#endyured

[hevives]

there's the smallest percentage of murphy that's surprised at even his own offer... but the way he'd seen it, if it were between following jaha into some sort of fairytale land, staying prisoner with the adults and everyone who hated him, or going with vesper on a rescue mission for her son - well, the decision didn't seem hard to make.

❛ just another day on the ground, ❜ he counters to her sly warning of the suicide mission ahead. there was a chance that she was right, he knew, but would it have been better to sit and wait for who knew what to come ? where else was there to go ? and anywhere seemed better than there.

hands grip to the strap of the gun that hung to his shoulder, taken slyly under the noses of those in charge when he'd escaped from captivity. tattered boots carry him forward, the suspicion on her visage ignored and met with seriousness masked as carelessness. i'm his mother, she says, and murphy nods. they'd get him back. he knows that if it were him out there, his father would burn the forest to the ground to find him. knows that vesper wasn't any different.

❛ better than here. ❜ he notes as he passes her, venturing away from alpha station and further into the darkness. he might not know exactly where he was headed - other than toward the mountain - but having his share of being held captive in earth - born camps, he at the very least knew where not to go.

eyes cast back toward her, her clothes contrasting his patched and pieced together items from what they could scrounge up from the stations. she seemed all the more prepared than he, in more ways than one. ❛ do you have a plan ? ❜

/ continued . @endyured !

[evanave]

@endyured | left a like on here for a small starter

"Our values and our actions, they define who we are. Not what other's say or what you have to be in order to survive. — I believe you can actively choose to be good or bad."

[hevives]

❛  are you okay? are you hurt?  ❜

it was the bugs that alerted him first; scurrying beneath their feet and all around them in search of safety, followed quickly by the unmistakable sound of the fog horn. a string of curses fall from under his breath, eyes to the sky to see the cloud of green fog intruding on them.

he realizes then how unprepared he was; setting off on a journey with vesper without so much as a tent. what was a gun going to do to help them now ? icy gaze shifts to vesper, and amidst the silent curses in his brain, he looks now to the bugs flowing in waves at their feet. with brows knit together in a mixture of thought and concern, it finally hits him... a solution, or so he hopes.

❛ c'mon ! ❜ he says, starting off quickly after the bugs... he didn't know where they were going, but he'd hoped they would lead them somewhere close and big enough for the two of them. ( after all, this seemed to be the only option. )

with seconds stretched into minutes and into what damn near felt like hours, murphy wouldn't admit his hope was beginning to waver... that was, though, until he'd seen the bugs start to burrow into the ground. breathless now, murphy drops to his knees, inspecting where they were be disappearing to. he sees then that he's looking at glass, peering through layers of dirt. with a sweep of the hand, relief nearly washes over him. ❛ ves ! ❜ through the glass that was ajar, he could see a seat... and a steering wheel ? shaking his head, murphy stops questioning what he's looking at before scarred fingers are grabbing at the glass.

murphy's using all of his strength now, entire body weight put into each pull on the window and each one opening it little by little. looking over his shoulder for vesper, he sees now just how close the acid fog is to them. it was one final pull that made the window give way, causing murphy to nearly fall back as - what he would come to realize was a sunroof to a car buried beneath years of dirt - slides open.

❛ get in, ❜ murphy urges, offering a hand to help her slide down into the car. only after she's in does murphy follow behind, and with the fog just seconds away from enveloping them whole, he's grabbing at the window again, this time to push it shut. it's easier than it was before, and with vesper's help, they're able to shut the window just as the fog rolls over the glass, kissing the tips of his fingers with acidic fumes. murphy can't help the hiss that escapes him, a mixture of what was more fear than pain as he shakes his hands.

❛ are you okay ? are you hurt ? ❜ vesper asks.

he looks at her then, chest heaving from the adrenaline and panic of it all. he nods, body sinking into the passenger seat of the car. ❛ 'm okay... i'm good. ❜ fingertips are but just a few shades of red, nothing murphy would worry about and certainly not the worst shape they've been in. he's looking at her now, eyes scanning vesper for any sign of injury. ❛ are you ? ❜

[hevives]

with pure adrenaline - or was it fear - coursing through his veins, there's a sense of determination behind crystal hues. they would get out of this, but this was not the way. two against hundreds with nothing but a machete and a gun running low on ammunition was not a survivors move. this wasn't how they were going to die.

murphy can't help the breath of relief taken when vesper agrees. with gun shoved back into the waistline of his pants, murphy's quick to follow her lead. the time was ticking, the crowd gathering at the base of the tower as he takes vesper's hand to help hoist himself over the edge.

breathless now, there's a silent nod of appreciation... a thank you of his own before he's assisting in the barricade. and only when the room is cleared with every towering and heavy object pushed against the entrance does he hear vesper's whisper. there's a softness that crosses scarred features, bruises and dirt contrasting pale complexion. leave her behind ? it wasn't something murphy had given much thought to, and though he didn't seem to have a clear answer as to why, the idea of not leaving her seemed like a no brainer to him. maybe it was because then he'd have to admit that he cared for her. that the importance of his own survival had grown to mean as much to him as her own. for him, and for her child.

❛ please, ❜ he breathes and with the barricade they'd built offering them a moment of peace, there's a ghost of a grin tugging at the corners of his lips. ❛ 's not like you needed me, ves. ❜ and it was true. he'd seen how far she'd come... how strong she was. ❛ i should be thanking you. ❜ another truth. having been outcasted from the hundred, murphy didn't know where he belonged, or who he was. vesper didn't outcast him though, and he was beginning to find a purpose through it all... another thing he didn't know how to admit.

❛ thank you... for trusting me. ❜

/ continued . @endyured <3