Chapter 24:

"Clarke, we have a problem." York told her. She'd met him with two guards at the airstrip where he and the other pilot, a man named Warner were about to take off to go pick up the people from the camp.

"What's wrong?" She asked, thinking back to those worry free moments from the night before and wondering how she'd ever thought things would just work out.

"Our big plane is missing." He shared. He pointed to a flat area of land.

"Missing?"

"Yeah, we have two small planes and one larger one. Fits about 350 people plus a small crew. We only have a few people here who know how to fly and we've never really needed it so it just sits there. I haven't checked on the planes in a few days so I don't know who took it or when."

"The better question is why." Clarke brought up. "If they just wanted to flee because they were loyal to Carolina or didn't want us here, they could have taken the smaller planes."

"I know."

"So, who else is a pilot?"

"It's really just me and Warner here. A few other people know the basics, but a plane like that isn't really basic."

"What about-" Warner stopped himself.

"What about what?" Clarke asked.

"It's just…" He started and looked down at the ground. "I've been giving someone lessons for the last few months. Not on the big one, but still. We talked about it."

"Who?" Clarke insisted.

"Brooklyn." He answered.

"Your cousin?" Clarke asked York.

"You've been teaching her? She never said anything about it."

"I offered. Brooklyn is…" He faded while his cheeks started turning red.

"Oh my God! You like my cousin?"

"What? She's available, isn't she?" Warner questioned. "She mentioned she wanted to know what it was like to fly and I offered to teach her."

"Wait. She asked you?"

"Well, yeah. Technically." He seemed proud of himself.

"Could she realistic fly that thing?" Clarke asked him.
"Yeah. I don't know for how long though. There was probably only enough fuel in it for one big run somewhere. I never went over refueling or anything with her."

"How long of a run?" York asked him.

"I don't know. A couple thousand miles at most. We really only leave fuel in it in case of emergencies. We can fit everyone on it at once."

"Why would she steal it?" York asked both of them.

"I don't know, but now I want to know when." Clarke stated. "We know she was able to take off and fly pretty far since we didn't hear or see a crash. Does anyone live close enough to hear or see the planes take off?" She looked around.

"Not really. This place was already here. The buildings nearest it were struck down with the bombs. We never bothered to rebuild them. These planes somehow managed to survive everything, but I know she was in our house this morning. I woke up early and saw she was still in bed."

"Great. So, we still have no way of knowing where she went or why she left."

"We don't even know for sure it was her. She was in bed this morning. I'm going to drive home and check on her. Then, we can figure out who really took the plane."

York ran toward the car while Warner and Clarke stood next to the two small planes.
"What do you think?" Clarke asked him.

"There's no chance it's anyone else. Brooklyn's the only one who'd be able to get that plane off the ground and even then, it would be difficult. The plane is difficult to get off the ground. She'd need someone to sit in the co-pilot seat just to help her pull up and maybe even keep it steady."

"So, it's not just her up there?"

"No way."

"York! Wait up! I'm coming with you!" Clarke yelled after him. "Warner, go ahead with the first plane. Get the ones that can fit here. Make a second trip if you need too and make sure Abby is on the first flight." She ran off after York. Her guards followed. Warner hopped into the plane and started the engine.

"It's not her, Clarke." York told her as they drove off. "First, she wouldn't have just stolen a plane. She knows that's our lifeline if there's an emergency and second, she would have told me if something was going on and she needed it. She knows I know how to fly the thing."

"York, I don't know much about your cousin so I'm trying to reserve my opinion on what's going on until I know for sure what's really going on."

He chuckled lightly.

"Well, I guess that's a good approach."

A few minutes later, they arrived at York's house. He turned the car off and ran inside. Clarke didn't bother to follow. She was pretty sure Warner was right and when York exited with a look on his face, she knew it.

"Nothing?"

"No, but there are other places she could be. I'm going to go to the city center. She might be there. A few of the representatives were going to try to meet today."

"York…" Clarke didn't want to have to finish that sentence.

"It doesn't make any sense. Why would she steal a plane? Why wouldn't she ask me for flying lessons? I would have given them to her."

"I'll go find the others. We'll figure this out." She paused. "York, I hate to ask you this, but are you okay to fly?"

"Clarke, I can't-"

"There's nothing you can do until she comes back… if she comes back."

He had a new expression his face.

"The radio!" He exclaimed. "You go get the radio and turn it to the frequency we used when we were in the air last time. Try to get her on the radio. I'll get up in the air and try to do the same. If you're too far away, maybe I can pick her up." He started rushing toward the car.

"I'll have someone on the radio." Clarke told him.

"I'll call Warner when I get up, have him do the same."

"Okay."

He sped off, leaving Clarke and the guards behind. She walked quickly to Raven's house with them in tow to get her back on the radio to try to see if she could get in contact with Brooklyn. She then went to find Lexa to break the news of the plane disappearance, but when she arrived home, Lexa wasn't there. She walked back to the other houses to find her with the group, but she wasn't there either.

"Where's Lexa?" She asked Indra.

"She's outside." Indra replied. "She asked for a moment alone."

Clarke walked into the backyard expecting to see Lexa there, but she wasn't. She walked around to the side of the house, but nothing. She went back inside.

"She's not out there." Clarke reported.

Indra and Kane both snapped to attention in the kitchen. Indra immediately went to the back door.

"Hos op!" Hurry up. She ordered Clarke's guards to follow and they did.

"How long ago did she go outside?" Clarke asked Kane.

"She just got back from wrapping up a few interrogations of some of the people suspected of working with Carolina. She just said she wanted a moment and walked outside. Indra offered to follow, but she said she'd only be gone a minute."

Just then, Bellamy, Octavia and Lincoln ran into the house with three grounders.

"Clarke, something's happened." Bellamy informed.

"Lexa?" She worried.

"We ran over here as quick as we could. A plane landed a few miles away from the city."

"What?" Clarke asked. "How long ago?"

"Probably 30 minutes ago. We ran as fast as we could. We couldn't find anyone with a car and the cars we found didn't have gas." Octavia helped Bellamy who was short on breath.
"It was larger than the others." Lincoln added, less out of breath than the other two.

"Brooklyn!" Clarke started moving toward the front door to leave with the others until she remembered Lexa was missing. "Lexa's gone."

"What?" Bellamy asked.

Indra ran back inside.

"The Commander is not outside. I've sent your guards on the search. She saw the three other grounders. Masta ai op!" Follow me! "We must find Heda." She shouted and the three grounders followed her outside. Clarke turned to follow them.

"Clarke? What about the plane?" Octavia questioned.

Clarke stood between the grounders heading outside to look for Lexa and her friends on the other side who needed her to find out about the plane that had just landed. She had a moment where she had no idea what she should do. It was then that she thought about what Lexa would have done in the situation. At the mountain, she chose her people over her feelings for Clarke and Clarke had hated her for that. She knew Lexa would tell her to do the same and find the reason for the plane and leave finding her to Indra and the grounders, but something was telling her that she could trust Bellamy and the others. Something told her that she needed to find Lexa.

"You go!" She ordered. "The car in the driveway has gas. York told me yesterday. I don't know how much, but it should be enough. Drive for as far as you can and as fast as you can. Find the plane. See what's going on and take the hand held." She reached over to the counter and picked up one of their hand held radios. She snapped the other one to her belt. "Report back what you find."

"You're not coming?" He questioned.

"Lexa's missing."

"One problem, guys." Octavia shared. "None of us actually know how to drive."

"We'll learn fast." Bellamy stated with confidence. "We'll check in. You do the same… about Lexa."

Clarke must have had concern written all over her face. It was Lincoln that reached for her arm.

"We will find the Commander. Until then, she can take care of herself." He consoled. Clarke nodded and started out the back door to follow the others. Kane followed her out.

"Clarke?"

"What?" She asked in an obvious hurry.

"What should I do?" He questioned looking more lost than she'd ever seen him look.

"Go with the others." She ordered. He nodded obediently and ran back into the house.

She ran after Indra and the others as they moved deftly through the woods. She wished she had years of experience doing that, but on the ark, there was very little running. Her head was on a swivel and she'd stop every now and then to turn around and around and look to see if Lexa was nearby. She lost track of the others, which didn't concern her. They needed to spread out to be effective in their search. She ended up on another house-lined street. There was no sign of her. Clarke knew in her gut something was going on. Lexa wouldn't just wander off without telling people. She was used to having guards around her constantly. She was rarely alone.

Clarke didn't know what to do though. Normally, she'd look to Lexa for advice. She'd look to anyone at this point, but she was alone on the street. She had no choice but to return to the house and try to reconvene. She ran as fast as she could and got back to the kitchen in time to hear Indra barking out more orders to even more grounders she'd apparently picked up while out on the search.

"Clarke, we will find the Commander." Indra assured her when she saw the expression on her face and recognized the shortness of her breath. "I have my men searching in all directions. They will gather our forces and locate her."

"Has she ever done this before?" Clarke asked thinking maybe Lexa used to do this before they met and she just didn't know.

"No, the Commander does not go off unattended. She should be with a guard-" She stopped. "Sometimes, just you these days." She finished.

"What should I do?" Clarke asked her, feeling completely helpless. Indra looked confused for a moment. "Indra, I am asking for your help." She explained.

Indra looked both concerned for her Commander and still slightly confused. Clarke had never really asked her for help before.

"Stay here. If the Commander returns, use that." She pointed to a spare radio sitting on the table. "We will come back." With that, she was running out the door.

"Ind-" Clarke started, but the woman was gone. "I can't just stay here." She said to herself. She took the radio, but walked out the front door and again found herself spinning her head around to locate Lexa. She somehow hoped she'd magically just appear in front of her and everything would be okay, but she knew that wasn't going to happen. She spotted a car in a nearby driveway and ran to it. York told her that the keys to spare cars were always just on the front seat and the cars were left unlocked. She climbed inside an old red model that smelled of must and leather and took the keys and inserted them in the ignition as she'd seen York do so many times. She turned them and the car sputtered slightly and then died. "Come on!" She yelled and pounded on the steering wheel." She turned the key again and there was more sputtering, but this time it was slightly more promising. One more turn and the car finally roared to life. "Thank you!" She looked at the gauges to see that the gas tank was almost on empty, but she figured it was better than nothing. "Okay, here goes nothing." She shifted the car into the gear she'd seen York use. It was labeled R and when she started to roll slowly backwards, she started to gain confidence in her driving ability. She'd played around with video games on the ark. Some of them involved cars racing so while she was a novice to the actual automobile, she understood enough of the basics to get going. She switched it into drive and floored it down the deserted street. She turned and turned and turned until she finally arrived at her destination. It was the city center where the government buildings lay unoccupied save the few guards she'd put on them and the people held inside still either because they were guilty of the conspiracy or because they hadn't entirely been cleared yet.

She saw York's car in front of one of the buildings she'd yet to enter. The sign outside read Representative Hall. Undoubtedly York went inside to try to find Brooklyn even though it was more than likely she was the one that landed that plane a few miles away from the town. Clarke ran toward the door of the building and reached behind her back for her gun. It was then that she remembered she'd left it on the table in the kitchen. She didn't take it to the airfield because she figured she'd be returning home right away. She didn't grab it in her haste to find Lexa. When she was about 15 feet from the wide, double glass doors, she stopped. Inside were 4 guards. She moved to the side of the doors so they wouldn't see here and then took a quick glance in. She didn't recognize them from the initial group who came to the city. "Ice Nation." She muttered to herself. She recognized the men. They weren't in the initial group of 20 that came from the Ice Nation. They must have arrived on the plane, but why? Clarke didn't know what to do. She didn't have a weapon and it wasn't like she could just kill them without understanding their story. She looked around and spotted York's car. He'd probably left it unlocked and she knew he had a stash of weapons in the trunk. She moved stealthily toward it and quietly opened the door to reach for the trunk latch. Inside the trunk she found, two knives, which she took and one pistol that held six rounds. She looked to see that it was loaded and left the trunk open so the sound wouldn't alert the guards. She walked back toward the building and considered her options. She wasn't even sure Lexa was inside and she was one against these four. It was likely there were even more inside. She stared down at the gun in her hand and looked back inside one more time before reaching for the radio at her hip. She walked around the corner of the building, gun held high just to make sure there were no guards watching the perimeter and when she didn't see any, she clicked on the radio.

"Indra?" She asked. "Raven? Anyone?" There was static for a few moments.

"Clarke?"

"Octavia?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Lexa is missing."

"What?" Octavia questioned.

"Clarke, where are you?" It was Indra interjecting.

"Indra, I need you to get to the city center. Octavia, did you find anything at the plane?"

"It's deserted." Octavia filled in. "Bellamy is searching it now just in case there's something we missed."

"Get to the city center." She ordered. "Indra, bring everyone you can. The Ice Nation is here."

"What do you mean?" Indra asked.

"I think that plane was full of them." She explained. "I think that Ice Queen is planning a coo."