There were hands on my face...someone was trying to wake me.
Slowly, and begrudgingly, I opened my eyes and let out a small breath as all the events from earlier rushed back into my mind.
"You're okay."
My attention focused on the person who had woken me...it was Abby.
In confusion, I pushed myself up off the ground, looking around to see Raven, Octavia, Jordan and another woman I didn't recognize. Judging by the cuffs around her wrists, I was guessing she was the one who stole our transport ship.
"Where are the others?" Jordan wondered as the group of us slowly came to.
Wincing at the pain in my neck, I nodded toward the buildings. "Locked up." I answered., my voice strained by the certain swelling in my throat. "To protect us."
"What happened to Shaw?" Raven questioned, her words causing me heart to break...she had seen the grave we had dug for him.
I met her teary eyes and shook my head. "I--"
Bellamy's confused voice cut me off as he slowly came to consciousness. "Abby?" he wondered, his hand flying to his head, lightly touching the place where I had hit him.
I watched him with careful eyes, noting how he instantly looked toward me. The minute he did, a sorrowful look came across his face as his eyes landed on my bruised neck.
"I'm okay." I promised, not holding any sense of anger or blame toward him.
Giving me an unconvinced looked, Bellamy looked to our new arrivals. As his eyes moved across the group, they stopped on one person. "What the hell is she doing here?" he demanded, eyes locked on his younger sister.
Octavia pressed her lips into a firm line as she looked away, clearly hurt by her brother's reaction to her arrival.
"And who is that?" Bellamy added, nodding toward the mystery woman.
Any answer that the rest of the group was going to give us was cut off by Abby's voice. But she wasn't speaking to us, she was speaking to Murphy .
"Come on, John. Wake up." he prodded, slightly holding his head in her hands. "Come on."
My heart dropped as I scrambled to my feet, rushing over to where Murphy was laying, still unconscious.
Clarke followed after me, both of us looking to Abby for some sort of explanation. "Why isn't he waking up?" I demanded. "He-he was okay before and..." I trailed off, shaking my head as I recalled the earlier events.
Murphy had taken a beating, but he had been walking and talking before Clarke administered the teargas.
Abby gave Clarke and I a distressed look. "His pulse is too weak." she whispered, quiet enough as to not alert the rest of the group.
Clarke leaned forward, her face morphing into confusion as she pulled the collar of Murphy's shirt back slightly. "Mom, what is this?"
My eyes widened as vicious black lines stood out against Murphy's pale skin. It looked like whatever it was was in his blood stream, coursing through his veins.
A small gasp fell from my lips as I brought my hand to my mouth, horrified at what I was seeing.
"I don't know." Abby answered Clarke, the same level of confusion present on her face.
As if the situation couldn't have gotten more strange, the sudden sound of children's laughter and chatter filled the air.
I turned from Murphy, looking toward the entrance of the settlement where a small child had appeared at the top of the stairs. She looked down the staircase, waving to someone down below.
Turns out she was waving to someones, because seconds later more and more children began to mount the top of the staircase, all of them giggling and chatting as they ran toward the courtyard.
I watched in awe as they seemed to multiply. There were so many of them. It was the most children I had seen in one place in years.
Everyone in our group pushed themselves to their feet, watching in curiously and shock as the children rushed toward us.
Staying knelt next to Murphy, I shared a look of surprise with Bellamy. All of these children seemed happy, unafraid.
Even when one of the older girls caught a sight of the cuffs on the mystery woman, she didn't look very concerned.
"It's okay, Rose." the woman promised, giving the young girl a small nod. "Don't be afraid."
I scanned the group of children and my eyes caught on one little girl who seemed to stand out against the rest.
She had tight blonde curls, and blue eyes that caused you to stop and marvel. Something about her seemed different than the rest. Maybe it was the way the she watched the group of us. She didn't look alarmed, or scared, just curious.
"Are you here to take us home?" Rose asked, drawing my attention away from the other girl.
Confusion swept across the group of us as we watched as Rose awaited an answer. Her question sounded as if it were meant to be a joke, but the look on her face told me she was serious.
Clarke tilted her head slightly as she shook her head. "Isn't this your home?"
All of us shared an uneasy look as Rose took a small step forward, one of the other girls doing the same.
"Uh, guys..." Octavia announced, nodding toward an oncoming group of adults. They had guards leading the group, and they did not seem happy to see us.
Bellamy addressed the group of us. "Remember, we're in their home. Everyone keep calm."
"Weapons down." Clarke instantly ordered as she and Bellamy prepared to greet the leaders of this settlement.
"Abby, Avery, stay with Murphy." Bellamy instructed, purposely positioning himself so he was in front of us, providing any protection for Murphy if necessary.
"Rose! Get away from them!" One of the women yelled, already rushing toward us. "Protect the host!" she ordered to the guards behind her.
As the guards began rushing toward us, Clarke stepped forward. "Hey, it's okay!" she promised. "We're from Earth. We come in peace."
They didn't seem to believe her claim, as within a matter of seconds they were grabbing onto the children, ripping them away from us.
"Kaylee," the woman from before exclaimed, stopping next to the mystery woman who had arrived with our group. "What happened? Where's your family?"
Kaylee, looked over at the group of us, her eyes darkening. "They killed them."
I winced as I looked over to the others. That probably wasn't getting off on the best foot.
"That's not good." Jordan whispered, mirroring my concerns.
Suddenly, my attention was pulled back to Murphy who let out a harsh gasp, his body suddenly beginning to convulse.
"No, not now, not now!" Abby pleaded, the two of us instantly hovering over him. "He's seizing." she announced.
I grabbed onto him, helping Abby to turn him onto his side as to clear his airway. "Come on, John." I pleaded, worry lacing my every word.
"Please help us!" Clarke yelled to the new arrivals. "Our friend is dying!"
Murphy's body suddenly stilled beneath my grasp, causing me to look up at Abby in panic. "He's not breathing."
"Flip him onto his back." she instructed. The minute I did as she said, she began performing compressions.
"Give him two breaths when I say." she ordered, counting out her compressions.
I nodded, shifting so I was in position for the moment she needed me. I was not going to let one of my best friends die. There was no way.
"Out of my way!" A voice snapped with authority. My eyes flickered upward to see a man marching toward us. By the way he was flanked by guards, I assumed he was their leader.
"Move them back." he ordered, waving us away.
Anger covered my face as I refused to move, shaking my head. "No." I argued. "He'll die!"
"You want my help or not?"
I glared at the man as Bellamy grabbed onto me, pulling me up from the ground.
He kept a firm hold on me as the man approached Murphy, lifting his shirt to reveal that the black rash has spread across his entire body. "He's already dead."
A choked gasp fell from my lips as my heart clenched in my chest. Bellamy was forced to keep me standing, as horror ripped through my body.
The man noted the horrified expressions on all of our faces and gave us a somewhat reassuring look. "Fortunately for him, death is not the end." He turned toward the group of his people. "Cillian." he beckoned.
Another man stepped forward, a bag clutched in his hands. The leader man muttered something to Cillian, something I couldn't hear. But whatever it was, it resulted in Cillian kneeling next to Murphy before pulling something from his bag.
I tensed under Bellamy's grasp when I realized it was a snake. Cillian held it up as the leader addressed us. "We call it Kepa-She, means hideous snake in Chinese."
Well, the name was fitting.
Cillian held the snake to Murphy's torso, allowing the snake to latch onto his skin.
"Oh my God." Clarke gasped.
"Trust me, I know." Cillian agreed. "But the venom degrades too quickly to deliver it in any other form."
My hand fumbled around, quickly attaching itself to Bellamy's as we watched the snake do it's job.
Bellamy's grip on my hand was tight, and I could tell he was guilt-ridden over the situation that Murphy was currently in.
Clarke knelt down next to Cillian, her eyes wide. "It's working."
And she was right, the black poison was slowly fading from Murphy's skin, removing itself from his body.
"Amazing, isn't it? It's curative purposed were discovered during one of the earliest red suns." the leader explained before turning to his people. "Poison made the demon Gabriel believe he could walk on water."
My head tilted in confusion as the groups of people began hissing at their leader's words.
Bellamy wore a similar expression as he looked down at me, giving me a small shake of his head to signal he was just as weirded out.
"The Kepa-She bit him, and the toxin from the seaweed had no effect." The leader continued.
Suddenly, Murphy breathed a sharp intake of air before letting out a sputtering cough. I felt my shoulders relax as his chest began to rise and fall once again.
Bellamy let out a large sigh of relief as he pulled me toward him, the two of us embracing in a tight hug.
"Well done, Cillian." the leader commended.
I pulled away from Bellamy, looking to their leader. "Maybe you should lead with that next time." I bit out, a small sniffle following my words. I wasn't entirely sure why he had to declare Murphy dead before revealing that he could be saved.
The leader gave me a withering glare before looking over to his guards. "Now lock them up."
His words caused all of our eyes to widen as we tried to back away, unsure of what we had done to deserve this.
"Yes, sir." his guards obeyed, instantly latching onto the group of us.
"Come on." One of them ordered, ripping me out of Bellamy's hold. "Now!"
"Hold on." I snapped, trying to wither out of their grasp. "We didn't do anything!"
"Wait!" Clarke pleaded as she was pulled up from the ground.
The guards shoved us forward, away from the group and toward one of the buildings nearby.
"Where are you taking us?" Clarke yelled. "We didn't do anything wrong!"
I let out a humourless laugh as one of the guards gave me a hard shove. "Some welcome party this is."
---
The group of us had been locked in some sort of tavern, and had received no word of what was next for us.
So for the past hour, we had all sat in anticipation, awaiting news of our fate. Emori, Echo, Jackson and Miller had all been brought in here, they just as confused as the rest of us.
Murphy had remained unconscious the entire time, and Emori had been a mess the minute she saw him. But she wasn't the only one. Bellamy had sat next to Murphy since we were locked in here, worry in his eyes.
"Why isn't he waking up?" he wondered, causing me to give him a sad look.
"He will." Abby assured.
"I can't believe I did this to him." Emori whispered from where she sat up near Murphy's head.
Bellamy placed a comforting hand over her own. "Emori, you didn't. I did."
"Who cares?" Octavia argued from where she sat at the bar. "We need to get out of his place."
Bellamy stood up, looking over to his sister in anger. "What are you even doing here?"
Octavia looked uninterested. "I came to save your ass."
Bellamy scoffed as he began toward his sister. This caused me to jump out of my seat, stepping in between the two of them. "Bellamy, no." I ordered, firmly placing my hands on his chest. "Don't do this now."
Octavia let out a snort from behind me. "Come on, Avery. Let him do whatever he wants to do." she taunted.
I rolled my eyes as I turned to look at her, one hand still securely planted on Bellamy's chest. "Octavia, back off."
"Avery's right, Bellamy." Echo agreed from where she sat. "If we're gonna fight out way out, we need Octavia."
I now turned to look at her, my face scrunching up in disagreement. "That's not actually what I was getting at here."
"We're not fighting them." Clarke announced. "We need them to teach us how to survive down here."
When no one argued with Clarke, we all fell into silence once again, no one knowing what to say next.
A sigh fell from my lips as I dropped my hand away from Bellamy, knowing he was no risk to Octavia at this point.
When I looked up at him, he was already watching me, his eyes on my neck. "You should let Abby take a look at you." he whispered, his voice riddled with guilt.
I shook my head. "I'm fine, trust me."
His face twitched slightly, but he didn't argue. However, he did continue to stare at me like I was going to break at any moment.
"Stop." I ordered firmly. "I'm fine. Murphy's going to be fine and none of this is your fault. It wasn't you, Bell."
Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I could have killed you-both of you."
I gave him an expectant look, waiting for him to piece it together himself. When he didn't, I spoke. "But you didn't." I reminded. "The only thing I'm mad at you for is leaving me locked up with Murphy in the first place."
A small laugh fell from my lips, letting him know it was okay to find humour in this situation.
He still didn't seem to, and so I reached out and gave his hand a quick squeeze. "Go sit with Murphy." I advised, knowing that was the only thing that seemed to give him some solace right now. "I'll be over in a minute."
Clearly not in the mood to argue, Bellamy listened, silently making his way back toward the table where Murphy was laying.
Once he sat down, I turned toward the bar, pulling up a chair next to the person who seemed the most defeated in this room.
"Hey." I said softly, looking over to her with a gentle expression.
Raven looked up at me, her eyes red from crying, and her face written in sorrow. "Hey." she whispered, her voice seemingly not strong enough for anything above such.
"How are you holding up?" I wondered, my heart breaking for her.
She plastered a forced smile on her face as she let out a small laugh. "Great."
I watched her for a moment, letting out a small breath. "Rave, I'm so sorry." I finally announced, addressing the reason for her heartbreak. "We didn't know about the shield." I admitted.
I wanted her to know what had happened. She deserved to know that Shaw had died so the rest of us could live.
She didn't look at me for a moment, just focused on her hands as tears welled in her eyes.
"He saved us." I explained, reaching out and taking her hand into my own. "He died a hero, and he-"
My voice died in my throat for a moment as the emotions came rushing in again. As Raven looked up at me, I had tears in my eyes as well. Pushing down the lump in my throat, I continued. "He wanted me to tell you that you deserve happiness, and he couldn't be more right, Raven."
She shook her head, reaching her free hand up to wipe the tears from her face. "I was just learning to be happy with him." she whispered.
I nodded, giving her hand a squeeze. "I know." I responded softly. "But don't lose your happiness, okay? You deserve it more than anyone."
Instead of replying to me, she pulled me toward her in a tight embrace. "I miss him." she mumbled against my shoulder, her tears soaking into my jacket.
Letting out a sad sigh, I held onto her tightly as I nodded. "I know." I whispered. "I know.
Shaw was the first person we had lost on this planet...and I was afraid he wouldn't be the last.
-an-
happy first day of spring! here is a chapter to celebrate the nice weather that we're currently having where I live!
hope you all enjoy!
please vote and comment if you did like this chapter!
love you all
-maddy xoxo