WILD HEART • COMMANDER LEXA [1]

iii. HOMECOMING

Erica's pulse hammered as she surveyed Anya's cage, looking for a way to free her former ally. "Clarke," she called, her voice desperate.

This had been worse than anything her mind could have conjured. Hundreds of grounders, shoved into crates, strung from the ceiling to be drained of their blood.

Erica had hoped they'd fine nothing, hoped they could go back to the dorm and tell their friends it was safe to stay.

There was nothing safe about this place.

Clarke finally came, with a large metal tool clutched tightly between fingers. She thrust it downward, only once, but hard enough to break the lock off of Anya's cage.

The grounder fell forward, far too weak to hold herself up. The sight of her like this, a predator turned prey, brought on a terror that gripped Erica by the shoulders. "Come on, come on," she spoke gently, clambering to her feet with Anya's limp body in her arms.

Clarke moved to help, draping one of Anya's arms over her shoulders. She cast a sidelong glance at Erica, who had shared her line of thought.

They had to escape. Now.

The Mountain Men would never risk them telling the others what they'd seen.

Clarke, who had studied the blueprint to rhe mountain upon her arrival, made quick work of guiding the others to what she believed would be tunnels that hadn't made it on the map.

She released a sigh of relief when he belief became truth, and pushed Erica and Anya out the door. Along the way, she found some spare clothes, pulling a shirt over her head as she kept moving. After a few paces, she took Anya from Erica's grip, giving the Parker girl a chance to dress herself as well.

Anya became stronger by the second, revitalized by the possibility of escape. She said no words, only groaned as she found her footing and followed Clarke through the tunnels. Erica, just a step behind her, held out a cautious hand in case she fell.

"Damn it!" Clarke breathed. They'd taken the same turn twice now and wound up in the same spot. "This place is a maze."

Anya stumbled and began coughing, Erica stopped in her tracks. The Parker girl grabbed her elbow to steady her, but she was quickly pushed off.  "What are they doing to us?" Anya panted out, clutching her chest.

Erica had always been a little bit terrified of Anya, and felt disillusioned to see her so weak.

"They use your blood, it heals them." Erica finished putting on the jacket she'd found, and wiped the sweat off her upper lip.

"We saw a soldier come in with radiation burns," Clarke began, fixing her shirt. "They gave him a transfusion, pumped grounder blood into his veins. In a few hours he was fine. I've never seen anything like it. Come on, this way." Clarke turned to move again, but the others stayed in their place.

Anya went to go the other way, and Erica couldn't decide which direction to go in. She stepped forward to follow Clarke.

"Hey, hey! What are you doing?" Clarke whispered when she noticed where Anya was going.

"You go your way, I'll go mine."

"Anya we need to stick together." Erica pleaded. "You have people to save in there. So do we. We can go to the grounders, round up our own troops, and save all of our people. We just have to work together a little while longer."