Clarity || John Murphy

Chapter Fifteen - New Beginnings

*

Hannah glanced down at Eve as she stared at the ashes on the ground, the only remains of her father. "Are you okay?"

Eve nodded slowly. "Yeah..." She said. "Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded, trying to convince herself more than Hannah.

Hannah raised an eyebrow. "You're lying, and you and I both know it."

Eve's lip twitched, and she sighed. "I was thinking about them. My parents, I mean." She felt the ends of her lips move into a small, saddened smile. "My mom used to tell me stories. Not fairytales, real stories... About true love. When she did, all I could imagine when I thought of true love was my parents. The way my mother looked at him, the way he treated her... But as it turns out, it was just an insane man staring back at a woman blinded by love."

Hannah nodded. "Well, I think that your definition is very different. Your situation is too."

Eve's eyebrows raised, waiting for her to continue.

"I think that your type of love is the kind where two people are so in love, that they're too clueless to do anything about it." She smiled at Eve, before turning and walking away with the rest of the crowd.

*

Murphy watched as Jack hopped up onto the platform, Murphy moving beside him and slightly behind. The council members and the rest of the team were all in front of the stage, while Jack had asked Murphy to come with him.

Murphy looked out into the crowd, his eyes searching frantically for Eve. He wanted to make sure she was safe. He let out a small sigh of relief when he saw her standing beside Hannah near the back of the crowd. He had been so entranced in wanting to find her that he hadn't even noticed that Jack had already been talking for at least a minute.

"I would also like to introduce you to my new second-in-command, John Murphy!" He grinned, wrapping his arm around Murphy's shoulders.

The crowd erupted in cheers, and Murphy couldn't help but grin. They liked him. For once in his life, he actually felt wanted. Needed by everyone... Except Eve. That one thought almost cancelled out the happiness entirely.

*

Murphy stared at the fire silently, the flames looking strangely enchanting at that moment. He wondered why, but pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and ignored it, enjoying the feeling while he could. He had made sure that he kept Eve in his line of sight all night. At that moment, she was beside Hannah and Jay on the other side of the bonfire.

The bonfire was huge, it had to be at least a twenty foot radius all the way around. When these people partied, they sure as hell went full out. There were people, mostly teenagers and a few adults, sat around the bonfire. They were all drinking, laughing, smiling. Murphy wondered what they had to be so happy about, considering that their leader was dead. Then again, maybe they were happy that Jack was finally the leader. It seemed that everyone liked him, but he was a generally charismatic person.

Murphy took a sip of the beer that Jay had given him, then looked up at the stars. His thoughts traveled to the ark, and he wondered what was happening there. Did they even care that they were on their own here? Had the 100 made contact with them? Murphy prayed that they hadn't. The only person he had ever cared about on that damned thing was his mother. He had always liked his father more. He didn't know why. But, it didn't matter. His father was dead, so his mother was the only one he had left. And, of course, she couldn't care less about him. He was willing to bet that she didn't even think of him when he was sent down here.