The One Who's Fallen

Chapter 59

The girl continues trembling as she leads me through the compound. Hopefully, she's not leading me into a trap. I don't really want to kill her.

"What's your name?" I ask, curious.

"Maya." She answers, her voice shaky.

"I'm Clarke. Now I want one more thing from you other than Lexa. Either make me or find me a map of this place."

"There should be a map or something near the cages. I can get it for you when we get there." Maya stammers out, trying to sound strong.

"Mochof (thank you). How much farther is it?"

"Just past that turn. We have to go left."

We go left when we reach it and my jaw tenses when I see an old man with a guard on either side of him. The guards have guns. I keep Maya in front of me and she whimpers in fear. The old man looks calm and is holding himself like he's in charge. He doesn't seem too concerned about how Maya has a shard of glass to her throat.

"Did you know about this? Did you lead me into a trap?" I growl in her ear.

"No, no I swear! I had no idea they'd be here!" She gasps out pleadingly.

"Why don't you set down your weapon?" The old man suggests.

Okay, it seems like he wants to talk but I'm really not in the mood. Lexa's in there somewhere in a fucking cage like she's some wild animal and I'm not letting anything or anyone stop me from getting her the heck out of there.

"Why don't you set down yours?" I retort.

The guards have their weapons pointed at me, and with a wave of the old man's hand, they stop pointing it at me. They're still holding them and are giving me death glares, but at least I don't have to worry about a stray bullet.

"I have a proposition to you..." He trails off for a moment, frowning. "What is your name?"

He doesn't deserve to know, but I don't want to start an argument about that. Lexa could be injured or scared (though she would never admit either one except to me) and right now I can't do crap about it.

"Clarke." I say.

"Clarke." He nods. "I have a proposition for you. Stay."

"What?" I ask incredulously. Surely I heard him wrong.

"Stay with us. You will be safe here, away from the savages. Away from war, and hunger. You won't have to fight to survive. I've heard about your prowess in art. Here you could hone that ability. What do you say?" He has a kind, large smile on his face.

"Why yes, I would love to stay with the people who kidnapped me and my girlfriend." I say sarcastically. "Now let us through or I'll cut her throat."

He frowns, seeming to understand that he won't be able to sway me. There's something in his eyes that tells me that somehow I messed up. Wait. Crap, I told him that Lexa and I are dating. Hopefully she won't mind.

"Very well. Just know that the door to your girlfriend is just beyond this one. That door will lock behind you and there is no exit. You will be stuck, Clarke."

"Then I'll leave Maya outside that door. I'll figure it out." I say, sounding more confident than I feel.

He purses his lips but step back, away from the door. "This is not wise."

I ignore him and gently push Maya to get her moving again. She squeaks and complies. I glare at the old guy as we walk past, one of his guards holding the door open for us. Once that door closes behind us, I take the shard from where it's been resting against her neck (I've made sure to stay away from her carotid artery so I don't accidentally nick her). She gasps, surprise in her expression.

"So that door will lock behind me?" I ask, pointing to the door on the other end of the hall.

"Yes."

"Alright. Is that where the map is, too?" She nods. "Tell me where." Maya hesitates. "I won't bring you in there and leave you. Just tell me where to find a map. After I go in, you can head back out."

"You're not going to kill me?" She asks in a small, scared voice.

"Your people are the killers, not mine."

Maya purses her lips but doesn't deny it. "There's one pinned up on the wall. It's pretty big, but it's detailed and shouldn't be too hard to pull off. It's above a workstation in there that hasn't been used in years."

"Thank you." I say and begin walking. When I reach the end of the hallway and pull open the door, Maya calls out.

"Wait!" I turn to look at her. "There's doors that look like they lead to an elevator, but it leads to where they dump the bodies and clothes. The chute will lead to the tunnels with Reapers in them." She takes a breath. "For what it's worth, I hope you find her."

Huh. I guess not all Maunon are evil. I give her a thankful smile and go inside, the door shutting behind me and I can hear the lock automatically click.

My mouth drops open slightly in horror when I see what's here. I thought they had a few dozen of us maximum, but there's easily a thousand. There are cages everywhere, stacked two high and they're barely big enough for someone to sit up straight. My eyes fill with tears but I blink them away.

I approach the first row of cages closest to the door, alarmed at how quiet everyone is. They eye me warily.

"Where's Lexa?" I ask.

"I will not tell you, Maunon scum." A woman spits at my feet.

"I'm not a Maunon, beja (please)." I beg. "I have to find her."

"Roya," another voice calls from a few rows away. "Does she have golden hair and blue eyes?"

"Sha!" She yells back.

"Come here, sky girl. Third row."

I rush over, falling to my knees before the cage where Lexa is. She's on the bottom row. I wondered why she didn't call for me herself, but now I have my answer. She's passed out and leaning back against the bars, her face to me. She's pale and dressed in white clothes that only just cover her chest and pelvis.

"Lexa." I choke out.

Hey! So I know some of you are going to be worried about this ending of the chapter, so I just want to remind you that I won't kill them! Thank you all for reading and for your lovely comments! Stay awesome!