007. execution of john murphy
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IT'D BEEN DAYS SINCE WELLS WAS FOUND DEAD, SAID TO BE KILLED BY THE GROUNDERS. As fear was highly struck upon the juveniles, it motivated them all to continue to work on the wall, which was Bellamy's idea to build around the camp. However, everyone was growing tired and frustrated with the new aggravation of Murphy and Bellamy.
More people by the day were coming to Quinn with new injuries they obtained by working on the wall, and despite Quinn's persuasion on giving the people a day's break, Bellamy objected to the idea. The Grounders weren't going to stop hunting them, he claimed, but Quinn disagreed. Wells was killed days ago, and no one else had been found dead, but once Bellamy had his mind made up, there was nothing the McKenna girl could say to change his decisions.
Yet, besides the bad side of things happening around camp, some good things occurred over a week. Monty and Kinsley finally managed to get their hands on a working wristband thanks to Clarke, who held some bad intentions in getting back at her mother when she found out that Wells wasn't the one who sold out her father to the council, but her mother. And just a few days ago, Jasper was on his feet, walking around. Octavia took it upon herself to get the boy comfortable again when exiting the walls, calming down his fear of the Grounders, although there were no improvements yet. He needed time, which most understood.
Quinn wished she could say she was doing better. It had been a week since she killed Atom, and still, it felt like nothing had changed. Quinn saw his blood painted on her hands if she looked too quickly. She saw his face when closing his eyes as though it was glued beneath her eyelids. She hated the way her stomach curled in on itself when remembering the way she found Bellamy hunched over his withering frame, pleading for mercy.
As Quinn checked on one of the boys who had gone up to her for help with his knee, claiming he felt pain rush through his entire leg with each step he took, Bellamy waltzed up to the girl. Quinn finished her examination on her patient, whipping around to face the man. He gently grasped onto her arm, causing her to frown, not struggling as he pulled her into his tent. Clarke, Jasper and Octavia stood around the table planted in the middle. Quinn's eyes caught sight of the dismembered fingers and knife placed, tearing her sights away. "What–"
Bellamy sighed, pointing towards his sister and the once-wounded boy. "They found this just outside the wall." Quinn inched towards the table, taking a closer look at the fingers as Clarke had picked up the knife, inspecting the weapon. She gazed at Bellamy, and he nodded in response knowingly. Just as Quinn guessed, the fingers had been from Wells.
"This knife was made of metal from the dropship," Clarke spoke. Jasper frowned confusioningly, unsure of what that meant. Bellamy asked if anyone else knew, and Octavia shook her head, stating how they brought it here. Quinn was mainly focused on why Bellamy involved her in this 'meeting', wondering what the knife from the dropship had to do with anything. "It means the Grounders didn't kill Wells. It was one of us."
Jasper inhaled sharply, being spooked at the idea of there being a murderer in the camp. Bellamy spoke out, answering Jasper's question on whether there was a murderer. "There's more than one murderer in this camp." Quinn couldn't help but sheer her eyes down to the ground. "This isn't news. We need to keep it quiet." As Bellamy was done speaking, Clarke made her way out of the tent, only being stopped when Bellamy stepped in front of her. "Be smart about this. Look at what we've achieved. The wall, the patrols. Like it or not, thinking the Grounders killed Wells is good for us."
Clarke rolled her eyes at Bellamy's claim while Quinn couldn't help but agree with the man. "Oh, good for you, you mean," the blonde retorted. "What? Keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?"
Bellamy didn't hesitate in nodding. "Yeah, that's it. But it's good for all of us. Fear of the Grounders is building that wall. And besides, what are you going to do? Just walk out there and ask the killer to step forward? You don't even know whose knife that is."
"Oh, really?" Clarke questioned, holding up the knife so that the initials indebted on the knife were on display. "J.M: John Murphy. The people have a right to know."
Quinn sighed, about to express her view on the situation, yet the blonde walking outside hadn't given the brunette enough time. The others that were left behind in the tent gazed at each other before stepping out of the tent and marching through the camp until they found Clarke harshly pushing Murphy against his chest, holding up his knife. Quinn could barely hear the interaction until she followed Bellamy, standing in front of the circle that began to form around the two as their bickering grew louder.
"The Grounders killed Wells, not me!" Murphy denied the accusations Clarke threw at him. But Clarke inched closer to the boy, lowering her voice threateningly, warning Murphy that he was going to pay. "Really?" He asked, his eyes meeting Bellamy's. "Bellamy, you believe this shit?" Murphy asked.
Quinn peered at Bellamy beside her, seeing how he crossed his arms against his figure. Bellamy didn't reply, only having Clarke fill the silence. "You threatened to kill Wells. We all heard you. You hated Wells."
John scoffed. "Plenty of people hated Wells," he said, which was true. Since the moment Wells was sent to the ground, he hadn't had it easy when being surrounded by people who hated him and his father's guts. "His father was the Chancellor that locked us up." But as much as Murphy expressed his point, Clarke knew that Murphy had been the only one who got in a fight with Wells, including a knife. "Yeah, I didn't kill him then, either."
"He tried to kill Jasper, too," Octavia called out. Quinn and Bellamy peered at the girl, hearing the murmurs commence amongst the crowd. The McKenna girl hated to be standing in the front, next to the supposed leader of the camp. It felt like it had drawn too much-unwanted attention towards her, even with the argument between Clarke and Murphy happening.
John smiled humorously at the situation he was placed in. "Come on, this is ridiculous. I don't have to answer you," he said, first pointing his words towards Clarke before yelling out, gesturing to everyone. "I don't have to answer to anyone!"
Murphy's yells had Bellamy speaking up, raising his brows and remaining to have his arms crossed against his chest. "Come again?" He asked, almost demandingly through his tone. During the week that passed when Quinn had taken Atom's life, Bellamy began to warm up to the girl. She noticed how soft-ish he acted more towards her than others in the camp, so hearing Bellamy's dangerously low tone gave Quinn the slightest fright.
Murphy seemed to freeze when he realised his actions, walking towards Bellamy with a shake of his head. "Bellamy. Look, I'm telling you, man. I didn't do this."
Quinn wanted to believe Murphy, knowing that Kinsley and him were close, yet Kinsley was completely different from Murphy. She might be reckless and full of anger with her comments and retorts, yet Quinn never saw Kinsley as the person to murder someone. Although, Quinn never imagined herself needing to kill anyone either. "They found his fingers on the ground with your knife," Bellamy listed the evidence, which all pointed Wells's death to be from Murphy's hand.
"Is this the kind of society we want?" Clarke called out to the crowd watching them. "You say there should be no rules. Does that mean we can kill each other without ...—without punishment?" As Murphy again declined the claims of him being the murderer of Wells, a commotion occurred through the crowds.
Quinn's blood ran cold when she heard one of the male juveniles scream out: "I say we float him!" The others cheered in response. Clarke was quick to protest against the idea, yet living on the Ark, that's how everyone knew punishment was to be—being executed. "Why not?" The male questioned. "He deserves to float. It's justice!"
"Revenge isn't justice," Clarke cried. However, as more people agreed for John to be floated, nothing Clarke was saying was rendering through their heads before all chaos fell, chanting for the boy to be floated. Quinn stepped back, eyes widely staring amongst the people, and as Murphy went to make a run for it, a leg swooped him off his feet. Landing on the ground, everyone didn't hesitate rushing forward, kicking and throwing blows at the man who dropped. Clarke tried to come in the middle, wanting everything to stop, yet she was held back as was Octavia by Bellamy.
Quinn didn't move. She couldn't. The hatred for John Murphy could be smelled through the air. The same crushing feeling in her lungs when she killed Atom swelled. Quinn's sight of Murphy was blocked off by the enraged crowd, slightly catching a glimpse of how he was held by multiple people, a piece of fabric tied around his mouth in a makeshift gag. She glanced at her side, seeing Bellamy watching stoically. "You can stop this," she pleaded, her eyes brimming with tears, making her want to crumble at the feeling of her nose stinging. "Stop this, Bellamy, please!"
By the time Quinn had made it back to the front of the crowds where they had pushed John down a slope, a rope had been strung against his neck, being pulled up. Quinn gasped at the sight, her vision becoming blurred from the ongoing tears continuing to build. Again, she peered at Bellamy in hope, yet the man did not move to stop this. A sudden call of a girl's voice had Quinn turning away from the horrid sight, seeing Kinsley come running.
Quinn swallowed back the bile in the back of her throat as she pushed her way through the people, heading towards Kinsley, who held an expression of confusion. Quinn realised that Kinsley didn't know about the execution of John Murphy that was happening. "Kinsley, you shouldn't be here," she told the girl lightly, keeping a gentle hold on her arm.
The West girl frowned when she heard the shakiness and worry in Quinn's tone, seeing the tears displayed in her eyes. "What's happening?" Her voice was firm as she asked, looking over Quinn, trying to catch what the crowd was aiming at. But, as the rope tied around Murphy's was pulled more, causing him to be lifted higher, Kinsley's expression fell.
Pain struck the West girl's face. A sight that Quinn had never seen.
The McKenna girl tightened her hold on Kinsley absentmindedly as she went to head towards the crowds, worrying for the girl's safety. The West girl glared at Quinn, the shouts continuing to ring through the crowds and as Kinsley watched Murphy struggle, she pushed the brunette off of her without a second thought. Quinn groaned as her cheek met with the harsh floor, the tiny rocks imprinting on her skin, touching the pads of her fingers to feel the slight scratch that formed.
Kinsley didn't glance back at Quinn when her eyes were glued on Murphy. She caught sight of Bellamy when his name was being chanted through the crowd, and Kinsley felt a scream tear through her vocal cords when she watched the man kick the thing that prevented Murphy from dangling on the piece of rope. She charged forward, punching the man in the face, catching him by surprise. As he wiped at his nose where he had been punched, Kinsley continued with her blows, screaming in his face.
She was pulled off of him, struggling under the male's grasp that held her, yelling. "Let him go!" Her voice was held in a dangerous, threatening tone. Continuing to fight the hands that grasp at her, "Bellamy, stop this! Let him fucking go!" She slightly stopped, unknowing of the waterworks that trailed down her cheeks as her eyes were glued on Murphy. "John—Johnny! Stop it! Cut him down! I'll fucking kill you all!"
As the fights progressed and Murphy continued to hang, a girl's voice rang through the crowds. "Stop it, okay? Murphy didn't kill Wells. I did!" Immediately, the grip on Kinsley loosened, and the girl elbowed one of them in the nose, ripping her knife that Murphy made for you from the dropship from her waistband, quickly cutting the rope that held Murphy up by the neck.
Murphy dropped to the floor, and Kinsley crouched by his side, removing the gag from his mouth and cutting away the rope surrounding his neck, seemingly suffocating him. Kinsley continued to hold the boy as he took deep breaths, clinging onto her hand tightly as he regained his breath, his strength slowly triumphing.
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Clarke, Finn, Quinn and Bellamy had taken Charlotte in Bellamy's tent, away from the angered people shouting outside. Kinsley and Murphy stood together, the boy's face still stained with blood, calling out to the man to bring the girl out. Quinn could only guess what Murphy had in mind to do to Charlotte after being hanged unfairly. "Why, Charlotte?" Bellamy frantically asked.
"Because I was just trying to slay my demons," Charlotte explained, "like you told me." Quinn frowned, gazing at Bellamy when hearing the girl's words, slightly shaking her head at the man, confused.
Clarke was the first to speak up, leaning forward and asking what Charlotte was talking about. Bellamy faced the blonde. "She misunderstood me." He turned towards Charlotte, knowing that the girl had been mixed up with what he had said. "Charlotte, that's not what I meant.
From the calls of outside getting louder with each second, becoming more exaggerated and impatient, Charlotte cried, glancing at Bellamy to be her saviour. "Please, don't let them hurt me." Quinn stepped in front of Bellamy, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder and pulling her into her frame. Charlotte eagerly wrapped her arms around the brunette as she sobbed from fear, clinging onto Quinn's jacket tightly.
Quinn lifted her head, still not letting the girl go, as she peered at the others desperately. Quinn hadn't wanted Murphy to be strung up and hanged, and to think Charlotte was only twelve, being afraid she would suffer the same consequence, made Quinn's stomach curl. Bellamy sighed, glancing at the rest for any ideas, yet no one spoke up, their minds going blank. "Now you stay quiet?" Bellamy exasperated.
Finn turned towards the man, a scowl plastered on his face. "Those are your boys out there."
"This is not my fault!" Bellamy remarked. "If she'd listened, those idiots would still be building the wall." Quinn latched onto the girl tightly as Murphy continued to call out for Charlotte, feeling the girl become more tense against her frame. She shook her head, her pleads muffling against Quinn's shirt.
The McKenna girl slightly pulled Charlotte out of her grasp, keeping her at arm's length. She kept her hands firmly placed on Charlotte's shoulders, making eye contact with the young girl. "Charlotte, they're not going to hurt you, all right? Bellamy wouldn't let them happen." From the mention of the man, Quinn gazed up at him, seeing him nod his head in a false confident fashion. Quinn then pointed over at Clarke and Finn. "Stay with them, okay? They'll keep you hidden for the meantime."
Charlotte, with tears in her eyes, stared at the brunette. "Are you going to come?"
Quinn went to answer, but Bellamy cut her off, replying for her. "No, Quinn stays here." The brunette glanced at Bellamy questionably, her brows furrowed. She didn't make a sound of a protest, except only asking why.
Clarke jumped in on Bellamy, nodding her head. "Bellamy's right." Quinn switched her gaze from the Blake man to the blonde. "You might not see it, Quinn, but people listen to you." The McKenna girl shook her head in denial. Quinn wasn't a leader, she thought. She was a person who guided and aided others but never led groups of people. And it wasn't in her interest to do so.
She glanced between the people within the tent, all holding the same expression of agreement. Quinn gulped. "I—I'm not a leader," she spoke softly, suddenly becoming nervous under their stares. "That's Bellamy. That—that's you, Clarke. I'm not fit to lead people. I get too nervous, and I don't know what to say half the time—"
"You won't be alone," Bellamy cut in. Quinn's worried expression met with Bellamy's. He reached for the flap of the tent and waited until the brunette nodded unsurely, giving the McKenna girl space to exit first before he followed. Quinn froze at the sight of the juveniles grouped up together, having Kinsley and Murphy stood in the front, a deadly glint seen in their eyes. They wanted revenge. And they were going to do anything to get it.
Bellamy placed a comforting hand on the girl's lower back, sending her a reassuring gaze as Murphy strutted towards them, tilting his head. "Well, look who decided to join us." Bellamy sent a warning look as he cautiously told Murphy to back off, but seeing the blood painted on Murphy's face, Quinn knew it wasn't going to be easy for Murphy to 'back off'. "Or what? What are you going to do, Bellamy? Hang me?" He challenged.
Quinn glossed over Murphy, seeing how Kinsley had her arms crossed against her chest, a scowl constantly plastered on her face as her eyes diverted away from Quinn but were strongly set on Bellamy's. From the beginning, Kinsley hadn't liked Bellamy, and now with the hanging of John Murphy, it added more fuel to the fire igniting inside of Quinn. "You want to give the people what they want, Bellamy?" Kinsley called out. Murphy stepped to the side, glancing at his best friend as she joined them. "Then give us the girl."
Since coming out of the tent, Quinn had stayed silent, yet she chose this time to finally speak up, attempting to not let her words mumble. "Kinsley, I get it. You're angry, but she's a little girl." Quinn shook her head. "You don't want to do this."
The West girl seemed to have a flick of conflict shoot through her face, yet she shook it off. "So it's okay to hang John up when he didn't kill Wells but let the girl roam free?" She questioned, taking an intimidating step towards Quinn. Kinsley saw the scratch formed on Quinn's face, guessing it had been the time when she pushed the McKenna girl off of her as she was trying to reach John, but that was the least of her concerns at this point. "You honestly convinced me that you weren't one of the privileged, but here you are, standing next to the King himself."
Quinn cowarded from Kinsley, her eyes dipping to the floor. Bellamy lifted his head high, taking a step in front of Quinn, which hadn't gone unnoticed by Kinsley as the girl scoffed. Murphy seemed to chuckle, turning away from Bellamy and Quinn, pointing his attention towards the built-up crowd. "So, who wants to see the real murderer hung up? All in favour?" Everyone had a part in Murphy's hanging, although, this time, only a few had their hands in the air. Murphy and Kinsley included. "I see. So it's okay to string me up for nothing, but when this little bitch confesses, you want to let her walk? Cowards! All of you—"
"Hey, Murphy. Murphy!" Bellamy called out, leaving Quinn alone to stand near Kinsley as he inched towards the enraged boy. "It's over," he said, which had John seemingly backing off. Bellamy nodded, turning around and making eye contact with Quinn, who held a sense of relief in her eyes. Yet, as she glanced away from Bellamy, Murphy struck forward, hitting a plank of wood over his head.
Quinn rushed forward as Octavia yelled out to Murphy when she saw him hit her brother, meeting Quinn's side. The healer tore her eyes away from the unconscious form of Bellamy as Murphy and Kinsley intruded into Bellamy's tent, finding it empty, calling out to the girl who had escaped with the help of Clarke and Finn. "Charlotte! Charlotte, I know you can hear me! And when I find you, you're going to pay!"
Murphy paced around for a moment, watching Quinn carefully check the back of Bellamy's head where he was hit. He charged forward, grasping onto the girl tightly and pulled her to her feet. Quinn squirmed in his grasp, not having half the strength of Murphy, easily being dragged along. Octavia also stood, yelling for the boy to let Quinn go, being held back by some boys as well.
Quinn desperately made eye contact with Kinsley, shaking her head to the girl before she was spun and forcibly turned to face Murphy. He unravelled his knife, tipping the blade towards the girl's face. The brunette's breath hitched as she kept her eyes glossed over the weapon. "You're coming with me, or Charlotte isn't the only one who's going to get it," he whispered dangerously.
The McKenna girl didn't have time to nod her head or say any words before she was pushed, her feet having to move before she could. Having a hand constantly hold her as they charged through the woods, she spared a final gaze at Bellamy's form, only hoping that he would wake up soon and that Clarke and Finn had already hidden Charlotte.
authors note.
DRAMAAAAAA ‼️‼️
i understand kinsley is in the wrong, but if any of yall complain about my decision to me, then get the fuck out. kinsley just watched her best friend get hanged and is wanting revenge as she is reckless and aggressive.
quinn stepping into the leader role :( my baby deserves more than being dragged around the woods all night looking for charlotte.
i do want to hear your guys' thoughts on this chapter, or the whole story in general, so far !!