The Ruling - Bellamy Blake

14. Murphy and Fevers

We walk to the ship and see burned bodies and bones scattered around.
"Clarke you shouldn't be out here." Finn says.
"Her mom was on the ship. She's looking for answers." Raven says to him.

"Stay sharp. Grounder retaliation for what happened on the bridge is coming, just a matter of when." Bellamy says to everyone.
"Can you blame them?" Finn asks.
"No. I blame you."
"Maybe if you didn't bring guns-."
"If we didn't bring guns, we all would've been killed." Raven says silencing both of them.

"Why they're coming doesn't matter. We just have to be ready when they do." I say looking glancing at Finn.

"Clarke, stop!" Raven yells running to her. I follow and see a pink liquid leaking.
"Rocket fuel?"
"Hydrazine..." Raven mutters. "Highly unstable in its non solid form."
"If it meets fire, boom." I say knowing about it. That kind of stuff was just about the only entertaining part of learning on the Ark.

Raven leans down dipping a rock in the liquid.
"Fire in the hole!" She yells throwing the rock into the fire, which is followed by an explosion. "We need to clear the area."

"Alright! We move in formation, no straggling!" I yell to the people around us. I don't want anyone getting hurt out here.
"Weapons hot!" Bellamy adds.

We start walking back to camp.

When we walk in Jasper runs up to tell us Murphys in the dropship. I can feel my stomach clench as I run into the dropship.
"Where is he?" Bellamy asks. You can hear the anger in his voice. He's curled up on the floor. He's been beaten, horribly. "Everyone but Connor and Derek out now!" Bellamy yells clearing the room.
"He claims he was with the grounders." Derek says.
"We caught him trying to sneak back into camp."
"I wasn't sneaking. I was running from them." Murphy says speaking up.
"Anyone see grounders?" I ask turning to Connor and Derek. They shake their heads.
"In that case-." Bellamy says lifting his gun.

"Hey." Finn says pushing it down.
"We were clear what would happen if he came back."
"No. If he was with the grounders, then he knows things that can help us."
"Help us? He was hung. He was banished and now he'll be killed." I say in utter disbelief. There's no way Finn genuinely believes Murphy would help us.
"Get the hell out of my way." Bellamy says.
"No. Finn's right." Clarke says running to his side.
"Think about Charlotte!" I yell my tone harsh. I watched a little girl let herself fall off a cliff to save my life, and I will not be letting the reason walk around freely in our camp.
"I am, but what happened to Charlotte was as much our fault as his." She starts looking at his hand. "He's not lying. His fingernails were torn off. They tortured him."

"You and the grounders should compare notes." Finn says to Bellamy.
"Knock it off." I say to him quickly.
"What did you tell them about us?"
"Everything." I look up at Bellamy trying to figure out what to think of that. He told them everything.

"Once he's better we find out what he knows then he's out of here." Clarke says.
"And if he refuses?"
"I'll kill him myself." I say before walking out. I hate that he's here. He's just a constant reminder of a twelve year old little girl who I promised to keep safe and couldn't, all because she wanted to save me.

"Clarke!" I hear Connor yell. I run outside and see him and Derek coughing blood, and bleeding from their noses. Clarke walks out with blood coming from her eyes. I step back in fear. Whatever this is spreads fast and I'm guessing through contact.
"Raven, get away from them." I say watching as she steps towards them.
"What?"
"They're the ones who brought Murphy in."

Clarke runs off to talk to Murphy.
"What is going on?" Bellamy asks running to me.
"Murphys infected. Everyone who's had contact with him needs to get in the dropship now!" I yell. Derek and Connor go in and Bellamy and I follow.

"Is this your revenge?" Bellamy asks Murphy.
"I didn't know, I swear." He says looking up at us.
"Stop lying!"
"When are they coming?" I ask.
"Think, Murphy. Think." Clarke says.
"They are vicious, cruel."
"You wanna see vicious?" Bellamy asks stepping towards him. I grab his arm stopping him from getting too close.
"This spreads through contact." I say.

Finn runs in.
"Clarke!"
"Finn, you shouldn't be in here. No one should."
"I heard you were sick. What is this?" He says looking at her carefully. He came in here just because he heard she was sick. Just that alone makes my heart ache for Raven.
"Some kind of hemorrhagic fever."
"We need to contain it before it-."

Derek starts seizing and Clarke runs to him. He starts throwing up on the floor and drops down. Clarke feels for a pulse as I watch in anticipation.
"He's dead."

"What do we do?" Finn asks her.
"Quarantine. Round up everyone who had contact with Murphy." She says. He runs out.
"And everyone they had contact with?"
"We have to start somewhere."
"Connor, who was with you when you found him?" I ask.
"The first one there was Octavia." He says. I look over at Bellamy who runs out hearing his sisters name.

I'm helping find people who were in contact and get them into the dropship.

Multiple people start getting it all at once around us. People are pulling guns and pointing it at eachother.

"Stop!" I yell trying to get everyone to calm down before things get bad. They're not listening. I grab my gun and shoot into the air twice. They all look over at me. "I said stop! Put the guns down!"
"This is what the grounders want. They can't kill us if we kill eachother first." Clarke says stepping out.
"They won't have to kill us if we all catch the virus. Get back in the damn dropship." Someone says pointing the gun at Clarke. I nod to Bellamy who takes it out of his hand.

"Not to state the obvious but your quarantine isn't working." Bellamy says. Clarke starts to fall and Finn runs to her.
"Don't touch her!" Raven yells. He ignores her and picks her up. I refuse to look at Ravens reaction. He didn't even hesitate to pick her up while she has a deadly virus.
"Octavia will come back with a cure." Clarke says.

"There isn't one." Octavia says running over. "But the grounders don't use the sickness to kill."
"Really? Tell that to them." Bellamy says pointing to the bodies we've stacked up outside. "I warned you about seeing that grounder."
"Yeah, well. I have a warning for you too. The grounders are coming and they're attacking at first light."

"Get Clarke inside. Everyone else who's infected, follow them." I say quickly. We need to stop this from spreading as soon as possible.
"How many bullets can you make by first light?" Bellamy asks Raven.
"I think the real question is how many people will we have by first light." I say. Bellamy looks at me knowingly.
"We have to work with what we can." He says.

We get to the tent and many of us start setting guns up.
"We're running out of gunpowder." Raven says.
"It won't matter if there's no one left who can shoot." Finn says running in. "What do we need to build a bomb?"
"Depends on what you're trying to blow up." She answers.
"How about a bridge?"
"What are you talking about?" Bellamy asks.

"Murphy says he crossed a bridge on the way back here. Sound familiar?"
"Yeah. So what?"
"So the virus is fast. He's already getting better. Blowing the bridge won't stop the attack, but the longer we can delay it, the more of us will be able to fight."

"Even if Murphy is telling the truth and that's a big if. The bridge has survived a nuclear war and 97 years of weather."
"It won't survive us. Raven can you make a bomb from the hydrazine?" I ask. We don't have many other options so this is going to have to work. She nods.

"Then what are we waiting for? We have an explosive liquid to get." I say.