Harley didn't know what it would be like to die. She'd assume that it'd be simple, fast. As in, one second you're here and another second you aren't. She wondered where people would go after dying. Some people on The Ark talked about a heaven and hell, where good and bad people go after death. She wasn't sure what she believed in. But if Harley ever died, she didn't know what was the best way to go. She knew she'd die before hurting someone else, as she almost did.

It was fortunate that Harley didn't die. When she came back from her unconscious state, she didn't know which was worse. No one was in the dropship, not even Clover, from what she could see. Her eyelids were heavy still, but she forced herself to sit up from where she had fallen onto her side. With a sharp hiss of pain, Harley felt a pang of soreness in her side that felt as if she's been stabbed again. On instinct, her hand pressed to her side deeper, feeling blood began to cascade into her palm once more.

"Looks bad, huh?"

At the sound of another voice, Harley's head whipped to the side. She didn't know what she was scared of, if Jasper really did do it, but she breathed in relief when seeing it was only Raven, rolled on her side with a gun in her hand. "I'm glad to see you're alive," she whispered, her hand curling around her wound to cover the bleeding.

"Likewise," Raven replied, weak. Harley took a second to study her. Her normal tan skin was unusually pale, her dark eyes were sunken in, and her breathing was uneven. "If your asshole brother didn't shoot me, wouldn't be in this position."

Harley was at a loss of how to reply. She averted her gaze away, looking down to her blood covered hand. "I'm sorry," she finally said softly. The guilt of what Murphy had done weighed on her, making Harley feel responsible for Raven's pain. She didn't sound as if she was blaming Harley, only bitter about the situation.

Before Raven could reply, there was the sound of footsteps just outside the dropship opening before a shadow appeared at the sheet. Raven motioned for Harley to stay quiet before laying back, covering her gun out of the view of the stranger. Harley leaned her head back, letting her hand fall loose as she shut her eyes, and playing dead as the cloth was ripped to the side and someone stormed in. It couldn't have been one of the delinquents, otherwise they would have announced their arrival. Harley let her breathing fall short to nothing, holding it, and unsure of what do do.

Raven, however, did. With Harley's eyes shut, she couldn't see what the mechanic did, but felt her heart skip a beat when a gunshot rang in the air. She opened her eyes again, seeing Raven groan in pain with who was a grounder dead on the ground. "Are you alright?" Harley asked worriedly, knowing it was a stupid question, but not wanting to see the other die. Raven hesitantly nodded in response.

But Harley didn't buy it. She forced herself to press the palm of her hand harder against her injury, biting her lip as tears welled up from the stinging pain and tried to shift in Raven's direction to see if there was something she could do. "Harley, no," Raven protested when seeing the other in too much pain to move. "Stay there. You have your own problem."

Another noise outside of the dropship opening caught both of the wounded girl's attention. Harley panted in dread as Raven painfully raised her gun again, finger on the trigger, ready to shoot.

Except, this time, it wasn't a grounder. It was a male their age, limping, with his hands bound. Upon recognizing him, Harley's face lit up. It was Murphy, hurt, but alive. He held his hands up in defense, stammering when seeing the barrel of the gun pointed at him. "W-whoa! It's okay," he tried to assure her before she shot him. "It's okay, Raven, don't - don't shoot. Please."

"Raven, please don't shoot him," Harley breathed out. After he escaped from blowing a hole in the dropship, she never thought she'd see him again. Granted, she thought the same thing after he was banished, but here he was. Harley knew she couldn't watch Raven shoot him, even if he shot her. He was unpleasant to be around, and horrible for what he's done, but she couldn't let go.

"Why not?" Raven mumbled dangerously. "He shot me." Harley flinched as she pulled the trigger, but instead of a gunshot echoing, the gun clicked once, showing it was out of amo. She looked confused, pressing the trigger a few more times at Murphy who relaxed and dropped his guard with a smirk when realizing the gun had no bullets.

Murphy limped forward, holding onto his wounded leg as he sat against the dropship wall with a grimace, on the other side of Harley. He leaned back, outstretching his bad leg, before speaking to Raven. "Yeah.. I would have shot me too."

"Are you okay?" Harley spoke up, seeing the gash on his leg that was forcing him to hobble around. He was in better state than her and Raven, but a wound was still a wound. She didn't blame Raven for not being concerned.

Glancing from the wound to Harley, Murphy finally noticed that she was clutching a lesion on her side. He sighed before nodding. "I'm fine. How did that happen?" He asked, referring to the slash Harley was clutching.

Harley looked at the dropship opening. "A grounder tried to kill me." She couldn't see past the draped cloth, and couldn't tell if the blasting off plan really worked. "Is there anymore out there?" One had already wandered in, so there could have been more.

"None," Murphy replied, moving closer to his sister. "Raven friend them all. The only reason that one survived is because they left him behind to guard me." He paused, staring at Harley's bloody hand. "Let me see it." He was trying to keep his tone dull and flat, but Harley was sensing he was worried and cared. She tried to smile, before slowly lowering her hand, and lifting the hem of her shirt up just a bit so he could see the gash on her side. Murphy cleared his throat, shaking his head and looking away. "Just keep it covered tightly. Try not to pass out."

Harley wanted to smile at the idea of Murphy caring about her, even though he was trying to cover it up with a bland position. She lowered her shirt again and resumed holding the wound again. Murphy shifted to the side, rubbing the rope holding his hands together against a sharp metal piece sticking out of the dropship wall to free himself.

"What are you doing here, Murphy?" Raven demanded, clutching her useless gun to her chest.

"Dying," Murphy replied, bored, once he got his hands free and rubbing the rope off his wrists. "Same as you."

Lowering her gun, Raven shook her head, trying to sit up. "Speak for yourself," she declared stubbornly. As if her body had a mind of its own, and not as brave as she was, she suddenly began to cough up blood violently. Harley sat up, worried, but unable to move and help Raven, who was desperately trying to catch her breath.

Murphy was just as concerned, his eyes widening in worry before he was crawling his way towards Raven. "Raven, lie on your side," he claimed. "Lie on your side. Come on." He reached out, trying to push her onto her side, but the feisty girl pushed him away forcefully, despite choking on her own blood. "Fine, then just roll over yourself. Get down on your side!" Finally complying, Raven panted, able to catch her breath as blood dripped from her mouth and onto the dropship floor.

"You're okay," Murphy assured her, making Harley's worried expression change into a more warm one as she watched him express how he cared by wiping the blood from Raven's mouth gently. "It's all good."

Unexpecting it, Raven looked past him to Harley, with a confused look. Harley knew they were all in a life threatening situation, and she pressed her lips together to try not and smile. What mattered is, as of now, the three were alive, and Murphy was surprising them both and being thoughtful. "Why are you helping me?" Raven finally mumbled, lost. Harley, she understood. The two were brother and sister, and truth be told, she was in this position because of him.

Murphy pulled his hands away, before shrugging timidly. "I don't want to die alone. Or, worse, with sunshine over there."

━━━━━━━━

Looking up, Harley watched as Murphy cut the seat belts set up as a net in the dropship carefully before pulling them down. The three had grown quiet, besides Raven's occasional coughing and the grimaces of pain coming from both her and Harley. The horizontal gash wasn't getting any better, she was still bleeding and was becoming scared she was going to pass out again and this time not wake up. It wasn't bleeding as bad as before, and she knew if the grounder cut something serious such as an artery, she'd definitely be dead by now. Holding it with her hand wasn't going to do anything, it was serious, and Harley knew she needed stitches. But the three of them were on their own.

"Let me see your cut again, Harley." Murphy's demand was firm once he was by her side again, the only one able to move out of the small group despite the stab in his leg. She complied, lifting the hem of her shirt again slowly until it was visible. Gradually and as careful as possible, Murphy wrapped the belt around her hip and tied it over the wound. "This is gonna hurt," he fairly warned her.

He was right. As Murphy tied it, Harley lifted her hand to bite down onto the sleeve of her jacket to keep her from shouting as he tightened it, making sure it was covering the wound. It stung and hurt like hell, but she kept still until he finished. Harley let out a gasp when he pulled away to work on his own injury, dropping her hand, and looking at his plain face with soft eyes. "Thank you."

Murphy didn't respond, or even meet Harley's eyes. He averted his attention to his own wound, tying another strap against it. Raven watched, leaning up, before questioning him. "How did you get to be such a dick, Murphy?"

Rolling his eyes, Murphy paused the tying motion. "I'm sorry for shooting you, okay?" He apologized, not sounding so sincere. "Is that what you want to hear?"

Ignoring the poor apology, Raven tilted her head, growing sarcastic. "Let me guess. Mommy and daddy didn't love you?"

At the mention of his parents, Murphy visibly stiffened. It didn't go unnoticed by Harley. All she knew, until now, was that their parents were dead. She just didn't know how. "No," he finally mumbled. "They loved me." Harley became aware of how hurt and emotional he was coming, clearly using all his strength to fight back tears.

Observing this too, Raven looked shocked by the sight of Murphy near tears, but prodded him further. "Are you gonna cry, Murphy?"

"Screw you, Raven," Murphy snapped.

"Hey, we don't have to talk about it," Harley said softly, silently asking Raven not to spur Murphy any further.

"No," Raven protested. "Tell me, Murphy. I want to know. How does a kid who's loved by his parents turn into a murdering psychopath?"

The quiet between them was heavy and tense. Murphy was fighting with himself not to cry as he finally broke out, telling the story Harley has been waiting to hear. "He gets the flu. His father steals medicine that turns out wouldn't help anyways. Gets floated for it, and his mother, she starts drinking pretty heavily after that." He pauses, glancing at Harley to meet her pitiful expression. "Reminds him she should have taken his sister instead. And her last words she says to him, before he finds her in a pool of her own vomit, is that.." He stopped again, his voice breaking as a tear finally rolled down his cheek. "Is that he killed his father."

Harley didn't know how she felt. She didn't know her parents, had never met them, and therefore couldn't feel the grief Murphy did for losing them. She could, however, see the sympathetic look on Raven's face that she tried to cover up by mumbling; "boo-hoo" mockingly. Even though Raven had every right to snap, or even hate Murphy, Harley didn't. Her pale hand, that was painted in her blood reached out to touch his arm.

Every time Harley touched Murphy, he flinched. Harley didn't doubt he was abused as a child after their father died. She knew he was then hung on Earth, and tortured by the grounders for information. He's been through too much, seen too much horror, and it made him into the angry monster everyone wanted him to be. This time, Murphy didn't jerk away when Harley touched his hand. "I'm sorry," she breathed out slowly. She didn't know what else to say. "I'm so, so, sorry John."