A/N: I'm so sorry, guys! I swear I haven't given up on this story! Life got incredible hectic for the past few months, and I haven't had much opportunity to write. I started my final stretch of university and my prof's have assigned ALL the work, so I've been busy, busy, busy. This chapter came together over the past couple of weeks, which I'm super happy about - I didn't want to leave you guys hanging any longer.

Thanks so much to my beta Dannylionthe1st! Your help in getting this chapter out was much appreciated! Would have never happened without you! :)

Thank you to all who followed, favourited and reviewed the last chapter! You guys are all incredible and I love reading your thoughts and comments!

Enjoy!

Chapter 22

The afternoon sun hadn't taken long to dip behind the nearby mountains throwing the forest around them into darkness, the sliver of moonlight barely giving them enough light to see. It proved to be both a blessing and a curse: it made it easier to track the glow of Murphy's torch in the dim light, allowing her and Bellamy to stay safely out of sight. Unfortunately, it also turned the forest floor into a deadly obstacle course of ankle-breaking holes and sharp branches that seemed ready to impale them if and when they fell.

Alex bit back a curse as her foot caught on an unseen root for what felt like the hundredth time that night, sending her stumbling and fighting to regain her balance on the uneven forest floor. Gritting her teeth, she did her best to keep an eye out, but worried that if she took her eyes off Murphy for more than a second, she would lose him in the dark.

They'd been following him for what felt like hours, and so far he'd been unrelenting in his hunt.

She'd been hoping that as night fell he would lose some of his steam, that he would decide that Charlotte was simply not worth the effort, and wander back to camp.

However, if there was one thing she'd come to learn about John -bloody -Murphy, it was that he was a determined son-of-a-bitch and he didn't give up easy.

Besides, when had she ever been so lucky?

Murphy prowled on ahead, his rage evident in every stride, head darting one way and another, snarl firmly set on his bruised and battered face.

What happens when he doesn't stop? As long the two of them are sharing the same space, he's going to keep going. He'll never be happy until he has her head... One of them has to go...She gnawed on the inside of her lip, the thought leaving her queasy. Staring at the distant flicker of the fire, her thoughts took a darker turn. What are you going to do if he keeps going? Do you have the strength to stop him?

"He's not going to stop…" she muttered to herself.

"Stop worrying so much," Bellamy stated quietly, voice cutting through her thoughts. He wasn't far from her, crouched behind a tree. It was the first either of them had spoken since they'd left the chaos surrounding the dropship. "She'll be fine."

Licking her dry lips, she fidgeted with the hem of her sleeve, knowing she couldn't deny she was worried, before shooting him a worried look. "You can't know that. Murphy's persistent. He won't stop."

Bellamy turned and met her gaze head on; she could see the light of Murphy's torch reflected in his eyes. "She's with Clarke and Finn," he pointed out with a frown, eyes momentarily flickering back to Murphy. "They'll watch out for her." When she didn't respond, he continued, "You don't think it's enough."

"Do you?" She questioned, nodding her head to where Murphy paced, listening to him shout out for Charlotte. "He's like a dog that's scented blood. He won't stop." She shook her head. "He's more likely to go through them to get to her."

Silence descended between them as they both continued to watch. Murphy seemed keen on staying where he was for the moment.

After a pause, Bellamy turned to her one more. "Miller mentioned that you didn't know her on the Ark."

She knew that Nate had sided with Bellamy early on, taking a lead in keeping things calm around the Dropship, so it would make sense for him and Bellamy to talk. But the thought of them talking about her made her uncomfortable. What else did they talk about? "Yeah, and?" she asked cagily, deflecting the question, not looking at him.

He shook his head. "I just don't get it. I mean - not that there's anything wrong with protecting little girls - but she did admit to killing Wells. Why protect her?"

She gritted her teeth in response, Wells death still raw in her mind.

"Gossiping behind my back, Blake?" she asked him, deflecting the question. "I didn't know you and Nate were so close. Have you held hands yet?"

"Hardly." he gave her an unimpressed look. "Stop dodging the question."

She turned, giving him a disbelieving frown. "Why? I don't exactly owe you answers to anything."

"Oh, really?" Bellamy stared turned a bit more icy in response. "And didn't we agree that you keeping things to yourself wasn't your best move?"

She flinched at the intentional jab, reminding her of what had happened the last time she'd kept her mouth shut about Charlotte's guilt. He was right, at least in that regard. She should have spoken up sooner.

"It's nothing like that," she replied more softly, shoving aside her instinct to get defensive, shifting on her feet. "I mean - it's just…." she drifted off, unsure, then cleared her throat. "She's just a kid, you know? Making choices out of the bad shit she's had to live through." She shrugged. "Mistakes are made. It's just not fair for them to not have someone there to watch their back because of it."

For a moment he said nothing in response, merely studying her, his expression carefully blank. He took a deep breath. Hesitated. "Does this…" he began slowly, gaze watching her reaction intensely. "Does this have something to do with... Liam?"

The name felt like a red-hot wire had been pressed to her brain and she snapped around to face him, staring at him in shock. "What?" she breathed. Bellamy mentioning his name threw her off kilter somehow, as if her thoughts had screeched to a halt.

"Come on, Evans," he leaned towards her, studying her. All she could do was stare back. "You talk about Charlotte's mistakes. And how she needs protecting. But don't you think you might just be projecting your guilt onto her situation? That somehow by protecting her you'll make up for what you did to Liam?"

The question felt like someone had poured freezing water on a fire before dousing the embers in gasoline. The cold anger spread through her like wildfire, her glare turning stone cold. Maybe if it burned hot enough it would hide the hurt that question brought.

"Shut - up," she said, giving him a dark glare. "You don't - you don't know anything. Nate doesn't know anything," her voice cracked at the end of her sentence, turning away. She had to swallow the lump that had grown in her throat, and why was her vision blurring?

After a pause he sighed. "Maybe that's true," he said softly. "But how will anyone know the truth if you never talk to anyone about it?" He ended, then returned to gazing out at Murphy's group.

He doesn't know what he's talking about. She told herself repeatedly, blinking away the moisture in her eyes, eyeing Murphy and his group, before turning to look out at the forest, feeling exhausted. Maybe Murphy and his group were finished, and she could finally get some sleep.

Roughly rubbing her eyes, she then pulled her hands away from her face -

- and froze, her hurt and anger fading away to the back of her mind. Blinking harshly for a few seconds, she wondered if somehow her mind was playing tricks on her, but after she blinked again and the image was still there, she knew what she was seeing was real.

Charlotte was walking through the forest, her form barely illuminated by the sporadic moonlight that made it through the gaps in the trees. She was heading straight towards Murphy.

What the hell is she doing?!

"Bellamy!" she hissed, whirling towards him, her heart in her throat, and grabbed the sleeve of his jacket, pulling him to face the right direction.

There was annoyance on his face as he turned towards her, looking like he was mentally ready for a fight, but whatever he saw on her face quickly changed it to concern.

With her other hand she pointed towards Charlotte. His eyes followed the movement, before widening in shock.

"Shit," he said quietly, and didn't hesitate, pulling away from her and ducking through the underbrush in Charlotte's direction, aiming to intercept her path to Murphy.

Alex hurried after him, worry and anger bubbling through her. What is she doing here? Why isn't she was Clarke and Finn - where the fuck are Clarke and Finn?!

It didn't take them more than a couple of seconds to catch up to the unaware girl, and when they did Bellamy didn't hesitate in scooping her up, one arm around her waist, the other firmly muffling the startled scream that tried to escape her.

She probably thinks it's Murphy!

Alex quickly slipped in front of the panicking girl, hoping that the sight of her would reassure the young girl that she wasn't in any danger, that they were there to help. Meeting her wide eyes, she pressed a finger to her lips. "Shhh! It's okay Charlotte. It's just us," she said softly, giving her a shaky smile.

She had hoped that her words and her presence would calm the girl's struggles so that they could move away from there quietly, but they seemed to have the opposite effect entirely; Charlotte's struggles renewed in vigor, fighting and kicking until she finally managed to get Bellamy's hand away from her face.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, still kicking and scratching.

Alex and Bellamy exchanged a startled glance over her head, before Charlotte drove her elbow into his side and he folded with a grunt, although he didn't release her entirely, catching her by the arm.

Alex was stunned by her reaction. What the hell is going on?

"Hey, we're - trying to help!" Bellamy grunted down at Charlotte with a grimace.

Alex tried a different approach, taking a small step towards her and trying to meet her gaze. "Charlotte, what's wrong?" She asked, feeling concerned. "Did something happen - are you hurt?"

Charlotte exploded. "Stop trying to protect me!" she howled before trying to throw a punch at Bellamy, who quickly dodged out of reach. "I'm not your sister! And I sure as hell don't want your help! Just leave me alone!"

"Charlotte!" Alex hissed at her, staring at her in shock, Bellamy mirroring her. "What are you doing?" At the sound of a branch snapping, she snapped around to face the direction Murphy and his group were, staring in worry. "Look, we don't have time for this now. We need to get you out of here."

Charlotte glared at her and Alex was shocked by the venom in her gaze. "I don't need your help. Everyone you try to help ends up dead," she spat.

Alex recoiled from her, feeling like she'd been slapped in the face.

What...what is she trying to do? Why would she say that?

"Charlotte!" Bellamy hissed down at her again but this time his tone was angry.

The sudden increased shout's that came from Murphy's direction told them they were nearly out of time.

Alex shoved back her emotions. They needed to get out of there. Now.

"Look we can deal with this later," she told Charlotte cooly, before glancing up to Bellamy. "But we need to get out of here."

"No!" Charlotte cried out, trying to shove away from Bellamy's grip to no avail. "No, Murphy! Murphy - I'm over here!" she screamed as loudly as she could.

"Dammit," Bellamy said, lunging towards her and picking her up, making sure to cover her mouth once again. He looked worried. "We need to get out of here."

But it was too late.

The elated shouts that shattered the quiet around them told them that they needed to move now if they were going to get away.

Alex nodded her head in a random direction, motioning for Bellamy to follow her. "Come on!" she hissed at him and ducked into the forest. Hoping that somehow this path would take them away from the storm heading this way.

Please let this work.

Glancing over her shoulder, she eyed the direction she knew Murphy was coming from, and prayed he would somehow fall and break a leg. Or even just trip long enough to give them a head start.

She didn't know how long they would be able to keep running.

She had a feeling it wouldn't be enough.

Hurrying through the dark and carrying Charlotte proved to be an impossible feat when trying to outpace Murphy and his goons. Charlotte was doing everything within her power to slow them down - kicking, hitting, scratching, and at one point even biting Bellamy's hand so she could shout out to Murphy.

Alex could tell Bellamy was quickly burning out, his patience stretched to the max as he tried to deal with the struggling girl.

Where can we go? Try to find another cave in the darkness? Or should we head back to the dropship and hope that the rest of the delinquents will be more sympathetic to our situation, and that they'll give us a hand?

She was worried. As she guided them in the darkness, she tried to search for any sign of any landmark which would tell her where they were and in which direction they were heading. They were moving slightly down hill, making her wonder if they were heading towards the river she'd encountered some time ago.

What happened to Clarke and Finn? Did they run into trouble and have to split up? The thought made her hyper aware that they were wandering out in the darkness, and that somewhere out there Grounders lurked.

As her mind flashed back to the image of Jasper being impaled in the chest by a spear, the deeper shadows around them, began to look more humanoid.

Stop it! You're not helping anyone by getting jumpy! She told herself furiously. One thing at a time. Get away from Murphy. Deal with anything else as it comes up.

All they could do was keep moving.

She knew that Murphy was quickly catching up, their distance shouts slowly getting closer. He knew where they were. He was coming for them.

The only thing working in their favour was the darkness around them.

Glancing back, she met Bellamy's exhausted gaze, before returning her gaze to the dark space before her -

-and skidded to a stop, heart leaping up into her throat. "Shit!"

The space where her next step should have been was nothing but a void, the ground below her dropping away into nothingness. She could hear Bellamy's ragged breathing as he came to a stop just behind her.

The distant echo of the river told her it was a long way down and that it wouldn't be helping them today.

"Dammit," she swore in frustration, taking a few steps away from the edge. What do we do now? Where can we go? She hadn't had a chance to take a breath to ask Bellamy what he thought they should do when a branch snapping behind them told her they were too late. They were trapped.

Digging her knife out of her jacket pocket she turned to face the sound.

"Char-lotte!" Murphy sang out as he stepped out from behind a tree and slowly sauntered towards them, the others not far behind.

Taking a step towards him, she placed herself between him and the others, raising the blade as he moved towards her. She was keenly aware of the blade that Murphy held casually in one hand. "That's far enough," she snapped, standing her ground.

He tilted his head in response, eyeing her in amusement, dangerous smirk dancing on his lips. He stopped just out of reach of her blade, the tip brushing his jacket. "Or what, Evans?" he challenged. "Going to fight us all? As I recall, last time it didn't go well for you when it was only the two of us."

She gritted her teeth at his mocking tone, but movements behind her distracted her.

"Put. Me. Down!" Charlotte shouted at Bellamy, who finally relented, setting her down on her feet, but kept her wrist in hand, as he eyed them warily.

"She's not alone," Bellamy snapped at Murphy from behind her.

"Well, the way I see it. You can either protect Charlotte. Or Evans. I don't think you'll be able to do both," Murphy taunted him, wagging a finger in his direction.

Bellamy seemed to know he was right. "Just go home Murphy, it's over," he snapped, temper flaring as he took a step towards them.

"It's fine, Blake," she tried to reassure him, not taking her eyes off the unpredictable boy in front of her. "Just watch Charlotte."

Murphy made a sound of annoyance in the back of his throat. "Oh, come on! You can't fight us all. Just hand the girl over and we can all go home happy."

"Like hell," she snapped at him, shifting on her feet, knowing he was right. They wouldn't be able to fight them all and protect Charlotte at the same time. It was five against the two of them.

He rolled his eyes at her response, finally raising his blade and loosely waving it in her direction. "You're getting predictable, Evans. Why are you defending her anyway? Didn't she kill dear, poor Wells?" he mocked.

Her expression darkened and he smirked.

"Doesn't mean I'm going to let you hurt her," she told him bluntly.

"Then how about I make you a deal?" He cocked his head to the side as he watched her. "Since I've got some unfinished business with you, how about just you and me. No backup. Winner gets the girl."

Alex could hear Bellamy shifting behind her and knew he didn't like the idea of her fighting Murphy one-on-one. Could she do it? Fight him and win? Murphy was a dirty fighter, she knew that, but she had some of her own tricks up her sleeve.

But something about his offer bothered her. Up until now he's been hell-bent on getting Charlotte. Why would he suddenly give them a way out? It didn't make any sense. If he wins, he'll kill you. If he wins, there's nothing stopping him from still going after Charlotte next.

But if you fight him and win, this might be your one and only chance to make sure he goes down and stays down.

Indecision warred through her, yet she knew what she had to do.

Gritting her teeth, Alex was about to give him the affirmative when a branch snapped to her left and Clarke stumbled through the nearby bushes, Finn on her heels. They were both exhausted and out of breath, but it didn't take them more than a second to take in the drawn knives and defensive postures.

"Alex! Murphy, stop!" Clarke ordered, shoving her way between them, pushing her knife to the side. She glared at her, then a Murphy. "Both of you calm down. We can talk this out."

Alarm flared through Alex. What is she doing?

Before she could shove Clarke out of the way, Murphy lashed out and wrapped an arm around Clarke, pulling her towards him. The tip of his blade came up to rest dangerously close to her throat.

They all froze.

"I'm sick of listening to you talk," Murphy sneered at Clarke, and Alex could see the flash of nervousness that crossed her face at their close proximity, her head tilted back in an effort to keep away from the blade. He met Alex's nervous gaze and shrugged unapologetically. "Sorry Evans, change of plans."

"Let her go," Finn ordered, glaring at Murphy with contempt.

Alex could feel the palms of her hands begin to sweat under the handle of her blade and resisted the urge to wipe them on her pants. Clarke's sudden appearance had changed everything.

"Let her go," Bellamy repeated Finn's demands, stepping towards them slowly. He had finally let go of Charlotte, who now stood frozen behind them.

"Ah, ah, ah, stay where you are," Murphy said, shooting Bellamy a warning glare, and pressed the blade closer to Clarke's throat. "I will slit her throat."

"No, don't!" Charlotte blurted out, eyes wide as she stared at them. "Please don't hurt her!"

"Don't hurt her?" Murphy eyed her, then shrugged. "Okay, new deal. You come with me right now and I'll let her go. Simple as that."

Alex's heart dropped to her stomach. "No," she said immediately, keeping her voice carefully even, despite the heavy feeling of trepidation in her gut. "Murphy, let Clarke go. We can talk about this."

He sneered at her. "I'm done talking. This is just how things are going to be. You don't have to like it. In fact, I don't particularly care how you feel about this," he shrugged, returning his attention to Charlotte. "I swear that if you don't come here right now, Clarke will be graced with a brand new smile." He pressed the blade closer to Clarke's throat. "And it won't be pretty."

"No!" Charlotte cried out, taking a halting step forward, and Alex shifted herself to stand in her way. She wouldn't let her get to Murphy. "Please, don't hurt her."

"Charlotte, stay where you are!" Alex said, shooting her a warning glare. "Murphy, that's enough. Clarke isn't part of this!"

"She became part of this when she tried to protect that little bitch," he snapped back.

Her jaw clicked shut at his response and she stared at him, desperation beginning to well up inside her. What could she do? How could she change this?

Charlotte or Clarke? The young girl who'd made a mistake or the girl who'd had no part in any of this?

She was stuck, aware that Murphy had the upper hand this time and there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing any of them could do about it.

She swallowed at the wave of despair that washed through her, heartbeat extra loud in her ears, almost clouding her thoughts. She couldn't imagine any scenario that didn't end in bloodshed.

Stop it! Panicking isn't going to help anyone right now!

"Stop!" Charlotte shouted from behind them all, and they turned to face her. Her cheeks were wet with tears; her angry glare was firmly set on Murphy. "Please, just stop!"

"You want it to stop? Well, you know what to do," he said pointedly, using his knife to wave her forward, his other arm still firmly wrapped around Clarke's shoulders.

Alex expected Charlotte to do as he requested, but was surprised when she shook her head, taking a step away from them all instead.

"No!" she said, shaking her head, braid whipping around at the harsh movement. "This is not happening! I can't let any of you get hurt anymore! Not because of me!"

The pain in her voice tore at Alex's heart.

Charlotte met her gaze, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. "It won't happen because of me," she repeated, voice soft and full of pain.

Then she turned and leapt, throwing herself into the void behind her.

Time slowed to a stop around her; one horrifying second that seemed to drag on forever, highlighted by the crystalline clarity of everything around her.

At the same time, she felt like she was no longer within her own body, like she was witnessing something, very, very far away. She was frozen in place.

Watching something that couldn't be happening to her.

What...what just -

She - she just...jumped?

Then like an elastic band snapping back into place, she was back in her body, able to breath. Able to move.

She dove for the edge - hoping, praying, pleading - for something. Anything.

She's down there - just out of sight! You - you can get her!

The absolute darkness in front of her terrified her.

Before she could follow, two arms wrapped themselves around her middle, hauling her up and away from the edge. Pulling her tightly against a firm chest.

"No!" she howled, pulling and prying, but the arms that held her wouldn't budge. "No, let me go! Let me go! She's right there." she cried out fighting as much as she could, but her muscles were useless, her body lacking the energy to fight.

Bellamy held her tight, slowly sinking to the floor with her still in his arms, until she was half sitting in his lap.

"Let - me go. She - she's -" Alex gasped and trembled, her lungs burning, her heart thundering in her own ears. It felt like all the oxygen in the world was no longer enough.

Bellamy was shaking his head, and his voice slowly came into focus over the thundering in her own head. "She's gone. Alex, she's gone," he said softly in her ear, chin nearly pressed against the crook of her neck as he fought to keep her down, to keep her from following Charlotte off the edge.

It was as if someone had cut all the strings holding her up and Alex sagged against him, a pained moan building somewhere deep in her chest, before a choked sob escaped her.

She's gone. She's gone. She's gone. Bellamy's words repeated over and over in her head.

Curling in on herself, she pressed the heels of her palms tightly against her eyes until she was seeing bright colours and stars. Each ragged breath tore though her chest, echoing the pain she felt.

The others stood in stunned silence around them, shocked at the sudden change of events.

"Why, why, why?" She choked, hardly recognizing her own voice. Her chest burned, desperate for air. A shuddering gasp escaped her. Then another.

The silence around her was the only answer she would get.

Why did you do it?! She wanted to scream at the young girl. You just….she just...She couldn't bring herself to think the words, the image of Charlotte jumping seared into her mind. But with her eyes closed it was all she could see.

With a sharp breath she opened her eyes, hands that had been covering her eyes wiping the damp tears from her face.

It's done. She's gone. You were too late to save her, the cynical voice inside her head told her. Charlotte was right after all, anyone you try to help winds up dead.

Self loathing filled her and she pulled away from Bellamy. For a second, his arms resisted her movement before relaxing and allowing her to slip away. With shaky arms, she pushed herself to her feet.

Looking up, her gaze landed on Murphy.

The sight of him sent a hot wave of rage and hatred through her, burning like acid through her veins. Why did he get to stand there when Charlotte would never get another chance?

This is all his fault...HE's the reason she did this!

A raw scream of rage tore from her throat as she launched herself at Murphy, ignoring the knife in his hand, slammed her full bodyweight into him, sending them both crashing to the ground. Murphy gave a breathless sound of surprise as they landed, dropping his knife in the process.

Scrambling on top of him, she quickly straddled his chest, pinning his arms under her knees.

Before he could react, she slammed her a fist into his mouth, his head snapping to the side at the force, his blood smearing her knuckles.

Her other fist found his eye, the hard bone of his brow splitting her knuckles, and she forced herself to ignore the sharp pain rippling up her arm.

She punched him again. And again. Her body filled with a single cold certainty: she was going to kill him. Today Murphy was going to die.

Time had slowed to a crawl around her, although it couldn't have been longer than a couple of seconds before Murphy got over the shock of being attacked, and began fighting back.

With a bloody snarl, he bucked his hips, throwing her off balance enough to free one of his arms, which instantly reached up and knotted in her hair. She gasped in pain as he yanked her head painfully to the side, hard enough that she could feel her hair tearing at the roots.

She was ready for him.

When the cool metal of her knife bit into the soft flesh of Murphy's neck, he froze, staring up at her in shock.

She panted above him, glaring down hatefully into his eyes. Although he tried to hide it, she could see that he was nervous, and as she increased the pressure of her blade on his neck, he slowly released his grip he had on her hair, doing his best to lean as far away from the blade as the ground beneath him would allow. Her other hand gripped his jacket tightly.

"I hate you, you piece of shit," she said, chest heaving, tone scathing. She pressed the blade until it broke skin and blood began to well at the tip. "I should have let you hang," she voice cracked, her eyesight blurring with angry tears. Her hands shook and she took a shuddering breath. "I should have let you hang."

Murphy didn't say a word.

His lack of response only made her angrier.

"I should kill you," she told him, baring her teeth at him. Blood was beginning to run down the side of his face from his split lip and eyebrow.

"Then do it," Murphy rasped, glaring back at her defiantly.

Alex caught movement out of the corner of her eye, as Clarke cautiously crouched down beside her, giving her a worried look.

"Alex, stop!" Clarke said firmly. "That's enough. You don't want to do this."

"Yes. I do," she replied, not looking at the other girl. "He deserve it. It's - It's his fault. It's all his fault." Her voice caught in her throat. Her hand trembled and Murphy flinched beneath her.

"I know, I know," Clarke said soothingly. "And it hurts. Believe me, I know that." She said with pained eyes, and Alex was suddenly reminded that Clarke had also lost someone in all this.

Wells. Another ache shot through her chest at the thought of the boy who thought this was place was going to be better than the Ark; that they would be better. The boy who'd lost his life because a little girl's parents had been unfairly taken from her.

"We- we can't keep doing this," Clarke said, almost pleading as she motioned to Murphy. "A life for a life is never going to work, it just turns into an endless, bitter cycle, and nobody ever wins."

She knew Clarke was right, but that didn't make anything easier. If she let Murphy go, he would hurt someone else. Not today. Not tomorrow. But one day when they were least expecting it he would return and slit their throats in their sleep.

Wells...Charlotte. Could she add to the list? Should she do it, if not for Charlotte, then for their own safety?

"We can't - I can't just let him go." Alex told her, feeling desperate. "What happens when he hurts someone else?"

When Clarke opened her mouth to answer, Bellamy interrupted her with a glare. "Please don't say that the people have the right to decide."

"No! Look I was wrong before, okay?" Clarke rushed to tell them with a wince. "You were right. Sometimes it's dangerous to tell people the truth."

"So what? We lock him up? Throw away the key? Pretend none of this ever happened?" Alex demanded, using her other hand to push on Murphy's chest when he shifted underneath her. "Don't," she barked down at him, knife still at his throat. "I still haven't decided if you're going to live yet."

He stilled.

Silence followed her statement.

"If you kill him, you'll just be proving everyone right about you," Finn stated from where he stood off to the side.

Her gaze snapped over to stare at him. "What?"

His stare was challenging. "If you kill him, you'll just prove what everyone thought all along. That you're a murderer. That it's okay to seek revenge." He eyed her. "Is that really what you want to be known for?"

Alex stared at him in shock, then glanced down at Murphy, eyes landing on her hands, which were red and slick with blood. His and her own.

"We can't just let him go."

"Then we banish him," Clarke offered, looking between each of them. "From now on we need rules. Stuff like this needs punishment. But we won't float people for crimes. We aren't on the Ark anymore. Let's act like it."

"And who makes those rules, huh? You?" Bellamy challenged.

"No, from now on we make the rules," Clarke said, glancing between Alex and Bellamy and Finn. "We make decisions together. Okay?"

Bellamy gave a slow nod in response, looking thoughtful.

With Bellamy's agreement, Clarke turned back to Alex, reaching out and touching her arm. "We banish him," she told her firmly.

Alex gave her a short nod, before leaning down so that she was nearly nose to nose with Murphy.

He stared back at her, smugly raising an eyebrow in response.

She gritted her teeth. "I guess you get to live another day," she told him, hate seeping into her voice. "But if I ever catch you around camp again. If I see you or hear you. That'll be your last, do you understand?" When he did nothing but glare back at her, she pushed the blade tighter against his skin and he relented with a wince and nodded. "Good."

With that she reluctantly shoved herself backwards and onto her feet, stepping out of reach as he slowly followed suit, the downed boy glaring up at her hatefully. Once on his feet, he reached up and used the back of his hand to wipe the blood from his face, which only served to smear it around.

Bellamy came to stand next to her, stared coolly at the other boy. "Get out of here, Murphy. Before we change our mind." He then turned to the boys that had followed Murphy's lead in hunting Charlotte. "You guys can either head back to camp, or go off with him to die. Your choice," he barked at them.

For a moment, no one moved, then with one last glare, Murphy turned on his heel and stumbled into the darkness, quickly vanishing out of sight. No one else moved.

"Let's get back to camp," Bellamy said exhaustion evident in his voice.

As the others slowly began shuffling in the direction of the Dropship, Alex stayed put, numbly staring off in the direction that Murphy had headed.

Her breath hitched as something inside her cracked and crumbled, a choked sob escaping her before she could stop it.

Taking a shuddering breath, she brought her hands up to wipe her face, then froze, staring at them through blurred vision.

Her hands were trembling, stained red, knuckles split, blood seeping from the torn skin.

Unsteady legs crumpled beneath her and she sagged to the floor, staring at her hands that were once again covered in blood.

As a warm hand gripped her shoulder, she broke down and cried.

A/N: Poor, poor Alex. She's just not having a good day. She tries, but these things always seem to kick her in the butt.

What did you guys think of this chapter? AND the season finale of Season 4? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

THINK YOU GUYS COULD GET ME TO 140 REVIEWS? Only 9 to go! ;)

To Anon reviews:

Jag: Thanks so much for your review! Hope you liked this update! And don't worry, this story always takes priority over any writing I do! What did you think of this chapter?

Bee-back: Hi friend! I'm so happy you enjoyed Alex's struggle between right and wrong. There was really no easy way out for her. Haha! Everyone was so happy that Miller interfered, I can't wait until I can start including him some more! What did you think of this chapter? I wasn't too sure if I could do this part of the story justice. It's emotional and fast-paced, and kinda the end of the Charlotte Arc. How did I do?

Guest: Thanks so much for your review! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!