still struggled with the decision that was made on the Ark to kill her father, and her mother's role in that, but she would be lying if she said she didn't still care what her mother thought of her. "It was dad's video that did it, not me."
"What?" Abby asked in confusion.
"I remembered Dad's video and how he wanted to share the problems with the air systems with everyone in hopes they would help find a solution. I wanted to give all the people of Mt Weather a say in how their lives ended."
"Oh, Clarke," Abby sobbed into her daughter's shoulder.
The trek back to Camp Jaha was slow, but one that was full of hope. Abby and Raven had to be carried because of the recent damage to their hips by the relentless drilling, but all the rest were determined to make the long walk under their own power. Cage and Emerson slowed them down as they struggled with their restraints, but after a rifle to the head, they would fall in line again for a while. The children slowed them down because they were not used to the unwieldy hazmat suits and helmets, and well…they were too busy gawking at the beauty of world around them to watch where they were going. The adults, while worried they might fall and tear their suits, still couldn't help but feel their hearts break in the best of ways, knowing that these small humans were going to get to enjoy living on the ground and out of that cement bunker. Just before they reached the tree line to Camp Jaha, Clarke spotted Indra and five of her warriors waiting for them. She had sent Nathan Miller's dad and another member of the Camp Jaha's guard ahead to let Indra know that the mountain had been conquered and they wanted to turn over their two prisoners, so the 12 clans could receive at least some justice.
"Skygirl," Indra addressed Clarke with a twitch of a smile. "It is done?" She asked.
"Yes," Clarke answered. "Most of the adults were left in the mountain and will die a slow and painful death by radiation poisoning, unless they choose to end their fight by their own hand. There are 37 children and adults who are to be left alone. We will be giving them our bone marrow so they can be free to live on the ground."
"Heda is not…" Indra started, but Clarke didn't let her finish. "The children and adults are under our protection and will NOT be harmed!" Clarke knew that Indra was not the one who made the deal with Emerson, but she had to make sure the message was passed onto Lexa. "The children are innocent and had no say in the decisions of their parents, and the adults refused to take your people's blood and hid my friends to save their lives. They are our allies, and you can tell Lexa that unlike some, I don't leave my allies behind!"
Without saying anything else, Clarke turned to the guards that were holding Cage and Emerson, motioning for them to bring them forward. Shoving them into the arms of Indra's guards, Clarke took a deep breath and looked at Indra, knowing she was not to blame for mass of feelings swirling around her heart. "Thank you, Indra. For all that you did to help. We appreciate you and your warriors very much and hope to continue to live together in peace." She held out her hand, and after a moment of silence while Indra stared at her, not giving an ounce of her feelings away, she reached out and grabbed Clarke's forearm in the traditional grounder handshake.
"May we meet again," Clarke said softly.
For the first time ever, Clarke watched as Indra's face morphed into a smile. "May we meet again, Clarke kom Skaikru."
The End
