PSYCHO - JOHN MURPHY

27. Little Death

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

THE PEACE TREATY SEEMS TO BE HOLDING. For now, at least, Finn hadn't died for nothing. The grounders were actually supposedly heading to camp now. According to Kane, they have plenty to learn from each other.

Ainsley has to sit in order to keep herself from pacing. Adrenaline courses through her veins, wishing the ball would get rolling. She itches to be let loose, unbarred from morals; not really because she cares about the people in the mountain, but because war will give her what she needs. Although, she could lose more of herself in the process. It's a dangerous slope. Ainsley taps her fingers lightly against the wall behind her head, trying to push down the mania threatening to build inside her. The horrifying glee that she's surprised to abhor.

"Looks like they're finally here," Murphy notes, stepping beside her as if he can't read the tension between them.

Ainsley ignores him, her gaze focusing as Kane enters with the grounders in tow. He stands in the center of them all, with the grounder woman, Indra.

"I know we don't have a lot in common," Kane starts, glancing around at each of them. "But we do have a common enemy, and a common goal. And for us to reach it, to get our people out of Mount Weather, we need to work together. Ogeda," he explains, the last word being spoken in the grounder language, trigedasleng. "Skaikru and Trikru -" he turns towards Indra, before continuing, "our survival depends on you showing your knowledge of this world..."

Ainsley's spine tingles like she's being watched, which makes it difficult to focus on what Kane's saying. She turns her head slightly to see one of the grounders nearest her and Murphy staring at them, an intense glare aimed at them. Her entire being is put on red alert.

"You got a problem?" Murphy asks him with hostility, bringing Ainsley to stand.

"Yu sou don set raun der en ai em op taim ai stegeda don ge flosh klin."

The glare from the Grounder named Penn sets Ainsley's teeth on edge. "I'm sorry, man, I don't speak grounder," Murphy says, but something inside Ainsley tells her it was the wrong thing to say. Penn moves from his previous position to step in Murphy's face; John's immediate reaction is to shove him backwards.