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Chapter 7

Monty was sitting at the computer when the screen came on. Echo had gotten the eye down. Immediately he put it on a loop. Now Diyoza wouldn't be able to see their movements.

"Harper!" He called. Harper came in from the other room.

"What?"

"Echo got the eye down!"

"Do you have the radio? We should tell Bellamy and Clarke before anyone else. They'll know what to do." Monty nodded.

"Alright I'll radio them."

Clarke was asleep in the rover when the radio came on.

"Clarke and Bellamy come in. Clarke and Bellamy come in." Harper's voice came in garbled over the radio. She shook Bellamy awake then pulled the radio off the hook.

"We're here Harper. What's happening?"

"Echo got the eye down." Bellamy rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"Have you had any contact with her?" He asked her.

"No not yet." Bellamy closed his eyes.

"Have you told Octavia yet?"

"No, not yet. We wanted to talk to you first."

"Good." Clarke said quickly. "You need to tell Octavia that she can't go to war. There are plants here by the ocean. The land is fertile. There's no need to fight for the valley! We have land here. We can make peace with Diyoza and share the land." There was silence on the other line.

"Harper, Monty?" Clarke asked. "Harper? You have to tell Octavia!" Clarke looked at Bellamy desperately.

"We might be out of range." Bellamy said, but he sounded unconvinced. The radio had been working fine. Something had happened to Monty and Harper.

"We need to get back to polis." Clarke said, fear in her voice. What would happen to Maddy if Monty and Harper weren't there to take care of her? They had done some fishing that morning and they loaded the fish into the rover quickly.

"If we don't stop we can make it back to polis in two days."

"That may be too late." Bellamy said, voice tight. She put a hand on his arm.

"Everything will be okay." The easy atmosphere that they'd had for the past few days had dissolved. Now they were one-minded and silent. They needed to get back to polis no matter what. Bellamy's face was pinched and his eyes were red.

"She'll be okay." She said finally. Bellamy looked up.

"Who?" He sounded disoriented.

"Echo." He nodded. "She's smart she'll make it out." Bellamy smiled sadly.

"She doesn't need me really. She's perfectly capable on her own."

"Of course she needs you." Clarke said emphatically. "She may not need you to protect her, but she still needs you."

"I need her more than she needs me." Clarke's heart wrenched in her chest. She understood that feeling more than he could know. She had always felt that way, in every relationship. Except with Bellamy. They balanced each other perfectly. They knew that they were better together. She didn't know what to say to him. She didn't want to lie, but she also knew that he needed to be encouraged. She opened her mouth to give some awkward platitude, but he shook his head.

"It's okay. It's the truth."

"You'll see her soon."

"We hope." They were silent awhile before Clarke spoke again.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you forgive her?" He smiled.

"How did you forgive me?" She smiled.

"I got to know you, and I grew to love you." He nodded.

"It was much the same. People aren't just made up of their mistakes." Bellamy scratched his neck.

"Clarke?"

"Yes?"

"We know Octavia may go to war even with this new revelation." Clarke sighed. She had been lying to herself on that account since yesterday when they found the oasis. This paradise may change nothing in Octavia's mind. She would still want vengeance. This was about more than land now. This was about Wonkru being threatened.

"I know. We can't do anything though until we get to polis."

"She won't listen to me." Clarke ran a hand through her hair.

"Do you have a plan?" He sounded like he had a plan. He looked out the window.

"Octavia won't accept not being the sole person of power in this new world. Neither will Diyoza. We need to present a leader everyone will follow. It can't be either of them."

"What are you saying?" She asked.

"I think we both know who the people will follow."

"Absolutely not."

"Clarke please think about it."

"No! I won't even entertain the idea. Maddy is a child!"

"So was Lexa! The people will follow Maddy. And it doesn't just have to be her. We can set up a council with her on it as the judge." Clarke shook her head.

"No. What will we do with Diyoza and Octavia then? And all of Diyoza's people? They won't follow Maddy."

"We arrest Diyoza and Octavia. If they won't defer to Maddy then we keep them safely locked away. Diyoza's people will either submit to our law or they will be cast out."

"You've thought about this a lot."

"I've been thinking about what you said about government and symbols. We need a symbol and a government. Maddy can be that symbol and we can create that government. A democracy. Not like the ark. Not like the grounders. Something new."

"What about Gaia and the flame? If we use the flame we'll just revert to the grounder form of government."

"We have to destroy the flame, and anyone who still believes that the right to rule lies in the color of blood and not in merit."

"But we'll be making Maddy's claim to power on the basis of her blood."

"No. We won't."

"Then why will the people follow her if not because she's a nightblood?"

"A symbol." Clarke shook her head.

"I don't understand."

"The people need a symbol. They need to see her be a symbol."

"How do we make her a symbol?" Despite herself, Clarke was listening to and considering this plan. It made sense, no matter how much she hated it.

"A miracle."

"The green."

"Yes. This time they'll be lead by a farmer, not a fighter." Clarke laughed. She couldn't help it. The idea was so absurd, but it made so much sense. If there was something Maddy could do better than fighting it was farming. Her family had been farmers before Praimfaya and in the valley they had farmed most of their food. If anyone could make the green land grow, Maddy could.

"She has to agree to it. It won't be easy, she adores Octavia."

"I know, but she'll see that we need to if war breaks out." Clarke nodded.

"Okay. How long have you been thinking about this?"

"A while." She sighed.

"It's not a bad idea. It's pretty good actually."

"I would never enact it without you. We agreed to make all decisions as a team now." Clarke smiled.

"I'm with you." She said quietly. And she was with him. Despite everything she would always be with him in everything.

Murphy was still asleep when Raven shook him awake.

"Murphy?"

"Yeah what's up Reyes." He sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"My leg."

"What about it?"

"It hurts." He looked at her eyes and noticed that there were tears in them. Raven never cried and she definitely never asked for help. She had to be in serious pain to ask him for help.

"Where?" He asked, kneeling by her side.

"Everywhere." She whispered.

"Okay let me look at it." He took his knife and cut a slit up her leg to mid thigh. He peeled back the dirty fabric and sucked in a breath. Her leg was mottled with black and blue bruises.

"It's all black and blue. What happened? Did they do this to you?" She nodded, eyes closed.

"They took away my leg brace. I was sitting on a cell floor for the past week or two. I knew it would be bad, but I didn't think this bad." Murphy shook his head.

"What should we do?"

"Put me in the river. It will at least help with the pain." She said. He picked her up as gently as he could and carried her to the river. She was light. She had lost weight while she was in that prison. He placed her in the river and she cried out. She gripped his arm and he stumbled into the river beside her.

"Well now we're both soaked." He said sighing.

"Don't expect me to apologize."

"I wasn't." He said smirking. "Raven Reyes apologizing? Unheard of." She slapped his arm. They sat in the cold river for a while. Raven laid her head back on the bank and breathed. Murphy thought she was asleep after a while, but she shifted and sighed after a few minutes.

"So Murphy, how come you keep offering to stay behind with me?" He smirked.

"You always save us. I thought maybe I should at least not leave you behind for once."

"That's almost sweet Murphy." He shrugged.

"No one should be alone forever." She seemed to drift off again.

"What are you going to do after this?" Her voice seemed far away, almost like she was falling asleep. He glanced at her, but her eyes were still closed.

"I'm just going to find a corner of the valley and take that as mine. I just want to be alone."

"I thought you said no one should be alone forever?"

"No one but me." She smirked.

"I might come be alone with you if you don't mind." He looked at her, surprised. She shrugged.

"Clarke and Bellamy have this whole saving the world thing covered. I just want some peace and quiet."

"That's all I've ever wanted." Murphy said quietly. She shifted in the river so she could look at him.

"Will you really leave?" He nodded.

"I've hurt almost everyone. Especially Emori. It would be better for me to just leave."

"Don't give yourself all the credit. There's plenty of hurt to go around."

"Don't forget I'm the one who crippled you." Raven turned away from him. "Sorry Raven, that was -"

"Cruel? Yeah it was. The thing is Murphy, I forgave you for that a long time ago. You were a stupid, scared kid. You're different now."

"I'm not so sure." Raven splashed him with water.

"Stop feeling bad for yourself Murphy. Grow up and realize that you aren't the problem. Everyone's the problem. So things didn't work out with Emori? Try again."

"As if you have any stones to throw on that subject. When was the last time you were in a relationship? Eight years ago? Wick?"

"Well I haven't exactly had a lot of options the last six years. Everybody was paired off. Monty and Harper the old married couple. Echo and Bellamy the destiny couple. You and Emori the problem couple. And me. Don't get me wrong, I love love, but I'm pretty sick of it after six years of living with three couples and no one else. I almost preferred the algae after all that. You'll forgive me if I want to stay single for a while." Murphy laughed. Actually laughed.

"I never thought about how that must have been for you."

"Yeah, I got that. None of you thought about that."

"No wonder you were always in the control room."

"Yeah, no wonder. I was always running into one of the couples having a talk or making out or doing yoga or something. It would have been a lot better if Clarke came with us. At least then I would have had someone to be a perpetual third wheel with me." Murphy raised an eyebrow.

"Can you imagine if Clarke had come with us?"

"It's hard to imagine her not worrying about something."

"It's impossible." Murphy said smirking. "I can't remember the last time Clarke took a day off or relaxed.

"We owe everything to her and Bellamy." Murphy nodded.

"I used to hate both of them." He said laughing.

"Me too. I thought they were so self-righteous. And disloyal. But they're leaders. They have to make choices like that. I wouldn't make a good leader." Raven said rubbing her neck.

"I wouldn't either."

"Let's get out of this river. I'm starting to go numb."

"Sure." Murphy lifted her out of the river and took her back to the cave. After laying her down in as comfortable a position as he could he went back out into the forest. He collected ferns and brought them back to the cave. He constructed a bed of ferns to the best of his ability and laid Raven out on them.

"Thanks Murphy."

"Anything for you Reyes."

Echo and the other three were almost back to polis. They'd already drank most of their water and they were all exhausted. Aster was looking very pale and he was leaning heavily on Shaw. Shaw didn't look so good himself. Echo was exhausted, but she knew the others were looking to her and so she pressed on. Emori was silent. She stared at the ground as she walked. Echo fell in step with Emori, a few feet in front of the boys.

"Are you okay?" Echo asked quietly. She felt that she knew the seven people she had spent the last six years pretty well. She could see that Emori wasn't okay.

"John is… I tried to make it work. I tried to love him enough, but we weren't right for each other. He needs someone who understands him. I can't understand him, even now. We're different in a fundemental way. He's a survivor in a way none of the rest of us are." Emori wiped a tear from her cheek.

"It will be okay." Echo said. "You're strong, you'll get through this." Emori nodded. "Bellamy and I will be there for you. All of us will." Emori nodded again. Echo moved forward again and sighed when she saw the top of polis.

"We're almost there." She said with a small smile. She was excited to see Bellamy. To see his calm face and hear his reasonable voice. As they got closer to polis they saw movement by the edge of the city.

"What's happening?" Emori asked.

"The army is mobilizing." Echo said, jaw tight. Where were Bellamy and Clarke? Surely they were lobbying Octavia not to go to war? She started to run. The other's followed.

She saw Octavia from afar. There was warpaint on her face and a sword in her hand. Maddy was by her side. Where was Clarke? Clarke never would have allowed Maddy to be taken to war at Octavia's side. Where were Monty and Harper? Maddy looked frightened, but she was trying desperately to hide it. Cooper and Indra were standing near Octavia advising her. Echo ran. She knew it would probably mean her life if she tried to stop Octavia, but she had to try.

"Octavia!" Octavia looked up and a smile crept onto her face.

"Well done Echo."

"Where are Bellamy and Clarke? Monty and Harper?" Octavia's face changed.

"Cooper why don't you show Echo and the other's where Monty and Harper are?" The other three were now standing, panting behind Echo. Echo glanced at Maddy who was looking at Echo intently. Maddy gave the slightest shake of her head. Echo looked back at Octavia.

"Where are Bellamy and Clarke?"

"They had to go on a trip to the ocean to get food. I'm sure they'll be back in a few days. This army is marching within the hour. Go with Cooper. She'll take you to Monty and Harper." Echo shook her head.

"Have you talked to Bellamy and Clarke about this? Are you sure war is what you want?"

"Go with Cooper." Octavia's eyes were narrowed and she had ice in her stare.

"I don't think I will." Echo said glancing again at Maddy.

"Take them." Octavia's voice was hard. The people around them descended on the four of them and Echo fought back. Maddy was shouting and Echo struggled to hear her.

"You have to get to Clarke and Bellamy! You have to save them!" Echo didn't understand, but she understood the urgency in Maddy's voice. She broke free from her assaultors and began to run.

"Kill her!" Octavia screamed. Echo ducked behind a building and wove through the streets. The other's would be okay without her. Octavia wouldn't kill them. Octavia may not like them, but she hated Echo.

Where would Bellamy and Clarke be? She had to find Monty and Harper. She jumped into the bunker, certain they would be there somewhere. It would also probably be the last place Octavia's goons looked.

She walked through the deserted hallways and kept her ears peeled for shouts. She was walking through the hydrofarm when she heard shouting. She rushed to the nearest door, but it wasn't coming from there.

"Harper, Monty where are you?" She heard indecipherable shouting from a nearby door. She tried to wrench it open, but something was blocking it.

"I can't open it! Push!" She wrenched again with all her strength. It felt like her arms were being ripped from her shoulders. "Push!" She screamed again. Finally the door came open. Echo sprawled on the ground and Monty and Harper fell out. Monty and Harper both started talking at the same time.

"What? What? Slow down, I can't understand!" Echo said trying to calm them down. Finally Harper swallowed and tried to explain.

"Clarke and Bellamy went to the ocean to get food, but when they got there they found that the land is fertile. There's no reason for us to go to war. They told us to tell Octavia, but when we did she locked us up. She's going to war no matter what. No one knows about the ocean, except them, us and Octavia. They should be on their way back, and they should only be a few hours away but, Echo. Octavia sent an assassin to kill them. You have to save them!" Before the last words were even out of Harper's mouth Echo was already out the door and running out of the bunker. They needed Bellamy and Clarke. Without them there would be all out war, and perhaps the decimation of the human race. That was something Echo couldn't let happen.

She ran towards the edge of polis. She knew the general direction of the ocean. She just hoped that she would see them when they passed. She had to get to them. She had to.