WILD HEART • COMMANDER LEXA [1]

xi. ANIMAL

"You're gonna burn just like your friend." He muttered, pulling Murphy closer.

The sky boy paused for a moment, clenching his jaw. He then whipped around, crashing his fist against his opponent's cheekbone, mercilessly attacking him.

Chaos ensued, and soon the entire room was engulfed in a fight. Grounder versus sky person, as it had been since the hundred first landed.

Erica moved to the sidelines, trying her best to avoid the violence, fearing losing self control.

She watched as her people fought with the grounders, screaming and shouting at one another. Erica marveled at the sight. The last members of the human race were at each other's throats.

There was next to no hope for peace, and their pride would be the death of them all.

Shortly after the situation in the conference room, Erica had found Clarke, and the two made their way to a meeting they'd planned with Lexa.

They had arrived, allowing a grounder to usher them into the room they had been in when they had their first dinner with the Commander and her people, before Erica was tortured for Gustus' mistakes.

They had spend hours pouring over solutions to their Mount Weather predicament, and they were getting nowhere.

A round table was set in between them all, crumpled up maps and failed plans lie before them.

"This argument is a waste of time!" Quint, a grounder, shouted at the others in the room. "It is simple. If they cannot breathe our air, why not just open the door and be done with it? Let them burn."

"We've been over this, that was our first thought." Erica ran her hands through her hair anxiously. "They have a containment system. It's not as easy as it sounds. Plus, there are innocent people in there."

"They have multiple air locks, just like we had on the Ark. Our inside man can shut that down." Clarke added, turning to face Quint.

"If he gets inside," He countered.

"What if we shut it down from the outside?" Lexa offered. "You say the dam gives them power, let's take that away."

"That dam withstood a nuclear war, Commander." Clarke shook her head. "I highly doubt-"

Clarke was cut off by Quint slamming his hands on the table, shouting indistinctly. Erica flinched.

"All she offers is no," He growled, lowering his head like an animal.

"Quint," Lexa spoke sternly, her eyes low and her tone strong.

"Apologies, Commander." Quint straightened up and stepped back. "But the biggest army we have ever had waits for us to give it a mission. The longer that takes, the more of our people die inside that mountain."

"We have people in there too," Erica's eyes were soft, as well as her voice. "We all want the same thing."

"We've lost thousands!" He snapped, stepping towards Erica as she moved away from him. "How many have you lost, girl? They say they have a plan. I say waiting for one man to get inside is not a very good one."