I don't need your help | Raven Reyes

pt11- home sweet home

"He can't be dead, he's ok, he's alive," I muttered under my breath, I had been alone in the cell for several hours and I was going insane. I couldn't stand the thought that Murphy may have died trying to help me so I kept telling myself that he was ok, if I said it enough then maybe I would believe it. I hadn't been chained up this time so I was free to roam the tiny room, it was empty and cold but I paced back and forth so much I couldn't feel the cold anymore. The blisters on my stomach still stung and they had started to puss. I didn't have anything to cleanse it with so I just had to let it goop onto my shirt and hope it didn't get infected.

The door suddenly opened and Murphy was shoved inside. I ran up to him and even surprised myself when I jumped into him with a tight hug, I tried to ignore the sting of my blisters. "I thought you were dead!" he hugged me tightly. "It's ok. I'm ok." "You promised me you wouldn't tell them anything!" I pulled back and lightly hit him in the arm. "I couldn't just let him kill you Aysel! You can't just expect me to sit there and watch as he drowned you!" That was the first time in a long time I had heard my first name be used, I usually hated it but right now I didn't care. I buried my head into the crook of his neck and we stood there tightly holding each other for a long time.

"Wait, why aren't we chained?" That was a good question, "I don't know..." I watched as he slowly walked over to the door, he looked back at me for a moment before turning back to the door. He carefully put his bloody hand on the handle and turned it, when it clicked I jumped to my feet and rushed to his side. "It's unlocked!" He whispered excitedly. He nudged it open ever so slightly before peeking out. "It's dark... there's no one around." He looked back at me. "Can you run?" He asked. I nodded. "Ok. when I say follow me..." He peeked out for a few more seconds before quietly pushing the door open. We cautiously stepped out of the dark cell we had been trapped in for days and crept across the empty village. "Where the hell is everyone?" It felt all too easy of an escape but I wasn't one to complain, we were quickly out of there and into the trees, Murphy picked up his pace and I matched it. We weaved in and out of the trees now at a full sprint, desperate to get as far away as possible. Once we were sure we were far enough away we slowed down to catch our breath. A faint snap of a twig came from somewhere around us, close. "Did you hear that?" I asked although it was clear by his jumpiness that he had, I looked around, desperately trying to find our stalker.

Without giving either of us had time to react a large figure jumped out from the shadows and launched itself at Murphy, tackling him to the ground. They scrambled around on the ground trying to gain dominance over the fight. Murphy took a few hit so the face and blood started to fall from his nose. I scanned the ground for something to use but nothing stuck out so I ended up jumping on the grounders back and wrapping my arms around their neck, I squeezed as hard as I could in an attempt to block their airway but I was quickly brushed off and was flung to the ground. I was the next to take some punches as Murphy was still dazed by the hits he had taken. The grounder must have been wearing some gloves built for hitting hard because, with each hit I endured, more blood covered my face. I felt the weight release as Murphy jumped at the guy on top of me, knocking him down to the ground, he managed to get a few hits on the guy before he was flipped on his back. A large rock sticking out the ground caught my eye and I quickly bent down to pick it up, it was heavy and hard to get a grip on but I managed to lift it above my head. I quickly stumbled over to where Murphy was still distracting the grounder whose back was facing me, with as much power as I could muster I brought the heavy rock down into his skull. Knocked out, with blood now gushing out from his fractured cranium he fell to the ground unconscious, adrenaline was still rushing through me so I lifted the rock once more and with a strong swing I rammed it into his head, over and over again until I knew for certain he was dead.

I dropped the weapon to my feet as I stared at the man I just killed. My hands, covered in blood were shaking uncontrollably. Murphy slowly stood to his feet and stepped in front of me, he took my hands in his and forced me to look at him. "You had to do it, you saved my life." I slightly nodded my head because I knew that if I tried to speak I wouldn't be able to hold back my tears.

"We need to find shelter for the night..." He suggested but I shook my head. "We need to find camp, if we stop running more grounders will come." "No. They banished me they will never let me back in." He argued. "I won't let them send you back out here alone!" I promised. 

After a little bit of convincing, we finally agreed to find our way back to camp. It was dark out and hard to see but I didn't want to stop, I couldn't go back there. We walked for hours and the moon was over halfway through the sky by the time I finally recognized where we were. "I know where we are! We should only be a few more minutes away!" We followed the path although it was hard to see where that actually was. Just as we thought we were safe another twig snapped behind us. Without hesitation, both Murphy and I started sprinting down the path, he grabbed my arm and pulled me through the trees in an attempt to lose our follower. It seemed to be working so we slowed down a little bit till we were at a light jog. Both of us were so focused on our surroundings that we didn't see the strategic wire tied between two trees and we both tripped and stumbled to the ground. Metal tins that were tied on the tripwire clanged together as an alarm. Just as I was about to get up, two loud bangs rung in my ears. Gunshots. A few more moments went by and I heard a few sets of footsteps edge closer to where we were laying, I closed my eyes in fear of being shot. "Murphy? May?" I recognized the voice and opened my eyes to see Octavia looking down at us, disbelief all over her face. At least they had managed to find her safely...