Third Person's POV
The next morning, when Julia and Murphy went back into the main part of the camp, they were met with news that Wells had been killed by grounders during the night while on watch.
Julia felt bad for Wells, but she hadn't ever had any pleasant experiences with him, so she wasn't very upset or anything.
Then the two of them just started working around the camp. Everyone was, trying to build walls and protections for the camp.
Murphy was in charge over overseeing the work while Julia was put on one of the easiest jobs, which was simply wrapping rope around wooden planks to keep them together. She was working with Charlotte.
She and Charlotte had been having a casual conversation when Murphy's voice distracted her. He was walking towards Jones, who had collapsed while carrying one of the logs. He was tired. The people doing the manual work all were.
"Hey! You think the grounders are just gonna sit around and wait for us to finish the wall? Maybe we should let Julia or the little girl do the lifting for you, huh?" Murphy spoke loudly, embarrassing the other guy.
"I just need some water, okay? Then I'll be fine." Jones responded and Murphy's face contorted into a sarcastic smile as Bellamy walked over.
"Murphy, get this guy some water." Bellamy instructed him before looking over at his sister and the young girl. "Hey, you got this?" He asked Charlotte, who quickly walked forward and bent down towards the log.
Bellamy and Julia shared a smile as he stopped her. "I'm just kidding." He told the young girl, smiling at her. Charlotte smiled before moving back towards Julia. Then Bellamy picked up the log over his shoulder and finished Jones' job.
Julia smiled to herself as she went back to her job. That's the way Bellamy always was growing up: playful and kind. She had missed that while in the Sky Box. She had missed him.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shout from Jones. "Uhh! What the hell is wrong with you, Murphy?" Jones shouted, scurrying away from where Murphy had been peeing on him.
Jonas jumped up and shoved Murphy. He only got that one shove in before Murphy's followers pushed him back away from him. "I'll kill you!" Jones screamed at him.
"You wanted a water break." Murphy said simply before glancing over at Julia, who was shaking her head at him with an unamused look on her face.
The unamused look on her face just amused Murphy more and a smirk grew on his face. Then his expression got hard again as he looked away from her and back at the workers. "Get back to work." He ordered them.
Sometimes it amazed her the difference in Murphy. With her, sometimes he could actually be nice and kind, albeit flirtatious and cheeky.
With everyone else, he was just kind of an ass. But even despite that, Julia found herself always wanting to be around him, she couldn't help it.
~~~
It was later in the day and everyone was getting tired and thirsty. Murphy was standing next to the water jug when Julia walked over.
"Hey, Murphy. How's it going?" She asked as she filled up one of the cups of water. "Everyone's too slow. This section should be up by now." Murphy answered looking around distastefully as she took a sip of the water.
Before she could respond, Murphy spoke again. "Have you seen my knife? I had it yesterday, but I put it down when we got back to camp and I haven't seen it since."
Julia shook her head and was about to respond when another guy walked over to grab a cup of water. As soon as it was filled, Murphy slapped it out of his hand. "No water till this section is up!" Murphy shouted at him.
"Then why does she get any?" The guy responded angrily, motioning to Julia. Murphy got into the guy's personal space intimidatingly.
"She gets to do whatever the fuck she wants. And anyone who says differently can come see either me or Bellamy. We'll set you straight." Murphy spoke and the guy quickly backed off, seeing the severity of the threat clear in his eyes.
Suddenly, Clarke appeared out of nowhere and shoved Murphy back roughly. "You son of a bitch!" Clarke shouted.
"What's your problem?" Murphy chuckled as Julia started paying close attention to the scene in front of her. "Recognize this?" Clarke demanded, holding up Murphy's knife.
If the situation was different, Julia would've been glad that his knife was found, but she didn't like the tone Clarke had when she said it. Like she knew something that the rest of them didn't.
"It's my knife. Where'd you find it?" Murphy asked and went to take it from Clarke, but she pulled her hand back.
"Where you dropped it after you killed Wells." Clarke answered and the small crowd that had gathered started gaining size as that grabbed people's attention.
Julia stepped closer. She didn't quite know what Clarke was talking about, but she could tell that this situation was going to turn bad quickly, so she wanted to be close to her friend. She wanted to protect him from the accusation being thrown at him.
"Where I what?" Murphy questioned, finding what Clarke had said to be ridiculous. Then he moved closer to her. "The grounders killed Wells, not me."
"I know what you did, and you're gonna pay for it." Clarke spoke and Murphy now just looked slightly amused. "Really? Bellamy, you really believe this shit?"
Murphy looked over at Bellamy, who was standing with Octavia by his side. He had his arms crossed as he looked back at Murphy. He didn't speak yet.
"You threatened to kill him. We all hurt you. You hated Wells." Clarke said and Julia decided it was time for her to join the conversation.
"Plenty of us hated Wells, his father locked us up. That doesn't mean that Murphy killed him." Julia stood up for her friend. She knew Murphy and she knew he didn't kill Wells.
"Yeah, but he was the only one who got in a knife fight with him." Clarke said and Murphy was quick to respond. "Yeah, I didn't kill him then, either." Murphy said and by then most people had gathered around and murmured amongst themselves.
Murphy glanced around. "Come on. This is ridiculous. I don't have to answer to you. I don't have to answer to anyone." Murphy said and as soon as the words left his mouth, Julia shook her head knowing how her brother would respond.
"Come again?" Bellamy spoke. His voice wasn't hostile, but it held power. Julia was getting really nervous now and walked towards her brother.
"Bellamy, he couldn't have killed Wells. He was with me all night." Julia tried to reason with her brother. "All night?" Bellamy repeated, narrowing his eyes at Murphy.
"Not like that, Bellamy. We were just talking. But he was with me all night." Julia said, trying to convince her brother.
"There wasn't any time that you were asleep or away from him?" Bellamy questioned and Julia hesitated. She had fallen asleep before him. She still one hundred percent believed that Murphy didn't kill Wells, but she couldn't lie to her brother.
"I mean, I did fall asleep before him. But Bell, you have to trust me, he didn't do it." Julia said, her voice becoming a little more desperate. She sensed the situation was about to get worse real quickly.
"They found Wells' fingers on the ground with Murphy's knife." Bellamy told her and Julia glanced over at Murphy. He was also taking in this new information.
"Is this the kind of society that we want? You say there should be no rules. Does that mean that we can kill each other without punishment?" Clarke addressed the crowd.
"I already told you. I didn't kill anyone." Murphy said, walking back to Clarke.
"I say we float him." Jones suggested and there were affirmative murmurs among the crowd. Julia's breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened in shock. She thought it would turn bad, but not bad enough that it was suggested to kill Murphy.
"That's not what I'm saying." Clarke said, turning to Jones and taking a few steps toward him.
"Why not? He deserves to float." Jones said. "It's justice." Another person spoke. Murphy looked around nervously and Julia grabbed his hand. He looked at her and she could see fear in his eyes.
"Revenge isn't justice." Clarke spoke, but the crowd had already started getting going. "It's justice. Float him!" Jones said and the crowd started chanting, "Float him! Float him!"
Murphy tried to move forward, but someone tripped him. Murphy fell to the ground, breaking his link to Julia.
Then the crowd swarmed in on him, kicking and beating him on the ground. Julia was frozen in horror for just a moment before she tried to run to him.
"No! Get off of him! Murphy! Stop it! Get off of him!" Julia shouted, desperate to save her friend. Then she felt a hand on her arm pulling her back. She turned to see it was her brother.
"Bellamy! Stop this!" Julia cried before looking back at Murphy. He was being beaten and gagged and bound, before being thrown down a hill.
The crowd followed him down the hill and someone threw rope over the branch of a tree. They were going to hang him, Julia realized as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Stop! You can't do this!" She screamed, trying to get to Murphy as they wrapped the rope around his neck. Jones held her back. "Get back! Get back!" He yelled at her.
Julia struggled and fought and noticed Clarke was too. The crowd raised him up and he stood on a log.
Julia turned to her brother, absolutely desperate. "Bellamy, you can stop this! Please! They'll listen to you!" Julia practically begged him, tears streaming down her face.
Before Bellamy could say anything, Jones spoke up. "Bellamy! You should do it. Bellamy! Bellamy!" The crowd started chanting his name.
Bellamy looked around the crowd, but Julia got his attention. "I swear to God, Bellamy, if you do this I will never forgive you."
Bellamy froze slightly before looking at his younger sister. He looked into her eyes and saw that there was no hesitation in her words. That if he did it, she would truly never forgive him.
But everyone was chanting his name and looking at him, waiting for their leader to get justice for Wells' death.
And in that overwhelming environment, Bellamy rationalized his decision by convincing himself that somehow he'd get Julia's forgiveness, even if it wasn't right away.
Bellamy strode forward towards Murphy, who was shaking his head and making desperate noises. Julia knew what Bellamy was about to do.
"No! Bellamy, don't!" Julia cried out just before Bellamy kicked the log out from underneath Murphy's feet.
"No!" Julia shouted as Murphy dropped down and started chocking. The crowd cheered loudly as Murphy struggled.
"No! Murphy!" Julia continued to struggle to get to her friend as she sobbed. She was desperate to save him. He was her best friend and she couldn't imagine her life without him.
"What the hell are you doing? Cut him down!" Finn shouted as he ran over. Then he turned to Charlotte. "Hey out of here now!" Finn ordered before before turning back towards Murphy.
"Cut him down now! Get out of my way." Finn shouted as he, Clarke, and Julia all tried to get to Murphy. But everyone was in their way. They wouldn't let them get close to saving him.
Suddenly, a shout cut through the air. "Stop! Okay? Murphy didn't kill Wells! I did!" Charlotte admitted to the crowd.
Julia felt sick. Now there was no resistance for her as she grabbed her brother's axe and cut the rope. Murphy fell to the ground, coughing and wheezing painfully as Finn crouched over him.
Then Julia rushed to his side. And all she could do was sob over her best friend's beaten and injured body as he continued wheezing in pain.
Julia couldn't believe that she was so close to losing him. She never wanted to feel that way again.