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 S I X -
Octavia looked right at Althea as they carried the scrap between them. Undeniably, she looked terrified of what was out there beyond their wall, between the shadows of the trees. And so she should be, but that didn't change anything.
Althea always had a look of torment about her, but it seemed the dwelling war was impacting her more than she'd like to let on. Her head ached constantly and her throat was dry. Octavia didn't know what to do as the girl's green eyes went wide, the scrap dropping from her hands as she reached to clutch her throat.
"What's happening? What's wrong?" Octavia cried, letting go of her end and rushing to her friend's side. She helped her to the ground, letting her sit as her shoulder rose and fell rapidly.
"I-I-I- can't-" Her body lurched as she gasped for air, her eyes burning and her face reddening.
Octavia shouted at a passing delinquent, "Get her some water!" She rubbed Althea's back. "Take slow and steady breaths. You're going to be ok, Al. Just keep calm and breathe in and out in and out."
Althea managed to nod as her body shuddered with panic. As the delinquent came back from water, Octavia all but snatched it from his hand and handed it to her.
"Take sips. Not too much at once." She rested her hand on Althea's arm, her eyes flickering around the people behind her, searching for the one she knew Althea cared and trusted.
The only thing her eyes caught was the drop ship door closing, sending a rocket of confusion through the crowd.
Althea nodded, but her body was relaxing now and the air was getting into her lungs. It wasn't so hard to breathe now.
Her lungs relished in the oxygen, basking in its glory, never to wish for such an ordeal ever, ever again. It was like being pulled beneath the tides, the current pinning her into weakness and fear. She wondered if that was what it was like to drown, but decided actually drowning would be indefinitely more terrifying.
She sat, her head in her hands as she took a moment to breath in and out. Her lungs burning, the fire igniting with every breath and the energy and will returning to her bones.
She stood, dusted herself off, and moved towards the gathering crowd.
-
It didn't take her long to find Octavia. She slipped in beside her, her fingers curling around her arm to announce her presence quietly.
"What's going on?" She asked, a frown splashed across her face.
Octavia's eyes darted over her face, trying to find the right way to tell her, but Bellamy was already on the job for her. "Your boyfriend's got Jasper locked in there with him with a gun to his damn head," He said sharply with no remorse as Althea's face fell.
"What? Is this some kind of joke?" Althea choked out, her lungs tightening again from the shock of the news. "Octavia, please tell me this isn't true." Her eyes told Althea everything she needed to know.
Bellamy huffed and rolled his eyes, lifting the radio to his lips. "Murphy, I know you can hear me. All our ammo and food is in the middle level. You know that. You're leaving us vulnerable to an attack. I can't let that happen."
Althea's stomach dropped as Murphy's voice came over the radio. "Yeah, well, in case you hadn't noticed, you're not exactly in control right now," He said. She was sickened at the lack of remorse.
"Give me the radio," Althea demanded, holding out her hand.
"What, why?" Bellamy scoffed.
"Just give me the radio. I want to talk to him," She insisted, her hand still out. Reluctantly, Bellamy placed the radio in her hand. "Thank you." It was only as she had it in her hand that she began to tremble, but not so much from fear as it was the shock of betrayal. "Murphy, it's Althea."
"Thea?" His voice sounded strained, but firm.
"I don't know what you're doing or what's going through your head right now, but you're making a mistake. Don't make yourself into the bad guy. You're not the bad guy, ok? You're a good guy. You don't need to lose everything over this."
"It's too late," He replied, shortly, but she could hear the regret in his voice.
If she'd been in there with him, she'd shake sense into him.
But she was locked outside with nothing more than a radio to get through to him. And it wasn't working.
"You're losing everything. The longer you're in there, the more you're letting go of." Althea glanced at Octavia, who inclined her head in a mix of sympathy and encouragement. She ducked her head, tucking her hair behind her ear, and continued, her voice breaking through the welling tears in the prospect of the words she was about to utter to the boy she'd grown terribly fond of. "There's only so much heartache I can take. You're losing me and I don't want that."
There was a pause and then he responded to her, "I don't want that either, but what's done is done, Althea."
"What's done is done," She breathed out as Bellamy ripped the radio from her grip. She was too stuck in the moment to even comprehend gripping on.
Octavia's hand on her arm was the only thing that brought her back. The brunette pulled her round to face her and wiped the tears from her face. "I wish you would've picked someone who wasn't going to break your heart to fall in love with," She said, half joking, half seriously.
"So do I," Althea replied. "But, like he said, what's done is done."
"Come on, Murphy," Bellamy began into the radio. "You don't want to hurt Jasper. You want to hurt me. So, what do you say? How about you trade him for me?"
"No," Octavia said, whirling away from Althea to face her big brother's brave face.
He ignored her. "All you have to do is let him go, and I'll take his place."
Althea wished she didn't hear Murphy's interest in the deal in his voice when he replied, "How?"
"Bellamy, if you do this, he'll kill you," Octavia said, attempting to reason with him, but his mind was set. The thought of Murphy killing him made her entire body freeze up and her mind whir. Her mouth tasted like cotton, nothing feeling quite real enough as the events unfolded before her very eyes.
And she wanted to scream down the radio. To tell him how stupid he was, how reckless he was being. She wanted to pry the door open, not caring if her fingers painted it red with her sickly blood, to get in there and shake him.
She knew he understood what he was doing. She knew he wasn't stupid enough to think this was a good idea, but what she didn't know was why he was doing this. He was ripping his own life apart. There was no way Bellamy, or anyone, would let him stay in this camp after this. He would be left on his own. Even if she did love him, she would never leave with him after what he'd done today.
He'd ruined everything with one action, and now Bellamy was going into the drop ship on his countdown from ten where he would kick the rubble of his life into dust.
Althea couldn't see how he would come back from this. Truly and honestly, from the deepest depths of her heart, there was no chance of rekindling after this. To think she'd hoped he wasn't as awful as he'd always claimed he was. As she looked into his eyes and saw nothing but care, she'd believed he was good, but this changed everything.
Her skin crawled where his hands gripped her as they'd made love. It was then that she'd realised how much she care about him, how much she really loved him. And she'd never told him. Now she didn't think she ever would.
-
1368 words I was listening to halsey's new album when writing this and it's so good omg
