Kingdom of Rivals - The 100 [5]

Chapter 5

Venus's POV

My mind worked quickly tending to those who had been injured in the blast from last night. The weapon had obliterated one man entirely, and left others with injuries ranging from a few cuts and scratches to sudden vomiting – perhaps due to increased intracranial pressure. With Abby now gone, my heart beat fast in my chest. I was a doctor now, had been for years. I had seen and treated patients on my own numerous times before this. And yet, I felt lost without Abby nearby. Everyone was looking to me and only me for help, even Jackson. I had no one to turn to, no one to ask questions of. It was just me. All me.

Years ago, after I realized I'd have to go back to medical, I taught myself to look at my patients as just objects. Abby wouldn't have agreed to that thinking, but it kept me from throwing up my rations after every other patient. I preferred to work in silence, that way I could disconnect the bleeding leg in front of me from the person it belonged and was causing pain to. Now back above ground, nothing was ever truly silent.

"Momma." Liv followed me closely from patient to patient, her questions coming from her like a flood. "Momma, who were those people?"

"I don't know." I moved to the next patient, curled up in pain on one of the cots – she was lucky, she got a cot. Next to her a man who wasn't so lucky was stuck with only the cold hard ground beneath him.

"Why'd they take Dr. Griffin?"

"I don't know."

"Is Grandpa an enemy of Wonkru now?"

"Liv-" I tried to stop the tirade of questions, but she only continued on as if I hadn't even spoken.

"I don't want him to be an enemy."

"Liv-" I tried again with little success.

"Will I ever see him again?"

"Lena Vera Palmer!"

The definitively male voice echoed behind us, bouncing off the walls of the surrounding archway which we stood under. Liv turned to look at him, while I only glanced before looking back at the body in front of me, withering in pain.

"Your mother is working. Let her be." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Apollon motion behind him. "Go play with the other children." Liv ran off to where a group of children were gathered nearby.

I put all of my attention to the task in front of me, trying hard to keep my hands from shaking. It's funny, in the confined space of the bunker I found it easy to avoid him. But out here, out in the open space of the ground, he seemed ever present. My eyes kept glancing over to him, trying to take only quick looks. After a few seconds, he walked away. I felt my body instantly sag with the relief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liv's POV

"Go play with the other children."

Momma hadn't answered any of my questions, and I only wanted to stay and ask more. But there was no arguing with Daddy. I walked in the direction of the other children, glancing over my shoulder at my parents.

Momma and Daddy didn't talk much anymore, and neither one would ever give me a direct answer as to why. Maybe they would talk now, maybe they would be together again. I never mentioned it to Momma because I knew how much it would upset her, but I hoped that one day the three of us could be a family again. I remember when I was little how they'd smile together and hug, how they would both tickle me mercilessly at bedtime until I was too tired to stay awake. I missed those days. I missed seeing Momma happy and smiling.