Chapter 14 – On Murder and Dying
Finn, Ila and Murphy had approached the second grounder village similarly to the first. They hung back by the perimeter, scoping things out.
"Finn, these are civilians. They aren't exactly the type to keep hostages," Murphy commented quietly.
"I don't see our friends, either," Ila added.
"They could be hiding them underground," Finn replied, eyes glued to his scope.
"Or that grounder you shot in the face was lying…because…you know…that's a possibility," Ila stated irritably, but Finn ignored her. A sudden pain overtook her, surging through her whole body. Her legs went weak and she winced, retreating from her scope. It felt as though all of the muscles from her waist down tied themselves into knots and became increasingly tighter.
"I've got a plan," Finn stated before diving forward toward the village.
"Finn!" Ila shouted after him, under her breath. Murphy started after him but noticed that Ila did not move.
"You coming?" he asked.
"I'll hang back and keep an eye on you guys. I'll come in and rescue you if things look like they're going south," Ila struggled to fight the pain.
"Are you okay-"
"Go before you lose Finn," Ila urged.
Murphy turned and followed Finn reluctantly as Ila forced herself to return her attention through the lens of her scope. She watched Finn as he closed in on the unaware village, struggling to see in the darkness of the night. The grounders had already retreated to their homes for the night.
Ila's head began to feel light and she took her focus off her scope for just a moment. She focused on steadying her breathing. A sudden burst of flames that set a building on fire snapped Ila's attention back to the grounder village. Finn did have a plan. Ila admitted it was even a smart plan. The grounders rushed out of their homes to cooperatively put out the fire. Ila watched through her scope once more as she saw Finn and Murphy maneuver around the village, undetected, to check the homes and buildings. They rushed from one to another.
"Look out!" she whispered, aware that they couldn't hear them. They were caught by one of the villagers who announced their presence. Finn grabbed him, putting his gun to the elderly man's back, threatening the other grounders not to attack. Ila began to panic as the grounders were rounded up into a fenced in area in the center of the village. She stood up, deciding enough was enough. She readjusted her backpack straps and hobbled her way towards the village, each step a stabbing ache. Sweat dripped down her forehead as Finn's shouts became easier to make out.
"Where are they? You have their clothes. You know where they are!"
As Ila got even closer, she could see a wild look in Finn's eyes. He had his gun pointed at a girl as he climbed into the corral. Ila tried to rush, but her pains only got worse with each step and she got slower.
"Finn! Stop! Let's just go while we can still get out of here," Murphy shouted at him.
Finn loosened his grip on his gun and retreated out of the corral, but an elderly man started to climb out as well. Finn quickly turned, surprised, and shot the old man down. This prompted Ila to get herself together, ignoring her pain and quicken her pace. Another, younger grounder, not much younger than Finn himself, decided to attack, but was shot by Finn. Ila rushed forward. Blood began to trickle down her leg.
"Finn! Stop!" Murphy shouted over and over as bullets flew, massacring the grounders. Ila finally reached them, but it was too late. She fell into Finn, knocking the gun from his hands. The panic around them hushed and she could make out figures coming over the ridge into the village. She could see Bellamy, Octavia and…Clarke? She couldn't tell as she fell, faint, to the ground.
"Ila!" Murphy's voice rang out. He, along with everyone, ran to her side, kneeling or crouching beside her. The grounders that were still alive remained in the corral, too scared to move at this point.
"Murphy, don't move her!" Clarke demanded.
"What's wrong with her? Clarke what's happening?" Murphy panicked. Ila's breathing was shallow as Clarke began to inspect her up and down, suddenly going wide-eyed and pale with fear.
"Clarke, what is it?" Bellamy asked quietly, attempting to remain calm.
Clarke carefully pulled off Ila's backpack, propping her against it.
"I need towels and water, quickly!" Clarke shouted as they did not budge at first. Bellamy shot up with Octavia and ran off in search for towels and water.
"Clarke, what's going on?" Murphy asked, nearly in tears.
Clarke looked up at him with a solemn face.
"She's having a miscarriage," Clarke's voice shook.
"What?" Murphy blurted in disbelief. He looked over Ila, her limp body white from blood loss. Her pants were stained and wet with blood that ran down her inner thighs. He shut his eyelids tight to force back the tears. Bellamy and Octavia returned with Clarke's supplies and Clarke asked them all to give them some distance. Reluctantly, Murphy let go of Ila's hand – unsure of when he even grabbed it. He gave Clarke and Ila their space as Clarke tended to her – humming a delicate and sad tune as Bellamy watched the grounders eye them sadly.
Once Clarke had cleaned Ila up, the group quickly returned to Camp Jaha where Abby took a look at her in the infirmary tent. Eyes had stolen glances at her as Murphy carried her inside. He rested her on a table and left as Abby cleaned her up. He paced outside the tent impatiently.
"She'll be okay, Murphy. She's strong," Bellamy assured him.
Abby exited the tent, turning to Bellamy and Murphy, smiling.
"She'll be fine in a few days, but she needs to rest. The damage was minimal, but there was still quite a lot of blood loss," Abby reported, "You can go in to see her for a bit, but she's still sleeping."
"Let her know I'm going with the group to Mount Weather to find everyone," Bellamy nodded to Murphy before going his own way to find Clarke. Murphy nodded in return as he rushed in to see Ila sleeping under some blankets. The color had returned to her face. She looked peaceful – no longer in pain. He sat down in the chair beside her for a moment, taking her hand in his. Now that they were alone, he let his tears fall.
"You were going through this the whole time…alone. You could have told me – or anyone. Stupid! You didn't have to go through it all alone, though! They care about you…I care about you. You could've died because of this. I wouldn't – I wouldn't know what…You would have left me alone," Murphy cried. He lay his head on her arm, sniffling.
"I can't lose you…what you said to Bellamy on the cliff…It's not true. You're more valuable than he is – than all of them. You're the only person I can stand."
"I'm the only one that can stand you, you mean," Ila voice crackled to life.
Murphy jolted his head upright, wiping his tears quickly as he looked at her. Ila blinked her eyes open, smiling at him. He smiled brightly back.
"Please tell me you didn't hear all of that," Murphy chuckled. Ila choked out quiet laughter at him.
"I thought that was you I ran into the other day," a smug voice came from the entrance of the tent. Murphy turned to see an officer standing before them, probably in his late twenties. He was tall and rugged, arms crossed with a smirk sprawled across his face. Ila scowled at him.
"Who are you?" Murphy asked, slightly irritated.
"Officer Royson," he brushed Murphy's question off, leaning against some machinery and cocking his head, causing a brunette strand to fall in his face.
"You know, I thought for sure she wouldn't make it after being sent down here, but here you are – still kicking and breathing," Royson continued with a slight snarl in his voice.
"You did this…"Murphy began to piece things together, his rage rising.
"Like I wanted this to happen. Not my fault she couldn't even carry it. She should be dead – floated," Royson snapped back.
"It was you – she tried to kill you…because of this?" Murphy continued to fit things together.
"She didn't tell you? Probably thought you wouldn't believe her just like everyone else, right Ila?" Royson's smug look irritated Murphy even more-so. He stood abruptly.
"You son of a-"
Murphy was stopped as Ila weakly squeezed his hand. He turned to look at her as she was shaking her head at him, scowling. Murphy turned back to Royson, approaching him.
"You're lucky she's letting you live. And if you EVER so much as look at her – or THINK about her – I. Will. Kill. You," Murphy threatened, "Now get the fuck out."
Royson stared darkly into Murphy's icy stare for a moment before starting to leave the tent.
"Hey Royson," Ila spoke up, causing him to turn back to look at her, "How's that cracked rib? Probably still can't laugh yet, right, Royson?"
"Bitch," he muttered as he exited.
Murphy returned to Ila's side as she began to sit up in her bed. Her body felt stiff as she moved around and when Murphy tried to help her, she put a hand up to stop him.
"I think you've done plenty for today, cupcake," Ila smiled to herself.
"Yeah, well, I can see why you tried to kill that guy. He's got another thing coming."
"Pretty sure that was the nicest thing you've ever done like…ever," Ila laughed. She propped herself up.
"Thank you," Ila looked up at him. Murphy blushed, eyes shifting nervously around the room. He had seated himself on the edge of her bed. Her face turned suddenly red, eyes wide.
"Oh my god! Clarke! I totally forgot! She was there. I saw her. Why was she there?" Ila turned to Murphy for answers.
"Oh yeah, it wasn't the grounders that took everyone else. It was the people inside Mount Weather," Murphy replied.
"People in Mount Weather? It makes sense, now…We didn't see the grounders take them because they didn't. Where is Clarke now?"
"Going back to Mount Weather. She and the rest of the gang left this morning to go rescue everyone," Murphy explained.
"Damn it!" Ila slammed the sides of her bed with both fists, "Why didn't you go with them?"
"I wanted to keep an eye on you," Murphy admitted, looking away. Ila shoved him playfully, but tears started to spill down Ila's face uncontrollably.
"What did I do?" Murphy panicked.
"Nothing…I'm just…I just…I didn't want it…but I didn't…" Ila cried, placing her arm across her waist.
Murphy stared at her with a sad expression, not entirely sure of what to do, or understanding of what she was going through. Ila just cried persistently, face turning red and puffy.
"It's fine…you don't have to explain," Murphy whispered into her ear, laying his head on her shoulder as she continued to cry.