𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗚𝗢, monty green

Chapter Eleven

"Murphy!" Avery had bounded towards the boy, who was furiously pacing back and forth. She and Monty missed the monstrosity of Murphy hitting Bellamy in the head with a log and then slugging Jasper in the face. "What are you gonna do?"

She wouldn't lie, she was absolutely terrified that Murphy was going to snap and do something awful to Charlotte. She had killed Wells, yes, but she was also a child.

Completely psychopathic child though.

Murphy didn't respond immediately, his eyes glaring daggers into the empty tent that should've been currently housing a guilty looking Charlotte. His knuckles were beginning to turn white from how hard he was squeezing his fists closed, and his nails were digging into the palms of his hands, leaving crescent shaped marks.

"I'm gonna find that bitch." He finally spat out.

The girl felt her heart drop into her stomach. Murphy was determined, all right. And Avery knew there was nothing she could do to stop him from trying to find Charlotte, not after what happened to him.

Before she could reply, he had signalled to a few boys close by, and the group of them disappeared into the woods. Murphy was the first to yell Charlotte's name, and then Avery heard them all chorusing it, shouting her name over and over to try and find out where she was.

Avery was torn between taking off after Murphy instantly, or turning back to Monty. She stared between the forest that Murphy had just run off into, and the black haired boy now approaching her.

"What's going on?"

"Murphy's lost it."

Avery bit the inside of her cheek anxiously, her whole body alight with an unbearable urge to just run away and act like none of this was happening. It would be so much simpler if she didn't have Murphy to care about, or the need to help Monty contact the Ark, or the Grounders to watch out for.

If I asked Monty to run away with me right now, would he say yes?

Avery almost laughed at her thoughts. She knew she had to shake away her desires to run away whenever there was a mess in her life - it was the same as up on the Ark and there were even less places to run away up there - and she knew Monty needed to stay.

"What now?" Monty asked, eyes nervously darting over the girl's face, unable to tell what she was thinking.

"I gotta go after him."

She shrugged simply, studying Monty to try and understand his reaction. He simply nodded, smiling softly at the girl with a hidden expression of concern.

"Yeah I get it." She breathed a sigh of relief at his understanding. "Be careful."

She hesitated then, upon hearing Monty asking her to be careful. Careful.

What?

"Huh?" She questioned dumbly, watching obliviously as Monty's cheeks flooded with colour.

"Just be careful." He repeated awkwardly, looking anywhere but her eyes. "Murphy's angry, and I don't want you to end up getting hurt. I care about you."

He cares.

That fact made Avery feel like she was having a heart attack. In a good way. Was it even possible to feel like you're having a heart attack in a good way?

She stopped the smile from edging onto her lips because she could see Monty was so embarrassed. Heat was rushing into her cheeks then but she couldn't care less, because Monty cared about her and that felt like the most amazing thing in the world.