Arkadia Part I
They fell back into the life they knew, before ALIE, Polis and Ontari happened. The first few days were easy and unbelievable hard at the same time. Emori didn‘t only scavenged a new jacket and some blankets in Polis but also some food and a new knife. Their cave was near a little creek, so they didn't need to worry about bottles to carry water in, and now that they were staying instead of moving everyday it felt almost like a homebase. After crying herself to sleep in his arms the first night after the City of Light was destroyed, Emori was okay now but something about her was off. She was still grieving for her brother and even if Murphy believed, that she only took the chip to find him, he knew from Jaha that in the City of Light there was no pain, no hate, no envy. He still thought he would feel empty if someone took all this away from him, but he also understood that for other people life wasn't about surviving and that they just wanted the hurt to be gone. Emori was a survivor, just like him. They were like two peas in a pot. Survivors, both of them. But she was deeply hurt. Now that the pain and the envy Emori had always felt was back, it was more prominent. Suddenly she knew how it felt to be content. Murphy knew, she had never been content before, a nomad, always on the run from people who saw her as a stain in the bloodline. Murphy wanted all of them to float themselves for what they did to her.
They didn't talk a lot over the first few days after fleewing Polis, not like before, but they always huddled close and found comfort in each others bodies. Murphy had been secretly scared how it would feel to be with Emori, after what he had done to survive the night by Ontaris bedside, but being with Emori was nothing like that. He found comfort in her soft skin, forgiveness in her eyes and when she kissed him, he felt as if he had never been with anyone then her. Murphy was still hurt, but he decided that the Sex with Ontari didn't count. Emori war his first, his only and there was nothing to be ashamed of.
Over the next couples of days everything got better, they stored their aches back into the deeper part of their souls, where they belonged for the times they needed them to survive. They started talking again over stupid shit, like the kids they still were, stayed up the whole night in the dark of the cave to fool around and before they knew it, a week had gone by after they left Polis. They started to run short of food they stole from there and strangely the forest was running low too. Granted, is was winter, but there wasn't any snow yet. Murphy was fed up with coming home to Emori empty handed the second day in a row, after he offered to go out looking for anything eatable. Stupid woods!
"You said there‘d be food here“, he said in a bad mood. Stupidly hunger still did that to him, even if there might have been more times, he went hungry than he had been full. Even as a child times were hard some days on the ark and there had been weeks when water and food had to be rationed because some machines or whatever didn‘t run as smoothly as they should. Murphy went to the small fire in the middle of the cave to warm his achingly cold hands.
"There should be. These woods have always been good to me“, Emori told him while lifting a stone of the caves ground. „Now there‘s not even bugs.“ Gross.
"Well, fortunately, I‘m not hungry enough for that to be upsetting yet.“ But he knew he would be. The days after he got cast out of the dropship camp he was to hurt to hunt, as if he knew how to do that before he met Emori and he didn‘t really knew what berries where eatable and what not. He had been moments away from snacking on bugs or possibly poisonous berries, when the first grounders he met took him captive. Huh, the second grounder who had him in chains didn‘t starve him. Ontari loved to give him food to try, after she found out he was a sucker for tasty things.
"I actually kind of miss Polis“, Murphy said softly, just because talking was better than thinking about when he would be hungry enough to look for eatable bugs, „They had this drink there. Sweet, made out of sheep‘s milk." It had been his favorite.
"Ontari gave this to you?" What the … ? Emoris voice had a sharp edge to it.
"Yeah. I told you it wasn‘t all bad."
"You told me you were trying to survive."
"I was", Murphy said, half fed up the whole situation, the hunger and a jealous whatever they were to each other, but really he got it. He would have hated it to if Emori had slept with another man, good reasons or not.
"What else wasn‘t bad, John, sex?" Wow, now she was starting for real.
"Emori, I don‘t want to talk about this." As sweet as she was, jealous and all, he was done thinking about sleeping with Ontari.
"Fine. Then let‘s not." He didn‘t want to hurt her feelings, didn‘t want to hurt her. Murphy never thought he would care about anyone like this.
"I didn‘t have a choice, ok?", he tried to explain, "Emori. I didn‘t have a choice." He saw it in the way her face opened up in shock for just a second. She understood. That‘s enough for him. He just didn‘t want her to think, he would prefer any other human on earth before her. He wouldn‘t. She was the only one he cared about. That‘s why he stood up and went to the entrance of the cave. He would take care of their needs.
"Where are you going?"
"I‘m gonna go to Arkadia."
"What? Why?" Oh hell, was she really thinking he would left her over one stupid argument? He wouldn‘t, Murphy realized. Huh, seems like he can be loyal, when it counts.
"I‘m a better thief than I am a hunter", he explained with a slight grin. He knew she secretly laughed about his nature skills.
"I‘ll come with you." Murphy was deeply honored, for reals, that Emori wanted to stay by his sides but he couldn‘t risk to endanger her by stealing from the ark. Who knew what the equivalent to being floated was on the ground?
"No, i‘ll draw less attention alone", he told her, but when she still looked scared of being left he kissed her softly, smiled and said to console her: "Tonight we feast."
oo oo oo oo oo oo
Sometimes Murphy really wondered whose fault it was that their plans almost never went according to plan, but in reality, he knew that it was either his heart or his stupid head that got him into those situations. He could`ve just taken the goddamn food, but he had to listen in to Raven and Abby fucking Griffin, like he forgot that the last time they spoke the doctor had him pumping the black blooded heart of the girl who held him in chains. But Murphy was dumb like that and if he still cared, so what? Who was Raven thinking she was, to decide who'd get medicine and who wouldn't? Had she learned nothing?
So Murphy just grabbed the food, put it hastily in his stolen bag pack and sneaked off to take the medicine Abby needed for those foreign grounders. Murphy, not being known for his subtlety brought it right to Abby. This was no survivors move and he might have to apologize to Emori later today, but when he looked at those people suffering in Med Bay, at this girl - hell, she was a little kid - he knew he'd done alright. If not by Emori then certainly by his father. For the moment that was enough. Murphy knew there couldn't have been a lot of moments, his dad would have been proud of him, but this … this was what Alex Murphy had been all about. John had to swallow back his emotions as he sat in Med Bay, he heard Abby and Jackson talk about his dad and when Abby said she‘d expected Murphy to step up his father’s legacy of stealing shit out of medical he was oddly touched. His father had been well liked on the ark, but as far as Murphy remembered he had never really fit in. Now, leading a life on the ground and thinking back to his father, Murphy just knew that if he had lived to see the day the ark got to the ground, he wouldn't have been out of his wits like all of them were. Alex Murphy would´ve been right where he should be. Sadly, Jaha had to off him before and the ground only got his good-for-nothing son. But fuck, it didn‘t matter now, the world was ending, once again, Raven said so.
Murphy didn‘t know why but he sat on the hard plastic stool in the back of what was left of the Arks Med Bay, instead of running directly back to Emori, as he‘d planned to. If the world was really ending he certainly knew who he‘d be with until it happened but right now he needed to sit right here and hope against hope that those foreign grounder lived because he stole medicine for them. He needed it to mean something. But it didn‘t. Hours went by an the girl, Adria, she got worse. Around them people where dying and then soon she was too. It had been to late, Raven had said so too, and she‘d been right. Murphy shouldn‘t have even tried to play the hero.
"You!", he heard her say angrily. If you think of the devil, right? Raven grabbed to his open bag-back. He hadn‘t cared about anyone seeing the meat he‘d took. Who cared that he took supplies, if they just waited for the world to burn? They did, right? Murphy looked back at the dying child while Raven still tried to pass him.
"Not know, Raven. I mean it, not now." He couldn‘t do this. He had to go back to Emori. A shame, he thought later, when he was almost back to their cave, that he‘d forgot his bag pack. No feast tonight.
oo oo oo oo oo oo
Emori was sleeping when he slipped into the cave, but she woke and stood up, when she heard him. Murphy looked at her, her sweet face, her badass but hidden hand. Radiation did that. The same Radiation that was going to kill them soon. Or maybe it wouldn‘t. On the way back to their cave, Murphy realized that the Arkers never just accept their impending death. They fought tooth and nail, just like him. Maybe they were really of the same kind. Survivors. So they had to have a plan. Of course, more often than not, their plans did go as good as Murphy’s and Emoris but if there was a chance at survival, they‘d find it in the remnants of the ark.
Murphy grabbed for Emori and hugged her close. The day had been hard, he was starving and tired but there were more urging matters.
"A radiation wave is coming", he told her, without letting go completely of their embrace. „And when it comes, we have to be on the right side.“
"Well then", Emori said, as if he hadn‘t told her right now that the world was ending. She was badass like that. "Let’s make ourselves useful to them." That was his girl!
"Yes", Murphy mumbled into their embrace, "I already started with Abby." Yeah, as if stealing the medicine had been about that. Murphy might have become a master in fooling other by their coups, but by the wills of it he couldn‘t fool himself. Stupid boy he was, he knew he‘d stolen the pills, because it had been the right thing to do.
They packed their meager belongings and left almost instantly to get back to Arkadia. He had been gone the whole evening well into the night and they had a few miles to make good on. They walked next to each other, sometimes even stupidly holding hands like a lovesick couple on a Sunday walk. When they arrived at Arkadias Gates in the morning even Emori was exhausted. They hadn‘t eaten in almost two days, their bodies hurt from the exercise and the cold. Murphy counted it as luck that Miller and his dad weren´t standing guard anymore. He'd had enough of Millers sass for this week. Murphy didn't knew if he counted is as luck that he knew the kids who played guard at the gate. Riley was from Farm Station. He'd already be a cadet, while Murphy was still in the Skybox. He was a total dickhead, if you'd asked him. Darcy was from Alpha Station. Her mom had worked with Murphy's dad in Med-Bay. He knew her from way back when he still lived on Alpha too and occasionally met with the other kids to play board games. Funny that he knew Clarke and Wells from way back then too. It seemed like a lifetime ago. He'd been in the skybox almost half as long as he had lived on Alpha. Murphy was much more in sync with the kids from Factory Station or Hydra Station, who had been the majority in there.
"Hey John", Darcy said cautious but not wary. It almost sounded as if she was afraid he'd run if she'd talk to loud instead of being afraid of him. Murphy remembered he'd liked her as a kid, she'd been quiet then too and she often borrowed books he brought from the library his mom worked at. No wonder, Darcy hadn't become a delinquent. For a moment, Murphy wondered if her parents were still alive. Probably not, it was a total luxus to still have parents on the ground.
"Look who the cat dragged in", Riley singsonged. So, still a dickhead. "What do you want, Murphy? Steal our food again?" Fun, seemed like his latest stunt had been part of Arkadias hallway gossip last night.
"Don't worry", Murphy tried for nonchalance, "Not here to steal your dessert."
"We are here to help", Emori said, more sweetly than he'd ever hear her talk. What a con-artist she was.
"I'm not talking to you, grounder-bitch."
"Riley, stop it", Darcy said appalled, before Murphy could come to Emoris defense. "Come in, okay? We can use all the help, we can get. But, uhm …", she looked them up and down, "maybe you want to rest first or like have Abby look at you?"
"Nah", Murphy tried to say, but Emori chopped in, just as sweetly as before: "Could you take us to Abby, please?"
"Of course, come on. I'll take you. Riley, you okay here for a few?"
"Yeah, don't get stabbed in the back on the way. Grounders are like that, aren't they?"
"Oh, float yourself, Riley", Murphy said, but followed Darcy to Med-Bay. Not the time to fight with the stupid.
"You know", Darcy said quietly, "he doesn't mean it." When Murphy raised a eyebrow and Emori just looked at her with big eyes, she huffed a laugh. "Well maybe he does, but he's just like that because he'd been held captive. He was tortured, John."
"Yeah, been there, done that", Murphy mumbled. He'll never get how Pike and his people from Farm Station couldn't comprehend that not all grounders were the same. Even he understood after he got to know Emori. And they had to know, since Octavias peace-loving boyfriend had lived with them, trained with them, played guard with them. In retrospect Murphy was ashamed for the way he behaved, when Kane invited Indra and her Kru to Camp Jaha to work together against Mount Weather. Starting a fight in the middle of gaining allies to safe and survive, just because he didn't speak grounder, was maybe the dumbest shit he'd ever done. He just hoped, Bellamy felt the same, because as it seemed, he really fucked up too, when he followed Pikes strange ideals.
"John, you are back again", Abby said and she sounded just as relieved as yesterday. Huh, even though he had no stolen medicine to offer her this time.
"This is Emori. Can we stay here?", Murphy asked bluntly. He just wanted a quiet corner to curl around Emori and fall asleep.
"We have nowhere", Emori whispered, insecure and sweet. By now, Murphy wasn't really sure if all of it was an act.
"Of course, you can." Abby smiled at them, as if she really meant it. Murphy remembered her from before, not well, since her and his father had only been colleagues and never friends, but whenever Murphy'd visited his dad in Med-Bay on the ark, she had been kind. "You look exhausted."
"We are", Murphy offered. "But maybe there is like some work we can do in exchange for a ration or something?"
"You don't have to right now", Abby said at the same time as Emori tried to say: "We can do like almost anything."
"Come on", Abbys sounded sad, as if she really cared that they were hungry. She'd sat in the council. They never cared a bit. But maybe, Murphy thought, the ground had changed her too. "Let’s get you some food."
Abby gave them each a medium sized helping of some brownish grey grub that was left in an enormous sized but almost empty pot in the room they used as a canteen. It's was still slightly warm and smooth, like it had cooked for a really long time. It looked worse than it tasted and it was quite filling, so both of them ate until they couldn't even scope another bite from the bottom of their bowl.
"Thank you", Emori whispered to Abby, who'd sat down across from them. Gosh, she was really insecure, Murphy realized. It wasn't an act at all. Murphy grabbed at the bigger hand, that she held hidden under the table top. He squeezed her fingers lightly and smiled at her. Now it was his time to protect her, after all the time she protected him in the woods, she knew like her back pocket.
"I know it's morning but is there like somewhere we could lay down for a bit? Just a few hours and then we'll certainly earn our keep."
"I'll show you where you can sleep, don't worry about earning your keep for today. But there is something you could maybe help us with, Emori."
Emori looked up, startled.
"What?", she said unintelligently. Murphy just huffed a small laugh and squeezed her hand once again. He liked this new side of hers. It really made him feel capable even if he was dead on his feet and slightly stupid with fatigue.
"Jaha told me you had a boat. Do you still have access to it?"
"Yeah, of course", she said, more alertness in her voice right away. "What do you want with it?"
"We have to get to the island", Abby whispered, even if the canteen was almost empty apart from them. "We want to look for Beccas Laboratory."
"Wait, why?" Murphy wearingly asked.
"Lunas survived the radiation sickness. She did because of her blood. The same kind Ontari had."
"And you want to … what?" Murphy still didn't get it. Are they trying to research for a vaccination, like the ones they gave everyone on the ark so they wouldn't get measles, mumps and rubella. He still thought radiation was something different, but if they thought it was that easy, who was he to tell them not to? After all, they were the doctors and scientists, he was just the fucked up son of a dead one.
"We found out that Becca created the black blood when she went to the ground and injected it into herself. We will try to find her notes so that we can also artificially produce it."
"We can leave right now", Emori offered, eager to please, "I'll bring us there."
"No, we can't", Abby said motherly. "We don't leave until tomorrow morning. Today you rest."
Abby brought them to a real sleeping quarter, like the ones he knew from the ark. It was smaller than the space where he had lived with his parents, but it had a real bed and even some blankets. Abby told them to rest once again and that she would fetch them the following morning. They should feel free to roam Arkadia, she said, as if she had to prove to them that they weren't prisoners. After Abby left, Murphy kicked of his shoes, slipped out of his jacket and laid down on the small bed.
"C'mere, 'Mori", he said tiredly, eyes already half closed. He watched her take of some of her layers and after some considereation she took of her boots and slipped next to him under the blanket. Murphy put his arm around her belly and buried his face against her neck. He was asleep within seconds.