Chapter 3
A couple of hours later, Atom's team came back.
"Hey, we did it!" Atom said, "but Troy's wiped out."
"Yeah, Idona said we would be after we used our skills. Troy, lay down here and get some sleep. We'll wake you for food. Idona says food and rest will help to restore what you used up." Troy nodded, lay down and fell asleep soon after.
"Charlotte, can you watch him for me, please?" Clarke asked her. Charlotte nodded and sat on a log near him. "Come on everyone, let's go see what Troy sent us." They walked around the side of the settlement and looked at the huge pile of trees, branches and other things he teleported. Off to the side were several large stones as well as an old car that had rusted out in a lot of places. Raven was excited to see it but Idona said she could remake the metals into a door or as part of the roof. The stones she'd use for the foundation, she just had to mould them into the correct shape and length. Clarke surmised she'd do the same thing with the stones as she did with the logs. It would be fascinating to watch someone strip slices of stone off the large rocks and then transform them into whatever shape she was looking for.
Clarke and Atom were discussing how big it should be after Clarke had told the others what Idona had intended to do. With nine males and nine females - other than the Johnson couple - there would be a male and female dormitory. Nine beds in each room, but they'd build for twelve beds in each room in case more of them were found.
Monty was checking the area for the best place to put the dwelling. He knew the best soil for planting would need to be left alone, so that meant looking for poor soil that drained well. After checking the area, he used some sticks to mark out an area for them to build in that wouldn't use good soil. The others came over and Monty told them what he's done and Idona and Jasper checked the ground to see which area was the most level - it would be easier to build on level ground.
They paced off the area, using branches to mark it out. They'd decided to use bunk beds to minimise the area and the size of the foundations and how much building materials they would use. With only six bed footprints needed in each dorm room, they could build fairly small and just triple it. Two areas for dorms and one area to be split into two for the Johnson's to live in. They needed to wait until Murphy's team came back with the supplies. Clarke and Atom had decided they didn't want Idona doing more than she needed. The rest of them would dig out the foundations and then Idona could start laying down the stones and moulding the materials into one large building. It may take a few days but it would be worth it.
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Murphy's team came back with a wagon full of items. All of them were grinning hard and laughing at the size of their haul.
"What did you get?" asked Atom, going to meet them.
"Everything we could salvage. That place is crumbling and if we didn't get it all out, it would have collapsed on it all," Murphy replied.
"What's the most important stuff you have?"
"Tools, fasteners, clothing, sixteen pillows, eight duvets and twelve blankets, along with three sleeping bags. We took as much wood and metal as we could. Even if we can't use it for its intended use, I thought Idona could use it for building with." Atom nodded.
"Let's get it unloaded and then Ikema can take the wagon back to the village," Murphy nodded and told everyone to help them empty the wagon. It took them a couple of hours to get everything from the wagon and stored somewhere. There had been four small tents included in the haul, so Clarke had them raised and they would either be used for sleeping or for storage, depending on how long it took to build their home.
Idona had the others digging foundations down a foot. She had measured several sticks for each person and had them use them as a guide for how deep to dig. It took them the rest of the day to dig them out and they ate the food the Trikru gave them and then wrapped themselves in either sleeping bags or blankets and went to sleep. Anya sent six warriors to guard them at night. They would leave before they woke up so they didn't know they were guarded.
The next morning after a meal, Idona started stripping the stones and turning them into long stones which Troy would place in the bottom of the foundations. After that, Idona started with the branches and trees. She would place uprights and she found she could thread the uprights through holes she made in the stones and then close the holes until they held the wood tight without squeezing it too hard to make a stronger foundation and upright support. Once all the supports had been put in, the others started back filling the foundations and tamping it down while she then started to turn the trees into planks which the others would attach with the nails and screws they found along with the tools. Idona had made the planks with one thin side and a slightly thicker side on the other. The planks were designed to overlap slightly as it would keep out the wind and rain better.
Monty had watched and when he went inside, he tested how much wind would enter. He went back out and looked at the ground around them and found a poor clay deposit, but it would do for what he wanted. He and Jasper dug out several bucketsful and took them back to the building. He told Clarke, Atom and Idona what he intended to do and they agreed. Once one wall was finished, Monty and Jasper smeared the clay on the inside of the wall and left it to dry. It wasn't the best, but it would do until they found a better supply of clay. It was only needed to keep the wind out and with it smeared on, it would. It took another two days to build the walls. After that, Idona had made large planks and supports which they used to make a floor with. Once it was down and the walls were up, they stopped for the night.
The next day, Idona used some wood and some of the metals to make some doors for the rooms and finally, after getting permission to harvest some more trees, she made enough planks to put a roof over their heads and build the internal walls. She asked where they could get some sand and was told about a small creek a mile away that had a sandy bank. Idona and Finn set off to look for it and when they found it, Idona examined it and then made a few containers from fallen branches. They took them back and then Idona made a small shallow tray from some of the scrap metal. She tipped some of the sand into the tray and asked Drew to melt the sand. He did and when it cooled, they had some fragile glass. Without lead and potash, they could only use sand and so Idona had made them a little thicker than usual. Once she had made the surrounds for them, she made three windows and placed them into the gaps she's left for that purpose. They wouldn't open, but they let the light in.
Five days after they started, they finally had a basic home to live in. Idona had said that she'd start on the bunk beds the next day. It took another four days to make the bunk beds and some lockers for the clothing. Monty had taken Miller, Finn, Monroe and Jasper out to find a meadow and they used some Trikru tools to cut the long grass. It would be used to sleep on. It wouldn't be as good as a mattress, but it would cushion them until they could find something better. Clarke decided to ask Anya or Indra what they used. Maybe they could make some of whatever they slept on.
After everything was done, Idona took to her bed and only woke up long enough to eat, drink and go to the toilet before going back to sleep. It took her another five days before her energy levels had been restored enough to stay awake.
"Is Idona okay?" asked the Commander, after being informed why she wasn't around the camp.
"She will be. Each time we use our skills, it expends energy, just like if you walked through the forest, the longer you use it, the more energy is used. Idona just had a marathon session over the past week or so, she's used up a whole load of energy. Sleep and food will restore it, we just have to wait until she's feeling better," Clarke replied.
"So your skills are not without demerit," the Commander said, more to herself than Clarke, looking at the ground as she did.
"It's like a warrior in training. Even if he isn't fighting for real, he still uses up the energy like he was. He needs to rest and eat to restore that energy. It's no different with us, Commander."
"I understand. There are limitations to how much you can do and consequences when you do."
"Yes, Commander." The Commander nodded.
"I will inform Anya that you need to rest after using them. It will make you seem more human to my people. They were thinking you were something special or to be feared for your special abilities."
"No, Commander, we may have some skills others don't but we are ordinary people, just like anyone else."
"My people cannot do what you do though."
"Maybe not, but they do some things that we can't. We have no idea how to hunt, what plants are safe to eat or how to make our own clothing. We know nothing about living on the ground. There are some of your people who are experts in it. If you have someone who is excellent in hunting, or tracking or camoflage, then maybe they do have their own special skills. We do not know why we have these skills, but we were nearly killed because of them. We don't see them as superhuman abilities. Octavia has lightning fast reflexes, but she cannot run faster than most people. Atom has immense strength, but then again, some of your people may as well. Harper is a shapeshifter and Monroe can change her skin colour to mimic her surroundings, all of them have good points and bad. Sometimes Atom forgets how strong he is and crushes things by accident, Monroe would only hide if she was naked, she cannot change her clothing to match her surroundings. Harper can change shape, but if she changes too much, she could either rip her clothing or it would drop off if she changed into something small like a squirrel. Nothing we do is without consequence, Commander. Murphy once commented that if we were living before the war and had these gifts, that we could turn to a life of crime and become rich. He was right. With these abilities comes responsibility. We have to weigh up if using our skills would be a good thing or a bad one. None of us were ever given a chance to decide things for ourselves on the Ark, we were still considered children. Down here, we can decide what we want to do - within reason - and determine our own destinies. That's all we want, Commander, a chance to figure it out."
"And what if some of you would rather turn to crime rather than use your skills for good?"
"Good and bad are concepts, Commander. From what I've heard, the Queen to the north would say using our skills to help her would be good and you'd say it would be bad. It all depends on what the circumstances are. For now, we just want a place to live and something to do. I will ask that when we are learning your ways, that they try not to use their skills. Octavia has lightning fast reflexes and she'll use them instinctively when weapons training."
"It would be good if she did. The sooner my people stop seeing children who don't know one end of a sword from the other, the better!"
"Anya has said that we can start learning your ways in two days. That should be enough time for Idona to restore some of her energy. I would ask that she doesn't do anything strenuous for a few more days though. Maybe she can learn your language first instead."
"I have no problem with that, Clarke. Anya will be splitting your group up into teams. Some will learn weapons first, and some our language while others will be taught our laws and rules, tracking, camouflage, escape and evade techniques and we'll start some of you on making your own clothing."
"That's a lot, Commander," Clarke said, wondering how small the groups would be to do all that.
"Don't worry, at first it will be only three groups. Weapons, hunting and tracking and language. We get the basics down first before you start learning the others. Defense - or attack - food and understanding us."
"That's good. We have twenty people so we can have three groups, one of six and two of seven."
"Split them up as you see fit and we'll teach them our ways," the Commander said, before turning and walking back to the village.
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Two days passed and the groups were ready to start learning the Trikru ways. For the first week, some learned weapons, including Miller, Murphy, Octavia, Atom and Monroe, some learned languages including Idona and Charlotte and some learned the laws and rules of the Trikru clan, including Wells, Clarke, Jasper and Finn. Each group was expected to talk with each other about their experiences in their training. Indra was trying to get them to watch each other and those training with them to see if they could spot something someone else hadn't. Octavia's reflexes were admired by the warriors, but she still didn't know how to hold a sword or which grip was the best or how to swing it for maximum effect. Suddenly attacking her only let her stop them from hitting her, she still had to be taught how to defend and attack. Atom watched as she readied herself and noticed that she always lifted her right heel off the ground just before she attacked. It was one of her 'tells' and Atom would speak to her about it later. Each of them found out things about themselves they were unaware of and within a week, they had already grown much more than they would on the Ark. Each time they learned something new, their heads lifted and their shoulders went back as they started to stand tall in their new-found confidence. Everyone of them felt good about themselves and their group. Even the Johnsons had begun to see young people instead of just kids. All in all, they were more in tune with themselves and their abilities than before and they were all glad to have the help of the Trikru in settling into life on the ground.
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Anya showed Clarke some maps of the Caribbean Islands they had. They were incomplete, but it did show those islands that had people already living on them. Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, both parts of Dominica, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, all had people still living on them. It was no surprise to Clarke, those were the biggest of those Islands. Clarke studied the other small islands that were on Anya's map and the only other islands on it were those north of Cuba. The map didn't really show the true size of the islands either, nor anything prevalent. There was no indication of freshwater, prey animals, farm land or terrain. There were only a number of unnamed dots, roughly where they should be. The map wasn't good enough for what Clarke wanted. She asked permission for them to look for an old world place that had old world maps in them. Anya gave cautious permission and expressly forbade them beginning back old world weapons. Clarke agreed. Clarke thought it funny that Anya referred to guns as 'old world' whereas on the Ark, it was the other way around with swords, and bows being considered 'old world'.
Clarke went back to the others.
"Hey guys, I've just had a look at Anya's maps of the Caribbean and they don't tell us anything except their approximate location and which ones still have people living on them. I've gotten permission for us to go search for an old world place which should have maps. Now, this whole area is Trikru land, but before the war, this was Washington DC and full of military places. Raven, you and I along with Idona, Troy and Finn can go look for one of them. We are NOT allowed to bring back guns and ammo or any of the weapons we're familiar with."
"Where?" asked Raven.
"That's the problem, I have no idea where the military places were except for around here somewhere. Most of them would have been south of Washington DC, but that's still a very large area, and Tondc is a very small village. I think we'll need to go a few miles south to find anything."
"This whole area was basically buildings and not much else. There were very few parks in Washington DC and the surrounding areas," Idona said.
"How do you know that?" Murphy asked.
"School. History classes had an urban development section and we had to look at old maps of Washington DC and pick out residential places, shopping places, industrial and commercial, government and law enforcement places. It was a lot of hard work when half the labels were missing."
"So what did you concentrate on?"
"The embassies. They had this place called Embassy Row somewhere near the Potomac but a bit further north than Tondc is," Idona replied.
"Do you know where, exactly?"
"Not sure," she replied, thinking over what she knew.
"I think it's around 1 or 2 miles north or northeast of Tondc," Idona eventually guessed.
"That's still a wide area, though," Raven said. "Anything else about it that's unusual?"
"Oh! There was a ring road around it!"
"That's good, I can work with that."
"Maybe not, there were several of these ring roads around Washington DC. Some of them were huge and the one near embassy row was as well."
"How big?"
"Couple of thousand feet across," Idona said.
"Two Thousand feet! That's almost half a mile! How am I supposed to find a road half a mile across?"
"I don't know, but it's either go there and search or try to figure out where maps could be stored instead and I have absolutely no idea where they could be."
"Alright. We can try embassy row and if we find it, we can hunt for maps of the Caribbean to find a place to put the Arkers," Clarke said. Raven and Idona nodded.
"So when do we go?"
"Don't know, I'll have to go see Anya. she'll want a few warriors with us, no doubt."
"Okay, go ask her now," Raven said. Clarke nodded and moved off.
She came back with three people, two men and a woman, all warriors sent to watch over them. It was non-negotiable as there were predators in that area. Clarke had agreed with the caution.
"Okay, we have permission to go find this embassy row if we can."
"When?"
"Now, let's go." Atom nodded and he would be in charge until Clarke came back. He and Clarke worked well together, something that he didn't think would happen, but Clarke wasn't like the others in Alpha, it seemed. Clarke, Wells and Miller all came from Alpha and none of them had the snooty attitudes that the adults in there had. He didn't know if it was their natural personalities, or they just hadn't been exposed to enough of it yet. Either way, they were all helping everyone and not just themselves.
Clarke and the others set off and walked roughly north-north-west of Tondc and stopped when they'd gone half a mile. Raven searched the ground to see if she could see anything.
"It's all still residential. Was there anything else about Embassy row that you remember, Idona?" Raven asked. Idona thought through everything she could remember about it, it was three years ago though, so she couldn't remember much.
"I think it was in a more wooded area, maybe in some area that wasn't heavily built on," she said finally.
"Alright, we'll try that," Raven said and looked around her again. She shook her head.
"No, this isn't the right area. How far did you say it was again?"
"About a mile or two, so maybe one and a half?"
"Okay, we try there," Raven said and they all walked for another mile.
"Okay, let's see what's here," Raven said, sighing in relief. She looked around a bit.
"Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Raven said. I can see part of the ring road and a big square building with an inner courtyard just outside it right here," Raven said, pointing to a place roughly ten feet to their right.
"Don't suppose you can see any signs around?" Raven looked again.
"-tish Emba-. That's all there is."
"British Embassy…, that's all I've got. I think that's the only country that ended in 'tish', Idona said.
"What about Scottish?" asked Finn.
"No, Scotland was part of Britain and though people from Scotland were called Scottish, it was a part of Britain, so there was a British embassy, but not a Scottish one," Idona explained. Finn nodded.
"So this is more than likely the British Embassy?" Finn asked.
"Yeah. We need to try to find one of the Caribbean countries. They would more than likely have maps of their territories and surrounding ones." They nodded and Raven looked around at all the buildings, trying to locate one of the ones Idona and Clarke could remember.
Raven searched for a couple of hours before she gave up.
"It's no good. I can see the Finnish and Italian embassies, but not the others. Are you sure that they were all around here?"
"No, just that they were all around DC, but with this being called Embassy Row, I thought it would have a lot of them and we'd find at least one of the Caribbean ones along here somewhere!" Idona said.
"Okay, where are we now?"
"Back to where we started at the British Embassy," Raven said.
"Do you think we could dig down to the British Embassy and see if we can find maps around there? Maybe they have maps of where the other embassies are," Clarke asked. Raven and Idona looked at each other.
"If I locate a likely area, can you pull the soil and rocks out of the way so we can look?" Raven asked Idona.
"Yeah," Idona said. Raven nodded and concentrated on searching for the remains of the embassy.
"Here!" Raven said a few minutes later. "There's a void under the concrete floor of the old embassy, it could be a basement or an underground shelter," Raven called out.
"Where, exactly?" Idona asked. Raven got two sticks and pushed them into the ground.
"Between those two sticks back to just behind Troy," Raven said, pointing to him. Idona looked over the area. It was quite large.
"Okay, any weak spots or places you think are doorways?" Idona asked, still looking at the ground. Raven looked again and walked to a place that seemed the most likely place for a door.
"There's a small void under my feet," Raven said. Idona nodded and waved Raven back and she concentrated her digging there. She pulled up large amounts of soil and rocks and piled them to one side. After around half an hour, she'd come to the concrete floor. Raven came over and checked again.
"There's a weak spot there," Raven said, pointing to it.
"How weak? Weak enough to get through or weak enough to collapse?"
"Hmmm, not sure. I'd stay away from it just in case," Raven said. Idona nodded and moved her attention to the other side. She moved the concrete the same way she's taken strips off the logs as easily as tearing through a single sheet of paper. She pulled them up and found a void. Raven came over and had a look.
"Yeah, that's the void I saw," she confirmed. Idona made the hole bigger and Troy and Finn cautiously entered with Finn keeping a forcefield around them both - just in case.
"See if you can find a map or something," Clarke told the pair just as they disappeared from view. Troy and Finn kept up a running commentary so those on the surface knew what was happening and soon they came to another room. They entered it and played their flashlights around. There was a cabinet on one side, but on the other were several maps of the old world. They looked for the one with the Caribbean on it and brought it back with them and out of the hole.
They crowded around to look at it.
"This is the one we need!" Clarke said. "It's got all the islands named, rough populations, rivers or freshwater ponds and places of interest listed beside each of them." They all cheered and then Idona filled in the hole as if it had never been dug up.
They set off back to Tondc in a much happier mood and they laughed and bantered all the way back to their village. The three warriors had looked at each other when Idona had started digging with her bare hands and when she'd pulled apart rocks like they were nothing! Their shock was complete when they saw Idona replace what she'd dug out and the ground now looked like it had never been disturbed! They knew they'd seen something special, but these goufas didn't think that they had anything special!
They reached Tondc an hour later and went straight to Anya's tent to show her the map. The Commander had delayed her trip home for another day. She'd wanted to look at the map as well.
"Commander, Chief Anya, this is a map of the Caribbean Islands as it was before the war. From this island up here, Bermuda, all the way down these small islands, right to the coast of this big landmass to the south."
"Which ones are already inhabited?" Commander Lexa asked.
Clarke pointed to the largest islands.
"These ones, Commander. It stands to reason that they'd still have people on them as they had the largest populations as well."
"So where do you suggest putting your people?"
"Those from the Ark who aren't like us will be placed on one of the other smaller islands. This one is called Barbados, it's on its own out here, but it is outside the hurricane belt that hits most of the other islands, it has a freshwater pond and is roughly 200 square miles. That's plenty of land for them."
"What of those like you?"
"I was thinking of another island. Probably Bermuda. That's this one way up here, Commander." Clarke said, pointing to the right island.
"That's the one nearest to us," the Commander commented, almost to herself.
"Yes, Commander and with Troy able to teleport around, we can easily come see you as well." The Commander nodded but didn't say anything. She would like it if Clarke visited often. She wanted to show Clarke around Polis and she'd only just met her!
"When are your people coming down?"
"Hopefully within a month. Any longer and they may run out of air. Charlotte is monitoring those up in space. Any sign of anyone else with our abilities and she'll tell us and we can go get them. I think it would be a good idea to have both islands checked out before they come down. I want a place for those who want to do whatever they want, no matter whose land they come down on and a place for us. We've gotten lucky so far, none of us has any serious criminal tendencies - even though we are in prison. If someone up there develops abilities but will use them for ill, needs to be contained. If we can't deal with them ourselves, it will depend on what ability they have, but there are other islands to put them on, Commander."
"Good, you are thinking of our needs as well."
"Yes, Commander, we want to learn your ways and maybe in the future, become another of your clans. Not sure about the Arkers, though."
"You are thinking of your future."
"We need to, Commander. We were just going through the motions of growing up on the Ark. We had no other choice. Now, we have a whole new set of choices."
"What do you personally want to do?"
"I'm a healer, Commander. I can heal just by using my hands and not medicines. I've revived two people who were dead. I don't know how I did it, but Drew helped by warming them up so it could have been a combination of the two of us. Either way, they were dead and now they are alive. I can't bring back someone who's been dead a long time and I probably can't revive someone who died more than a minute or two ago. I haven't tested my limits yet. None of us have. We need to know how much we can do and how much energy we expend doing it."
"You need to practice?"
"Yes, Commander. Without practice, we wouldn't know what we can actually do and we'll need that to take down the Maunon." Lexa's head snapped towards Clarke.
"How do you know about them!?" the Commander spat out.
"Because when we were searching for a place to come down to, Kane suggested Mount Weather and Charlotte told us why we shouldn't go there. She said they take your people and use their blood to put in themselves to keep themselves alive. Everyone knows how they get the blood, but none of them will stop it because they will die."
"The maunon are killing us for our blood!?" The Commander was outraged.
"Yes, Commander. Once a person cannot give anymore good blood, they are dropped into the tunnels and the cannibals feed upon them." The Commander looked horrified.
"We need to take that place down before any more of my people go missing!"
"Yes, Commander," Clarke said again. "But we also need to know what we are up against. Only Finn can stop the bullets from their guns and, within the forcefield, we can't do anything. Idona could make a hole into the mountain, but without knowing where your people are held, she and anyone else who goes in there could be killed before they find them. I won't let my people be put in unnecessary danger, Commander." The Commander nodded.
"I understand," she said, reluctantly.
"Good. Now, with this-" Clarke broke off when she heard a scream from Charlotte. Clarke ran to her as did the rest and the Commander.
"Charlotte, what's happening?" Clarke asked.
"There's two more of us up there and the guards are chasing them. Jaha wants to float them but they're underage!" Charlotte said.
"Where!" asked Clarke.
"Hydro Station, Lower level, Section 6 beta, corridor 3," Charlotte reeled off. Clarke spun to the others.
"Finn, Troy, go get them!" Both nodded and vanished from sight. Charlotte kept up a running commentary for the others to follow.
"Bruno Huber and Megan Pass," Charlotte told them. "Bruno's 17 and Megan's 16. They're being chased by Shumway and several others through the Station. Finn and Troy are there! Finn's put up a forcefield between them and our people. Troy's talking to them, asking them if they want to go to the ground to be safe. They say yes. They're on their way." Suddenly four people appeared several feet from them. Clarke and Atom went over to them.
"Bruno? Megan? You guys okay?" asked Atom. Both nodded, too stunned to talk as they looked around them.
"Guys? What're your skills?"
"Skills?" asked Megan.
"Yeah, what's your special… talent that they were chasing you for?"
"Oh, those," Bruno said, subdued.
"Hey, all of us here from the Ark also have skills. You are among people who understand."
"I can slow time down," Bruno said.
"And I can detect electronics and hidden cameras and such," Megan said.
"Really? Those could be invaluable down here!" Clarke said.
"How?" asked Bruno.
"Slowing time when there's a predator about, it would give us time to evade it and Raven's a mechanical engineer. If we can find some solar panels and the wiring and such for them, we can use them to heat our building in the winter and maybe use them for other things." Clarke said. Bruno and Megan looked at each other.
"We're in!" they both said at the same time. Clarke and Atom smiled.
"Welcome to Earth," Atom said. "Come on, we'll show you to your new home." He led them off to The Homestead as they'd named it. Quarters reminded them of the Ark so they wanted another name for their new home instead.
"Do you know them?" asked the Commander.
"No, I don't but some of the others may. It all depends on which station they came from, Commander. Myself, Miller and Wells are all from Alpha Station and we were not encouraged to go to the other stations to meet people. The only time we mingled was at school and there were several classes for each year. Neither of them were in my classes."
"The one who can slow time could be dangerous," the Commander said.
"I know, we'll keep an eye on them," Clarke responded. The Commander nodded.
"Tomorrow, I need to leave for my capital city. Check that map for anyplace you think you can place those who do not want to live in peace with us."
"Yes, Commander. Is there anywhere in your lands that you do not use?"
"Only those islands to the north, I think they were called New York or near that area. Just after the war, they were covered in sand and became a dead zone. We have nomads and some outcasts living there, but the buildings were either knocked down or buried. There is still several feet of sand in the area." Clarke thought about it.
"May we go and look at it, Commander? If we can dig out some of the buildings, we could live there, it all depends on if we can."
"Come with me and we'll check Anya's maps of that area." Clarke nodded and followed her.
Once in her tent, Lexa unfurled the maps on her table.
"This one has a large long island on it. As far as we know, there are several freshwater sites along it," the Commander said, pointing to them.
"Do the nomads use them?"
"They may, but most of the nomads are up in this area," the Commander said, pointing towards Connecticut. "This area is too near to us for them to be comfortable."
"Is this area in your territory?" asked Clarke, pointing to the same area in Connecticut.
"Partly. That's the border with Sangedakru - the sand people."
"Desert dwellers?"
"Sha."
"But this long island is also covered in sand?"
"Sha, but not as much."
"Then I think that if we can dig it out and live there, it would be better. It would mean we can access you quicker, I mean access your people quicker." Clarke hoped the Commander didn't understand what her slip meant. She'd been attracted to the Commander from the beginning.
"If you find it amenable, then I will allow it, but I must insist that at first, you only live near this first watering hole," she said. She moved on to outline the bridges listed on the map. "This is the only usable bridge to the island and you have to cross another island to get to it and that island has only one working bridge."
"So getting to the island is through one place?"
"As long as you don't have boats, yes."
"Does anyone along that coast have boats?"
"Sha. One of the clans lives out to sea on boats. They are the Floukru clan - the boat people."
"Fishermen?"
"Sha."
"Could we trade with them?"
"I don't know. What do you have that they would need?"
"We don't know, but Idona can make things from rock, wood and metal so she could make things if they ask for them and she knows what it should look like. I daresay that if they come with broken things of wood and metal, Idona could probably fix them for them. We could trade that and I have healing skills."
"If you stay on Trikru lands, then you would need to become Trikru. The other clans would not like it if I let an unknown group live on our lands without becoming one of us," the Commander told her.
"What do your people call us right now?" Clarke asked, curiously.
"Skaikru."
"Sky crew? Because we came from space?"
"Sha."
"And then we'll become…?
"Trikru." Clarke thought about it.
"Tree crew? The tree people?" The Commander smirked.
"Sha, you are beginning to understand our language."
"It's not really too hard once you figure out that it's based on slang terms or really corrupted words of old." This time it was the Commander who was confused.
"Like what?"
"Nomon is a corruption of number one. Nontu is a corruption of number two. Before the war, the main caretaker of a child was the mother and the father was the secondary caretaker. That was because society still saw women as soft and they were still expected to look after the children while the father went to work. I heard Nyko refer to parents as them."
"So for some reason someone decided number one and number two meant your parents?"
"Sha," Clarke said, smirking as the tables were now turned.
"Any others?"
"Loads of them. Look, you speak both your language and our language. Maybe you can study the two and figure out where words are the same, but slightly different at the same time." The Commander looked confused.
"Okay, I'l give you an example of a slang term. Nod off is a slang term that meant to go to sleep."
"And we use nod of to mean sleep," the Commander said, understanding what Clarke meant. Clarke nodded.
"Well, I'll be leaving in the morning, if you need anything, talk to Anya or Indra. They can get a message to me quickly."
"Charlotte can do that the quickest, Commander," Clarke said, smirking again. The Commander also smirked when she understood what Clarke meant.
"No doubt, but I'd prefer known methods until you've become Trikru and the clans know you better."
"Understood, but be aware that sometimes she can broadcast a very loud scream in times of stress. She hasn't learned how to modulate it yet."
"Understood." They talked about a few other small things and soon moved away from each other and back to their own people.
xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx
Idona was thinking about the island near the old New York area. If Raven could go with her, they could figure out a place to dig out. If Raven could find voids, then they would look for those and hope people kept their windows and doors shut so the houses didn't fill up with sand! What they really needed was one of those old satellite apps that let people see the world from above and could zoom in. If they could find any of those and Raven could get one reactivated, then they could use that to plan where to dig. It all depended on how old the data was. A hundred years was a given and ignored, but if it was more than twenty years before the war, things may have changed a lot.
She thought about what needed to be done. If they were going to live on the island and the Arkers were going to be placed on Barbados, then two groups would be needed. With winter soon arriving and the air on the Ark running out, those people needed to be placed on Barbados soon. If Clarke led that team with Atom and Miller for security and Miller's invisibility, Troy would be needed to move them, Charlotte could monitor them and guide Troy and his team to people and Finn for his forcefields, that left the rest to go to New York.
Idona wondered if Roma could fly people there. If she could hover and move herself around in the air, could she take another one or two with her? Did Roma need to be touching someone or something to move it? What about Finn? Could he do the same with force fields? On the ground, he would project one around them, but Idona wondered if he could complete the circle fully and stand on the forcefield. What kind of forcefield was it? Was it dangerous to touch or was it more like a barrier? If Finn could build a bubble around them, could they breathe for long? How long could he keep it up? There were many questions that needed answers. They needed to find the limits of their skills before they burned themselves out.
Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo
My story stats are playing up again and I once again have no way of telling if people are reading my stories, nor any reviews sent. I hope to get them back soon. Samdagger.