Locked away together

[Gena Martin]

John Murphy

She had lost track of time. It was multiple days, but she eventually gave up counting when the sun rose or sunk. Gena heard soon enough that the mountain had been blown up. Healed or not, she knew her people wouldn’t come for her. They thought she was dead. They expected her to be gone while she was still very much alive, a prisoner in Polis. But something changed. It was subtle. She couldn’t see it outside, but bit by bit the cells filled up. People joined her in her cell and she sunk into a dark corner, watching grounders she didn’t trust, wrapped in the blanket she had been given in one of the nights where she fought her bodys reaction to being stabbed. 

Now more and more were in her cell, but one surprised her more than any others: Murphy. She didn’t think she’d ever see. She had met him on the Ark, like many other people, actually. He was one of the kids that had her worried when she served him food. It was just something she could never prevent. But she was glad to see him in the bar on the ground. She hadn’t talked to him then, but now, surrounded by countless grounders, she had to.

“John?”

[John Murphy]

The grounders hadn't so much as led him into the cell as thrown him in. He'd expect nothing less considering the 'welcome' he'd already received elsewhere in this hellhole, and given the state of several other prisoners as he cast a glance around him, a few of them might have been honored with the VIP treatment too. He got to his feet anyway as the grounder guards slammed the cell closed, gaining his bearings as he took in just what he'd been thrown into. Being among other prisoners didn't necessarily mean a brief respite from assault. 

Nobody stirred other than a few turned heads, so he settled to sit cross-legged on the spot he'd originally landed in the middle of the cell, head dipping a touch as he felt the sting of his wounds. How or if he'd get out of here now he had no clue, but if a chance were to arise, he would take it. There was barely time for him to sink into his own thoughts before he heard his name, though he didn't recognize the voice. Head raised he glanced across the cell, hinting a frown once his gaze settled on the corner, though the dim light concealed who had spoken up. "... Who's that?"

Gena Martin

[Gena Martin]

She could imagine that it was hard to see her with all those others around. And in truth she suspected she looked more like a dirty grounder now than the girl in the bar, who used to serve meals and drinks with a gentle smile and a compassionate ear. She was dirty, malnourished and in a condition that others hardly expected. She was alive despite the fact that the mountain she had been in was blown up. But she didn’t even know if Murphy knew of that. He wasn’t in Arkadia at the time as far as she knew.

“It’s me. Gena. You know…the girl who served you food on the Ark.” Back when lives were a loooot easier. Now they were a mess and she was scared. She had to be scared of what would come. She already escaped death once, she might not be so lucky next time. And neither might he. Gena scrambeled up to come a bit closer. “Good to see you in one piece. You weren’t in Arkadia for ages. I thought you might have been one of those who bit it.”

John Murphy

[John Murphy]

Gena. He recognized the name as she gave it, recalling her from the Ark even before her offering the clarification. Not that he knew her well at all, but she had certainly been a familiar face up there, and again on the ground while he'd still been at the Arker camp. She'd been friendly in comparison to many others, or at least civil. Always seeming to have a calm demeanor and a soft smile in Murphy's recollection. He'd always silently appreciated it, even if never fully acknowledging that fact himself. 

"... Gena..." He quietly repeated and now as she came closer he could see she looked different; no surprise given where they were, both prisoners and apparently both injured. Yet, still she greeted with kind words. In one piece... despite everything and he was glad of it. "For now..." He cast a glance to the cell door but soon refocused on the other Arker, his voice low. "Thought it was just grounders in here... how'd they get you?" He gave her a quick glance over in a brief assessment of the state of her, wondering if she'd had a similar beating before being dragged in here. Another glance around the cell as if he might spot more Arkers hiding in the shadows but regardless, it was good to see her too among so many strangers, whether he said so or not.

Gena Martin

[Gena Martin]

How did they get her? Well her story was probably less adventurous than his. It was rather painful, too, because they didn’t keep her alive because she herself was valuable. They’d kill her. Collateral damage in a war she never fought in and never signed up for. It was who she knew, who she meant something to, which ensured her status as alive for now. It would not do so for long. “Mount Weather.” Gena began. “They attacked it, way back. Blew it up with lots of our people inside. Stabbed me. They kept me alive because they thought I was valuable to someone. Bellamy.” She was a back up weapon, leverage against Skaikru that they might use. That was the only reason she was alive. But recently things changed a lot. 

“Things changed down here. It wasn’t that full. Why… what’s going on? Do you know anything of the others?” She looked at him, saw how worn he looked. He looked like he had thought, not just physically for a long time. It caused the young woman to reach out and place her hand on his cheek in a gentle, caring gesture. “How are you feeling?” Was there anything she could do? A wound she could patch up or anything? She couldn’t do much about her situation. But she could try and help him with what she could do. She could still meet this with the only appropriate response she learned: Care.

John Murphy