CHAPTER 20
Lexa's POV
"That was my best friend and my brother you just killed. Are you just going to stand there and not say anything?" I yelled at the smirking Erica Cerra. She had led me into a room filled with computers. She was just looking at me, waiting and testing my patience.
"Tell me first what's been going on in the future. I need to know if my program was worth creating," She said.
"We're about to die. The A.I. you created upgraded itself and started programming its own codes into the ground's old technology. She has begun her technological warfare on us grounders. Soon she'll start the nuclear meltdowns. We'll all be killed. We need you to destroy the program. That's why I'm here to kill you and make sure you never place the program online." I said.
"It's too late. You can kill me. I've already placed the program and it'll launch automatically in about 5 minutes. Countdown Start!" Erica shouted. The computer screens lit up and a countdown of 5 minutes began.
"Shut it off. Now!" I screamed at her.
"No. This is the only way. I need to kill off all the infected. Don't you see by releasing radiation onto the planet now, we can rid it of the infected. This will be the Earth's cure. The people who have not been infected yet will be smart enough to start evacuating to space. I've already sent them the time frame they have to launch. They should be launching any minute now. All I've done was to extend the time span of the human race's existence. I gave us all our best shot." She said. She did this because of the infection. I didn't think this through. She was right, but that would mean that the future would still be in ruins even though this was the right move now. There has to be another way. We need to shut this down.
"Tell me how to shut down the countdown." I said.
"No, because deep down you know this is the only way. I made the A.I. impenetrable. I cannot even break its coding. I'm sure you have a loved one back home in the future. I say go back now and make the most of your time. You can make it back before everything starts to get bad. Don't fight this anymore. I believe this is the right thing to do. I won't give you the code to shut down the countdown." Erica said. She pulled something out from her back. It was a gun. No! nononono! She raised it to her and pulled the trigger. Her blood splattered on my face. With 3 minutes left on the clock, all my hopes of saving the future were lost.
Clarke's POV
"Take them to the quad." A clan leader said. Indra and I had had our hands and feet bound. Two of our guards, who we thought were loyal to us, stepped forward and threw us over their shoulders. This is what it comes down to with high tensions I guess. They started out the door and towards the quad at Polis. As we exited the building we were met with crowds of people staring. The people loyal to us were held back by the rioters. Octavia and Raven were giving me sympathetic looks while my mother just cried. It was going to happen. I was going to die and there was nothing stopping my fate.
"Look at these two. They have not done a single thing to salvage our futures. We are just suppose to sit and wait for the Commander. Who knows where she is or what she is doing? She could have died on her quest to save us against Alie. She didn't even ask any of her own people to go with her. There's no hope I tell you for the Commander. No more following rules. We take our fates in our own hands. We won't sit by and wait to be killed by the nuclear reactors. It's time to kill the authoritative figures who stand in our ways of survival. We go by tradition." The fire clan leader said. We came to a stop and I was thrown onto the ground. We had arrived at the center of the quad. A large tree was centered in the middle. Indra was pulled up from the floor and tied to the tree.
"Don't worry Indra. Between the two of you, you are the one that we respect more. You will die a quick death. In doing this you will suffer no pain, but instead your dignity will suffer. A warrior that dies with no fight is just a deserter. You will die like this Indra com Trikru and you will be remembered for this Indra com Trikru. Yu gonplei ste odon." The fire clan leader said as he wielded a sword with such grace and drove it through Indra's midsection. Indra didn't make a sound. She just stared into the fire clan leaders soul through her murder. She died loyal to Lexa, just the way she wanted to be remembered. None of the other things the fire clan leader said about Indra mattered to her. The fire clan leader looked in my direction and gave a nod.
"Your turn Wanheda." The guard spoke as he brought me to my feet and dragged me to the tree. I didn't even try to fight him. There was no point. I didn't want anyone from Skaikru interfering, which I knew they would if they saw me struggling. No more blood needed to be shed; ours would be enough.
"Wanheda. Ever since your people landed on our ground, our grandparents, parents, brothers, sisters, and children have died one after another. We had peace before your arrival. You ruined our coalition and our traditions. You led our Commander astray with your counseling. We were strong but your arrival dramatically weakened us to the point where we sit and wait to be slaughtered in a fight. You lack the honor and experience to make those decisions for us. You don't deserve to carry the title of wanheda and Skai kru definitely does not deserve to be in this coalition. You will die a slow and painful death worthy of the great Wanheda and for all the wrongs you have done to us." The fire clan leader said before taking the same sword he drove into Indra and sliced my midsection with it.
"No! STOP! KILL ME INSTEAD!" I could hear my mother scream. One by one a clan leader came up to me to slice at me. Some occasionally spat at me. I tried not to make a sound or cry. I didn't want to give any of them the satisfaction of what they were doing to me. Once all the twelve clan leaders had taken a swing at me. I had lost so much blood. I felt light headed. It was hard to keep my eyes open. I knew I was at the brink of death. I just needed one more push and I'd drift into the darkness. The fire clan leader moved to the side and grabbed my mother from the guard that was holding her down.
"Skaikru wants to be a part of our coalition, so they will take part in our traditions. The thirteenth clan must participate and will therefore be the ones to kill their Wanheda. Skaikru's very own leader, Abby, will partake in our tradition. Wanheda will die at the hands of her own mother. " the fire clan leader said with such happiness at his cruel decision.
"No, I can't. She's my daughter. I won't kill her." My mom said.
"If you do not partake in our traditions, you are disrespecting our coalition and way of life. We, grounders, will not stand for disloyalty. Pledge your loyalty to the coalition and finish the ritual. If not your clan will all be slaughtered. It's your decision Abby." The fire clan leader told my mother.
"Mmmom… Just do it. Don't let anyone else die because of me… I'm okay. Just… set me free… Send me back to her… Send me back to… Lexa." I muffled out, spitting blood out ever couple of words. The fire clan leader handed my mother the sword. She started walking towards me slowly. So this is how it ends, huh Lexa. I die alone because of the mess we made. I guess this is fitting somehow. You better be waiting for me when I go love. As I closed my eyes I saw my mom gripping the sword and preparing to drive it through me. The swords journey from where my mom was standing to my abdomen was interrupted by a rumble of the ground. Before anything else could happen there was a blinding white light. I couldn't see my mom anymore. The white light encompassed everything until it was the only thing I saw.
Lexa's POV
A few minutes before Clarke and Indra's assassination
There has to be another way. My family couldn't have died in vain. Everyone is counting on me at home. Okay let's look at the facts. If I do nothing, then I'm literally stuck in this predicament. If I find a way to shut down the countdown, the future could change, but the ground may not be rid of the infection. Then what? Both choices are horrible. Although Erica believes the program will prolong the human existence, it still has a termination date and I see the end already. The best thing to do is to kill the countdown, and hope for a better future, but how. There's only two minutes left. Okay, I need Alicia, come on think. I have to shut down this system so it can't broadcast the program to the world. This is the command board with all the buttons. Every computer has a motherboard. If I kill that, we're good. This is a complex system so the motherboard should be large. It wouldn't fit in this room, okay follow the wires connected to the screen. It goes into the left wall, so the motherboard should be behind this wall. I reached out to open the door so I could get into the room but it was locked. I took Erica's gun that she used to shoot herself with and pointed at the doorknob and shot. I missed. Fuck this is why I hate guns. I took out my sword from its holster behind my back and slashed the doorknob. It dropped to the ground like a charm. I could always count on my trustworthy sword.
I looked back at the clock 54 seconds left on the countdown. I needed to hurry. When I kicked the door open, I saw an infected. It spotted me and started to trudge slowly towards me. Of Course, Erica was sadistic enough to keep an infected in this room to guard her program's lifeline. I drew the sword through the infected's head and kicked him off to free my sword. I looked at the giant supercomputer in front of me. It looked like a giant block. I heard the countdown start from 10. I don't know what's happening to Clarke right now or if I'll ever see her or my friends again in this new future, but it has to be better than everyone being dead. To hell with this reality! I slammed my sword into the super computer. After that I was enveloped by a blinding white light, it was so bright, I passed out.