/\/\/
/\/\/
Murphy pulled the makeshift bandage from his thigh with an annoyed huff, Raven watching him carefully. His back rested up against the cool wall of the drop ship, his leg throbbing with each movement he made. It had been quiet between the pair for a while, Raven watching him carefully.
'How did you get to be such a dick, Murphy?' The girl asked.
'I'm sorry for shooting you, ok? Is that what you want to hear?' He sneered.
'Let me guess. Mommy and daddy didn't love you?'
The boy sighed, 'No, they loved me.'
'Are you gonna cry, Murphy?'
'Screw you, Raven.'
'No, tell me. I want to know. How does a kid who's loved by his parents turn into a murdering psychopath?'
Murphy sat silent for a few moments, contemplating if he wanted to tell the last person he wanted to know his life story. But with a sigh, he looked down at his hands.
'He gets the flu,' He stated, earning a soft scoff from Raven; 'His father steals medicine... That turns out wouldn't help anyway. Gets floated for it... And his mother, she starts drinking pretty heavily after that... And last words she says to him before he finds her in a pool of her own vomit is that... Is that he killed his father.'
He held back his tears as he looked over at the girl, his eyes red rimmed with tears sitting heavy in them.
'Boo-hoo,' She stated weakly.
He sent her a tight, weak smile in reply, a tear dripping down his cheek once she looked away.
'What... What about Byrd?' Raven asked softly.
'What about her?' He sniffled.
'Why's she so messed up?'
Murphy looked down at his hands, 'Byrd's dad was floated for smuggling supplies when she was about thirteen. She became really angry all the time because he was only trying to get more food for her and her mother... After that, guards used to come in during the middle of the night and rape her mother. Some would drug her with some pretty messed up stuff, it messed with her head... Byrd got pretty sick of it really quickly, but her mother would warn her off; telling her it was fine.'
'How'd she end up down here then?'
'She was the one that killed the eight guards... The ones that used to rape her mother and lit their quarters on fire with them inside, plus her vandalism got her into trouble.'
'She was a vandal?'
'Little Bird.'
Raven's jaw dropped slightly, knowing she had seen countless of the works Byrd had done; never actually knowing who drew them. She nodded slowly, dropping her gaze.
'You really think she's dead?' She asked.
'She always said, never say it till you actually know,' Murphy smirked slightly; 'So, until I know, I won't say.'
/\/\/
After a long dinner with no eating, Byrd laid on her bunk staring up at the roof; the chatter constant around her. Dante hadn't spoken to her like he had spoken to Clarke, and she guessed it was out of fear for his life. She watched as Clarke opened the parcel left for her, art supplies filling the box.
'Hey, Blondie,' She called; 'Reckon I can steal one of those?'
Clarke looked at her with a small smile, nodding to her before handing her a marker. The Delani girl grinned, rolling onto her knees; quickly beginning to draw on the wall by her bed. She chuckled as a quote came to mind, her hands working quickly to get it onto the wall; better to die fighting for freedom than be a prisoner all the days of your life. Byrd signed it with her tag, flipping off the camera in the corner of the room as she moved to lay down once more; closing her eyes, Murphy's face invading her dreams.
The next morning, Byrd knelt on another bed doing another graffiti work, rock music playing throughout the room. She smirked when she heard Miller's name, turning to look at her boy with grinned widely. She jutted her chin out toward him, earning the same in reply before turning back to the wall. The girl struggled to resist the urge to groan when sirens blared, but she hadn't done anything. She ignored the silence in the room, continuing to draw as Miller walked up beside the bed; watching her. She looked at him with a smirk for a brief second, before turning back to her work.
'You wanna do one of them for me?' He asked.
She scoffed in amusement, 'What? You think I'm giving these out for free?'
'What do you want for one?'
She chuckled, shaking her head as she turned to look at him once more.
'What do you want?' She asked.
'Really?'
'It'll cure my boredom.'
'I want a huge flag with a fist.'
Byrd thought up the image in her head, nodding slowly; 'Yeh, I can do that. Where's your bed?'
He pointed to the one below her own, making her smirk as she nodded.
'You know, I'm bunked above you, right?' She asked.
'That's ok,' He shrugged.
'If you say so.'
Miller nodded with a quick chuckle, turning away to look at his bed before looking back at the tan girl.
'You coming to breakfast?' He asked.
'Nah,' She waved him off; 'I'm gonna get started on your drawing.'
'Suit yourself.'
He smiled at her one last time before he left the room, leaving her be.
/\/\/
'He didn't die cause of a bullet, did he?' Byrd drawled when Clarke walked back into the dorm.
The blonde looked at her for a moment, 'No.'
'Clarke, if you're trying to help us, you're not doing it.'
'How would you know?'
'I know there are people watching us all the time. I know guards patrol these halls waiting for us to escape again. You have to wait until they're vulnerable before you attack.'
'Is that how you work?'
She scoffed as she continued to draw Miller's image, 'Where'd that blossoming friendship go, Blondie? We were getting along so well.'
'Is that how you work?'
'No, but it's how you should. I could kill everyone in here cause I don't care about them, but you do. A small part of you doesn't want to watch everyone in here die, because you're scared it'll haunt you. And it will.'
'Get to the point, Byrd.'
'You keep fighting against the restraints, but you're not strong enough to break them yet.'
Clarke looked at the back of the Delani girl's head, watching as she worked as though the conversation at hand wasn't that serious. She looked away, lowering her gaze to the floor as she eyes moved continuously.
'How do I do it?' She asked.
'You gotta get over the fact that these people are human, and think of them as the enemy. Just like you thought of the grounders... Use that hate to find the weak link, find some dark secret, and use it against them,' Byrd turned to look at her; 'And leave the killing to me.'
The rest of the remaining forty eight trailed into the dorm, ending the conversation at hand. The Delani girl went back to ignoring them all, spitting witty comments at Miller as he shot them at her. She looked over her shoulder when the boy fell quiet, listening into the conversation between Clarke and Jasper.
'Why do you want to screw this up for us?' Jasper hissed.
'I don't know what this is,' Clarke muttered.
'This is safe. This is food, a real bed, clothes, and my personal favourite not getting speared by Grounders. How long do you think they'll let us stay here if you keep this up?'
'Did someone threaten you?'
'No. No. It's common sense... Look. We're guests here, not prisoners. What would you do with a guest who kept calling you a liar and generally acted like an ungrateful ass?'
'Kick the ungrateful ass out,' Miller chimed.
'Right now, biggest threat to us is you.'
And with that Jasper walked away, leaving the blonde to stand there staring after him. Byrd shook her head once more, signing off of the work she had done before she slipped from the bed.
'Thanks,' Miller grinned.
'Enjoy,' She replied before clambering back up onto her bed.
She was quick to continue adding to her own design above her bed, darkening lines and adding more.
/\/\/
After being forced to dinner, Byrd walked back to the dorm to find no one there. She sighed in relief, sick of being around people. Though, her peace didn't last long as Clarke wandered into the room. She sighed, rolling onto her side to watch the girl. The blonde wandered over to her bunk, staring at something for a moment before she pulled up her sleeve.
'Only patients are allowed in medical,' She muttered to herself.
The Delani girl sighed, 'Stop.'
Clarke gasped as she pulled her unbandaged arm back in shock, looking up at her with wide eyes. Byrd slid from the bed and wandered toward her, holding her hand out.
'Give it here. My way will hurt less,' She stated.
'What?' The blonde replied with furrowed brows.
She rolled her eyes, slipping the knife out from her sleeve; waving it around.
'Now you understand?' She queried.
Clarke nodded, finally placing her forearm in her hand. Quickly, she sliced down over the stitches; only cutting them. She hardly spared the blonde a glance as she pressed her knife into the wound, reopening it with she pulled the blade through her skin. She listened to the soft, pained gasps leaving the girl's mouth, but she didn't stop till the end.
'Now, do you want me pretend I found you or do you want to stab me back and make it look like a fight?' She smirked.
'Thankyou,' Clarke whispered; 'Scream.'
'Got it. Find us a way out.'
'Come... With... Me.'
She looked over Clarke's face as it fell pale, smirking to herself.
'I'll find my own way out, Blondie,' She stated; 'Never had to rely on anyone and I'm not about to start.'
Byrd caught the girl as she finally passed out, laying her down on the ground before placing the knife in her blood. And with a deep breath, she screamed. She was sure it was the performance of her life. And she was sure everyone who knew her, knew it too. She wasn't scared of anything, so why would she suddenly be scared of blood? Nurses and guards rushed in, quickly moving to aid Clarke as the Delani girl walked backwards and out of the room. Her job was done.
/\/\/
The halls were quiet as Byrd strode through them, heading toward the hospital. She smirked as she reached the main door, catching it as it went to fall closed. She slipped inside and let it shut quietly, ducking under a bed when she saw the doctor with Clarke. And the moment the heels clicked past her, she up and walking toward the blonde who was now sitting up in her bed.
'How'd you get in?' She asked.
'I have my ways,' The Delani girl chuckled.
She let the blonde shake an unconscious man as she followed the tubes along the wall, the ones she had been studying the last time she was in medical. Her brows furrowed when they disappeared into the wall, before a smirk lit up her lips when her eyes laid upon the air vent.
'Blondie,' She called without looking over her shoulder.
'Yeh, I see it too,' Clarke replied as she approached the door.
The girl rolled her eyes and began to tug the air vent out of the wall, letting the metal ring clatter on the ground as she dropped it. She didn't wait for Clarke as she clambered up into it, crawling through the narrow tunnel and into the next room. She screwed up her nose at the feral smell upon entering the dull room, before it fell away at the sight of two grounders being hing up by their feet.
'Clarke,' She called up the tunnel; 'You're gonna want to see this.'