Chapter Text
41 days after Praimfaya:
Charlotte was walking around Becca's lab she was getting bored staying down there. They had nothing to do. Clarke was looking for food in the lab somewhere she wasn't really paying attention when she told her what she was doing.
"hey, Clarke,?" Charlotte called as she stopped walking and began to pace back and forth.
"yes, Charlotte, what is it?" Clarke yelled back.
"Do you think they will come back for us?" Charlotte asked sadly. she had been thinking about all the what if's. This was her new family and she couldn't bear with the thought of losing them. Tears slowly made there way down Charlotte's face as she thought of all the possible horrible outcomes. She tried to wipe them away quickly, as she saw Clarke making her way back into the room.
"Charlotte, of course they will come back but it will take a little while because Earth will not be survivable for the next 5 years," Clarke said, as she pulled Charlotte into a comforting hug.
"I know that, but what if something happens to you while we are down here? and then i'm all alone." Charlotte responded as more tears made there way down her face.
"Charlotte, i'm not going anywhere any time soon, why don't you try and get some rest?" Clarke said as she led Charlotte to there sleeping area. Ever since Charlotte's attempted suicide, she had stayed by Clarke at all times that she could. Clarke didn't mind though, she loved the younger girls company. Clarke had become sort of a mother to Charlotte and the girl trusted her so much.
"I don't want to sleep Clarke," Charlotte responded slightly scared. Her nightmares had only gotten worse after everything that had happened to them, especially after Mount Weather, but who could blame her. Charlotte sighed before she laid down on the make shift bed, wincing as she did. She still had healing burns from the radiation on her arm and ribs.
"Charlotte, I will always be here for you no matter what." Clarke said while rubbing Charlotte's back. Charlotte slowly drifted off to sleep after awhile. Clarke followed suit not long after.
Clarke pushed the last piece of rubble out of the way with one final push. She was greeted immediately by blinding light and a vast sand that once used to be a ocean. Clarke slung her bag over her shoulder and helped Charlotte out of the lab remains. They set out towards where "rover 1" was last.
"Clarke isn't this where the rover should be?" Charlotte asked as they stopped for a minute to rest.
"actually, I think your right" Clarke said to her as she started to dig. She stopped at the shovel hitting something, as she used her hands to dig she found the gun of the rover.
"here it is" Clarke said. They spent most of the rest of the day digging out the rover and surprisingly it still worked. They also tried to get into the bunker but Polis tower had collapsed on it. A sand storm hit, while they were in a forest like area and destroyed the solar panels on the sides of the rover.
58 days since Praimfaya:
They were walking through the dead zone before they passed out from heat exhaustion and dehydration. Clarke was the first to wake up to a vulture chewing on the sleeve of her shirt. she screamed and the vulture flew away.
"wait, show me where you live." Clarke called to the bird. She climbed the sand dune and when she finally reached the top all she saw was just sand nothing else but a vast area of dead zone. She took a wrong step and tumbled down the hill. She landed a little ways away from Charlotte who was still passed out. She felt the sadness and rage bubbling inside her in that moment. "I've lost everything. i lost my friends. my father. my mother. I've got nothing left" Clarke screamed. 'What is the point of doing this anymore? why me?' she thought, as she put the pistol to her temple. She then remembered it she can't give up she has to keep fighting for Charlotte and the others. The vulture screeched above her, drawing her from her thoughts. She tried her luck once more and followed the bird up another hill. She was meet with a large area of green.
"thank you" she whispered, as she shot the bird. She slid down the hill next to Charlotte and shook her trying to get her up.
"Clarke, what happened?" Charlotte asked her voice hoarse from dehydration. She was helped up off the ground by Clarke.
"we passed out from heat exhaustion." she said as Charlotte followed up the hill leading to the valley. Charlotte was shocked that a part of Earth survived Praimfaya. They were making there way through the valley when the came across a village.
After eating the bird, Charlotte and Clarke wandered through the forest and only stopped when they stumbled upon a grounder village."Louwoda Kliron Kru" Clarke mumbled as she touched the sign with the clan's marking on it.
"Stay here while I check this place out." Clarke told Charlotte who looked like she was going to protest, when she decided it was no use she just sighed. She made there way over to what looked to be a mess hall or hangout area. There was a little boy on the porch with his back against the wall, he looked asleep, his face was horribly burned. Clarke then realized that the fire may have missed the valley but the radiation didn't. As she opened the doors to the mess hall she was meet with the putrid smell of burning, rotting human flesh. There we at least fifty or more bodies from young to old huddled together. It's almost as if time had stopped for all of them. "She shouldn't come anywhere near the mess hall, I don't want her nightmares to get worse," Clarke mumbled to herself, as she looked around the room. She was interrupted by a frightened yell from Charlotte. Clarke rushed outside to see Charlotte breathing heavily, with tears running down her face. Clarke knew what was happening with Charlotte immediately, she was having a panic attack.
"Shit" Clarke mumbled as she ran to Charlotte and pulled her away from the mess hall and a little ways into the forest. When she thought they were far enough, she turned around and embraced Charlotte in a hug, whispering comforting words to the frightened girl. Charlotte was breathing so heavily and looked so pale that Clarke thought she was going to pass out or make herself sick. Clarke slowly brought them to sit down on the ground still trying to comforting Charlotte as best as she could.
"Charlotte, I need you to look at me, follow and listen to my breathing." Clarke said as she rubbed circles on Charlotte's back trying to calm her down. Charlotte laid her head on Clarke's shoulder and tried to focus on her breathing. She felt a wave of nausea rush over her as an image of the little boy on the porch popped into her mind. She closed her eyes and let out a small cry, trying to push the thought away. Charlotte could feel her stomach twisting and turning as she remembered the horrible smell of the burnt rotting flesh. Charlotte gagged as the smell came back to her, she felt like she was going to be sick.
"Are you okay?" Clarke asked concerned as she noticed Charlotte put her arm across her stomach. She was worried for the girl her breathing was irregular, she was pale and looked slightly green. Charlotte didn't respond she just lifted her head from Clarke's shoulder, leaned forward and rested her other hand on her knee.
"Clarke, I think... I think... I'm gonna be sick." Charlotte said. As soon as Clarke heard those words she quickly moved the hair out of Charlotte's face and continued to rub circles on Charlotte's back. Charlotte leaned forward and heaved. When she was done expelling the contents of her stomaching she leaned back against Clarke and struggled to catch her breath as fresh tears streamed down her face.
"Clarke, I don't feel well," Charlotte whined as Clarke wiped the tears from her cheeks. Clarke laughed a little at that statement, because it was quite obvious she was sick with the fact that she was sweating as well as shivering not to mention the vomiting. Charlotte leaned head on Clarke's shoulder again while Clarke felt her forehead, she was a little warm.
"You have a fever Charlotte. why don't you rest? and I will clean this place up." Clarke stated. Clarke made do with what she had, which wasn't much, and begin to make a tent like structure with the sticks around and used a tarp she found in the village. Once she was done she got Charlotte in and covered her with one of the blankets she had in her bag, from the lab. She covered her mouth and began to make funeral pries for the bodies in the mess hall. She sent everyone off with "yu gonplei ste odon" (your fight is over). and then set fire to them. Clarke stood there until the pries burnt down into nothing but ash. She then made her way over to the tent were Charlotte was still sleeping. She grabbed the second blanket she had and laid down next to Charlotte, soon after sleep consumed her.
It was the afternoon of the next day, the sky was clear not a cloud in sight, the sun was shining down on the village as bright as ever. Charlotte was off in the woods getting more berries and Clarke was doing her daily radio calls to The Bunker and The Ring trying to see if she could get anyone to respond. She still tried even though no matter how many time she did no one ever responded.
"wait till you see this place. It's like the death wave jumped over the entire valley. Unfortunately, the radiation didn't. I've lost track of how many bodies we've burned since reaching the ground. God, this would be so much easier if we knew you were all alive if we knew we were going to see you guys again. Positive thoughts, Clarke. It's been 59 days. By now, Monty should have the algae farm producing. How bad does it suck? No offence, Monty. And we found berries. A whole field of them. They're not very sweet, but they're beautiful. I think that's what they used to make the paint for the..." Clarke cuts herself off, when she spots a girl in the grass. The girl was wearing grounder clothing and her hair was wild. Her face was covered in dirt, she looked no older than six or seven.
"wait. it's okay" Clarke tells the girl. The mysterious girl takes off running and Clarke follows after her.
"please, i just want to talk to you" Clarke calls out into the surrounding forest. she stops when she sees the girl hiding in near a tree.
"hey, it's okay... i'm not gonna hurt you." she call softly to the girl. Who looks a little terrified. She once again doesn't respond and takes of running again.
Clarke comes to a small clearing and the young child just stands there staring at her. "yu laik natblida, sha? (you are a nightblood, yes?). She advances a few steps, when all of a sudden a sharp pain travels up her leg and she yells, when she looks down she sees a bear trap clamped down on her leg. The young child runs at her a knife in her hand and tries stabbing Clarke.
"Die fleimkeeper." The little girl yells while attacking. She manages to cut Clarke's arm with the blade. When she sees the blood isn't red but black she takes a step back.
"natblida" the girl mummers before taking off again.
When Clarke finally makes her way back to the village she doesn't see Charlotte at all. 'she must still be collecting berries,' Clarke thinks to herself. She makes her way to the house that they moved into yesterday. As soon as she sees her bag she hops up onto the counter. With shaky hands Clarke manages to stitch up the wounds that were gushing blood from the bear trap. She wakes up to a voice calling her name but she doesn't remember passing out or anything.
"Clarke! What happened to you?" Charlotte asks bewildered as she looks at the stitches on Clarke's leg.
"i got lead into a bear trap by another nightblood child" Clarke responds and goes to grab her bag in front of her except its not there. She looks to the right and see the little girl staring at her and Charlotte through the window. She quickly scrambles to grab her gun when she realizes that's gone to. Instead she slides off the counter and motions for Charlotte to do so as well. She searches the cabinets behind her looking for something to use as a weapon but she finds a wrench. 'i guess this will have to do' she thinks. Night soon fades to day as Clarke stays up all night looking around to make sure she and Charlotte are safe.
"hey, Charlotte lets go to the pond that we saw on the way here." Clarke says as she gets a stick to help her walk.
"okay" Charlotte responded following Clarke in the direction of the pond.
When they arrive they see the child stab a fish with a spear. "can you teach us how to do that" Clarke calls to the little girl, who scowls at her and runs into the forest. "wait. please." Clarke calls to the girl again. Clarke slowly lowers herself onto a rock rolls up her pant leg.
"Great the last three people on Earth and one of them happens to be the child from hell." Clarke mumbles as she slowly lowers her injured leg into the water to clean it and stop it from getting infected, wincing at the pain it caused. After cleaning out the wound she and Charlotte sit up against a large rock. As Clarke draws the little girl with the wild hair, Charlotte looks around at the view. Clarke hears the faint sound of leaves moving and turns her head, she doesn't see anything but she knows the child is watching them.
"Lets go back to the village, Charlotte" Clarke says while getting up and placing the drawing on the ground and a rock on top of it, to keep it from moving. As they leave the little girl slowly makes her way over to the drawing when she picks it up she smiles at it. 'maybe these people aren't so bad she thinks.