There was still fire blazing on the wreckage of the Exodus ship. Small, unthreatening flames, but fire all the same.

Avery could hear yells from Delinquents to one another as they walked through the mess that was the crash landing, but she wasn't saying a word herself. She couldn't keep her eyes away from the blonde girl looking at the wrecked ship, the scorched skeletons, the mess that was another ship from the Ark.

Raven and Finn were talking to one another, intent on finding some black box, but Avery was determined to talk to Clarke. She didn't know why it had sprung into her mind now, but she had the strong urge to try and explain everything to the emotionally distraught girl.

Was it the right time to do so? Probably not.

But Avery had summoned the courage now. If she didn't act on it, that courage would soon disappear.

She fell into step beside the girl, silently at first, trying to gauge her mood. Clarke had no anger left in her. Her sombreness just made her quiet. Probably willing to be left alone, but it wasn't as though Avery picked up on that.

"I'm really, really sorry about Abby." 

Clarke's head immediately turned to look at her, and she could tell from the way her eyes were burning into the side of her head that she didn't quite believe her. 

"I know, you have no reason to think that's true, but it is. I swear."

She sucked in a breath, summoning even more courage to take a look at Clarke, who was just staring back at her in disbelief. For the first time ever, there was no trace of hatred or anger towards one another and Avery was sure she could get used to it.

"I just wanna explain." She said slowly, before scrambling to avoid digging a hole. "It's not an excuse, cause the way I've treated you is inexcusable, I know that. I just want to tell you why."

"Okay."

"O-Okay?" She couldn't help but be taken aback by Clarke's nonchalance. She couldn't understand why the girl would want to speak to her so easily, without any resentment about the way she treated her for years.

"Okay." Clarke confirmed.

When it was clear the blonde was expecting Avery to launch into explanation, Avery shuffled on the spot nervously, thinking long and hard about the fact she was opening up about something so personal to someone she hated for up until about five minutes ago.

"When my dad got sick a few years ago, your mom was assigned to treating him. She tried about a hundred different treatments, but nothing was working."

She tried to rid her throat of the lump settling there, but Clarke's curious eyes on her was making it impossible.

"I chose to blame her instead of accepting the fact my dad was too sick to get better. And then I took it out on you, for having stupid, loving parents that weren't dying." She laughed bitterly, pinging a hair tie against her wrist. "After a while, I had been acting shitty for so long I didn't know how to stop."

The blonde frowned, about a thousand different thoughts flickering through her mind. Avery scrambled for words, feeling her paranoia kick in.

"Not that this is my excuse! I really am sorry Clarke. I swear. I just wanted you to know that."

And there was something about her quiet tone that Clarke recognised as being genuine. Instead of just accepting the apology and letting the conversation awkwardly die out, she decided to open up about her own family, and how they weren't always the stupid, loving parents that weren't dying all along.

"I thought Wells turned my dad in. That it was his fault he got floated." She began bluntly, eyes quickly flickering to Avery to ensure she was really listening. "It was my mom. It's because of her that he's dead."

Avery could feel a desire inside herself to let her jaw drop. She fought against it - knowing that it wouldn't be any sort of relief to Clarke - and instead gave her the same sort of sad smile that she received when she talked to people about her dad's death.

"I didn't forgive her before she died." She croaked out in a whisper, afraid that if she said it any louder, the pain would hit her even harder.

"Your mom knew you loved her. Whether you forgave her or not, it doesn't matter. She always knew you loved her."

Clarke's eyes were shining with tears that threatened to fall, but as she looked at Avery, awe and amazement were the feelings most present. Neither of them needed to say another thing; they simply knew that things could be better between them from then on.

"Stay sharp!" Bellamy called out to them all, his eyes flickering over the two girls with suspicion. "Grounder retaliation for what happened on the bridge is coming, just a matter of when."

"Can you blame them?" Finn retorted.

Clarke and Avery shared a knowing look before the latter turned her attention entirely to the two boys and Raven, who seemed to be sick of their shit. Avery left Clarke to scour the rest of the wreckage whilst she strolled over to Raven, stopping a few feet in front of her.

"No, I blame you." Bellamy said with a sarcastic smile.

"Maybe if you didn't bring guns-"

"-If we didn't bring guns, we all would've been killed." Raven interrupted the fighting harshly, eyes burning into whatever machinery she was looking at.

Avery cleared her throat awkwardly, earning attention from them all. "Alright, let's not go through this again." She advised.

"Why they're coming doesn't matter anymore." Bellamy said in exhaustion. "It's our job to be ready when they do. We're on our own now."

And to her surprise, Avery actually agreed.

"Clarke, stop!"

Raven's yell to the blonde startled everyone around. Clarke had leaned towards a piece of the ship, inspecting a strange pink liquid, and pulling back with a hand shielding her nose.

"Rocket fuel?" She questioned as the others neared.

And as it came closer into view, Avery recognised it as, "Hydrazine."

Raven and Avery answered at the same time. Everyone's eyes directed towards Avery, clearly surprised that she knew it, and the girl pouted in mock annoyance that they would ever doubt her abilities.

"What? I had a lot of time on the Ark to read about things."

"It's highly unstable in its non-solid form." Raven crouched besides the dripping hydrazine, taking a small rock from the ground and dipping it into the liquid. "If this stuff meets fire, we're all pink mist."

Straightening up again, Raven yelled out, "Fire in the hole!" before launching the rock towards a flame about ten feet away from them. As soon as it hit the fire, it erupted in an explosion, blasting debris all across the wreckage site, and alarming the other unaware Delinquents.

"That was awesome." Avery said breathlessly, making Raven chuckle.

"We need to clear the area." She spoke calmly, secretly taking delight in how caught off guard both Finn and Bellamy were by the explosion.

"Okay then." Bellamy collected himself, looking away from Raven and towards the rest of the site. "We move in formation, no straggling, weapons hot. We gotta get back before dark."

As the group trailed back through the woods to their camp, Avery walked alongside Raven, who was sharing her interest in Avery's knowledge of hydrazine. Avery only knew the basics of the compound, but listened intently as Raven talked her through everything she understood about it.

When they reached the camp, they all split off into different directions. Avery made a beeline straight for her tent, wanting nothing more to collapse into a long sleep that extended all through the night. She didn't notice Octavia scouring the returning Delinquents to try and find her and tell her the big news.

Somehow, god knows how, Avery was oblivious to the word travelling around camp of Murphy's return.

Sure, she had flopped into her bed immediately after returning from the Exodus ship wreckage, but even then Harper would had the opportunity to tell her. It was widely known that Avery and Murphy were friends from back on the Ark - their hug moments after Murphy's attempted hanging seen by most - and so her name was being mentioned almost as much as Murphy's as people discussed his appearance.

But as she breezed through the camp towards Monty's tent that morning, she didn't notice people's stares on her. Everyone assumed she had found out about Murphy's arrival by now, so no one thought to bring it up.

"Guys, I'm coming in, you better not be changing in here!" She called out before ducking inside Monty and Jasper's tent. She expected to find the pair bickering or laughing about something stupid. Instead, she found a deathly uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Maybe you should find somewhere else to sleep."

By the tone of Jasper's voice, Avery guessed that it wasn't a suggestion. Monty's eyes flickered towards her, and he grimaced slightly, but Jasper's seething stare never left Monty's face.

"Maybe I should."

"Then do it."

"I will."

"Good."

Avery cleared her throat, feeling awkwardness rise to her face through heat in her cheeks. She clearly chose the wrong moment to interrupt them. Maybe it would finally teach her the lesson of asking to go into someone's tent instead of just barging in (it probably wouldn't).

"Sorry," She began cringing, feeling even more uncomfortable as Jasper looked towards her. "Could I borrow Monty for just a second?"

"I was leaving anyway." Jasper mumbled, taking one last annoyed look at Monty before pushing open the tent door and leaving.

It took a second for Avery to come back to her senses, looking between the tent exit and Monty, before letting out a breathy laugh and trying to let it all process in her mind. He shook his head, clearly frustrated, and adjusted the blanket over his body, subtly hinting for her to sit down.

She didn't look at him as she settled down on the end of his mattress, playfully tugging part of his blanket away so she could warm up her legs in the chill of the morning. She never would've expected to see Monty and Jasper arguing like that.

"What was that about?"

She asked cautiously, almost worried that Monty would snap or get upset about the events that just unfolded - not knowing how often of an occurrence it was for the best friends to argue. But Monty was calm as he replied, fiddling with the edge of his orange blanket as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Harper wanted to 'hear about the bridge' in our tent with Jasper later today but he turned her down cause he's holding out for Octavia. I told her he was being dumb for thinking anything would happen there and he turned it into some stupid thing about me being jealous of how people think he's cool now."

"I think you're cool." Avery commented, nudging his leg.

A smile passed his lips and he fondly rolled his eyes. "That's cause I am cool."

She scoffed at his remark, not holding back a grin as he laughed. Then his laughter faded, and he was left with a simple smile, one which Avery wasn't certain whether it was sad or genuine.

"And so I have to find somewhere else to stay now, apparently."

"He's being a dick." Avery said firmly. "Give him some time to apologise, he should be the one to approach you."

Monty shrugged, clearly bothered over the harsh words his best friend carelessly spat at him, but trying to dismiss it. He turned his attention to the main problem he was facing, instead of addressing the anxiety beginning to riddle him over the awkwardness of a potential apology Jasper would give him in the next few days.

"I don't know where I'm gonna sleep."

"You can stay in my tent."

She said it as though it were obvious. If it were obvious, would Monty be tensing up, colour rising to his face? He feigned nonchalance, looking everywhere but her face for fear she'd be able to sense his nervousness.

"But there's only two beds. For you and Harper." He responded slowly, almost as an invitation for Avery to say what he was hoping she would say.

"You can share with me, dumbass." She said without missing a beat.

And although Monty guessed that that's what she would say, he still had to reach up his hand to scratch the back of his neck, to distract from the red in his cheeks and the nervous expression plastered on his face. Avery sucked in a breath, feeling the air lodge in her throat and her heart pick up slightly.

It was a stupid, awkward, moment shared between two lovestruck teens dancing around their feelings for one another. One who was dangerously spontaneous, but with little romantic experience, and the other with slightly more romantic experience - if you count a single awkward dance with Nathan Miller at one of the Unity Day masquerade party - but who had very little spontaneity to make a move.

"Thanks." He managed to get out, sheepishly, and she rolled her eyes with a reserved fondness.

It was then that it suddenly hit Monty; what had happened last night at camp. Murphy was in their Dropship, probably dealing with the wrath of Bellamy and Clarke, and he definitely didn't envy him.

"Oh, oh my god, I forgot to ask you. You been to the Dropship to see him yet?"

Avery's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Him? Who are we talking about now?"

Monty's mouth formed the shape of an 'o' as he realised Avery's genuine obliviousness. He couldn't help but let a laugh escape his lips at the fact she had somehow missed Murphy's presence for a number of hours in which virtually everyone was talking about him.

"You- you don't know?"

"Know what?" She replied dumbly, feeling frustration bubble up at the fact she was lost in the conversation.

"You gotta go to the Dropship."

He heaved himself up from the mattress, tugging on Avery's sleeve to pull her up from the bed, still not explaining. She frowned slightly, her mind swirling with the conversation she shared with Clarke the day before.

"But I wanted to tell you something about Clarke." She whined as she allowed Monty to shun her to the make-shift tent door.

"You can tell me later, this is more important, I swear."

Pouting, she let Monty gently push her from the tent, leaving her to wander across the camp to the Dropship. Her eyes fell upon the Delinquents scattered about, some of whom were covering their mouths and noses with handkerchiefs or even their sleeves. Everyone looked scared, and it worried Avery.

It worried her more that she didn't know what they were scared about.

Bellamy's anxious voice was audible from outside, almost making Avery not enter just for that reason. It had happened a few times already; he'd been so stressed that he'd snap at the girl with a string of less than nice words, spurred on by her annoying actions.

But when she moved into the Dropship, Bellamy's hand fell to her shoulder, his eyes burning into her own with a serious intensity. He pushed her gently in the direction of the door.

"You shouldn't be in here."

"You can't stop me." She fired back stubbornly, not even knowing the reason for his words.

Bellamy's hand didn't leave her shoulder as he glanced away to someone else for a moment, before turning back with a warning. He knew he wouldn't be able to get her to leave, so keeping her away was his only option.

"Don't go near them."

"Why not?" She questioned, not moving out of his grip but shuffling so the rest of the Dropship was visible to her. "What's going on?"

Clarke fell into her vision then; the girl knelt on the floor with a bloody rag in hand, next to another figure. Avery had scanned over them momentarily, but then she did a double take. The person had blood dripping down almost every inch of their face, hair matted and clothes ripped.

It took a few moments for her to realise who it was.

"Murphy?"

The briefest smile passed the boy's lips, and then he winced. Flopping back against the Dropship wall, he looked up at his speechless friend, who admittedly didn't think that he would've survived out in the wild alone.

"I would hug you," He croaked out, his voice hoarse from what Avery could figure out was due to excessive shouting. "But I don't want to give you this fucking virus."

"Wh- How?" She shook her head, struggling to process it all. "How are you here?"

"The Grounders had him captured. Then they let him go." Clarke explained tiredly. "Gave him a virus that'll spread to us all."

"Shit, is it serious?"

Bellamy, Clarke and Murphy's eyes all fell to the two boys slumped in a corner of the Dropship, coughing and spluttering. Avery followed their gazes, biting her lip anxiously, and feeling herself take a few more steps away from Clarke and Murphy.

"Pretty serious." Bellamy said bitterly. He whirled back to Murphy, looking like he wanted to pounce on the boy, but keeping his distance with an unhealthy amount of anger. "Is this your revenge? Helping the Grounders kill us?"

"I didn't know about this, I swear." Murphy muttered in response, his voice shaky as Clarke tended to his wounds.

"Stop lying!" The Blake boy yelled, his voice bouncing across every corner of the Dropship. "When are they coming?"

"They don't need to come if this virus is gonna kill all of us." Avery realised aloud in one exhausted breath.

"Murphy, think, all right?" Clarke was the only one reacting rationally to the situation, still dabbing a rag against Murphy's head as she spoke to the boy. "What can you tell us that's useful? Did you hear anything?"

"They are vicious, cruel."

"You wanna see vicious?"

This time, Avery's hand fell to Bellamy's shoulder, pulling him backwards as a physical sign to reign it in a little. Although, she couldn't understand why he was so angry with Murphy when he was the one to banish him; not the other way around.

"Whatever this thing is, it spreads through contact." Clarke added, and Bellamy reluctantly took another step backwards from the girl and Murphy.

"Clarke?"

Finn's voice floated through the Dropship as the boy appeared, concern imbedded onto his face as she locked eyes with the blonde. "Here's lover boy." Avery muttered under her breath, less than impressed with the unnecessary drama he would add to an already difficult situation.

"Finn you shouldn't be in here." Clarke responded, eyes falling to Avery and Bellamy. "No one should."

"I heard you were sick." Finn stated simply, moving closer than Avery and Bellamy dared to. He took a look around; at the dried blood streaking Clarke's cheeks, Murphy's whole bloodied figure, and the state of the two boys who helped carry him in. "Clarke what is this?"

"I don't know, some kind of haemorrhagic fever."

"And in English?" Avery piped up, unashamed over her lack of biological knowledge.

"It includes symptoms such as bleeding from body openings, jaundice," She hesitated, wincing. "And seizures."

There was a beat of silence and Avery swore she could hear her own heart thudding out of her chest. She didn't know how far away from Clarke she should've been standing, but she was hoping that her current distance was safe.

"Well that's just fucking dandy."

"We just need to contain it before-"

Clarke was interrupted by one of the boys hunched in the corner letting out a groan and collapsing onto his side, beginning to seize. Finn startled forwards with her, trying to reach for her, but she jerked away, backing up towards the seizing boy.

"Don't touch me, you could get sick." She scolded Finn without looking at him. "Go wash your hands."

"What the hell's happening to him?"

Everyone watched in fear as the boy lurched forwards on all fours, blood expelling from his mouth and splattering onto the Dropship floor. Avery felt a sharp pain in her chest; an anxiousness over getting sick upon seeing the symptoms.

"I don't know."

Suddenly, the boy collapsed. Lying still on the floor, no movement, no sound. Clarke crept towards him, her fingers moving to a pulse point on his neck.

"Is he?" 

Bellamy didn't have to say the exact word in the question for everyone to understand what he meant. Clarke, upon replying, was much less subtle.

"He's dead."

Avery could only feel the sharp pain getting worse and worse. Her heart rate was growing erratic and she was struggling to focus on anything going on around her as she attempted to control it.

"What do we do?" Finn asked Clarke, shaking off the alcohol poured onto his hands.

"Quarantine. Round up everyone who had contact with Murphy. Bring them here."

Finn disappeared from the Dropship to do as she said. Avery couldn't help but think that those who may be collected and aren't sick would be doomed in being stuck with those who are. But she supposed it was the only thing they could do.

"And everyone they had contact with?" Bellamy asked sourly.

"Well we have to start somewhere." Clarke whirled back to Connor, who was still staring at the boy beside him who had died. "Connor, who was with you when you found him? Who carried him in?"

It took him a moment to look away and towards Clarke. He was breathing heavily, the blood on his face still fresh. But Avery knew that the illness hadn't hit its high yet. They all knew it was going to get worse for him, and she could guess that it was terrifying.

"The first one there was Octavia."

Bellamy's eyes widened. His face immediately flashed with fear and an innate sense of protectiveness over his sister. In a second, he had stormed from the Dropship in search of the girl, not hesitating for a single second.

Avery quickly muttered something about following him, casting one last look to Murphy who she longed to talk to, before leaving to catch up to the Blake boy. He hadn't got too far, despite his seemingly quick pace, and the girl fell into step with him with no intentions of annoying him today.

"Murphy showed up outside the gates last night."

She didn't have to say a word for Bellamy to launch into explanation, ironing out the few details she had missed from the situation of which she got caught in the middle. He didn't slow down from weaving through the camp to find Octavia, dead set on getting to her sister as soon as possible.

"He wasn't sick until today, no one was."

Bellamy's whole body was tensed up with worry, his hands - for once - clasped into fists instead of around his gun, which was slung across his back. Avery frowned, feeling the need to say something, anything, in attempts to reassure him about Octavia.

But the reality was that she couldn't. She couldn't put that false hope inside Bellamy's head in case it was the worst case scenario for Octavia. She couldn't live with that on her conscience, even if she did believe the girl was a fighter and would never let an illness like this take her down.

"Bellamy." 

Avery caught his arm right before he ducked into Octavia's tent. He searched her expression in confusion and impatience but she only stared back blankly.

"You gotta be careful."

The boy tried to hide the flicker of surprise that crossed his face at her sentiment. Avery didn't miss it, doing a better job in hiding the tiny smile that threatened her lips for only a second. Letting her hand go from his arm, she waited for him to leave, but he stayed for an extra moment.

"You too."

As Bellamy went to warn his sister, Avery realised that she didn't really have anything to do. Finn was taking the job of getting everyone else together, and it's not like she could help with that when she had no idea who was there when they found Murphy.

It was when she saw Jasper, boasting once again about what happened on the bridge, that Avery remembered the whole encounter that made her go into the Dropship in the first place. She traipsed back towards the boy's shared tent, finding the other boy packing away his things into a bag. 

"Ready to move in together?" She joked, making Monty jump.

He only smiled in return, doing one last sweep of the tent to make sure he didn't miss anything. He was clearly unhappy about Jasper making him move out, even if it did mean he could share with the girl. He dodged the topic by gesturing for her to leave the tent first and asking her a question in return.

"You saw Murphy then?"

She sucked in a breath, still in disbelief about it, and nodded. Monty studied her expression, trying to gauge her feelings about it. But how could he know how she was feeling if she barely did?

"Yeah, yeah I did. I just- I don't get how he's alive. The Grounders took him but," She hesitated, feeling that sharp pain in her chest return over the thought of Murphy's possible death. "I thought they would've killed him."

Monty nodded thoughtfully, before nudging her arm as they walked. "Well they didn't."

She let a brief smile pass her lips as she agreed. As they made their way towards her tent, Avery once more caught sight of the Delinquents covering their noses and mouths, avoiding others in an attempt to not catch the illness Murphy had been spreading. 

"You haven't been near anyone who's been with him, right?"

"No, I'm fine." Monty said, looking at the others in worry. "Don't worry."

"Okay good. That virus looks fucking terrifying." She muttered anxiously.

Avery slumped down onto her bed, closing her eyes for a brief moment of rest before startling up again, rolling her eyes at how Monty was awkwardly sidling into the tent. She took hold of the stuff he had dragged from his and Jasper's tent, throwing it onto her bed, and essentially forcing him to make himself comfortable.

"Who's sick so far?"

"Well Murphy, obviously. Connor is too. And Clarke. Finn's trying to round up everyone who's been near him but- I don't know, I don't think it'll work." She winced, rubbing a hand over her face. "Someone's died already, Monty. And I didn't even know his name."

Monty's face briefly flashed with fear and shock, hiding it within a moment. He sat down beside her, shuffling closer to brush his knee against hers. 

"Clarke will figure it out. She will." He said firmly, almost as though he was trying to convince himself of it. "She has to."

Avery agreed with this. Even in the past - very recent past - where she didn't like Clarke, she knew that the girl was reliable in these sorts of crises. 

"Speaking of Clarke," She began awkwardly, ignoring Monty's confused look. "I talked to her yesterday."

"About?"

"Her mom." His eyebrows shot up in surprise, his mouth falling open. She shook her head, hiding her amusement and continuing. "And why I was such a bitch to her."

It was impossible for Monty to hide his shock at that point. He thought it'd be more likely that the Grounders would try and make peace with the Delinquents, over Avery and Clarke becoming civil.

"I kinda maybe apologised for all the shit I caused with her." She shrugged as if it was nothing, as if she wasn't lifting a huge weight from her shoulders. "I think we might be okay now."

Monty blinked at her with a sense of awe. "You listened to me." He said, the conversation they shared about the blonde what felt like weeks ago currently swirling around his mind. 

"Of course I did." She replied with nonchalance, thinking Monty so naïve for believing for a second that she'd ignore him. 

The tent rustled and after a moment, another blonde appeared in front of them. Harper was clearly a little tired from her shift, stifling a yawn as she greeted Avery. She did a double-take at Monty's presence, before continuing as if nothing was different.

The three of them sat in the tent for a while, chatting aimlessly - Avery and Monty's previous conversation abandoned - and somehow forgetting the chaos of outside. It was only when Monty got up from the bed, telling them both that he was going to get some water, that Avery was reminded of it.

"You haven't been near Murphy, right?" She asked Harper anxiously. "Everyone's getting sick."

The girl in turn looked alarmed, clearly not so in tune to how serious it had all become. She shook her head vigorously, and Avery exhaled a breath of relief.

"No, I haven't. Crazy he's here, huh?"

To say the least.

It had only really just dawned on Avery then. When people thought about Murphy being back, they immediately thought about her. She was Murphy's friend, and possibly his only one.

"Yeah, it really is." She replied heavily, knowing her full feelings were too much to sum up into words.

It took her a beat to notice that Harper was looking over all of Monty's possessions in amusement. She felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment, waving a hand over it all awkwardly. 

"Sorry about all of Monty's stuff, Jasper's being a dick and so I said he could move in with us for a while."

Avery didn't miss Harper's knowing smile, but the girl didn't mention it, so she didn't either. 

"That's fine." She said, with a sparkle in her eye. "So he's sharing your bed?"

Avery leaned over to grab her pillow, and swiftly threw it at Harper. The girl collapsed into giggles, hugging the pillow to her chest as she teased her friend. 

"What else was I supposed to do!?" She exclaimed, only making Harper laugh even more.

"There's nothing wrong with it Avs, I just can't believe you're still not dating him!"

Avery groaned in frustration, falling back onto the bed and feeling the pillow hit her face afterwards. Burying her face for a second, she huffed a breath.

"Tell me about it." 

Before Harper could launch into a lecture about how Avery should just make a move already, the other girl jumped in to mention what she had earlier heard about through Monty.

"You could do a lot better than Jasper, by the way." Harper's mouth immediately clamped shut, her head tilting thoughtfully. "Just wanted you to know."

She laughed softly, nodding. Avery recognised the thankful expression painted on her face with ease; it was one she often felt on her own face.

"Thanks Avs. You're a good friend."

And it was because of Harper's genuine expression that Avery was starting to think that maybe she was.