Chapter 30:

It took some searching in the supply closet, but Clarke finally found what she was looking for. It had a countdown that was already running, but she couldn't tell what kind of bomb it was and she had no idea how to diffuse it. She had to risk it. She turned the radio back on.

"Raven?" She spoke into it.
"I'm here." The reply came in after a few moments of static.

"Where are you? I've got something I need you to look at."

"I'm in the car. They just picked me up. On my way."

"How long?" She asked into the radio. "The clock's running on this thing. We've only got 10 minutes."

"I'm 5 minutes out." Raven shared. "Tell me what you're looking at."

"It looks like a bomb, but I'm not sure it is. I don't see any explosives. It's just a box with a lot of wires running in and out and the timer."

"Get out of there, Clarke."

"I can't. Not everyone's out of the hospital yet."

"So? Go help them get people out. I can try to disarm it when I get there, but with less than 5 minutes, it might not be possible. Just get everyone as far away as you can."

"What's going on out there?" Clarke changed the subject while she continued to stare at the device trying to figure the thing out.

"Indra found a bomb. Wick was able to disarm it, but then Lexa found another one. He's working on that one now, but Clarke… he's only one person. If they have more…"

"When were they set to go off?"

"They weren't. There was no timer. That means someone's going to set them off remotely."

"How would they do that?"

"Trigger. They'd have to be within a few hundred feet though."

"Brooklyn."

"You think it's her? What about York?"

"Trust me. It's her."

"Just get everyone out. There's nothing you can do. I'm on my way."

Clarke knew Raven was right. She could stare at the box for years and never know which wire to cut or pull. She was more useful downstairs. She stood and made her way out of the closet.

"You should have killed me, Clarke. You know that! I would have killed you if the positions were reversed. That was the smart move." York was sitting on the floor against the walls with his hands tied behind his back, his legs crossed and a bullet wound in his shoulder.

"Probably." Clarke leaned down in front of him. "But you pointed out earlier… I'm not like you, York."

"You won't win, Clarke." He told her.

"Maybe not." She stated and then smacked him in the head with the butt of the gun, his head dropped and he was unconscious. "But we'll survive. We always do."

She ran down the stairs toward the patients to help move them.

"It's an EMP." Raven stated as she and Clarke stared down at it. The clock was ticking down from 4:32. "They're going to fry the electronics in this place."

"What?" Clarke asked her as she kneeled next to her.

"Electro-magnetic pulse. It'll take out anything with electronics in…" she lifted the box, looked around and set it back down. "…probably the whole freaking city."

"That's what he meant when he said some would die today, but the rest of them wouldn't last much longer."

"This thing has got some serious power." Raven admired.

"Can you disarm it?"

"Give me a couple of minutes." She started working. "The good news is that it's not a real bomb. It won't explode. It will just shut everything down."

"But you're going to stop it, right?"

"Please, who you talking too?" Raven smiled at her and continued her work. "You should have killed that prick." She looked over at York. He was still unconscious, but Clarke had dragged him into the closet with them so she could keep an eye on him. He was tied to a shelf that was bolted to the floor.

"Maybe, but I couldn't go back there again."

"Back where?" Raven asked her and then cracked the box open. "Oh this is so cool. They've got this thing wired up." She sounded excited.

"Raven!"

"Sorry, gotta admire the craftsmanship." She moved her nimble fingers around wires and grabbed some small wire cutters. "This one and this one are connected to the power source. This one is connected to the detonator." She pulled that wire. "There." She flipped the box over and the timer had stopped at 2:13.

"There?"

"It's disarmed. This thing is cool though. I'm gonna take it with me if you're cool with that."

"I guess."

"Ask him where he got it when he wakes up. There might be more. We should pick em up and lock em away in case anyone else gets ideas."

"I doubt he'll just share that information. I don't even know if this is the only one he set. He could have been at this all day."

"That would be redundant. This thing would have done the job." Raven supplied.

"They wanted to blow up the executions and kill as many as they could." Clarke stated.

"And the rest could die without the electricity and heat when winter comes." Raven finished. "It's pretty smart. Evil, but smart."

"I can't just sit here. I thought I could, but I can't sit this one out. I should be there." Clarke stood behind Raven.

"You can come back with me. I should go now that this thing is harmless. Help Wick."

"Let's go." Clarke tucked the gun behind her back. "I'll deal with Lexa's wrath after this whole thing is finally over."

"Wrath?"

"Long story."

Clarke told her mother it was safe to move everyone back into the hospital and added a few grounders to York's guard up stairs. They sustained only minor injuries in the battle and were itching to return to work. Clarke figured standing them outside the closet York was locked in would help them feel useful and keep York in one place until they could track down Brooklyn.

"Clarke!" It was Bellamy's voice from the radio. Raven and Clarke had just made it to a car and we're getting ready to leave.

"Bell? What happened?" Clarke asked into the radio.

"One went off." Bellamy replied. He sounded winded.

Clarke's eyes widened. Raven was standing on the other side of the car. Her eyes were equally wide. Clarke knew she was worried about Wick just as she was worried about Lexa.

"Where?" Clarke asked, her heart pumping out of her chest.

"The market. They got the supplies." He replied.

"How many people?" Clarke followed.

"At least 20." His breathing was fast. "Lincoln was there with Octavia."

"Bell-"

"He's out cold. The blast knocked him back, but he's alive. Octavia took shrapnel in the side and her leg. She's bleeding pretty bad, Clarke. I don't know what-"

"I'm at the hospital, Bell. I'll grab someone and bring them to help." Clarke answered.

"I'm on it." Raven started to run back inside, but stopped and turned. "Clarke..."

"I got it. Bell, what about Wick?"

"He's fine. He wasn't here. He's back working on a fourth bomb he found."

Clarke watched Raven breathe a sigh of relief and then she turned and ran into the hospital. A few seconds later, she emerged with one of Abby's assistants who had his bag over his shoulder. The three of them drove as fast as they could toward the market and climbed out of the car. The assistant went to work as Bellamy held onto Octavia's hand. She was conscious, but barely. Clarke held onto her other hand for a moment until the assistant asked her to help stop the bleeding. The two of them worked on Octavia for several minutes until she was more or less stable and he moved onto the next patient. Clarke stood and looked around. The market was only slightly damaged. It appeared the bomb had been placed near the door to get whoever happened to walk through it.

She saw several mangled bodies sprawled out in front of the door. Part of the building was still on fire. The injured victims were trying to help one another. Clarke admired a grounder girl helping a man from the ark before turning to check on Bellamy, who had stood to walk toward her.

"We lost Winston." He shared. Winston had been a guard on the ark that Bellamy had liked before they'd been hurled toward Earth on the ship. "He was walking in to check it out and the bomb just went off. Everyone in that first group was taken out. Octavia and Lincoln were in the back. They were lucky."

"Why were you here, Bell. I thought you were staying over there?" She asked him.
"I wasn't here when it happened. I found the third bomb with Wick, but when I heard what happened, I got here as fast as I could. I know I should have stayed to help, but I had to check on Octavia."

"Hey, it's okay. I understand." She told him and brushed her hand along his arm in an act of comfort. "Help here. Load as many of the injured as you can into that truck. Does it run?" She asked him and pointed toward a pick-up truck off to the side of the building.

"I don't know. I'll check."

"Take them to the hospital."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Brooklyn." She stated. "She set this off with a remote detonator. That means she was nearby and watched our people walk inside. She set it off to kill as many people as possible. Now that she's done here, she'll go over there and set off the rest of the ones we haven't found yet." She started walking toward the car she'd arrived in. "I have to stop her."