Chapter Text
A blonde teenage girl lay sleeping but restless on a small bunk in a locked cell. She jerked around, clearly having a nightmare.
“No!” she murmured in her sleep. “No….Lexa….come back…”
The blonde jerked so hard she woke. She sat up and looked around her cell.
“I’m still on the Ark. It happened again. What the hell was that? It always feels...REAL.”
She’d always dreamt of the ground before, but only the last few had been like this. This hadn’t felt like a dream. It felt more like memories.
“That’s ridiculous. I’ve only ever been on the Ark.”
The blonde had been born on the Ark, a space station made out of twelve put together. It had been safely orbiting Earth for ninety-seven years. Ever since nuclear bombs destroyed the planet the human race had once called home.
No one has seen the ground in all that time. They knew they couldn’t return to Earth for at least another hundred years, maybe more.
The blonde knew though, that the Ark wasn’t going to last that long. In fact, that was why she was here in a cell, all by herself.
Her father had been the engineer who found a flaw in the Ark’s system. He was going to go public, despite being told not to by the Council. He had been floated for it; and because she knew and was just as determined to warn the people of the Ark, she had been sent to what they called the Sky Box.
That was the way things worked here on the Ark. If you commit a crime while over the age of eighteen, you are automatically ejected into space, what we call “floating”.
If you are under the age of eighteen, you’re sent here, to the Sky Box, until you turn eighteen. Then you are evaluated and are either floated or let back into civilization. The Ark was always needing more air and time, so the council showed no discrimination. Many hundreds had been slaughtered in the last 97 years.
The blonde fiddled with a watch that sat on her wrist. Her eyes welled up with tears as she thought about her father. She wiped them away and looked around at her drawings. Her father had always been so proud of her talent.
Thinking about the dream, she grabbed her charcoal. She sat on the floor in front of her bed and started drawing the ground. Expert lines became trees, grass and stars.
She felt lost in thought until she heard a commotion outside of her door. She looked up and saw two guards coming into her room. She stood as she eyed a box the one was carrying.
“No, no, no. This can’t be happening. My dream….it’s happening. Are they really sending us to the ground? We can’t. It won’t be safe, not for everyone. But...if we go to Earth...I’ll...I’ll have to find HER. ….Lexa…I have to find her. I….I can save her.”
“What’s going on?” she demanded. She eyed him cautiously as he put the case down and opened it up.
“Hold out your arm,” he ordered as he lifted a metal wristband out of the case.
The blonde shook her head. “What’s going on?” she asked again, panic rising in her voice.
The guard grabbed her hand to put the wristband on but the blonde jerked it away. “Take off your watch,” he ordered her.
“No! It’s not my time. I don’t turn eighteen for another month!” she said in a panic.
“Take off the watch!” The blonde did everything to jerk away from the guard.
“No! It was my father’s!” she yelled.
The guard tried to grab her again but she knocked him away and shoved into the other guard holding a stun stick. She quickly darted out of the cell and flung the door behind her.
She looked around the sky box and her breath quickened as she saw guards and juveniles wrestling everywhere. One of the guards came barreling out of her cell and started towards her.
“Prisoner 319!” she heard him yell as she started to bolt.
“Clarke, stop!” she suddenly heard a familiar voice say.
She stopped and turned around to see her mother coming towards her. “Mom?” she said, starting to tear up from panic. The young blonde grasped her mother in a hug.
“Mom, what’s going on?” She looked over her mother’s shoulder to see other prisoners being taken out in lines. “They’re sending us to the ground aren’t they? Reducing the population to give the rest of you more time.”
Her mother looked at her in shock, “Clarke, how did you know?” she asked her young daughter. Clarke just shook her head.
“No. Mom, it’s not safe,” the blonde replied.
“We don’t know that. Clarke, you’re being given a chance!”
Clarke shook her head. “No mom, you don’t understand. You don’t know who-”
Just then, Clarke felt a sharp pain in her back as a guard shot her with a tranquilizer dart. Her mother smoothed her hair as Clarke felt herself drift unconscious.
“Earth Clarke, you’re going to Earth,” she heard her mother say before everything went black.
When Clarke woke again, she was strapped to a seat. She knew it had to be one of the dropships her father had told her about. She could tell they were moving. She looked down and saw the metal wristband attached to her wrist.
“Welcome back,” she heard a once familiar voice say. She turned her head to see the Chancellor’s son, Wells, sitting next to her.
“Wells? You are here!” She stared at him in total shock.
“Oh my God. My dream really is happening. How can this be? …..Lexa…”
Wells looked at her confused. “Clarke how did you know I’d be here? I’m surprised you’re even talking to me.”
The blonde looked at him, trying to decide whether she should tell him or not.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” she stated.
“Clarke,” the boy said quietly, “I’ve always believed you with anything you’ve said.” He paused and sighed. “I know you hate me for getting your father arrested..”
Clarke interrupted him. “No Wells, it wasn’t you. And he wasn’t arrested, he was executed.”
The boy’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “Clarke, what’s going on? How do you know all these things?”
Clarke took a deep breath in and let it slowly out. “I had dreams Wells. I saw all of this. I even saw months from now. I had pretty much just woken up from one when the guards came to get me.”
She shifted uncomfortably and looked up at Wells. “We’re really going to Earth Wells.”
The young boy nodded slowly, uncertain of what to make of Clarke and her dream. They felt a jolt through the dropship just a moment before computer screens came on in the ship. It was Chancellor Jaha, Wells’ father.
“Prisoners of The Ark, here me now. You've been given a second chance, and as your Chancellor, it is my hope that you see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us, indeed for mankind itself. We have no idea what is waiting for you down there. If the odds of survival were better, we would've sent others. Frankly, we're sending you because your crimes have made you…. expendable.”
“You’re dad’s a dick, Wells,” one of the other prisoners yelled across the dropship.
Clarke shook her head and looked at the Chancellor’s son. “He’s right but...I do know what’s waiting for us.” Wells looked at her as if she were crazy. “Wells, I mean it. There’s…..there’s people down there. Survivors.”
Wells frowned. “That’s not possible Clarke. No one could survive the radiation after the bombs. Now come on, we need to listen.”
Clarke grabbed his hand, attracting his attention back to her. “No, we don’t need to listen. Look, it’s a long story, but I know what I’m talking about. And if you want to live, you’ll sneak away with me after we land.”
Wells furrowed his eyebrows at the blonde. “She really has lost it, hasn’t she?” He cleared his throat. “Clarke, we can’t sneak away. We are all going to need each other. We have to stay as a group if we are going to survive.”
Clarke scoffed. “Even that wouldn’t save us, and it won’t save you. Don’t you know how many people on this dropship would love to see your father dead? Don’t you think that puts you , his son, in danger?”
Wells looked around at the other prisoners. “I suppose you’re right, but, if we leave..where are we going to go Clarke? What are we going to do?”
Clarke shook her head, knowing something else was about to happen. “I’ll explain when we get on the ground.”
She looked around, apparently searching for someone. “Finn!” she yelled but received no answer, “Spacewalker!!”
Just then a boy showed up floating in midair next to her. “Yes, princess?”
Clarke glared at him. She was by no means a princess.
“You need to get strapped back in before two other boys decided to try to join you.”
Finn smirked at her. “And why would I want to do that? I’m having so much fun. Look Wells, looks like your dad floated me after all.” he replied tauntingly.
Clarke grabbed his arm. “You don’t understand do you?” she sneered, “You’re going to get them killed.”
Finn gave her a skeptical look. “Boy, they must’ve drugged you good before they strapped you in, huh?”
Clarke opened her mouth but Wells spoke before she could. “That’s enough spacewalker. “Just get back in your seat.”
Finn laughed at him. “Oh you think you’re going to be chancellor of the Earth, don’t you?”
Wells and Clarke glared at him and watched as two other boys cut their straps and floated out of their seats.
“Like I said,” Clarke said sarcastically, “Get back in your seats before the parachutes deploy!” The boys just laughed at her as they kept on floating up.
All of a sudden the dropship jerked viciously and Finn, along with the two other boys, were flung through some pipes and into the wall. The computers went out and the lights flickered.
Clarke closed her eyes in natural reflex, despite knowing they were going to land safely.
“Those boys. Why couldn’t they just listen to me?”
She let out a deep breath she didn’t realize she had been holding in as she felt them come to a rest. “This is it. We’re here.” Goosebumps covered her arms as she thought about how close she was to the girl she’d dreamed of. “Lexa.”
The remaining ninety-eight juveniles all unclasped they’re straps and got up. Clarke saw Finn run over to one of the other boys who’d been floating.
“Finn don’t. They’re dead.” Finn didn’t listen.
“How do you know? You aren’t even going to check them?”
Clarke sighed and shook her head. “I can’t explain it. I just know okay? You go ahead and check them if you don’t want to believe me.”
Finn stared at the two lifeless boys as he felt for a pulse in both. “I should have listened to you. How did you….how did you know?”
Clarke rolled her eyes and sighed. “Here goes round two of ‘think Clarke has lost it’. I’ve had dreams okay? I saw all of this. I woke up from one of them right before they came in to get me.”
Finn gave her the same look Wells had. “Okay then…” he finally said.
They all turned as they heard everyone clamoring to get to the dropship door.
“We should stop them,” Wells said to Clarke.
The blonde shook her head. “No, they’re fine.”
Finn was really beginning to think Clarke had lost it. “We don’t know what’s out there. Radiation is pretty much the biggest threat.”
Clarke sighed. “Again, I know. It’s fine. There’s only one thing we have to worry about but I’m going to try to take care of it before it becomes a problem.”
Finn and Wells looked at each other before turning to Clarke.
“What are you talking about?” Wells asked.
“What problem could we possibly have besides radiation and almost instant death?” Finn included.
Clarke sat down. “I can’t explain it right now. Not here.”
Finn huffed. “Well where else? Are we going to go for a walk through the woods or what? Wait, is there woods?”
Clarke laughed. “Yes there’s woods. And yes we are, to a point. In one of my dreams, you took me to a bunker you found. You called it the ‘Art Supply Store’.”
Finn shook his head. “I’m sorry, but you just keep sounding crazier and crazier.”
Clarke let out a desperate sigh. “Whatever Finn. I don’t need any of you to believe me. I’ve got enough shit to figure out.”
Wells closed his eyes and winced. “Clarke, don’t be like this. You have to see how it seems crazy to us.”
Clarke stood up and gestured to the hatch. “Let’s go. By the way, we aren’t on Mount Weather like they said we’d be. And we can’t go there either.”
Both Finn and Wells raised their eyebrows at the blonde, clearly still thinking she had lost it. They shrugged and headed down to the first floor of the dropship.
Sunlight filled the room and the air smelled sweet. Finn and Wells looked at each other and then Clarke before running down the door and into dirt.
Clarke scoffed and shook her head. “Boys.”
She walked out to join the rest. She squinted her eyes as she moved some parachute out of her way. The sun was bright, but it was amazing to feel.
Clarke opened her eyes and saw just what she remembered. Beautiful green trees surrounded them. The rest of the juveniles were running around. Bursts of laughter and squealing filled the air.
Clarke closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. “Lexa.”
She swallowed as she looked in the direction of the bunker. She knew she’d have to be quick.
“Acid fog. The mountain men.”
Clarke set a look of determination on her face as she started weaving her way through the large group of teenagers. She was pleased to find that no one paid her any attention.
Clarke was just thinking she was going to make it without anyone seeing her when she felt a hand grab her arm.
“Where are you going princess ?” she heard Finn ask. She turned around and pulled away from the boy.
“I already told you. Not my fault if you don’t want to believe me. I’m going either way. No one is going to care if I’m gone.”
Finn frowned. “I’m sure someone will,” he said with a sigh, “You really believe you’ve seen all of this don’t you?”
Clarke looked annoyed. “I don’t have to believe. I just...I just know. Now let me go Finn. I’m leaving. You can either come with me or stay here. I really don’t care. I cared the first time around and it destroyed me. I’m going to find my happiness. The rest of you can do whatever you want.”
Finn looked at her concerned. He wasn’t sure he should let the blonde go off by herself. “Why can’t you find your happiness here….with us?” he asked her.
He hoped he could talk her into staying, but he knew it was a losing battle when he saw Clarke shake her head.
“I won’t be able to. My happiness isn’t here. She’s out there…” Clarke looked into the woods.
“Who? There’s no one here but us, Clarke.” Finn said in desperation.
Clarke just stood there for a moment. Her eyes on the woods but her mind in her memories. Finn studied the blonde, waiting for her to say something.
She finally turned to him. “You’re wrong Finn, and it won’t be long before you figure it out one way or another.”
She didn’t give him a chance to make any further attempts and making her stay. She took a deep breath and started walking again.
“Acid fog….I’ve got to hurry.”
She quickened her pace and huffed when she heard footsteps behind her.
“You better be able to keep up,” she said without turning around.
Finn caught up to her. “What’s the hurry?” he playfully asked.
Clarke rolled her eyes and kept her pace. “Acid fog, you don’t want to get caught without shelter from it. Now shut up and keep an eye out.”
Finn looked around but had no idea what the blonde was talking about. He shook his head but continued to follow her. They walked briskly for what seemed to be about five minutes.
Suddenly Clarke came to a stop and knelt down. Finn tried to see what she was doing.
“Clarke? Why are we stopping?”
Clarke didn’t respond but grasped something and twisted. Finn stared in shock as she opened a hatch hidden in the ground. She looked up at the boy and raised an eyebrow.
“Believe me yet?”
Finn blinked. “Umm, I might be starting to. Are we really going in there?”
Clarke scoffed. “Of course we are. Acid fog, remember? Now come on.”
She turned and started down the ladder. Finn looked around the woods once more before following her. Clarke flipped on a flashlight as Finn felt his feet his ground.
“She wasn’t kidding. This really is a bunker hidden in the ground. How is this possible?” Finn came out of his thoughts and found Clarke looking amused.
“What?” he asked her.
Clarke smiled. “You believe me now,” she replied, “but you’re probably wondering how this is possible.”
Finn looked at her in shock again. “Well, if you’re honest, it really doesn’t make any sense for you to know all this. It’s like you’ve been here before and we all know you haven’t. You really dreamt all of this?”
Clarke sat down on a small couch and sighed. “Yes, I really did dream all of this. To be honest I dreamt quite a bit more than just this. I had a few of these dreams, each one feeling more real than the last.”
Her eyes seemed to glaze over as she went into deep thought. Finn watched her for a moment before moving to sit next to her.
“Okay, so now what? What comes next?” he asked.
Clarke didn’t respond so Finn grabbed her arm. “Clarke?” The blonde hummed and came out of her thoughts.
“There’s a girl, I have to find her. I’m going to have to draw her. That way Li-...someone, will be more likely to believe me.
Finn couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You’re telling me, that there’s other people on the ground? Survivors?” he asked in disbelief.
Clarke nodded. “Yes, they’re what we call ‘grounders’. There’s more of them than you’d believe possible.”
Finn shook his head. “That’s just it Clarke. It isn’t possible. Radiation would have killed anyone left after the bombs hit.”
Clarke sighed. She knew the story was longer than she cared to explain.
“It is possible actually. I’m not going to explain everything to you Finn. You’ll see eventually.”
Finn wasn’t happy but he decided to just let it go. He figured he’d go out later and get Wells once Clarke fell asleep.
He didn’t count on having to wait as long as he did. It turned out the blonde was extremely determined to do whatever it was she was doing. Clarke had lit some candles and was sitting on the floor in front of a coffee table.
The bunker was silent as Finn watched her draw. It didn’t take too long before Finn could make out a girl’s form. He didn’t recognize the girl in the drawing, but he could tell Clarke was clearly doing this from memory. There were so many details, he lost count.
“Who is she?” he asked, breaking the silence.
Clarke stopped drawing and stared at the picture.
“Lexa,” she whispered. She shook her head and continued on.
She added the last touches and handed it over to Finn. He studied Clarke’s detailed lines.
“She’s beautiful, whoever she is.”
Clarke took the drawing back. “Her name….is Lexa, and I’m going to find her.”
Finn just shrugged and got up. “I’m going to see just what all we have here that we can use.”
Clarke let out a hum in reply as she grabbed a fresh piece of paper. Finn rolled his eyes.
“Now who are you drawing?”
Clarke frowned at the boy's apparent annoyance.
“Lincoln,” she simply stated as she began forming new lines.
Finn decided to just let her be and started rummaging through the different items in the bunker.
“We need water. Do you know where we are going to find that?”
Clarke looked up and sighed. “Yes, but we need to find weapons first. We can’t be running around with nothing. Find a knife, ax, or anything heavy.”
Finn nodded and kept searching the bunker as Clarke finished her drawing of a man she had called ‘Lincoln’.
“Jackpot!” Finn exclaimed.
Clarke looked up at him as she folded the two pictures up. She stood up and shoved them in her pants pocket.
“What did you find?” she asked.
Finn smiled and held up an ax in one hand and two pocket knives in the other. Clarke walked over and grabbed the knives.
“You keep the ax. I’d rather have these.”
Finn gave the ax a practice swing. “Oh I’m so good with that.”
Clarke shook her head as she opened the pocket knives and slid one up each of her sleeves. Finn gave her a nod of approval.
“You’re smarter than I thought,” he joked.
Clarke scowled, apparently not finding it as funny as he’d hoped.
“Wait..” Finn said, “If you’ve seen all this before, how did you not know these were here?”
Clarke grabbed a jacket Finn had flung onto the couch and slid it on.
“Just because I’ve seen it doesn’t mean I remember everything. Do you remember everything you see or dream?”
Finn looked down in embarrassment. “No, I guess not. I’m sorry Clarke, I just can’t help but be skeptical. This is weird.”
The blonde sighed. “I know it is...and I want to explain it more, I just...I can’t. I just need you to trust me. Are you ready to go get water?”
Finn’s eyes widened with excitement. “Yes, please!”
Clarke grabbed his arm. “I need you to pay close attention Finn. There are many dangers we have to watch out for, not just the acid fog I told you about.”
The boy rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Yeah. I get it. Can we just go?”
Clarke didn’t release his arm just yet. “Yes, but one more thing first.”
Finn sighed. “Okay, what?”
Clarke took in a deep breath. “If we see anyone...Don’t say anything. Just let me handle it. Okay?”
Finn shrugged. ‘Whatever you say, princess. ”
Clarke let out a low growl before letting the boy’s arm go and making her way up out of the bunker.
Finn let out a chuckle as he followed. “You don’t like being called princess, do you princess?”
Clarke tilted her head back in clear annoyance. “God, why the fuck did he have to come with me?”
She turned to the young boy. “No. As a matter of fact I don’t. You would be wise to stop calling me that as well. I could just leave you for the grounders instead of delivering you safely to Raven when she gets down here.”
That made Finn stop in his tracks. “How do you know Raven?”
Clarke sighed. “The same way I know everything else Finn. I've dreamt it. She’s coming down in an escape pod. We have to be prepared. Bellamy Blake is going to try to steal the radio before anyone else gets there.”
“Bellamy Bla-...why would he want a radio?” Finn asked curiously.
“Never mind that right now Finn. Let’s go get water. We’re wasting time.”
The boy looked at her, still unsure of what to think of her knowledge. He didn’t push it though. He took a few quick strides to catch up to the blonde who was keeping a quick pace. It was more than apparent that she at least thought she knew where she was going.
Finn’s eyes widened in amazement when they came to a stop. A gurgling spring sitting in front of them.
“You really did know,” he whispered.
Clarke raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re still doubting me?”
Finn shrugged his shoulders and walked straight into the spring until he was fully immersed.
“Come on Clarke, it feels good.”
Clarke shook her head. “No Finn, I don’t have time for that.”
Finn tipped his head at her in playful thought.
“Clarke, take a break. That was a long walk,” he said edging closer to where the blonde was standing.
Clarke looked up and took a step back. “Oh no. I am not falling for that again.”
“Fall for what?” the boy asked genuinely, still doubtful of her knowing everything.
“The last time I tried to help you out of there, you drug me in with you. I’m not falling for it this time.”
Finn rolled his eyes before splashing her. “You’re no fun.”
Clarke gave him an exasperated sigh. “And you’re wasting my time. I won’t be fun until I find Lexa. So if that’s an issue for you, just leave now.”
Finn furrowed his eyebrows. “What’s so important about this Lexa girl anyways?”
Clarke stared off into the distance. “Finding her now is the only way I can make sure that those who deserve to stay alive, do.”
The boy looked at her with concern. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Clarke shook her head. “We don’t have time for this. I’ll tell you more when we get back to the bunker. We don’t want to get caught out here after dark.”
Finn shrugged and climbed out of the water. “Whatever you say, Pri-...I mean, Clarke.”
The blonde shot him a glare as a warning. She knew he was trying to push her buttons. He really didn’t understand why she was doing any of this.
They filled some bottles up that they had found in the bunker and started their trek back to the bunker. The walk back was silent as Clarke and Finn kept their eyes searching the forest for any sign of danger.
They weren’t more than fifty feet away from the bunker when Clarke suddenly heard a familiar sound. A thunderous and crackling sound she remembered from her dreams.
“Acid Fog.”
“Finn, run!” she yelled at the boy as she bolted for the bunker hatch. A dense, yellow fog began surrounding them as they began their decent down. Finn began coughing as he slammed the hatch shut.
“Was that-?” he coughed out.
Clarke nodded. “Acid Fog.”
Finn sat down, trying to catch his breath. “You’re right. I don’t ever want to get caught in that again. What exactly was that?”
Clarke sighed and sat down next to him.
“You know Mount Weather? Where we were supposed to land?”
Finn nodded.
“Well, it’s a good thing we didn’t land there. In my dream, shortly after landing, a few of us including you and me, went to get food from there. Jasper was hit with a spear as soon as he crossed over onto its land. Even worse, not much longer after that, we fought with the grounders and won, but were knocked out and taken by the mountain men. There are survivors there too Finn. They can’t come out onto the ground though. They’ve been using the grounders blood to heal themselves. If they find us before we stop them, they’ll use us and our bone marrow instead. For some reason it will permanently heal them. They’ll stop at nothing. That acid fog? It’s their main defense.”
Finn sat in thought after Clarke stopped talking.
“So let’s go stop them,” he said plainly.
Clarke shook her head. “No. Not yet…I’m trying to think of how we would do it this time.”
Finn raised an eyebrow. “Well how did we stop them last time, err, I mean in your dream?”
Clarke looked like she was lost in her mind as she recollected the events in her mind.
“Last time..we could’ve had them, but Lexa betrayed me to save her own people. I snuck in through the reaper tunnels and found Octavia. Bellamy finally showed up and we snuck in. We had the mountain people trapped on level five. Cage wouldn’t let our people go. So I shot his father. He still refused to let our people go. So I, along with Monty and Bellamy, we irradiated level five. Every mountain person died except Cage and Emerson.”
Finn thought for a moment, going over all the information Clarke had just given him.
“Okay, so we just need to find a way to sneak in.”
Clarke shook her head. “You don’t understand. We were prepared last time. We had Bellamy as an inside man. Monty knew how to set up the computers to irradiate the place. We had tone generators to protect us against the reapers. We have none of that now. I need to find Lexa.”
Finn gave her a puzzled look. “You mean the same Lexa you just told me betrayed you?”
Clarke sighed. “Yes, the same Lexa. Can we stop talking about all this for now? I’m getting tired.”
Finn shrugged, “Yeah sure. I guess so.”
Clarke got up and started heading over to a bunk. She took off her boots and coat and curled up under the blanket. “Thank you Finn.”
Finn looked up. “For what?”
Clarke closed her eyes. “For being here. It’s actually kind of nice not being by myself.”
Finn smiled. “Yeah, no problem.”
Finn waited for Clarke to drift off to sleep before sneaking out of the bunker.