The Girl With No Name // the 100 Wattys 2018!!

Thirty

When she came back to consciousness, she saw Murphy looking down at her with a hand on her shoulder. "You with us?" he asked.

She blinked and looked back and forth, seeing the remnants of bodies behind her, and the dried blood of the guy that was walking behind her covered her hands and her clothes. She looked down, ready to scream when Murphy hooked his fingers under her chin. She stared up at him with fearful eyes.

"Eyes on me," he said. "We need to keep moving."

He pulled her up to her feet, and she let out a groan. "Wh-what happened?" she asked.

"Can't you see she's not able to walk right? She'll just get us blown up too!" some guy exclaimed.

"Blown up?" she croaked.

"Piss off!" Murphy yelled at him, then he turned back to Theresa. "Stay behind me and keep a hold on me."

She stared at him with worried, almost tearful eyes. "What does he mean blown up?" she asked again, her voice cracking.

"Don't listen to him," he told her. Then, he turned, keeping a firm hold on her hand.

Still, she worried. What had he meant by blown up? What knocked Theresa out? Why was she covered in blood? Why were there now five of them instead of seven? As all of these questions flooded her mind, the thought of Murphy holding her hand never crossed her mind once. If she was being honest, the thought of someone being there for her -- even if it was John Murphy -- was comforting. Knowing that his fingers were laced in hers, it kept her from losing her mind entirely. This was tangible. This was real.

With careful steps, Jaha led the way. Murphy led Theresa along, still having not told her a thing. She looked up, seeing rays of light shining over one of the sand dunes in the sunlight.

"What is that?" she asked.

Murphy looked over his shoulder at her, then he nodded towards the sand dunes that Theresa was talking about. "We're pretty sure it's the City of Light," he replied.

Theresa's mouth stood agape. "You mean it's actually real? Jaha was actually right?" she asked, clearly surprised.

"Seems so," Murphy muttered.

There was a pause as he continued moving forward, leaving footprints in the sand. Theresa looked down at her feet, making her feet match up with the footprints that Murphy left. She looked up, cautiously looking ahead at Jaha.

"Will you please tell me what's going on?" she pleaded.

"We're in a minefield, Theresa," Jaha called out.

She frantically looked around. That was when Murphy reassuringly squeezed her hand, letting her know that he still had her. Somehow she knew that he wasn't letting go, and for some reason, that was okay.

Jaha continued to check the ground in front of him when Murphy suddenly stopped, letting out a sigh. "That's four mines down, and infinity to go, Jaha!" he called out.

Jaha stopped and turned to look at Murphy before turning to look towards the sand dunes where the light was coming from. "We will make it, John," he tried to assure him.

"I can't do this anymore," the guy that had tried to leave Theresa behind said.

Murphy shot the guy a look. "Calm down, Richards." Then, he looked at Theresa. "You good?"

She hesitated a moment before nodding her head, taking a deep breath and squeezing his hand in reply.

Murphy looked to the sand dune now. "Who do you think it is?" he asked. "They must have power. You know, a shower would be nice right about now. I'd be able to wash off the rest of Harris."