Chapter Text
c h a p t e r o n e
They’d finally done it. Mount Weather had been overrun.
The attack had not been easy. The combined force of the Sky People and the Grounders snuck in through the Reaper Tunnels, the Reapers momentarily distracted by a frequency device (recreated by Raven Reyes, of course.) When they finally reached the door to the Cage Rooms, Mountain Men were at every door, guns at the ready, desperate to protect their people. Gas grenades and shock rods were used on Grounders and Sky People alike. But they rampaged through these throes of soldiers unmercifully.
These Mountain Men had taken their people long ago. There would be no apology.
Finally, the last Mountain Man was defeated, and they reached the solid steel door to the Harvest rooms. Clarke remembers the moment they burst through the entrance of the compound, flooding into the room of cages and hanging chains. Sirens rang through the air, red lights flashing above the doors and all around the chamber. The first to get inside, with Commander Lexa next to her, Clarke the one most familiar with this place. A mixture of scents hit her nose first- antiseptics and blood and death. Voices could be heard amongst the sirens- the moans of the hundreds imprisoned here. She almost gagged, but gathered herself. She would live through this hell for her people. Then they would leave. Every last one of them.
And Lexa’s. The Grounders walking through the door began crying out, recognizing faces and bodies that hadn’t been seen in years. Soon, a din of rattling metal echoed through the rooms as cages were open, as captives were freed. People were helped from their cages, leaning on arms and shoulders with fatigue. Lexa let out a breath, one Clarke was sure she'd been holding for a long time.
“My people are coming home.” She whispered.
Clarke gasped, snapped out of her stupor. The 47 were here. Her eyes scanned the room, falling on a grounder opening one of the cages near the door to the Mount Weather facility. “Lexa, I’ll be back soon, okay? Give me a second.” A boy fell out of the cage, his skin pale and his black hair mussed and limp. His eyes were closed, and his breathing shaky. So dirty and stained in blood, he could’ve been mistaken for any victim of the Harvest. But Clarke knew better.
"Monty!" She shouted, running to her friend's side. His eyelids fluttered weakly, his arm raising to try and grasp Clarke's.
"Clarke?" He rasped, squinting up at her. A small smile tugged at his mouth as he recognized her. "Finally... I knew you'd come. I... I knew it..." Monty began coughing, his hacking loud and congested. He stopped to breathe, unable to speak for too long.
"Okay... Okay, Monty? Stay with me. You're gonna be fine. Where are the others? Jasper? Miller? Where are the 47?"
"Some... Still in the facility... Locked up. When they started taking more of us... Everyone panicked... Half of us are here... Half in there. I don’t know… If anybody’s died… Find them, please..." Monty grasped at the collar of her jacket, his hands finally slipping as he fell unconscious.
"Hey! I need a medic! He's weak. He was probably Harvested. Please." Two people darted to her side, taking Monty by his arms and legs and lifting him, carrying him away from her. The image mirrored that of a body, but Clarke shook the thought away. I’m going to get my people out. Whatever it takes. She stared after him for a moment, worried, before steeling herself. Now they would have to retrieve the rest of her people from the inside. Briefly, she tugged her map from her pocket, glancing over it’s corridors before stuffing it back in her pocket. Going over the route in her head, she stood up, pacing over to Lexa, who was giving orders to one of her soldiers.
“Lexa. I need your help.”
“Clarke? What is it? Is something wrong?” The commander turned, her eyebrows drawing together. Once more she had painted the black, winged design around her eyes, making her stare a piercing one.
“One last time, I need you to rally your warriors. Some of my people are still in Mount Weather. I understand that they already know we’re here, and it’s dangerous, but I need them out now. Otherwise, the people of Mount Weather might kill them. Please. I can’t just let half of my own die in vain.”
Lexa eyed Clarke for a moment, obviously conflicted. She stared out at the masses of people being freed by her warriors and the people of the Ark, and sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. Then, they flashed open, a new flame burning within them.
“Gonakru!” She roared, her voice echoing through the chamber and cutting through the noise. Clarke was startled for a moment before everything died down, heads turning to look at the two of them. Lexa swung her head to look around the room at her army. Her people. Power resonated from her, commanding the attention of everyone. “Gonakru, we have found our people. After years and years of separation, and loss, and blood, our people are returned to us,” Lexa glanced over at Clarke for a moment, before turning to the crowd once more. “With the help of the Sky People, our families will be rebuilt. Trigedakru na liv on!"
A cheer erupted from the warriors, their shouts gathering within the chamber. Some of the Ark members began cheering too, clapping as hard as their hands could. Lexa allowed this for a few seconds, finally raising her hands for silence.
“Now, now we must repay our allies. Half of the missing Sky People are still within the mountain. Skaikru, too, have waited for their people to be free. We will return what has been given! It is our way.” Some of the Sky People murmured excitedly, smiles appearing on their wary faces. Clarke almost grinned herself. We’re getting them out. This is happening. My friends… I’ll be there soon. “I ask you now, warriors, come with me and fight! Fight against the monsters who have plagued your people for years! Fight against those who have spilled our blood! Jus drein jus daun!” At this, the roar began again, now filled with bloodlust and a hunger for revenge. Clarke stared at the door into Mount Weather, a silent foreboding curling within her chest. A chant started up, warriors and teenagers alike screaming in the vault of death, freeing their people from their chained hell. “Jus drein jus daun! Jus drein jus daun!”
I will find you all. I promise. Clarke thought, her hand curling into a fist. For the first time in a long while, she felt anger running in her blood as well. She tried to ignore this feeling, of blood, of death, of war, but it rushed through her like a tide of red.
Blood will have blood.
Then, they burst through the door, ready to face any gunners or warriors or goddamn monsters they had to, roaring and shouting as their feet pounded on linoleum flooring, weapons at the ready-
But the mob slowed, and Clarke stopped. A quiet fell over the front of the group, their once battle-raised arms now hanging at their sides. Lexa looked over the heads of her warriors, shouting. “Clarke? What’s going on up there? Why are we not moving?”
It was a moment before Clarke spoke, as if she’d forgotten how. But she found her voice, turning back slowly to Lexa. Her blue eyes were wide with shock, not sadness, not grief.
“Nobody’s here. All of the scientists… They’re gone.”
“Wait, what?” Lexa’s mouth snapped shut, and she pushed through her crowd of people, reaching the front in a few moments. She stopped too, surveying the scene before her.
Papers were scattered on the white floor, some of their edges singed brown and black from flame. A grey smoke hung in the air like a wispy fog, darkening the once pristine glow of the walls and floors. Clarke moved forward slowly, her steps cautious as she looked into one of the doorways. The computer screens still cast a bluish light on the room, but they were jagged and glitchy, flickering. The keyboards were smashed, the hard-drives destroyed. She held her sleeve up to her nose, coughing. Someone had fried the paper shredder, some of the long strips of paper singed. Clarke suddenly felt very dizzy, and stumbled from the room.
“Someone burnt everything. All of the paper, the information, it's gone. Someone didn’t want us to find the stuff on those computers.” She shook her head, focusing. “It doesn’t matter now. We need to find the 47-”
“Guys!”
Clarke turned at the voice, her eyes widening. Suddenly, she was being squeezed by a hug, and she coughed once more, a smile growing on her face. “Jasper!” The boy pulled back, grinning wildly. His curly hair was clean and washed, and all of the teens wore clothes from Mount Weather, drastically different from the Grounders. The rest of the 47 were here. Clarke’s eyebrows tugged together suddenly. “Wait, how did you guys escape?”
Jasper’s smile slowly faded, replaced with a slight look of confusion. “I… I don’t know. They just let us go. It was almost like they didn’t want us to stay anymore. Maybe they saw you coming. Anyway, they sealed the door behind us. There's no getting inside, for anything.”
Something dropped in Clarke’s stomach. This wasn’t right. None of this is right… Why would they just let them go? This is so out of character for Mount Weather… What are they doing? “You just left? All of you? But Mount Weather wouldn’t just-”
Then, a long, piercing screech blasted through the hallway, and every person immediately covered their ears, some crying out. A deep rumbling began in the floor, and the lights shut off, replaced by red emergency lanterns, pulsating. Clarke opened her eyes slowly, still crouched down on the floor. She stood, looking around in a panic.
What the hell is going on?