Cobwebs and Flies

Ch1• A familiar Face

It wasn't the first time Bellamy had seen Murphy. He didn't mean down here around camp but up there, in the skybox, he had seen him trouble the guards nearly every day after they locked him up. Rumors say he killed someone but they never recovered a body, so it could never be proven. It still got him sent down here to Earth. Some might say it was a blessing in disguise.

They said this planet wasn't survivable. But the air isn't toxic, so, what else could they have to worry about? The answer was proven when Clarke, Finn, Monty, and Octavia returned from their food hunt. Not only were they empty-handed but they were one man short: Jasper. Finn had just sat down on a rock to explain what they had seen. It was no longer safe to go lurking into the woods. There were people, humans, here and they weren't happy with the dropship's sudden appearance on their land.

"Bellamy!"

Bellamy turned around and saw Murphy walking towards him, he waved at him and Murphy waved back as he jogged closer.

"Murphy, what can I do for you?"

"I'm going hunting, so I need a gun."

"I'll see what's left. " Bellamy spun around and walked towards the small wooden shack they'd built where they kept the guns they had collected from the storage warehouse a few days back. Scanning the space, his eyes found one in the corner, on the ground. He picked it up and checked for bullets then turned around and returned to Murphy who was waiting, a hand twirling at his black hair.

"Murphy!"

He snapped back to reality, shaking himself conscious as he reached for the gun. When his eyes met Bellamy's for a brief moment, he nearly choked. Of course, he'd never really understood the importance nor the beauty of eyes, but Bellamy's were gorgeous; a deep and passionate shade of green. They bled bravery and lust and Murphy was lost in their glare.

"Wait, Murphy!" Bellamy noticed he was heading for the gates alone so he ran after him, passing the gate and stopped him in his steps.

"What?" Murphy asked, curiously while bitting off the skin of his bottom lip.

"It's not safe out there alone, I'm going with you."

Murphy stood there, silent for a minute or two, thinking. He's never really met Bellamy before but the people see him as their leader, it's only survival instincts to want to be on his good side. With that idea in mind, he nods, "The more, the merrier."

***

Bellamy and Murphy were walking through the forest when a sound caught Murphy's attention and he let out a small gasp. Bellamy turned around, his gun already pointing in the direction of the moving bush, seconds later a rabbit jumps out and Bellamy giggled.

"It's just a bunny," he says, teasing Murphy.

"Yeah, with five legs. " Murphy pointed out as he looked at the mutated animal which escaped their eyes rather quickly. Murphy gazed at Bellamy who was deeply concentrated in the mutated rabbit as it hopped away. It was as if the bunny was calling to him, and Bellamy was daring to accept its challenge. Murphy noticed the way Bellamy's lips moved when he was deep in thought, his tongue barely wetting them as he bit down. He turned to look up at Murphy, confusion written in his eyes.

"Radiation, I'm assuming."

"Ahhh, that makes sense." He shakes his head in agreement and they kept walking, Murphy following him closely. A few meters ahead they stopped and Bellamy pointed to a bore. Murphy took out his gun and aimed, BANG! The creature fell over as the bullet pierced its skull, leaving the meat uncontaminated from the bullet. Content with himself, Bellamy runs up to bore picking it up and tossing it across his shoulder. Murphy was by his side, simply staring with his mouth slightly opened; that animal weight over 150lbs, how could Bellamy carry it so easily?

"What are you looking at?" Startled, Murphy shook his head and looked down at the muddy ground, his feet kicking branches and leaves as a distraction to his feelings.

"Oh, uh, just the bore. Looks big and seems like it would feed quite a few." Bellamy nods in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess it would."

Walking back to camp, Bellamy carried the bore and Murphy still held the gun, his finger resting by the trigger, ready to be pulled in defense. The walk back was pretty quiet, both boys remained silent until Bellamy came to a stop and looked back at Murphy and spoke, "Mind if we take a break?"

"Sure, I can always use a nap."

He smiles and sits down by a tree, pulling out a canteen of water they had made from the debris of the dropship. After taking a sip, Bellamy offered some to Murphy who gladly accepted it as he gulped down the fresh water. Bellamy smiled when Murphy hands him back the canteen and tucked it away safely in his backpack, then looked back at the boy. Down here, they were all criminals, they had all broken the law and each one of them had a story to tell.

Bellamy wanted to know Murphy's, "Why are you down here anyway?"

Murphy looks up and raises an eyebrow, unsure of what he should tell Bellamy. The truth was always an option but not right this second, he needed Bellamy to like him and trust him. "For starters, I don't remember having had a choice. You're over eighteen, why did you sign up?"

"Octavia. I came down here to protect my little sister." Bellamy was confident in his answer, there was never a decision he made without having had thought of how it would effect Octavia. "Your turn."

"Well, my dad was a drunk. So one night he came back pretty hammered and started to beat my mom, I did what I had to do to protect her. We do for family, right?"

Bellamy nodded, he could relate obviously. Murphy, of course, knew that already; he knew exactly what to say as bait for his own survival needs, if Bellamy knew what had really happened, he would find him to be worthless and nothing but a cockroach with an attitude.

"We do what we have to for family."

"How did you get past security?" Then he noticed the guardsmen uniform and scoffed, "Oh, I see, you possed as a guardsman."

"Like you said, we do for family."

Some secrets are better kept in the dark. Bellamy knew that he couldn't tell him too much, he had just met the kid and the last thing he needed was a rebelling teenager. He got up and tossed the bore back over his shoulders, like a heavy sack of potatoes. Murphy did the same as he picked up the gun and lead the way back to camp. It didn't take them too long to get there, not at the speed they were moving. They had to get back to camp before dawn, those were the rules. No one had to obey them, whatever the hell you wanted but when the sun goes down, the grounders came out and no one was safe beyond their walls.

Pushing open the gates, the crowd of starving teens gathered around quickly and helped the two boys in, welcoming them with cheers. Everyone gathered, a few helping built a fire, while the others were either skinning the bore or getting the meat ready for roasting on sticks. A few girls took advantage of the remaining sunlight to finish setting their tents.

The sun had set long over an hour ago as the fire began to die out. Most kids had finished eating and were already sleeping but Murphy was still sitting on a moist log, starring up into the sky at the blinking light above, surrounded by stars which he had always known as home. Bellamy walked to him and sat down beside Murphy to his right, tilting back his head to admire the sky as well.

"Can you believe that's all we had ever known, what used to be our home weeks ago."

"I've never really felt like I belonged up there, but here, it's different. There are no restrictions, no rules, thanks to you."

Bellamy smiled as the moments passed before Murphy got up to head back to his own tent. He laid down on his makeshift bed, when his skin met the frosty blanket, he shivered. However, exhaustion was too powerful and swallowed him whole before he could even think of a witty complaint.