Bryan couldn’t help but let out a snort at Murphy’s words. He hadn’t meant it that way, what he’d said; though maybe it hadn’t been the best to blurt out, ‘Murphy? You’re alive?’ when they’d reached the ship and everyone had gotten on safely. Still, Bryan had been slightly surprised. They’d been through so much after all, and it was still a slight shock to him to see that the ones who’d been back up on space had lived.
“You’re right,” he stated after a pause, “If there’s any of us that are strong enough to survive all of this, it’s you. Pretty sure you’re going to outlive all of us, Murphy.” He offered the older boy a faint, lopsided smile at that, adding on after a moment, “You have some immortal secret going on there? A vampire or something? Maybe you should share with the rest of the class.”
Bryan looked up from where he was sitting on the couch, sputtering and putting his hands up in his own defense. “Hey, it’s not my fault!” He huffed out, “Look, I said I’d keep an eye on him and see what he was up to, but I’m not a babysitter, nor am I actually any good at sneaking around or following after him. I’m not about to get my head chewed off because I decided to follow him a little too closely or something.”
Crossing his arms over his chest then, Bryan added in an almost pout, “Besides, Bellamy is a big boy, ‘tavia. Whatever our fearless leader is doing, I don’t want to get into trouble for asking questions. He got up and said he had to go take care of something, and took off out the door.” He shrugged, then paused and added absently, “Actually, I think I may know where he went, but…”
@stellarstolen liked this and probably wanted a starter but not this one
After his spat with Miller, Bryan had walked away from the camp. People were too busy paying attention to all the new arrivals, all the people that they’d saved from Farm Station, to notice that he’d simply walked right out of the gates again. At first he’d considered going back to the room, but then no, that was Nate’s room, he’d been in Arkadia first; and, Bryan thought to himself, he wasn’t about to go back to the shared dorm with everyone, not when he felt like this.
He wandered, just walking and keeping his head down, lost in thought and not paying attention to where he was going. Maybe that was why the arrow so easily caught him in the right shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain and go right to the ground. He could hear laughing, and he was scrambling to get back up, running, desperate to get back to Arkadia. Of all the times that he’d been dumb enough down here to leave his gun somewhere else, this had to take the cake.
The grounder had to be toying with him. That was the only reason he wasn’t dead yet, the only reason he was still breathing. The tree line was ahead, all he had to do was run out into the open and there would be safety. Yet he stumbled, falling to his knees again and groaning in pain, head feeling dizzy. Where had the grounder gone?
He heard more footsteps now, closing his eyes and waiting. There was nothing left for him to do, he had no weapon, he was bleeding and in pain and there was no way to defend himself. The grounder was just going to have to finish him off, right here, so close to Arkadia that he could hear the people there that could save him… but it was going to be too late.
“Bryan?”
The sound of someone calling his name made his eyes flutter back open, startled and trying to figure out what was going on. He lifted his head a little, eyes widening slightly at seeing his friend standing a little ways away, looking like she’d maybe seen a ghost. He tried to push himself up, at least to sit up more than how he’d been laying, but everything hurt so bad.
“… Maia…” He choked out weakly, looking at her desperately for help.
They must have brought the new kid during the night, because one morning Murphy woke up, and the empty cell across the way was occupied. He’d only been locked up for two months himself, and had learned the routines of the Sky Box pretty quickly. So when someone new was brought in, Murphy noticed.
“And another one joins the rank of the undead.” Murphy stood at the wall of his cell, looking at the other boy. That was what they were: the undead. Because they weren’t exactly dead, not yet, but they weren’t really alive, either. They were in a kind of stasis, waiting until they turned eighteen. Murphy knew exactly what would happen to him in eight months, and he’d made peace with it.
starter for @indiebryan !
The last thing Bryan had ever expected was to be sitting in the Sky Box. Of course, that’s what happens when you get arrested for ‘stealing’, after all. He wasn’t proud of it, and he was sure he was going to get an earful from Miller when he saw that he’d been arrested too. Especially when he and their other friends found out exactly why Bryan had been arrested. But, for the first night at least, things had been quiet and he’d been left to his own thoughts.
Hearing someone speak, Bryan lifted his head and glanced around, catching sight of the other boy across the way. “Undead?” He asked him then, furrowing his eyebrows and getting up to stand and move closer to the bars to talk to him, “What do you mean? Getting arrested makes you some sort of undead club member?” So, that probably wasn’t the smartest thing to ask, but Bryan was… Well, he was Bryan.
Bryan: I’m tired, I don’t want to really do memes or anything.
Gwen: Ungrateful. I’ll take the memes and do them for myself.
Bryan: NO! Those are mine, I’m going to write them right now!!!
Me: … Bryan plz.
Put some things in the queue for both of my kids. I’m going to try and get some starters and replies and things done this weekend (because 2 days off!!) but right now they’re being uncooperative little shits because my anxiety is bad, so I’mma go color and then see what happens.
Either way, you can send me more memes as always, or catch me on messages or d*scord to chat.
indiebryan 