It took a month.

Just one week after returning from the mountain for the second time Raven had a break through on the radio. She finally managed to find a frequency that wasn't one they had found before. Raven explained to them all how she originally though it was an Ark station frequency but now she wasn't so sure. Curious, Clarke told her to keep it open and listen out for anybody trying to contact them.

Everyone had accepted that if there were any Ark survivors it was unlikely they had survived this long after the initial landing and even if they had, the chances of them reaching them through the radio was next to nothing. Yet this new frequency had peaked most of the councils interest and even Lexa agreed with Clarke that they shouldn't ignore it.

Raven had been checking for any signs of life on the frequency but ultimately had come up short. Until now.

XoXoXoX

Clarke and Lexa were just coming round when they got word.

Clarke was lying half on top of Lexa and enjoying the feeling of the other girl's fingers lightly tracing her spine when Octavia burst through the flap and threw their clothes at them. If she was anyone else Lexa would have had her head.

"Get dressed. We need you at the Ark, Raven found something on the radio, hurry"

She didn't wait for a reply before leaving and Clarke groaned into Lexa's shoulder.

"We should go"

Clarke knew Lexa was right but that didn't mean she appreciated the early wake up call. They dressed quickly and rushed to the Ark where Octavia was waiting for them outside; she scrunched her nose up at their dishevelled appearance and earned a pointed look from Clarke.

"You said hurry"

Octavia raised her hands in defense and lead the way to the council room where they had moved the radio into the centre of the large table. Abby was standing at the head with Kane on one side and Bellamy on the other. Raven and Monty were sitting closest the door fiddling with the radio whilst Echo was standing next to Bellamy. All of them looked up at the sound of their entrance.

Octavia went to stand beside Raven and Clarke addressed her mother, "What's happening?"

She shrugged and looked to Raven, "We don't know"

"We were waiting for you" Kane added.

"Okay so what's happened?"

Raven sighed and scratched her head, "I heard something, like a voice, and it broke through the frequency. I'm trying to get it back now"

Clarke looked to Lexa to see if she understood and she gave Clarke a brief nod.

"How long will it take?"

Monty shrugged and shared a glance with Raven, "It could vary. We only heard it a few seconds ago, found the right frequency, so we just have to find that again I guess"

Raven grunted in agreement, "We literally just had it… I swear to god…"

A sudden buzzing sounded from the radio and Clarke leant forward in excitement, "Is that it?"

"Yeah just… give me a second"

They all waited holding their breath as Raven tampered with the radio. Clarke's eyes were wide, was this going to be it? Were they finally going to hear from the remaining Ark stations?

She felt a hand grasp hers and she looked up to see Lexa watching her reassuringly. Clarke nodded in appreciation and turned back to watch Raven.

"-ello?"

Monty grinned and jumped in his seat, "That's it!"

The voice broke through again as Raven tried to increase the frequency but Clarke had already heard what she needed to.

"Murphy"

They all looked to her, Raven's jaw dropped and Octavia too seemed to recognise the voice.

"Clarke?"

She grasped the receiver, "Murphy?"

"Clarke it is you!"

Bellamy scoffed and stepped beside her, "Murphy where the hell are you?"

"I left with Jaha" Clarke's gaze lifted to Abby who shared a look with Kane, "We found the city of light"

"A myth" Snarled Lexa.

"No it's not" He paused for a moment, "But it's not good either… Jaha he- he killed a guy and now he's gone completely mad… I'm the only one left but I'm not with him anymore he's gone crazy!"

"Come back then" Bellamy reasoned.

"No I can't…"

Clarke frowned and Octavia took the receiver, "Why not?"

"Jaha is helping her… I have to stay. I have to try and stop him"

Murphy wasn't making any sense and one look at the others told Clarke she wasn't the only one who was confused.

"Stop him doing what? Who's her?"

"A.L.I.E"

Clarke scrunched her nose and took it back, "Who's A.L.I.E?"

"She's a machine… but she can think and she can- well she's dangerous… She's the reason that there was a war in the first place"

Bellamy shook his head, "Murphy-"

"No!" He sounded desperate, "Listen to me! She stole the codes for the bombs, she's the one that fired them, and now, because of Jaha, she has access to another one. She's been watching us, all of us, throughout this war… She's going to kill us all and Jaha is going to help her do it!"

"Wait" Clarke was finally beginning to understand, "Are you saying that she has nuclear bombs?"

"No just one normal bomb but that doesn't matter Clarke! She only needs one bomb… I don't know what the target is but-"

"I do" They all turned to Lexa who had significantly paled as she looked to Clarke, "Polis"

Clarke shook her head, "She's going to bomb Polis but why…"

"Clarke" Bellamy looked terrified, "Mount weather was the only ones with access to that type of weaponry and now they're gone… That's us"

"She's going to bomb Polis and let us take the blame"

Lexa shook her head, "She is going to bomb Polis, let you take the blame, and destroy the alliance"

Abby gasped, "She's going to start another war"

Clarke dropped the receiver and looked around the room at the equally terrified faces looking to her.

"We have to stop her"

XoXoXoX

It took a month.

They had a month of peace. A month to recover, to build a society, and a promise of peace had come with that. With that month.

Clarke thought it was over, they all did, but now here was another problem. Another war for them to fight in. Except this time the stakes were higher and if they failed? They would all kill each other before the year was out.

Short chapter… The start of the end