Two days of climbing the walls and afraid to leave the bunker, Murphy had explored everything there was to explore in its confines. The food was better than that crappy panther meat. And there was plenty of reading material. Books, magazines, old newspapers, but it was that morning when he found something interesting. It was an article about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. What if they could get there? They'd have to cross past the north pole, and build boats that could navigate glacier filled waters, but he was bored enough to try anything. And he had to face it, the supplies here wouldn't last very long in the grand scheme of things.

Murphy didn't have many talents, but he was good at one thing: cobbling things together to work in a pinch. The bunker's back room was filled with survival gear and raw materials. So he went about pulling things out of the bunker so he had room to work on his project. Boredom cured his fear of the others.

A generator helped him solder pieces of metal together. It was dusk when the failing light forced him to stop for the day. This had to be hidden, so he covered it with leaves and forest debris.

He'd just finished doing that when he caught sight of someone walking his way. The hair suggested it was Clarke. So he stood there, quiet and wary, until he knew for sure.

"Murphy, sorry it took me so long to get back here," Clarke nodded at him just before stepping on his project. "What's this?"

"I have a plan. Get inside and we'll talk about it."

"OK."

He followed her down. "Wow, you reek."

"No soap."

"I've got soap, and a makeshift shower. Toothpaste and brushes too." Murphy gestured to the blanket hanging in the corner. "If you need help figuring out how it works, I can show you."

Since she wasn't going back to camp, Clarke jumped at the chance. "Thank you." She gave it a lookover, and it was pretty self explanatory. She stood inside the blanket he had up and took her clothes off, tossing them away from where the water could reach.

Murphy listened to her squeal at the cold water, knowing she wouldn't be in there long. She was in there longer than he expected, but his first shower took him forever to wash the grime off.

"Towel?"

He got up and handed her the towel he'd used that morning. "I should get you clothes. You'll want to wait until the last possible second before putting the mud covered ones back on."

"Can we wash them?" She asked from behind the blanket.

"Mine still haven't dried and I washed them yesterday morning. Don't you have to get back to camp?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm not welcome there."

"Yeah? What did you get banished for?" he asked as he rooted around the clothing bin for her.

"Having the nerve to say we should leave the drop ship and move someplace more secure." Her teeth chattered. "Find anything yet?"

"Here." He reached a handful of clothes into her.

The jeans were a bit big, but they were durable. The flannel shirt and cotton tee were comfortable and warm. When she stepped out from behind the curtain, he handed her a pair of thick socks. "Thank you."

"Stop thanking me. I didn't do anything."

She shrugged as she sat and put the socks on. "So what was that up top?"

"I'm working on something." He grabbed the magazine with the Svalbard article and tossed in on the coffee table. "There's this place, so far north you're going south again, but it's called the Global Seed Vault. I was making a boat."

Clarke picked the magazine up and skimmed the article. "We could die trying to get there." She sighed and met his gaze. "I'm in."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." She stretched and yawned. "I'll help get us ready starting in the morning. Right now, I need sleep."

"I took the top bunk."


Working together it took them a week to finish the boat. When the test proved that it would float even after taking a beating, they turned their attention to what they would need to take with them that would best see to their survival. They didn't talk about anything personal, or much at all. She tended to his healing wounds. He cooked for them. They'd built a working relationship, but that's as far as it went. They were packing it in for the night when Finn walked up. "Hey, guys."

"They kick you out too?" Murphy snarked.

"No. I came to check on you." Finn was staring at Clarke, who couldn't look him in the face.

"I should probably leave the lovebirds alone." Murphy moved toward the bunker opening, but Clarke caught his arm.

"Don't."

"OK. Trouble in paradise?"

"Finn, you need to leave." Clarke's jaw twitched.

Murphy studied Clarke for a sign as to what was wrong, but other than her being upset, he couldn't pin it down further. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Collins. "You heard her."

"Clarke, please." Finn reached out to her but she flinched away. Murphy lost his temper and shoved Finn. If there was anything else that Murphy had a talent for, it was taking a punch. So when Finn punched him, he didn't flinch.

"That all you got?" Murphy sneered as he punched back, nailing Finn in the nose. Blood spurt from Collins' nostrils and the skin at the bridge split. It was enough for Finn to back off, but Murphy had too much pent up anger and kept attacking. Blinded by his rage, it took Clarke pulling him off a bleeding and broken Finn, for him to notice the amount of damage he'd done, not that he cared outside the boost to his pride. Why had he ever backed down from this schmuck?

John expected Clarke to check on Finn, but instead she took his hands and examined them. "You busted a couple knuckles open. Let's get inside and clean them. We can't afford an infection."

"Well, they tell ya, 'Never hit a man with a closed fist.' But it is, on occasion, hilarious."

"If you say so," Clarke said as she shook her head.

"It's a quote. Firefly?"

"You watched that? We lived in space, and you watched a show about living in space?"

"They had more fun with it. You going to do something about him?" Murphy jerked his head toward Finn, who was laying on the ground moaning.

"Only because I don't want him sending the others here to lynch us. We're not ready to leave yet." Clarke rubbed her forehead. "Go wash your hands. Clean those cuts real well. I'll be down when I can."