Clarity || John Murphy

Chapter Four - Training

Chapter Four

Murphy sighed softly at his very few options of clothing. He had one of Jack's shirts, an extra pair of jeans, his old pants and shirt, both of which he wasn't too eager on wearing, and his old jacket.

He decided on Jack's shirt and the extra jeans.

So far, his plan was working. At least, he assumed it was. Eve was getting more and more eager to spend time with him, and she wasn't very good at hiding it.

He pulled on his shirt, and turned around to see Eve leaning against the door frame, staring at his clothes. "Well, I know what we're doing today."

"What?" He asked as he walked over to her, meeting her at the door.

"Shopping." She spun on her head, walking to the front door with him following after her.

"For what, exactly?" He jogged down the porch steps, walking right behind her. 

She turned around, touching some of the mud stains that wouldn't come out on his jacket. "Well, I think that you deserve better clothes than just a torn up jacket and t-shirt. Maybe some new pants too." When she turned away again, he frowned. Oh, if only she knew. He wasn't deserving of anything.

The two had made the pact the day before, and Murphy had spent the rest of the day with her. They went to a few stores, all with various items that went from clothing to bait for fishing and hunting.

Murphy especially liked the weapons store. Other than the guns, they made the weapons from scratch with a hammer, fireplace, cloth, and scrap metal. He loved that place. A lot of the weapons looked like the ones that they made from the dropship, but they had more materials to work with in the shop.

They walked down the street, passing many different stores. From the porch, you could only see a few stores and two apartment buildings. However, appearances could hide a lot. There were hundreds of houses, more than seven apartment buildings, at least fifteen stores, and a few factories. Indeed, the place was the size of a large town.

"How did you build all of this?" He asked.

"Like you, our people all have a certain talent. There are about twenty mechanics, a few plumbers, fifteen electricians, thirty construction workers, and around twenty farmers. Believe it or not, the land exceeds farther than you think."

"How are you able to look after it all?"

"We have over seven thousand people in this colony, Murphy. I think we can manage." She giggled.

"Aren't you afraid that the grounders might try to attack?"

"Well, no. Not really. We light torches every day, they are all around the perimeter of the land. The grounders are afraid of fire. And, when you think about it, nothing has really changed from a hundred years ago."

He was thoroughly confused now. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there are always the hunters and the hunted. The hunters are the grounders, and we are the hunted. But, in numbers, the hunted are the stronger of the two. It's like having the foxes and the hounds, one can tear something apart, while the other is faster and more agile. Both have equal advantages." She explained.

He nodded. He finally understood. She was right, it was almost like nothing changed.

When spending time with Eve, he almost forgot about the past few weeks. It was like the memories of his bad times on the ark and on the ground were simply pushed in the back of his mind, and he liked it that way. But, at the same time, it frightened him. He didn't want to like her, he couldn't. Not if he wanted to save himself.