On the Ground

Twilight's Last Gleaming

I was alone in the forest. Everything was bright and everywhere I looked was green. This was like when we first landed on Earth. I felt no pain. I stood wearing my tank top and jeans with my hair down. The breeze blew around me. Behind me I heard a rustle in the leaves. I turned but saw nothing. I felt no fear or worry. "Hello?" I called out, moving towards the bushes. I grabbed hold of the leaves and pulled them back. I gasped, and loosing my balance, fell backwards. Murphy lay on the ground, bloody and unmoving. "John?" I cried out. I reached forward again but when I pulled back the branches he was gone. I turned and saw a grounder no more then 5 feet from me. He didn't move. "You're next." He whispered. I scooted back. I turned and saw Clarke. "Clarke?!" I yelled. She stared at me, "Wake up. Wake up!" She yelled to me.

...

I shot up from my nightmare. Clarke was sitting by me in the drop ship. "How is your head?" She asked. "Better." I mumbled getting up. As soon as I did I noticed something different. There was a girl standing by the door with Finn. "Uh.. this is Raven." Clarke said, pointing to the girl. "I... I know." I said smiling. Raven smiled when she realized I recognized her. "Hey, its been a while!" Raven stepped forward and hugged me. We were friends up on the Ark for awhile, because of Finn. She even visited me while I was locked up. "How did you get here?" I asked, confused now. "Built a ship, Dr.Griffin helped." She said. Clarke had a frown on her face when her mom was mentioned. "You have been unconcious for a while." Clarke said, suddenly. She moved to pull me to sit down. I moved from her grasp. "I know you are upset, but you have hurt your head and you need to rest." She explained sighing. Images of yesterday ran through my head. I looked down. "Lets talk." Clarke said after a minute. "No." I said before she moved. "I don't want to talk about this. At all." I finished before Clarke could protest. "I'm happy you are here." I said to Raven before walking out. As soon as I walked out many turned and looked at me. "Got a problem?" Bellamy yelled to those looking at me. They turned back to their work. He walked over to me as I walked to the food. "Welcome back to consciousness." Bellamy smiled at me. I nodded and grabbed some food. I smiled and nodded to him. "Clarke told me to rest more." I said, taking the food to my tent. He simply nodded and let me walk past. Miller sat outside my tent. "Hey!" He yelled when he saw me. "Kept looters away." He smiled. "Thanks Miller." I said, patting his shoulder. "If you need anything, just shout." Miller smiled before walking away. It was nice to be alone usually. But not now. Not like this. Murphy's stuff was casually spread around the tent, mixed with mine. I just wanted to see him again. To find a way to save him. I grabbed a bad and threw the food and an extra shirt inside. I couldn't just walk out the front door. I crawled out the back of my tent, making sure I had secured the front so no one would bother me. I ducked down and hid when anyone walked by and ran towards part of the wall no one was at yet. It must be break time for someone. I held tight to my knife and ran and ducked through an opening in the wall. I looked around and saw the graveyard not to far from here. Someone had to be on the wall still so I slunk back into the nearest trees. I had not been out here in the forest much. Only a few times. How would I even find Murphy? Knowing him, he was scared and probably close to camp. Right now the sun was high in the sky so only a few hours until it would start getting dark. I set out through the trees.

....

I had been walking and searching for about an hour now, occasionally taking a break. Camp was a bit far now but I still could figure out a way back. I think. I was constantly pushing branches out of the way and keeping my eyes open for Grounders, or anything that could kill me. Up ahead there was a stream and what looked like a cave. I kept wary of grounders or any messed up creatures looking to eat me. So far, nothing. As I neared the cave I could see a bit of fabric, torn on the rocks outside it. "Please don't let this be a trap." I whispered to myself as I stepped closer. The cave looked small and mostly dark. I moved closer, and immediately scrapped my boot on the rock. Great move. I froze in fear. If anyone was in there they must have heard that. I ducked to the side by a bush. Inside the cave I heard movement and then a slight groan. Then, out came what I was looking for. Murphy, holding out a dagger in front of him. "John?" I said, stepping out. He jumped and whipped towards me. Dagger pointed at me. His eyes were wide. Sort of. One was slightly swollen. His face was beaten and bloody. "Baby, it's me." I said, tears in my eyes. I put my hands up. Murphy stared at me for a minute and put the dagger down. He was limping and holding his side. His eyes looked watery as he stared at me. What happened next, I wasn't expecting. He flung himself into my arms, crying. He shook and I could feel the tears all over me. I pulled him down onto a rock and hugged him close. He was more scared then ever and I couldn't blame him. Murphy's arms stayed wrapped tight around me but finally he looked up at me. Tears of my own ran down my face. "I don't know what to do." He cried. Never would I have though Murphy would be like this. "I'm scared and alone." He said after a minute. He had let go of me but still sat close. "Did they tell you what they did to me?" Murphy asked, glaring at the ground. I pushed his hair back from his face. "Y-yes." I answered. "Why are you here?" He asked. I took the bag from my back and handed it to him. "Thanks." He said without even looking inside. "John-." I started. "You need to leave, go back to camp. Its not safe, not out here." Murphy interrupted. I could see the sadness on his face. "I don't want to just leave you out here." I grabbed his hands. "Its not safe out here. And I can't come back to camp, or even near it! They will kill me!" Murphy pulled me to my feet. "I won't let them." I grabbed Murphy, and hugged him. "Go. I love you." Murphy kissed me and pushed me away. "I love you too. We will find a way." I said before leaving.

....

I ran back the way I had come, not stopping this time. It was already close to dark and I knew that someone probably knew I snuck out. I could see the camp just beyond the trees. I ran up to the wall and crawled in the way I had snuck out. Keeping to the side so no one would see me, I made my way back to my tent. I lifted up the back part and crawled under. "Where have you been?" Miller asked. I almost fell at the sound of his voice. He was sitting on the end of the bed, waiting. "Miller-" I started. Miller raised a hand. "You snuck out to find Murphy didn't you?" He asked. I stared him down. "Yes. I found him." I said, not moving. Was he going to tell Bellamy? He shook his head at me. I made him update me on what I had missed. Bellamy had shot the Chancellor, 300 innocent people were about to die to save oxygen on the Ark, Raven had a radio.

...

It was dark and we were all running about the camp. Raven had an idea to shoot rockets into the air so the Ark would see them. This was the only way to keep the Ark from killing people. "Hurry up!" Raven yelled. She was now running around to each rocket, making sure they were ready. "Fire!" She yelled. They went off. I crossed my fingers. Please, let them see this. Clarke stood to my left and Bellamy next to her. "Do you think they can see it from up there?" Bellamy asked. "I don't know, I hope so." Clarke said. They both watched the rockets. "Can you wish on this kinda shooting star?" Clarke asked, a frown on her face. Bellamy just looked at her. "Forget it." She mumbled. Bellamy looked at the ground. "I wouldn't even know what to wish for." "What about you?" He asked her. Clarke didn't respond. She looked past me, to Finn. I sighed and walked away. There wasn't anything left to do. I made my way to the fire where there was food. Connor bumped into me on his way past. Nothing was said. I glared at him as he looked at me shocked. "Leave." Bellamy said to Connor as he walked by. Connor looked at Bellamy then walked away. "Why did you sneak out earlier?" Bellamy asked me. My eyes widened. Crap. "I saw you leave, tell me why." Bellamy said again. I remained quiet. Bellamy grabbed my arm, loosely. He pulled me away from the large group at the fire. "Did you go to look for him?" He asked me sternly. I brushed his arm off. "I would never do what you did to him. He is alone. He could die." I said. "He deserves to!" Bellamy yelled at me. I shook my head walking away from him. I saw Clarke by the fire, she was staring at her watch. "Clarke?" I said. She jumped a bit. When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes. "Lets go talk." I offered. "Thanks." She nodded. We walked into the drop ship. "Whats going on with you and Finn?" I asked her. Clarke laughed slightly. "Nothing, he is with Raven." Ah, so something must have happened. "Honestly, Clarke. Finn probably though he would never see Raven again. I don't blame him for thinking that." I told her. "Yeah." Was all she said. I patted her arm and walked out. I headed back to my tent. Maybe the rockets will really work. Maybe there is a way to save John. I walked into my tent and Bellamy was standing there, waiting. "Why is someone always in my tent?" I asked. Bellamy smirked. "What?" I asked him. He looked at me for a minute. "Sorry. For earlier." He finally said. "Its... whatever. Can I sleep now?" I said. I didn't want to forgive anyone here but they made things difficult. Bellamy laughed. "Sure." He said, he walked past me and kissed my forehead. I scoffed at him as he left. What the hell Bellamy Blake? You don't get forgiven just because you kissed my head. I pulled off my boots and jacket. I made sure to close my tent so maybe people would leave me alone. My bed was cold without Murphy being here. Yet everything still smelled like him. It took almost 2 hours of tossing and turning till I could sleep.