They all stood, staring at the ominous writing.
"It must be Emerson." Clarke said. "He is the only one I know of that survived."
"He won't make a move on us while we have strength in numbers. From now on, nobody goes anywhere alone and we will have at least two standing guard at all times. Got it?" Bellamy asked.
"Do you really think he would make his intentions known if he wanted to kill us? He would have been better off if he had just picked us off one by one and not announced his presence." Kane thought aloud.
"He may not be in his right mind." Monty reasoned. "He did just lose everyone he has ever known. His family, friends… all lost."
When the sun rose, they were all tired but alert. No one mentioned the distressed noises Monty made in his sleep or the fact that Clarke barely closed her eyes before jerking awake only to be soothed by Bellamy who hardly slept at all. The threat of danger lurking in the trees kept their eyes open and minds sharp. Now that all the bodies were buried, the group split into teams of four alternating between making crosses and standing guard. Once all the crosses were made, they gathered at the base of the makeshift cemetery and began their ceremony.
"In peace, may you leave the shore." Kane said solemnly.
"In love, may you find the next" said Miller
"And safe passage in your travels" Monty said, fighting to hold down his tears.
"Until your final journey to the ground" Bellamy said as he reached for Clarke's hand.
"May we meet again." They all said in unison.
Jasper and Monty were both silently crying, Clarke had turned into Bellamy's shoulder to regain her composure, Lincoln had his arm protectively around Octavia and Kane and Miller hung their heads in respectful silence.
Octavia said quietly, "The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves. Sophocles." She noted half the group staring at her, clearly surprised. "What? I read. What do you think I did on the ark? I didn't exactly have a lot of options." The mood had lightened slightly and the group went throughout the graveyard, ensuring all the grave markers and ID cards were in place.
"Are we ready to go back to camp, now?" Kane asked once they finished their walk through. "If we leave now, we can make it back to camp before the sun sets and we can all get a full nights rest."
The group turned their attention to Clarke, the only one who hadn't yet agreed to go back to Camp Jaha. "I'll go with you guys." She said cautiously. "But I can't guarantee I will stay." She turned to Kane, "I am trying, here. I really am. If nothing else, at least I will go see my mom."
"She would like that, Clarke. Thank you."
They cleaned up their camp, making sure their fire was out and the door was shut before starting their hike home. They were making good time so half way home they took a small respite to eat and rest. Clarke had to use the bathroom. She stepped behind a large tree, out of view of the others, but within shouting distance. Before she could even get her pants unbuttoned, she heard something. She went into hyper-aware mode, searching the forest for anything out of place. Her eyes landed on a face caked in mud not 15 feet away. She recognized the face, despite its camouflage.
"Emerson." She greeted shoving down her fear. She knew all she needed to do was scream and the others would be there almost instantly. "We've buried them all. Their graves are clearly marked with their ID cards too." After a long pause she said, "I am so sorry."
"It's not over." Emerson said evenly.
"What else can there be? The mountain men are dead. You are the last one left! What are you going to do? Kill me? You should have done that while I was alone, before my people arrived. God knows I would have let you."
"You silly child, you still don't get it. Why would we still have missiles after what happened 97 years ago? We thought we were alone on the ground. Why would our grandfathers and great grandfathers set aside the tools of our destruction in our own post apocalyptic home? Not to destroy those we thought would never survive, but to protect ourselves. Have you heard of The City of Light?"
"Is that anything like the grounder's Polis?"
"No. That is a grounder city. The City of Light is fabled through out the grounder population as a type of Utopia. We know differently. The City of Light is named, not after the metaphorical meaning of light, but after the flash of a nuclear explosion. The City of Light is where the bombs came from. No one is sure why someone in the city decided to destroy the world, but one thing is for certain, the silos from which the bombs came are still online. That's why we had a signal jammer running. Now that the mountain is off line, there may be someone coming to make sure everyone is dead. I hate you and the others from the Ark for what was done to my people, but I hate those responsible for the apocalypse more. I'd rather side with the enemy I know."
"Ok. What should we do? What will we be defending ourselves against?"
"You need to get the dam back up and running and you need to turn the signal jammer back on. You have engineers that are up to the task, right?"
"Yes, we should."
Emerson started walking away; Clarke reached for him "Emerson, I really am sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone; I just wanted my people free."
"I know." He hung his head and disappeared into the woods.
"Do you think he was telling the truth?" Octavia stepped from behind a tree, startling Clarke.
"Yeah, Yeah, I do."