Chapter 8
Three days later, Bellamy and Cooper checked through some stuff they'd take to Orchid Station. With the wagon now sporting its new metal bands and the cover that Floukru had made and traded to them, it resembled the old western wagons. Sterling and Cooper had both helped in fitting new brackets on the outside to hang some tools on like shovels and picks as well as hooks for the cover to be tied down in bad weather. They'd also enclosed the space under the seat and several bedrolls and their mats were stashed there along with some metal plates, cups and cutlery, all wrapped up in several towels.
With Bellamy and Cooper, they would be taking Murphy, Jeff Trebinski, Mark Black and Tim Bartlett. Jeff was from Orchid originally and the other two had been training with weapons. It was hoped that Orchid would at least listen to them.
Garrett and Fidelf would be going with them in case Broadleaf decided to be difficult. Garrett had the letter from the Commander.
They set off the next day and wound their way down through Tondc and over to Richmond before heading southwest towards where they thought Orchid may be.
It took them three weeks to reach the border with Yujleda and there they found Orchid Station right on the border. Luckily there didn't seem to be any Broadleaf people near it. They'd come down near the eastern side of Augusta, Georgia by the old maps, near the Savannah River. Trikru now called it the Savna river.
They watched to see if there was anyone coming in or out of the station, but after an hour, they saw no-one. Bellamy, Cooper, Jeff and Garrett made their way down, calling out to the station as they did. The barrel of a gun was stuck out of a vent and they were told to fuck off.
"We're from the Ark too, ya moron!" Cooper called out to them. They stopped.
"Prove it!" came the reply.
"Really?" asked Cooper, astonishment colouring her tone. "Okay, there were twelve stations that all banded together to form the Ark. Right now they are all on the ground. Alpha and Mecha landed near each other and they joined together to form Arkadia. We've also found Tesla, Factory, Flint and the skybox. We know granary made it and some people are alive there but we haven't found them yet, they came down far to the west. Farm and Hydro came down to the north and you and Arrow came down in the south."
"That's not proof!" someone shouted. Jeff stepped forward.
"I'm Jeff Trebinski, Orchid station. My father is Martin Trebinski and my mother is Dana Trebinski nee Lawrence. Dad's a scientist and mom's a technical specialist." The gun was withdrawn and the door opened. A young man stepped out.
"Hiro?" Jeff asked.
"Hello, Jeff," said the young man. They stepped towards each other and hugged tightly.
"After you were arrested, I thought I'd never see you again."
"Me too, ya big ape, me too!" They laughed. Big Ape was what Jeff had always called Hiro since they were children growing up together. Jeff had been a small boy and Hiro had been the taller of the two for quite a few years, but Jeff started to grow taller and soon he was at least a head taller than his best friend.
Others started coming out of the station, most were wary of their surroundings.
"It's okay guys, this is my best friend, Jeff."
"Who are the others?" a man wearing a guards uniform asked.
"Michael Telford as I live and breathe," Bellamy said. The guard looked at him closely.
"Bellamy? Bellamy Blake?" Bellamy nodded as he grinned and then the man grabbed him into a bear hug.
"Last I heard, you'd snuck aboard the dropship! What happened?"
"They were sending my sister and 99 others to the ground. I couldn't let her go on her own, Michael."
"And the others?" Bellamy gestured to each of them,
"Cooper Lyons, Factory station and Garret kom Trikru, one of the clansmen from this clan." Guns came up and pointed at Garrett.
"We've had trouble from his kind," snarled another man. Bellamy and Cooper both sighed.
"Was it him or someone dressed like him?" asked Cooper.
"What does it matter?" the same man snarled.
"Because I don't blame anyone else from Granary station for taking over Arkadia when Griggs and his goons did. I don't blame anyone else in Tesla station for killing people by floating when it was the guard who attacked my mother who did that. He came from Tesla but I don't blame all people from there. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Just because one person does something against you, doesn't mean they all do," a woman's voice said.
"Yes, thank you," Cooper said to her. "This man has not harmed you. This man has helped us find you. He has done nothing wrong."
"So why is he here?"
"To help us. You've landed on the border between two clans, the Trikru - his people - and Yujleda, another clan. They do not like invaders and they will try to turf you out."
"They've already tried, but we saw them off!"
"Did you kill any of them?"
"No, we were careful not to. We defended ourselves but were careful only to injure." Cooper nodded in relief.
"Garrett, where exactly is the border?" Garrett looked around and then moved to the side of the station before moving around to the other. He picked up two sturdy branches and stuck one into the ground on one side and the other into the ground on the other.
"Those branches mark the border," he said. Cooper walked around both sides of the station and realised that it was mostly on the Trikru side but one corner of it was over the border into Broadleaf territory.
"Well, shit!" Cooper said. "It's mostly over here but Yujleda will claim they invaded because one corner is on their side!" Bellamy thought about the problem.
"How often have they been here?"
"Just once about three days after we came down," Hiro said. Bellamy nodded and turned to Garrett.
"Think they are waiting for word from the Commander?"
"Most likely, or they are waiting on word from their ambassador."
"What's the most likely outcome?"
"With the Commander's message to help the stations, they'll probably wait for word from Polis before trying to come here again."
"Where's their nearest big settlement?"
"Around a day's ride from here."
"So they more than likely are watching us right now?" Cooper asked. Garrett nodded.
"Has anyone gone onto their side of the border?" Cooper asked those outside.
"Yes, we've been all over there hunting," Michael said.
"And they haven't attacked you for trespassing on their lands?" Cooper asked. They looked at each other as they realised what they meant.
"No, they haven't."
"Okay, for now, don't cross that boundary and only hunt on this side of it but you can only go three miles. Others use these lands to hunt for their food too and with winter here, food is scarce."
"So what do we do?"
"Until spring, only use Trikru lands to hunt and roam in, but please don't roam too far. The Commander is being generous in letting you stay with your station. In the spring, we will be looking for lands you can live on instead of this tin can," Cooper said.
"Where?"
"We don't know yet. The Commander is the head of twelve clans all spread out over the eastern half of the old USA and Canada. It may be that the only lands near here that are available are the Carribean Islands. We are trying to find unused land here in Trikru territory and you may have to become Trikru at some stage. Right now Clarke Griffin is in negotiations with the Commander to become the thirteenth clan. That affords us some protection from other clans trying to fight us."
"Clarke Griffin? You mean Abby Griffin?" one person shouted.
"No, I mean Clarke Griffin, her daughter. Clarke is the leader of the Skaikru - those from the Ark - and she's also our Ambassador as well."
"But she's a child!"
"She's 18, the same as I am. Down here, age is only an indication of when you were born. They take ability over age. Some of the kids from the ground are actually adults," Cooper said. "Garrett, at what age were you considered an adult?"
"Thirteen. That was the age I became a warrior and took on my own second."
"I didn't understand that," Michael admitted.
"Once a person has passed all the tests and learned all there is to know about their chosen career, they are considered adults, no matter their age. A second is like an apprentice. He'd have taught another youngster about fighting and weapons until they had mastered it all as well and become a warrior in their own right."
"Are they all warriors?"
"No, but they are all fighters. This land is peaceful now but only a few years ago, it was in turmoil with clans fighting each other for territory, resources or raiding for people - slaves. The Commander stopped that by persuading each clan to join together to fight their common enemy, Mount Weather. Now they all abide by her rule in their version of a government, the Kongeda. Each person is still taught to fight to defend their village. Even now, there are rogue elements called outcasts who roam around causing trouble by raiding and such, so each person is taught to fight - just in case."
"So what else do they do?"
"Any job you can think of that doesn't involve tech. They don't use it because Mount Weather would send missiles to destroy entire villages if they found modern weaponry or technology in it. They use swords and bows now and they don't need guns. Everything they do can be done at their own level of technology. We are not superior to them because we do use it, we are just different to them and they are different to us - not better or worse. Arkadia doesn't see it like that, though and is trying to get the clans to conform to them instead of us learning from the clans. Believe me, they know how to survive winter, we don't."
"So what do we do?"
"We'll teach you some things like hunting, making fires, testing water to see if it's drinkable, scouting and what to watch for when on watch duty."
"I'm a guard, Cooper, I know how to stand a watch!" one of the black uniformed men said.
"Really? Good, how do you spot signs of a predator? Where would be a good ambush point? Where would rogue elements attack you from? What would you do if you were caught outside and were surrounded by them? What would you do if you came face to face with a panther, a boar or a pauna?"
"What's a pauna?"
"That's an animal you pray you NEVER encounter. There's one roaming around somewhere between the old cities of Washington DC and Baltimore. It's basically a radiation mutated gorilla that's about the size of our air turbines on the Ark. Roughly half the height of this station." Gasps were heard all around.
"Is it dangerous?"
"Oh yes, very. Clarke and the Commander were almost killed by it, but they stumbled upon its feeding ground in an old zoo, probably where it came from originally and they managed to trap it inside one of the cages. It's probably gotten free by now and its range is still in that area, but don't think that because we survived relatively unscathed that you won't encounter animals that have been mutated." Some people were nodding. Cooper looked around them.
"Now, who's in charge?" They looked around.
"Well there's a sort of committee that makes the decisions, but there's not one person above the others, not a single leader."
"There needs to be one person who speaks for you even if you still use a committee to get things done. The clans don't understand if you don't have a single leader. When Skaikru were trying to get an alliance with the Commander, Clarke Griffin became our leader, the one they would speak to and get decisions from even if Abby Griffin had the Chancellor's pin and thought she was in charge. They would only speak to Clarke about such matters. You can do the same here. Have one person as the spokesperson but still rule differently," Cooper said.
"Well, maybe Michael can do that?" said another of the uniformed guards. A few heads nodded in agreement.
"Maybe you can have an election to find your spokesperson. It needs to be someone who will abide by the Commander's rules and by the rule of not wandering into Yujleda territory. Play nice with them and wait until spring when someone will be along to make plans for you to live somewhere else," Bellamy said.
"We can do that," Michael said.
"Okay for now, you'll be the de facto speaker. They call the leaders of each village Chief and leaders of a clan are called Hedas. The Commander is also referred to as Heda as she's in charge of all the clans. Please respect the title if not the person carrying it. I didn't do that and I nearly got all of us killed. So, please, for your own safety, play nice with your neighbours," Bellamy said. They nodded.
Cooper and Bellamy sighed in relief.
"Okay, we brought others with us and a wagon full of goodies, mostly food and winter or wet weather clothing. It won't be enough for everyone, but it should be enough for the watchers." Excitement stirred through the people milling around.
"Garrett, can you make yourself known to the Yujleda scouts that are probably watching? Show them the letter from the Commander and see what they are willing to do?" Garrett nodded and moved off across the boundary markers he'd set before. Soon a lone figure walked out of the trees and over to him. They spoke in Trigedasleng and soon were approaching them.
"I am Zankari kom Yujleda, first scout of Atlan village."
"I am Cooper kom Skaikru of Polis."
"I am Bellamy kom Skaikru of Polis." He nodded.
"You have come for your people?"
"Not exactly. With winter here, we cannot move them to somewhere else yet. We have no food for them. The Commander has decreed that they stay with their stations until Spring when she will determine where they can move to."
"Part of it is on our lands," he said.
"We know and once they are away from here, we'll send a party down to help you dismantle it. For you helping them over winter, you can have half the metals from this station. It can be melted down and then your blacksmiths can do whatever's needed with it." Zankari thought through the deal.
"What do we need to do for them?"
"Teach them how to survive this winter. We know nothing of the ground and we are all learning. Those of us who came first have learned to hunt, find water, forage, scout and fight."
"Sha. I thank you, my brother was rescued from the mountain and Skaikru did that."
"As was I," Cooper replied.
"You were a prisoner of the maun-de?" he asked in surprise.
"Sha. 48 of us were captured and held in the mountain. Clarke and General Anya escaped but Anya was killed and Clarke was the only one to get word to the Commander of what was happening inside there."
"What did you do in there?"
"We never knew that your people were being taken by them when we were captured. Once we did though, we fought. We fought a guerrilla action against them. We know tek so we used that against them. We fought them and killed some of them when they wanted to take our bone marrow. It would let them come out of the mountain without needing a special suit. They could wipe out the clans and take their lands. That was their ultimate goal and they didn't care that we were kids, we were their way out of the mountain. Five of us died by having our bone marrow extracted and two more nearly did." A stir ran through the Arkers.
"So what did happen in the mountain?"
"We fought against them, killing some of them including their lead healer. She was a nasty piece of work! There is an oath that all healers take and part of that is to 'do no harm', yet she ignored that to experiment on us and to kill your people by taking their blood."
"Sha, my brother has told us what happened to him and he had seen the process used on someone else. He said they were strung up like animals by the ankles!"
"They were, but Bellamy here managed to get into the mountain and then free from his cage. He, too, fought a guerilla action in there. He managed to use their tek to communicate with the rest outside."
"I had to, they were killing my people. I also had to turn off the acid fog they released when they thought people were getting too close to their mountain. Eventually we managed to get our people into hiding with various mountain people who didn't agree with the treatment of the grounders. I let Clarke, my sister, Octavia and Monroe inside and opened the doors for the Commander and the clans to join us, and with our people already in there, we took the mountain men down. They are all dead!" Roars of approval sounded from the trees as those who had never heard of the mountain cheered for their people winning against the monsters.
"We had to kill children as well," Cooper said. "The only way to save our people was to let the radiation into the mountain. They couldn't metabolise the radiation. That's why they never left the mountain after the war. We did what was needed, but it was not a nice thing to do. Yes, our enemy is dead and they won't bother us again, but the children were innocent and they had to die too," Cooper said, defeatedly.
"But you won?" Michael said.
"At great cost, Michael," Bellamy said quietly. "Their deaths are on our shoulders and our minds. It is a heavy burden to bear."
"We bear it so others don't have to," Cooper said, quoting Clarke.
"Do you have nightmares?" Michael asked.
"Every night," Cooper admitted. Nods of understanding followed. Bellamy shook himself and then changed the subject.
"Alright, we can teach you some things but the Yujleda can show you more."
"Sha, we can." Cooper turned to Zankari.
"Do you agree to teach them things and help them to survive winter?"
"Sha," he replied, smiling.
"Good, they don't speak your language or any of the languages of the ground other than gonasleng which they call English."
"I will make sure that anyone who comes here can speak Gonalsleng."
"Mochof, Zankari," Cooper said, grinning. Bellamy gave the signal for the others to come down and they all helped to unload the wagon. Cooper gifted Zankari with a small telescope and showed him how it worked. Zakari was extremely pleased with the gift and would try to be the main point of contact for these strange people.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
For the next week, they showed Orchid station everything they knew and the Trikru showed them more. Jeff was reunited with his parents and talked to them about his own experiences on the ground. Jeff promised he'd be back once the Commander had decided where to put them.
They left a list of known survivors and known dead from the stations they'd already made contact with. They left them with the knowledge that they were willing to listen to what the Yujleda had to say and to help them to survive the winter. It took them another three weeks to get back to Polis.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
They got back just in front of a huge winter storm and had to help everyone batten down the hatches, so to speak. In the almost two months they were gone, the large dorm had been finished and furnished with bunk beds found at another military location, some other furniture, several small pot-bellied stoves which Raven had produced with the help of one of the local blacksmiths and were now in high demand everywhere including the Commander! The dorms even had windows, taken from the store they'd uncovered. Part of the store led to a warehouse for construction materials. New doors and windows were fitted on the dorm and enough were left in stock to do the embassy in the spring when they got around to rebuilding it. They'd also somehow managed to bring the large wood burning stove down to Polis and installed it into the dorm building.
Raven was busy making plans with one of the local city planners to install handpumps into the stable yard and join them up to the main water supply. She was also looking to see if they could install the solar panels on the roof of the warehouse and the other buildings at some point in time further down the track.
Monty had found a couple of old laptops and an old photocopier and a supply of paper and he was busy resurrecting the laptops and rewriting their coding. With a photocopier handy, they could run off several documents at once.
Miller was training some of the others to be guards for the warehouse and for Clarke who was now dating the Commander even though no-one else knew about it. Sometimes, Miller was on guard duty outside the Commander's door at night. The tower guards allowed it as their own heda was in there too.
Justin and Hanna were keeping their records up to date and were constantly updating them when new stock came in and old stock went out. Monroe and Jasper had a knack for trading and were often out and about getting deals for them. In the spring, the next building to be repaired was the stable block and then they could have their own horses stabled within their complex. Monroe was even toying with the idea of an old-fashioned pony express once they had the horses and enough people to ride them.
With Jasper and Sterling both driving the wagon, Clarke was thinking about getting another one. They'd had to go back to renting one when they needed it when Cooper and Bellamy were off at Orchid.
"I feel like I've come back to a completely different place," Cooper muttered to Bellamy who nodded.
"Yeah, I don't like it. I don't want to be gone for that length of time again. It makes me feel like we're falling behind the others." Cooper nodded.
"Alright then, come spring, we're sending the others off to check on the stations. Tell them it's their turn to go and explore!" Cooper said facetiously.
"Not a bad idea, Cooper," Clarke said behind them. Both of them jumped and turned around to hug her.
"I missed you two. Bellamy, you need to stay here and Cooper, you need to stay with me. I never realised how much input you have over what we do!"
"Me neither," Cooper said.
"What else has been happening?"
"Harper and Monroe are off with Podakru and have taken Will, Doug, Angela and Seth with them. They've gone to see if Hydro is behaving themselves and if Azgeda has been attacking them. The Commander made a deal with us and Podakru. If they take them in over winter, they can have half of Hydro station once it's been made safe. Hydro has a lot of chemicals in there we don't want people messing around with."
"What about Farm?"
"We rescued them last week. They are currently on their way to Darlington just northeast of here. Pike's in charge of them but we did rescue Monty's parents and Jasper's mom. His dad died in the crash. He's currently up there with them. He and several Trikru warriors have 'volunteered' to stay with them over winter. Jasper will be back though, he wants to stay here with us. We became his family when we were dropped. Right now, those warriors are there to teach them to survive and to make sure they behave. Pike was bad enough when he beat up Murphy in class."
"I remember," Cooper said. "For some reason, Pike thought that was a good lesson to teach us, that no-one would stand up for us and look out for us, it was every man for himself! Not sure if he thought prisoners were thugs or if we just weren't the right ones to go to the ground. Either way he got it wrong. We did stand up for each other and we've become the family we needed and still need."
"What about your mom?" Clarke said.
"She's still my mom, but she has her life and I have mine. I don't see the point in moving to wherever she is just because she's my mom. Before the bombings, kids would go to college in another state and usually stay there after they graduated. They moved out of the family home and made a new life for themselves. This isn't any different." Clarke nodded.
"Yup, not going back to Arkadia other than to visit and that's only when my mother finally figures out that she can't control me."
"So not for a while then," Cooper said, grinning. Clarke burst out laughing.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
After everything was stored away and the horses returned to the stables with Rose looking after them, they gathered in the conference room. Bellamy, Clarke, Miller, Raven, Monty, Cooper and Justin sat around the table to discuss what to do next.
"The only stations we haven't been able to get to yet are Granary, Freight and Arrow. The Commander has been in touch with Yujleda and Arrow station is letting them guide them through winter with that station being given to Yujleda as payment once everything and everyone has left it. They have been told about any dangerous things in there and that a group would go down to help them dismantle it. If we can find those metal fuel cans, we can use them to store the chemicals in so the rest of it can be dismantled safely." Clarke stopped to take a drink.
"Granary may be the problem. It's in Rock Line territory and most of them are like the Arkers were when they first came down. Right now, it's too dangerous to travel over there to talk to them, but Raven's been looking at finding a radio we can use to contact them. If we can, we should but they may not believe us."
"Do you think they are still ignoring those who are younger than them?" Monty asked.
"Most probably," Clarke replied, sighing.
"What about getting Kane onside? Or maybe one of our people from Granary?"
"We don't have any, Cooper. There were six who came from Granary and all six died in the fight at the dropship."
"Well, shit! They won't want to deal with us when their own died."
"Maybe one of the other stations has people who can tell them the truth. Tesla was the station beside Granary," Bellamy said.
"Tesla's not that far from Harribur," Cooper mused, thinking about distances.
"Yes, but we can't go there in this weather. We can't go on foot and we can't chance the horses breaking a leg on unknown holes and rocks," Clarke said. Cooper and Bellamy nodded.
"So, Raven, find a way to get in touch with them. Once this snowstorm is over and the ground is either hard enough or the snow melts, we'll go back and check every inch of the military and consumer places we've been to. Maybe we can find enough spare parts for you to cobble one together," Clarke said. Raven nodded.
"What about Freight Station?" asked Bellamy.
"I'm afraid that one is way to the west in Plains Rider territory. No word has been given to the Commander about them, but she has asked their ambassador to see if they can be found and helped. Luckily for them, the weather isn't so harsh where they are. Yes, it snows, but it's much lighter than here. Right now, they are better off where they are and we just have to hope they co-operate with the clans. We can't get there until spring and we'll be too busy figuring out where everyone else can live to really send more than an exploratory group to them," Clarke said.
"Okay, for now, we wait this storm out. The markets have been suspended for at least a week and then we have to wait for official word to restart trading, so for now we can only do things around our compound."
"Compound?" asked Bellamy.
"Yeah, all the houses and buildings in this block have been given over to us to use. We still have the smallest compound, but we can start to plan out what building does what. I want one of them to be workshops. The upper floor of one of them can be Raven and Monty's workshops and the lower ones can be for other things that need heavier materials."
"Like carpentry?" Cooper asked. Clarke nodded.
"Good, Sterling and I have things to do and make and I'd like a place where we can do that."
"I didn't know you were into carpentry?"
"When we were repairing the wagon and then fixing it up I got to enjoy working with wood. I think when I'm not trading or being your guard, I'll enjoy making things from wood." Bellamy and Clarke looked at each other and then both shrugged. It was as good an occupation as any other.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Cooper was looking over the plans of the compound with Bellamy. They were looking at it for weak points and blind spots.
"I still think this gate is the weakest point," Cooper said, pointing to the area where the building had been torn down for access to the stables. With that building being a corner one, it left a gap on the corner nearest the intersection - and was the side that everyone walked past. There was no sidewalk on the other side of the street, just on their side. They'd put in temporary gates but needed better ones in the spring.
"I know, it's too open," Bellamy replied. "I just don't know what to do about it." Cooper looked at it and thought of something. She reached for a sketchpad and pencil and quickly and crudely sketched a top down version of their complex.
"Look," she said, pointing to the empty area. "If we build gates here," she said, pointing to the back corners of the next two buildings on either side of the corner. "We can enclose the stable area, but if we build a guardpost above it, connecting the two buildings, we can move the gates further out, nearer the front corners of the buildings." Bellamy nodded as he understood what she meant.
"Why have you put it on an angle instead of bringing it right out to the corners?" he asked.
"Because if we did that, we'd need a support pole right in the middle and if we did that, we'd never be able to get a wagon in and out. Building it on an angle, lets us put in supports at the sides without the central support. If we run beams along the tops of the support poles, that gives us a basis for building the guard post on it."
"What were you thinking of building it with?"
"Wood. The guard post would be wood but maybe we can find metal for the support posts. I don't know what to do about that part."
"We'd need windows to see out of."
"Yes, but we can use some of the windows found in that construction part of that store we found. With some of those large windows, we'd have a good view out of both sides of the guard post. With someone up there. Visible to all, we'd have a better deterrent than we do now. We just have to find a way to fasten it to the other two buildings as well." Bellamy took some time to go over the crude and rough plan she'd come up with. It was a good plan to enclose the stableyard, but still be able to see outside as well.
"Tomorrow we'll go outside and have a look."
"We also need to figure out what our new emblem will be," Cooper said, staring at the table but remembering the banners she'd seen displayed in the Commander's throne room.
"What? Why?"
"Because I remember when the Commander said that we'd become the thirteenth clan. Each clan has their own identifying banner. Most are just simple lines or patterns, but we still need one."
"Well Clarke and the Commander can figure that out," Bellamy said, not really wanting to try to come up with a design for the Skaikru.
"True, but once they do, I'll carve it onto our new gates. I was thinking that if we build large gates that reach the bottom of the guard post, there won't be any way to climb over them from the outside," Cooper replied.
"Alright, I'll have another look at the plans in the morning and then we can go outside and you can show me exactly how you envision the guardpost and the gates."
"Not a problem, we just have to climb into all that cold weather gear!" Cooper said.
"Better than freezing to death!" Bellamy replied with a laugh.
"Come on, I smell food cooking and I'm hungry," Cooper said, getting up. Bellamy laughed and followed her out to the communal area and food.
