[C H A P T E R T E N]
Power Hungry
☆☆☆
IT HAD BEEN FOUR DAYS SINCE Wells was killed. His body was found outside the wall with a stab wound to the throat and two missing fingers. The funeral was very small since no one really liked him. Roseline figured that Wells would've been just fine with that. He probably just wanted his friends there anyway. Clarke was taking his death the hardest which was completely reasonable. Roseline had heard from Finn that both her and Wells made up only hours before he was stabbed.
Roseline wasn't taking it well either. She was a lot quieter when she would talk to people, and everyone else was extremely on edge due to that. Roseline didn't really mind the awkward and uneasy stares though. Her mind was solely fixed on the fact that Earth really wasn't as safe as she had pictured. The thought of Grounders out to kill them had caused Roseline to stay up all night, jumping at every noise she heard outside of her tent. At one point, Roseline was so tired that while trying to jam a large chunk of wood into the wall, she almost fell over from the exhaustion. Bellamy then helped her back on her feet and ordered her to take a nap and not come back out until she felt better.
She ended up sleeping for seventeen hours straight.
"Hey, Rose, you good?" a boy named Tim asked, breaking Roseline out of her trance. Looking over at him, she nodded and gave a smile.
"Yeah, sorry," she said, focusing back on the task at hand. Her, Tim, and some other girl she didn't know the name of were creating weapons from the rubble of the drop-ship landing. Roseline didn't really get involved with actually making the weapons, but she did give out suggestions and snatched up random parts that they could use for said weapons. Though, she wasn't really into the job in the first place. Her mind and eyes kept wandering to more interesting things around the camp. At one point she ended up watching Murphy yell at some kid for ten minutes just because his knot-tying skills were terrible.
Seeing him belittle the others made her blood boil, but she stayed put. The pair hadn't spoken since their fight, and Bellamy made sure of it. He had told Roseline to keep her distance and he would make sure that Murphy did the same. For the most part, that plan worked, but sometimes they would accidentally walk into the same tent and the air around them grew tense. Neither of them would say anything as they quickly grabbed what they needed and left before either of them said something that they would regret.
"Hey!" Murphy's voice rang through her ears. Thinking he was talking to her, Roseline's heart dropped to her feet. She then realized that he was calling out to a boy who had dropped a log out of exhaustion.
"You think the Grounders are just gonna sit around and wait for us to finish the wall?" Murphy continued to the boy, Connor, she thought. "Maybe we should let the little girl do the lifting for you, huh?" He pointed at a girl who looked no older than thirteen.
Roseline knew the girl's name was Charlotte, but she didn't know much else about her. The only thing she did know was that Bellamy had taken a liking to her after coming back from the hunting trip. She thought it was sweet that he was so kind to her, yet still treated her like an adult. Roseline knew that most of the people here would've dismissed her purely because she was young. She wondered if that was how he treated Octavia when she was younger as well.
"I just need some water, okay? Then I'll be fine," Connor assured, struggling to catch his breath.
"Murphy," Bellamy said, walking over to the two boys. "Get this guy some water."
Murphy reluctantly nodded before trudging off, leaving Bellamy with Connor and Charlotte.
"You got this?" Bellamy asked the small girl with a serious tone. Charlotte quickly dropped her rope and went to go and lift up the heavy log by herself. As she was lifting, Bellamy grinned and bent down to help her.
"I'm just kidding," he said, his voice lighter. Roseline bit her lip to keep herself from smiling at the two.
She went back to her table of scraps and continued working, but was distracted once more by angry shouting.
"What the hell is wrong with you Murphy?" Connor cried out, jumping back up on his feet. When Roseline turned to see what was going on, she wished she hadn't. The picture of Murphy urinating all over Connor's back was seared into her mind, and it made her want to gouge out her eyes.
Connor pushed Murphy out of rage, and Murphy's little followers held him back before he could any more damage, much to Roseline's annoyance.
"You said you needed a water break," Murphy shrugged, zipping back up his pants. "Get back to work!" he then shouted at the other campers, who immediately carried on with their business.
Out of the corner of her eye, Roseline saw Tim and the other girl hastily returning to their odd weapons, but Roseline didn't follow in suit. Instead, she glared holes into Murphy's back, hoping he would get her telepathic message that he was being a total douche. She almost even got up to chuck the half-finished handle she had in her hands at his head, but her eyes found Bellamy's, and he was giving her a warning look that told her to stay away. Huffing, she went back to her boring weapons and imagining herself smacking Murphy with the wooden club in front of her.
As she worked, she zoned in and out of Tim and Marrin's (Tim had made a joke involving the unknown girl's name) conversation about which old fairytale was better. She heard that Marrin was saying Cinderella was the best, while Tim was convinced it was Sleeping Beauty. Both arguments were compelling to Roseline because she loved both stories, but her heart knew that Rapunzel was her favorite out of all of them.
Before she could give her input to her tablemates, Octavia and Jasper stumbled over, their eyes wild with fear.
"Rose, you're gonna wanna see this," Octavia urged, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward Bellamy's tent. Roseline shot an apologetic look to Tim and Marrin behind her shoulder as she was dragged away. She watched as Jasper ran into the drop-ship and emerged with Clarke in tow similarly to Roseline.
Bellamy jumped in surprise as the four clambered into his small tent. "What the...?"
Octavia set down something wrapped up in a dirty cloth, her hands shaking. Slowly, she unfolded it to reveal two severed fingers that were eerily familiar. Jasper then pulled out a knife that made the whole situation ten times worse. No one spoke, and Roseline's breath was caught in her throat. It was one of us.
"This knife was made with metal from the drop-ship," Clarke murmured, picking up the knife delicately. Roseline pulled at her jacket sleeves while biting her lip harshly. Jasper had his hand clutched on his chest, the same place he was speared just a week before.
"Who else knows about this?" Bellamy said, taking the initiative.
"No one. We brought it straight here," Octavia answered, leaning against the small table for support.
"...Clarke?" Jasper asked with hesitance. He watched her nervously as she continued to examine the knife.
"This means the Grounders didn't kill Wells. It was one of us." Clarke had a dangerous look in her eyes, and Roseline knew something bad was going to happen.
"Okay, so who was it?" Roseline questioned timidly.
"So, there's a murderer in the camp?" Jasper followed up.
"There's more than one murderer in this camp. This isn't news. We need to keep it quiet." Bellamy went to grab the knife but Clarke was quick to pull away.
"What? No!" Roseline protested. "We can't just let them go! They killed Wells! He was one of us!"
Clarke nodded in agreement and went for the exit, but Bellamy blocked her path.
"Get out of my way, Bellamy," she gritted. Roseline stood behind her with her arms crossed.
"Be smart about this," he countered slowly. "Look at what we achieved. The wall, the patrols. Like it or not, thinking the Grounders killed Wells is good for us."
"Oh, good for you, you mean." Clarke rolled her eyes. "What--keep people afraid and they'll work for you? Is that it?"
"Yeah, that's it. It's good for all of us. Fear of the Grounders is building that wall. And besides, what are you gonna do--just walk out there and ask the killer to step forward? You don't even know whose knife that is."
"Oh, really?" Clarke showed him the knife. "J.M. John Murphy. The people have a right to know." She pushed him aside and stormed out. Roseline was quick to follow, her hands shaking, but Bellamy held his hand out to stop her.
"Rosie, c'mon. You don't wanna do this." She could hear the pleading in his voice.
Roseline scoffed. "I'm not just gonna let this one slide, Bell. He killed someone. He didn't just pee all over a guy, okay? He straight up murdered Wells."
She pushed past and stomped off to confront Murphy with Clarke. To her displeasure, Clarke had already begun the accusations without her.
"That's my knife. Where'd you find it?" Murphy responded to a question Clarke had asked, and Roseline stepped in with a scowl.
"Where you dropped it after you killed Wells," she spat, her hands still trembling. The campers had left their stations and were now crowding around them, curious as to what would go down. A confused look passed Murphy's face, making Roseline frown even more, but he covered it up with anger.
"Where I what?" He took a casual step forward to Clarke. "The Grounders killed Wells, not me."
"I know what you did," Clarke seethed, stepping forward as he did. "and you're gonna pay for it."
"Really?" Murphy glanced at the pair with amusement which fueled the fire in Roseline's hands. "Bellamy, you really believe this crap?"
Bellamy had his arms crossed over his chest like Roseline's mother did when she caught Roseline staying up too late. He didn't respond to Murphy, and the brunette could tell that it irked him.
"You threatened to kill him, we all heard you," Clarke said, her voice rising with each word. "You hated Wells."
"Plenty of people hated Wells," Murphy retorted. "His father was the chancellor that locked us up--"
"Yeah, but you're the only one that got in a knife fight with him!" Clarke cut him off.
"Yeah, I didn't kill him then, either."
"Tried to kill Jasper too," Octavia commented from the sidelines. "And Rose."
Roseline's nostrils flared as she glared daggers at the boy. Murphy flickered his eyes around the criminals, the flash of doubt crossing his face. He masked it with a fake laugh.
"C'mon, this is ridiculous. I don't have to answer to you. I don't have to answer to anyone."
"Come again?" Bellamy raised an eyebrow. Murphy limped toward the leader, his face desperate which puzzled Roseline.
"Bellamy, look, I'm telling you, man. I didn't do this."
"They found his fingers on the ground with your knife," Bellamy reminded him lowly. Murphy turned away, the desperation still clear in his eyes.
"Is this the kind of society that we want?" Clarke directed to the restless crowd. "You say there should be no rules. Does that mean we can kill each other without punishment?"
"I already told you, I didn't kill anyone," Murphy snapped.
"I say we float him," Connor called out. Murmurs of agreement rang through the people, and Roseline felt that bad feeling creeping down her spine.
"That's not what I'm saying," Clarke said, shaking her head, but it was too late. There was no stopping the people when they wanted something to be done, especially when it came to inflicting harm on another.
"Why not? He deserves to float. It's justice," Connor argued.
"Revenge isn't justice." Roseline stepped in between the two.
The people ignored her and continued to shout out, "Float him! Float him!"
Roseline spun in a circle as the crowd gathered around, closing them in. Her heart felt like a jackhammer in her chest, and it was getting hard for her to breathe. Connor was chanting the loudest and Roseline knew she had to get him to stop, or else he would lead these criminals to do something that she didn't want to see happen. Before she could reach him, Murphy pushed her aside in a fit of rage and went after Connor himself. Though someone tripped him and he stumbled to the ground as the crowd cheered.
The criminals were relentless. As if they were one being, they attacked him from all angles, kicking him and punching Murphy until he was curled up in the fetal position. It crushed Roseline to think that they were kicking at Murphy's still fresh bruises from his and Roseline's fight. As much as she hated the guy, Roseline would never forgive herself if he died like this.
Tying and gagging him up, they dragged Murphy away from the middle of camp and threw him down a dip in the earth. He rolled helplessly into a mud puddle face-first. Roseline and Clarke cried for the delinquents to stop, but no one listened. Roseline tried to find Bellamy in the mass of people, hoping he could try and stop the chaos, but there was no such luck.
She did, however, end up toward the front with Clarke, watching the horrors that they had caused. Murphy was being stringed up to a tree branch, the rope dangerously tight around his neck. His face was bloody and swollen, reminding her of the damage she had done just days before. She could see the tears in his eyes and hear his pleading through his gag. The sight almost caused her to hurl in the bushes next to her.
"You can stop this!" Clarke cried from beside her. Roseline turned to see Clarke beating at Bellamy's chest with desperation. "They'll listen to you!"
"Bellamy, you should do it!" Connor shouted, pointing at the crate that held Murphy up from death.
Bellamy locked eyes with Roseline, and she could see how conflicted he truly was. She knew that he wasn't a murderer, but she also knew about power and what it can do to you. For so long, Roseline watched as people in power treated the lower class citizens, like Bellamy, as if they were not important. They acted like their lives were insignificant compared to people with more authority, and it never sat well with Roseline. She always treated people with kindness, hoping that she could make someone's day a little brighter by saying hello to them. But Roseline had a feeling that now that Bellamy was in power and no longer at the mercy of the upper class, he would do anything to stay there.
"Please don't," she whispered. Her words were drowned out by the people shouting, "Bell-a-my! Bell-a-my!", but she knew that Bellamy saw what she said. His eyes held so much vulnerability that it physically pained Roseline to see him like this. She wished they were back in Go-Sci station again; her rambling and cracking jokes, and him rolling his eyes, making a sarcastic comment with a playful smirk.
"I saw you in the woods with Atom! I know you're not a killer!" Clarke's words pulled him away from Roseline's teary gaze. "Bellamy, don't do this!"
His eyes fell into a hard stare as he marched to where Murphy was roped up. Roseline tugged at his sleeve, praying that he would stop and do the right thing. He gave one last look to Roseline as if he was trying to say he was sorry. Then, he brought his foot up and kicked the crate, letting Murphy dangle in the air surrounded by people who watched in delight.
"No, Bellamy! No!" Clarke screamed, pushing him.
He pushed her back with an emotion in his eyes Roseline couldn't identify. "This is on you, Princess! You should've kept your mouth shut!"
"What the hell are you doing?" Finn's loud voice rang through the cheers of victory. "Cut him down! Now!" He ran for the rope, but Connor stopped him by thrusting a knife at his face.
This is it, Roseline accepted silently. We're all going to die by the hands of each other, not the Grounders. The thought made her want to break down right there in the middle of the mayhem.
"Stop! Murphy didn't kill Wells!" a shrill voice cried out. Everyone turned to see Charlotte's small frame standing in the midst of the violence.
The young girl swallowed thickly, tears prickling at her eyes. "I did."
☆☆☆
A/N: hello!! hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!! also i just wanna make it clear to you guys that bellamy and rose became acquaintances when bell became the go-sci janitor. i realized that i only wrote one flashback which was the first time they met and nothing else, so i just wanted to clear that up!
also, i just wanna say thank you so much for reading this book, it means so much to me! i know i don't update really fast, but i try very hard to do it, so thank you for sticking with me!!
anyways, happy reading!!
-kate