𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐘. 𝙟𝙤𝙝𝙣 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙥𝙝𝙮.

ii. THE NEW WORLD

[third person pov]

Murphy sat Scarlett against the cold cave wall of her home. For the past week, she had been staying in a cave that was hidden from everything, far away from the grounder territory.

He thought about leaving, but then again; where would he go? He no longer had shelter or any protection from the grounders, and this girl needed his help. His thoughts wandered as he couldn't remember her name. Had she told him?

"My names Scarlett. But everybody calls me Scar." Her rough and tired voice bounced off the rock walls, to which he nodded. His hand found itself running his fingers through his greasy hair, then resting in front of his mouth where he chewed on his nail.

He regretted ever bringing her to this place, but it was her home and she needed help. He wished she didn't break through the treeline back by the cliff, he wished she had seeked help elsewhere. But, she saved him from his thoughts that were tearing through his mind, and he was thankful for that.

"Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna help me with this?" In even a serious moment, to where she could be dying, she couldn't help but be her sarcastic self. If only Murphy knew that beforehand, because it will get very annoying making sarcastic comments to someone who is already sarcastic.

He suddenly stopped thinking of everything and anything, focusing on the redheaded girl in front of him, who needed assistance.

Murphy kneeled next to her, examining the knife. Scarlett furrowed her eyebrows together, did he really know what to do? Her thoughts were actually proving themselves right, until he sighed; sitting down on his legs.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." His voice came as a shock to her, she hadn't heard him talk since he told her his name. She scoffed anyways, hiding her shocked face and replacing it with a sarcastic one.

"Well, that lasted for about five seconds." She grabbed his hand roughly, placing it on the knife. "On the count of three, grip that knife tight and rip it out of me, and then, as soon as you pull it out," she states, placing a medium sized cloth from an old t-shirt, "place this down on the wound, hard."

Murphy nodded, letting out a shaky breath as he tightened his grip on the knife. He pulled the knife out quickly, earning a sharp, muffled yell from Scarlett. He placed the cloth down on the wound hard, looking at her face with a small worried expression.

"Thank you," she sighs, her eyes closed. Of course she was tired, she just walked miles through the woods with a knife in her side, and she was losing blood. "I got it."

She placed her hand on his hand, which was holding the cloth down. "C-Can you look through that bag right there? It might have something for me to wrap this up with. Also grab some string and a needle. I definitely have those in there."

Murphy nodded, and got up to go over to the box. He finally looked around the cave, which at the end of it had a small little area that went into the wall, and the floor was lower than the one he was standing on. It was probably only three feet wide and five feet long, but she had animal fur in the small makeshift bed so it would be a bit more comfier.

"You can get some rest in the bed tonight." She sighs as Murphy kneels down next to her with a makeshift wrap and string and needle.

"And where would you sleep?" Murphy scoffs, lifting her shirt up a bit to help her stitch herself up.

"The floor." She said bluntly, not bothering to look up at him as she started to stitch up the wound. His hand was cold against her skin as he held up her shirt, leaving goosebumps on her stomach.

Murphy scoffs, shaking his head. "I'm not stealing your bed, especially after you just got stabbed."

She finally finished stitching herself up, which led to Murphy grabbing the wrap he grabbed and making her hold her own shirt while he wrapped up the wound. They stayed silent for a moment, while Murphy stayed focus on wrapping up the wound perfectly, she stayed focus on him. She didn't know why she wanted to stare at him, maybe because he was so concerned about her wound. Or maybe because he was actually quiet attractive. As he was focused on her wound, his eyebrows were furrowed slightly, and every once in a while he would chew on his bottom lip.

"I'm done."

* * *

Murphy woke up on the cold hard floor, with only a small makeshift fur blanket under him. He barely got any sleep during the night, only tossing and turning from how cold it was. But he didn't complain, because he knew that the girl in the bed a couple feet away from him was getting good sleep, and that's all that mattered to him at that moment.

"Couldn't sleep, huh?" A soothing voice made him turn his body around, looking at a tired Scarlett. "I told you that you should've slept on the bed. I was used to sleeping on the floor, I did that for three months straight."

"You really think I would've made someone with a stab wound sleep on the cold floor while I slept in the warm bed only a couple feet away from them? I'm not that mean."

Scarlett ignored him, sitting up slightly and leaning against the wall. "Why were you out there by yourself?" Murphy was shocked by the question, snapping his head up to look at her. "That drop ship from the ark landed a couple days ago. Is everyone else dead?"

Murphy sighed, sitting up and running his fingers through his hair. "No, I was sort of banished from camp. You see these marks?" He said, lifting his head towards the ceiling to show the mark from the rope that he had been hung from. Scar just noticed it, she wasn't paying attention last night. She was either too tired or it was too dark. "A guy named Wells was killed one night by a small girl. Everyone thought it was me, but really the girl stole my knife. They tried to hang me, but then the little bitch confessed and they tried to protect her. Me and a couple of other people tried to find the girl and kill her, when we ended up cornering her and a guy named Bellamy on a cliff. I guess she felt too much pressure and she jumped off the cliff. They blamed me and then I was banished." By now, Murphy was staring at the ground, not wanting to be hated by her too.

"That seems unfair to me. You were just doing what you thought was right because they tried to hang you, even though you were innocent." Scarlett's words leave to Murphy snapping his head towards her, relieved and shocked that she was on his side. "Wait, did you say Wells and Bellamy? as in Wells Jaha and Bellamy Blake?"

Murphy grew with confusion, wondering how she knew them. "Yes, why?"

"I kinda knew them on the ark. Wouldn't really call them my best friends though."

"Speaking of the Ark, why were you sent down here?" That was the one question that grew in his mind since he realized who she was. He had heard some stories on the Ark, but many of them were rumors.

"I was an abomination as they called it. I couldn't have kids and I was born a twin. They sent me down here thinking I was going to die. But they didn't know the earth was survivable." Scarlett paused for a moment, sighing. "But, this is the new world, Murphy. You can't think about the old one and just try to survive through the new one."