AN: Firstly I'd like to say a huge thank you for the show of support for this story. When I checked my emails at 4am (yes, I wake up and check them), and saw the two reviews and all the people who favourites/follows, I had to finish the first chapter. This story probably won't be a huge one unless I can think of a further story line, a danger that can carry it on. Any ideas would be appreciated Also I'd like to apologise if some of the medical facts are incorrect. I don't work in the medical field nor do I know anything about radiation and the effects on the human body apart from what's depicted in the show. Please bear with me and thank you for reading :)

A New World

Chapter One

Clarke's eyes fluttered open as she came to, an instant look of confusion on her face. She sat up slowly, her eyes taking in the lab in which she'd past out in as it all came flooding back to her. The satellite, her friends, Praimfaya. Although with the recollection of her memories, she was still in a state of disorientation. She should be dead. Praimfaya should have killed her. She still felt the pain all over her body from the exposure to radiation and as she looked down, her skin was still red raw, blistering and with the taste of blood on her lips.

Clarke cried out in agonising pain as she struggled to stand, trying not to panic as she attempted to move to a more comfortable location to recover. She'd be okay, just like Luna had been. It would take a few days but she would live. At least that's what she told herself.

Over the next few days Clarke could do little more than lift a hand to wipe away the blood from her mouth. She had little energy to think about the fate of her people, her friends as she slipped in and out of a state of consciousness. While awake on the second day, she had a brief thought of what-if. What if her friends hadn't made it to the Ark? What if her manually switching on the Ark's power hadn't been successful? She slowly began to slip into unconsciousness once more, unable to continue worrying as the pain became too much.

After a few days of suffering had passed, Clarke could feel her skin becoming clearer and her insides not feeling as though they were on fire. Luna had been the same. She had suffered for days and then quite suddenly, over the course of only an hour, she'd been almost one hundred percent better. With this knowledge, and finally not writhing in pain, she slowly sat up from the make shift cot and reached for the walkie talkie.

"Hello?" She rasped, her voice still hoarse from her ordeal. Static filled the air as silence rang out in the empty lab. "Can anyone hear me?"

She shouldn't have been disappointment. Praimfaya would have knocked out any communication towers to the underground bunker. Clarke slid the device into her pocket and slowly began to make her way to the door. She took a deep breath and, with her hand shakily on the handle, pushed it open in one swing, bracing for the impact.

But there wasn't any.

Everything was gone. Well, not gone but rather, everything was flattened. Stumps stood where trees had been just days ago. Snow, which had covered the ground had appeared to have blown away with the radiation wave. And the silence, the silence was what struck Clarke the most.

Clarke took a small step outside the door, her eyes widened in amazement and wonder. She did it. She'd survived Praimfaya. The Nightblood that ran through her veins had saved her once again. But she was on her own. There were the people in the underground bunker, her mother, Kane. And all the others. But she hadn't had the chance to say goodbye and that alone was what hurt the most.

Shaking off her sudden panic of being alone, Clarke began to prioritise what needed to be done first. She would need clean drinking water and luckily for her the lab held about 4 months' worth if she rationed it. Next she would need food and medical supplies. There was some, leftovers that her friends weren't able to take to space to which she could live off. What she would do after that ran out, she didn't know.

Once she'd set up the basics of her new home, Clarke set about trying to make contact with the bunker despite knowing what the outcome would be. She needed to feel like she wasn't completely alone. And so, every day, right on sunrise, she attempted to make contact. But every day was the same result. Once she'd tried the bunker, she went through the same process in trying to contact her friends on the Ark. "Raven? Bellemy? Can you hear me?" Static filled the air just as it had upon her first attempt of contact, just as it had the day she'd woken up. Clarke let out a disappointed sigh as she pocketed the walkie talkie once more.

Days, weeks and months passed, and as Clarke's supplies began to dwindle, her need to find more supplies grew increasingly desperate. Packing what she could into a pack, Clarke set out further every day, trying to salvage what she could. As hunting and killing prey was no longer an option for food, it made foraging even harder. Before long, she'd explored every inch of Allie's island and knew she'd have to venture out further if she was going to survive.

Clarke packed the last of her things, which wasn't much, and came upon her final belonging, a picture of Lexa. She remembered that day clearly. Lexa had asked to see Clarke to discuss their next move with the Coalition. But before long Lexa had given in to sleep, not having slept the last few nights due to nightmares. Clarke couldn't help herself. She'd wanted to be reminded of the Commander who was asleep in front of her. The vulnerable and breath-takingly beautiful woman. Not the strong, compassionate but also very ruthless leader of the Grounders that everyone else saw. Her eyes began to well with tears, but she quickly wiped them away. Lexa was gone and she wasn't coming back. But she still had hope they would meet again. She folded the picture back up with care before slipping it inside her shirt, near her heart where knew the woman she'd loved would always be. She took a deep breath and headed out the door one final time, towards the dock where a boat she'd spent months fixing was finally operational.

Clarke climbed aboard and untied it from the dock before pulling the cord for the motor, the boat starting within a few tries. She began to steer the boat away from land and on into the unknown, her heart beating rapidly with excitement and fear.

After days of travel and then, inevitably days of paddling as the fuel ran out, Clarke finally reached the shore. She gathered her bearings with an old map and began the long tiring walk towards her destination. After weeks of travelling by foot, the mountains in which she knew would be Mount Weather finally came into a view in the distance. With a sigh of relief and a smile on her face, Clarke knew she was finally home.

AN:- I apologise that I don't know anything about radiation apart from what's depicted in the show. I'm simply going off the after radiation shots/scenes and my version as to what it would have looked like after it. Just a disclaimer, this story was never meant to be action packed. Only a simple story of my take on what Clarke did after surviving Praimfaya and how she found Madi as previously mentioned.

Also, a special shout out to the two people that reviewed. You guys are the reason why I got up at 4am and continued to write. Unfortunately I was busy yesterday so this chapter wasn't posted as early as I would have liked. Thanks again guys :) Keep reviewing and let me know what you think.