Barricade- John Murphy

Chapter 16

Season 2

Episode 2:
Inclement Weather

After getting a chance to clean up, I head to find Marcus, or one of the others. Murphy is wandering through camp, his eyes scanning everything. I stop and wait with a small grin. His eyes finally land on me and he heads my way quickly. He wraps me in his arms and I sink into the familiarity. "You doing okay?" He asks quietly.

"Being around a lot of people, familiar or not, isn't helping my anxiety. I keep getting flashes..." I trail off. "Just give them the word. And I'm sure your two friends will gladly hunt them down." He tells me softly. "I know. I just want it to stop." I say shaking my head. "Hey. We will work past this. Step by step." He says kissing the top of my head.

"Arty... Murphy." I hear and turn seeing Marcus. "Mind coming and talking with me?" He asks. "Both of us?" Murphy asks confused. "It's about that. I told him we could talk when we were here. Away from other ears." I say and he nods. "Are you sure?" He asks me softly. "I need someone else to talk to. I can't cling to you forever." I say softly. "I don't mind it though." He smirks and I smack his arm.

We walk inside with Marcus, stepping into an empty room. I sit on the couch in the room and Murphy sits next to me. Marcus moves a chair, sitting to my other side, but still giving me space. "Whenever you're ready. You said you were taken after they banished him." Marcus says and I nod my head. "We were trying to find somewhere to sleep for the night. We had been near the river cleaning his face." I say softly, the memories flashing in my mind.

"They grabbed me first. Thought they would scare her into giving up. They didn't count on her kicking their asses." Murphy mutters with a small grin. "They had to basically wrestle me to the ground. Said if I did that again, Murphy was dead." I say shortly. "When they got us back to the camp, they left us alone for a bit... maybe an hour." Murphy tells him.

"When they came back, they were just asking simple questions. They had locked us in cages. After the first day, they apparently gave up their 'nice' routine. They dragged Murphy out first. They would question us in front of each other. And if neither of us answered. They would hit us. Or whatever else." I say sniffling. My eyes sting with tears.

"It was our third... no fourth. Fourth day there. We held out a while. Somehow not dying from being complete smartasses. They made some comment about Murphy that pissed me off. I headbutted the person in front of me. You could imagine how happy he was about that." I mutter. "That's how I got this. It was payback for me headbutting him." I say pointing to my face.

Marcus curses softly, shaking his head. "After that was when they started cutting more. Finding other methods of torture. It was uh... it was day 7 that it changed again." I say picking at my skin. My eyes stung, and it felt like my throat was closing up. "Hey. Hey stop." Murphy says gently, grabbing my hands in his. After a second he flips his hand face down in my lap, grabbing a pen he spotted.

"Get through this, and you can go to town drawing on my hand." He says softly. "We can stop if you need to." Marcus argues. "No. If I don't do this now, I never will. I need to be able to talk to someone about it. Besides Murphy." I sniffle and he nods. "Only if you're sure." He says softly. His eyes were full of sadness. I'm sure he was making his own conclusions of where this was going.

"They uh... they had been questioning Murphy. I was trying not to focus on Murphy getting beat. They had put him back in his cage. And I heard them mention me. That's when all my focus came back."I say pausing as I take a second clenching my eyes shut. "You're safe. You're with me and Marcus." Murphy says softly in my ear.

I open my eyes staring straight ahead. "They dragged me out. They were telling Murphy to tell them what they wanted to know... I told him not to. They started hitting me, kicking me. I could hear Murphy yelling at them to stop. And finally they did." I say as tears roll down my cheeks. "My head hit the floor... I couldn't keep it up. I... I felt them. Felt their hands on my pants." I choke out. "I... I started screaming and thrashing. I tried to fight back. I tried. I promise I tried." I say shaking my head furiously.

"Easy. You fought like hell. You did." Murphy's voice says. "They... they hit me again. It made my head spin. I could barely focus. I could see Murphy screaming at them, but I couldn't hear him. The only thing I could hear was this ringing in my ears." I cry clenching my eyes shut. I'm pulled tightly into Murphy's chest, my tears soaking his shirt.

"The night we escaped. They had injected me with something. I had passed out and when I came to, both our cages were unlocked. But she was just sitting there. I said her name when I finally had the energy to get up. She didn't answer me. She was making these marks on the wall. She freaked out when I grabbed her until she realized it was me. We were wandering the woods for hours before we managed to get back to camp." Murphy says, still holding me to his chest.

When I calm down enough he holds the pen out to me. I take it from him slowly, watching him turn his arm, the back of his hand facing up. "Minutes." I say weakly. "What?" Marcus asks softly, his voice hoarse. "The marks on the wall. I was counting the minutes. It was the only thing I could focus on. I wasn't leaving without Murphy. Three hours." I explain shortly as I start drawing on his hand.

The two are silent at my confession as I draw. After a good 30 minutes of drawing, the pen is out of ink. "I'm so sorry you went through that Arty." Marcus says softly. "I can get my revenge on them whenever I want." I say simply. He gives me a curious look. "Mira. The girl from the woods?" I ask and he nods. "Finn gave me these knives one day. She made them for me. This was tucked between two of them." I say handing him the piece of paper.

"For when you want revenge." He mutters. He hands the paper back to me. "Why would she give you their names?" He asks curiously. "I asked her brother that, Keran. He said their people have never condoned that. That's never been okay. He told me that those men, are not his people. His people don't take advantage of girls or women." I tell him and he nods.

"I'm sure your friends and Bellamy are getting antsy to figure things out." He tells me softly. "We need to find them. I don't know where they are. But we need to. I'm not leaving them out there." I tell him. "We will work a plan out." He tells me. "Marky I'm not joking. And I'm not being bound to camp. They unanimously made me their leader, even when I wasn't there. They're my people, and I'm not leaving them out there alone." I say and he nods, a small grin on his face.

"Come on then." He says waving me along. I get up wiping my face and Murphy steps in front of me. "Hey. I'm proud of you. You know that right?" He says softly. "Why?" I ask him. "There's no way that was easy for you. But you pushed through, and talked about it. I'm so fucking proud of you Goddess." He says with a smile. I smile and lean up kissing his cheek.

"Come on. Let's go be heroes." I say heading after Marcus, who was watching us with a smile. "So maybe John Murphy isn't that bad." He mutters to me and I smack his arm. "Ouch. Damn it Arty." He says and I smirk. "So, where did all these weapons come from?" He asks and I look down, remembering the weapons added to my belt last night.

"Me and Murphy got separated last night looking for Bell and Tavi. Keran helped me find Murphy, and another grounder was beating on him. Stuck a knife to his throat, told him to drop the weapons and back off. He charged me. Long story short, I stabbed him with his own spear and took the weapons." I shrug and he chuckles. "Atta girl." He says proudly, making me smile.