Passing Jackson another roll of gauze, I watched as he patched up Murphy's wounds. We had managed to subdue Emori with a sedative, and she was currently passed out on the bed as Echo secured the restraints around her wrists. 

"I'm getting used to patching you up, Murphy." Jackson announced, fastening the bandage around his wrist. 

My eyes flickered to Murphy's face. He looked tired, frustrated, hurt- all of the above. I mean anyone would if their girlfriend just tried to murder them. 

"I guess we now know what the restraints were for." Bellamy commented from where he sat on the end of the bed. 

"How long will she be out for?" Echo wondered, giving a final tug on the restraints to ensure they were tight enough. 

I stepped away from Murphy, making my way toward the rest of them. "The sedative in the tranq-stick should last about three hours."

"Okay, what about the mothership?" Miller questioned. "They're gonna think it's us, how are we going to warn them."

"We don't." Bellamy answered. "Radios don't work down here. For now, we worry about ourselves." He then looked to Murphy, concern in his eyes. "Murphy, are you okay?"

"His wounds are superficial." Jackson responded instead. "You're lucky." he added, giving Murphy a small nod.

Murphy face clouded over in anger. "I'm lucky?" he echoed. "I'm sorry is that your professional diagnosis? Because if so, you suck at being a doctor."

"Murphy--" Echo chastised. 

"What?" he snapped. "No. What? I'm dying to know what he thinks turned my girlfriend into the monster that just attacked me."

"It's all right here." Clarke explained, holding up the book from earlier. "'For two days, heaven is hell and friends become foes.'  Whatever is in the air affects people too."

"Why are the rest of us okay?" Miller challenged.

Clarke shook her head. "I don't know. But according to this, it comes from the plants."

"It's a children's book." Murphy argued. 

I turned to him with a challenging look. "Yeah. A children's book that's predicted everything that has happened so far."

"When we were running from the bugs, Emori went down in the brush." Clarke pointed out. "It's probably why she lost it first."

"First?" Echo repeated. 

"We're all breathing it in." Bellamy answered. 

Miller looked panicked as he spoke. "If it's the air out there, then we'll stay in here." He proposed, shedding his jacket and shoving it into the crack underneath the door. "We are gonna ride it out in here."

"That's a great plan, Miller." Murphy muttered, sarcasm dripping from his every word. "What happens when we're trapped in here and the rest of us lose our minds?"

"Murphy's right." Bellamy agreed as he pushed himself to his feet. "There's more restraints in the school. I'm guessing they're everywhere. We need to separate."

Echo nodded. "I'll stay with Emori."

The rest of us looked around, each of us increasingly on edge. It was clear that we were all terrified that we were about to kill each other....this was not the time to have pent up feeling and grudges, that was for sure. 

---

"Feel secure?" I wondered, looking up at Miller as I finished locking the restraint around his wrist before pocketing the key. 

He gave me a quick look before tugging at the chain as hard as he could. "Good." 

I nodded, turning to Bellamy who was just finishing up with Jackson. "Good to go." I called.

"Same here." Bellamy answered, turning to look between Miller and Jackson. "We'll just be in the school. If anything happens, we'll be able to hear you, okay?"

Jackson looked like he was going to throw up as he nodded. "Okay." he agreed, Miller giving us a small nod. 

Bellamy nodded me toward the door. "Let's go."

I gave Miller and Jackson tight smiles before following after Bellamy, my heart pounding in my chest. 

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" I wondered as we walked toward the school. "Murphy and Clarke in the same building? If anyone wants to kill each other its those two."

Bellamy gave me a small smile as he nodded. "That's why they're with us."

I looked up at him as it dawned on me. "We're their babysitters?"

"Pretty much." He shrugged as we arrived at the school.

"Good thinking Mr. Blake." I praised, shooting him a grin as I pulled open the doors. 

My comment earlier about how Murphy and Clarke wanted to kill each other? Yeah, that was pretty obvious as we entered the school house. The two of them were stationed on different sides of the room, anger in both of their eyes. 

"Okay." Bellamy announced, turning and locking the door as we entered. "Echo's with Emori. Jackson's with Miller upstairs. No one's armed. Now it's our turn."

He stopped, holding his hand out for the gun that was currently gripped in Murphy's hand. "Gun."

Murphy's eyes were locked on Clarke as he reluctantly passed the gun to Bellamy who still seemed oblivious. "What'd we miss?" he wondered, looking between the two of them.

When no one answered, he moved toward the far side of the room to discard the guns. "Okay. Consider this time to work out your differences."

I let out a small snort under my breath as I fastened my restraint around my wrist. This was going to be interesting. 

Bellamy picked up Murphy's restraint and gave him and expectant look. "Now, Murphy."

Begrudgingly, Murphy allowed Bellamy to secure and lock the restraint around his wrist. 

I fastened my own restraint, letting out a shaky sigh as I locked it, giving it a quick tug to ensure it was secure. 

"Why do you get to have everyone's keys?" Murphy wondered as Bellamy put own his own restraints. 

"I don't." Bellamy answered, looking over to me. "Avery will have mine." he explained, tossing me his keys. "And Clarke will have hers."

As I caught his key, I gave him a confused look. Why in the world would I give Clarke mine?

One stern look from Bellamy caused me to roll my eyes before reluctantly tossing my set of keys to Clarke. 

"So basically I'm the only one who doesn't get a key." Murphy gathered, looking to the remaining three of us.

I gave him a small nod while plastering on a fake smile. "Basically."

"Great." he muttered, slowly lowering himself into a seated position. "I just hope the people who live here don't come home after murdering everyone on the mothership. That would just be the icing on the cake."

"Want to know what my favourite thing about you is, John?" I wondered, noting as Clarke's face fell at his words. 

Murphy looked over at me with raised brows. "I would love to."

I glared at him as I sat down on one of the benches. "Your positivity. It truly shines a light on all my darkest days."

Murphy smirked. "Coming from you, Sunshine, that means a lot."

Scoffing, I turned away from him, trying to focus my attention on anything else to keep me occupied.

Like I said, this was going to be interesting. 

---

"So," I drawled, looking around at the three others. "Should we play a game or something?"

Close to an hour had passed and we had all sat in complete silence. An uncomfortable tension has settled across the room.

"I-Spy?" I proposed, giving them all a mock look of excitement. 

Murphy glanced over at me, rolling his eyes. "You know, Collins, I haven't even felt the effects of whatever all of this is, but I already want to kill you."

"Right." I breathed, slumping down in my seat. "I'm going to take that as a 'no' then."

Bellamy looked over at me, a amused smile playing on his lips as he shook his head with a small laugh.

"God." Murphy muttered, lightly banging his head against the wall. "I hate being tied up, yet somehow whenever I'm with you, sooner or later, we wind up here, don't we?" he challenged, eyes once again locked on Clarke. 

"I mean, first, you hanged me." he reminded, the memory causing me to cringe. 

"Well, in fairness, I did that." Bellamy corrected. 

"Only after she forced your hand." Murphy pointed out.

I leaned forward slightly, looking over at Murphy. "Do we really want to relive the stuff we did when we first got down to Earth?" I wondered, trying to stop him before this got any worse. 

Murphy ignored me. "And who could forget Lexa? Yeah, I was tied up that night too. Just a disposable pawn in your game."

He finally looked over at me, a false look of fondness on his face. "Oh, hey, Avery. Remember that time Clarke killed your brother? That was a fun one."

Clarke's face twitched, meanwhile I bit down on the inside of my cheek, trying to keep myself from reacting. 

"That's not fair." Clarke argued. 

"Neither was tying up me, Emori and Avery in Becca's lab. But Emori was disposable, too, right? I know you remember that one, Clarke, cause you drew a little picture of it in your memory book."

"Let me ask you a question." Murphy pressed on. "Did you draw a picture of Bellamy in the fighting pit, too?"

"Okay, Murphy." Bellamy ordered. "That's enough. Don't make me gag you, too."

Murphy raised his hands in surrender, and as he did so a wince covered his face, a result of his wounds. 

"Jackson can take another look at the wound in the morning." Clarke promised, seemingly not too phased by what Murphy said. 

Murphy clearly wasn't done. "It's not from the knife, it's from the bullet wounds I took saving Bellamy and Avery's lives from those armed psychopaths you put back in the battlefield."

I couldn't argued with him on that one. Clarke's latest betrayal was one that still stung. Forgiveness may have been forgiven for wrongs committed before Praimfaya, but this one was too fresh. 

Clarke finally seemed to snap. "What the hell do you want from me, Murphy? I'm sorry, okay, for all of it." she yelled. "I never meant for you to get hurt, but, no matter what I do, someone always does. Is that what you want to hear, that I'm the bad guy? Fine, I'll be the bad guy."

Tilting her head slightly, she continued. "When I'm in charge, people die." she then looked to Bellamy. "Isn't that what you said?"

Her face remained stoic as she looked back to Murphy. "Satisfied?"

He shrugged slightly. "It's a start."

Moments after the words had left Murphy's mouth, screaming from up above caught all of our attention. 

"MAKE IT STOP!"

I glanced upward, my face falling. "It's Miller."

Clarke, Bellamy and I pushed ourselves to our feet. "Miller, what's wrong?" Bellamy yelled to the floor up above us. 

"Avery, I've got to get up there now." Bellamy demanded, meaning he wanted me to give him his key.

"If you're going, then so am I." I asserted, digging my hand into my pocket for his key. 

"Bellamy, give me my key." Clarke ordered. "I'm coming with you."

I threw Bellamy his key, just as he threw Clarke's toward her. Both of them rushed to free themselves from the restraints.

"Clarke," I called, awaiting my key. "Pass me mine."

She looked to Bellamy, a guilty look coming to her face as she shook her head. "No."

"'No?'" I echoed, anger coursing through me. "What do you mean 'no'?"

"Someone needs to stay with Murphy." she explained, looking to Bellamy to back her up.

Much to my dismay, Bellamy nodded his head. "She's right." he agreed. "It's safer in here anyway."

"You're kidding me right now." I snapped, looking to him with an incredulous expression.

"I'm sorry." he muttered, giving me an apologetic look before he and Clarke took off toward the doors. "We'll be right back."

I lunged forward before being yanked back by the restraints. "Bellamy!"

The door slammed shut, disconnecting me from the two of them. Still fuming with anger, I kicked at the chair closest to me. 

"And then there were two." Murphy muttered, shooting me a displeased look. 

I shook my head, aggressively lowering myself back onto the bench. "This is ridiculous."

"Does it ever bother you?" Murphy wondered, glancing over at me. "It's always Bellamy and Clarke isn't it. The King and Queen off to save the day."

I stared straight ahead, my chest still heaving in anger as I tried to tune out Murphy's voice...it didn't work very well. 

"Always under the guise of 'protecting you', right? Even though you and I both know you don't need protecting." he continued. 

Finally turning my head to look at him, I gave a small nod. I agreed with everything he said...for once. "It does bother me." I confirmed, my voice quiet. 

Murphy grinned as he held up a scalpel. "Then what do you say we get out of here? I say there's a new King and Queen on this planet."