john murphy, WITCH

27 | Seek and Ye Shall Find

Winnie didn't appreciate the change of scenery as much as Viena wanted her to, mainly because the change in company put her in such a tight position that she didn't know what was right or wrong anymore.

"Where did you take him?" Winnie asked as she was carried by her elbows by two Grounders she had never seen before.

She was sure if she had saw these men when she was first banished from camp that she would have crawled straight back to the delinquents. Despite all her sayings about being tough, these people did not look like people and sent shivers down her spine and made her stomach flip. They looked at her as is she was the scum of the earth, utterly beneath them yet it surprised Winnie as they looked at Viena in the exact same way.

"I didn't take him anywhere," Viena replied, "The Chief simply believed that both of you had outlasted your usefulness."

The forest had not changed since she had been imprisoned. Winnie had thought that maybe it would look strange, like how each time you recall a memory it changes slightly, but the only difference was it seemed like it was missing some of its life.

"So why am I still here?" Winnie asked.

"Oh Winnie, for me, it was never about John Murphy or the other people from the Sky," Viena didn't look at her, just continued into the woods. The Grounders besides her tightened their grip and Winnie tried to catch a glimpse of their face behind the skull mask, to see if they had the same face scars as Viena, or if they were clean like Anya, "I am nowhere near done with you. You don't have nearly enough scars witch."

---

They had survived the night but not without fatalities. Murphy thought Winnie would have volunteered to dig the graves of the sixteen souls that had been lost to the flu but he didn't even offer. His legs were finally able to fully support him and he could manage a considerable distance before feeling like he was going to be either sick or faint, sometimes he felt both.

"I'm coming." He stated as the others prepared for the trip, both a combined hunting and search party. He could tell by the looks on people's faces as they left the dropship. He had made his mind up from the moment he came back to camp, his priority had to be her.

"No," Clarke put out a hand to stop him, "You're not, you're not nearly strong enough."

They were almost alone, except for Finn who had to agree with Clarke, "She's right, you know. Look at you, you fall down out there and you bleed and you bleed, we won't be able to carry you and Winnie back to camp if we find her."

The girl nodded, "We can find her Murphy just trust-"

"No!" Murphy exclaimed, "No, you can't. I'm coming. with you,"

He snatched a gun from the table so quickly and with such a sudden movement it tore at his side and pain shot through him, a wound reopened. He clutched at it and tried to discreetly bend over but the pain was evident, Clarke and Finn looked at him, "It's fine," Murphy continued with gritted teeth, "Let's go."

He staggered towards the dropship but everytime he put weight on his left side it was red hot pain that almost drove him mad. Yet he still walked.

Clarke had never seen him like this and if she was honest, had never expected any this kind of bravery, "Murphy, please." She reached out her arms to catch him, as he lost his footing and fell to the ground and between her hands.

"I'm fine!" He told her, "I'm fine!" The time his voice cracked. He pushed himself off his helper as if at arms reach, he can do it by himself, he doesn't need Clarke's charity.