THE UNDERGROUND / GXG (The 100)

13

"You know there's this thing called physical strain, right? You can't just train all day. You're gonna die." Marian said as she watched Zalia doing pull ups. She was already dripping in sweat but she didn't seem like she was gonna stop training anytime soon. Zalia ignored her and Marian continued. "Z, you can't keep shutting me out like this. You gotta talk to us."

Zalia stopped and looked at her. "Marian. I already told you. I'm fine."
Marian rolled her eyes. "You're not! You've never acted like this!" At that a guard knocks on the gym door before walking in. "Captain, general... you should come see this." Marian looks at the guard and then at Zalia, expecting her to follow her outside. But Zalia just turned back to the pull up bar and started training again "You can handle whatever it is, Marian." Marian huffed and walked outside, following the guard.

Zalia turned up the music and started sparring with three of her warriors that helped her train. This time she wanted to train with swords, she knew she had to get her technique on point if she would fight Lexa at some point.

She didn't feel the two pairs of eyes staring at her while she dodge her warriors' attacks. She was in the zone. Zalia managed to disarm two of the warriors but the third one cut her shoulder making her stop and sigh in frustration. "I'll get you a bandage, Captain." Zalia nodded and placed her swords on the table, stopping the music that was playing through the speakers. Suddenly she heard Marian clear her throat. Zalia looked back and saw Marian standing by the door. "Someone is here to see you. She's in your office." Marian said with no emotion. Zalia looked at her confused and when she looked up to her office, she could see Lexa standing there, looking at her through the huge window that faced the gym.

*******

Zalia walked in her office, her stoic expression couldn't be missed. Lexa expected Zalia to storm in and yell at her but that didn't happen. Zalia was surprisingly calm for someone that was meeting with a traitor. She sat down away from her desk, in one of the chairs beside the huge table that was in the middle of the room, and looked at Lexa without saying a word. Lexa sat down on one of the chairs in front of Zalia and looked at her, trying to see through her emotionless expression. "Why are you here, Lexa?" When Lexa was about to respond, the office doors opened and Osias, Marian and Echo walked in. They sat down beside Cap and Lexa's demeanor changed. She was back to being the Commander and not worrying about what Zalia might be feeling. 

Zalia hadn't made any move to speak since they walked in so Osias looked at her and when he noticed she wasn't gonna start the conversation he spoke up. "Commander, what can we do for you?" He said looking at Lexa. That seemed to break the apparent staring contest between her and Zalia. At that she spoke up. "I have a proposition for the Underground." Lexa said looking at Osias. She was about to continue but Marian interrupted her "And why should we even believe you?" Echo looked at Marian with wide eyes, trying to tell her to shut up. It was evident that Marian was mad about the whole situation, Lexa was surprised she had the guts to talk to her like that. She looked at Marian and nodded before speaking "Yes. I know the decision I made was against your people. But it was to protect my people. Which is why I come here with this proposition. I want you to become the 13th clan."

Marian was shooting daggers at Lexa after that. 'If looks could kill' that's exactly what Marian was thinking about. Osias took a breath while he thought about the possibilities. And before he could speak up, Zalia beat him to it. "We accept." She looked at Lexa with the same emotionless expression that was driving Lexa mad by now. Why wasn't she mad? Why wasn't she the easy to read person she was before? Those were the questions running through Lexa's mind. But she couldn't let her see it was getting to her. So she also had her emotionless expression on. Two can play that game.

"What?!" Marian said looking at Zalia. She stood up out of frustration and continued "You can't be serious! She betrayed us!". Zalia stood up and faced her "She is the Commander of the 12 clans. Either we accept or we will be at war. The clans won't give us peace or freedom if they see us as enemies. You know this."

"We can win the war!" Marian said furious. "We did all of this to prevent a war!" Zalia looked at her just as mad. This was the first time any of them had seen her have any emotion after that night at the mountain. Everyone was dead silent after that and Zalia took a breath as Marian walked out the office still very angry. Zalia looked at Lexa  "I apologize for my sister, Commander." Lexa nodded, understanding before she stood up. "Meet me in Polis in two days. We will discuss the details of the Underground joining the coalition. I am sure you also have your conditions, as I have mine." Zalia nodded looking at Lexa while Osias and Echo stood up as well. "Let me accompany you outside, Heda." Osias spoke up, breaking the brief moment between Lexa and Zalia. Lexa nodded and walked out the office with Osias, leaving Echo and Zalia behind.

"What do you think?" Zalia looked at Echo while she asked. Echo sighed and looked back at her. "This was the whole point of the plan. It's gonna be a challenge but this is the way." Zalia nodded looking drained and tired. "Will they accept us?" She looked at Echo with concern in her eyes. "They have no choice. They fear us." Echo smiled a bit and grabbed Zalia's good shoulder to reassure her. Zalia nodded "Then pack up. We're going to Polis."

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Hello everyone! I am very surprised and happy about the response you've had to the story. Thank you so much for all the votes, comments and reads. I appreciate you a lot. This all started as a way of me to share the short stories I made up in my mind while watching my favorite show and now you all have me thinking about continuing this book and which ways I can make it more interesting and fun for you all to read. Which is very exciting and makes me very happy because I can spend more time in this post apocalyptic world that I love so much. So thank you! I apologize for taking so long between the past chapter and this one. I actually am a professional photographer and sometimes I have a tooooon of work. Which makes it impossible for me to write every single day (sometimes weeks). So I appreciate your patience and I am very thankful for your support even when I might be a bit slow sometimes. Sending each and every single one of you a big hug.