Through The Eyes Of Another

Part 2: Waiting

Abigail Griffin was pacing, had been pacing for days now. Ever since Markus had left she hadn't known a moment of peace. The past month had been hard. Restructuring the Council, reorganizing the guard. Both had suffered gaping holes in the past year and needed to be filled if they wanted to be safe here on the ground. The ground. Being here still felt surreal. Every time the sun rose in the morning, it was a small miracle. Fighting to survive the rest of the day was too. It was the hardest part to grasp really. Discovering that they were not the last of mankind, that Earth was viable to lifeforms, the possibility of a new life, a bright future. Overwhelmed would be an understatement. It sounded  like one of those farfetched Old Earth Sci Fi stories she loved so much as a kid. 

But the flip side was that finding those kids they send down here so long ago, decades it seemed, were reduced to zero. Nobody had hope anymore. Most had declared her insane when she made the proposal to the board but she needed closure, they all did. Thankfully those who had a child in the skybox agreed with her. They just wanted to say goodbye. If she had been perfectly honest, she didn't believe her own crap even for one second. She could care less about saying goodbye, she wanted, no needed, to see her baby again. Clarke was not dead, not until she had held the cold corpse of her only daughter in her own arms. And she would tear apart every grounder who dared to stand in her way.

Quiet murmurings broke out amongst the ones watching the gate. Movement in the trees. Normally it would be ignored, it happens all the time these days, but Kane was due back any minute now and people were getting anxious. As she walked up to the gate to see what was going on, she was joined by Mayor Byrne. "Movement just beyond the tree line ma'am. That's all we know for sure. No more than 25, no less than 15. I wish I could be more precise but they keep moving about, probably for this exact reason." Abby nodded. They'd had grounder activity before, just never this close to camp. If an attack was finally coming they needed to be ready. "Hold your fire until my direct orders. Do not attack unless provoked. Maybe Kane made some friends along the way." Their grim faces showed the likeliness of that ever happening in real life. 

Upon reaching the gate the ones in the trees had stopped moving and seemed to be joined by others before all stepping out in the same heartbeat. A small group broke off and started for the Camp. Even from this far away Chancellor Griffin recognized the mop the colour of dried dirt that was his hair and recognized his gait immediately. "Lower your weapons," She cried," Kane is back!"