09

Morning rolled around, and Sophia groaned softly, hearing voices outside. She attempted to sit up, only to be pulled back down by Murphy's arm around her waist.

"Five more minutes..." Murphy muttered tiredly, burying his face in Sophia's hair. Her heart fluttered slightly, turning over to face him. Her breath caught in her throat when she realized how close he was. His tired grey-blue eyes half open as he looked her face over.

"There are voices outside...and Jaha isn't here." Sophia lifted her head, noting the lack of the chancellor in the dropship. "Oh for fuck sakes..." Murphy groaned as he slowly pushed himself up to his feet, helping Sophia up shortly after.

The pair stepped out of the dropship, confusion rising when they saw a group of people that had suddenly shown up. The pair looked at each other before stepping off the platform.

"The hell is this?" Murphy questioned, brows knitted. "We're going to the city of light," Jaha answered. Sophia's shoulders dropped, and an unamused look spread across her face. "This shit again?" She frowned. "There's a million ways you can die out there, just saying," Murphy added.

"If it's not your time, nothing can kill you. If it is your time, it only takes one." Jaha responded. If it's not your time? What the hell was he on about?

"Do you have a map?" Murphy questioned. "Nope," Jaha responded as he started walking ahead with the group. "Then how do you know where you're going?" Sophia questioned.

"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, Sophia Jordan and let me show you there is so much more for you than this." Jaha told the pair as he started walking ahead.

"This is stupid..." Murphy groaned. "If we go back to camp without Jaha, we'll be arrested and accused of murder or something...I don't think we have a choice..." Sophia frowned. Murphy sighed in annoyance, walking ahead, grabbing Sophia's wrist to pull her along.

**********

Hours had passed. Their group had been deep into the dead zone now. Sophia stayed close you Murphy, nearly losing her balance a few times due to the sandy surface being difficult to walk on.

"If I knew we were taking a trip to the desert, I would have stayed back at camp..." Sophia groaned. "I almost wish I were still trapped in Mount Weather." She added.

"Their tent was near here. I'm sure of it." Jaha muttered, looking around the now-empty area. No sign of life whatsoever. Sophia heard some of the people who came along muttering to themselves as they started to turn around. "What's the matter? You guys got someplace better to be?" Murphy called after them sarcastically before looking around again. "See anyone?"

As soon as the question was uttered, Sophia let out a noise as she got knocked to her knees, a knife to her throat, followed by a woman's voice speaking in Trigedasleng (Stay back or I will kill the girl.)

"We mean you know harm. Do you speak English?" Jaha questioned, his hands raised in defense. Sophia winced slightly as she felt the blade pressed harder against her neck. She wouldn't be surprised if she started bleeding.

"What do you want?" The woman questioned, her grip on Sophia's shoulder staying strong. "Nothing. It looks like you could use a hand." Jaha gestured to the nearby cart before asking, "What are you doing out here alone?" The woman seemed to relax slightly, moving her blade from Sophia's throat. The young Jordan girl was taking advantage and quickly getting back up to stand by Murphy, who almost seemed star-struck by the woman. Sophia's brows furrowed slightly before looking over at the woman who had just threatened her life. Her breath caught in her throat; she got it 100%. This woman was beautiful, at least what she could see of her. Those brown eyes that almost seemed to be hiding something as she stared at Sophia and Murphy before finally responding to Jaha's question.

"My brother and I were on our way to the City of Light, and wastelanders attacked. They took our horse, all our water, everything. They killed him. This cart is all I have left." Sophia frowned, her heart ached as she thought of her own brother...the pain she'd feel if she and Jasper ended up in a situation like this woman. "We can give you some of our water." Sophia offered, elbowing Murphy, who was already a step ahead, getting his canteen out.

"Whoa, no, no, no, no, no. We barely have enough for ourselves here." Caspin argued, grabbing Murphy's arm, who immediately turned and glared at Caspin. "Touch me again and I'll kill you." Murphy warned, the air was tense before he added, "in a non-criminal way." Then handed his canteen to the woman. She seemed skeptical before Murphy nodded, stretching the canteen out. "It's okay." He encouraged.

Sophia's heart skipped when the woman moved the cloth covering her face before drinking greedily from the canteen. Her face flushed as she couldn't take her eyes off the woman. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Murphy in the same boat as her. This woman was beautiful, and Sophia was head over heels, even though this woman threatened to kill her moments prior.

"We're on our way to the City of Light, as well. What's your name?" Jaha questioned curiously once the woman finished drinking, putting the lid back on the canteen.

"Emori. Everyone in the Dead Zone is looking for the City of Light. Almost no one finds it. I can get you there. If you pull my cart." The woman said as Jaha ordered Caspin to take the first shift of pulling the cart.

"Thanks for the water." Emori handed the canteen back to Murphy. "Oh-- ye-yeah no no problem." He stammered slightly, mentally cursing himself as he slowly started walking ahead.

"Sorry for threatening you like that." Emori apologized to Sophia. Her heart fluttered again, her face heating up as she fumbled over her words before finally settling on "It's fine." She also started mentally beating herself up for stuttering like that as she and Emori caught up to Murphy.

The trek through the sandy hellscape seemed not as bad now with their new addition. Sophia and Emori were on either side of Murphy as the trio walked at a slightly slower pace, keeping some distance from the others.

"So I got to ask. What made you ditch your home and risk your life to cross the beach from hell?" Murphy questioned curiously. Emori frowned slightly as she avoided the pair's gazes. "It doesn't matter," Emori muttered. "No. Come on. Take our minds off all the fun we're having." Sophia encouraged.

"It wasn't my decision to leave..." Emori frowned. That piqued Sophia's and Murphy's attention as they stopped walking. "Kicked out? Okay. Now I'm interested. What'd you do?" Murphy questioned. "If I told you, neither of you would look at me the same." Emori frowned.

"Eh, you never know, we've seen and done some pretty crazy stuff since coming to earth," Sophia said, smiling reassuringly at Emori.

Emori returned the smile but still avoided Sophia and Murphy's prying as she asked, "What about you two? How did you two end up in the Dead Zone?" Sophia and Murphy looked at each other. "I could tell you the gory details, but since you're one of the few people on this planet, other than Soph, who doesn't hate me at the moment, I don't think I want to blow it." Murphy shrugged. "I don't know, Murph, jury is still out on you." Sophia joked, making Murphy roll his eyes.

"Now I'm curious." Emori's lips twitched into an amused smile. "Okay. You really want to know? I killed two people, tried to kill two more. I had my reasons, but nobody cared. I'm the bad guy." Murphy frowned, avoiding mentioning that the two he killed were because it was his own way of protecting Sophia. "Told you I'd blow it." Murphy frowned when Emori didn't respond. He was about to walk ahead when Emori grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

Sophia watched curiously as Emori took the glove she wore off, revealing her deformed/mutated hand. "My people saw me as a stain on the bloodline, something to erase," Emori told the pair. She was caught slightly off guard when Sophia took the deformed hand in her own, her fingers tracing along the other woman's hand. "Screw them. I wouldn't cover this up." Sophia smiled softly at Emori. "Yeah, I think it's pretty badass," Murphy added.

Emori rolled her eyes slightly, throwing her glove back on, and a small smile twitched on her lip. "Liar."