eighteen . . . last of the human race
( april 26, 2156 — the wasteland )

          FOR ONLY BEING the proclaimed Commander of Wonkru for an estimated five hours, Madi's plan was the best they had had so far. After Gaia presented her with emblem, Madi gathered Wonkru's strongest warriors and explained the plan: the rover, accompanied by Bellamy, Sloan, Echo, Murphy, and Emori, would lead the way into the gorge and draw out then blow up McCreary's cannons with the stolen firepower, while Cullen, Octavia, and Madi marched with the remaining members of Wonkru into Shallow Valley.

As everyone readied themselves to go, a line of black war paint streaked between their eyebrows, Cullen found Sloan after prepping the wounded to be transported. He was lingering by the rover, talking in hushed tones with Echo when Cullen arrived, looking between the two friends with a silent request for the gingery blond man's attention.

"I'll go find Murphy and Emori." Echo announced, barely meeting Cullen's eyes as she walked past her and towards the emptied tents.

Cullen's neck craned to watch her leave before her eyes returned to Sloan's. "What was that about?"

"We were just talking about how this reminds us of the time we were marching on Skaikru for our King. You had the firepower but we had the resilience."

"You also had prisoners." Cullen noted, and grinned at the memory of Sloan holding a sword to her throat. "You were very fond of threatening my life in situations like that."

Sloan's hands reached for Cullen's hips and brought her body flush against his own, face burrowing into her neck. "Oh, how times have changed." He commented in a muffled tone, his stubble tickling the exposed skin on her neck. After sufficiently releasing a laugh from her lips, Sloan pulled back with a large grin stretched across his face, eyes glistening down to his girlfriend. "You ready to go?"

"I'm marching with Octavia and Madi." She said, and instantly regretted it. "Sloan—"

"We said we'd never split up again." He reminded her, hands falling limply from her hips.

"I'm gonna be right behind you." Stated Cullen, hands gripping the sides of Sloan's face to keep his eyes attached to hers. "Hey, we're not splitting up. As soon as you're done with the rover, we'll be in the Valley together."

"It still means I'm not gonna be with you." Sloan muttered in disposition. "You could get shot again, or something worse."

"Nothing's gonna happen to either of us." She reinforced, wrapping her arms around his neck and bringing him in for a tight embrace — it took him a few seconds before he caved and circled his arms around her middle, holding her securely. "We're gonna get to that valley, get Gracie, and we're gonna be fine."

It was Sloan's turn to not completely believe Cullen's words. He had went through hell and back when in Shallow Valley the first time, and the only thing that pulled him through the torture was the thought of establishing a secure home for the woman he loved; it was known by everyone that Sloan would do absolutely anything for Cullen Vander, whether she asked him to do it or not. He loved her enough to put his life on the line time and time again, but the thought of something happening to her was incomprehensible to the man who had never felt true love before the woman situated in his arms — Sloan wasn't afraid to admit Cullen was his entire life.

But then Sloan thought of the other light in his life: Gracie Blake. He loved that little girl more than life itself, and if he had to choose between her or her Mother, he'd pick Gracie. It didn't have to be established between Sloan and Cullen for him to pick her daughter, because he would do it anyway, but God forbid he stood in the way of Cullen choosing Gracie.

Sloan nodded his head in agreement to Cullen marching instead of going with him, and moved to trail a line of kisses from the crown of her hair, down past her temple and jaw, and to the small scar he had inflicted onto her neck all those years ago — he kissed it tenderly, and muttered an 'I love you' against the soft skin before he pulled away.

"I love you, too." Cullen smiled, squeezing Sloan's body one last time before detaching herself from him. "I'll be right behind you, watching your ass, like always."

"Realistically or metaphorically?" Sloan lazily teased, grinning when Cullen pushed him into the back of the rover, the woman bidding him goodbye before making her way to the front of the march.

As she appeared from the back of the rover, her smile too large for the situation they were in, Cullen's eyes fell on Bellamy, who was standing by the drivers door, face glumly watching her as he accidentally listened in on their conversation. She stopped starkly on her way to the front, repentant eyes flickering between Bellamy's.

"I didn't know you were there." She admitted, biting back the guilt that didn't need to be there.

Bellamy shook his head and pushed his shoulder off of the vehicle. "No. I should've walked away when I heard you guys talking."

Then why didn't you, Cullen thought to herself as she tried desperately to ignore the wounded look marking Bellamy's features. "So you heard I'm marching with Octavia and Madi?"

"Yeah." He answered quietly, and to a lack of Cullen's knowledge, Bellamy was trying to force the wish that he had been in Sloan's place just now away from his thoughts. "Be careful."

She stared at him for a moment, and he stared straight back. There was something lingering in both of their eyes — something uncannily familiar and uncomfortable — that neither of them wanted to address at that moment, or maybe ever. Bellamy hearing the love in Sloan's tone made him envious he could not talk to Cullen with such feelings like he wanted to, but hearing the same amount of adoration in Cullen's made him happy. If he could not give her the love and happiness he so desperately wanted to, he was glad she was getting it elsewhere, even if it meant enduring the torture of knowing he wasn't what kept the woman he loved alive.

Following her hesitance to answer, Bellamy nodded awkwardly and began to walk away, Cullen watching him move with her resistance slipping rapidly. As he was almost past her, Cullen went against all that told her not to and reached to take his hand, stopping him as though he had been shot. An unfathomable amount of heat rose from where their fingers touched, one of them ignoring it more than the other.

Cullen was unsure as to what emotion overpowered her antipathy towards the man, but it was enough for her to want to touch him — for Cullen to believe making contact with Bellamy's skin was the only way to get her genuine imperativeness across in her next words.

"Be careful." She said, and a nod from either of them ended the conversation.

They walked their separate ways, Cullen towards the front of the march and Bellamy to the back of the rover, both wiping the obscure interaction from their minds. The rover took off and Cullen was handed a rifle, and with nothing else said, they marched.

Those that marched followed the rover at a consistent pace, only pulling back when they reached the gorge where hundreds of their people had died. Following the plan, the rover advanced forward while Madi signalled for the marchers to stand their ground around the corner from the ruined pillboxes, herself, Cullen, and Octavia moving forward to watch the action.

Emori drove the rover callously into the gorge, not once stopping when bullets were unleashed onto the vehicle. The part of Madi's plan where they drew out the bullets commenced, Cullen's grip on her rifle tightening when the rover skidded sideways and to the side of the gorge, where it stopped completely and made itself a clear target to the never ending unleash of bullets.

"What happened?" Octavia asked, none of the three women taking their eyes off the vehicle.

"They must've hit the engine." Said Cullen, raising her rifle and looking through the scope. After a few seconds, the back doors were opened and Bellamy and Echo jumped out. "They're sticking to the plan."

Being the only one with a clear sight because of her weapon, Cullen watched as Echo unleashed an arrow from her bow, landing it directly in the middle of one of their cannons, blowing it, and the people around it, up. It was Bellamy's turn next, but before he moved from behind the rover, two rifles began shooting towards the pillboxes, distracting the attackers and giving Bellamy an opening to run across the gorge.

After waiting a few seconds, the anticipation of the situation heightening, Bellamy raised his rifle and pressed the trigger, blowing up the other cannon and the people around it.

"It worked." Madi exhaled, Cullen grinning as she pulled away from her scope to look at the Commander.

As Madi looked back on Cullen and Octavia, the Blake woman nodded. "Take us home."

Madi swung around and raised her rifle into the air. "Yona!" (Charge!)

Wonkru shouted back before the running began, Cullen keeping at a dependable pace beside Octavia and Madi, it only faltering when they reached Bellamy and Echo. Her eyes immediately attached onto Bellamy's before she looked towards the rover, ready to run towards it when Bellamy caught her arm.

"Sloan said he's staying behind to help Murphy and Emori with the wounded." Announced Bellamy.

Something stirred strangely in Cullen's stomach, her throwing one more glance towards the rover before nodding to Bellamy — it only took one assured look from the Blake man for Cullen to take off running again, returning to her place beside Madi.

Without hesitation, Wonkru ran up the hill and past all the newly dead bodies, coughing past the smoke from the explosions before advancing into the trees. Cullen tried not to get distracted by the healthy greenness they obtained, treading faster over the uneven ground when the Valley came into view in the distance.

The shouting from Wonkru never once faltered as they marched into the Valley, weapons raised as bodies came into view past the smoke. Cullen, alongside Bellamy, ran into the Valley first, rifle raised and flickering between the dozens of prisoners that floated in between the houses.

"Weapons down!" Bellamy initially shouted, Cullen running into view beside him.

"He said weapons down!" She yelled just as loud, and as more members of Wonkru ran into the Valley, the prisoners realized they were outnumbered. "Put your weapons down now!"

When they hesitated, Bellamy's voice roared, "Now!"

Their weapons were instantly dropped, each prisoner slowly lowering to their knees with their hands raised in the air — they were surrendering, just as Madi said they would. And it didn't dawn on Cullen that they had won until Madi walked into sight between them, Octavia in her shadow.

After a few seconds, Madi shouted, "Frag op emo ogeda." (Kill them all.)

Cullen began to raise her rifle when Bellamy dashed in front of her. "Halt! Hold your fire." He commanded Wonkru, not addressing them again as he looked down to Madi. "They surrendered. It's over."

"They killed hundreds of our people in that gorge." Madi countered temperamentally.

"This can't be what the flame is telling you to do." Said Bellamy.

"I don't need the flame to tell me what to do with a bunch of criminals who invaded my home."

Bellamy's eyes softened. "We've been here before, Madi. We were the criminals. The hundred. We landed in someone else's home, and we went to war. You can execute them because they're the enemy or you can break the cycle. You can be better than them. You can be better than us. The choice is yours, Heda."

Before Madi could respond, a siren began blaring through the Valley, alerting Cullen's attention to roam demandingly across the prisoners. "What is that?" She stipulated.

"The evac signal." One of them answered. "It means conditions are unsafe. We're supposed to bug out."

Past the sirens, Raven's voice was heard. "Everyone, listen up. Life as we know it is about to end again. Get your asses to the transport ship now for immediate evacuation."

"Raven, it's Monty." The Green man's voice cut in over the radio. "We're transporting the wounded. Murphy and Sloan were hit."

"Thank God, Monty. Hurry!" Said Raven.

"It's slow going. So, putting aside a thousand other questions, how long do we have?"

"Nine minutes. We'll wait as long as we can." Raven answered, but it all sounded like a ringing in Cullen's ears.

Without a second thought, Cullen spun around and began barging her way through the panicking members of Wonkru, her feet tripping over themselves as she hurried herself through the crowd and towards the trees. She had barely pushed past all of them when Bellamy appeared in front of her, blocking the way towards where the wounded followed.

"Cullen, stop!" Bellamy barked out firmly, holding out a hand in front of her that she walked straight into. "Cullen, hey."

"Get out of my way!" She screamed uncontrollably, viciously knocking his hand away and shoving past him.

Bellamy caught her arm and roughly tugged her back towards him. "I can't let you go. We need you here to help get people to the transport ship."

"Sloan is hit. Shooting me dead is the only way you're gonna stop me from going to get him."

"Stop and think rationally for a second, please." Bellamy pleaded, taking both of her arms into his hands.

"I am." She argued, voice wavering with desperation to be let go. "I won't get on the transport ship unless Sloan is with us. You have to let me go and get him."

"You won't make it back in time."

"I will. Bellamy, you have to trust me." It was her turn to plead, beginning to wrench herself from Bellamy's grip. "Go find Gracie and get her on the ship. I promise I will be back in time."

"Cullen—"

Able to detach herself from his iron hold, Cullen reached up and planted her hands on either side of Bellamy's face, stopping his refusal and bringing his startled eyes to hers. With a levelled concentration, Cullen spoke carefully past her rapidly ascending heartbeat, "You get our daughter and you get onto that ship, and close the door if I'm not back in time. You save her, you understand me?"

In an act of deafening life or death, their lips met for several seconds, giving Cullen the advantage to push forcefully on Bellamy's chest and take off sprinting in the other direction, ignoring his calls as she travelled further away from him.

She lost all sense of anything as she hauled herself through the trees with a speed her body couldn't quite keep up with — she was stumbling, legs shaking from the adrenaline and bone crushing, mind numbing fear, but she continued forward. Her sprinting didn't stop until she spotted Harper helping Jackson carry Gaia on a makeshift stretcher.

"They're thirty yards behind us. Murphy in the chest, Sloan in the shoulder!" Harper yelled as Cullen tore past them, not stopping for anyone until she reached her targeted people.

Like Harper had said, they weren't far behind them, Monty with Murphy's body over his shoulder, Emori helping Sloan stumble along. As Cullen came barrelling into sight, Monty threatened to stop walking, but Cullen rapidly shook her head.

"Keep going!" She shouted, picking up her pace, ignoring how badly her legs burned. She shot past them and almost collided her body with Sloan's, replacing Emori underneath his good shoulder. "Go. Help Monty."

"Cullen—" Emori tried to reject.

"Go!" She ordered, adjusting Sloan more comfortably by her side before beginning to walk again, gritting her teeth through the pronounced pain that shot through her body. Her eyes moved to Monty and Emori equally sharing Murphy's body weight, lungs relighting on fire every time she heaved out another breath. "Come on, Sloan. We can make it."

"Cullen?" Sloan croaked. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving your ass." She groaned out. "Don't talk, just walk with me, ok? We're gonna make it."

They continued stumbling through the woods, Monty's screams of agony being the only thing that kept up Cullen's consistent pace. Sloan worked with her as best as he could, groaning as his shoulder shifted when her footing became uneven or more damaging than before — but they continued. None of them stopped running until the sound of the transport ship counting down was heard.

"Bellamy!" Monty screamed, and Bellamy came hustling towards them, taking Murphy from Monty's arm, and making the Green man fall back and help travel Sloan faster towards the transport ship. "You're stupid!" He shouted over to Cullen.

"So are you!" She shouted back, releasing a loud scream of determination as they hobbled across the grass and up the ramp into the ship, where Clarke was waiting to pull the lever that closed the door.

They all fell to the floor, watching as Earth disappeared in front of them for the last time, before an impact embedded into the ground, knocking the transport ship sideways as they launched up into the air. They were travelling at an incomprehensible speed, the last survivable piece of land disappearing beneath them as they ascended further and further into the sky.

💛

          AS SOON AS Sloan was in Jackson's care, and Cullen had been assured numerous times that he was going to survive the bullet through his shoulder, Cullen took off into the hallways of the transport ship. She wasn't sure who she was looking for as she scampered through the hallways, equalizing the venomous looks the prisoners sent her way as she passed by them, only that it was someone who had kept her daughter safe during the take off.

She was rubbing her hands together as she walked, envisioning she was cleaning off the dried blood that caked itself into the creases of her palms, mind wandering back to Sloan being stitched up every few seconds. Admittedly, Cullen didn't think they were going to make it on time, and as she thought back to losing everyone she loved, her heart thudded faster at a situation where she died and both Bellamy and Gracie survived. She couldn't stop thinking about it, because the more she did, the more she convinced herself it was an ideal outcome.

Cullen shook the thought from her mind as she rounded another corner, eyes meeting Raven's.

"Oh my God." Cullen exhaled as she blinked a few times to the Reyes woman, not at all sure whether or not she was actually standing in front of her. But as a smile pulled across Raven's face, Cullen's belief in ghosts disappeared and she threw her arms around her friend. "Oh my God, Raven."

"I didn't know if you got on the ship." Raven revealed as their embrace grew tighter, each of the women revelling in six years of missed contact and communication. "I saw Bellamy and Clarke but not you."

"I didn't die. Not yet." She commented, pulling away from Raven and grinning largely. "Not with your amazing piloting — I'm glad I finally got to experience it."

To this, Raven frowned sadly. "I've missed you, Ace. You have no idea how many times I wished you were on that ring with us."

"I've missed you, too, Birdie. You have no idea how many times we could've used you in the bunker." Said Cullen, before sighing lightly. "I'm sorry I didn't come to you like I promised."

"Don't apologize." Raven immediately shook her head, and brought Cullen in for another embrace. "From what I've heard, you had a good life in the bunker."

Cullen laughed against Raven's shoulder, her smile of fondness not slipping as they parted. "I really did. You should meet her, Raven. She's the light of my life."

"Introduce me later. I only came out here to try and find you — I need to get back to my amazing piloting."

"Ok." Cullen nodded, and reached to squeeze Raven's hand. "But as soon as we're secured I want—"

"Mommy!" The sweet call of Gracie Blake's voice echoed into Cullen's ears, and suddenly nothing else mattered. Her grip around Raven's hand fell and she spun around, eyes focusing on the five year old that was barrelling towards her, arms spread through the air awaiting for her Mother to catch her.

Cullen had barely bent her knees when Gracie propelled into her arms, nearly choking her out with the grip she had around her neck — not that Cullen could complain. She was holding Gracie almost as tightly, unashamed of the tears that immediately flooded her waterline the second her daughter was in her arms again; Cullen had thought about this very moment since the second Gracie left Polis, but none of her thoughts amounted to the love and relief she felt right now.

"Oh, my baby. Thank God." Cullen whispered as she clung to her daughter, brushing her soft hair away from her temple so that she could kiss it repeatedly. "I've missed you so, so much."

"I missed you more." Said Gracie, pulling away and smiling blithely to her Mother. "I never want to leave again."

"You never will, I promise." Cullen responded immediately, reaching to cup Gracie's soft cheek.

"I was with Pops and Abby until Bells found me." She confirmed Cullen's thoughts as she reached to brush her small fingers through Cullen's tatted hair. "He brought me here and told me to wait until you found me, but then he came back and said he'd take me to you."

"He did?" Cullen exaggerated her excitement to match Gracie's. "Well, where's Bells now?"

Gracie swung around and pointed down the hallway. "Down there."

Like Gracie had said, Bellamy was standing further down the hallway, shoulder leaning against a steel wall as he watched the Mother and daughter reunite. There was a smile on his lips, one so noticeable that Cullen could see it from the distance that was between them, and she only feared it slightly. For now, with Gracie in her arms, safe and unharmed in all ways that mattered, Cullen would accept Bellamy's smile by sending him one back.

"Thank you." She mouthed over Gracie's shoulder, and she truly owed him all appreciation for listening to her and saving their daughter — this act was forgivable for all that he had done to her.

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a/n . . . so ?? i did a thing i did not plan ?? hope y'all enjoyed me fucking things up even more ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what do you think of what happened?