Chapter 2
The next morning, Harper and Monroe set off for the coast. It would take two days just to reach Tondc, then it would be at least three days to get to the coast. Walking all around the bay would take at least another week and then almost a week to get to Polis. They were giving themselves around a month for anything unexpected but they hoped to be there within three weeks. They set off with bags found in the station and some spare clothing found in one of the quarters. Clarke gave them permission to search any bunkers they came across to find things they needed like tents, sleeping bags, binoculars and such.
Raven and Monty would stay at the station and only leave it to hunt for food. They were safer within the station.
Clarke and Cooper packed up their tent and sleeping bags and anything else they could think of and left for Tondc and then Polis. They'd taken some scrap and some other items to trade with for more food in either Tondc or Polis. They reached Tondc two days later and Harper and Monroe were still there. They all talked with Indra and Octavia and both promised not to tell Abby or anyone else that they'd seen them. Harper and Monroe moved off to the east and Clarke and Cooper moved off to the north.
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Three days later, they reached Polis. They were told to relinquish their weapons and Clarke gave over her gun, but Cooper had no weapons. They didn't believe her so she allowed them to pat her down and check her pack. No weapons were found and when questioned, she replied that she'd come straight out of the mountain and didn't go into Arkadia, she went with Clarke. No weapons and no other clothing. They were passed through. Now they just had to make their way to the Commander's tower and gain entry there.
They were in luck as Ryder was going into the tower just as they got to it.
"Ryder!" Clarke called. He stopped and looked around.
"Heda Clarke," Ryder said, bowing to her.
"Ryder, we need to talk to the Commander, please." He nodded and motioned them to follow him. As the Commander's personal bodyguard, he had instructions for Clarke to be brought to the Commander if she turned up. They made their way up the tower and stood outside the throne room.
"Wait here, please, Heda Clarke," Ryder said. Clarke nodded and Ryder entered the throne room. The Commander was alone.
"Commander," Ryder said. "Heda Clarke is here with another person."
"Send them both in," she said, sitting up straight on her throne and composing her face. She was about to meet the woman who held her heart - a woman who had disappeared after the fight at the mountain.
Clarke and Cooper walked into the room and bowed to the Commander.
"Commander Lexa," Clarke said with a slight quiver to her voice. Cooper doubted the Commander had heard it, but she did and she thought there was more to Clarke's feelings for the Commander than even Clarke knew about.
"Welcome to Polis, Clarke." Cooper heard the hard 'K' sounds of Clarke's name. It sounded exactly like how she said it but at the same time, she knew it was different too.
"Mochof, Heda," Clarke replied. Cooper kept quiet. She had no idea of the Trikru language so she'd let Clarke talk to the Commander in whichever language she wanted to.
"You disappeared after the mountain fell. Why?"
"I need to find myself and atone for all the deaths I've caused, Commander. I can't do that in Camp Jaha."
"And your companion?"
"Cooper Lyons, Commander. She was one of my people held inside the mountain." Lexa looked at Cooper and nodded.
"I'm glad you survived, Cooper."
"Thank you, Commander," Cooper said with a small bow.
"What do you intend to do outside of Camp Jaha?"
"Cooper and I have come up with a plan to go and try to find those lost Ark stations. There are twelve stations and only two have been found. We want to find the rest. I've already sent Harper and Monroe to the coast directly east of Tondc. They will move up the coast and around a large bay in that area before coming over here. I've told them to report to you when they get here in about one moon."
"Is that wise?"
"Yes, Commander. Remember, these are the parents of some of those sent down and some of them are like Jaha and my mother were. We have to stop that and prepare them for a brutal winter. We understand that we can't really take them back to Camp Jaha, they can't hunt for enough food for everyone and there would be nowhere to put them either," Clarke said.
"My mother's out there somewhere, Commander. I'd like to find her," Cooper spoke up. The Commander nodded. She couldn't really fault them for wanting to find their people and they were right about the numbers at Camp Jaha.
"Where do you want to put them?"
"We don't know, Commander, but right now if any had been found, you would have been informed. I think most of them may have landed in lightly populated areas in clan lands or maybe on some of the islands off the coast of Florida - Yujleda, Commander," Clarke said. Lexa nodded. That too, was true. No-one had reported any stations crashing into their lands.
"For now, if they are in sparsely populated areas, I give you permission to establish a settlement there, but no more than three miles in any direction. In the spring, we can talk about what we can do with them."
"Sha, Heda," Clarke said.
"I'll give you horses for your journeys," the Commander told them. Cooper spoke up.
"I can't ride, Commander."
"Clarke can teach you. It will allow you to move faster through my lands." Cooper nodded.
"I'll just stock up on the healer's ointment. Cooper, you'll thank me for it later."
"That means I'm gonna hate you as I learn, aren't I?"
"Probably," Clarke said with a snigger.
"Can I get some extra padding, then?" Cooper asked, already feeling the pain to come in her ass. Clarke laughed out loud.
"What supplies do you need?" the Commander asked.
"Good question. We need food and some clothing. We brought some scrap metal to bargain with, Commander, we just don't know how the markets work," Clarke explained.
"Usually, it's a barter system. It all depends on how badly you need the goods and if you are willing to pay the price," the Commander explained.
"You haggle?" Cooper asked.
"Haggle?"
"You discuss how much you are willing to pay for the goods and they try to get more goods for the ones they are selling."
"Yes, that is how it's done."
"I want to try that," Cooper said. "Ever since we learned about the early systems in Britain during the stone age and early ages, I've been fascinated by the practice."
"Well when we go down to the market, you can try, though the scrap we brought may not be enough for everything we need."
"We'll figure it out. We need clothing first, food second though we can always hunt for it. Firestarter kits would be good, weapons as well though I don't know how to use their weapons. I'm not sure what else we need?"
"Me neither. Commander, can you advise us on what we need?"
"I can. I'll assign rooms for you for tonight and tomorrow you may go to the market. I'll assign an escort for you so you are treated fairly in the market. Some of the tradespeople would try to charge way too much for their goods. I have people trying to stop them, but every now and then, someone slips through." Clarke nodded. Lexa called a guard into the room.
"Find two empty rooms on my private floor for these two honouted guests and then find guards for them tomorrow when they go to the market."
"Sha, Heda," he said with a bow and went out. Clarke bowed to the Commander and Cooper followed her, then they left to follow the guard. He showed them to two rooms at the other end of the corridor to Lexa's private quarters.
"Food will be brought for you. Don't leave this floor and don't wander," he told them. They both nodded and he left. They both went into one of the rooms and looked around.
"Wow," Cooper said. "If you don't work things out with the Commander, can I try? This is luxurious!"
"No you can't. I have no intention of giving her up if she shows the slightest hint of wanting to be with me," Clarke averred. Cooper smiled. She knew Clarke was more invested in the relationship than she let on.
"Maybe I can train to be your bodyguard and then I can at least have a nice place to live," Cooper said again.
"Yeah, right!" Clarke said. "Lexa would assign her most ferocious warriors to guard me if we ever had a relationship!" Cooper said nothing. She sat on the bed.
"Oh, you'll have to drag me out of bed tomorrow! This is so soft!" Clarke sat beside her.
"Oh, yeah!" Clarke sighed in contentment.
"I'm gonna miss this when we're on the road, looking for our former people."
"Former people?"
"I don't see myself as one of them. They literally dropped us from the Ark. Why would I go back to that when I know they still see us as useless kids who should listen to the adults because they know better!"
"They are not all like that, Cooper."
"But most of them are. Tell me, Clarke, is your mother still pretending that everything is just peachy and they don't need to go hunt or find a source of water?"
"How did you know about that?"
"Monroe told me how some things were."
"Mom'll realise soon that she can't get her own way and that we cannot go back into space."
"Like Bellamy said, we're grounders now."
"Probably the only thing he said that was true," Clarke said, sighing.
"We figured it out, Clarke. We did alright - up until those maunon turned up!"
There was a knock on the door and Cooper got up and opened it. There was a serving girl with a tray of food. She entered and put it on the table, said something in her own language, curtsied and left. Cooper looked at Clarke.
"She said to tell one of the guards if we need anything else." Cooper nodded and they both ate and drank until they were full. As it was nearly night, Cooper said she'd like to sleep and Carke offered to go next door. Cooper yawned instead of replying so Clarke smiled and left her to get ready for bed. Almost as soon as Cooper's head hit the pillow, she was asleep.
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The next morning, there was a knock on her door. She ignored it, hoping whoever it was would go away. Cooper was in that cosy, toasty state between sleeping and awake where every place in the bed seemed to be nice and warm. She'd never understood the expression of being toasty warm before. The temperature on the Ark was kept low on purpose and the blankets never seemed to warm anyone up, but on the ground she was under a pile of furs, in a large, soft bed and she didn't have to share it with anyone like she did at the dropship camp. Another knock on the door. Cooper sighed, rolled over and ignored it again. The door opened and Clarke came bursting in.
"Cooper! Get up, we have things to do!"
"Don't wanna," Cooper said, not moving. Clarke smirked and went to the bed and yanked the covers off. Cooper sat up immediately and tried to snatch the covers back, but Clarke held them out of the way.
"Uh huh, Cooper. Up and at 'em!"
"You're cruel, Clarke. I was cozy and warm for the first time in my life and you go and spoil it!" Cooper said, grinning.
"You'll have other opportunities," Clarke replied. Cooper grumbled as she got up and put on her outerwear - she'd slept in her underwear the night before.
They went down the stairs to the ground floor where two guards waited for them.
"This is Tarran," Clarke said, pointing to a female. "She's your guard for today, and this is Garrett, he's my guard for today." Cooper nodded to them both.
"So where to first?"
"Food and then clothing. We both need a change of clothing. These are Ark clothing and we should change to grounder ones. It's better made and warmer. Then we need to see what we need for our trips. We can get some for Monroe and Harper too and leave them here for them to pick up when they arrive." Cooper nodded.
"Lead on, Heda," Cooper said, grinning.
Clarke led them out of the tower and towards the market Lexa had told her about the night before. Once Cooper was asleep, Clarke and Lexa had spent the evening catching up with each other and talking about what to expect in Trikru lands. Clarke led them towards one of the food stalls and looked at the fruits and vegetables on sale.
"We need some of these to take with us, but we can get them later, right now, we can have some fruit for our morning meal." Cooper nodded and they asked how much for eight apples and four oranges. The price was rather steep so Tarran stepped in and using the scrap, they bartered for the fruits. They came away with the goods but used more scrap than they wanted to. They'd have to be more careful in their negotiations next time.
Cooper had several ornaments made from scrap pieces on the Ark with her. She'd taken them from various living quarters. They had been left behind but the clothing and other personal stuff had been taken by the residents when leaving to join up with Alpha so anything left was fair game as far as Cooper was concerned. She made sure to check with Raven that she hadn't taken anything of hers or of anyone she knew wanted to keep the item.
At the clothes stall, they picked out two sets of clothing for themselves and two for Monroe and Harper. Cooper bartered three of the small ornaments for them. Next they moved on to the weavers who made blankets. They'd take a couple each even though they had their sleeping bags. They found gloves and hats at another stall and some writing materials and drawing pads at another. Both Clarke and Cooper took some. Cooper liked to copy the maps they had on the Ark and hoped she could map out where the stations actually were. Clarke just had an itch to draw again and would be drawing landscapes and animals.
They also bartered for some saddlebags to carry everything. Once they had bartered every spare thing they had, they went back to the tower to talk some more with the Commander.
During that meeting, the Commander said she would lend them a couple of horses. They were pleased and soon they were back at the stables looking over the horses. They had no idea what to look for but Tarran's parents were originally from the Plains Rider clan so she knew about horses. She picked out two gentle and obedient horses for them to use, along with saddles, bridles, reins and anything else she could think of. As the Commander had said they could have almost any horse in her stable, the stablemaster was only too pleased to help them. He told them that they could also pull carts and wagons.
When everything had been arranged, they spent one more night in Polis. Clarke had remembered to get medical supplies including the salve for their legs and soon they were being escorted out of Polis and onto the road heading north. Tesla station's new course would see them land somewhere around Harrisburg. There was a large settlement there, but to the west of it was all open, unused land - mostly because it was all ridges and valleys. They'd decided to head to Harrisburg first and then head west. Clarke asked the Commander if they could search for old world bunkers for things like binoculars and cold or wet weather gear to keep them warm and dry. The Commander had no problem as long as they left any guns behind. Clarke had promised but she said she still carried her own gun.
It took them two days to reach Harrisburg. Clarke had said that there were some military places south of Harrisburg and they should check them out for stuff. Cooper agreed and they went looking for the places. They found one, or rather the remains of one. Three of the walls were still standing and part of the roof, but the other wall and the roof at that end were gone. They made their way through the rubble and debris into the building. They checked each crate, box and locker they came to. Most of the stuff was useless to them but they did find a couple of useful items. Three woolly hats, six pairs of gloves and a wind up flashlight. They took them and kept looking. Cooper was checking a small cupboard.
"Hey, Clarke, look at this!" Cooper said, waving her over.
"What have you got?
"I think it's a hatch to a basement."
"Why not normal stairs?" Cooper shrugged as she cleared rubble from the top of it. Once it was clear, she unlocked it and pulled it up. Using the flashlight they'd just found, she checked out the ladder before she climbed down.
"Stay up here, Clarke in case that hatch closes on me, please."
"No problem," Clarke said. Cooper descended the ladder and found herself in a small storage space. It was mostly office supplies and filing cabinets, but she did see a pair of binoculars and a telescope. She picked them up and put them into a bag she saw. It wasn't a big bag, but it would do to get them back up the ladder. She looked around and picked up some camouflage wool hats and gloves and three scarves. It wasn't much, but they could use the extra clothing to barter with. She also picked up a compass made of clear plastic. Cooper was making her way back when she spotted something unusual. There was a wooden panel hanging off its hinges just behind the ladder. She hadn't noticed it going down the ladder because she was looking where to put her feet. She looked at it and pulled the panel completely off and behind it was a stash of goodies. There was a camouflage bag which she pulled out. Behind that was a wooden box which she pulled out as well. There was no lid to it and Cooper spotted some firestarters in it. She smiled.
"Jackpot!" she called out. Clarke popped her head over the edge of the hatch and Cooper passed her the box and then the bag. She climbed up and they took their goods outside to see what they had gotten.
There were firestarters, a small medkit, fishing line wound round a small plastic handle with some hooks in a small metal box. Maps encased in rigid plastic, some more compasses, some kind of beaded bracelet that neither of them knew what they were for and some water bottles.
The bag held camouflage clothing, towels and washcloths, personnel hygiene packs and some knives. Cooper decided to go back and look for some wet weather or cold weather clothing or at least some of those ponchos they could wear while riding and keep dry. She checked all around and then looked in the filing cabinets. There were combat clothing, boots, accessories, all for either wet weather or cold weather. Cooper surmised the rank and file must have stashed stuff to use if everything went wrong and they were on their own. They had enough to see them through a rough winter. She didn't find any weapons or ammo other than the four knives in the pack. Cooper took two of the wet weather ponchos and two of the long down-lined camouflage coats. They were not designed for riding, but they'd make do.
When they got everything together, they had to stuff their saddlebags with all the small things, the knives they strapped to their legs and belts and the rest was stuffed into their backpacks or into the one they found and it was strapped to the back of Cooper's horse. They had disguised the hatch as best they could and intended to come back one day and clear it out. Some of it could go to the Trikru, but the rest could be used by the Arkers.
They set off once more for the settlement at Harrisburg. Clarke had been given a letter from the Commander to show to any village in her lands to show they were not enemies. It came in handy when the warriors of the village pointed their weapons at them.
Clarke showed them the letter and they backed down. They were shown inside the village and up to the Chief. Cooper still hadn't gotten used to riding and got down gingerly. The warriors were doing their best not to laugh at her situation.
They went up to the Chief and bowed to him.
"Chief, I'm Clarke kom Skaikru and this is Cooper kom Skaikru. We are looking for our lost people. We mean you no harm, nor your village."
"We do not have your people here," he said.
"No, Chief. We think they came down somewhere west of your village. We hope to go looking for them."
"What are you going to do if you find them?"
"They need to stay where they are if they are not in anyone else's hunting grounds. Camp Jaha, our village, cannot support any more people and the Commander had said that they should stay where they are until spring and we can decide what to do with them then."
"Many days ago, we saw something fall from the sky way to the west of us. As it wasn't in our territory, we never went to check it, but we did report it to Polis."
"They may have assumed it was one of the other stations," Cooper said. Clarke nodded.
"Do you know where exactly it came down?"
"It came down almost due west of here only slightly south. I do not know how far away it is, but it would take us at least three days to reach it. That is outside our village hunting grounds."
"Mochof Chief," Clarke said, bowing to him. Cooper followed suit.
"Do you have any food you can barter with?" Cooper asked.
"What do you have?"
"What do you need?"
"I'm an old man and I suffer in winter. Do you have any head coverings or hand coverings to barter with?" Cooper smiled and pulled out some thick thermal gloves and a thermal camouflage woolly hat and a blue camouflage scarf.
"Will these do?" Cooper asked, handing them over. The Chief took them and put the hat on and then the gloves. He marvelled at the warmth of them.
"What is this?" he asked of the scarf. Cooper took it and with permission, she wound it around his neck and tucked the ends into his coat. He smiled and gestured for some food to be brought out. They bartered for some of it, but they mainly only wanted a days' worth of food. It was more important to establish trade and friendly relations that take more food than they needed. With winter approaching, they knew food would be getting scarce.
They said farewell and continued on their journey, heading west.
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They kept to the old road until they came to a ridgeline which had a break in the trees where they could use the binoculars to check the surrounding areas.
"Too many trees," Cooper said, lowering the binoculars. She took a compass reading. "Well, we're just south of due west," she said. "Let's carry on due west from here and see if we can find another place to look from." Clarke nodded.
"We need to find a place to stop for the night, it won't be long until it's dark," Clarke told her. Cooper nodded and they began searching for a likely place. They found a small clearing with a thick stand of trees which they could just pass between. They set up camp but didn't light a fire, instead, they put on their warm clothing and sat inside the tent with the flaps open. Clarke had cared for the horses while Cooper pitched the tent and arranged the bedding. They had a cold meal of roasted meat and a couple of apples and then went to sleep.
The following morning, they continued on for a few more hours until they came to another high ridge. Cooper looked through the binoculars.
"I see it!" she said. Clarke came over and used the telescope to view the downed station. There were a few people milling about it. "Is it Tesla?" Cooper asked.
"I don't know, but it is definitely one of our stations."
"Let's go cautiously and when we get near, say our names and our station affiliation. If they've come across Trikru, they'd know we come from the Ark." Clarke nodded and they cautiously made their way down to the valley in which the station had crashed. Just before they got down, shouts were heard at the station and several people rushed out with weapons.
"I'm Clarke Griffin, Alpha Station!"
"I'm Cooper Lyons, Factory Station!"
"Cooper?" a voice queried. Cooper's head whipped around.
"Mom?" Cooper was off her horse and running to her mother. They hugged tightly. "Mom! I thought you would have been in Factory station?"
"I was but I met someone and I moved to Tesla station, unfortunately, he died when we crashed."
"I'm sorry, mom." Clarke came over to the others.
"Who's in charge?"
"I am. Sergeant William Jacobs," he said.
"Well William until further notice, you are the leader of these people." He nodded.
"Do you know where we are?"
"You landed in Trikru territory," Clarke told them.
"I don't remember Trikru as a place in North America," another voice said. Cooper and Clarke looked at each other.
"Have you met any other people since you've been down?"
"Of course not, the world's uninhabited," William said.
"No, it's not. Quick history. After the war there were survivors. They came together in groups and formed territories. There are now 12 such territories called clans. 12 clans all joined forces in a loose government called the Kongeda headed by the Commander. It's good luck that you landed in this territory, the Trikru are by far the friendliest of them and that's not saying much as they still see us as invaders at times. The Commander though has an alliance with us as we helped them take down their biggest enemy. After the dropship was sent down with all hundred of us child prisoners on board, the air supply was only extended by about a month. Jaha panicked and the council voted to float over three hundred people in an 'accident'. My Mom played the message my father made - the one that got him floated and put me into solitary confinement for a year - so people would know the truth. I hear that they got their three hundred sacrifices through volunteering. I'm sorry to have to tell you that it was unnecessary because we'd already proven the ground was safe, but our radio was destroyed on the way down and we had no way to communicate with the Ark."
"My wife volunteered!" a man said.
"A lot of people did and I'm sorry we couldn't make contact in time."
"Not your fault," William said. Clarke smiled at him and cleared her throat.
"Anyway, after we destroyed Mount Weather, our alliance still stands. Cooper and I have decided to come looking for our lost stations. Alpha and Mecha came down close to each other and came together to form a settlement called Camp Jaha. It's south of Mount Weather."
"Are we going there?"
"I'm afraid not. Right now, it can't feed any more people and with winter setting in, food is scarce. If anyone else joins them, they'll slowly starve. The Commander has said that you need to stay with your stations and survive the winter here. You can hunt up to three miles in any direction and we can show you some of the food plants still available in winter. It won't be much, but it may provide you with one meal a day."
"We still have some of the food from the Ark stored here and we've been using that," William said.
"How much is left?"
"If we can hunt for one large animal a day, we can have two meals a day for the next seven or eight months." Clarke sighed in relief.
"It would be better to have two small meals a day for the next four or five months and not hunt as much. The animals out in winter need to survive and breed in spring. If you hunt all the animals, there'll be no new animals when you need them. It's the same with all plants, I'm afraid."
William nodded.
"There are 268 people here. The rest of them died on impact." Clarke nodded.
"It was like that with Alpha and Mecha. I think there will be losses in each station."
"So what do we do?"
"Cooper and I can teach you how to hunt, but like I said, we need to hunt as little as possible and conserve the animals for spring breeding. The rabbits around here breed prolifically but still you must keep the hunting to a minimum. I can't stress that enough! Conservation of the species is a big thing with the Trikru, please abide by their decisions." William nodded.
"I know you won't have much stuff, but is there anything you really need?"
"Winter clothing," William replied.
"Yeah, that stuff is in short supply wherever we go, they only make enough for themselves and only trade it when they've made more or are in one of the trading posts or markets. What do you have to trade with?"
"I have no idea what the Trikru want," William said.
"Well we used scrap metal to bargain for some food on our way here and used a pair of gloves and a woolly hat for more along the way. We bargain with what we have."
"We found the remains of Mecha station. Anyone living there had moved to Arkadia and taken whatever they needed with them. When we went in, I went to the living quarters and anything left was fair game so I took some ornaments made from scrap metal from the Ark. I've been bartering them throughout the market in one of their large towns. It's why we have decent clothing and bags and saddlebags."
"What about the horses?"
"Those were loaned to us by the Commander. She said we had to return them when we were finished. They are her own horses, after all."
"Her?"
"Oh, yes, the Commander is a woman only a few years older than I am," Clarke replied.
"How young?"
"23."
"23! But she's still-"
"A leader in this world. They do not judge people on their age down here, but on ability and if someone has proven themselves, no matter how young they are, then they are listened to. I've only just turned 18 and I was the leader of my people. First it was those in the dropship, then it was the Skaikru - that's what they call us - during war. Since we've been down, we've fought a war against them, made peace with them - mostly - and joined an alliance with them to rescue our people who were kidnapped by those living in Mount Weather. We now have peace with them - as long as my mother and her cronies stop acting like they're a bunch of savages too hell bent on killing!"
"I think we have a lot to learn," William said.
"You do, but for now we can stay for a week and show you how to hunt and how to find food plants. One other thing, people may come here and find you. Please don't shoot them on sight. You are Skaikru and as such, are in alliance with these people." William nodded.
"What if they start attacking us?"
"Then defend yourselves but don't go out looking for a fight, try to negotiate with them first. Remind them that you are Skaikru and have an alliance with the Commander. That would stop most of them, however, there is one of the clans who are very warlike and their queen thinks she would make a better Commander than the current one. This queen is a psychopath and likes to kill for fun. She has turned her warriors into killing machines and most of them will kill you because they can. They do not honour treaties or alliances and the Commander stops everything she can, but she can't be everywhere at once. That's why so many of the clans are warriors. That queen raids over their borders for goods and people. I've heard that she has a vast army of slaves she uses to the north of her territory. Her territory is basically the eastern part of Canada. You're around 200 miles south of their border, but if they think they can get away with it, they'll try raiding you."
"So what do we do?"
"Keep a watch at all times for other people. Most of them from this area are friendly, they'll just be wary of your weapons and hunting in their territory. Don't go further than three miles out and if you do come across people who say you are in their hunting range, barter for rights to use it until spring."
"Is there a way to recognise these⦠those from Canada?"
"They are called Azgeda or the Ice Nation. They are the only clan who uses scarring as an identifier. Most of them will have scars on their faces, white raised scars, mostly in some kind of pattern, possibly geometric."
"They deliberately scar themselves?" asked a woman in astonishment.
"They do. As I said, their queen is a psychopath and she rules with an iron fist." William sighed and nodded.
"We have some tools we can use to chop down some trees, but we need warmth in winter."
"Is there anyone from engineering here?"
"I am," said a woman, coming forward.
"Do you think you could build small pot-bellied stoves and the chimneys for them?"
"I'm not sure what one of those is," she admitted.
"Wish Raven was here, she'd have one made up in no time," Cooper said.
"Raven Reyes?"
"Yeah, she came down a few days after the dropship. She's a friend of ours."
"She's still alive?"
"Yup."
"What about Finn Collins?" Clarke froze so Cooper took over.
"I'm sorry, but he's dead. We lost almost half of our people during a fight with the grounders. Most of the rest of us were captured by Mount Weather. I'm told Finn went crazy and he shot up one of their main villages trying to find us. He didn't believe them when they said they didn't have us, but he'd found some of our clothing. We've since found out that they trade with others and that was how they had our clothing. Finn just didn't want to believe them so when a young boy ran for his life, Finn shot him in the back and then fired randomly at the villagers. He killed 18 people before he stopped. He escaped but gave himself up later. He knew that if he didn't, the Trikru - who were not our allies at the time, would wipe out everyone for invading. He faced their justice and gave his life to save ours." Clarke was amazed at how Cooper twisted the truth but kept it true at the same time.
"Who survived?"
"There are around 54 for us left. 48 were taken into the mountain and the others were scattered outside. They came back together and went to Camp Jaha to get help from the adults. Clarke here found a way to escape and made her way back to the camp and she was the one who got an alliance with the Commander."
"Where were you?"
"I was taken too. I was inside the mountain, helping the rest of our people fight a guerilla war against our captors. Those people were monsters. They wanted to take our bone marrow and put it into themselves so they could walk outside without the need of radiation suits. According to the clans, they cannot metabolise radiation like we can so they wanted to find a way out of the mountain. They figured our bone marrow could do that. Five of us died when they did that. Fox, Jessica, Darren, Martin and Austin. I don't know their other names, we just didn't use them."
"So who was left outside?"
"Bellamy Blake, who snuck aboard the dropship to be with his sister, Octavia. She too was outside. Zoe Monroe, Sterling, John Murphy and Raven Reyes and Finn Collins. Raven was left behind because she had been shot in the back by Murphy accidentally. Murphy had been banished but he came back intending to kill Bellamy. Murphy then ran when it was unsuccessful and was captured by grounders. He returned when one of the grounders had him prisoner and he was tied by a rope with his hands tied behind him. The grounder went into the dropship and Raven shot him, killing him. That was not long before some of the adults of the Ark found them."
"Are they all still alive?"
"Yes, they were all alive when we left."
"Who else is out looking for us?" another voice called out.
"Harper McIntyre and Zoe Monroe. Monty Green and Raven are using computers from mecha to aid us in where to look."
"No adults?"
"No, they prefer to huddle behind their fence line and pretend they are still on the Ark!" Cooper said with asperity.
"We had trouble with them when trying to get peace with the grounders," Clarke said. "They were incensed that we wanted peace with them when they had tried to kill us only a few days prior. All of us remaining prisoners wanted peace because we knew it was the only way to get our people back, but those adults didn't want peace, they wanted to kill them. We were the ones fighting a war, not them! WE, not the Arkers were the ones on the ground fighting for our lives! And yet, they act like they were the ones who did it!" Clark was pissed at the very thought of her own mother - a doctor, for God's sake! - wanting to kill people just because they didn't like them.
"We survived the war, we wanted peace, we wanted our people back and we still do. Those adults are not doing anything to find you, but we are. It'll be up to you how you handle the grounders but just remember one thing. We, not you, fought that war. You had nothing to do with it. There were no people on the ground as far as the Ark was concerned. It was only when they came down that they realised that they had to negotiate with them for the ground they landed on. You may need to do the same thing in spring. You are still in Trikru territory and these are the Commander's lands, don't forget that and for any of you who think differently, ask yourselves how the Ark would have responded to invaders taking over a part of the Ark and deciding it was theirs now. How would the Ark have acted? Would you just give it over to them or would you try to get rid of them? The Trikru are no different in wanting to defend their lands," Cooper said. No-one spoke for about a minute and then Willam spoke up.
"It sounds like you went through a lot and the other adults tried to decide how things should be run."
"That's exactly what happened," Clarke said. "My own mother was the main instigator of all of it as well. Jaha came down and tried to lead us all off across a vast desert to some mythical place called the city of light. He didn't want to rescue our people from the mountain. When I asked him why, he replied that they were criminals and if they died, their sentences would have been carried out. He had become callous. His own son was down here and when Wells died, the Chancellor decided to wash his hands of us. He only wanted to save his people, meaning the adults. He was content to let us do what we needed to do as long as we didn't stop him from taking the adults with him."
"So what happened?"
"Jaha left with Murphy and then about twenty people left to follow them. We haven't heard from them since."
"You've been betrayed by your leaders twice, then," a woman called out.
"More than twice," Cooper said, "but we learned to stand on our own feet."
"From what you said, I think you've done rather well. You are looking for the rest of us while the adults don't."
"They don't like it down here, it's nothing like the Ark," Cooper said with a shrug.
"Well we are here and we are determined to survive."
"Good, in the morning, we'll organise a hunting party and a foraging party. If we have five on each team, you can go out and get fresh meat and plants. I'd suggest having watchers out 24 hours a day - even through winter. Azgeda is not called the Ice Nation for nothing. If you have tools that can cut down trees and make planks out of them, then I'd suggest having several hides up in the trees and use them. It may not stop the cold, but it should cut out the worst of the wind, rain and snow." William nodded at the wisdom in that.
"If we can find some clothing for you, we'll bring it back. We've been looking for old world military bases for clothing and things. The guns and ammo stay there. That's not negotiable. Mount Weather had our level of technology and they used it against us and the clans. Mount Weather would destroy a village if they found guns there, so they use swords and bows. Those modern weapons stay where they are," Clarke told them.
"Why?"
"Can you make more ammo when yours runs out?"
"No."
"So start to learn their weapons instead, you don't need ammo for a sword and arrows are fairly simple to make - or so I've been told," Clarke replied.
There were nods of comprehension and no-one seemed inclined to argue.
"Now, is anyone injured?" Clarke asked. "I was learning to become a doctor and can deal with easy medical stuff."
"One of the kids broke his leg three days ago. We have no idea what to do about it."
"Show me. Cooper, start teaching them stuff," Clarke ordered.
"Sha, Heda," Cooper said, seriously this time. Clarke walked into the remains of Tesla station to see to the wounded.
"Alright, tell me what you can do," Cooper called out.
"Nothing," another voice called out.
"What's your name?" Cooper asked.
"Dani Clayton," the woman said.
"Have you figured out how to light fires?"
"No."
"Then come here and I'll show you." The woman walked over to her and Cooper told her exactly the type of materials needed to start a fire from scratch and how to stack the wood to produce the best results. She then had the woman hunt for the things needed and soon there was a pile of materials to choose from. Cooper cleared an area back to bare ground and then laid some of the dry moss on it, then some small twigs, then larger twigs. She pulled out one of the spare flint strikers and showed the woman how to use it and then handed it over. She had Dani light the fire. It took several tries to get the right angle and get the spark to land on the moss. Cooper told her to gently blow on the ember and soon enough, the fire was going. Cooper warned not to put too much on the fire at one time as that could smother the flames and actually put it out. Dani was pleased to have learned a new skill. Now she would be the one to light the fires.
Another man was shown some of the plants that were poisonous and those that were edible. She showed him nuts and berries near the station. Some of the kids were shown which fallen branches were good to burn and how to spot if it would be a bad one to use. Wet ones needed to be dried out before being used as it would smoke a lot and potentially put a fire out.
Others were taught how to climb the trees and where to place the hides for best effect. Cooper could see the apathy she had seen when they first approached, starting to lift. Now they had something to do, it was like their zeal for life had returned.
Over the next two days, they taught them everything they knew about their environment and staying alive. On the third day, they set off to find more bunkers and military places. They found the remains of one at a place called Carlisle. They searched the ruins and found a basement stuffed full of uniforms and other gear. Their only problem would be how to get it all back to the station. Cooper found tools and a small, wheeled trailer without sides, but Cooper cut down some trees and with the fasteners they had, she cobbled together a rudimentary trailer with sides. They loaded it up with clothing, wet weather gear, cold weather gear, cooking equipment - they kept some for themselves - binoculars, fire starters, several small medkits and some rope-like equipment called paracord. Cooper hitched the trailer to Clarke's horse as she had more experience riding them, and they set off. When they reached Tesla station, everyone came out to greet them and to see what they had brought. It wasn't enough clothing to keep everyone completely warm, but it would keep those on watch duty both warm and dry. The binoculars were also a great help for those on watch.
Cooper had also trawled through the downed station looking for materials they could turn into a rudimentary heater. Her idea of a pot-bellied stove was a good one and she and several people pulled out an old unused piece of metal that looked like a squareish barrel with two holes in it where pipework once was attached. She showed them what she wanted done with it and soon they had a barrel on short sturdy legs with a hinged door and an outlet for a chimney. They'd then searched for pipework that would fit it and then a place to install it. They chose one of the lounges near the centre of the station near the top so they didn't have to cut holes in too many floors or ceilings. All in all, for a first attempt, it went quite well. They could refine it with spare parts or make others for other rooms. It was up to them. Cooper did remind them that the fire could destroy the station if they didn't keep an eye on it and they promised to do so.
