whatever the hell we want || j. jordan

~ chapter 1.5 ~

"Hey!" I looked up from my drink of water to see Murphy pointing at me.
"You can drink when we're done building the wall."
I glared at him, but seeing as earlier that day he had pissed on another kid for the same reason, I let it go, turning back to help the others. I was working next to a girl named Angie. She was nice enough, but she wasn't much of a talker. I heard Clarke shouting, which wasn't abnormal, but this was different. She shoved Murphy. I stood, getting closer to them to hear what it was about without seeming obvious.
"You know what you did, and you're gonna pay for it!" She held up a knife. Murphy's knife. A crowd was gathering, so I followed it to the scene.
"Bellamy, you believe this crap?" Murphy turned to everyone, trying to get people to agree with him. I still didn't even know the context, but I was sure I'd probably agree with anyone that's not Murphy.
"You threatened to kill him. We all heard you. You hated Wells." Bellamy said, stepping forward. "This is about Wells?" Wells had been dead for almost a week, and he was killed by the Grounders. Everyone knew that.
They kept shouting at each other until the other delinquents started to take sides. I backed away. They were cheering and chanting, yelling about floating Murphy. They knocked him down and started kicking him, beating him to a pulp. Clarke cried out for them to stop, but they wanted revenge. Oddly enough, everyone hated Wells. Until today. Now they all want revenge? They dragged him off and started to string him up.
I shook my head, running back to camp. I hated Murphy just as much as the next person, but I couldn't watch them kill him. I ran to my tent and hid there, humming to try and block out the cheering. I thought it had finally stopped, when the cheering turned into a young girl's shrieks. I sat up with a start, terrified of what came next. I got back out to rejoin the rest of the kids, just getting there to see a little girl back up to the edge of a cliff.
"What the hell? Why isn't anyone doing anything?" I tried to push forward through everyone, but they didn't budge. I was stuck. Again, watching someone die without being able to do anything. She stepped off the cliff and fell to her death.

***

I stepped outside to see something shoot across the sky.
"Was that..." I managed to get out, not looking for an answer. I knew what it was. The Arc had sent something down for us. People started talking immediately, betting on if its food, weapons, or other people. Bellamy held up his hand, silencing everyone.
"We have to go get whatever's in that ship," Everyone nodded, agreeing with him. Some others and I stepped forward, ready to leave. "tomorrow morning." Bellamy finished. Octavia protested immediately.
"Everyone for a hundred miles saw that thing come down. If we don't leave now, the Grounders will get to it first." More people started mumbling and agreeing with her.
"No," Bellamy snapped at his sister. "I said sunrise. No sooner."
About an hour later, Clarke and Finn appeared, storming into Bellamy's tent. They left a minute later, Clarke visibly upset. I was about to approach them when I figured that they needed some time for just the two of them. Probably.

***

Clarke, Finn, Bellamy, and a different girl who I'd never seen before came bursting into camp, shouting orders. People started moving faster than ever, piling up different things as the girl started setting things up. I quickly caught on that we were sending flares up to the Ark, showing them that we're alive to save them or something, I didn't really hear all of it. I helped as much as I could, but I didn't really know what I was doing or how to do it. Soon enough there was a big bonfire with flares ready to be set from it. I stood next to Monty and Jasper, looking up as they set off the first flare. It was oddly beautiful, considering the circumstances. I moved a bit closer to Jasper, brushing my hand against his. He didn't notice, or he didn't take it, so I stepped a bit away and distracted myself by fidgeting with my hands. I looked around the crowd. "Where's Octavia?" I wondered, creasing my eyebrows. I almost spoke up, but then again, I didn't want Jasper to be thinking about Octavia while I was around and she wasn't even here. So I set the thought aside for later, to ask Bellamy or Clarke. Lost in my thoughts, I jumped when the next flare went off. After all three of them had gone off, most of us went to bed, still praying that we had made contact with the Ark in time. I fell asleep immediately, and dreamed of people suffocating and running out of oxygen. However, I couldn't get myself to wake up.