Murphy could feel the blizzard air lurking down the hall, even though he was three turns and a flight of stairs away from where the doors of Mount Weather invited it in.
Hopefully more than frozen water and bad memories would come through that door soon, but for now there was only Octavia Blake, standing dark against the winter outside, waiting for her hope to walk through the door too.
She turned when she heard Murphy, charcoal covered eyes meeting blue, both irises filled with the same shade of worry.
"Murphy," she said starkly, her glance catching on the whistle hanging from his fingers, but she didn't care enough to comment.
Murphy leaned against the opposite wall, and exhaled a cloud of breath, unsure of what to say.
"Who are you waiting for," Octavia said, keeping her eyes fixated on the forest in the distance.
"Grey," he replied, running his thumb over the whistle, "I feel like we should be out there, looking for them."
"There's no point," Octavia responded darkly, "It would just be a waste of energy, they could be anywhere by now."
There was another minute of silence that ended abruptly when Octavia turned to stare at Murphy, a question in her eyes.
"What?" Murphy hissed at her.
"Grey's the food prep girl right?" She asked, "Dark hair and freckles?"
"Yeah, she's the Head of Food Prep and Meal Distribution."
"How'd you manage that?" Octavia said dryly though her smirk, "Attractive and a vital member of society, you don't really have a lot in common, do you?"
"I didn't manage anything, were not… we're not like that, we're just friends," Murphy insisted.
"Just friends." Octavia raised her eyebrows, "So you're waiting here, freezing your ass off, for a friend."
"Why do you give a fuck Blake," Murphy sneered.
"Don't talk to me like I'm my brother," Octavia said, sounding offended, "And relax Murphy I'm just trying to have a conversation, looks like you're having some relationship problems."
Murphy turned obstinately away and they settled back into silence, but once again Octavia's voice broke through the wind.
"Maybe I can help you out," she said, stepping towards him, "Yeah you tried to kill my brother, but you almost redeemed yourself when you saved his life," Murphy turned to her, shocked at the words he was hearing.
"You do care about other people, even though you pretend not too, and clearly you care about Grey-"
"Your point?" Murphy interceded rudely; terrified of the sincerity he was receiving.
"We have nothing better to do right now, so let me help you out."
Murphy raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"If you don't want my help it's fine," Octavia raised her eye brows in reply, "But I'm the only help you'll get,"
"Alright," Murphy nodded, "So how do I make her not hate me?"
"Goddamn it, Murphy," Octavia groaned.
X
X
X
Bellamy's hope was a lingering memory by now, with Grey hanging limp over his shoulders and Miller panting by his side, their fate was looking grim.
"Trade," Bellamy managed to grunt, practically dropping a delusional Grey in to Miller's arms. She had passed out over an hour ago, but every so often she would start muttering things, barely able to open her eyes.
They thought they had found a trail, but it ended up being animal tracks that just led deeper into the forest. Along with that pitfall, Bellamy's boots were starting to wither away, and the ends of his feet were just a distant memory now.
"I wanna gaze at the moon…" Grey whispered, her eyes fluttering, "Till I lose my senses."
Miller and Bellamy shared a concerned look, and Miller began stroking Grey's hair, trying to comfort her.
"Don't fence me in," her voice almost singing, "Don't fence me in."
Then she was gone again, back into the darkness of her mind, searching for a way out.
X
X
X
Murphy was sitting with his back against the wall, occasionally blowing the whistle, hoping that the loud ringing would somehow meet Grey's ears and she would know he was waiting for her.
Octavia covered her ears every time, because Grey was right, the thing was loud.
"They can hear you from TonDC with that thing," Octavia commented, pulling her hands from her ears, "Now prove you can talk to girls, tell me what you know."
Octavia had turned helpful advice into Grounder style warrior training; Murphy just found the whole thing quite annoying.
"Listen, be understanding, give her space, do something nice for her, get her a present or something, I got it, I got it," Murphy rolled his eyes.
"You forgot the most important one," Octavia said with her trademark stone faced glare.
"Apologize, yeah I know," he nodded. His training hadn't achieved anything but making Murphy more nervous. What if Grey really did hate him? What if she wouldn't accept his apology? What if he lost the only thing that mattered to him? Murphy hadn't felt more desperate in his life.
Octavia nodded in approval, and Murphy raised the whistle to his lips again, while Octavia groaned and covered her ears.
X
X
X
Bellamy thought he was going crazy, because every once in awhile he would hear a loud ringing echoing through the forest. He was too scared to mention it to Miller, thinking it was his mind playing tricks on him.
After the fourth or fifth time Miller gave Bellamy a confused look.
"Do you hear it too?" Bellamy whispered.
Miller nodded, looking in the direction of the noise.
"Maybe we should follow it…" Miller's voice trailed off.
"What if it's Grounders?" Bellamy asked while placing Grey in Miller's arms, they were starting to go numb.
"Could be…" Miller sighed.
"Let's go," Bellamy said, picking up speed as the noise echoed at them once again. His steps were so painful that he had to trick himself through each one.
One more step. Just one more.
"Holy shit!" Miller grinned, "It's a clearing!"
They were heading up hill now, and Bellamy couldn't feel anything besides the hope in his chest that they had possible made it.
When Bellamy saw Octavia, waiting in the wide doors of the Mountain, he thought he was going to cry.
"Bellamy?" She shouted, her dark figure immerging into the light.
He was too cold to even articulate his happiness as he collapsed inside Mount Weather. The last thing he remembered was Murphy taking Grey from Miller's arms and running down the corridor, snow flakes drifting through the air.