SEVENTEEN.   play with fire and you get burned

      The only person Tatum thought of was Hannah Greene, and she stayed by Monty's side because of it. Hannah took her in. She treated her like a daughter. She was with the Greene family for years. And to know she was dead was like losing a parent all over again. "How are you feeling?" She asked him in the softest voice.

Monty only shrugged. "I-I don't know, really. I don't think it's fully hit me yet." He admitted while frowning.

She grabbed one of his hands. "I'm so sorry, Mon."

They stayed on watch for the rest of the night. Bellamy and Clarke went with the others to find the crashed exodus ship. Octavia joined them on watch. "Hey, good looking." Tatum smirked.

"You've got the wrong Blake,  Tate." She laughed.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Monty's shook his head. "Don't act like you don't know. It's so obvious."

"What's obvious?"

Him and Octavia looked at each other. "It's obvious that you have the hots for my brothers." Octavia laughed. "It's kind of gross, but, also cute I guess."

Tatum bursted out laughing. "Seriously? That's crazy talk." 

"You're seriously telling me you don't have feelings for my brother?"

"Even if I did, I would not be discussing it with his sister." She quickly tried to change the subject.  "Speaking of Bellamy, there's been no sign of him or the others yet."

"Sure, change the subject," Octavia muttered and rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I don't care."

"Still mad?" Asked Monty.

She hummed. "Still mad."

"Jasper, tell us again. How'd you stay so calm?  I would've been terrified." They heard Harper say from across camp.

Jasper was sitting by the fire with Harper and a few others from camp. "Fear is only a problem if you let it stop you, right?" He proudly told them.

Tatum released a shocked laugh. Monty's eyes widened as he listened. "That's not even his line. Finn said that." Whispered Octavia.

"I saw the grounders in the trees. It was like nothing I ever felt. Pure animal instinct took over. One pull of the trigger, two grounders dead."

"No fucking way." Tatum laughed again.

"Pure animal instinct? More like pure pants-wetting panic."

"Ours boy's got game."

"You don't really know what you're made of until a moment like that, you know, when it's kill or be killed," Jasper continued. "And there's just nothing between you and the tip of the spear."

Octavia shook her head. "Okay,  this has to stop—"

"No, let us have this." Monty objected.

Octavia furrowed her brows. "Us?"

"Look at him. The boy is a folk hero. They even gave us a bigger tent."

Tatum scoffed. "Yeah, i'm still bitter about that. We're a package deal."

"Oh, like you don't sleep in Bellamy's tent anyway."

She shoved her middle finger in his face and he grabbed it, bending it backwards. "Ow,  you asshole!"  She yelped and she swatted him in the shoulder.

Loud chatter could be heard over the wall. "Somebody hit the trip wire!" Shouted Connor.

"Which wire? Was it a grounder?" Asked someone from camp.

More shouts erupted. "Something moved!"

"There, there, there!" Someone else yelled. A gunshot suddenly went off. "I think I got him."

Connor jumped down from his post. "Let's go!"

Tatum and Octavia immediately followed them out of the walls and Connor stayed by them with his lit torch.  Tatum looked around cautiously just in case there were grounders out. When they got close enough, she spotted someone moving in the distance.  She held her hand out for them to stop and she slowly moved forward.

"Be careful, Tatum." Octavia whispered to her.

She got closer to the unknown person and slowly took out her knife. She turned around and motioned for Octavia and Connor to come closer. They listened and moved closer to her and the unknown figure. She turned back and reached down to the body lying on the ground.

When the tips of her fingers connected with their shirt,  they jumped out of their skin and whirled around in her direction. Tatum jumped back in surprise and her eyes were met with a familiar pair of hazel eyes. "John?" She gasped.

"Help me." Murphy choked out.

Tatum and Octavia dragged Murphy back to camp with his arms thrown around their shoulders. He was beaten horribly and bloody. He could hardly stand.  Connor and couple other boys led them back with their torches held high. They brought him onto the drop ship and sat him against the back wall. Connor and Derek stood close by them. 

Tatum crouched in front of the defeated boy she used to call her friend. "Murphy, what happened to you?"

"I was with the grounders," he croaked. "They, uh, did a number on me as you can tell." He added with a slight painful laugh.

She sighed in defeat and scanned his physical appearance. His clothes were torn and dirty and his face was covered in blood and cuts. His hair was disheveled and greasy and he looked like he had been through the wringer. She looked at Connor and Derek.  "Bellamy's going to flip out."

"Where is he?" Speaking of the Devil. They turned around and saw Bellamy storm onto the drop ship with a rifle in his hand. His velvet eyes spotted Tatum crouched in front of Murphy and he got angry. "Everyone but Connor and Derek out now!" He announced firmly.

Tatum ignored and stood up. "He said he was with the grounders." She explained.

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

"I wasn't sneaking," Murphy grunted in pain. "I was running away from the grounders."

"Anyone see grounders?" Bellamy questioned while keeping an unfaltering gaze at Murphy, who kept glancing at Tatum. She and the others shook their head s no. "Well, in that case. . ."  He grunted and lifted his rifle. 

Tatum immediately stepped in front of it. "Hey, no!"

At the same time, Finn rushed over and grabbed the barrel of the weapon. "Hey, what the hell is wrong with you!" He shouted.

"We were clear what would happen if he came back,"  Bellamy argued and pointed the gun back at Murphy.

She stepped in front of the weapon again, glaring at him. "I said no!"

"If he was with the grounders then he knows things that can help us."

"Help us?" Bellamy repeated and casted him a glare.  "We hanged him, we banished him, and know we're gonna kill him. Move, Tatum."

"No, Finn and Tatum are right," cut in Clarke and she bent down to Murphy's level.

"Like hell they are! Tate, think about Charlotte." Bellamy said to her.

"I am thinking about her. I think about her everyday. But what happened to Charlotte was as much our fault as it was his." She fired back, her anger levels rising again.

"He's not lying. His fingernails were torn off. They tortured him." Clarke told them while examining Murphy's state.

Tatum dropped to her knees on the other side of him. She grabbed his hand gently, seeing his missing and bloody nail beds. "Oh god." She muttered and looked at him with a sad expression.

Bellamy discreetly rolled his eyes.

"You and the grounders should compare notes." Finn grumbled

"The grounders know we're at war. What did you tell them about us?" Bellamy questioned Murphy.

"Everything." He responded weakly.

Tatum and Clarke share a knowing look. Clarke stood and faced Bellamy. "Once he's better, we find out what he knows, and then he's out of here, okay?" She negotiated.

"And what if he refuses to leave? What do we do with him then?"

"Then we kill him."

Tatum lifted her head. The cruelness in her voice shocked her. Of course she knew that Murphy was not everybody's favorite person. Even she wanted to kill him sometimes. But who were they to dictate who lives or dies? They weren't gods. They were just people. And Tatum was tired of killing.

As they started to leave, Bellamy stayed in his spot. "Tatum?" He said expectingly.

She glanced back at him for a brief second, her blue eyes narrowed into slits. He watched her carefully. Tatum looked away. "Let's get you cleaned up, yeah?" She insisted, looking at Murphy.

She stood to get a clean rag and water. Bellamy stood there in shock. When she started to clean the blood and dirt off of him, Bellamy clenched his jaw and stormed off of the drop shop.

Tatum needed to clear her mind. Relieve herself of frustration. She slammed the hammer in her hand against a nail, nailing two wooden pallets together for the wall that needed to rebuild. She blew the pieces of hair in her face away and then got angry again when they reappeared.

"Tatum Adler doing manual labor?" Bellamy joked when he approached her.

She rolled her eyes. "You say that like I'm useless."

"Not useless. Just cute." 

She put the hammer down and looked up at him, moving her hair away again. Her face and arms were flushed red from the sun, making her freckles stand out even more. "I don't appreciate your mocking."

"I'm not mocking you, Tate—"

"Then why are you here?"

He sighed at her heated stare. "You know he shouldn't be here, Tatum." He stated in a more serious tone of voice.

"Murphy was tortured, Bellamy. He only had here to go."

"That's not our decision—"

"It's not?" She questioned harshly. She walked around the table and stood in front of him, cramming her neck upward. "We're not dictators, Bellamy. We're people and we need more people if a war between us and the grounders sparks. Yes, Murphy's a jackass. I've known that my whole life. But he also means well."

He only scoffed. "You think highly of him."

"Because at one point he used to be my best friend. He slept on my couch. He's had a rough life." She told him. She took another step forward, never breaking eye contact. "It's not our decision on who gets to live or not. I don't want to make that decision."

Bellamy didn't say anything. He looked away from her, his jaw shifted side to side like he was annoyed. The topic of John Murphy wasn't his favorite, especially when it came to her. But then he looked at her again, her blue eyes desperately looking into his for him to understand her. Once again, no matter how hard he tried to, Bellamy couldn't resist her. "I know you don't. I won't make you."

She smiled at him and suddenly he was Icarus again, floating too close to the sun. Tatum felt a cough rise in her throat. She hid her mouth in the crook of her elbow and let it out, the cough scratching the walls of her throat.

Bellamy furrowed his brows. "Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, totally. Probably just caught a whiff of some people that desperately need to bathe. It was probably Derek."

He chuckled.

She cough again and this time it was louder. Tatum hid her mouth again. The coughs didn't stop and she bent down, her hands on her knees, and she coughed hysterically until a metallic feeling rose in her throat. She dropped to the ground.

Bellamy followed her down. "Whoa, hey, Tatum, what's wrong?" He quickly asked, voice full of concern.

She didn't get a chance to respond because of the coughs, but the last couch she released caused blood to pour out of her mouth. Blood coated her teeth and dropped down her chin. She gingerly touched her chin, seeing the blood on her fingers.

"Tatum!" Bellamy leaned down and moved her hair out of her face. "Tatum, talk to–"

He cut himself off when she lifted her head and his eyes widened. Tears of blood leaked from her eyes and nose and they cascaded down her face. "What's happening to me?" She voiced in fear.

"Somebody help me! Where's Clarke?" Bellamy screamed. He helped Tatum off the ground and quickly looked around the camp sighed. "Clarke, where's Clarke?" He shouted again.

"I'm right here! I'm right here!" Shouted Clarke and she ran off the drop ship. At Tatum's bloody appearance, her jaw dropped. "Oh my god,Tatum."

"She just started coughing and then she coughed up blood, then she started crying blood." He frantically explained.

"It won't stop!" Yelled Tatum when more blood flowed down her face. She touched her skin and blood coated her hands. "Am I dying?"

"No. No, you're not dying. The same things happening to Connor and Derek!" Clarke told her while trying to keep her calm. She looked at Bellamy. "Let's get to the drop ship."

The took the crying girl to the drop ship where Connor and Derek already were, both of them covered in blood as well. Bellamy sat her down on a stool. Murphy came into the room, seeing her state. "Tate? What the hell happened—"

Bellamy held up his hand. "Stay away from her." He sneered.

Clarke came back with a wet cloth and cleaned the blood off her face. "Tatum, do you feel sick?"

She was still crying. "No. But I just feel like I'm on the verge of death at the moment." She exaggerated as more blood seeped from her eyes as Clarke continued to clean it off.

Bellamy looked at Murphy with a dangerous look. "Is this your revenge? Having the grounders kill us?"

"I don't know anything about this, okay? I swear." He defended himself.

"Stop lying!" The man exploded. "When are they coming?"

"Murphy, think, alright?" Clarke pushed. "What can you tell us that's useful? Did you hear anything?"

"They are vicious. Cruel."

"You wanna see vicious?" Said Bellamy with another harsh sneer.

Clarke shook her head. "Hey, don't. Whatever this thing is, it spreads through contact."

"Clarke?" Shouted Finn and he came running into the drop ship.

"Finn, you shouldn't be in here. No one should!" She objected.

"I heard you and Tatum were sick." He spotted her sitting on a stool, crying, blood all over her face. "Clarke, what is this?"

"I don't know. Some kind of hemorrhagic fever. We just need to contain it before—"

Derek started coughing and convulsing violently. Clarke rose to her feet and Finn placed his hand on her arm. She smacked it away. "Hey, don't touch me. You could get sick. Wash your hands."

She bent down to check Derek's pulse. Tatum hyperventilated while panicking. "Clarke?" She squeaked.

"He's dead."

She panicked even more. "Oh my god."

Bellamy stepped toward her. "Tatum—"

"No!" She yelled and held her hand up. "Don't. You've already touched me."

Clarke picked up a jar of Monty's moonshine. "Here. Alcohol. Hold out your hands." She instructed.

Finn and Bellamy held out there hands and she poured the moonshine on them. "What do we do?" Asked the spacewalker.

"Quarantine. Round up everyone who had contact with Murphy. Bring them here."

Tatum and Connor's eyes met across the room.

Bellamy pulled a face. "And everyone they had contact with?"

"Well, we have to start somewhere," Clarke claimed and looked at Connor. "Conner, who was with you when you found him? Who carried him in? Think!" She rapidly threw at him.

"Tatum and Octavia were the first ones to find him."

All eyes fell on Tatum, whose breathing was now becoming shallow. "Octavia and I carried him in." She stated and fear glossed over her eyes.

Bellamy quickly fled the drop ship in search for his sister. A wave of nausea consumed her and she started breathing heavy again. Clarke helped her to the floor and laid her on her side.

Tatum coughed vigorously and the metallic taste came back before blood began to pour out of her mouth. Murphy dropped to his knees in front of her and elevated her head so she wouldn't choke. Blood covered her teeth as she dry heaved and her hearing started to muffle.

"Tatum." He spoke sorrowfully.

But she couldn't hear him. It felt like the room was spinning but she tried focusing on her breathing. She started shaking and sweating.

Bellamy entered the drop ship again with Octavia. "Stay with her, Murphy." Clarke instructed before getting up and going to examine her.

Murphy leaned himself against the drop ship wall and he pulled her up by her arms so that she could lean on him. "I've got you. I've got you." He whispered.

It was the first kind of interaction they had since he was banished. "When you said you wanted to hurt me I didn't think you meant like this." She tried to joke.

"I would never want to hurt you, Tatum."

Clarke finished checking Octavia for any signs of sickness. "Okay, we're done. No visible signs of swelling or bleeding." She explained.

Bellamy removed the protective cloth from his mouth. "So you're saying she doesn't have it?" He asked for clarification.

"I'm saying she doesn't have symptoms," she corrected. "But that could change. We need to keep her in here just in case."

"No way," he objected. He looked around the drop ship. "Look at this place. She'll get sick just being here." His eyes drifted across the room and saw Murphy cleaning the blood off of Tatum. Her back was against his chest and she looked utterly exhausted. He found himself glaring.

"Do you want to keep it from spreading or not?" Clarke questioned with annoyance. "Look, i'll keep her on the third level with the people who don't have symptoms yet. Think of it as a way to keep her from sneaking off again."

"Screw you, Clarke." Octavia retaliated.

She was ignored. "I'll make sure she doesn't have any symptoms." She promised the man. But she saw that he was still eyeing Tatum and Murphy. Her skin was a sickly pale and blood stained and her black hair was full of sweat. "I'll keep her safe, too."

Bellamy looked away from them. "Just don't let him try anything." He grumbled and exited the drop ship.

After telling Octavia that she needed her to sneak out again to see Lincoln, Clarke tended to Tatum. "Hey, Tate, how are you feeling?"

"Like I want to kill Murphy." She moaned with her eyes closed.

"I'm right here."

"Well at least you're aware."

Clarke laughed and reached forward to feel her head.  "You're burning up." She stated when she felt the heat come from her skin. Her eyes widened when the girl started gagging. "Murphy!"

"I got it, I got it." Murphy responded and quickly reached over to grab a nearby bucket. He held it in front of her.

Tatum let out a loud cough and blood spat out of her mouth and into the bucket. Her body started to jolt and shake. Suddenly, she felt as if she had no oxygen in her lungs and she started dry heaving, not being able to breathe.

"Come on Tate, just breathe." Murphy encouraged and rubbed her back.

Clarke held her hair back as she coughed up more blood, the red staining her face. Tatum jolted again and suddenly, she started convulsing. Her eyes went wide again. "Get her on her side! Get her on her side!"

He immediately moved and rolled her onto her side. Tatum's convulsions heightened and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. "W-What do we do?" He panicked.

Clarke only shook her head. "There's nothing we can do.  We have to let her pass it."

Blood started spilling from her eyes and nose again. "What the fuck is happening?" Murphy yelled with a crack in his voice.

Hearing the commotion, Bellamy came running back onto the drop ship. Seeing them surrounding her, he panicked. "What's wrong? What's happening?" He stammered.

"She's having a seizure," said Clarke while trying to keep herself calm. "She's having trouble breathing."

After a while, Tatum stopped convulsing. 

She switched places with Murphy and crouched down. "Tatum, can you hear me?"

"Clarke." She spoke feebly. Sweat coated her skin and her throat burning from the blood. Puke scratching the walls of her esophagus all while white spots dotted her vision. 

"You're okay, Tatum. You're okay." She whispered and grabbed a cloth to clean the sweat and blood from her face.

"I feel like shit."

Murphy laughed. "You still look pretty, Tate."

Bellamy rolled his eyes.

Exhaustion took over and Tatum closed her eyes, letting herself fall asleep. Clarke ordered Murphy to move her to one of the hammocks.