I woke up to a cold breeze coating my pale skin with goose bumps. When I rolled over to reach for Bellamy's warmth, I found nothing but a mess of old blanket. I sat up on my elbows and glanced around the room for him but he wasn't there.
"It's his fault! Screw him!" A voice shouted off in the distance. I immediately jumped out of bed and threw on my boots to see what was going on. When I finally got outside, the sun was shining brightly on a large crowd of the 100 that were gathered in a circle at the center of camp.
"Murphy wanted to prove you wrong and now he's gone. It's his own damn fault, there's no way in hell I'm going back out there!" The voice, which I now realized belonged to John Mbege, said. Bellamy was standing in the center of the crowd with Mbege and Conner, trying to remedy the situation.
"What the hell is going on?" I demanded as I pushed my way into the center of the circle. Now that I was closer, I could tell that Mbege and Conner were covered in knife marks and wounds. Bellamy looked livid, but he was desperately trying to keep his cool since everyone was watching him.
"Murphy, Mbege, and Conner left camp last night because they thought what I said about the Grounders was a load of bullshit. They were attacked by the grounders, Murphy was speared and dragged off." Bellamy seethed. I rubbed my forehead, realizing that what had happened to Jasper originally happened to Murphy this time.
"I know you're all scared," I began, taking in all of their worried eyes. There was no doubt in my mind that they believed Bellamy and I now, "but you have to stay strong. We can survive and we can get Murphy back, but we have to stay focused. Bellamy will break you all up into groups. We are going to get a wall built by tomorrow night and I promise you everything will be alright. I'm going to try and work something out for peace with the grounders."
Bellamy gave me a look of disapproval, but my speech calmed the group down and caused them to return back to their work duties. I made my way over to Mbege to check his cuts but he was fine. Conner had a twisted ankle, but other than that the cuts were superficial. The grounders were just trying to scare us.
"What are you doing?" Bellamy asked, with a small hint of anger in his voice. I could tell he was being overprotective about me wanting to go make peace with the grounders, but if I did it before, I could do it again.
"I'm trying to keep us all alive. Same as you." I replied.
"You can't just go talk to the grounders. We tried that on Unity Day, remember? It's not going to work for awhile." Bellamy said, holding onto my arm.
"I know Lexa, she will make a truce." I said, yanking my arm.
"Clarke-" Bellamy called to me. I turned around.
"What about our day trip?" He asked.
I bit my lip, "it can wait, Murphy can't."
Bellamy and I threw our packs together in silence. We weren't necessarily mad at each other, we were just mad at the world. It didn't seem to matter what we did, everything kept happening again anyways and it was exhausting. Plus I knew he was being overprotective of me now that I was his girlfriend, but I didn't want him to overwhelm me.
I'd almost forgotten just how much work being in charge of the 100 actually was. Bellamy must have forgotten too, because he's been on edge all day.
"You guys coming or what?" Octavia askeid as she peaked her head through the tent flap. I threw my pack over my shoulder and joined her outside. She was waiting with Finn, Jasper, and Atom.
"Miller!" Bellamy called as he stepped out of the tent.
"Yeah, Bellamy?" Miller asked as he climbed down from one of the first pieces of the wall.
"You're in charge until Clarke and I get back. Everyone works until nightfall, got it?"
Miller nodded, "Got it."
"Alright! We are splitting into groups, it will help us find Murphy easier." Bellamy said to us.
"Partners?" Finn leaned over and whispered in my ear. I shrugged and said agreed. What was the harm in being Finn's partner? He was a good tracker and we worked well together.
Jasper and Octavia took off into the forest, much to Bellamy's displeasure, while he made his way over to me.
"You ready to go babe?" He asked. I glanced over at Finn, instantly feeling guilty.
"Oh, alright then. Stay safe." He said quietly before turning to Atom and heading off in a different direction.
I had no idea why Finn was interested in being my partner for this, but maybe he could sense the tension between Bellamy and I and he thought he was doing me a favor.
"Trouble in paradise?" Finn asked as he tracked Murphy's trail. I'd almost forgotten how great of a tracker Finn was. He was able to find Jasper last time with no problem, I had no doubt he'd be able to lead us to Murphy too.
"It's complicated." I replied. Finn accepted that answer and continued to scour the ground for footprints. My mind wandered to Bellamy again. I knew I was pushing him away because I was afraid to lose him, but he wasn't helping the situation by distancing himself from me. It was like he didn't know how to lead his people and be with me at the same time. Hopefully he could figure it out soon.
"He was definitely dragged." Finn said, interrupting my thoughts.
"Huh? Oh Murphy right." I stuttered, trying to focus on the task at hand. If Murphy was used as bait again, I'd have to go to the river tomorrow to get the seaweed poultice. He'd be in excruciating pain, but I could still save him.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about this?" Finn asked. I shrugged my shoulders. It was weird for me to talk to Finn about my relationship with Bellamy considering what happened to us before.
"We'll work it out, we always do." I replied. Finn lead me through a couple bushes before we reached a stream.
"No way!" Finn exclaimed, taking off his clothes.
"Finn! It could be toxic."
"Or it could be fun!"
"We have to find Murphy-"
"Murphy's not going anywhere princess. Take a little break."
Finn was currently in nothing but his boxers, jumping into the stream. I chuckled at how stupid he looked and was tempted to run off with the rest of his clothes, but instead he pulled me into the water. I gasped at the cold chill that it sent throughout my body, but once I was settled, I never wanted to get out. Finn splashed me, prompting me to splash him back.
After playing in the water for another few minutes, my eyes locked with blood dripping off of a leaf and into the water.
"Murphy, it has to be his." I gasped. Finn got out of the water, careful not to disturb the area and bent down to look for tracks.
"This blood is fresh. He was just here." Finn said. I instantly got out of the water and attempted to dry off while Finn put his dry clothes back on. He took his jacket and wrapped it around me before leading me down the fresh trail to Murphy.
It was creepy, seeing Murphy hanging from the same tree that Jasper once had, but I knew exactly what we needed to do. Bellamy and Atom arrived next from the other side of the trail. I could feel Bellamy glaring at me for wearing Finn's jacket and being soaking wet. I couldn't blame him, I knew what this looked like, but it wasn't what happened.
"Let's cut him down." Bellamy said as he made his way towards Murphy. I walked beside him, desperately trying to figure out a way to make him forgive me. Before I knew it, my feet weren't on solid ground anymore, instead, I was falling into a huge pit. I glanced up, realizing someone had caught me. Bellamy and I locked eyes, his strong arm keeping me from falling to my death. He nodded at me and lifted me up out of the pit. I felt my whole body shaking from nerves, so Bellamy pulled me close to him and held me there for a moment.
"Oh my gosh are you alright?" Octavia asked as she arrived. Jasper was following closely behind her, staring at her as she made her way over to check on me.
"Watch you step O." Bellamy warned. Octavia looked down into the pit full of spikes and shuddered.
"So how do we get him down?" She asked, but Finn was already on the other side of the tree, climbing it.
"Bellamy, the cougar." I whispered. Bellamy's eyes widened, like he'd almost forgotten about the animal.
"Do you have your gun?" I asked. Since he didn't come down as a member of the guard, I had no idea if he had a gun or not. If he didn't we could end up being lunch.
"I told Wells I wasn't going down here without one." He said, pulling out the pistol. I threw my head back in relief.
Finn was just about done cutting Murphy down from the tree, when we heard a growl coming from the east. Bellamy pulled out his gun and waited patiently, while I hid behind him.
"Octavia! Jasper! Go up the tree with Finn." Bellamy demanded. I clutched onto his sides as I listened to the cat running towards up. Bellamy fired several shots, killing the animal instantly. He was such a good shot now.
"Well there's dinner!" Jasper exclaimed from on top of the tree. Bellamy let out a deep breath while he stared at the dead animal. I remembered how last time Bellamy was too nervous to shoot the animal so Wells took his gun and did it.
Finn climbed down with Murphy in his arms and I heaved a sigh realizing that Murphy was still alive.
"We need to get him back to camp before the grounders realize he's gone. Let's go." I demanded. Everyone followed close behind me as I lead the way back to camp. Bellamy had the cougar over his shoulder, while Jasper and Finn carried Murphy. Octavia was holding Bellamy's gun, on the look out for any grounders.
The camp looked much different than it had this morning. The walls in the front of the camp where almost done while the walls around back were just getting started. Several more tents had popped up and people were using wood from trees to make various tools and weapons. Miller handed the rule back to Bellamy and I but I would be too busy with Murphy the next few days to really be in charge of anything.
Bellamy and I went our separate ways, he to help make dinner and I to help make Murphy comfortable until I could go out and get the seaweed tomorrow.
"He looks like a goner." Finn whispered. Octavia shook her head and ran her fingers through Murphy's rough locks.
"I'm going to go get a cloth and water to clean him up." She said as she headed down the stairs.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Jasper asked. I thought about it for a moment, and then realized I knew exactly what they could do. It didn't work last time, but maybe they could make it work this time.
"I need you to work with Monty and try to figure out a way to reverse the communications on our wristbands so we could talk to the Ark." I said. Jasper nodded and left to go find Monty.
"So grounders, huh? You've lived this life before?" Finn asked. His tone made it seem like he was teasing me for sounding crazy, but the look in his eyes told me that he genuinely believed me.
"Yeah, Bellamy and I both made a lot of mistakes. I guess this is the universe's way of punishing us. We kept trying to make changes for the better, but almost everything keeps happening one way or another." I told him.
"I'm never going to see Raven again, am I?" He asked faintly. I reached my hand over and placed it on his, shocking him.
"You will, she's stronger than you think, and smarter too. Damn that girl is smart." I replied, letting his hand go. Finn stared at me for a moment longer, as if he was taking in every little feature on my face. I looked away, afraid of what would happen if I didn't.
"She loves you, you know that right?" I added. Finn bit his lip, knowing that I was right but wanting to forget I'd said it.
Murphy groaned, snapping us both out of our trance. What the hell was I doing? Just because Bellamy and I were going through a rough patch didn't mean I could just fall for Finn's cheating crap again.
"Hey, Clarke? I got this if you want to go get some sleep." Octavia said as she reemerged with a damp cloth. Normally I would have argued that I should stay and help Murphy, but I wanted to get as far away from Finn as possible.
When I exited the drop ship, most of the kids were trying to fall asleep. Murphy's outcries of pain didn't help with the moral, but I'd have the problem solved by tomorrow afternoon.
I trudged sleepily to my tent and collapsed on the bed, not even realizing that Bellamy was already there.
"Clarke?" He asked sleepily. I tucked myself under the covers, keeping a little distance between us.
"Yeah it's just me. I didn't mean to wake you." I whispered into the darkness. Bellamy nodded sleepily and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me towards him. That was when I realized he wasn't wearing anything but his boxers.
"What's going on?" He asked quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"You're never this tense and rigid when I hold you, it's like you don't want me to touch you." He replied, stuttering the words in an attempt not to cry. I bit my lip and buried my head into his chest.
"I'm sorry-"
"Is this about Finn? Because I swear to God if you leave me for that idiot, I'll be the one to kill him this time." Bellamy said. I knew he was joking but the memory still felt like a punch to the gut. Bellamy realized instantly that he shouldn't have said that.
"Sorry, I'm being a jealous boyfriend. I trust you Clarke, I just feel like I'm losing you and I don't know why or how to stop it." Bellamy apologized. I kissed him softly, right below his earlobe and felt his entire body relax underneath me.
"You're never going to lose me, I just need some time. I thought you were dead. I thought they floated you and my dad and it killed me. I guess I'm just pushing you away because I don't want feel that pain again. I've never felt so alone in my entire life and to have that taken away was brutal. Plus, I haven't seen you in months. I've been locked up and it's hard for me to just jump right back in where we left off." I explained.
"I'm sorry, princess. I never meant for any of that to happen. If you need time, I'll give that to you. You just say the word and I'll give you space. I can go sleep in O's tent tonight if-"
"No, this is our home. You're staying right here with me. We will figure this out together." I insisted, curling up against him. He let his arm wrap around my waist and kissed my forehead.
"I love you Clarke Griffin, no matter what." He whispered, before I drifted off to sleep in his arms.