The hours after the radio event were chaos.
Things moved so quickly that Elanor barely had time to process it. A few hours after Elanor had come home, when the public finally put the pieces together and realized what had happened, Vera had left to go to a memorial event for the people who had died. Elanor stayed behind in her quarters. She had curled up on her bed and was attempting to process the events of the past few days, when her father came home.
"What's going on down on the ground?"
"They're still alive. The kids that we sent down. Not all of them, but the ground is safe. Right now, there's a hurricane over their position, but its not something that would be life threatening. We can survive down there"
"So, all the wristbands going dark, that was an error?" Elanor smiled. "Clarke and Wells are still alive down there?"
"Clarke is fine"
"And Wells?"
Her father shook his head.
"What happened?"
He shook his head again, indicating that he didn't know anything more about Wells.
"Does the chancellor know?"
He nodded. Elanor looked at her father. He looked more beaten then she had ever seen him before.
"If I had just waited a few more hours instead of pushing, all those people would still be alive. I'm the reason they're dead"
Without another work, Marcus rushed off to his room, cutting himself off from his daughter. Elanor was left in the deafening silence. She decided to fill the silence, something she guessed her father was doing in his one way. She pulled out a tablet and pulled up old videos. Selecting the ones of her, Clarke, and Wells. She couldn't have been older than 3.
"Alright, is everybody ready?" Jake Griffin's voice came from behind the camera. A chorus of approval giggles came from the kids staring out the window. She could hear the chattering of their parents behind her.
Clarke turned to the camera. "I think shooting stars are beautiful"
"They're very pretty, Clarke" Mrs. Jaha's voice.
"I bet it's going to get really close" 6 year old Wells turned to Elanor. "It's going to get so close that it'll go..."
Wells made a loud sound and jumped toward Elanor. There was a moment of shock on Elanor's face before she began sobbing loudly. Wells turned away from her with a look of "I-didn't-do-it" on his face.
"Wells!" Mrs. Jaha's voice scolded. She reached down and picked Elanor up. "Apologize right now!"
"She won't understand it, why should I?"
The chancellor's voice came from nearby. "Wells Jaha, did I just hear you talk back to your mother?"
"No"
"Apologize now'
"I'm sorry, Elanor"
Elanor seemed to calm down after Wells said that. It wasn't necessarily his words that calmed her, but Mrs. Jaha took it as enough from her soon and let him run off.
"Look, it's coming!"
Clarke's shout brought everyone to the viewing window. She was right. The shooting star passed by the Ark, plenty far enough away for everyone to be safe, but close enough that it was easily the center of attention. For a moment, the room went silent. Everyone stared in silent awe as the lights passed.
The silence was broken by somebody's phone. Adult voices were heard in the background, before multiple pairs of footsteps rushed out the door.
The video ended abruptly.
