Burned | John Murphy [ON HOLD]

┋┊Seven┊┋

"Whatever the hell we want."

It was her idea—a spark of brilliance. She had read somewhere about propaganda and it's effect on the masses, and this was the greatest form of propaganda she'd ever seen in play. When she first pitched it to Bellamy, he was skeptical. "Won't telling them they have no rules contradict me becoming the ruler?" he asked.

"These people will have no ruler," she said. "They'll have a leader."

"Whats the difference?" he asked.

"With a ruler, there are rules set in stone," she told him, "but with a leader, no one ever speaks the rules out loud; the people just subconsciously know them. We tell them what we want them to hear, but hint at the idea of some sort of order."

"But you're not creating order; you're creating chaos."

"All order comes from chaos. And think realistically. These people were sentenced to death for a single crime by a chancellor—a ruler. They don't want rules; they want freedom. You just need to offer a face to that freedom. Bellamy Blake, the face of freedom."

Bellamy smirked. "I like how you think."

"You tell them to do whatever the hell they want, when in reality they're following your example. They'll imitate you. If you show them boundaries, they will remember." Maggie finished speaking, and Bellamy nodded, accepting her idea.

The two of them heard a terrible scream and noticed that a fight was breaking out outside their tent. Maggie and Bellamy went to end it quickly. When they reached the spot, Murphy was holding a girl over a fire, and Wells was yelling at him to stop. Bellamy broke the fight up quickly and announced that this was not the Ark, and from now on, they do whatever the hell they wanted.

A small crowd had now gathered and began chanting, "Whatever the hell we want" until the entire camp joined in. It was clear Bellamy had a hold of the other delinquents. Maggie allowed a smirk to fall onto her lips.

Rain began to fall, and Bellamy gathered Murphy, Mbege, and Maggie and went back to the tent.

The first thing she noticed about them was their lack of a wristband, and she then directed her eyes to Bellamy's own wrist. Just like the others, his band was gone. That must've been what was going on with the girl: wristband removal.

"Bellamy, what the hell?" Murphy exclaimed. "I could've got his band."

"And we'll get it in time," he said. "First, there's another matter at hand. I'm sure you know Maggie."

"What the hell is she doing here?" Murphy asked.

"What? Can't a girl join the party?" she asked.

"She's a part of the team now," Bellamy said.

"Team... is that what she's making you call it?" Murphy asked.

"She isn't making me do anything," he defended. "She's simply acting as my advisor."

"What, you need a council like Jaha? You trying to become the chancellor?" Mbege asked.

"Not a chancellor," Maggie said, "a leader. And no leader ever truly acts alone."

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Keagan?" Murphy asked. "You are one of the privileged."

"And you want to be one of the privileged," she told him. "So here we are."

"She's still got a band," Mbege pointed out.

"That's gotta come off, Keagan," Murphy said, grabbing a knife from his pocket. Maggie scoffed at him.

"So she'll take it off," Bellamy said. "After all, she's got no use for it."

"It's a nice bracelet," she told them sarcastically. "Really pulls my outfit together."

The boys shot her a look, and she rolled her eyes. "Joking," she said as she extended her arm for Murphy to remove the band.

"I'll make this hurt," he warned, loud enough for only her to hear.

"Do your worst," she growled at him at the same volume. She kept her eyes locked on his as he grabbed her arm roughly and positioned the knife at the right angle. They never broke eye contact.

He slid the knife under the bracelet, taking extra care to cut her skin enough for a bit of blood to spill, but she didn't flinch. She felt it trickle down her arm and saw the smirk creeping onto his lips. He then used the knife as a crowbar, pulling the bracelet apart. She made a nearly silent groan from the pain, but she never broke her eye contact with Murphy.

"Painless," she said with a smirk of her own.

┋┊┋┊┋

The night had fallen, and Bellamy and the Johns (as Maggie now referred to Murphy and Mbege) formulated a plan to ensure the people's allegiance to Bellamy. After a long argument between Maggie and Murphy while Mbege stayed uncomfortably silent and Bellamy added in pointless dialogue, they all agreed the key to success was the son of the chancellor.

"So, let me get this straight," Murphy said, twirling his knife around in his hands. "We are going to get Wells to take his wristband off... How again?"

"First, I'll try and reason with him," Maggie said. "It's best to resort to violence only when necessary."

"And if that doesn't work?" Murphy asked.

"Then she leads Wells out into a clearing just outside the camp," Mbege said, "and we take the bracelet off by force."

"And we can't act until everyone here is asleep," Maggie added. "The less witnesses, the better."

"You'll need this," Bellamy said, "if worst comes to worst." He handed her to gun, and she tucked it under her shirt.

"Does she even know how to fire one of those?" Murphy asked jokingly, gaining a laugh from Mbege.

"Want to find out?" she asked him. They silenced instantly.

┋┊┋┊┋

It was now time to execute the plan. Maggie first tried to reason with him, telling him he'd be far better off without it. "You'll make less enemies."

"The Ark needs to know earth is survivable," Wells told her. "They're running out of oxygen."

"And if Murphy comes to find you again, soon you'll be out of oxygen. Put all that selflessness aside and think of yourself for once."

"My life compared to the life of hundreds," he said. "I'll choose the latter."

Maggie stepped closer to him and pressed the gun into his side, not seeing any other option. The boy was too stubborn for his own good. "You don't have a choice. Alert anyone, and I'll blow your brains out. Then, you'll really be dead."

She lead him outside the camp to where Bellamy would meet her. She handed him his gun back and stood beside him. "I'm giving you a choice, Wells," Bellamy said. "Take it off willingly, or I'll take it off by force."

"I'm not taking it off," he told Bellamy sternly. "They need to know we're alive!"

"You made your choice," Maggie said.

"I can't believe you've stooped this low," Wells told Maggie.

She didn't falter in her stern expression. "It seems we both have a different sense of direction."

With that, the two Johns pushed Wells to the ground and removed his wristband by force while Maggie and Bellamy took in the scene as an accomplishment. They were on their way to leading.