( thirty )
Harley remembered the first interrogation she witnessed. It was with Lincoln, the nice grounder that had tried to make peace with them. She was convinced, at the time, that he didn't speak their language. Despite that, Bellamy had mercilessly assaulted the grounder for his own selfish need for revenge. Harley knew this time it was different, and they needed information on the location of their friends, but no matter how many times Finn and Bellamy striked him with their fists, he continued repeating the same answers. Harley didn't know if she was the only one in the bunker who believed him.
It was something Harley would have expected out of Bellamy. He was a tough leader when it was just them at the dropship, a torturer, and believed in executing Murphy when there was hardly any proof behind him being a killer to just prove how powerful he was. But Finn, he believed in everything Harley did. He suggested the peace treaty to Lincoln, and to see him so enraged over Clarke's watch to the point that he led them to a quiet bunker to only torture this grounder was surprising to say the least, for Harley.
"We're gonna do this again and this time you're gonna stop screwing with us," Bellamy continued, as if it wasn't the first dark warning he gave to the grounder. He held Clarke's watch up, dangling it in the grounder's face. "Where did you find this?"
The answer was the same response that was given each time. "I told you," the grounder breathed out, exasperated. "I found it outside your camp."
"He's lying," Finn cut in, livid at this point. "She would never take it off voluntarily." He took the watch out of Bellamy's hand, grasping it tightly and waving it in the grounder's face. "Where is the girl who was wearing this watch?!"
"I never saw a girl," the grounder repeated, slower yet still calm.
"Another lie," Murphy spoke up from his seat beside Harley. "Maybe you should stop asking him nicely."
At his suggestion, Harley had crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. He wasn't there when Bellamy tortured Lincoln, and he didn't see the outcome of it. "Shut up, Murphy," Bellamy snapped sharply before moving his attention back to the grounder they were still questioning. "Where are our friends? You took them, we know you did. Just tell us where."
Finn whirled around, threading his fingers through his hair and tugging at it in a fit of rage at the unanswered questions. Suddenly, he leaned down, swiping the handgun of out Clover's hand and catching her by surprise as he turned back around and striking the end of it against the grounder's temple. "Answer the question!" He shouted over the grounder's call of pain.
"Hey, hey!" Bellamy protested, grabbing Finn and dragging him back. Harley watched with wide eyes as he thrashed around in the grip, still shouting at the grounder in demands to know where the watch came from and where Clarke was. "Finn, stop!" Bellamy pressed further. "You don't want to do this, trust me." Finn stopped, momentarily, to pant and glare at him. "There are some lines you can't uncross."
Bellamy finally released Finn, seeing he was beginning to calm down. Before Harley could think for a moment that there was better solutions to this interrogation, without Finn beating the grounder up for answers, he had suddenly stomped towards the grounder once more and began bashing the grounder again with closed fists.
"Where is Clarke?!" Finn bellowed, making Harley flinch harshly and cover her ears. She felt on edge and sick as he continued, witnessing the brutal punches. "Where is she?!"
Attempting to calm Finn down again, Bellamy had once again grabbed Finn from behind and pulled him back, shouting his name. Already watching Finn beat the grounder for answers was astounding enough, but now Harley watched in relentless shock, disturbed, as he pointed the handgun to Bellamy's chest. "Back off," he warned him through gritted teeth and flaring expressions.
Slowly, Bellamy lifted his hands up in defense, showing he meant no harm. "Put down the gun, Finn," he requested calmly, despite the barrel aimed in his direction.
Instead of complying, Finn shook his head, before turning his arm and directing it towards the grounder's head now. Harley dropped her hands, distressed and her mouth open with no words able to make their way out as he clicked the safety off. "Three seconds!" He demanded. "Two! One!"
Before Finn could pull the trigger, the grounder broke. "Okay! Okay!" He exclaimed, defeated. "I'll tell you." He panted, looking away from the gun. "Your friends are east of here, the village where we take our prisoners of war."
Harley didn't know if she was glad there was a response on the location of their friends or terrified by Finn's actions. "East where?" Finn ordered him to continue. "How do we get to them?"
"I can draw you a map," the grounder offered before clearing his throat, blood dribbling down the side of his mouth and continuing. "You should hurry, soon they'll outlive their usefulness."
"Get him something to draw a map," Finn commanded to the others. Nobody moved, Harley hardly flinched, before Monroe proceeded through and grabbed a long piece of white paper, holding it outwards into his direction.
Murphy spoke up, standing as he made his way towards Bellamy with a satisfied smile on his face. "You thought I was the crazy one, huh?"
"Nobody here is crazy," Harley mumbled, but her eyes averted to Finn, suddenly unsure.
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Harley squeezed in between Bellamy and Murphy, practically standing on her toes to scan the map everyone was circled around that the grounder had drew for them. It didn't look too far, but was a decent walk away. She wondered if her adopted mother and father were worried about her, but the idea was crossed immediately out of her mind when she remembered they lied to her. Sighing, Harley shifted back again, knowing what was more important than her own complicated history. The grounder warned them that their friends could outlive their usefulness, which meant they had to help them.
"Gather up the gear," Bellamy ordered. "We're leaving."
"What about him?" Sterling questioned, gesturing towards the restrained grounder.
"We leave him," Bellamy stated simply. "Deal with him when we're done."
Surprised, Murphy's eyebrows furrowed. "And what if he escapes?" He shot back. "He knows exactly where we're going."
"We're not killing him!" Bellamy declared sharply. Harley nodded in agreement, knowing that ending his life wasn't the only option they had. He was bound, unarmed, and couldn't do any harm if he was left in there.
Disagreeing, Murphy continued to protest. "I don't really see another option," he retorted. "If we don't take care of this now, it'll blow back on us and you know that." He turned to look at Monroe, Sterling and Clover, waiting for their input. "Come on, tell him," he urged them.
Clover paused to look at Harley. She could see the desperate look in her face, begging for peace, but she shook her head, forcing herself to look away. "We can't leave him here," she finally stated, showing her agreement with Murphy, but not appreciating it.
At a loss of words, Monroe shrugged unsurely. "I don't know," she said faintly.
"You don't know what?" Murphy repeated. "He's gonna tell his people everything, we're as good as dead. Our friends too."
"He won't," Harley added in her contribution. She didn't want them to argue any further, there was always answers that could satisfy everyone which didn't end in cruel killing. "One of us can stay behind, guard him. It'd be him against a gun, he's not stupid enough to try and escape," she suggested, hopeful.
Giving his sister a doubtful look, Murphy's eyes flickered to Harley's. "Yeah and who will volunteer for that job? You?"
"Yes," Harley answered automatically and firmly, crossing her arms over her chest but not noticing that Finn had paced away from the group. "We don't need to kill him."
"Brave, coming from the girl who couldn't shoot to save her life," Murphy argued, the words coming out as an insult as he scowled. The words hit harder than he probably had meant for, and Harley frowned, hurt. Her hand was driven to the stitched wound on her side, suddenly reminded of it.
"Hey, enough!" Bellamy exclaimed, stepping in between the two having a feud like the siblings they were. "No one is staying behind, and no one is killing him. End of discussion."
Outraged, Murphy clutched his fists by his side and stopped Bellamy before he could turn around. "What exactly happened to you? You're acting like you've never killed a grounder before."
"That was in battle," Bellamy countered. "This would be an execution - "
Before Bellamy could finish his leader speech, a gunshot suddenly echoed loudly from behind them. Everyone jumped, and Harley grimaced as she slowly turned around. The grounder was laid on his side, a large bullet hole on the side of his head. She suddenly felt revolted and stood dumbfounded, seeing that it was Finn holding a gun with a careless look on his face. He didn't regret killing the grounder that Bellamy wanted alive.
"Let's get moving," Finn demanded, neglecting the horrible and remorseless action he had taken.
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All Harley wanted to do was stay behind. By every means, she had wanted to find her friends and make sure that they were safe, but the inhumane murder Finn had chosen to do made her feel troubled in his presence. She wanted to at least cover the grounder up, show some respect for the deceased, but Bellamy was strict on not leaving anyone behind as Harley had suggested before the death.
The group had been racing through the woods for what felt like hours. Harley was tired, frightened, and still disturbed. Bellamy was in the lead of them, as always, as he called over his shoulder to the others in warning. "Eyes peeled! We're in grounder territory!"
Panting, Murphy stopped. Harley grew worried and came to a halt, catching her breath with her chest rising and falling. "I can't keep running, alright?!" He said abruptly and loudly, making everyone else pause. "We don't even know if the guy Finn killed was telling the truth."
Storming towards him, Finn roughly grabbed Murphy's shoulder. "Keep moving!" He demanded, giving him a harsh shove.
"Hey, leave him alone!" Harley called out, her small voice not sounding so brave, more so full of fear of Finn only, as Bellamy pulled Finn back. Murphy stumbled back from the impact, and she grabbed his arm, helping him steady on his feet.
"We can give him a minute," Bellamy said calmly as Finn ripped his arm out of the other's grip.
"No, we can't!" Finn shouted angrily. "You heard what that grounder said. They'll outlive their usefulness."
Breaking, Bellamy leaned forward. "I heard what he said when you had a gun to his head."
A bit stunned by Bellamy's outburst, Finn attempted to defend himself. "Look, you think I wanted to do that?" He asked. "He would have told his people we're coming, and by the time we got there, our people would be dead. Maybe that's something you can live with, but I can't!" He excused, pushing Bellamy back.
Catching himself, Bellamy retorted by forcing Finn back and continuing the feud. "Hey, you did what you think you had to do, but you are not yourself right now, and I can't be out here with another loose cannon."
Knowing that was in reference to Murphy, Harley's arms dropped and she stared at them, incredulous. It was distasteful to somehow find a way to drag Murphy into this, when Finn was the one who killed the grounder, despite his agreement with the plan.
"Guys!" Clover exclaimed for what might have been a few times, attempting to break into the argument. "Look." Harley made herself look to what her partner was motioning towards. She stepped forward, a small gasp escaping at the sight of both empty shoes and broken bodies. It was horrible to see, and knowing that they weren't grounders by the appearance made it that much more dreadful.
The group walked forward hesitantly, following the trail. From what Harley could see, there were more corpses, all appalling Harley and making a foul feeling stir. Clover could see her distress and put her hand on her lower back, guiding her forward and wishing she didn't have to see.
"Where the hell did they come from?" Murphy asked, speaking his mind.
"The Ark," Clover answered, nodding to the guard's uniform. "So show a little respect, yeah?" He shot her a harsh glare, which she returned, her lower lip curling in loathing.
Harley ignored both of them, choosing to shake her head and opt forward. They must have been on a part of The Ark that didn't survive the impact when crash landing, so yes, they should show a bit of respect. However, there was no chance to dwell on it for any longer. The small group came to a stop when Harley saw a cliff's edge. She looked up, her breath hitching when seeing the disaster from the station. It was crumbled, destroyed, and nothing left except some smoke arising.
"It's a rough landing," Murphy mumbled, observing the wreckage.
Shaking his head as if trying to get the image out of his head, Bellamy took a few steps back. "There's nothing we can do here," he stated. "We got to go."
Harley didn't like it, but she knew he was right. Their friends were still out there, had to be alive, and there was nothing they could do to fix the past. All they could do was help right now. She turned on her heel, ready to follow Bellamy and Finn back up the trail and passed the dead bodies, but Murphy quickly stopped them.
"Did you hear that?" Murphy asked, taking careful steps to peer over the cliff's edge.
Confused, Harley turned back around. "Hear what?" She took a few steps forward, standing in between Clover and Murphy to take a look for herself, but couldn't see anything.
That is, until Monroe pointed downwards, pointing out what Murphy heard. "Hey, someone's down there!"
Suddenly tense, Harley skillfully leaned closer, until she heard the 'someone' Monroe was referring to. There was a girl, crying softly, and clutching a branch sticking out of the cliff's wall to keep herself from falling. "Please!" She begged. "Please, help me!"
"Mel?" Sterling called out, sounding shocked and making Murphy ask if he knew her. "Shut up, Murphy," he snapped. "She's my friend. We have to do something."
Even if the distressed girl wasn't a delinquent, she was still in danger. Harley agreed with him, they had to take a break and help her. She stood her ground, digging the tip of her boots in between the rocks and determinedly stating; "we will."
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