sunset|| j.murphy

21||hunt

"you don't even know him"

After a couple of days, everything started going back to normal. I was finally medically cleared by Clarke after what seemed like a million years. I was still sore and covered in scars and stuff, but now, I was allowed to work and help out like everyone else.

However, I hadn't been 'assigned' a job like the others. Murphy and Octavia were designated to working in the smokehouse. Jasper and Monty were on rations. Clarke and Bellamy were telling everyone else what to do. 

"Need some help in here?" I asked, opening the flap of Raven's tent. Raven seemed nice enough, and I could definitely tell she was tough. I mean, building a rocket from scrap and coming down to the ground for your boyfriend just to see him falling for someone else? That's gotta hurt.

"I'm good." She replied, seeming frustrated as she worked on pouring gunpowder from one bullet into another. 

"Split loads? That's all we got, huh?" I noticed as she turned one bullet into two, halving the amount of gunpowder in each bullet.

"Until your brother can make us some more gunpowder. I saw him taking buckets from the latrine earlier. I didn't ask." She chuckled lightly. 

"Our dad told us this old recipe for gunpowder he found in a book one time. I thought it was made up. Guess we'll see." I replied, sitting down on the crate beside Raven. Thinking about my dad made me upset. They floated my mom for having me, but saw my dad as 'too important' to float since he was one of the best chemists on the Ark. She gave me a look of confusion as I sat down. "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I won't get in your way, just speeding up the process." 

Raven watched as I started making the split loads, and she must have approved, because she just gave a small hum of approval and continued working on her own stuff.

After another half hour or so, the tent flap opened, revealing Raven's (ex?) boyfriend.

"And that's my cue." I quipped, exiting the tent to leave the two alone.

Outside, I spotted Octavia and Murphy in the smokehouse, Jasper on lookout and Monty at the water station.

I didn't necessarily want to sit in a hot wooden coffin and slice open dead animals, so I went over to Jasper, who was stationed on lookout.

"Hey, little sister." Jasper greeted, stretching out they 'hey', not even bothering to look beside him as he already knew it was me. "How you feelin'?"

"Great." I answered, happy that I was finally able to work now. I felt so useless before, like dead weight.

"So, are you gonna tell me the real answer now?" Jasper replied, turning his head to me, but still keeping his gun aimed outside the wall.

"That is the real answer. I feel great." I replied. Maybe it wasn't the full truth, but it was the truth I wanted to believe.

"No one here feels great." Jasper replied. I should have known better. My brother knows me better than anyone. "It's okay to be scared, Lee. The trick is not fighting it."

"I know." I replied softly, giving my brother a quick hug. All of a sudden, we heard shouts of chaos coming from the middle of camp. I turned around to see the smokehouse on fire, and immediately ran to see if Octavia was okay. 

She was halfway out of the smokehouse, so I ran in and swung her arm around my shoulder to help her as she stumbled out, a coughing mess from all the smoke.