Two days had passed since Greer had been killed. Two days had passed since Bellamy had left. 

The remaining group of us who had stayed in Sanctum had regrouped to the best of our abilities. Wonkru had been awoken, as had the Eligius prisoners, meaning Sanctum was bustling with more activity than it could handle. 

A handful of us had found refuge in a beautiful farmhouse that had originally been built for Simone. It was spacious and comfortable, allowing each of us our own room while still keeping us together. 

But it was only temporary. 

Our plan was to help rebuild what we destroyed in Sanctum before building our own compound. We needed somewhere for all of us to live...and it couldn't be here. 

Despite the hope that was on the horizon, I couldn't shake the despair that had settled in my chest. It had been rooted there for the past two days. 

Greer had been laid to rest one day ago, and while Raven held onto my hand as a show of support, I wished I had Bellamy with me. 

For the past two nights I had gone to sleep alone, my thoughts given way to all the horror that I had seen. 

Sleep was the worst. 

I hadn't truly slept alone in years. If it hadn't been Bellamy next to me, I was always surrounded by people in one way or another. 

The first night in the house, I laid awake for hours, afraid that if I closed my eyes I would see something worse than reality. 

Raven had slept in my room the next night, somehow knowing how much I was struggling. I think she was struggling too and I provided her as much comfort as she provided me. 

But now as the midday sun crept through the window,  I was alone once again. 

Quietly, I sat on the edge of my bed, my eyes fixated on the piece of paper in my hands. 

It was one of the paintings Greer had made for Bellamy and I. It had been the one thing I was sure to grab from our room in the tavern before we moved out here. Who knew that a child I barely knew for a fortnight could mean so much to me. 

A quiet knock at the door caused me to look up. "Come in." My voice was hollow and quiet from going too long without saying anything. 

The door creaked open and Murphy quickly poked his head in. "Lunch is ready." 

I glanced over at him, still clutching onto Greer's painting as I nodded. "I'll be there in a minute. Thanks, John."

Despite my efforts to dismiss him, Murphy pushed the door all the way open and stepped inside before quietly shutting it behind him. 

My eyes remained trained on the painting as he silently took a seat next to me on the bed. Minutes passed of complete silence, as if he was expecting me to speak first. 

Finally, he gave in. "I know you're hurt, Collins, but you've gotta stop holing up in here."

I kept my gaze focused downward as I shrugged. "I'm not holing up in here."

"I've barely seen you in the past two days."

"I've been busy." It was party true. I had been helping with our clean up mission, but when I wasn't doing that I was mostly hidden away in my bedroom. 

A sigh fell from lips. "Come on, Avery, don't do this to yourself. You're one of the strongest people out there. If you can make it through losing your brother, you can make it through this."

For the first time since he sat down next to me, I looked over at Murphy. "It's not just about losing Greer." I rasped out, lightly running my finger over the dried paint. "I'm losing hope."

Murphy fell silent for a moment. "I know things didn't go according to plan here, but we're getting a chance to start over. This new compound will be our fresh start. Bellamy will be back before you know it and all will be right in the world."

I shook my head. "I wish I could believe that."

Before Murphy could respond, the door swung open for the second time. This time, it was Emori who appeared in the doorway. "You guys coming?"

Looking to Murphy, I gave him a small nod. Giving me a wide grin, he grabbed my hand and yanked me up from the bed. 

Emori smiled at the two of us as we joined her in the hallway. "You okay?" 

Forcing a smile onto my face, I gave her a small nod. "Just hungry."

As we entered the kitchen, the smell of soup and bread filled my nostrils. I couldn't deny that I was starving. I had skipped far too many meals in the last two days. 

Raven stood by the kitchen island, scooping the soup into bowls while she hummed quietly to herself. 

Upon our arrival, she looked up and let out a sigh. "There you three are."

"Sorry, Rave." I muttered, giving her a small smile as Emori and Murphy took their bowls. "Anything I can help with?"

She nodded. "Here, you can finish dishing up while I cut more bread." Looking to the other two, she tilted her head toward the outside. "The others are sitting outside. Just waiting on a few."

The two of them soon made their leave, leaving Raven and I alone for a moment. Silently, I scooped the soup into the remaining bowls. 

"We're headed back to the compound after this?" I assumed, not looking over at her as she cut the bread. 

"Yeah." She breathed. "Kind of scared to see how things are going."

I let out a small laugh. "Technically, you'd think many hands make light work...but I think we're it's going opposite of that right now."

The sound of the front door opening caused our conversation to fall dormant. I looked up from what I was doing, my eyes landing on Indra who was making her way toward us. 

She gave Raven and I a stiff smile. "Have you seen Gaia?"

"Last I saw she was outside." Raven answered. 

As if on cue, the sound of footsteps creaking against the floorboards filled the house one again. This time it was Gaia, Clarke and Madi making their way toward the kitchen, Picasso the dog close behind. 

I felt myself smile slightly at the look of Madi. It was good to see her back to herself...she looked healthy once again. I knew that removing the Flame from her head had been a risky procedure, but it had been necessary to rid the girl of Sheidheda. 

Picasso bounded toward Raven and I, causing me to let out a laugh as I dropped to my knees to pet her. "Hey, Picasso." I greeted, scrubbing behind her ears. 

"Heda," Indra greeted.

I stood once again, still petting Picasso with a free hand as I passed a bowl to Madi. 

"If you don't mind," Indra started looking toward Madi once again. "You're needed somewhere else."

The young girl's face fell as she set down her bowl of soup, upset that her lunch plans had potentially just been derailed. 

"Where?" Clarke wondered. 

Indra looked to the blonde. "We've been here two days, and Wonkru has yet to see her."

"Mother, don't be so dramatic." Gaia chastised. "Go on, Madi. Eat your lunch. It's okay."

Madi looked between the mother and daughter pair for a moment before making her leave, calling for Picasso to follow after her. 

Once we were sure she was gone, Raven looked to Clarke. "She seems okay."

"She is."

"She will be." Gaia corrected her mother. "There's never been an ex-Commander before. We don't know how having the Flame removed will affect her. Not to mention being taken over by--"

"Sheidheda's gone." Indra asserted. 

Raven set down the bread knife. "Are we sure about that?"

Everyone's face clouded in shock at Raven's doubt. There weren't very many instances in which Raven doubted her abilities. 

"He's gone." she covered. "I didn't mean--I-I would just feel better if I knew where that code ended up, that's all."

Clarke nodded. "Then on your supply run to the mothership, you, Avery and Emori can search the computer again. It won't get past all three of you."

"Meanwhile," she started, looking at the group of us. "We need to establish a routine. Not just for Madi, but for all of us. Sanctum is broken and it's our job to put it back together. If we focus on that, we'll be okay."

I wish that what Clarke was saying was true, but I couldn't focus on anything but the fact that Bellamy, Octavia and Echo were out in the woods somewhere. I should have gone with them. 

"Avery, stop." Clarke ordered. "I know exactly what you're thinking."

Looking over at her, I leaned against the counter. "If they're not back by the end of the week, I'm going after them."

She nodded. "And I'm coming with you. But for right now, let's just focus on fixing what we broke."

Reluctantly, I gave in, giving her a small nod as I passed a bowl of soup to Gaia. She took it with a gracious smile. 

"One of us needs to represent the Commander." Indra announced before sticking her hand out. "And I'm hungry."

Gaia let out a defeated sigh as she rolled her eyes, slowly turning to hand her mother the bowl of soup. With one more withering glare in Indra's direction, Gaia was stomping from the room. 

I watched with an amused expression as Indra quirked a brow at us before taking her soup and making her way outside. 

"Mother's and daughters." Raven mused, as I passed a bowl to Clarke. 

I felt my heart clench slightly as Clarke's face flickered with reminder.  Raven let out a saddened gasp. "Clarke, I'm so--"

"It's okay." Clarke assured as she gave two of us a forced smile. "Let's go eat."

As she disappeared outside, Raven looked over to me. "I'm horrible."

"No you're not." I argued as I passed her a bowl. "Trust me, I'm sure Clarke would rather you act normally, not skirt around what happened."

Sighing, Raven gave me a small nod. "Let's get get outside. Everyone's waiting."

The two of us walked down to the grassy yard where the rest of our group was sitting. As we approached, I couldn't help but feel a pang for all those missing. 

The group seemed to be in conversation about why we weren't staying in the palace as Raven and I neared. I caught the tail end of Indra's explanation- we didn't want to come across as conquerors. 

Chatter had died down as Raven and I took a seat. Me next to Murphy, and Raven on the other side of me.

Clearing her throat, Raven held up her bowl. "To absent friends." 

Niylah held up her glass. "And departed ones."

"To Abby." Miller dedicated. 

I watched Clarke's face tighten slightly as everyone held up either their bowls or glasses. "To Abby."

The collective effervescence soon ended when Jackson lunged forward and knocked the glass aggressively out of Murphy's hand. 

I gasped, the cold liquid covering my face. "Hey!"

"What the hell is your problem, man?" Murphy demanded, looking to Jackson with a furrowed brow. 

Jackson's eyes were teary. "I'm sorry. But I'm not just going to sit here while he drinks to the woman that he got killed."

The mood instantly darkened even more than before. It was clear that many held animosity toward Emori and Murphy for what had happened in regards to Daniel and Kaylee Prime...but they had saved our lives in the end.

Murphy shook his head, and he looked genuinely hurt that he was being accused of such an atrocity. "I didn't know what Russell was going to do." When Jackson refused to look at him, he turned to Clarke. "Okay, Clarke-I- You've gotta believe me. I didn't know."

"I believe you." Clarke assured. 

She then looked to the entire group. "Dwelling on the past is not gonna get this compound running and it won't get our compound built."

I glanced over at Jackson, wiping my face as I noted he refused to look at any of us. I understood he was hurting, but this wasn't what we all needed. 

"We can't turn on each other." I announced as I finally managed to get all of the juice off of my face. "Turning against our friends isn't going to bring back the people we lost."

My voice had gone slightly quieter as I thought of all those we lost. For me, it started with my brother...and sometimes it felt like it was never going to end. Watching my friends die one by one, it was horrible. 

But that just meant that I needed to lean on those I still had. They were my support, as I was theirs...leaning on each other was the only way to get through all of this.

"Avery's right." Clarke agreed. "Now, everyone eat up. We have a long day ahead of us."

-an-

first chapter of season 7 woooo

I hope you're all excited!