"You need to come with me."

 I dropped what I was doing to look over at Bellamy who had grabbed me by the arm and began pulling me through the camp.

Worry flooded through me as my eyes darted around the camp, trying to find the source of the issue. "What's wrong?"

Bellamy didn't say a word as we stopped at one of the tents and he ushered me inside. As I entered I was met with the sight of Jasper, Clarke, and Octavia standing around a table.

"What's going on?" I question, all of them looking up at me, before all of their eyes fell back to the table, or rather what was on the table. 

"Is that-" I cut myself off, my eyes fixed on the three fingers and the knife that were sitting on the table.

"Wells' fingers." Clarke confirmed.

"Wh-how-where did you find them?" I asked in shock, not sure of how to react in a situation like this.

"Jasper and I found them just outside the wall." Octavia answered.

Clarke leaned forward and picked up the knife, turning it over in her hands, meanwhile examining it, "this knife was made from metal from the drop ship." she concluded.

"What do you mean?" Jasper questioned.

"Who else knows about this?" Bellamy asked, cutting in, trying to sway the conversation. 

"No one." Octavia answered with assurance, "we brought it straight here."

"Clarke?" Jasper said quietly, reproaching the earlier point Clarke had tried to bring up. 

"It means the Grounders didn't kill Wells." Clarke said, finally answering Jasper's question, "It was one of us."

I felt my heart drop as the words left her mouth. There was a killer in our camp.

"So that means there's a murderer in the camp?" Jasper's voice camp out shaky and nervous.

"There's more than one murderer in the camp." Bellamy pointed out as if that was supposed to make us feel better. "This isn't news, let's keep it quiet." He was trying to do everything he could to keep everyone afraid of what was outside our walls, not in. But truthfully, that was only going to create more problems than it solved. People needed to realize that we had rules in here...we couldn't go around killing each other and getting away with it by blaming the Grounders.

But I also knew there was a careful way we had to approach this. The minute people got word that it was one of us who killed Wells, all hell would break loose. 

I shared a look with Jasper and Octavia, the two of them seeming to share similar concerns to my own. But there was one person in the tent who was too livid to stop and consider the consequences of bringing this to the whole group. 

Clarke Griffin was already marching toward the exit of the tent before anyone could say another word. The knife was still gripped tightly in her hands, a determined look on her face. 

Before she could reach the doorway, Bellamy stepped into her path, barring her from going forward. 

"Get out of my way Bellamy." She ordered, voice dark. 

"Be smart about this." Bellamy tried to reason. "Look at what we've achieved, the wall, the patrols. Like it or not, thinking the Grounders killed Wells is the good for us." 

There it was...his strewed way of thinking.

"Oh, good for you, you mean!" Clarke argued.  "What? Keep people afraid and they'll work for you, is that it?"

"Yeah," Bellamy answered honesty, "That's it. It's good for all of us. Fear of the Grounders is building that wall and besides, what are you going to do walk out there and ask who the killer is? We don't even know whose knife it is."

"Oh really?" Clarke challenged, "J.M." she said, holding up the knife to show the initials etched into it, "John Murphy, the people have a right to know."

Bellamy's eyes fell to the ground and Clarke shoved passed him.  

I shook my head in disbelief as I followed after her, I knew this was not about to be good. "Clarke come on!" I pleaded, following after her, "Just stop and think about this for one—"

"You son of a bitch!" Clarke yelled, ignoring me as she approached Murphy, giving him a hard shove backwards.

Murphy glanced back at the group of us who had followed Clarke out, a small smirk playing on his face. "What's your problem?" He let out a small laugh, amused with Clarke's anger.

Holding up his knife, Clarke shoved it toward his face, "Recognize this?"

A loot of recognition came to his face as he nodded. "Yeah, that's my knife. Where did you find it?" he asked, reaching out for the weapon.

"Where you left it after you killed Wells." Clarke fired back, being sure she was loud enough so the whole camp could hear.

Murphy's face fell as he took a step back. He looked completely shocked. "Where I what?"

A crowd was now gathering as the ordeal continued. I stood beside Octavia, Jasper and Bellamy, all of us watching intently to see what Murphy would say.

Quiet murmurs began to fly around the camp as Murphy shook his head, his face paler than usual. But it was evident that he was trying not to let his fear show. "The Grounders killed Wells, not me." He argued.

"I know what you did, and you're going to pay for it." Clarke threatened.

"Really?" Murphy said with a slight smirk, his eyes straying toward Bellamy, "Bellamy, you really believe this crap?"

Bellamy ignored Murphy, casting his eyes downward as Clarke continued, "You threatened to kill him, we all heard you! You hated Wells."

"Plenty of people hated Wells." Murphy pointed out, "His father was the Chancellor that locked us up!"

"Yeah, but you're the only one who got in a knife fight with him!" Clarke was now yelling, her voice full of anger.

Murphy wore an incredulous expression, "Yeah I didn't kill him then either, did I?"

"Tried to kill Jasper too!" Octavia added, causing Jasper to mutter in shock at this revelation.

"Come on this is ridiculous, I don't have to answer to you, I don't have to answer to anyone!" Murphy exclaimed, walking away from Clarke.

"Come again?" Bellamy asked sternly.

Murphy paused before walking over towards us, "Look, Bellamy I'm telling you man, I didn't do this."

"They found his fingers with your knife." Bellamy declared, causing Murphy to fall silent.

"Is this the kind of society we want?" Clarke asked the group, "You say there should be no rules, does that mean we should be able to kill each other with no punishment?"

"I already told you, I didn't kill anyone!" Murphy shot back.

"I say we float him!" Someone yelled from within the crowd of kids which caused a chorus of "yeses" to fill the camp.

"That's not what I'm saying." Clarke argued, her face falling slightly when her plan didn't go the way she wanted it to. I'm not sure what punishment she had designed for Murphy, but clearly it wasn't death.

"Why not? He deserves to float, it's justice." Connor exclaimed, seemingly seeking revenge for what Murphy had done to him earlier that day.

Clarke wore a look of distressed as she shook her head. "Revenge isn't justice!"

"It's justice!" he shot back, as he began chanting "Float him, float him!" Soon after,  the rest of the camp began to join.

"Maybe we should just think about this before we do something out of line." I yelled over the chants, causing everyone to pause for a moment and think before they started again.

Everyone had been through so much the past few days, I knew none of us were thinking straight. We were running low on food, water, and sleep, creating an inevitable recipe for disaster. You put one hundred teenagers together on their own and that's bad enough, take away the basic necessities we need to survive and all that does it creating a melting pot of chaos. 

Murphy sensed that this was not about to go well for him, so without saying another word, he began to run, trying to get out of the crowd. Before he could take more than two steps, his legs were kicked out from under him, sending him to the ground with a thud. 

I felt something jolt in me as the group took his fallen state to begin beating him, sending kicks and punches his way as Murphy huddled into a ball, doing anything he could to protect himself from the assault.

"Stop it!" I screamed, trying to push through the ground to help Murphy. As much as he got on my nerves I didn't want to see him being beaten.

As I shoved my way through an elbow flew up and hit me in the face, causing me to stumble backwards, an arm grabbing onto mine, "Come on." Bellamy said, pulling Octavia and I away from the crowd.

I shrugged out of Bellamy's grasp, my cheek throbbing in pain as I followed after the crowd who had dragged Murphy toward a small decline in camp. Connor grabbed him by his neck, wordlessly shoving a rag into his mouth before he and another boy shoved Murphy down the small hill. 

I felt my heart in my throat as I tried to shove kids away, trying everything to get to Murphy. "Let him go!" I yelled, my voice barely making a dent in the chaos. "We're not doing this!" 

I thought that once we got down to the ground we would be better than the people on the Ark, but in reality we were worse.

A feeling of horror gripped onto me as they tied a rope around a branch, the other end being fastened around Murphy's neck. He flailed around, trying to free himself as the yelling from the crowd continued. 

Slowly, they began hoisting Murphy off the ground, his feet hovering as his eyes widened, quiet whimpers escaping through the rag in his mouth. 

I felt like I was going to be sick as I pushed forward once again, only to shoved back by Connor, "Get back!" he yelled, harshly pushing me into Bellamy who stood behind me.

I turned to him, shaking my head as I looked up at him, pleading. "Bellamy, you can stop this! They'll listen to you!"

He looked down at me, something in his face twitching. He wanted to say something to me, wanted to do something, but he didn't get the chance. 

"Bellamy, you should do it!" Connor said, a tone of almost excitement in his voice.

This sent the group into loud chants of Bellamy's name as Murphy pleaded for help, tears streaking down his dirt-covered face. 

"Bellamy please don't!" I cried, grabbing onto his arm, trying to prevent him from moving forward. My pleas fell on deaf ears as he shrugged away from my grasp, marching up to where Murphy was hanging, the only thing keeping him alive was the box that his feet were resting on.

"Don't!" I screamed, giving one last plea, hoping Bellamy would listen to me. "Don't do this! Don't become this person, Bellamy."

He didn't owe me anything, he didn't have to listen to me...and so, he didn't. 

Murphy shook his head fiercely as Bellamy walked towards him, darkness clouded in his eyes. He didn't even take a pause before kicking the box out from under the hanging boy...didn't even hestitate. 

A scream of horror left my lips as Murphy dropped, his body shaking as the air slowly left him. Again, I tried to get to him, tried to help him, but the crowd cut me off. 

"We can't do this!" I screamed, my voice becoming hoarse, my throat raw. "He's one of us!"

As much as I hated to admit it, Murphy was one of us. He deserved punishment for what he had done...but it didn't have to be this. 

Murphy flailed around desperately, his eyes pleading for help. He looked for anyone in the crowd who could help him. When his eyes met mine, I could feel the tears trickling down my cheeks. He was dying right in front of me and there was nothing I could do.

He was John Murphy, world renowned douchebag...but he was also a person, a kid.

Bellamy walked backed towards Clarke and me, his eyes dark.  Clarke was screaming at him with tears covering her face as well.

"This is on you! You should have kept your mouth shut!" He screamed, pushing her away from Murphy.

When his eyes moved over to me, they seemed to soften slightly once noting the expression on my face, the tears in my eyes. "Avery—" 

"Don't!" I screamed, backing away from him.

A new voice cut through the crowd from behind, causing a few people to take pause. "What the hell are you doing!?" 

I would have recognized that voice anywhere. 

My brother came barrelling through the crowd, pushing kids aside left and right, "Cut him down!" he yelled, pointing to Murphy and then turning to Charlotte,  "Charlotte, get out of here now!"

I hadn't noticed that she was here...she shouldn't be witnessing this. 

Octavia wrapped her arms around Charlotte, trying to pull her away from the scene as Finn rushed towards Murphy who was still jerking around, the life drained from his eyes even more so than before. 

"Get back!" Connor ordered, pulling a knife on Finn to prevent him from moving any closer. 

If I was angry before, I was livid now. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" I spat, shoving Connor away from my brother. 

"You too, stay back" Connor snapped, giving me a hard shove backward for the second time today. 

"Don't touch her!" Finn growled, lunging towards Connor. Bellamy stepped forward as well, his dark eyes narrowed in on Connor.

"Stop! Everybody stop!" Charlotte's quiet voice met my ears. It was barely audible above the rest of the noise, but it was there. 

I had just turned to look at her struggling in Octavia's arms when she spoke again, "Murphy didn't kill Wells!"

First the shoving stopped, then the yelling, and then we all fell still, confusion sweeping across all of us.

My voice wavered as I spoke, "What are you talking about?"

Charlotte met my eyes for a moment before she looked down, shame covering her expression.  "I did." she admitted.

Panic jolted through me. It was bad enough killing Murphy for a crime he did committ, but doing this over something he didn't even do? This was bad. 

A gasp flew from my lips as I reached forward, yanking the hatchet from Bellamy's belt before rushing toward Murphy. With one hard whack, the rope gave out, sending Murphy to the ground where Finn and Clarke were there to catch him. 

Finn loosened the rope around Murphy's neck as I dropped down on the forest floor next to them. Murphy took large gulps of air, his neck already red and bruising. 

From somewhere behind us, Bellamy had already whisked Charlotte away to one of the tents, Clarke quickly following after them.

"You're okay," I mumbled looking down at Murphy,  "Just breathe."

---

I nervously paced around the tent as Murphy's demands for Bellamy to bring Charlotte out rang from outside. 

Obviously he was feeling better.

"Why, Charlotte?" Bellamy demanded, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. 

"I was just trying to slay my demons, like you told me!" Charlotte exclaimed, causing my heart to drop.

"Oh no." I mumbled, bringing my hand to my forehead in disbelief. That certainly was not what Bellamy meant.

"What the hell is she taking about?" Clarke asked, eyes darting between Bellamy and me.

"She misunderstood me," Bellamy argued before turning back to Charlotte, "That's not what I meant."

"Bring the girl out now!" Murphy's voice was full of hate and venom as he taunted us from outside the tent. Truthfully, I was surprised he hadn't marched in here yet. A large part of me figured he was still afraid of Bellamy.

"Please don't let them hurt me." Charlotte cried, grabbing onto my hand as she moved behind me, essentially trying to use me as protection.

I glanced down at her, a mixture of conflicting emotions assaulting me as I looked over to Bellamy. "We need to do something." I urged. 

We couldn't leave Charlotte in this camp, Murphy was sure to kill her, or kill someone else. But we couldn't just send her on her merry away either.

He met my eye for a moment, a look of distress on his face. "If any of you have any bright ideas speak up!" 

Clarke, Finn and I looked at each other in panic, none of us knew what to do. Charlotte whimpered from behind me. 

"Now you stay quiet!" Bellamy snapped at Clarke, exasperation dripping from his tone.

Finn stepped in between the two of them. "Those are you boys out there!"

"This is not my fault!" Bellamy argued, eyes moving to Clarke, " If she had listened to me those idiots would still be building the wall!"

My anger from before bubbled through. "You could have stopped all that!" I pointed my finger at him harshly.

"Oh? How did you want me to do that?" Bellamy snapped back with a raised voice. 

I scowled at him, giving him a mock look of thought for a moment. "I don't know? Maybe by not kicking the box out from under him, telling them to stop...would you like me to continue?"

He glared at me as Murphy spoke again from outside,"You want to build a society Princess? Then let's build a society, bring her out!" 

All of us shared a look as Finn lifted the tent slightly to reveal Murphy and at least a group of twenty behind him.

"No! Please!" Charlotte pleaded, tears in her eyes.

Bellamy seemed to have figured out some sort of plan as he knelt down in front of Charlotte/ "It's going to be okay, just stay with them, okay?" He said softly, nodding toward the rest of us. "I'll handle Murphy."

I met his eye, my nerves evident on my face, "He's pissed, Bellamy. And he has at least twenty people with him...I don't think he's willing to talk to you."

His Adam's Apple bobbed as he gave me a reassuring look. "I'll be okay."

With that, he exited the tent, leaving the remaining four of us silent for a moment, as if we were waiting to hear the downfall from outside. 

"Come on," Finn said, pushing Charlotte towards the other side of the tent, "We gotta go."

Charlotte nodded as she looked back at me, "Come on Avery." she urged, noting the fact that I hadn't moved. 

"I think it's better if I stay here." I admitted, turning to them with a worried expression.

"What? Why?" Finn asked in shock.

I glanced back toward the exit Bellamy had left from."Bellamy will need help controlling the camp, I don't know if you missed the fiasco we just had but they can get pretty riled up."

Finn didn't look entirely convinced, but nonetheless, he gave me a small nod before pulling me into a hug. "Be safe." 

"You too." I mumbled, giving him an uneasy smile. 

Not long after the three of them had left, and after a lot of yelling  from Murphy outside, the tent flap flew open to reveal Murphy, a determined look on his face.

"Where is she?" He demanded, marching towards me.

"I don't know." I lied, slowly stepping away from him, I'd be lying if I said he wasn't scaring me 

"Don't lie to me." he spat, grabbing a hold of my arms.

"I said I don't know!" I repeated, ripping my arms from his grasp.

"Bitch!" he screamed, stopping out of the tent and back into the centre of camp ,"CHARLOTTE! CHARLOTTE I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME AND WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!"

A shiver ran through my body as I watched the anger emitting from Murphy. Judging by the bloody nose Jasper was sporting and the fact that Bellamy was sitting on the ground rubbing his head, I could tell Murphy had gone on a rampage. I was afraid of what he would do if he ever found Charlotte, I could tell it would not be good.