CHAPTER TEN.
we follow a crazy man.

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

      When Sage awoke, it was safe to say it was her most comfortable awakening. This was due to the blissful sensation of her hair being played with. For a moment she was confused but quickly remembered who she had fallen asleep with. The memory caused her to smile softly.

     Her eyes quickly fluttered shut when a voice spoke up, not intending to join in conversation.

    "You pull me off work detail. You offer me food. You let me bring her. Why are you being so nice to me?" Murphy asked.

    "Everyone deserves a second chance. That's why we sent the hundred to the Earth in the first place." Jaha responded.

    "What a load of crap. You didn't give a damn about us. You still don't that's why you're not fighting for those kids in Mount Weather." Murphy spat, his words harsh despite his tender touch as his fingers ran through Sage's curls.

    "I have to think of everyone. I know you don't want to hear this but sometimes you have to sacrifice the few to save the many. Like I said, good can come out of even the darkest acts." The older man explained.

    "Then you can take it from me, I was pardoned, slate wiped clean I'm still treated like dirt." Murphy muttered bitterly. Sage felt sorry for the boy really. He didn't deserve the treatment he suffered. Sage could tell he was trying his absolute hardest to make up for his past actions but it was proving difficult when nobody took him seriously and doubted his every move.

    "You've made mistakes, so have I." Jaha admitted.

    "I'm nothing like you, Chancellor." Murphy denied, wiping his nose and looking around the room before finally meeting on the Chancellor's eyes.

    "No? We both should have died several times over. We both suffered at the hands of the grounders. We both have been betrayed and imprisoned by our own people." Jaha listed.

    "So there's no place for us, great. Thought you were supposed to be inspiring." Murphy smirked.

    "There is a place for all of us. Sage included. I know you will bring her. I heard about your pact earlier." Jaha stated.

    "Who said I was going anywhere with you? Let alone dragging her into this. She's... she's not like us. She's... good." Murphy spoke, glancing down at the girl resting in his lap.

    "You don't have to come with me. But I think it's best. For the both of you. When I first landed on Earth I met a woman who spoke of a place beyond the dead zone, a place where everyone is accepted. A city of light." Jaha elaborated.

    "Sounds like a fairytale." Murphy scoffed.

    "Or a second chance." Jaha suggested.

    "You don't even know if it's real."

    "You're right, I don't. But I believe."

    "Okay, well that's good for you, Chancellor. Very good." Murphy chuckled to himself. He brushed a few strands out of the front of Sage's face as Jaha began to speak again.

    "I'm gonna find it John. And once I do, I'm gonna come back and lead my people home." He stated triumphantly.

    Jaha soon went back to his own business and Sage used this time to actually wake up. Murphy hadn't gotten a lot of sleep therefore tried to get some well needed rest. Sage laid with him for a while but couldn't fall asleep again. It was too late however because the boy's secure grip prevented her from escaping.

     The boy began to stir from his slumber after around an hour or so of rest.

    "Sorry for keeping you captive." He chuckled dozily.

    "It's fine." Sage smiled in response.

    Just as Murphy opened his mouth to say something, voices sounded from outside the dropship, calling out Jaha's name. The pair shared an uneasy glance before scrambling to their feet.

     Sage pushed open the dropship curtain to reveal a group of around five or so, patiently looking to Jaha whose hands were held out suggestively as he glanced up at Murphy and Sage.

     "Hey what the hell is this?" Murphy spoke up.

     "We're going to the city of light." Jaha announced momentously.

     "You're going now? There's a million ways to die out there." Murphy noted.

     "If it's not your time, nothing can kill you. If it is your time it only takes one." Jaha stated, again overly hopeful.

     "That's an awfully optimistic way to live." Sage interjected.

     "What's wrong with optimistic?" Jaha grinned.

     "Do you even have a map?" Murphy questioned.

     "Nope." Jaha stated, smiling still.

     "Then how do you know where you're going?" Sage asked, glancing between Murphy and Jaha with a confused expression.

     "I don't, but I won't be moved by fear. You want to stop being treated like criminals you gotta stop thinking that's what you are. Take this leap of faith with me, John Murphy, Sage Noon, let me show you there is so much more for you than this." Jaha preached.

      The group then proceeded to file out of the old camp, following Jaha's lead as they placed their trust in his hands.

    "Are we gonna go through with this?" Murphy questioned, turning to Sage who glanced up at him.

    "Up to you. I'll go if you do." She replied glancing to the ground before meeting his eyes.

    "Maybe a fresh start would be nice." He suggested with a shrug.

    Sage sent the boy a half smile and shrugged just as he did. He licked his lips carefully before adjusting his backpack and placing his hand on Sage's lower back. The boy led her off the dropship ramp and the pair followed the crazy bunch who were determined in their search for a better life.

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     Sage almost couldn't conjure up enough words to explain how bored she was growing of the journey she and Murphy had agreed to join. And to say she was uninterested would be an extreme understatement.

    The girl squinted her eyes to study her surroundings, seeing only the figures of her fellow travellers, equally exhausted from the trek. Sweat trickled down the sides of Sage's face as she gazed out into the orange and tan abyss that was the desert ahead. She cringed as sand blew her way, propelling into her face and causing her to readjust the material she had wrapped around her mouth. She scolded the weather conditions as she noticed the amount of sand collected by her dark locks.

    But what annoyed Sage more than anything was the scenery. They were travelling through complete and utter emptiness and the only feature of the landscape was the crunching sand beneath her boots. The dunes were high and hid anything that may reside behind them but Sage was almost certain there was nothing behind them anyway.

    "Sir, do you recognise anything?" A middle aged man of the group questioned, standing beside Jaha as they glanced out into the plane from their high point on the mountain tops.

    "Their tent was near here. I'm sure of it." Jaha explained, resting his weight on a staff he had adopted during the journey. Sage thought he was obnoxious to pick it up but he seemed to think said stick was necessary in his leadership.

    After a moment or two, Jaha began to stagger down the hill, the other group members watching as he departed.

    "What's the matter?" Murphy interrupted, passing the men and following the leader that was Thelonious. "You got someplace better to be?" He continued, glancing back at them and noticing as Sage followed him down.

     Staggering down the steep sand, Sage was careful with her footwork, placing them only where she was certain they wouldn't sabotage her descend. The girl situated herself off of Jaha's shoulder as herself, Jaha and Murphy glanced out into the sand once more. But Sage hated the view and she couldn't stand to see even more bloody sand.

     That's why when the faint image of a cart came into view, the girl practically launched forward to investigate the scene. Sage carefully approached the damaged vehicle, wary of it's contents as her eyes scanned over the wooden planks and various belongings.

     Sage's intuitive feeling to be wary of the cart proved correct when a figure jumped from said cart. The teen leaped backward as the female grounder stood defensively, her knife pointed outwards toward Sage and the group behind her.

     The girl threatened with a phrase in trigedasleng, one which the group could obviously not understand but none the less interpreted what she was as implying. She pointed her weapon and insinuated the dagger would soon find a home in their bodies if they came any closer.

     "We mean no harm." Jaha stated calmly, raising his hands in surrender. "Do you speak english?" He continued.

     "What do you want?" She asked, in perfect english.

     "Nothing." Jaha revealed. "It looks like you could use a hand. What are you doing out here alone?" He continued, watching the girl as she glanced warily between the group and her run down cart.

     The girl carefully stripped away the scarf covering her mouth, revealing the tattoos decorating her facial features and projecting her voice to the large group. "My brother and I were on our way to the City of Light and wastelands attacked. They took our horse, all our water, everything. They killed him. This cart is all I have left." She confessed solemnly.

      Sage glanced to the side where her eyes met Murphy's. He obtained a saddened expression, similar to Sage's as she thought about the story the girl had explained.

     "Give her some water." Jaha directed, glancing back at his followers.

      Sage patted down her clothes and bags in hopes of finding her canteen, swiftly taking it off of her shoulder and finding it was still quite full. Murphy did so also however as he pulled the backpack from his shoulder the man beside him stopped him.

     "Whoa, No no no no no no. We barely have enough for ourselves here." He interfered selfishly.

      "Touch me again, and I'll end you." Murphy fought back, shoving his shoulder away and glaring at the man. Sage's eyebrows pulled into a frown while Murphy's gaze travelled to Jaha who stared at him with disappointment.

     "In a non criminal way." Murphy apologised with a small smirk. He raised his hands in surrender as he chuckled to himself, pretending to be on his best behaviour for the group's leader. He quickly spun on his heel and stalked towards the grounder only to be stopped again although this time by Sage herself.

    "No, give her mine. Mine's full." She intercepted, swapping the bottle in Murphy's hands with her own. Murphy sent the girl a soft smile before turning to the grounder and holding the bottle in his outstretched hand.

     She carefully assessed his appearance, glancing up and down and studying his movements.

    "It's okay." Murphy stated calmly, noticing her hesitance.

     The girl carefully retracted the canteen from Murphy's outstretched hand and gulped at least half of it down, licking the side when some spilt. Sage didn't blame her really, she had been in the dead zone for god knows how long and was probably extremely dehydrated.

    "We're on our way to the City of Light, as well. What's your name?" Jaha questioned.

     Sage shuffled forward to join the conversation, standing between Jaha and Murphy as they awaited the girl's response.

    "Emori." She revealed. "Everyone in the Dead Zone is looking for the City of Light. Almost no one finds it." She continued. "I can get you there."

    The two boys beside her glanced between each other and then at Sage as if asking each other what they thought of the situation.

    "If you pull my cart." She bargained.

    "Done." Jaha agreed, without any further discussion with his two youngest followers.

     "Caspian, you're on the first shift." Jaha continued, motioning to Emori's cart. Caspian who Sage now realised was the man who had told Murphy to refrain from giving any water to Emori stared at Jaha in disbelief, clearly unhappy about his election into pulling the cart. Murphy chuckled at this and grinned to himself causing Sage to do so also.

     "Thanks for the water." Emori thanked, glancing between both Sage and Murphy.

     "It's uh... it was no problem." Murphy responded.

     Sage studied the grounder before her. She appeared quite similar to the residents of Camp Jaha in fact if she was going to travel with them, she could easily fit in. Her hair was obviously dark and her olive skin was designed with the patterns of her tattoo. She had a dark grey scarf wrapped around her head which continued down to cover her mouth, although she had removed it. Speaking of, because her neck was now partially exposed, Sage couldn't help but notice an open gash adorning the left side of her neck.

     "That cut on your neck. It looks like it needs stitches." Sage noted, catching Emori's attention.

      The girl's fingers grazed across her neck in hopes of locating said cut, quickly finding it and pulling her hand away at the sensation of a liquid.

     "Let me clean that up for you." She continued. The girl was about to object only for Sage to interject. "Please, it looks bad."

      "Okay." Emori agreed, still slightly hesitant as Sage rummaged through her backpack for her medical equipment.

      "You put the medical stuff in your front pocket." Murphy reminded, grasping the backpack in his hands and turning both it and Sage to face him before unzipping the bag and assisting with the search.

     Sage watched as the boy smiled to himself triumphantly when he finally discovered a small supply of moonshine in Sage's emergency tube along with tape and the thread and needle. He shook the objects in his hands with a small smirk before trading Sage's backpack with the objects in his hands.

     "Thanks." Sage chuckled softly before trailing over to Emori who was removing her neck scarf completely. Sage carefully dripped the moonshine onto the wound, apologising when she noticed Emori wince.

     "This is gonna hurt." Sage muttered as she threaded the string through the needle.

    "Can't hurt more than when I got it." She mumbled. Sage watched her expectantly for a moment, proceeding when Emori nodded. Sage had done the procedure quite a few times therefore was able to work quickly on the girl's neck, proud when she completed the job.

    "Thank you." She nodded with the hint of a smile.

    "It's no problem." Sage shrugged, retrieving her backpack from Murphy's outstretched hand and throwing it over her shoulder.

author's note

alrighty well i just finished a six hour shift and am going to bed soon, so imma just post now idk what time it is in other time zones but here y'all go, chapter ten is doneeee

— clovdy