Trapped

[Clarke Griffin]

John Murphy

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It’s been roughly four days and an unfortunate encounter later, that Clarke found herself stumbling upon what looked like a tower. Clarke didn’t know why the tower drew her closer, but it did. What she was hoping for, she had no idea, but she hoped that, if someone lived there, nobody inside that tower would care who she was. She didn’t even know why suddenly a blonde girl was stopped, looked over and kidnapped, but apparently they did not expect her to fight back, for whatever reason. Clarke didn’t care. She had hope to be safe in that tower at least for a while. 

When Clarke arrived, it turned out to be very similar to what she had seen in books on the Ark. It had been called a lighthouse. Even the location fit. The sea was beautiful. Even if nobody was there, it might give her a moment to rest. She was lucky to have gotten there in one piece. As Clarke found the door, she gently pressed it. Nothing would budge. Using both hands and more force the door gave in. To her surprise there was light inside! Actual light! 

“Hello?” She asked, hoping whoever was in there would be friendly. The door fell close soundly, making her jump, but she didn’t think much of it, least of all that it could be closed again.

[John Murphy]

Five days. He'd counted five days in here and still the door was locked and he could find no other way out of the bunker. It had been stupid to think he could actually relax for even a minute without it all going wrong. Murphy had barely settled, barely had a chance to process the event of the 'welcome' video, before he'd become a prisoner yet again. Exhausted, after hours spent each day trying to escape, he'd dozed occasionally only to spring up and try again. But he had made no progress without managing to put any significant dent in the door. Now he'd drifted into a restless half-sleep, sat on the floor and propped up against the side of the couch.   

The voice calling out jolted him awake. A moment to gather his bearings and Murphy was on his feet, sprinting to the stairs and up as quickly as his legs could carry him. Running straight into one of the last people he would expect to see. Staring in momentary bewilderment he pushed past her to try the door again, fingers already sore from previous attempts now grasping again to try to pry it open. Futile. Finally giving in, Murphy ceased, head pressing to rest against the door as he composed himself. Making some vague effort to steady the frustration and anger rippling beneath the surface as he eventually turned his attention to Clarke. "How did you get it open?"

Tag: Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke was startled by the way Murphy all but ran passed her to get to the door, to push at it. It didn’t buckle. It just opened so easily. How could it not open now? What was going on here? Clarke continued to stare at his efforts, paralyzed by what was going on and what that could imply. Did that mean he was trapped in here? And she with him? But why? By whom? And how? Though she had an idea by whom. Jaha was the only one who could be it. He left with Jaha, didn’t he? So maybe he locked him and now her in here, to keep them under his control. Control was always something this man craved more than anything and Clarke knew that first hand from the Ark.

“It was open.” Clarke replied as he turned to her. He looked defeated in a way she never expected. How long was he int here already? Clarke wanted to reach out, but they hadn’t parted on good terms and her hand still felt like it burned with blood and the current that released the radiation into the mountain, killing more people, than Murphy could perhaps dream about. No, she couldn’t touch him. She jerked her hand back and instead moved to try and push at the door once more. This time it wouldn’t move an inch. They were locked in. “Who… who keeps you – us in here?” And why? Were they a threat? Well she was, for sure, but she doubted the people here could know that. Clarke looked at the other delinquent. “How long have you been in here?”

John Murphy

[John Murphy]

It was open? They had opened it just to let Clarke in? Only to imprison them both. He watched as she tried to push at the door, a faint hope she would have some sort of magic touch where he had failed though knowing it was useless, that he was still trapped in here. And now with Clarke of all people. What the hell was she even doing here? Murphy stilled a moment as the other began to question, suspicious. How odd it was she had shown up, so far from 'home'. His wariness soon faded. She was after all stuck in here with him now and if it was some bizarre ruse, it was a bad one. Or a brilliant one. Regardless, she appeared sincere in her confusion, a touch of distress in her gaze even. Though whether or not that was only due to their current predicament was unclear. 

Murphy was reluctant to leave the door, fearing that if he ventured back downstairs it might open again, only to seal shut once he raced back up. Staying put for the moment he offered a reply to Clarke's question, reaching up to run both hands through his hair as he spoke. "Almost a week, I think... does it matter? We're both probably stuck in here for good now." Irritation had him turning and heading off down the stairs after a pointless glare at the door, though the concern it might reopen just when he was too far away still lingered. He went on as he descended into the bunker. "I don't know who keeps it locked. Whoever runs that stupid drone... " He had his suspicions on the matter, but he wanted to hear what Clarke might know first.

Tag: Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

Almost a week. That was a long time to be stuck in a place. And boy was karma at work here. Karma clearly was a bitch in those cases. Karma, her karma. If the grounders had something similar? She wondered what ithey really believed in. She guessed she would never find out. Not now. Being stuck in here meant she could … she could meet her end the way she had to: Locked up and helpless, like they were when she killed them. It would be befitting for her. But not for him. Clarke turned. Her feet carried her to a chair, in which she collapsed as if the life was drained from her. In that moment she felt the pain, the exhaustion, the hunger. She hadn’t stopped in days. She hadn’t properly eaten. She ate a few plants, but not enough to sustain her body properly. She had been running on what little reserves her body had stored. 

“A drone?” Clarke asked, almost curiously, but not curiously enough. What did she care? The one keeping them here was either a sadist, or someone wanting to use them. What did it matter? Murphy was resourceful, a survivor. Clarke, well she had seen too much. She could take whatever torture would be thrown her way. Clarke thought she had been through it all by now. Surely she must have been through the worst of it by now. Being locked with Murphy, well things could be worse than that, too. But they weren’t as bad yet. “Where is Jaha? Didn’t you leave with him?” Was he dead? Did he abandon Murphy? Both sounded very plausible to her. “You’ll come out of here alive.”

John Murphy

[John Murphy]

A glance to Clarke as she settled in a chair and Murphy's attention drifted back to the foot of the stairs leading up to the door. No use fretting it would open up again if he sat too; if somebody or something was taunting him then darting up and down to the door would be maybe what they wanted. Besides, it was more likely the lock had only been released to entrap Clarke, so unless there were more stragglers heading their way... were the Arkers all outside somewhere? He'd ask her. Before he had the chance she spoke up with questions for him. 

Questions he could only half answer. Yes, he'd left with the chancellor but the man's current whereabouts were anybody's guess and Murphy didn't care. Not unless Jaha was coming his way, to try to kill him in some 'sacrifice the few' frenzy or to break him out. with a quiet huff, he flopped down in a chair across from Clarke, offering a reply to her first question and in doing so answering the second. "Dead. Alive? How would I know? He ran off trying to catch one of those things as soon as we got here." The next words that left Clarke's lips drew Murphy's gaze her way, his expression flickering with bitterness and faint mistrust. "What are you doing here, Clarke?"

Clarke Griffin

[Clarke Griffin]

So Jaha was off and he abandoned Murphy. That might be news, but not unlikely. It sounded a lot like the politician she had come to know over the time, very much Jaha as she knew him, as she knew her mother. Her mother, too, did what she had to do. As did Clarke. There was no way to explain what it felt like, standing on the brink of this decision that would break apart things known, souls and hearts. Clarke felt like Jahas decision was much easier made. One person was easily abandoned. People proved it to Clarke first-hand. And she proved it herself not long ago. 

“A lot of things happened.” Clarke started. “We brought down Mount Weather.” She knew he knew parts of what was going on, but he was gone before the core of it all started. “A lot of people died.” And it was her fault. It was her responsibility. “I left, because… I couldn’t face the blood on my hands and their judgment.” Not yet. She had no choice, yes, but she had no way to deal yet either. Clarke knew, if she wanted, she could identify why she acted like that. She didn’t want to. “I came in here to find a bit of shelter.”

John Murphy