PART THREE

THE END

"We were a community.

They made me their leader even when I never asked to be.

But the lightning in their eyes heralded me to whatever they needed me to become.

We were hopeful we would win because nothing could scare us.

We feared no city, and we feared no man."

THREE MONTHS LATER…

There were whispers, rumours and stories about what happened at Green Park; but there was some truth known about what happened that night. The truth was that there were two survivors of the attack; one had gone insane but continued to live while the other had taken the coward's way out and ran away, abandoning her people and becoming a traitor in the process. Nobody knew where the coward was now – most believed (and secretly hoped) she was dead but others believed she was still alive somewhere and surviving, they just didn't know where.

But in reality; she was hidden in plain sight, hidden in the one place no-one dared to look, the one place they had abandoned over a year beforehand.

In the burned ruins of what remained of South London, there were survivors from the fire but after being cut off from the rest of London, their primal instincts kicked in and were seen as savages by the other surviving groups and whispers of cannibalism and murder echoed throughout the other clans and across London – none of which were true, of course. But they heavily opposed outside interference and preferred to be left alone by everyone who wasn't their own; they survived without any form of help, so why request some now? Their enemies weren't the infected – they seemed to stay away from them and their side of the river ever since the fire – it was other kids.

Their main base of operations was what was left of Guy's Hospital; after the fire, almost sixty percent of the building had been lost and a further ten percent was left unusable but they made it work with what was left and it became home to most of them and the surrounding buildings were made into homes for the non-fighters.

They were under the command of an outsider; but the one who saved their lives after their previous leader was killed by a grown-up (or Revenant as they were referred to in the camp) and thus was made the new leader, despite where she had come from and her reputation as a traitor and a coward. It was agreed that she was by far the most experienced warrior they had; she'd been through the battle of Lambeth Bridge virtually unharmed, survived the attack at Green Park and trekked across London alone to reach their side of the river with only two throwing knives to defend herself – those things alone proved that she had the capability to become their commander and lead them into any war she so desired. She called the shots, and anyone who opposed her rule was cast out and never allowed to return – a fate far worse than death in this world – or straight up executed, depended on how their commander felt that day.

Said commander was sitting on a large wooden chair – which was more like a throne – and staring at a Polaroid picture in her hands, delicately tracing her fingers over the image repeatedly, the same thing she did almost every single day. Tears began to form in her eyes, but she forced them back – she was sick and tired of crying over the life she once lived. She was a leader now, and she had no time to think about the past. That part of her was dead and gone, there was no use in crying about it.

The doors opened to reveal a frantic looking girl with light brown hair, her once loosely braided hair now fell in clumps around her face which was bright red from running through the camp. Even after running so far and being completely exhausted, she still knelt down as respect to her leader before rising and taking a step forward and speaking, almost completely breathless. "Commander; There's rumours going around... there's a war brewing, they're recruiting soldiers and looking for every clan in the city to join the fight. The war to end all wars; one final push against the undead. Will we go? General Jordan is requesting it."

At the name of Jordan, the girl's head snapped towards the lighter haired girl within the blink of an eye, placing the Polaroid down on the arm of her chair as she slowly walked towards the blonde. The girl's long dark brunette hair cascaded down her back in a mixture of intricate braids and being left naturally, showing that she was in power and she had time to do her hair rather than leave it alone like the rest of the group. The girl smirked a little, looking down at the dirt covered floor before for a moment looking back up at the lighter haired girl, her smirk disappearing within moments. "Prepare the troops, we're going on a little trip."

~#~

Groups of kids from all over London were travelling to join the fight, coming from as far away as Uxbridge and Harrow in some cases. They were all fully aware that the invitation of the war was given to the savages that lived in South London, and wished that they would decline due to the fact that they would scare the younger kid's half to death. The sickos didn't scare them so much anymore, but the South London crew certainly did.

Ed and Brooke were welcoming each clan that came, making sure they understood what was going on. They too were aware of the invitation of the war had been extended to the South London crew but like many others, secretly hoped that they wouldn't turn up or refuse to stand with them. After all, they did cast South London out of most of their affairs due to their reputation of being murderers and cannibals.

Just as Ed was explaining where the newest arrivals should go, the sound of boots on the pavement interrupted the conversation, causing the group to turn around to see what was coming. A group of almost thirty came towards them, dressed almost all in black with war paint on every single one of them, following behind a dark-haired girl with a mask over her mouth up to her nose and a hood over her head to cover her hair – leaving her identity unknown and wearing black like the rest of her group but had a blue leather flying jacket on, setting her apart from the rest of the group.

They're here.

The leader raised a hand, causing the group behind her to stop dead in their tracks before she walked forward alone. As she walked towards Ed and Brooke, she pushed her hood back, showing her braided hair. Ed and Brooke held their breath, unsure of how they should react to seeing the South London crew's leader for the first time since their formation. They'd heard the rumours about the South London crew but they weren't quite prepared to face the leader of them.

The rumours surrounding the leader were perhaps more infamous than the crew itself. Some say the only reason she became the leader was because she killed the original leader and took his place, others say she was in a fight to the death against him and won then proceeded to cut his head off and kept it as a trophy. They called her the commander of death; wherever she went, death and destruction always seemed to follow close behind. Nobody seemed to know the true identity of the commander, but they knew that she was once one of them and that just made everything a lot more terrifying – she knew their routines, their weaknesses, their strengths and she would have nothing stopping her from using them against them.

She was inches away from them now, her eyes narrowing as she looked at them before she moved her mask to reveal who was the leader of the "savages".

Adelaide.

Despite everything she had been through and all the things that were against her. She'd survived and proved to both herself, and all those who ever doubted her that she was a survivor and she deserved to be there. Both Brooke and Ed were shocked to see that Adelaide was the leader of the most brutal groups in London; it was clear that the Adelaide they knew was gone and in her place, was the commander of death itself.

She looked different, older somehow, more war-torn. The obvious cut above her lip, various small scars that littered her face and dark paint around her eyes showed that she had seen more than her fair share of fights and death. But then again, so had every kid in the city. Her once bright eyes now seemed almost cold and calculating, completely different from the girl they knew well. That girl had died that night with DogNut, that was obvious.

A sly smirk came onto her lips as she spoke up. "Surprise, bitches, I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me."

Brooke looked as if she was about to cry, seeing one of her closest friends again after so long after believing she was dead was the best news she'd received in months – well, ever since she left the palace. "Addie? Where the fuck have you been?"

"Wonderland," Adelaide replied, the smirk not leaving her lips.

Brooke couldn't stop herself, she threw herself at Adelaide and hugged her as tightly as she could. Adelaide was taken aback by Brooke's gesture but slowly hugged her back, feeling herself relax a little. It felt good to be close to another human being; it had been a while since she'd been hugged.

During her several months absence, she'd only gotten close to one other person. Her name was Clara, and she was the first person since DogNut that actually made her feel something – but (like DogNut) it wasn't meant to be. On a supply run in North London, Clara's team had run into a rival group and subsequently, Clara had a gun placed against her head and the trigger pulled to show that they were not welcome there. Now they had an even better reason to never combine forces with North London.

In truth, the only reason why Adelaide came back was not just to avenge Clara, but to see Jordan once again. She hoped Jordan would forgive her for everything she had done; he was the only person who hadn't forsaken her, even when he had every reason to do so. But South London Crew as a whole were there for one reason and one reason only; rid the city of sickos and get on with their lives.

Coming out of the hug, Adelaide gave a nod towards Ed before giving him a smile, deciding words weren't needed to say how she felt about him.

"Where did you even get this army?" He asked, nodding towards the group behind Adelaide.

Adelaide looked back at her group for a moment before turning back, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, I was on my way out of town, going south, when I stumbled across this group, leaderless after their leader was taken and they needed a leader so I kind of accidentally became it. Trust me, they're on your side. All I have to do is give the order and they will follow you. We may be savages, but we do not turn on our master. You're safe."

Ed nodded once before stepping aside. "I suppose you'd wish to see where you'll be staying. I would say 'to meet everyone else too' but I think we both know that'll never happen."

Adelaide smirked, nodding her head as she raised a hand to signal the rest of her group to come over. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure nobody would want to even go near me. Not that I really give a crap, but whatever, we're used to it by this point."

Ed stepped aside and allowed Adelaide and her group to walk into Jordan's camp, breathing a sigh of relief when they had all gone inside. Although their leader was someone he knew, South London crew still scared the crap out of him. He knew that if he made one wrong move, then he would be in deep trouble.

Adelaide walked with her group through the camp, noticing all the younger kids practically screaming and running into their tents to hide from them while the slightly older kids were muttering amongst themselves about her, but she ignored them and kept her eyes straight ahead of her.

When she arrived at their part of the camp, she requested her people to stand down and relax after their long journey. Well, as much as they could relax while being surrounded by hundreds of kids who would wish they would die or leave them alone.

Her group made a campfire to keep them warm as nightfall began to set in, they began to relax as they stared into the flames and told stories of home and of things their parents would tell them. Children from nearby tents slowly began to eavesdrop on the stories they told of battles and how they saved the world.

Adelaide listened in with a small smile on her face until she looked up to see Jordan standing behind some of her men. Standing up, Adelaide's eyes began to brim with tears but they never fell. She stepped through her people to get nearer to him without interrupting the stories being told.

"Adelaide? Is that you?" Jordan asked, tears almost coming to his eyes as he saw one of his closest and most trusted people, one he long believed to be dead after hearing about her leaving the museum after the death of DogNut all those months beforehand. But there she was – bruised, battered and probably physically and mentally scarred for life but there all the same. Well, almost the same.

Adelaide nodded her head slowly, a faint smile on her lips as she took slow and short steps forward. "The one and only."

She couldn't hold herself back, she ran towards him and threw her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could, her face burying itself into his shirt as she refused to let him go.

Jordan held onto her tightly, too, his eyes closing. There were so many things he wanted to tell her; not just what had happened over the year since they had last seen each other, but things he would never tell anyone else – that he was going blind and there would be nothing anyone could do to stop it. But one last request was fulfilled; he wanted to see her one last time before he lost his sight completely.

Adelaide was the one who broke the hug, forcing herself to smile. She was happy to see him, but it was a bittersweet reunion. Both of them knew that they were in a war and the likelihood of both of them surviving was slim – even with all the preparation they had done.

Jordan gently placed a hand on Adelaide's cheek, his thumb gently caressing over a scar under her eye, as if he was checking she was really there and he wasn't dreaming. "I thought you were dead."

Adelaide leaned into his touch a little, a light chuckle leaving her lips as she shook her head a little. "Nah, it'll take a lot more than that to kill me. You know me, I'm a survivor."

Jordan nodded, laughing a little. "I know you too well, shorty. Even after all this time, I still know you."

The pair fell silent afterwards, Jordan's hand dropping back to his side as they both tried to think of something to say. There was so much they needed to say to each other, but in that moment; there was nothing to really say. Everything had already been said, therefore all those words had lost their meaning.

"It's good to see you, General." Adelaide finally spoke up, a shaky smile spreading across her lips. Admittedly, being around Jordan made her nervous – not the kind of nervous that would cause her to reach for her sword for comfort, but the kind that gave her butterflies in her stomach… the good kind of nervous, if you could call it that. Not that she'd actually tell him or anyone else about it, it would be her secret for now.

Jordan smiled too, tucking a stray piece of Adelaide's hair behind her ear. "You too, Commander."

Just as Adelaide was about to speak up, she heard a voice behind her. One she had only heard in her mind for over three months. "Adelaide?"

Her head turned and her eyes began to water. "Esme?" She looked back towards Jordan who nodded his head, giving his approval to greet Esme before he took a few steps back and began to walk back to his part of the camp. after watching Jordan leave, Adelaide almost sprinted towards Esme and almost crashed into her. "Esme, oh my god. I thought you were gone," Adelaide forced back her tears as she clung to Esme tightly, but being careful not to crush her.

The pair held onto each other, Esme sobbing into Adelaide's shoulder. As much as she wanted to, Adelaide refused to let herself cry; she needed to be strong for Esme. "You're okay, baby. Mama's here, you're safe with me," she whispered into Esme's ear, picking up the crying girl and holding onto her, pressing kisses to the side of Esme's head.

Admittedly, Esme wasn't the lightest thing Adelaide had lifted and it made her back hurt – even more than it usually did – but she wanted to do it. She didn't ask about Hayley – somehow knowing her fate already, and she didn't want to upset Esme even further by bringing it up.

Keeping Esme in her arms, she walked back towards her camp. She assured her people that Esme was family and that she was now one of them, and if anyone disagreed, their head would be removed and used as bait. Or perhaps they would be banished from South London Crew and never allowed to return, which would be just as bad in this world.

Sitting down in front of the bonfire, Adelaide placed Esme on her lap and gently rocked her back and forth, whispering comforting things in her ear. Eventually, Esme stopped crying but she refused to let Adelaide go from her grasp.

Adelaide's people continued with their stories, with Adelaide somewhat listening as she cradled Esme. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she felt like she belonged. She had her people around her and now she had Esme back – she didn't need anything else and it was perfect.

Well, almost perfect.

It was missing one person but she hadn't spoken about him in weeks; causing her to suppress all memories of him out of almost fear of being seen as weak by her own people.

Her tattoo and the photographs were the only reminders she had that he was real and not some nightmare her mind had made up to deal with the trauma of the things she'd lived through over the past year. She wanted to talk about him, but she knew it would be too painful for her to remember. Perhaps soon she would feel comfortable about talking about him. She hoped it would be soon, just so she would be able to properly move on.

"Adelaide? A word?" Ed asked, wearily looking at the glares he was given by Adelaide's people, their hands gripping their swords tightly as they glared at Ed, ready to attack at any moment's notice. He knew the stories as well as everyone did; if Adelaide gave the word, her guards would kill him within a heartbeat.

Adelaide nodded, moving Esme off her lap and walking through her people to get to Ed before walking with him to a more private place where they could talk without having to worry about anyone eavesdropping on their conversation. "What's up?"

Ed was visibly nervous, his fingers unable to keep still. "Listen, don't get offended but people are talking; they're saying your people are… savages. Cannibals, murderers, you kill your own for no reason other than they looked at you funny, you have fights to the death to handle small matters… none of that's true, right?"

Adelaide almost laughed, shaking her head. Ed relaxed a little but tensed up again when she began speaking, all trace of laughter and joking gone from her voice. "We all have a darkness inside of us, Ed, and we're all responsible for what happens when we let it out. We all have that primal instinct to survive by any means – that instinct has only intensified since the Revenant began to rise. Your people and my people may have different ideas of survival, but we both share the idea of fighting against this by any means possible."

"That didn't quite answer the question, Adelaide."

Adelaide rolled her eyes, her jaw tightening as her eyes narrowed a little. "We are what we are."

The conversation fell silent after that, the pair facing away from each other as they looked at the hundreds of kids that surrounded them. Both of them knew that not all of them would survive, but it was a burden they would both have to face. That would be one thing they'd have in common once again, other than losing their friends and surviving the impossible.

"Do you ever think about him?" Ed asked, breaking the silence as he looked back at Adelaide who never looked back at him, her eyes completely focused on something ahead of her.

Adelaide's heart skipped a beat inside her chest at his words but refused to let it show, it would be seen as weakness and weak was not something used to describe Adelaide, not anymore. "No, never."

Liar.

She hoped he wouldn't catch her lie but she was certain he noticed, but thankfully he didn't say anything about it. But before he could say anything, Adelaide left him and began to slowly walk back to her group. She tried to fight back her tears but she couldn't stop them from falling, and before she fully knew it, she was full on sobbing into her hands, her mind screaming at her to stop crying but nothing would stop it.

She was still crying when she came back to her camp, causing one of her personal guards to stand in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders, causing her to stop walking. "Commander, are you alright?"

Adelaide shook her head, unable to speak without sobbing and stumbling over her words.

"It was him again, wasn't it?"

Adelaide nodded, trying to wipe away her tears – which were now black from her war paint – to stop herself from crying more but obviously failing as more continued to fall.

She knew what was about to come next; whenever she showed pain, she was physically hurt to show her that pain in the mind wasn't real and she could turn it off easily but physical pain was okay to feel. It was an unusual way to deal with pain but it taught Adelaide that to be the commander they needed her to be, she would have to be as cold as a December morning. And that she certainly would be.

Her guard reached to his belt, grabbing a small knife from it and used his other hand to grab Adelaide's hand and lead her towards the fire, her arm out stretched. Once she was in front of the flames and the palm of her hand began to feel hot from the flames, he brought the knife over the palm of her hand, cutting it from one side to the other.

Adelaide cringed a little as she closed her hand tightly, feeling the blood dripping from her cut. With tears still falling, she raised her hand once more and allowed the blood to drop into the fire, the smoke and her tears clouding her vision as she repeated the words she'd heard over a thousand times over the past few months. "From the ashes… we will rise."

Note

I totally had the Suicide Squad soundtrack playing while writing this, it's just so perfect for Adelaide's entrance for the war and her return to the other groups. You can all blame The 100 for this.

11 pages and over four thousand words later; I hope it's a good introduction to how Adelaide's changed since from the last time we saw her.

bISEXUAL ADELAIDE HAS PROPERLY RISEN AND SHE IS READY TO TAKE OVER AND SLAY EVERYONE'S EXISTENCE.

I'll get more into Adelaide's backstory with how she became the commander in future chapters so all will be revealed soon.

Until next time;

Lorna.