Chapter 4
"Okay Octavia I need you to be a brave little warrior for just a little while. Can you do that? " She asked the small girl who was clinging to her so tight it was hard to breath.
"Please don't g-go. Just stay here and we can color and play tic tack game. I promise to be good just please don't leave me too please!" Octavia was begging her.
Clarke could tell the guard was getting inpatient having to wait for her, but she wanted to make sure the young girl would be alright while she was gone.
"Hey, I will be back in no time, then I promise we can do anything you want I promise! " Clarke tried to reassure her .
"O-okay, I will be brave and wait for you to get back. I will be the brave, strong warrior just like in your stories you tell me."
Clarke couldn't help but smile at the girl. She kissed her on the top of the head, then gently put her down on the bed. She gave her one last look before she walked over to the guard and put her hands behind her back so that he can cuff her.
It was a quick walk to the council room. When she entered she noticed she was alone.
'Great he can't even show up on time when this is all his doing' she thought.
About 10 minutes later she was starting to get really irritated because the longer he took meant that she would be away from Octavia longer. He finally showed up about 20 minutes after her and she was pissed.
"Took you long enough." Clarke bit out.
" As I see it Mrs. Griffin you are under no position to complain to me!“
Clarke just rolled her eyes at him. "Okay then chancellor“ Clarke spat. "What is it you want to discuss that's so important?"
Jaha studied the girl for a minute thinking over what he was going to say.
"Me and the council have decided that it is in the best interest of the Ark that we keep quiet about the system flaw in the oxygen tanks. We re-ran the diagnostics on all the systems and came to the conclusion that we have about 5 years left of oxygen."
He looked her in the eye to try to read her reaction.
"Tell me something I don't know! My father already told you that and you killed him for it. He was probably the best chance we had on the machine being fixed!" Clarke raised her voice to him.
"We aren't fixing the machine Clarke. We want to go to ground. It's about time we take back what was once ours. Our scientists think that in a few more years earth should be safe enough and our bodies should have built up enough immunity to be able to survive in the radiation." Jaha said to her.
He can tell that caught her attention. "Earth Clarke hasn't that always been your dream?"
Clarke let out a sigh as she rubbed her face for a moment, thinking about what she just heard.
"So what's the catch? Why are you telling me this?" She asked him.
"Because Clarke I have known you all your life and I'd like to give you a fighting chance" Jaha stated. "You can either waste away alone in solitary until your 18 then be floated. OR you can be our test subject for the exodus."
"You have a choice you can either die a pointless death alone here in space like your father or you can have a chance at survival by being the first one sent to the ground. You could fulfill the promise you made to your father before he was floated and potentially save all of us by going to earth and reporting if it is survivable or not."
Clarke didn't know what to do. This was so much to take in all at once. Die in the black abyss or die on the ground. She has always dreamed of going to earth. She can't even count how many pictures of what she thought it would be like down their or all the stores her dad told her about it before bed.
" When do I have to make my decision? " She quietly asked him. She had so much to think about but the thing holding g her back was little Octavia. She promised the girl she wasn't going anywhere and yet here she was considering being shot out in a drop pod most likely to her death.
"You have two days then I want an answer. We would train you in fighting, first aid and survival skills before we sent you down. So it wouldn't happen right away."
Clarke just nodded to him and asked if she could go back to her room now. When he nodded to the guard she was escorted back to her room and the cuffs taken off. Once the door was closed and locked behind her she saw that Octavia was sound asleep taking a nap. She smiled at the young girl and climbed in bed with her after slipping off her shoes.
"You came back" Octavia mutter still mostly asleep
"I told you I would my little warrior. Now get some rest then we will play.
"Okay Princess" said the girl before she quickly fell back to sleep.
Clarke couldn't sleep she was to busy thinking over everything Jaha had said to her. 'What am I supposed to do? ' Clarke sighed while looking out the port hole. It had a perfect view of earth right now and she couldn't help thinking about how beautiful it most likely was down there.
Clarke was pulled outta her thoughts when she felt Octavia cuddle closer to her chest and start to let out little soft snores. Clarke smiled a small smile then cuddled into her and fell asleep.