chapter seven | forgiveness & close calls
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As night fell, Hunter emerged from the dropship and scanned the surroundings. Only a few remained awake. She approached a small campfire, the embers still aglow, and sat down, absentmindedly playing with a stick in the fire.

Suddenly, Murphy quietly sat down next to her. He didn't say a word, but she could read his unspoken thoughts.

"Apologies won't change the fact that you almost killed Jasper," Hunter said, not looking at him. Murphy took a breath.

"He was in pain. It would've been a mercy kill," he tried to explain.

"That's not how you saw it. You were irritated and wanted to eliminate the problem," Hunter remarked, tossing the stick into the fire. "And for your information, he's awake and he's fine." She started to get up.

"Hunter, wait," Murphy stood up, and she stopped and turned around.

"What?" she sighed.

Murphy looked down at the ground and then back at her. "I'm sorry, I really am," Murphy said. Hunter looked at him, trying to figure him out.

"Are you really? Because it doesn't seem like you are," Hunter scoffed.

"I can't excuse what I did, but I don't want you to hate me for it," Murphy said.

Hunter shook her head. "What if that was me in there?" She pointed to the dropship. "Would you have killed me because I wouldn't shut up, because I was in pain?"

Murphy sighed and took a step back. "That's different."

"Is it? Just because you know me and care about me doesn't mean that you can just kill someone because you don't. That's not okay, Murphy," Hunter folded her arms.

"Rylee," Murphy said. Hunter stopped for a moment. She rarely heard her first name; the last time was before her father died. "You're the only person I care about here. Everything I do is to protect you."

Hunter scoffed. "And what exactly does killing Jasper have to do with protecting me?" Murphy struggled to reply. "Exactly, Murphy. You might feel like you're doing the right thing or that you feel like having Bellamy on your side means you can do whatever the hell you want. But you can't. You can't just kill someone to make yourself feel better."

Murphy ran his fingers through his hair, looking at the girl he truly cared about being so furious at him. Hunter looked into Murphy's eyes, and she took a breath. There was a short pause between the two as Murphy struggled to find the right words. Hunter looked around, realizing her surroundings, and she sighed.

"Look, Murphy, I'll only accept it because holding grudges won't get me anywhere. And we're living in a world where we don't have the luxury of avoiding problems." Hunter went over to him and hugged him. "You're still family, Murphy. Always."

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A week passed since Jasper woke up. The camp was finally coming together. They had patrols, stations, and were nearly finished building the wall. But on the night Jasper woke up, it was revealed that Wells was murdered by the Grounders. Hunter wasn't too shaken up about it, only by the fact that another person had died down here.

Hunter was at the weapons station, assembling spears and sharpening them.

Murphy came over to her. "Hey," he nodded.

"What's up? How's the wall going?" She asked as she picked up another stick and began sharpening it.

"That section should be finished by tomorrow," he nodded toward the unfinished wall. Hunter looked behind her and saw Connor drop a tree log because he was in pain. Murphy went over to him. "Hey! You think the Grounders are just gonna sit around and wait for us to finish the wall? Maybe we should let the little girl do the lifting for you, huh?"

Hunter watched the display carefully, keeping an eye on Murphy.

"I just need some water, okay, and I'll be fine," Connor replied. Bellamy walked over and looked at Connor.

"Murphy, get this guy some water, okay?" Bellamy looked at Charlotte. "Hey, you got this?" He nodded toward the log, and Charlotte hesitated and then went to the log, but Bellamy stopped her with a smile. "I'm just kidding," he smiled, and she returned one before he lifted the log and walked away.

Hunter smiled before returning to sharpening the spears. She watched as the camp finally became a community, and a small smile swept across her face before it was quickly taken away by Connor yelling.

"Ugh! What the hell is wrong with you, Murphy!" Connor pushed him. Hunter dropped the spear as two guys grabbed Connor and held him back. "I'll kill you!"

"Murphy! Stop!" Hunter called out, and Murphy looked at her.

"You wanted a water break," Murphy looked at Connor. "Get back to work!" He called out, and the rest of the camp proceeded too.

Hunter put down the weapons and rolled her shoulders; she was tired and sore. And very thirsty. She saw a guy attempt to grab water before Murphy knocked it out of his hands, calling out that there is no water break until the section of the wall is built.

That ended shortly when Clarke came charging and pushed Murphy back. "You son of a bitch!" Hunter looked over.

"What's your problem?" Murphy chuckled.

Clarke held up a man-made knife. "Recognize this?" Hunter furrowed her brows and realized it was indeed Murphy's knife.

"That's my knife, where did you find that?" Murphy went to grab it before Clarke snatched her arm back.

"Where you dropped it after you killed Wells," Clarke announced. That was enough to make Hunter come storming over.

"Where I what?" Murphy scoffed.

"What the hell are you on about?" Hunter asked, standing next to Murphy.

"The Grounders killed Wells, not me," Murphy tried to reason.

"I know what you did, and you're gonna pay for it," Clarke threatened.

"Really? Bellamy, do you really believe this crap?" Murphy asked. He didn't reply but folded his arms.

"You threatened to kill him. We all heard him. You hated Wells."

Hunter's fist clenched, and she stood slightly in front of Murphy. "Plenty of people hated Wells." She spoke coldly.

"His father was the chancellor that locked us up," Murphy added.

"Yeah, but you're the only one who got in a knife fight with him," Clarke yelled.

"Yeah, and I didn't kill him then, either," Murphy added.

"Tried to kill Jasper too," Octavia spoke.

"Clarke, I can vouch for him. I was with him the night Wells died. He didn't leave my sight, not after Jasper," Hunter stated, looking at both Clarke and Octavia.

Clarke scoffed, "For all I know, you're protecting him."

"What? Clarke, I would never — not after Jasper. I wouldn't protect him like this. For god's sake, I nearly threw him out in the acid fog," Hunter reasoned.

Clarke shook her head. "I can't trust you with this, Hunter. The only reason why you were locked up is that you were trying to protect him from getting locked up himself."

"This is ridiculous. I don't have to answer to you; I don't have to answer to anyone!" Murphy called out.

"Come again?" Bellamy looked over. Murphy went over to him.

"Bellamy, look, I am telling you, man, I didn't do this." Murphy tried to reason with him.

"They found his fingers on the ground with your knife," Bellamy spoke.

"Is this the type of society that we want?" Clarke spoke aloud to the camp. "You say there are no rules. But does that mean we can kill each other without punishment?"

"I already told you," Murphy went over to her. "I didn't kill anyone."

"I say we float him." Connor spoke. Hunter whipped her head around to face him. Others agreed.

"That's not what I'm saying," Clarke spoke.

"Why not? He deserves to float; it's justice." Connor spoke. "She should join him. For all we know, she was an accomplice." Hunter's breathing quickened, and she remained speechless.

"Revenge isn't justice," Clarke snapped back.

"It is justice! Float him! Float him!" Connor chanted, and the rest followed in pursuit. Hunter went over to Murphy and held his arm with hers, covering his stomach. She felt a surge of adrenaline flow through her as she felt the need to protect her family.

Murphy went to run, and Hunter tried to grab his arm, but he got tripped, and several people started kicking his stomach. Hunter ran over and screamed out to stop.

"No! Murphy!" Tears filled her eyes. "Stop!" A couple of people grabbed her and knocked her down on the ground next to Murphy and held her arms back. Murphy looked at her, pure anger and fear in his eyes.

"Get off of her!" He yelled out before they put a red cloth in his mouth, tied it around his head, and tied his wrists together. Tears streamed down Hunter's face as she was purely terrified to watch Murphy's life come to an end, and possibly her own. They gagged Hunter and tied her wrists together. They picked both of them up and took them outside the camp, throwing Murphy down the hill, and Connor grabbed him and punched him in the face.

Hunter continued screaming out for him, for them to stop. She found her footing and kicked the guy holding her in the shin, and he fell in pain. She bent down and knocked him out and grabbed his knife, then began cutting away at the cloth holding her wrists together. Everyone was paying too much attention to Murphy as they began to set up his execution by hanging.

Clarke went up to Bellamy, pushing him. "You can stop this! They'll listen to you!"

"Bellamy! You should do it!" Connor spoke. "Bel-la-my! Bellamy!" He started chanting, and the rest of the group followed. Hunter started panicking as the knife still wouldn't cut through the cloth.

Bellamy walked over to Murphy as he stood on a stool, preparing to be hanged. Clarke tried to plead with him. Bellamy eventually kicked the stool, and Murphy fell. Hunter broke through her bandage, ripping skin off by doing so. She took off the gag and screamed out at the sight of Murphy.

She attempted to run over, but several people held her back, and Connor punched her in the face, causing her to land on the ground in immense pain.

Finn ran into the commotion. "What the hell are you doing?! Cut him down now! Charlotte, get out of here now!" He yelled. Charlotte tried to break free of Octavia's grip.

"Just stop, okay!" She yelled. "Murphy didn't kill Wells! I did." The whole atmosphere changed within a second after those words left her mouth. Hunter stood up and grabbed Bellamy's axe from his belt and cut the rope holding Murphy. He fell to the ground, and she rushed over to him. She removed the gag and the cloth around his neck, and he groaned and yelled in pain. She also removed the ties around his hands.

"Murphy," Hunter breathed heavily as she held him close, glaring at the group. Murphy eventually caught his breath and looked at her, holding his hand up to slightly brush her cheek before his hand fell back down to the ground in exhaustion.

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