in which a girl with a heavy burden tries to find her way through the trials and torments of the earth they've come home to.
OR
in which she must rebuild.
EMBERS
JOHN MURPHY
DEATHLIES 2016
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN T...
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F O R T Y T H R E E
As much as Althea hated the smell of the strung up meat, she had promised Octavia she'd help her with it earlier that day and, as much as she regretted that choice now, she had no plans to duck out of it now.
She stood next to Octavia, sorting out the meat and just having simple small talk with the girl she'd come to be very good friends with, despite their differences in childhoods. Where Althea had grown up in a loving, free life, Octavia had grown up isolated from the world with only two people to ever care for. Althea couldn't imagine such a life. She didn't want to.
"Lincoln asked me to go with him," She says without baring to look at Althea. It was hard enough to deal handle without her eyes of wisdom and pitying expression. Yes, Althea was absolutely wonderful, but there was a small lingering part of Octavia that hated the way those big green eyes looked at her sometimes. "But I didn't go."
Althea drops her hands to her sides, shifting to look at Octavia more closely. "You didn't want to go?"
"I couldn't leave," Octavia says softly and with those words Althea knew exactly why.
Althea smiles, her lips drawn thin, and puts a hand on Octavia's shoulder. "You could have gone with him. You could have saved yourself. We all know what's coming, Octavia," She tells her with heavy shoulders, but she knew Octavia's were just as weighed down.
"You, of all people, know why I couldn't just leave," Octavia replies just as Del, one of the many delinquents, struts into the food tent with a bundle of logs in his arms. They do not continue talking: they go back to work.
"Let's get this party smoking," Del jokes as he dumps the logs onto the fire, grinning stupidly. If Althea had the bravery, she would smack him over the head with the wood, but instead she ignored him and went back to doing the work she was supposed to be doing.
"You don't want the fire too big," Octavia tells him casually, trying not to cause an argument. "so maybe just try to knock it down with some wet leaves." She doesn't even look at him.
"You get that from your boyfriend, Grounder pounder?" Del laughs just as Murphy saunters in, looking at him like he is nothing more than a speck of dirt on his shoe: a germ.
"She's right. A hot fire is not gonna preserve the meat as well," He explains, backing Octavia up, which made Althea smile to herself. If only he were so calm about everything, then they wouldn't have ever been separated and maybe, just maybe, things would be better.
"You can't take the heat, get out of the smokehouse. Should be kissing our asses for being allowed back in this camp." Del scoffs, stepping up to Murphy.
"Just keep working," He responds, choosing to ignore Del, despite the simmering annoyance in his voice that burned brighter than the raging fire. "Your brother couldn't get you a better job? Would think anything would be better than working in the meat furnace," He says to Octavia, dodging out of the way of yet another argument. A very large portion of Althea was proud of him for that. He was making an effort, at last.
"Oh, probably. That just means someone else would have to do it."
"You're here too, Thea?" He asks, frowning. Althea lets out a short, breathy laugh and turns to face him.
But before she can speak, Del decides its his place to pipe in with the grinding voice he possessed and the devious expression that danced in the light of his fire. "This is the only place for someone as insane as her. She's bonkers, no wonder she's the only girl you could get, Murphy."
Althea reaches out and grabs Murphy's hand before he can whip around and deck Del. "Don't," She whispers to him, squeezing his hand and searching his eyes for the rising anger. "He's not worth it."
Murphy lowers his head and snakes a hand around her waist, his hand gripping onto her. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't soft. She looks past him and Del is gone, thankfully.
"He's gone," She tells him. "Thank you for staying calm."
"If that's all it takes for you to be happy with me, then we're going to go far," He says with a cheeky smirk resting upon his crooked mouth. Althea smiles too, it spreads across her expression with an overpowering sense of lovesick glee. Her stomach flips inside of her when he leans his lips down against her ear and whispers, "Trust me when I say we're going to go far, Thea."
"Guys, come on," Octavia groans, her head rolling back on her shoulders. "Not when I'm in the room, please." But the smile on her face was more than telling. She was glad Althea had found her light and glad that she grounded him, but she couldn't help the alarm bells in her head. Murphy was not to be trusted like Althea trusted him.
"Sorry," Althea says, but she is far from sorry. The frantic butterflies within her were enough evidence for that. They did not flutter, they soared and she was more than certain that Murphy could hear their wings beating from the way he looked at her like she was everything he'd ever wanted.
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highkey in love with malthea right now also I am so so happy because this book hit 40k the other day and I couldn't be more thankful <3 and... there's not much left of this story, but there will be a sequel called 'iron crow' so that'll be out not long after this is completed.
