Clarke of Many People

Chapter 3

It took Lincoln, Octavia, and I all day to finish burying the rest of the bodies. I had gone back into the mountain to give Katlyn lunch around mid-day. I felt Octavia's eyes on me as I walked inside without finishing a grave. If she suspected anything, she didn't say. When we finished the graves we all sat around a fire that Lincoln had made.

"Why are you here?" I finally asked. The thought had been plaguing my mind, along with the mountain men. "Why did you help me?"

Lincoln gave me a look of disbelief and Octavia snickered.

"Whether you like it or not Clarke we do care about you." Lincoln spoke first.

"Just because I'm angry with you doesn't mean I can look out for you. Too many of our friends have died and I don't want anyone else to die. As much as I hate to admit it, Lincoln pointed out that my family is alive because of you. All the people I care about are safe. And I know you hate yourself for what you did in the mountain, but that doesn't change the fact that our family is safe." Octavia stressed our family. The remaining hundred. "It's going to take a while for me to get past what you did, but I'm not going to abandon you."

"They wouldn't have kept their word with the Trikru." I started slowly. Both listened. "I know that. Even if they had, I would assume that not all grounders would agree with Lexa's choice." I paused. Not Lexa. The Commander. Not Lexa, Heda. Lexa didn't make the decision at the mountain. "Like Lincoln told us before, there was resistance when the Commander told her people not to attack us."

"And we were newcomers. Fresh blood." Octavia continued my thoughts. "The mountain has been here the entire time and the enemies. There probably would have been an uprising if they lived."

I realized something as Octavia spoke. "Their death was inevitable. I mean all death is inevitable. It's just the way they died that was the different. Their death was quick when I pulled the lever. If I had let them live and come to the surface..."

"My people would have made their deaths long and painful. Jus drein jus daun." Lincoln finished my sentence. The silence was irritating. My entire experience on the ground it's been chaotic and now there was only silence."Clarke we need to show you something." Lincoln grabbed a nearby bag. "This is another reason why we came looking for you."

Lincoln handed me the satchel. It was heavier than I expected. I looked at my two friends before opening it. My heart almost stopped as I saw the head. Cage Wallace's specifically. I dropped both items.

Cage ran when he realized I had pulled the lever. I began to laugh hysterically. He thought I was bluffing. Either that or he hoped he could save his people before we figured out how to irradiate level 5. I started laughing harder at the thought. I had counted 381 dead mountain men, and three alive. The number dropped to two now, Emerson and Katlyn.

When my laughing died down I looked back to see a worried looking couple. I probably looked insane. "Bastard deserved it. Him out of all of them." Another small chuckle escaped me. At least the one who was behind hurting my people was gone. "One more to kill."

"I thought they were all dead! Clarke you know we have to kill him!" Octavia seemed to look excited at the prospect of killing a mountain man. I suddenly became more aware of the girl inside. Would Octavia kill someone who was not a soldier or follower of the mountain? The thought was disturbing. I knew Octavia wouldn't if she had the chance not to, but it still plagued my mind.

"Emerson ran after I pulled the lever. We'd have to look for him." An idea came to me. It had nothing to do with the mountain. "Stay here!" A way to keep peace between the two people who were living in the same territory. I ran inside to the former president's office for something to write on and with.