There was a ringing silence after Clarke's departure.

Bellamy deflates and all fight leaves his body as he plops down onto a raised platform on the bridge. Raven curses loudly. Emori and Murphy are having a silent conversation and Echo stares at him her face inscrutable, something it sucks to have a spy as a girlfriend.

Madi is still staring at the point where Clarke disappeared to as if her thoughts alone could make her appear.

Bellamy looks away because its too familiar a thought and not a time he wants to remember not with the Clarke he was willing to appear gone forever.

He tries to place his gaze anywhere far from Madi and it ends up landing at Octavia. She is staring back at him, her gaze unwavering.

Bellamy is not ready to face that shit storm yet, so he closes his eyes and looks away. That's why he misses the look on Octavia's face go from hope to pain and finally to cold fury.

If Bellamy had been paying attention he would have remembered that whenever Octavia was furious she tended to lash out at the easiest target. If Bellamy had been paying attention he would have realized that the easiest target was no longer him. He would have been prepared for Octavia's acid tongue to turn towards the 12 year old in the group.

"Did she ever tell you that she's a runner? That she ran when things got hard? That she left behind people and went away to prance in the woods after she let a missile drop on innocents in her quest to save as many people she could but ended up killing everyone anyway?"

These are the words meant to hurt, to cut deep. These are also the words of a person jealous of the devotion this figure, whom she believes to be a worse human than herself, keeps on receiving.

"She did." Madi answers an expression on her face that reminds Bellamy unsettlingly of Lexa's most faux unconcerned look. He knows from experience that the look meant she was going to deliver a finishing blow that will cut down her opponent without her having lifted a finger.

He's proven right when Madi continues.

"Did she ever tell you she put the Alliance in jeopardy to save your life."

Octavia's expression of cold fury and bitter jealousy turns to one of shock and confusion.

Madi lets out a laugh, its almost cruel, and Bellamy for the second time in a day, probably the second time since he put the chip in her, feels ashamed at what he did.

"Yeah don't answer that, I know she didn't. So let me enlighten you. Lexa ordered Ryder to kill you after she figured out that you knew about the missiles. You remember when you were reassigned to guard the perimeter, alone?"

She pauses for a second lets the memory flood Octavia's mind.

"Rider had the bow drawn the arrow notched when Clarke showed up, put a gun to his temple and forced him to withdraw. Then she marched him over to Lexa's tent and gave her the ultimatum either she calls off the hit on you or she tells everyone that they knew about the missiles."

Octavia's mouth is set in a grim line by the end of the speech, or what she considers to be the end.

"And do you know the best part? Clarke never told me any of this, never even mentioned this. I only know this because I have her memories." By this point Madi has lost her sneer and is growling angrily.

Bellamy's mind catches onto a particular shard of information and before he can stop himself he blurts out the question, "When you say that you have her memories, what do you mean?"

Madi sucks in a quiet breath and looks stricken, like she hadn't meant to let that information slip.

"Clarke had the chip before me." She says by the way of explanation.

Realization churns somewhere deep in Bellamy's stomach. It must show on his panic stricken face because Madi notices and lets out a humourless laugh.

"Yeah." A soft sound escapes her. She licks her lips before she continues, her voice soft and pained with a little relief mixed in. It's as if she has been holding it in and really just wanted to let the words out. "So, I know everything Clarke experienced up till that point. And I found out so much. Stuff that she never told me. Stuff like how the first place she went to after she 'ran away when things got hard' was Mt. Weather, to give the people there a proper funeral. Or how she never got the chance to mourn Lexa because after she died she had to think of how a new Commander ascending would affect Arkadia, Or how…" She is panting as she cuts herself off.

"Sorry I shouldn't have told this to all of you."

The you don't deserve to know this is unsaid but Bellamy still hears it loud and clear.

Bellamy is turning over the information in his head. He likens himself to a dragon with his treasure, who piles it up and curls around it breathing steam and an occasional string of fire. Because this information is treasure to him, any new information about Clarke has always been one.

He is brought out of his head by sounds of Madi trudging towards the direction of the cabins, a hand raised in silent farewell, her shoulders slumped betraying her emotional fatigue. Bellamy wants to stop her, make an excuse that they need her on the bridge in the case any decisions had to be made, just so he can glean some more information out of her. But there's nothing to do on the bridge and the child looks exhausted - emotionally – so he lets her go.

He turns back to his family (steadfastly ignoring everyone else's presence) and finds each of their faces in variety of closed off expressions, as everyone, like him, tries to digest the new information provided to them.

Bellamy doesn't want to go down that path right now, there's work to be done.

He sees Jordan's raised arm in his periphery and turns to give him a questioning stare.

Jordan ruffles the back of his hair nervously before asking in a timid voice "Hey, so… umm… can I go be with Madi? I think she needs someone who doesn't hate Clarke at her side right now."

Jordan's words aren't meant to be hurting, he just doesn't know what part of his thought process to keep to himself. Bellamy just waves him off too tired to argue and say that they don't hate Clarke.

After Jordan's footsteps have faded away he turns to Raven and Emori and asks them to start working on getting a connection to the ground.

It's been a few hours and there's no progress made on the radio. Octavia, Indra and Diyoza have retired to separate cabins. All of the people from the Ring are on the bridge still, standing or lying in various positions on the deck. None of them ready to leave their family after having lost two of their own to natural death of all things.

Murphy has been pacing across the bridge for the last half an hour shooting Emori worried glances as Emori grows more and more frustrated with the non-progress they are making.

Finally he moves towards one of the display screens. Bellamy notices that he inserts a device in the port but pays it no mind and lets Murphy type away on the screen.

Murphy calls out, "Hey maybe this will be helpful."

He presses the final key and the sound of static emanates from the speakers. He continues speaking, "I nicked this drive from Reyes. It had Radio Calls written on it in Monty's handwriting so maybe it has some information that will help."

Bellamy notices Raven's eyes widen in panic as she pats her jacket pocket looking for something. Before Bellamy can figure out the cause of her panic, the static from the speakers turns into coughs.

"*click* *cough* *cough* *retching sound* Shit, that's a lot black blood." A voice speaks in a weak wry tone.

Bellamy freezes. Realization dawns on him. The Radio Calls. Oh!

"Okay, here goes nothing The Ground to Ring Station, Hailing Ring Station, Come in Ring Station, Please reply Ring Station." A pause, "Please… someone reply. Bellamy? Raven? Anyone? Shit please tell me I aligned the dish in time. Please tell me all of you are alive. *sob* *sigh* Griffin get a grip. Ring Station this is Clarke Griffin. I am alive on the ground the nightblood worked," a pause, then a muttered, "barely."

Everyone's attention is singularly focused on the speaker, focused on the voice escaping it.

"So it might be a while before I can radio back I feel another episode coming up and it takes a while to wake up from it. Today is the 15th day after Praimfaya I will try and make contact in 10 days. *click*"

Static fills the room again. Bellamy dares a glance at Murphy, he looks pale as he stares at the speaker, Bellamy probably looks the same.

The voice comes on again.

"*click*. 40 days since Praimfaya. This episode took longer to recover from. I will be leaving Becca's lab in a few days for Polis. There not much sustenance here. *click*"

Static.

"*click*Where was I? Oh, right. Polis. Up until that moment, I believed I'd live in the bunker with the others, with my mom. I can't bear the thought of leaving her down there, but the hard truth is, I could dig for years and never reach that door. I've been by myself now for two months, but this is the first time I feel alone. It's like we were never here. Maybe we never should have been. How the hell am I gonna make it five years? I came to Arkadia looking for food or water, but all I found were ghosts. Part of me thinks that Jasper had the right idea. What's the point if all there is this pain and suffering. *snort* Reaal cheerful, Clarke. I'm sorry. Ignore me, ok? I haven't had water in two days. I need to find some soon, or I don't think I'm gonna…*ptch*. " Static. "*long exhale* Anyway… *clears throat* I doubt you can hear me on this piece-of-crap radio… But in case this is the last time I get to do this, I just want to say… Please don't feel bad about leaving me here. You did what you had to do. I'm proud of you. *click*"

Static.

"*click*I used to think that life was about more than just surviving, but I'm not sure anymore. Animals don't feel guilty when they kill. They just do it. They kill or they get killed. I tell myself that every life I took was for a reason, but the truth is, the other side had reasons, too. The Grounders, the Mountain Men, even A.L.I.E… their reasons to want us dead were the same as ours. It was us or them, kill or be killed, simple as that. So what now? What becomes of the Commander of Death when there's no one left to kill? I guess we'll find out because my fight is over. The question is, who am I now? Wait till you see this place. It's like the death wave jumped over the entire valley. Unfortunately, the radiation didn't. I've lost track how many bodies we've burned since reaching the ground. God, this would be so much easier if I knew you were alive, if I knew I was gonna see you again. *hmph* Positive thoughts, Clarke. It's been 58 days. By now, Monty should have the algae farm producing. How bad does it suck? *chuckle* No offense, Monty. And I found berries, a whole field of them. They're not very sweet, but they're beautiful. I think that's what they used to make the paint for… *click*"

"That's when she noticed me."

A voice cuts through the atmosphere like a sword.

Bellamy's head turns to face Madi so fast he gets a whiplash. But Madi's gaze rests on the speaker which is emanating static again.

"She noticed me lurking and followed me." A small smile appears on her lips. "I led her into a bear trap, tried to stab her to death. Then stole her pack as she laid unconscious from the pain of stitching herself up. She was still relentless. Called me the Child from Hell, then drew me a portrait."

Another click sounds from the speaker but before any words can escape Madi snatches the disk from the port.

Bellamy's insides roar.

"I don't think you should be listening to these. You don't have the right…" Madi starts her voice small.

"Oh, but we have every right." Murphy's harsh voice cuts her off. He is shaking, with what Bellamy can't tell. "These were meant for us. That means we get the right to listen to them."

Madi looks conflicted, she keeps sneaking glances at every member that went to space, her eyes darting towards Bellamy more than others.

She sighs, then puts on her Commander mask. "No, not right now. There are too many of them, if my Math is correct, and Clarke made sure it was, there are still 2140 calls to go. We don't have the time, we need to work on the Radio, establish a connection with the ground. After everything is done, after everything is sorted out, you can listen to them. Provided you ask Clarke's permission."

Murphy is visibly bristling. Raven's focus is on the speaker as if she could will it to play the next recording by the power of her mind. Emori looks worriedly at Murphy. Echo is staring at him with a blank face.

And him? He is ice cold. The words keep churning in his mind like a thousand shallow cuts all over his body, 'the 15th day after Praimfaya…', '40 days since Praimfaya…', 'I've been by myself now for two months…', 'It's been 58 days…'.

Then the ones which feel like sharp thrusts into his belly, 'Shit, that's a lot black blood…', 'This episode took longer to recover from…', 'I haven't had water in two days…'.

Then the one which feels like a bullet to the lung making you drown in your own blood, 'I'm proud of you…' 'I'm proud of you…' 'I'm proud of you…'

Bellamy stops it in its tracks, focuses on his breathing and uses his head.

"Madi is right. We need to work on the radio. Let's get a connection to the ground up and running, so Clarke doesn't have to talk into the void again." He uses his best orator skills to piece the speech together.

Madi plops down on the opposite side of the bridge from him keeping as much space between them as possible. Jordan plops down beside her (huh? Bellamy hadn't noticed him come in).

Bellamy walks over to the window and stares down at this new planet, on the surface of which a ship must have landed, a woman must have disembarked ready to be burned alive again.