Chapter 1
„Woods! Get your head down!!!“
Lincoln jumped and pushed Lexa to the ground and behind what was left of their humvee. A hail of bullets hit the spot where she had been standing only a second ago.
Lexa growled. “Get off me!”
“Damn it, Lexa! If you want yourself to get killed, go for it, but not as long as I am here. You are supposed to have my back.”
She growled again, but she knew he was right. She was supposed to have his back, but she clearly wasn’t doing a good job. Their driver was dead and her head was still ringing from when the car had hit the mine and flipped over twice. Who could have expected a fucking landmine in the middle of the ruins of a town?
She got into a crouching position and tried to get a good look at the shooter. He was up on what was left of the wall that had once been securing the little village. Now everything was blown to pieces. He shot at them again.
There was blood on her head and she was possibly concussed, but she had to focus now. This place, this sand pit, wouldn’t be the place she was going to die in. Not that she would have minded dying, but Lincoln was with her and she was responsible for his life.
Another round of bullets.
Lexa grabbed her rifle and put the gun barrel down onto the piece of metal that had once been the driver’s door. She took aim. It was an almost impossible shot.
Breathe in, breathe out.
Almost impossible, but Lexa was a good shot.
Breathe in, breathe out.
A very good shot.
Breathe in, breathe out.
She calmed herself, ignored everything around her and focused on the task at hand. Then she held her breath, counted to three and pulled the trigger.
She heard the shot echo from the walls of the buildings and saw the man fall. She heard Lincoln’s relieved laugh and felt … nothing.
--
“Lex, you want to hang out for a beer?” Monroe stood in the entrance of the tent they were sharing, looking at her.
Lexa didn’t look up and just shook her head. “No, thanks.”
Monroe just shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Lexa lay back on her mattress and closed her eyes. They had come close to being killed two days ago. Why didn’t it shake her more? Oh, who was she kidding? She knew exactly, why it didn’t faze her. She knew.
She sighed. If it hadn’t been for Lincoln … But she would never willingly risk Lincoln’s life. She had promised to get him home alive and she intended to keep her promise.
In ten days they would leave. Ten more days before they would fly home. The only problem was that Lexa had no idea where home was anymore. Sure, she had a very nice apartment, but was that home? Home had been wherever Costia was. But Costia wasn’t there anymore, would never again be there. The tears felt hot on her cheeks.
“Lexa?”
She jumped up and made her best offer to conceal that she’d been crying. Bellamy looked at her and was kind enough not to comment on it.
“Sorry, for disturbing you, but it looks like we have to head out.”
“We do?”
“Yes. We’re supposed to pick up the guy from homeland security in the city. Actually it’s Miller’s turn, but he is a little … incapacitated.”
Lexa laughed. “Is that code for a hangover?”
Bellamy smiled at her.
“Are you coming?”
“Yes. I’ll be right there.”
She took her gear and left the tent only to find Bell and Lincoln already waiting in the car. She got in and Bell started the engine.
“Well, let’s go then.”
The drive into town was short and when they arrived at the place they were supposed to pick up Charles Pike they had some time on their hands. Lexa didn’t like Pike. In her opinion he was a brute and pretty much the most shortsighted person she had ever met. From the way he talked after a few beers it was pretty clear that if it had been up to him he would just carpet bomb every country that he suspected to hide terrorists. Lexa knew things weren’t as black or white as this.
“There he is.”
Lexa looked up and saw Pike step onto the street. He took a look around and saw their car on the other side of the street. He started walking and was almost at the car when something caught Lexa’s eye.
“Did you see that?”
“What?” Lincoln looked at her.
“The flash!”
“What fla…”
The bullets hit Pike from at least two sides. Lexa heard Lincoln scream at Bellamy to start the car, but Bell was about to open the door to get to Pike. A stupid move, because now Lexa and Lincoln had to react. Lexa opened the door, gun drawn and tried to give the men cover. Her problem was that she couldn’t make out the shooters. The place that had been full with people a second ago, now suddenly was empty. She could see people crouching down behind whatever kind of cover they could find.
Bell and Lincoln were at Pike’s side now and pulled him back to the car. Lexa fired every bullet she had left. Lincoln pulled Pike onto the backseat, Bell jumped in the driver’s seat and started the car. Lexa moved around to get to the other side of the car. Her gun was empty now, but it didn’t matter. The car was bulletproof. All she had to do was get inside. It was easy. She just had to get inside.
She heard she shot ring out milliseconds before she was able to close the door. She saw the shock in Bellamy’s eyes as he looked at her and heard Lincoln’s voice telling him to get them out of there. Something was different and it took her a second, before she understood what it was. She looked down and saw the blood oozing from her stomach. That wasn’t how this was supposed to go.
--
Clarke yawned. She had been awake for 24 hours straight and it was finally getting to her. She had ten more days left. In ten days she would go home, hug her mother, meet her friends and sleep for a week straight. Not necessarily in that order.
She was about to lie down and take a nap when one of the nurses knocked on her door.
“Doctor?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, but there’s a helicopter incoming. One wounded and in critical condition.”
Clarke sighed. “I’ll be right there. How long before it arrives?”
“Maybe five minutes.”
“Enough time for a coffee.”
She got up and rubbed her eyes. So much for her beauty sleep.
The helicopter landed four minutes and ten seconds later. Two men jumped out and carried a stretcher inside. When they came closer she gasped.
“Bellamy! Lincoln!”
Both of them stared at her.
“Clarke?”
Bell looked surprised to see her and also not at all like himself. Octavia’s brother had always been the funny one. She had rarely seen him in an overly serious mood, but now he looked … scared.
Lincoln and him both seemed to be fine so Clarke focused on the person on the stretcher and held her breath for a second. It was a woman, probably her own age. Her face was pale, almost white and Clarke instantly knew that she didn’t have much time.
“What happened?”
“There were snipers. They killed the guy we were supposed to pick up and she was shot.”
Clarke motioned for her team to take over and prep the woman for surgery.
“Just the one bullet?”
Lincoln nodded.
“Okay.” She was about to go when the man grabbed her wrist.
“Clarke, she saved our lives. None of us would be standing here if it wasn’t for Lexa.”
Clarke looked at him.
“I will do everything I can.”
--
Being shot hadn’t been as painful as Lexa had thought. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline or because she had passed out quickly, but it hadn’t hurt nearly as much as she had expected. Waking up however was a bitch.
She clenched her teeth and tried to sit up only to fall back again gasping.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She didn’t know that voice. She was pretty sure even if her head felt a little foggy. The voice was nice though, raspy. She liked it despite the fact that it was screaming at her.
She felt two strong hands push her down to the bed and tried to open her eyes which seemed to be impossible. What the hell was going on?
“Lexa! Lexa stop struggling. You need to lie still or you will pull your stitches and I will have to redo them. I am tired and I need to sleep. So, please, rest now.”
What the hell? Lexa tried to relax, but her body felt like someone was pushing a red-hot iron dagger through it. She groaned and heard the voice tell somebody to increase the dosage of the pain killers. A minute later she passed out.
Clarke rubbed her eyes and looked at the woman in front of her. She had managed to extract the bullet and stitch her up. She hadn’t anticipated how strong the woman was though. The dosage of the anesthetic hadn’t nearly been enough to keep her out of it for long. She had to literally hold her down when she was about to wake up to make sure she wouldn’t kill herself. Now Lexa Woods was asleep and Clarke had some time to properly look at her.
How could she have been the one single-handedly saving Bellamy’s and Lincoln’s lives? The boys were fighters, tall and muscular, and she was what? 5 foot 5? It was not like Clarke didn’t think the woman couldn’t hold her own, but right now, lying in this hospital bed she looked so young and fragile.
Clarke sat down on another bed. The woman was beautiful. Clarke smiled. She hadn’t thought of something or someone as beautiful for a long time. She wondered what the color of her eyes might be. She looked at her watch. If the painkillers did their job as expected she would have at least six or seven hours until she’d find out. She smiled again. She told the nurse to call her should anything happen to her patient and went to sleep.