𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐓 | bellamy blake¹

↬ | chapter sixteen

016.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

   Coming back to drop ship and hearing some kind of news wasn't something out of the ordinary at this point. Whether it was that they were in need of more water, or someone had twisted an ankle, it wasn't surprising. In fact, Maggie had gotten used to it. But, when Maggie heard the name 'John Murphy' throughout the camp, she was taken aback.

   "Where is he?" Bellamy huffed, swooshing the fabric that lead into the bottom level as the others filed in behind him.

   Many stood around the boy, and Magnolia's eyes widened upon realizing the state that he was in. Cuts and blood completely covered Murphy's body, leaving the boy a trembling mess. To herself, she wondered how the hell he even got into camp; could Murphy even walk? It surely didn't seem like it. "Everyone but Connor and Derek out— now!"

   "He claims he was with the Grounders," Derek replied.

   "We caught him trying to sneak back into camp."

   "I wasn't sneaking," John piped up, his voice sounding weak, frail, and drained of life, "I was running from the Grounders."

   With a stern expression, Bellamy held onto his weapon firmly, his eyes examining the state the boy was in. "Anyone see Grounders?" Everyone shook their heads, including Maggie, who hadn't seen anyone on their trek back from the Exodus Ship. "Well, in that case—" he aimed his gun at Murphy, preparing to shoot him.

   "Hey, what the hell's wrong with you?" Finn was quick to press the gun downward.

   "We were clear about what would happen if he came back," Bellamy went back to his initial position, seemingly still not forgiving the criminal for his actions that lead to Charlotte's suicide. Nobody was to blame for that; not even Murphy. 

   "No!" Finn argued, "If he was with the Grounders, then he knows things that can help us!"

   "Help us? We hanged him, we banished him, and now we're gonna kill him. Get the hell out of my way."

   "No— Finn's right," Clarke suddenly joined in, marching to Murphy's body and kneeling down to get a closer eye at his wounds.

   Maggie mentally agreed with the two; Murphy might've generally been an asshole, but if they could get inside information about plans that the Grounders could possibly have, allowing him to stick around wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea. At least for now— with the state he was in, the boy was harmless. 

   A discontented expression crossed Bellamy's face, "Like hell he is! Clarke, Mags— think about Charlotte!"

   "Charlotte did that to herself, Bellamy," Maggie disagreed.

   "I am thinking about her," the blonde rebutted, her hands resting on John's knees as they ignored Maggie's comment. "But what happened to Charlotte was as much our fault as his. He's not lying—" Clarke held up his fingertips, which were fresh with deep crimson-colored blood. "His fingernails were torn off. They tortured him."

   "You and the Grounders should compare notes," Finn sarcastically spat, running a hand through his charcoal hair, reminding everyone in the room of Lincoln. 

   "The Grounders know we're at war."

   Maggie bit her bottom lip, knowing damn well what they had gotten out of Murphy through torture. If they didn't get enough, they wouldn't have made it possible for him to escape. "What did you tell them about us?" she exclaimed, her head turning to the guilt-ridden teenager who fiddled with his thumbs.