silence and sound → the 100 ²

[ 010 ] even the sky mourns.

— CHAPTER TEN,
even the sky mourns.

RUBY SITS ON A BENCH, HER SHOULDER THROBBING. She keeps her eyes shut in attempt to mask her pain as she rests her head on Marcus's shoulder.

Her pain will be over soon.

Pike is going to put a bullet in her brain.

Her friends will watch her die. Ryland will scream, fighting against whoever is holding him back from killing Pike. Luca will have to turn his back, not wanting to watch the girl he helped save die. Bellamy will feel guilty, he'll jump when Pike fires his gun. He's going to fight back his own sobs, his entire body shaking as he keeps himself from falling to his knees.

"Hey," someone mutters. Ruby's eyes peel open and lock with Amara's. "Let me bandage that."

"You have your own wound to worry about." Ruby retorts, shutting her eyes again. It's the first time they've spoken since Ruby's returned.

"Ruby." Amara hisses. "Stop being so damn stubborn and let me bandage your wound."

"You told me to kill myself," Ruby snaps. Marcus draws back when Ruby stands to her feet. Amara's back straightens, ready to put Ruby on her ass if she has to. "You left me and Octavia in those mines. You turned on your back on me!"

"You were willingly to let over two hundred people die in TonDC!" Amara's own voice raises in anger. "You didn't say anything until right before that bomb dropped!"

"I had no choice." Ruby tells her, her lip curling in fury. "It was Bellamy or them."

"And look where Bellamy is now," Amara growls. "He's the one that put that bullet in your shoulder."

"And if he hadn't, I would be dead." Ruby states.

Lincoln can feel Ruby's anger growing more and more every second. So he stands and slowly inches towards the two girls.

"You're going to die anyway." Amara shrugs, stepping away from Ruby. "Let your shoulder get infected, see if I don't care."

Amara moves back to the sick Grounders. Ruby scoffs and sits back beside Marcus. He looks over at her. "You okay?"

He watches as she heaves a deep breath. Then she looks over at him. "I'm fine." She smiles weakly, "gotta be, right?"

Marcus shakes his head in disagreement, "it's okay to not be okay, Ruby."

She looks down at her bandaged wrists. She sniffs. Then she asks a question that breaks Marcus's heart in half. "Why did this happen to me?"

"Because you're strong," Marcus tells her. He reaches over and pushes her hair away from her face. She looks up at him with tear filled eyes. "Because you can handle this."

"I don't how much more I can handle," she admits in a whisper. As she blinks, a stray tear cascades down her cheek. "Marcus. . . I can't fight anymore."

Marcus gently grabs her face between his hands, "yes, you can." He tells her sternly. "You're strong. You're a warrior."

"A broken warrior," she responds quietly.

Marcus leans forward and presses a kiss to her forehead. When he pulls away he sees that her are shut and more tears roll down her cheeks. He quickly wipes the tears away and pulls her into his side. Ruby wraps her arm around him.

She is his responsibly. He loves her like he is his own daughter.

"Chancellor on deck," a voice says suddenly as a door hisses open. Ruby and Marcus share a look as Lincoln walks up to them.