𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄, a punishment to fit the crime

      𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏, watching over an unconscious Bellamy Blake while she had the perfect opportunity to go after Makayla to try to get her out of Murphy's grasp. Maybe it's because he seems to have an idea of what to do, and seems to know Charlotte more than she does. Maybe it's because she just doesn't want to be stuck with the people in the rest of the camp, who don't seem to want to go back to their previous chores and jobs.

      After Murphy had snatched Makayla and ran after Charlotte, nobody in the camp went back to their previous tasks. People fought, only because they all accidentally hit each other, and ended up going to hide away in their tents. Very few are currently building the wall, and even then they're barely touching the structure.

      She sits off to the side, glancing back over to the man laying down on the dropship floor every couple minutes to see if he's woken up. She doesn't want to try and force him to be up, because from the looks of it he was knocked unconscious, but also, she doesn't know if Makayla's safe or if Charlotte's still alive.

      She's almost sure that Murphy would drag Charlotte back to the camp to kill her though.

      She sees him move, almost as if he's regaining consciousness, and immediately gets up and grabs the cup of water she brought inside with her. She figures that he would need something like that — especially if he's about to run after a boy who's on a rampage.

      She can't say she's surprised that Murphy is on a rampage. From the few conversations she's had with the boy, whenever they were making weapons together, he doesn't seem like the type to forgive and forget. And she saw it first hand after he was cut down from the noose by Clarke — he isn't going to forget. She's almost sure that he has a grudge against those who helped in the act of hanging the boy, too.

      "What the hell happened?".

      She brings her attention back to the dropship floor, where she sees Bellamy moving himself off the ground, hand clutched to the side of his head as he picks himself up. She hands him the water, which he graciously takes, and she readies and explanation.

      "Murphy knocked you unconscious. Octavia and I dragged you in here, but I have no clue where she is now, and —" She tries to explain, but Bellamy's already walking towards the door. She sighs, lunging towards him and grabbing his arm to pull him back.

      "Did you not hear me? You probably have a concussion, so running around trying to get to Murphy or Charlotte won't help anything" She explains, letting go of his arm as she hears him sigh. "And Murphy's like, acting psychotic right now. He took Makayla hostage for fucks sake!".

      She sees the man raise an eyebrow, only slightly. "He took Makayla hostage?".

      She nods in response. She thinks the whole situation is stupid, really. She doesn't even really know why Makayla's a hostage. She heard Murphy yell about the whole 'Peace and love' bullshit, because it's essentially widely known within the camp that Makayla's a sucker for peace. She assumes it has something to do with the fact that she was the first one to try and bargain with him. He probably assumes that Makayla was a distraction, and she knows where Charlotte has run off to.

      "Anyway, I know you want to go after him, or Charlotte, I don't really know who, but you're probably concussed, and you getting brain damage won't help anyone" Quinn tries to continue, but Bellamy shakes his head. He mumbles something about making sure Charlotte is safe before running out of the dropship, leaving Quinn alone on the first floor, completely speechless.

      This is why she normally doesn't help people.

      She runs after the man, seeing how he's sneaking through a part of the wall that isn't fully constructed yet. Nobody's on watch there, and nobody's working on it. The only people she can see on watch are Miller and Sterling, who are on the other side of camp, giving the two a clear opening to sneak through. She's almost sure that Bellamy has no idea that she's following him, since he hasn't once looked back to see if she's there.

      The two get out of the camp's range, Quinn finally catching up to Bellamy. She's tired of chasing after him, and upset that he wouldn't just stop and listen to her for one second. "We should form some sort of plan, because walking through the woods aimlessly won't help anyone".

      She sees Bellamy shoot her a glare. She huffs in frustration, not understanding why Bellamy won't cooperate with her. "I know you have the idea that you're the leader, and that you're better than everyone, but can you please stop being an absolute asshole for one second so we can figure out where we're going?".

      "Just go back to camp, Quinn. There's no point in you being out here" He says, voice monotone. She rolls her eyes, because there's no way she's going back to camp. She doesn't know how Makayla's doing, and she wants to help Charlotte get away from certain death at the hands of Murphy. It surprises her that she cares so much about the situation, but she just blames it on Makayla. Her whole 'Peace and love' bullshit seems to be rubbing off on her.

      "Makayla's out there! I don't know what Murphy's doing with her, and she doesn't seem like the type of person to handle the whole hostage situation with ease, and she's my friend and I want to make sure she's safe!" She exclaims, waving her hands through the air as she talks. Bellamy doesn't stop to turn his head, just continues walking forward, trying to figure out where Charlotte is, forcing Quinn to continue moving as well.

      "And I want Charlotte to be safe, believe it or not. She's a little kid, she shouldn't be running from certain death" She adds, which makes Bellamy finally look back at her and respond.

      "Fine. Keep looking for Charlotte, or anyone who might've gone with her".

      She nods, being glad that Bellamy finally is accepting her help in the search for Charlotte. She keeps her eyes peeled, staying a couple feet away from Bellamy as she walks. Her eyes remain focused on the trees, looking for anyone hidden amongst the shadows. She hasn't seen anyone, which makes her worried, because she still doesn't know if Makayla's okay. And that might just be her main concern.

      The two continue to walk in silence, scanning over the area to see if they can find anyone. Quinn swears she can see fire in the distance, moving between the trees, which she assumes is Murphy and his gang of followers. Which means, Makayla's there.

      "Bellamy —" She starts, slapping his arm to get his attention. She misses the glare that he shoots at the girl as she takes two steps forward and gestures towards the fire that seems to be growing further and further away. "That's got to be Murphy. Him and his group all took torches with them when they left!".

      When he doesn't respond, and continues walking, she lets out a huff. She's growing very frustrated, annoyed that she helped the man in front of her in the first place. As much as she wants to help Makayla, she could be back at camp minding her own business, not having to deal with Bellamy's attitude. 

      "Do you seriously not care enough to go after them? Makayla's their fucking hostage!" She exclaims, throwing her body in front of Bellamy's path so he can't keep moving. They have a short stare-down, Quinn slowly losing her patience with the man. How could he not want to save Makayla from being a hostage? Who knows what's happening to her!

      Bellamy sighs. "I think Makayla can handle herself. But Charlotte is the priority" He explains, and she scoffs. She hopes he didn't notice, but he definitely did. He walks by her, continuing forward, and Quinn can see that the small lights from the fires are no longer in view, meaning Murphy and his gang are no longer anywhere near them.

      They continue walking, in complete silence, cloaked in complete darkness. Quinn's walking next to Bellamy once again — because even though she's extremely annoyed at him, he seems to have more of an idea of where to go than she does. She tugs at her jacket sleeves, trying to ignore how she accidentally just made the whole in the fabric by her wrist even bigger. 

      And then she sees something move in the distance. Bellamy must've seen it too, because he stops walking and the two make eye contact, silently telling each other that it's Charlotte. The figure doesn't look that big anyway, probably the size of the little girl. She sees Bellamy gesture to her that she needs to stay quiet, as he rushes ahead of her. She huffs, annoyed that he's not giving her any sort of plan to go off of, and as she runs after him, she hears Charlotte scream.

      Holy fuck.

      She really did not think that Bellamy would just grab the girl, picking her up off the ground and practically telling her to shut the fuck up. Quinn swears she probably jumped five feet off the ground with how scared the scream made her, and as she tries to regain her senses, Charlotte continues to scream.

      Quinn catches up to them, just in time for Bellamy to put the girl down and grab her arm. Charlotte's attempting to get herself out of Bellamy's grasp, but her attempts aren't working. Bellamy glances over at Quinn, silently telling her to follow his lead and help him with the little girl, and she nods.

      "LET ME GO!".

      If looks could kill, Charlotte would be dead at the hands of Quinn's harsh glare. She's annoyed that the little girl won't accept their help, especially when they don't even need to help her. She really wants to be back at camp now.

      "STOP! LET ME GO!".

      Quinn wants to say something to her, her patience with the little girl being non-existent, but Bellamy beats her to it. "We're trying — Hey! Hey! We're trying to help you" He explains, his voice urgent as he fights against Charlotte's sudden movements as she attempts to get out of his grasp. Quinn nods along, even though she's sure Charlotte isn't paying attention to her, but she tries to help with the situation in some way.

      "I'm not your sister! Just stop helping me!" Charlotte shrieks as she finally gets out of Bellamy's grasp. Both Quinn and the man try to stop her from running away, throwing their arms out in protest as her tiny body scrambles away from them, but it's no use.

      "I'M OVER HERE!".

      Bellamy finally grabs onto the little girl once more, practically throwing her body back over to the two. Quinn's resting her hands in her hair, atop her head as she tries to keep herself involved, tries to keep herself from punching the little girl in the face since she won't cooperate. She makes a mental note to never help anyone with something like this ever again, because she doesn't understand why the little girl won't cooperate.

      "Are you trying to get all of us killed?" Bellamy asks, but judging by his tone, Quinn can tell that he's on his last nerve with the little girl too. She lets out a sigh, knowing that neither of them need to be helping the girl. She almost turns her head to look back the way they came, feeling an itch to go back to camp, but she stays focused on the little girl. 

      Charlotte looks at the two, and then back to Bellamy. "Just go, okay? I'm the one they want" She pleads, and Quinn swears she can see tears in the girl's eyes.

      "Okay, Charlotte, listen to me. We won't leave you. We're trying to make sure you're safe" The man explains, gesturing over to Quinn, who nods in response. But she can see it on the girl's face that she doesn't want them there, but what if Murphy finds her? Or is that her whole goal now? Because she didn't seem to want that earlier, when she was almost sobbing in the tent as Makayla and Bellamy tried to reason with Murphy.

      Charlotte shakes her head. "Please, Bellamy".

      There's a few seconds where nothing happens, and the three of them stand there in complete silence. Quinn can see the torches growing even closer, which means Murphy and his gang are too close. She would've been fine if she were near them earlier, when she was mainly trying to find Makayla, but now that she's within a few feet of the pre-teen murderer that's being hunted, it's no longer fine.

      "MURPHY! I'M OVER HERE!".

      Charlotte's yell makes Quinn finally snap. She's no longer hanging onto the small thread of patience she had left with the girl, not wanting to put up with any more of the girl's bullshit. It's giving her a headache, and if Quinn's being totally honest, she's not cut out for anything she's doing.

      So, she picks up Charlotte, forcing Bellamy to follow the girl as she drags her through the forest, finally finding a big enough tree that she can hide behind. She grabs onto Charlotte's shoulders, glaring daggers at her as she crouches down so they're eye level with each other.

      "If you don't shut the fuck up right now and stop trying to get us killed, I might turn you into Murphy myself! We're trying to help you! That's all we're doing! And my friend is being held hostage by Murphy because of you, so there's really no reason why I'm even helping you, but I am! So please, so I don't throw myself off of a cliff, SHUT UP!".

      Charlotte stares blankly at her as she finishes her anger-filled statement, Quinn backing away from the girl, taking her hands off of the girl's shoulders. Judging by Charlotte's expression, her words might've gotten to her, but when she tries to run away, Quinn just lets out a sigh. Bellamy grabs onto the girl, throwing her over his shoulder, and tells Quinn to follow him. 

      And as they run through the forest, Charlotte constantly screaming as they do so, Quinn can't help but wish she were back at camp.

—————————————————————————————

      𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐀 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒𝐍'𝐓 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐇𝐄'𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑, but she hasn't liked a single second of it. Right before Murphy and his group had exited the camp, Murphy had yanked a scrap piece of one of the seatbelts from the dropship out of the camp's wall and decided to use that essentially as handcuffs. He said it was so she wouldn't run away.

      Not like she could, anyway.

      Even with the restraints on her wrists, two of the people in Murphy's group still hold onto her arms as they run through the forest. And when it turned to night, they decided to hold their torches in their other hands. 

      She still doesn't understand what Murphy wants from her. What good does having her as a hostage do? She really doesn't know anything about Charlotte's whereabouts, she left the tent before anyone made a plan. She's completely and utterly clueless, having no idea what she's doing or if this'll ever end. And, with the amount of careless walking she's been forced to do, her stupid ankle hurts again!

      And, on top of all of that, she's worried about Bellamy. She doesn't even totally know why, because she doesn't exactly like the man, but also doesn't despise the man, but he was also violently hit on the head by a log and was unconscious on the ground. 

      She wants a nap.

      Murphy has stopped interrogating her. That was all this whole situation was at first — just one large interrogation. She knows that he's tired of not getting the answers he wants, since he's stopped asking, but she's scared she's going to be used for something. Why else would Murphy keep her there? 

      "LET ME GO!".

      The yell echoes throughout the forest, and Makayla pales. It's Charlotte. She's fighting against someone — Makayla doesn't know who — but the little girl seems to have no care for her life by screaming that loud. She's not surprised that everyone in Murphy's small group is now rushing towards the sound, pulling Makayla along with them.

      "STOP! LET ME GO!".

      The two other delinquents holding onto her seem to have no care for her. They almost drag her through a large bush that looks like it's covered in thorns. Her ankle hurts even more now, the makeshift bandages wrapped around it not helping whatsoever. She lets out a somewhat quiet yell when her foot hits a rock — it's not exactly like she has control over where she's forced to run through.

      "I'M OVER HERE!".

      Makayla thinks Charlotte's an idiot. Does the little girl have absolutely no survival instincts? She doesn't think the girl should die — she thinks that's a horrible thought to have — but she wants her to be punished. If she wasn't being dragged along by Murphy's friends, she probably could've figured out a proper punishment for the girl that doesn't involve being hung.

      Makayla swears that they've run by the same tree already. But she's not really surprised — they've just been running in circles the whole time. Her eyes fall on the fire at the tops of the torches, and she wishes she could enjoy the colors she sees when she isn't being dragged through a forest, unwillingly rushing towards a child murderer.

      "MURPHY! I'M OVER HERE!".

      Murphy holds out his hand, commanding the group to stop. Makayla almost slips out of the two boys' grasp as they come to a pause, leaving her to figure out how to get herself back into a proper standing position herself. Just as she does so, she hears Charlotte screaming again, but this time, they sound muffled.

      She sighs.

      She's dragged through the forest once more, the group following the sound of Charlotte's muffled screams. Murphy's screaming, telling Charlotte to come out of hiding — and Makayla thinks he's just stupid. Someone's obviously trying to stop her from turning herself into Murphy, and she assumes it's Sam, Clarke, and Finn holding her back from running towards certain death.

      The group continues following the muffled screams, and Makayla sees an opening in between the trees. She truly has no idea where they are, they could be miles away from camp for all she knows. She sees everyone get to the clearing first, and she swears she hears Murphy say Bellamy and Quinn's names.

      "You cannot fight all of us. Give her up" Murphy calls, as the two boys holding onto her arms continue to drag her towards the clearing. 

      She's just about to be dragged into the clearing just as she hears Bellamy respond. "Maybe not, but I guarantee I'll take a few of you with me". She lets out a quiet sigh, trying not to provoke the people holding her hostage in any way that could get anyone hurt. She's tired, and her ankle still hurts, and she's sweating from the amount of running that she's been forced to do. She just wants to go back to camp.

      The two boys finally get her into the clearing, keeping her situated off to the side. But Bellamy and Quinn can still see her, and she gives them a small smile. She doesn't want anything to happen because of her, and judging by the look on Quinn's face, she looks ready to start something.

      "Murphy, all of this is uncalled for! Let Makayla go, and we can talk about this" She hears Quinn plead, seeing her take a few steps towards Murphy. Makayla shifts all her weight onto one leg, trying not to disturb her hurt ankle as she feels a headache creep into her skull.

      "Oh yeah? How about this, you hand over Charlotte, and I'll let Makayla go".

      Makayla sighs, just wanting to go back to camp. She's tired of everyone's bullshit — she truly misses when the camp was peaceful. If it weren't for Charlotte — who's cowering behind Bellamy and Quinn, eyes darting around the clearing out of panic — things would be fine still. Makayla assumes that she would still be asleep.

      "Hey! Stop!".

      Makayla turns her head, seeing Clarke, Finn, and Sam come rushing towards them. Sam immediately looks over at her, and she sees his panicked expression. She gives him a soft smile as Clarke tries to talk sense into Murphy, but from what Makayla can hear, it's not working. 

      "This has gone too far" Clarke states, Makayla giving a small nod. All she can think about is how tired she is, and as she glances around, it seems like everyone else is too. "We can talk about this".

      She hears Murphy scoff, turning her head back over to where he is. And before she can blink, Murphy grabs onto Clarke, placing a knife against her neck. She wants to go help her, but the seatbelt tied to her wrists isn't coming loose anytime soon. She feels sweat roll down her face, the fire from the torches making it ten times hotter than it actually is.

      Has she mentioned how tired she is?

      Finn immediately rushes to try and get Clarke out of Murphy's grasp, Makayla only being able to watch. Murphy threatens to slit the Griffin girl's throat, and Makayla can see it in his eyes that he means what he says. In the few hours she's spent as a hostage, she's seen Murphy continue to fall into the abyss of insanity, and she believes that he thinks the only way he can climb out is if he gets his revenge.

      "No! Please, please don't hurt her" She hears Charlotte say, hearing the sadness in the girl's voice. She sees Bellamy and Quinn shake their heads, Quinn taking a small step in front of Charlotte to try and shield her, but the little girl moves out of the way.

      "Don't hurt her? Okay, I'll make you a deal. You come with me right now, I will let her go" Murphy offers, tapping Clarke's shoulder as he finishes speaking. She sees him glance over at her, seeing something flicker in his eyes as he stares. He turns his attention back to Charlotte, staring intently as he speaks once more. "I'll even let Pyro over here go too. Just come with me".

      Clarke immediately starts telling Charlotte not to, because everyone knows what will happen to her if she does. Makayla agrees, because she shouldn't be punished by Murphy, who's judgement is clouded by anger and a thirst for revenge. She knows that there's a way the camp can punish her for her crimes that doesn't include killing her, but Murphy doesn't seem to be ready for that to happen.

      She sees Charlotte step forward, ready to hand herself over to Murphy. Makayla starts shaking her head, trying to figure out something to say to make her remain behind Bellamy and Quinn, out of harm's way, but she can't. She can't figure out what to say because as she looks at the girl, she can only see Wells' body, laying motionless on the ground. She can only see a young murderer, who killed someone who was innocent.

      Bellamy puts his arm out, stopping Charlotte from moving any further. She starts fighting against Bellamy, shrieking that she has to, but Quinn joins in to try and stop her from handing herself over. 

      Bellamy eventually stops trying to fight the little girl, leaving her in the arms of Quinn, who seems frustrated with the little girl. He steps forward, glancing at the two girls who are hostages, before staring straight at Murphy. "Murphy, this is not happening".

      Charlotte shakes her head, releasing herself from Quinn's grasp, who just looks too tired to be dealing with her anymore. There's a knot in Makayla's stomach, telling her, screaming at her that things are only going to get worse. " I can't let any of you get hurt anymore. Not because of me. Not after what I did".

      There's a beat, a mere second where the entire clearing is at a stand still for the first time in what seems like forever. Murphy seems to be waiting for the little girl to hand herself over, the rest of his followers' eyes either being on the girl or him. Bellamy and Quinn stare at the girl as she talks, registering what she just said as Makayla feels the knot only grow bigger in her stomach.

      And then the little girl rushes towards the ledge, sending her body into an abyss.

      The entire clearing erupts into chaos. Clarke frees herself from Murphy's grasp, almost throwing herself at the ledge that Bellamy and Quinn are on. The three stare at where Charlotte just was, Clarke crying out as the girl's body continues to fall. The two boys behind Makayla finally release her arms, sending her hurtling towards the ground since she wasn't holding herself up anymore. She feels someone freeing her hands, tearing the seatbelt that's been holding her hostage off of her wrists. Her ankle is throbbing even more than it was before because of her sudden fall, but she can't help but feel tears forming in her eyes over something else.

      She never wished death upon Charlotte. She didn't think the girl deserved it — there was definitely a better punishment for her than that. But now, as she hears punches being blown to someone's face, she can't help but let a tear fall onto her cheek, her emotions overpowering her.

      She feels someone help her to a standing position, and she sees it to be Sam. He embraces her in a hug, quietly asking her if she's okay as she finally lays her eyes on the scene before her. Bellamy's beating up Murphy, with the boy's followers standing around him. Clarke's screaming at him to get off of the boy, begging him to stop.

      "He deserves to die!" She hears Bellamy shout, just as Sam releases her from the hug. She doesn't think Murphy deserves to die — mainly because she can't handle any more death — but she feels like her emotions are clouding her judgement just like Murphy's were. 

      "We can't just kill everyone who does something wrong!" Makayla snaps back, making everyone's eyes fall on her. She's sure she looks exhausted, being forced to run through the woods with her hands bound behind her, and she's sure how she's standing looks awkward since she's trying to not hurt her ankle anymore than it already is. But she wants to hold her ground, tired of watching everyone resort to pure chaos for everything. "We'll be no better than the council!".

      She sees Quinn take a step forward towards her. "Charlotte's dead because of him!".

      "Stop!  We don't decide who lives and dies. Not down here" Clarke explains, her voice strained. Makayla nods along, her eyes falling on Murphy, who's laying almost motionless on the ground. She doesn't know how to feel about him, or anything, anymore. Her exhaustion is taking over her, and she believes she could take a nap in the grass if she had the opportunity to.

      "So help me God, if you say the people have a right to decide —" Bellamy starts, but Clarke quickly cuts him off.

      "No, I was wrong before, okay? You were right. Sometimes it's dangerous to tell people the truth. But if we're gonna survive down here, we can't just live by whatever the hell we want. We need rules" Clarke explains, Makayla noticing the tears in her eyes. She feels bad for the girl, seeing how she's placing a major burden on herself even though she doesn't have to.

      She does wonder who would make the rules though, and Bellamy has the same skepticism as her. As Bellamy questions Clarke on who truly would be the one managing the camp and making all the rules, Makayla rubs her temples. She feels as if she doesn't have to be there, that it isn't a conversation that involves her. She wonders how much longer she's going to be subject to standing still, waiting for the whole debacle to die down so she can go back to camp.

      She doesn't pay much attention to the conversation going on around her, trying to focus on anything but the scene in front of her. And the pain in her ankle, which she believes Sam has noticed by now, with how he's helping her stand. There's dread forming in her chest as she takes in that this might be a normal occurrence if the camp doesn't get it together — if they don't form a society.

      She only snaps out of her trance when she sees Bellamy drag Murphy towards the ledge. Clarke and Quinn are telling him to stop, but he doesn't seem to be listening. Makayla stays off to the side, biting her cheek as the man throws Murphy onto the ground, right in front of her.

      "As for the four of you, you can come back and follow me, or go off with him to die. Your choice" Bellamy commands, his voice stern. The people she's spent the last hour with are quick to move back towards camp — even the ones who held her hostage. She sees only a few of them give Murphy pitying glances, Finn dropping a knife in front of him.

      She doesn't particularly like Murphy, but she can't imagine herself in this situation. She mouths an 'I'm sorry' to him, not staying focused on him long enough for him to respond. She lets Sam help her walk back towards camp, tired and in pain from the events of the day.

      She doesn't want to accept that this might be her new normal.

      𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 —

this has been my favorite episode to write so far, with everything that happened and the amount of povs i've gotten the chance to write. 

anyways something will be canonically changed from the storyline in the next chapter, but it doesn't really change much, it just fits into MY character's storyline better if i make this slight change (i swear it doesn't affect much, the most it affects is prob flashbacks that i will not be writing bc they don't involve my characters)

𝟓𝟏𝟒𝟒 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒