CHAPTER 10

Murphy was lying in the infirmary bed, staring at the bright lights across the ceiling. "John," Dr. Tsing tried to grab his attention placing a hand on his forearm, "we need to take a blood sample." The blonde was confused as to why they had to have a blood sample, but he didn't question it. "How much is a sample?" The tan woman started putting the syringe together, "Not much."

She put the cannula in his arm and gently pulled back on the syringe. He exhaled slowly, surprisingly relaxed. He noticed the clear tubes along the upper walls and saw that they stretched to the beds, but whatever went in the tubes seemed to have to come through the vent.

She took the needle out, put a lid over the needle, and placed it in her pocket. "The surgeon will be here soon. Just wait here." Murphy laid there and fiddled with the sheets on his bed. Thoughts of Raven flooded his mind and filled him with guilt. "I should've went with her," he said under his breath. "I should've went with her."

Octavia was watching over Nyko, who was now asleep, when Bellamy and Lincoln walked into the dimly lit cave. She was tired. Nyko had his head resting on her upper leg and Raven sat up keeping lookout so she could warn Octavia if she needed to. The brunette felt bad about not being able to do anything, but the temporary disability wasn't her fault.

"The Ark is here," Bellamy said and Octavia groaned slightly too tired to acknowledge anything around her. Lincoln walked towards her a lightly shook her awake, "We have to take Raven. They can help her. You need to bring her in the camp." The girl's head slumped down and her eyelids were shut tight. He looked back to Bellamy, "We have to take her ourselves. Octavia needs to rest and to watch Nyko."

Bellamy stared at the corner of the cave and heavily inhaled the musty scent with no reply. Raven stared at him with plea, "Bellamy, I know what you did, but this isn't the Ark. This is Earth. A new chance at life. It'll take some explaining, but we have to try. We have no idea where anyone else is and we need help. I need help. Please, Bellamy. Please."

The dark haired boy stayed in the same position for some time before nodding and helping Raven up to her weakened legs. The Grounder looked at him with an arm around her shoulders. "It's going to take twice as long to get there and it's already dark. We should wait until morning then we can bring Octavia." Bellamy looked back at his worried face, "You heard her. We don't know where our friends are or how much time we have to save them. We leave now and come back for my sister."

The two men carried Raven through the woods as the sun went down. All three were tired and the camp was what seemed like forever away. They set Raven down against a tree and Bellamy took a canteen of water out of his pack. The group drank the water and shared some rations Bellamy had brought from earlier. The brunette girl started drifting off and Lincoln was staring up at the stars that were starting to appear from the clouds separating across the dark sky.

Bellamy was looking to the trees that were to the right of him when he asked Lincoln, "What did you mean by mountain men?" The Grounder slowly tilted his head back down to the curly haired boy who was now looking straight at him. "I can't tell you right now." Bellamy furrowed his brows and was now on the verge of a festering anger, "Why?" Lincoln looked at him and said, "If I tell you, you're not going to listen to anything else I have to say and you'll get yourself killed." Anger was now definitely apparent in his voice, "What's that supposed to mean?! Are my friends dead?!"

Raven was awake now due to Bellamy's yelling. "What's going on now?" she said rolling her eyes. He didn't break his cold stare at the Grounder when he replied, "He knows where our friends are and he won't tell me." Raven furrowed her brows and gave Lincoln another cold look which made him feel twice as guilty. "I can't tell you. You're friends are probably safe for right now, but I can't tell you yet."

Bellamy stood up, "Probably?! Probably?! They're probably safe, yeah, way to go. I'm so calm right now. Thanks for that. You hear that Raven? They're probably safe. Isn't that wonderful?!"

"Better than dead," Raven replied understanding of wat Lincoln meant.

Lincoln looked at the ground before Bellamy spoke again.

"I bet your people have them," he said getting closer to the Grounder's face.

Bellamy now inches away from Lincoln's turned away face whispered, "And if they do, I'll kill every last one of you myself."

Mere seconds after Bellamy had finished speaking, Lincoln threw him against a tree. He slumped to the ground but the Grounder lifted him by his shirt and shoved him against the tree once more. "Listen to me, Bellamy." Bellamy thrashed to get out of Lincoln's hold, but the Grounder only gripped him harder. "They are fine. We'll get them out. But you need to trust me. And if you won't do this for me, do it for your friends. Or Octavia at least." Lincoln released Bellamy and moved away from him, still not breaking his stare. Bellamy walked over to Raven and lifted her arm to pick her up. "Come on. Let's keep going."

They eventually arrived at the Arker camp and set Raven down by another tree. They were constructing a gate, which they had gotten pretty far on in a day, and that meant there were a lot of people. There were two guards standing by the entrance to the gate. Bellamy exhaled heavily, then looked to Raven. "You ready?" She nodded as he pulled her arm over his shoulder and started limping her towards the gate with Lincoln close behind. Before they got out of the treeline Bellamy spun around and looked at the Grounder, "What are you doing? What if they hurt you?" Lincoln shifted his weight to one side, "It's better they know about us now. We can make peace with each other. The last time no one was told we were here it didn't end so well." Bellamy nodded and started back towards the gate.

Once out of the treeline, guns were pointed towards them and Bellamy promptly exclaimed, "Don't shoot! This is Bellamy Blake and Raven Reyes! The hundred is alive!"

Murphy woke up in a hospital bed looking at the same bright lights and clear tubes. He tried to sit up but was forced back down by a pain in his chest. He winced and placed a hand over the sore spot and was filled with pure joy when he felt his new flat chest. He slid his hand down from his shoulder to his hip and the only lump he had was his deformed ribs. His ribs usually made him sad, but at this moment he couldn't be sad. It was a physical impossibility.

Dr. Tsing walked in with a clipboard. She stood over the side of his bed and started writing his vital signs on the clipboard. "Hello, John. How are you feeling?" A smile stretched across his face, "Happy. Very happy." The doctor chuckled, "That's good. Alright let's go over a few things. "I'll release you from the infirmary in a couple of days, but you need to rest and stay in bed. You can't shower for about a week prior to surgery and you just need to take it easy for a while. Luckily surgery has had enough advancements to heal faster." "What if I need to do something soon? I need to find my friends because I know very well they aren't dead out there." The blonde realized he just gave himself away and released a secret he should've kept to himself. Murphy nodded and took a deep breath which caused yet another wince because of the new stitches and staples in his chest. "You're still a bit loopy from the drugs," Dr. Tsing nervously laughed. "Unfortunately we can't release you from the mountain for a while either. Just take two to three weeks to recover."

Murphy nodded, but not without tightening his jaw in a rather frustrated matter. "I'll come back and check on you every couple hours. Is there anything I could get you right now, John?" The blonde shook his head childishly before Dr. Tsing disappeared behind the infirmary door.