Chapter 11
They made their way down to the underground room one at a time. After a few clinks of metal and a soft thud, they knew that one more of their party had made it safely to the ground and that another would follow right away.
Clarke went next, following a few of the Councilmen. She carefully eased her body down into the wide hole and onto the ladder. With each step she dove further and further underground, into darkness. Only the a small flickering light beckoning from the bottom kept her focused on the goal.
When she finally reached the final rungs, she gave a sigh of relief as the whole widened and expanded into a large tunnel. She now saw that the light was coming from a candle in each of the Councilmen's hands. As Clarke stepped off the ladder onto solid floor, they handed her a candle as well, and she scooted out of the way for Raven to come down after her.
Understandably, Raven took much longer. Occasionally Clarke could hear muttered curses up the ladder and a loud ring as Raven knocked into the sides of the metal-lined hole.
At last Raven's body emerged, healthy leg first, and the injured one wrapped in a brace soon after. Everyone immediately stepped forward to offer their assistance to the girl, but Raven waved them off with a shout and swing of her hand.
Clarke cringed as the girl struggled on the final few steps. When Raven turned around, beads of sweat had formed on her forehead, and her face was wracked with pain. She hobbled over to Clarke and they waited while the rest of the party joined them.
Abby Griffin was the last to go down. Everyone waited silently for her guidance, the Councilmen with respect and the 100 with hidden distrust.
With a nod from the Chancellor, two members of the Council opened their packs and removed a few small guns and an array of smoke bombs.
Clarke's eyes widened in alarm and she looked to Bellamy and Raven for their reaction. Both seemed unperturbed, so she glanced at Octavia, who, to Clarke's relief, looked just as upset by the sudden appearance of guns as Clarke.
Not wanting to alert the Grounders who were not far away now, Clarke remained silent to see what they were going to do with the weapons.
There were several branching hallways, and down one Clarke could barely make out what appeared to be some old metal lockers. Quietly they stashed the weapons in the lockers as an added precaution. Clarke didn't want to admit it, but after recent events, the knowledge that the guns weren't far away did make her feel slightly safer.
When they met with the Grounders though, they would not be armed with anything other than knives hidden on their persons. At least, Clarke assumed the rest had knives hidden away somewhere as Raven had. Clarke herself had a knife sheathed up her jacket sleeve. It was hidden enough that no one would be able to see it, but its closeness provided a similar comfort to the guns.
It was there if she needed it, although if it really came down to it, she wasn't sure if anything could protect them from the Grounders while trapped in this underground cave.
Just a short update to set the stage before the Sky people meet with the Grounders for the truce meal.
While I would love to say that everything is going to go smoothly in the meeting, we all know that there is a lot of conflict ahead. Who is ready?
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