We're in this together, no matter what

Chapter 34

Cages pov
"It's about time, Lieutenant." I said as Emerson arrived
"Yes, sir." He said
"Brief me on the forty-four."
"I have soldiers going from room to room. It's only a matter of time."
"So, you have nothing."
"Yes, sir."
"Those kids are the key to everything, Lieutenant. And forty-four people don't just vanish inside of a sealed bunker."
"They could if they had enough help."
My father?"
"It's unclear, sir. But he's not the only one with moral reservations about what we've done to survive."
"What they don't realize is that those kids are dangerous. They irradiated an entire level." I said
"I agree, sir. And now that level five has been decontaminated, we can tell the truth about that. Those kids killed ten of our soldiers. We can use that to flush them out."
"Do it."
"Yes, sir."
"Now let's talk about the outside threat. Look at them. Her entire army stopped just outside the veil's range. Why?"
"They're learning, sir. I told you this commander was different."
"What's she gonna do? Wait us out? We've been safe down here for ninety-seven years. She's gonna lose patience, and when she does, deploy the fog."

Clarkes pov
"What if we're wrong and cutting the power doesn't disengage the locks?" I asked
"You people said it will. You should rest, Clarke." Lexa said
"We could blow the doors manually."
"Plans don't last very long in battle. Tiring yourself with questions already asked and answered is a waste of energy."
"People died for this, Lexa. It has to work."
"You're doing what I did when I first took command. We can't move forward and it's giving you too much time to think. Once Bellamy shuts down the acid fog and the battle beings, everything will be clear."
What if he can't? What if it was too dangerous and I sent him in there anyway?"
"You care about him."
"I care about all of them."
"But you worry about him more."
"I couldn't have kept us alive all this time without him. We need him. And now I might be the one who gets him killed."
"That's what it means to be a leader, Clarke. The truth is, we must look into the eyes of our warriors and say, 'go die for me'."
If only it were that easy. Can we please just get back to the plan?"
"No. You could be a leader your people look to. Pour their hopes and dreams into. Someone they would fight and die for." Lexa said
"I never asked for that. I'm just trying to keep us alive."
"You were born for this, Clarke. Same as me."

Ravens pov
"Bellamy. Come in." I said through the radio.
"Yeah, I'm a little busy here, Raven."
"You missed check-in. Did you find the source of the acid fog yet?"
"I'm making my way there now. It's taking longer than I thought."
"I don't know enough to crack it on this end. You gotta give me something."
"I'm working on it. Something's wrong." Bellamy said
"What?" I asked
"My key card isn't working."
"That's not good."
I need to find another way in. I'll call you back."
"I've been summoned? Really?" Wick said coming to me
"Yeah. Thanks. I need your help on this acid fog deal. Bellamy will radio again when he gets eyes on the dispersal system, but I want to talk it through first. I think-- what's funny?" I said when I noticed wick laughing
"Oh, come on. It's a banner day. You gotta see that. Raven Reyes asking for help? It's one for the history books." Wick said
"Never mind. I'll do it on my own."
"Hey. Joke. Humor. It's just what I do."
"There are a thousand Grounders camped in the woods waiting to go get my friends, and they can't move because-- because I can't figure this out."
"Hey. No one could. It's a tough ask, not without more data. Okay. So, they make fog that melts people. What are we talking? Nucleation? Oh, please tell me it's Brownian diffusion. I'll have you know I was a god a fluid dynamics."
"You think you were a god at everything."
"Empirical evidence doesn't lie. All right. Let's get out stoichiometry on."