Kingdom of Life - The 100 [4]

Chapter 10

Apollon's POV

It was strange in a way, the rest of the human race all gathered in one area. Octavia had rode in last night, and just in time too. She was the only one of us who stood a chance at winning the conclave. While the rest of us were trained in guns, she had gone off and learned Grounder combat. And she learned it well. But as I watched the other champions make their way to the stage to receive their clan's sigil, I wondered if just knowing Grounder combat would be enough.

"Octavia kom Skaikru." Octavia climbed the steps of the stage; she looked so small compared to the other bulky Grounder warriors.

"A battle to the death within the walls of Polis." Gaia spoke, projecting her voice over all the heads of the large crowd so that no one would mishear her. "This final champion alone will tell us which clan is meant to survive in the crypt of Bekka Pramheda, and which clans are meant to perish in Praimfaya." Praimfaya. So that's what we're calling it now.

"So much for the bunker being ours..." I looked over to Venus standing at my side. Her eyes were red from the disappointment and sadness of the news that we would not yet be entering the bunker, her tears already cried out before the ceremony began.

These past three months had been such a roller-coaster for us all. First we thought we were safe once Allie was destroyed, then we learned we only have six months to live, then three months. Then we thought we could use Arkadia as a make-shift bunker, then learned only 100 would be able to use it, then no one. Then we thought a vaccine could be made and used, then bone marrow, then nothing. Then we thought there was a bunker still out there, then it was found and all of Skaikru thought we were finally safe, and now, no one was.

"Hey." I grabbed hold of Venus's hand and waited until her head turned to me. "We still have a chance. Remember when Diana Sydney took the last drop ship and we thought we'd die up on the Ark?"

She shook her head. "That was different. Much different."

No, not really.

Gaia closed out the ceremony and the crowd thinned, most of the people heading towards their clans designated safe zones to stay while the Conclave played out. Venus removed her hand from my own.

"I should go. Abby wants me to help prepare the bunker for which ever monster wins." As I watched her walk away, I could see in the way her shoulders were slumped over and her head hung down that, once again, she had lost all hope. She truly believed that we would lose and one of the other clans – one of the Grounder clans – would win. I hadn't seen her like this since that ultrasound three months ago, and I couldn't decide if she was worse now than she was then.

For a second, an image flashed through my head of me holding her close as Praimfaya hit, her middle still bulging with the unborn baby. I quickly pushed the image aside, refusing to think of it as a possibility just yet, and made my way over to where Kane, Jaha, and others from Skaikru stood talking.

"You want us to cheat?" Bellamy was directing his question to Clarke, being sure to keep voice low enough so as not to be heard by anyone casually walking by.

"You know the rules." Chancellor Kane spoke up. "If we break them we lose, and if we lose we die."

"We can't just sit by and give up." I butted in now. Octavia knew Grounder combat, yes. But she had been trained in it for less than a year. The other warriors in the conclave, they had all been trained in Grounder combat their entire lives. The advantage they had over her was obvious in appearances alone.

"We're not giving up." Kane looked at me, and shifted his eyes around the small group as he continued to speak. "The conclave is sacred. They'll honor the winner. Like it or not, we're all Grounders now. You get our people to the safe zone. We'll have Octavia ready for the fight. The rest is – the rest is up to her."

I stood with Jaha and Clarke as Bellamy and Kane walked away. Not one of us spoke until the two of them disappeared into one of the nearby buildings where the warriors were preparing.

"It can't end, not like this." Clarke was the first of us to speak, her eyes still looking towards where Kane and Bellamy had walked.

"Clarke." She turned and looked at me as I spoke, my voice low and quiet. "There has to be something we can do. A one in thirteen chance, that's...that's too low. And with Luna in it..."

"I know." She quickly glanced around us, most of the area had already emptied out, everyone heading for their designated safe zones to wait out the final conclave. "There is something, but it's risky."

"How risky?" Jaha spoke up, his arms firmly folded across his chest.

"If we get caught, we'll have no chance of getting in that bunker."

"And if we don't get caught?"

"If we don't get caught, then the bunker is ours."

I thought it over a moment, as I could see Jaha was doing the same. All or nothing. Was it really better than a one in thirteen chance? I thought about all the other warriors Octavia would have to defeat to get us into that bunker. It sure seemed like our chances were less than one in thirteen.

"Alright," Jaha had reached the end of his thoughts a few seconds before I had. "Then let's not get caught. What's the plan?"

Jaha and I listened carefully as Clarke laid out her plan before us. It was risky, yes. Very risky. But, if it worked, the risk of it wouldn't matter. I became certain that Octavia wouldn't win the conclave, not with trained killers like Roan and Luna in it. This plan would be our only chance.

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Venus's POV

Things were quiet as I helped Abby prepare the bunker. There were a handful of our people down there with us, each kept to themselves as they worked through their assigned tasks. I was to help Abby with medical: sorting and putting away the supplies, getting the few pieces of equipment there set up. This is a waste, I thought. The Grounders won't know or care about using any of this. Then again, if the Grounders were in here, it's not like we would need it...

A soft hand placed itself on top of my own, stilling them. I looked over at Abby. "It's going to be alright."

I felt the tears right at the edge of my eyelids; they had been there since we started and it took everything in me to keep them from coming out. "What if Octavia doesn't win?"

Abby was quiet, her mind surely searching for an answer. But there wasn't one – or at least, not one that had to be spoken. We both knew what would happen if Octavia didn't win the conclave. I only hoped that the radiation would be quick when it came.

In the quiet between us, I started to notice an increase in voices coming from outside. There were only supposed to be a few of us down here preparing the bunker, but it sounded like there was more than that in the hallway alone. I looked at Abby confused; the conclave surely couldn't be over, not yet. We had only just started to prepare the bunker an hour or so ago.

Abby was quick to walk out of the room towards all of the voices, and I wasn't far behind her. As we walked through the halls and out to the rotunda, I couldn't tell if I was more excited or shocked by what I saw.

Our people, everywhere. They were walking in every direction, going down the many hallways, up and down the ramp that wrapped around the room, each in their own direction. Along the ramp, Jaha stood in the doorway of an office, watching the whole display. In the center of the big room, Miller addressing a small crowd around him.

"Alpha and factory station bunks are on level four. Hydra and farm, level five. Everyone go check out their new home, meet back here in one hour."

New home. It's ours? The bunker was ours? But, how?

I looked at Abby next to me. She had the same confused look on her face that I was sure I had as well.

"We won?" I allowed myself to smile slightly at the thought of it. If we won, then the bunker was ours. We would live through the radiation. We would live.