WILD HEART • COMMANDER LEXA [1]

ii. DISCORDANCE

Erica was sitting on the top bunk above where when she heard a chorus of cheers from around her.

She straightened, her eyes flitting around the room in search of the commotion's source. When she saw him, she gasped.

Erica jumped off of her bunk and bounded forward, throwing her arms around Nathan Miller like she thought she'd never see him again. She supposed she had thought she'd never see him again.

"Oh my gosh," she was breathless, her hair flying as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. He smelled of lavender soap and had not a spot of dirt on him.

"Hey, Pretty Lady." He squeezed her tightly, a gentle hand cradling the back of he head. Miller leaned a few inches forward, returning Erica to the place he'd lifted her from. Her boots thudded against the cool metal floor.

His eyes fell shut, savoring the familiar feeling of an old friend's hug.

When they'd landed on the ground, it hadn't taken long for Bellamy Blake to take control of the camp. Miller, loyal at his side, had been ordered to keep watch of Erica, who at the time, had a habit of wandering into the woods.

They had quickly fallen into friendship.

The excitement dissipated, and Miller docked himself at the bunk beneath Erica's, conditioned to keep a close eye on her after all these months.

They whispered in hushed tones, their words muffled beneath the chatters and movements of the others. Each scrape of a bunkbed made Erica's shoulders shoot to her ears. She couldn't help herself but to say, "Be careful," when she saw Harper and Fox playing about in the corner.

Sensing her anxiety, Miller reached forward to still her bouncing knee. He, too, was feeling nervous in a new place. "Talk to me," he said.

Erica sighed, delicate fingers toying with the end of her braid. After everything they'd been through, they were finally in a stable place. Would displacing the 48 that she knew were safe and sound be worth searching for the others, who could be dead? Would it be worth finding Bellamy? To her, yes. Absolutely.

"I don't know where we go from here," Erica confessed, the words quiet from her lips. "We're safe. Everyone is clothed and fed," She gestured to the others, who lounged in their bunks, their shoulders relaxed and faces stretched in smiles. "But we have people on the outside still. They deserve to be taken care of too."

Miller followed his gaze, his brows raising as he inhaled then sighed. Every answer felt right. Every answer felt wrong. Nevertheless, Miller agreed. They owed it to the others to go looking for them, even if it meant having to leave the comforts of Mount Weather.
"We'll figure it out, together."

Erica took a deep breath. She could only imagine what had happened to the others. Were they together? Had they scattered after the explosion? Her stomach turned at the thought of Bellamy, of Finn, of Raven, all alone in the open forest.
"I just want them to be okay."

Despite his own reservations, Miller was determined to assure her. They wouldn't get anywhere with Erica so out of sorts. "They will be. We've survived everything up until this moment, we can survive a lot more."

After several moments of silence, the boy spoke again, a veiled attempt at a distraction. "He still cares about you, you know." Miller blurted out, changing the subject entirely. A small smile came to Erica's lips and she looked up at him from where she'd been sketching a flower on the notebook Wallace had given her. She knew exactly who Miller was referring to, but she didn't really want to have this conversation with him. "I know. I still care about him too. I always will." She replied absentmindedly, smudging a few of the lines on her paper with her finger to soften them.