The Girl With No Name // the 100 Wattys 2018!!

Nineteen

It was still dark outside, and the kids were restless. Theresa sat on a rock while the kids ran around the enclosed area, playing tag or something. John Murphy chuckled when he saw her, and held his gun by his side. "They didn't trust you with the good stuff, did they?" he called out to her.

"Hey, at least I'm not inside," she called back, hoping that he would walk away.

But, of course, he just kept moving closer. Then, he decided to sit down next to her. "Look at this," he said, holding up his gun for her to see, "They finally gave me one."

"Don't hold that thing up around the children -- you might scare them," she nagged him. "It's not a toy."

"I know that," he replied with a sneer. "I just thought you would like to know."

"Yes, because that is definitely going to help me sleep better at night."

There was a pause between the two of them, and Theresa could feel Murphy's eyes on her. That feeling wouldn't go away, and Theresa didn't dare make eye contact with him. So, she looked on, watching the children run around, hoping that Murphy would get the message and go away. A few minutes passed and Murphy finally looked ahead of him, but he still hadn't left.

"You know, Murphy, I'm actually kind of glad you're keeping me company," she lied to him without looking over at him.

"I knew you would come around," he replied, and she didn't have to see to know that there was a smirk running across his lips.

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously that didn't work," she muttered aloud to herself.

"What was that?" he asked.

She looked over at him finally with an annoyed expression. "Could you just go away?"

"And spare myself the privilege of bothering you? I don't think so." Then, he chuckled.

"Don't you have something better to be doing with your time?"

"I am...keeping my people safe."

She snorted. "'Your people.' You think just 'cause they give you a gun, that makes you some type of leader. You're the farthest thing from one."

"I had people behind me at one point," he muttered.

"No, they were behind Bellamy. You were nothing more than his second. You didn't have any power," she spat at him, then she turned to look at him, narrowing her eyes, "You still don't."

Just then, one of the children came up to Theresa and Murphy. It was a little girl with tears shining in her eyes, and her body was trembling. She was covered in dirt, and there were cuts and bruises in various places on her body. She couldn't have been any older than seven. Her eyes glanced over at Murphy as she nervously asked him, "Are they going to hurt us?"

Theresa cut in, reaching out to her carefully, "No, they're not. Nothing is going to happen to you guys, okay?"

The little girl looked over at Theresa for a moment before looking back to Murphy, seemingly waiting for a response from him. He let out a sigh and set his gun down beside him, reaching for the little
girl and taking one of her small, fragile hands. "You're going to be okay," he assured her, and the little girl didn't seem like she was convinced.

She looked down at the ground and a single tear rolled down her cheek, making sniffling noises all the while. She nodded her head, but she didn't say anything.