𝐒𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐀 「 B. BLAKE¹」

⋅⋆ xxiii.

   The ground had won, it had taken everything from her.

   "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice scratchy. "Are you still working?"

   "I'm okay," he nodded. He'd always been okay, he was Cleo's rock. "What about you? Are you okay?"

   The question made her eyes well up with tears all over again. All the tears she'd been holding back for the past week, all the memories of watching people die and having to bury her friends. No, she was not okay — but her dad had enough to deal with.

   "Yeah, I'm fine." The lie was becoming so repetitive, but maybe if she said it enough, she'd believe it.

   The Wendell's shared a look with each other, happy to see each other's faces and sad that their family wasn't complete. Cleo's heart was so heavy that she felt empty, like her body was just a hollow shell of what used to be.

   "Uh, I should go — there are a ton of people who want to say hello," she said. "I love you, dad."

   "I love you too, little grace," he replied with a loving smile and sad eyes.

  She blew him a kiss before taking off the headset and wiping her cheeks, drying them as best she could before leaving the tent.

   Her mom was dead. Her mother was gone. She'd never get to see her again, she'd never get to hug her or ask for advice or roll her eyes at her insane advice to being a good leader; and mostly, she never got to apologize or say goodbye.

   She nodded to the next person in line and took in a shaky breath. Her mind was numb and every thought running through her head was a mix of regret and self-destruction.

   Her mom, the strongest woman she'd ever known, had died. She had sacrificed herself in the culling to save the citizens of the ark and she thought she was going to see her daughter on the other side.

S .  he let out the breath she was holding and looked around, taking in her surroundings. Her eyes caught Bellamy and Clarke by the ration bin, holding bags and packing like they were going for a trip. Just as she was about to avert her gaze, Clarke looked up at her and met her gaze.

   Her eyes watered again and she turned around, blinking hard to stop the tears from flowing. After a couple of deep breaths, she turned around prepared to go back into the ship to help whoever needed help.

   Instead, Clarke stood in front of her, Bellamy a few paces behind.

   "Are you busy?" She asked quickly like she had some place to be. Cleo shook her head in response and Clarke handed her a bag. "Congratulations, you get a field trip with me today."

   The statement was dry, but she could see in Clarke's crystal eyes that the other girl knew. She didn't know specifics or what'd happen, but she knew. She understood what she was going through and that was enough.

   Cleo took the backpack from her old friend and swung it onto her back, buckling the straps around her waist.

   "I thought you said you didn't want to be around anyone you liked," Bellamy mumbled, striding past them to open the gates.

   "Who said I liked Cleo?" She asked, shooting Cleo a quick wink behind his back.

   She smiled at the remark, keeping her head down as Clarke opened up a map, leading them out of camp. The trio headed off into the woods, staying silent and watching for grounders. Clarke led them through the trees expertly, reading her map like she'd been doing it all her life.

   "We're headed to a depot that's supposed to have supplies," Clarke explained to her, folding up the map and tucking it under her arm. "Hopefully it'll have some food or something else to last us through the cold."