Our People (the Third Book of the Her Weakness series)

Chapter 68

Clarke's POV

Menelaus leads the way with Raven only a few feet behind him, practically dancing the whole way. I've only seen her this happy with Octavia. Speaking of Octavia, she's staying near Raven but far enough away that she won't get hit by her flying limbs.

Menelaus stops in front of large double doors that extend nearly to the ceiling (so about ten feet high). He glances at Raven, who's bouncing on the balls of her feet like an excitable puppy, and sighs. He takes a key out of his pocket and unlocks one of the doors.

I can see a bit past him. The room is lit up by sunlight coming through the clear ceiling. It's huge, and full of rows and rows of technology extending up to the ceiling (which is even higher than the doors).

Menelaus opens the door wide enough for us to get in and Raven pauses a yard or so into the storage room.

Raven's mouth drops open and her eyes light up brighter than the fireworks she set off the last time we were here. She takes it all in and lets out a quiet but clearly audible sexual moan.

"I'm in heaven." Raven states, wiping a but of drool from her lips.

She rushes over to a row, carefully bit excitedly digging through everything. She pulls out a rectangular box and gasps.

"Oh float me. Look, it's a microwave! And it's in perfect condition!"

Raven sees something through the row and sets down the microwave as carefully as if it were her own child. She skips over and I'm pretty sure I see her wipe a tear from her eyes.

"Guys. Guys come here. Holy crap. Oh float me." Raven says, her voice a few pitches lower than usual. "I can die happy now." We walk over, keeping a distance between us and her. "Look. It's a fucking bazooka. Oh my god."

Oh no.

"Bazooka?" Menelaus asks from behind Lexa, Octavia, and me.

"Yeah." Raven strokes it and then picks it up, cradling it gently. We all take an automatic step back. Even Lexa does, and I'm pretty sure she has no idea what it is either. "It's so beautiful. See, it shoots a bomb from here." She taps the barrel, and I'm really glad it's not pointed at us. This is so dangerous. "And then BOOM." She yells, making us jump. "Freaking obliterated. This is going to be my new baby. I'm going to fix you right up, don't you worry."

And now she's talking to it.

"Tinker with it in here." I suggest. "And try not to explode."

Raven hums in understanding, but is focused on the bazooka in her arms. "I'm going to have to test you before we use you against anything. Oh this is going to be awesome. With the stuff in here I could build fifty of you."

I pale at that. "Maybe don't do that. This stuff could be useful for other things."

Raven sighs and nods. "Fine. Okay. I'm going to need a few tables in here and a chair to start."

"I will have someone bring that for you immediately." With that, Menelaus flees from the room. Smart move.

Raven, still holding the bazooka, looks at stuff in the rows while humming happily. She walks over to one and then shifts the bazooka so she's holding it with just one hand. She picks up a small device with a screen and turns it on.

Music starts coming out of it and she starts dancing with the bazooka as her partner, twirling around. She moves to another row and sings quietly. She picks up two things and tosses them at Lexa and I. We catch them and I relax when I notice that it's not anything that explodes. I think. You never know around Raven.

"Binoculars to help with your stalking." Raven explains, pretending the bazooka is a guitar when the guitar solo in the song starts.

"It's not stalking." I sigh, flinching whenever it's pointed in my direction. "We're going to be observing our enemy."

"Potato, tomato." Raven waves a hand dismissively.

"That's not even the saying." I murmur under my breath.

"We should start planning, Clarke." Lexa says. I nod and then Lexa turns to focus on Raven. "Be safe."

"Don't worry, I'll give her the safety talk." Octavia says.

"But babe..." Raven whines.

"No excuses." Octavia crosses her arms and Lexa and I start making our way out.

"Can we at least have sex afterwards?" Raven asks. I did not need to hear that.

"Only if you put down the bazooka."

Raven groans and relents. "Fine. Give me your boring safety speech."

Octavia starts talking and I know that despite her protests, Raven is listening (she always listens to Octavia). Lexa and I get out of their earshot and watch some guards carry four tables and two chairs toward the storage room.

Lexa and I walk to our living room and sit on the couch. The map is spread out in front of us on the table.

"These Noukru are either idiots or do not know anything about strategic places to build a base." Lexa muses, pointing at the dot. "Look, they are not just on low land, they are on low land with higher ground all around them. It is the perfect place if you want to be ambushed. It will be easy to hide in plain sight."

I take that in. "We should wear white." Lexa looks at me, confused so I elaborate. "To blend in with the snow. It'll make it harder for them so see us. We should probably paint the binoculars white, as well."

Lexa nods, smiling proudly at me. She leans in for a quick kiss and then we refocus, cuddling even closer than before. With that figured out, we talk about what we should bring tomorrow when we start observing them. It takes us an hour to get everything ready and into a backpack (one for each of us).

We're ready for tomorrow.

This was an incredibly fun chapter to write, especially Raven's parts! Thank you so much for reading and your support! Stay awesome!