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justinewt · 2 years ago

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Trust is Like Fire - TMR REWRITE Chapter Nine

[TMR REWRITE-MASTERLIST]

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Summary: Driving through the mountains, they found the Right Arm, or rather, the Right Arm found them. For a first interaction, being shot at wasn’t the worst the group had had to face. Aris was reunited with old friends he made when he was in the maze, Sonya and Harriet. The two took them to a camp further in the desert, where their group was hiding. Starting off the wrong foot, they managed to gain the trust of the man in charge, named Vince but as the night fell, the day took a much darker twist, ending in the cries and tears of a family being torn apart.

Words: 7k

Warnings: TMR Scorch Trials spoilers, angst, some fluff, bruises, blood, gun violence, ANGST (I understand Teresa thought she was doing the right thing but only Teresa’s slander will be accepted here)

They had been sitting in this car they took from Marcus, going as far as making him cry like a baby because of it, for a few hours now. The roads were empty and all they saw for miles on end was desert with sands, stones and dry bushes. Jorge was behind the wheel and drove them into the mountains where they would normally find people from the Right Arm group. After taking a nap for a while, her head resting on her brother's shoulder, Grace sat up and rubbed her eyes and met the amused glance Newt was giving her before looking out the window, staring into the distance. Despite the conditions, this had been one of the most restful sleeps she had since the WICKED facility. Just like in the glade, they had been through a lot in a rather short period of time, and it was exhausting for all of them but they all knew WICKED was never going to let it and leave them alone so it wouldn’t come to an end for now. It would be a long time before they would experience a moment of peace longer than a few hours. They drove through the mountains, crossing paths with rusty and crumbling metal pyramid towers from which cables hung from all sides in the void. Grace had no idea what it was. After a moment, Jorge stopped the car and she turned her head, looking forward with a slight frown, wondering what was up. They all stepped out of Bertha, staring at a bunch of decrepit cars blocking the road.

“Well, I guess we’re on foot.” Jorge stated. The group gathered around him and stood there in silence. They walked through what felt like a cemetery, searching the opened trunks, taking a peep inside the cars. Grace followed Thomas, looking around the mountains, she almost bumped into him when he stopped by a car. She walked past him to stand by his side and followed his gaze to the dusty windshield and saw a bullet hole. The second after he brought his hand up to it, a shot was fired and a bullet hit the hood of the car, making a loud metallic sound resounding in the valley. Thomas grabbed Grace’s shoulders and brought her to the ground along with him as he shielded his head with his arm out of reflex. As bullets rained down on them, Jorge ordered the others to take cover. For a few seconds after they stoppes, the shots echoed through the valley like thunder.

“Hey, is everyone okay out there?” Thomas enquired, while he, Grace and Jorge, hid together behind a car.

“We’re fine.” Teresa shouted in response.

“Anyone knows where those bloody shots came from?” Newt queried, but none of them had an answer.

“That son of a bitch, Marcus. He led us into an ambush.” Jorge spoke, furiously taking off his gloves. Grace then looked at Thomas motioned for her to stay hidden as he slowly stood up to look around. A few other bullets were shot at their car, and he took cover again.

“What do we do?” He asked Jorge. Both Grace and Thomas stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

“Yeah. Hold this.” Jorge handed them a sort of bomb and Grace hesitantly grabbed it, glancing at her brother in confusion. “We gotta create a diversion. You get ready to chuck it.” Jorge then then took out a device with a small red button on top and she got on her foot, leaning forward to stay hidden, the bomb in her hand while Jorge told the others to be ready to run back to the truck and cover their ears. He then lowered his voice to address Grace. “Ready? One… Two…”

“Drop it.” A female voice ordered from behind them, accompanied by the sound of a gun being reloaded. They froze for a few seconds until the woman urged them and raising her hands in the air, Grace put the bomb down, not daring to turn around, just looking at her brother from the corner of her eyes. Jorge gave in as well and dropped the device he held in his hand. “On your feet. Let’s go.” All three of them slowly got up and she repeated herself, yelling this time. With her sniper, she moved for them to get to the side. There were actually two women in front of them, both wearing masks hiding their lower faces. The one actively threatening them had long dreadlocks falling a little past her shoulders and the other one, standing behind her, light blond hair in a side braid. The two walked towards them, pushing them to back up and got the others to raise their hands and stand beside Thomas, Grace and Jorge. The one with dreadlocks kind of frowned, lowering her gun and mask. “Aris?”

“Oh my god. Harriet?”

“My god. What the hell are you doing here?” She quickly swalked over to him and drew him into a tight hug. The others watched them, all staring and frowning in confusion. Aris then greeted the other girl named Sonya. They seemed so relieved to see each other. Grace looked at the blond, and the only thought that crossed her mind was how pretty she looked.

“Aris, you’re lucky we didn’t shoot your dumb ass. You all right man?”

“Uh, what’s happening?” Minho enquired.

“We were in the maze together.” Aris explained, reminding them that he was indeed in a maze full of girls and was the only boy, just like Teresa and Grace were the only girls in a maze full of boys. For some reason the three of them had found themselves in the opposite maze to the one they should have been in. Harriet then walked to the edge of the road and whistled. Grace followed her with her eyes until she looked at Sonya and crossed her gaze. she still had a candid smile stretching her rosy lips. She had the prettiest hazel eyes Grace had ever seen and she couldn’t get her eyes off of her. It felt like there had been an instant connection between them, as if time had stopped and nothing else mattered around them. Grace was very unfamiliar with that sort of feeling and didn’t know what to do with it but stand there and smile and probably look somewhat stupid, but she didn’t care. The fluttering in her stomach made it feel like thousands of butterflies were flying in there and she couldn't help but be confused and taken aback and yet, looking at Sonya was strangely comforting. She didn't remember her being at WICKED with them and still, it was just as if they had always known each other, which was even more weird to her. When she felt Thomas’ hand on her shoulder, she was taken out of her thoughts and contemplation in the blink of an eye and glanced at her brother, disoriented. Thomas was looking at her and she could tell that his eyes were asking her what was going on, but she just turned around and saw all the armed figures standing on top of the mountains. They had definitely found the Right Arm. Grace had a soft grin on her face. She glanced at Sonya, who was talking to Aris and the latter looked at her, both smiling at each other. Grace couldn’t understand what happened and why she was feeling like this toward someone she had just met a moment before. She wondered if Sonya was feeling the same as her.

She pushed these thoughts away, putting them to the back of her mind and the group of teenagers followed Sonya and Harriet down a wide, natural tunnel in the moutain. At the end of the tunnel, a big truck was parked sideways to block the path. Sonya waved her arm around.

“Back it up, Joe!” The vehicle began to reverse, and they walked out the gallery. Outside, there was a whole bunch of people, standing near cars parked there. The group silently followed the two girls, Aris on their heel and Thomas and Grace walked side by side, looking around with a tiny hint of apprehension in the back of their eyes, their friends right behind them.

“We’re taking them to base.” Harriet told someone without stopping in her tracks.

“Wait, so, how did you guys get here?” Aris wondered.

“The Right Arm got us out.”

“Wait, wait.” Thomas spoke, accelerating his pace enough to approach Harriet. She caught his attention by talking about the Right Arm. Grace had thought they might have found them after everything they had gone through, but she couldn't be sure, until she said this. Harriet stopped by a car, her hand on the handle and turned toward Thomas. “The Right Arm? Do you know where they are?”

“Hop in.” She gestured with her head for them to get in the car as she opened the door, giving them a slight smile. Thomas remained silent for a second, glancing at the car and he kind of looked at his sister next to him before finally taking the lead and getting in the car. They couldn’t all fit in just this one car, so Grace and Teresa went with Thomas, a soldier behind the wheel and Harriet in the passenger seat, and the others were lead to a second vehicule. Grace let her gaze linger outside when she saw Sonya walk past the window. The latter glanced at her with sweetness in her eyes as she disappeared into another car with Newt, Minho, Aris and Siggy. They drove through desert for a while, but they eventually reached a large camp, with dozens of people walking around. The teenagers were looking at this new place with wide eyes. Sonya and Harriet walked them into the camp. “They’ve been planning this for over a year now. This is all for us.”

“You guys are lucky you found us when you did.” Sonya added. “We’re moving out at first light. Where’s Vince?”

“Somewhere over there, I think.” A man said, pointing in the distance. Sonya and Harriet walked in said direction.

“Who’s Vince?” Thomas asked.

“He’s the one who decides if you get to stay.” Harriet spoke, glancing at Sonya with a smirk.

“I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army.” Minho jumped in the conversation and when he had barely finished his sentence, the deep voice of a man rose on their right. That was probably this Vince they heard about.

“Yeah, we were. That is all that’s left of us.” He shrugged, showing around him as he walked towards them. He was a middle-aged man, with dark blond hair with a goatee and a mustache. “Lot of good people died getting us this far. Who are they?”

“They’re immunes.” Harriet replied. “Caught ‘em coming up the mountain.”

“Did you check ‘em?”

“I know this guy, Aris. I trust him” She said, pointing at her friend. Vince was very suspicious of the group of newcomers, staring them all down with his hooded eyes.

“Well, I don’t. Check ‘em.”

“Hey, boss…” Another guy approached them and Grace looked over her shoulder, wondering what he was doing. She didn’t have time to think she unexpectedly caught Brenda in her arms when the latter suddenly fell forward with a raspy gasp. Grace stumbled, almost losing her balance as she crouched down, frowning in worry and confusion. Jorge rushed towards her and Grace gently dropped her on the ground, stepping aside, helped up by Thomas. None of them knew what to do while Jorge tried calling out to Brenda, holding her in his arms. She had a sick complexion, and her lips were almost black. Grace wondered how none of them had noticed that before because it couldn't have happened all of a sudden. Vince crouched next to Jorge, a hand on his shoulder.

“What’s going on with her?”

“I don’t know. Brenda, are you all right? Brenda?” While Jorge was focused on her, Grace watched Vince as he stared at the bandage on her leg. She watched him pull it down and reveal a nasty crank bite. The veins on her calf were prominent and dark, like Winston when he had been infected. Now that she thought of him, it seemed so obvious that she had been infected. She looked exactly like he did at his worst. Upon seeing the bite, Vince jumped on his feet, swearing under his breath and he pulled out his gun, alerting everyone around that there was a crank in the camp. Thomas almost ran to Vince, shouting along with Jorge to stop Vince from shooting her.

“Listen, okay?” Thomas talked to him, ignoring his order to step back. Two men grabbed Jorge by the arms and dragged him away from Brenda. “Listen, listen. This just happened, okay? She’s not dangerous yet.”

“You shouldn’t have brought her here!”

“I know. I—” He pursed his lips, kind of looking down for a second.

“We let Cranks in here now, the safe haven doesn’t last a week! Step back!”

I understand, okay? I understand.” He tried to speak to Vince as calmly as possible. “All right, just- just liten. Please. Please, okay? I told her that you could help. Okay?” Vince didn’t lower his gun so Thomas kept talking, trying to convince him to let her go. “There’s got to be something you can do.”

“Yeah, there is.” He said, breathing loudly. A silence hung over them until he loaded his weapon. “I can put her out her misery.”

“No!” Jorge yelled, struggling against the two men holding him. Grace stared at the scene anxiously. Before he pulled the trigger, a woman jogged up to them, raising her voice at him.

“Vince, that’s enough! Let him go. Let him go!” Jorge was finally freed by the two Right Arm members. Grace kind of frowned, slowly stepping closer to Thomas as they both stared at the woman. She had no idea who the latter was.

“She’s infected, Doc. There’s nothing we can do for her.”

“No, but they can.” She was staring back at the two siblings with a smile on her face, like she knew them. Grace stood just a little behind her brother and she looked at him in confusion, as if he would have an answer, but he seemed as lost as her, squinting his eyes as he gaped at her. When their names crossed her lips, Grace slowly turned her head towards her, dumbfounded. “Hello, Thomas, Grace.”

“You know us?” Thomas asked.

“Interesting.” Her smile faded and she nodded, looking down at Brenda as she spoke. Vince stared at the two. They weren’t the only ones confused right now. “It makes sense they’d put you in the maze. Though I must admit…” The doctor went to kneel beside Brenda, holding her wrist. “I was worried they’d kill you after what you did.”

“Wh- What we did?”

She stayed silent for a brief moment, her hand on Brenda’s forehead before looking back at them. “The first time we spoke, you said you couldn’t take it anymore… watching your friends die, one by one. The last time we spoke, you gave me the coordinates of every WICKED compound, trial and lab.”

“They were our source.” Vince said, just realizing something that none of the two siblings even remembered. Thomas and Grace stared at the woman in silence, as if they were holding their breaths, processing what she said. Grace had no idea what he did remember from their time working for WICKED and even though she did vaguely remember something happened, she thought it only involved Thomas and that on her part, for some obscure reason, she had tried to shoot herself in one of the bathrooms of the facility, before Thomas bursted in. She wasn’t even sure if this was something that really happened or if it was actually just some sort of fever dream.

“We couldn’t have pulled all this off without them.” She added softly. Thomas and Grace looked around, shocked and puzzled, and couldn’t hold Vince’s gaze or anyone else’s. They had never felt so lost. The doctor ordered that Brenda be taken into the tent, probably the one that was to be used as the infirmary and bring the teenagers some warm clothes. They might be in a desert, but it wasn't as hot as when they were crossing the dunes a few days ago. Thomas and Grace looked ahead of them, where Teresa was standing and she had a stern face, as if something tragic had happened. She looked away. Grace frowned, wondering if she was upset because the doc just said how they had betrayed WICKED before being sent into the maze. It was just like when she tried telling them they should go back to the facility they had just escaped from. Grace stared at Teresa, feeling something was off with her. “Thomas, Grace, come on. I need to get some blood from you.”

She led them to the tent while some other guys carried Brenda to a bed. Her chest was heaving rapidly as she only took short breaths. The woman put thin tubes in the crook of their elbows, just like they did at the WICKED facility. Grace wondered why their blood seemed so much more valuable than anyone else’s. She also thought that now, she would have bruises on both her arms. Thomas didn’t have any bruises anymore unlike his sister, which led her to believe they didn’t take as much blood from him as they did from her. She couldn’t help but wonder why. It was strange. About a dozen of vials of blood had been taken from her alone and this was still something that troubled her. They were sat by Brenda’s bed, Jorge on the other side, his hand on the girl’s forehead.

“In the beginning, we were lost.” The doctor was walking around the tent, grabbing a few things here and there while blood was being drawn from the two teenagers. “All we knew for sure… was that the younger you were, the stronger your chances.”

“You worked for WICKED?” Thomas enquired quietly. She stopped what she was doing for a second and nodded.

“Long time ago.” Thomas and Grace glanced at Jorge, who also had worked for WICKED a long time ago. They turned their heads back to her when she continued to talk, busying herselfs with various vials and liquids, including their blood. “You know, at first, we had the best intentions. Find a cure, save the world. It was clear you kids were the key, because you were immune. But why? Eventually, we found an answer. An enzyme produced by the brains of the immune. Once separated from the bloodstream… It can serve as a powerful agent to slow the spread of the virus.”

“So, you found a cure?” Thomas and Grace glanced at each other. She remained silent, letting her brother speak because she had no idea what to say and wasn’t sure if it would be relevant to talk about how much blood WICKED took from her, without telling her why.

“Not exactly.” She shook her head, dashing their thin hopes with these two words. “The enzyme can’t be manufactured, only harvested from the immune. The young.” Grace stared into space, listening. “Of course, that didn’t stop WICKED. If they had their way… they’d sacrifice an entire generation. All for this. A gift of biology. Of evolution. But not meant for all of us.” She sat next to Jorge and carefully pricked Brenda with the syringe. As the liquid ran through her veins, she let out a long sigh and her breathing calmed down. Just a few seconds after the injection, she already seemed more peaceful. Thomas and Grace watched her face relax.

“How long will that give her?” He asked.

“It’s different for everyone. A few months maybe. But that’s the catch, isn’t it? She’ll always need more.” She stood up, leading Jorge outside to let them all rest. Jorge parted his lips to say something but the doctor spoke, assuring him Brenda would be fine and he reluctantly left the tent. The doctor put her gloves in a bin. “Thomas? You know she can’t come with us, right?” And on these words, as she didn’t receive any answer from him, she left. She was a really nice person. Grace looked down at the little dressing on her left arm and the fading bruises on her right. Now that they were alone, she wanted to express her thoughts.

“Thomas…” At the mention of her name, he turned his head towards her. “what if some of us were like, more immune? That this enzyme produced by our brains was more… I don’t know, effective in some? And therefore, more interesting for WICKED… it would explain why they wanted so much blood from me. From us.” Despair quickly tainted her voice. “If what's in our blood has so much worth to them, they wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice us. We saw what they did to the others.”

“They won’t get to us, okay? We’re safe here, with the Right Arm... I won’t let them take any of us. I won’t let them take you.” She looked up at him and he drew her into a tight hug. They eventually broke their embrace after holding each other for a minute and stood up, putting on their jackets before heading out. Grace took a step towards the entrance of the tent, and turned around when she didn’t hear her brother follow her. She watched him grab something next to Brenda, on the bed and approached. First thinking it might be some old lighter, it actually had a picture inside of it. Brenda’s voice caught their attention. They hadn’t realized she had woken up.

“He was my brother.”

“Hey. Sorry.” He gave it back to her, sitting down. Grace followed his lead and sat beside him. “Are you okay? How are you feeling?”

“You remind me of him.” She said to Thomas, staring at the little object. “He always saw the best in people.”

“Where is he now?” Grace asked quietly. Brenda turned on her side, resting her head on her arm and she shook her head.

“I don’t know. When we were kids… we were taken in by one of WICKED’s camps. They gave us a bunch of tests. They didn’t want me. They wanted him, though. They didn’t even let me say goodbye.” As she spoke, Grace was reminded of that faint memory of their mother cuddling them before they were taken away by WICKED. They barely had time to say goodbye to her and didn’t even remember her name.

“What was his name?” Thomas asked.

“George.” She replied with a smile. He pulled out the little figurine made by Chuck and showed it to Brenda.

“That was Chuck.”

“How did he die?” She asked softly after observing the statuette. There was a brief silence.

“Saving my life.” Grace looked down at her feet, fidgeting with her fingers. She lifted her head up when she felt him put a hand on her shoulder as he stood up. She got up in turn while he told Brenda to get some rest. Staring at the dry desert floor, Grace exited the tent after Thomas. She needed to get some fresh air. Jorge was standing right outside the tent. She looked up after almost bumping into her brother when he stopped in his tracks. Both Thomas and Grace rose their eyebrows in surprise when Jorge wrapped his arms around Thomas and then Grace, calling them “brother” and “sister” in Spanish. This wasn’t something they expected from Jorge, but he was very grateful for their help to save Brenda.

“If anything were to happen to her, I--”

“I know, I know.” Thomas patted him on the shoulder. He nodded toward the inside of the tent with his head, encouraging him to go see her now that she was awake.

“I guess I owe you, now.” He told them before entering the tent, sketching a friendly smile. The two siblings glanced at each other and stepped away. As they walked through the camp to go find their friends, Harriet and Sonya were chatting and laughing with their old pal, Aris. They found Minho, Newt and Siggy on top of a small cliff. They sat near them. Teresa was nowhere to be seen.

“I wish Alby could’ve seen all this.” Thomas declared. They all nodded at his statement.

“And Winston.” Siggy added.

“And Chuck.” He looked at the figurine in his hands.

“He’d be proud of you, you know, Tommy.” Newt told him. Siggy shouted at Aris, calling out to him and he waved at them.

“Hey Guys!” Grace looked at Sonya and knew she was looking back at her when she reacted to her waving. Harriet seemingly saw the interaction and turned her head to her friend, nudging her lightly. Grace then looked around and could see that the four boys, at least Minho, Newt and Thomas seemed to have noticed, and were looking at her with an amused smile as she was clearly trying to hide her infatuation for Sonya. They could tell the two girls liked each other already but none of them said anything about it.

“I kinda like that kid.” Siggy said, smiling but he got confused when he saw the amusement on their faces. “Why are y’all laughing?”

“Nothing.” Newt shrugged it off with a smirk and Minho changed the subject of conversation.

“Yeah. I still don’t trust him, though.” The five of them chuckled.

“Hey, where’s Teresa?” Thomas then enquired. It got Grace looking around, seeing she was still no where near them. She would usually stick with them, especially in such foreign environment where she didn't know anyone but she was somewhere on her own. Newt quickly gave them an answer, showing the cliff behind them.

“She went up there.” In the distance, they saw Teresa's silhouette standing out against the sky, the bottom of her coat floating in the breeze. Grace frowned, wondering what was up with her and it reminded her of the moment the doctor recognized them and said outloud how they apparently betrayed WICKED. Back there, Teresa seemed somewhat disappointed and upset but held it together. Thomas stood up and went to join Teresa up on the cliff.

Daylight fading as night drew near, Grace stared into space, overwhelming herself with doubts and questions about Teresa strange behavior. She had never been as close to her as Thomas was so she couldn’t be sure what was going through her head at the moment. Grace sighed silently and gathering her hair over her shoulder with her hand, she lay down looking at the sky, placing her arm under her head. She ended up closing her eyes, letting her mind wander in her memory, reviewing more or less clear memories. She could hear the engines of WICKED aircrafts in the distance, as if they were really there but when she opened her eyes, the noises didn't go away and she stood up, glancing at the boys nearby and they all looked around, soon seeing the lights of said WICKED aircrafts and she widened her eyes. WICKED found them, after all their efforts to escape from the organization, they had been found. She couldn't believe it but... of course, Teresa was behind this. It made no doubt. She wanted them all to go back to WICKED and clearly said it to Thomas and Grace back in the desert, they should have known she would do something like this. The moments that were to follow were perhaps going to be a screaming bloodbath because of her delusion.

They barely had time to stand up. A helicopter launched a missile at the camp. They were thrown backwards by the force of the explosion below and Grace groaned as she fell on a rock. More bombs were dropped on them. Newt was the closest to her and he helped her up. Grace asked where her brother was since he was yet to return but the situation was escalating quickly and none of them knew where he was nor had the time to find out so they ran with Minho and Siggy, not knowing where to go as the camp was surrounded by WICKED soldiers. They were shooting on sight, immobilizing anyone who fled with the electric projectiles fired by their large guns. The four teenagers crouched behind metal barrels, jumping when another explosion sounded. Not far, they saw Vince and Harriet near a truck. He shouted for her to bring more ammunition as he fired relentlessly at the soldiers.

“Vince! Harriet!” Minho called out to them, and they rushed to the two Right Arm members. He talked to them, yelling to be heard. “How can we help?”

“You need to cover us!” Harriet stated.

“Hey! Do you know how to use this thing?” Vince handed his rifle to Minho as the latter nodded while he hurriedly loaded the submachine gun in the back of the pickup. Siggy and Grace helped Harriet, quickly grabbing a couple of smaller guns and Newt was given a sniper. Grace wasn’t exactly the most comfortable holding a gun but she tried to stay calm, only firing when she was sure she wouldn’t hit an ally. A bullet flew out of her weapon and a soldier lost his balance and fell down with a groan. She widened her eyes, staring at the body, taking quick breaths. It wasn’t the first time she saw someone die, but it was the first time she killed. She quickly pulled herself together and continued to cover Vince. Newt, Minho, Harriet and Siggy by her sides, shooting with more ease than her but she was getting the hang of it.

“Vince, hurry up! There’s too many of them.” Newt exclaimed in an alarming tone. Not long after Siggy told them he was out of ammunition, Grace heard her own gun click and she realized she didn't have any bullets left either. Next thing she knew, she heard a clicking sound in the truck and Vince swearing. She had no time to process what was happening and fell to her knees. For a few seconds an intense pain shot through her body which suddenly stiffened and she crashed on the ground, unable to think, speak or move at all, just staring into space, feeling like she was paralyzed and couldn’t take deep breaths. Her lips quivered a bit as she tried to say her brother’s name, but no sound came out of her mouth. She felt someone grabbing her by the armpits and lifting her up but she was like a dead weight, her limbs hanging heavily and could do nothing but blankly watch as the soldiers tied her and her friends up. She kept trying to say her brother’s name, as if it was going to make him appear nearby to save them, but the sound she made was more like a gasp like when you're out of breath after running. By the time she could feel her limbs again, she was completely restrained, on her knees, lined up with the other members of the Right Arm but her and her friends were in the first row of the group of captives. It was the worst possible scenario. All their efforts to escape from WICKED had been ruined because of Teresa.

“How many did we get?” Grace lifted her head up upon hearing Janson’s voice. Strands of hair in her face, she stared at him.

“All of them. Give or take.” A soldier told him.

“Give or take what?”

“Well, they lost a few.” While they spoke, another soldier was passing behind the teenagers, scanning the tracking tags put by WICKED on the back of their neck. Grace frowned as the guard pushed her hair out of the way.

“B-2.” He stated before moving on to the next. Grace wouldn’t take her eyes off of Janson, an angry glower on her face. He looked around.

“Where’s Thomas? Where’s your brother?” He enquired, leaning down to grab her face, almost spitting his question through his gritted teeth. He held her face so hard it was as if he was trying to break her jaw.

“Right here.” When his voice rose in the background, Janson suddenly let go of her, immidietaly turning around to look where the voice was coming from. And there he was. Grace was relieved to see him but at the same time, her concern for him grew. She mumbled his name inaudibly. Soldiers surrounded him and one pushed him bluntly in Janson's direction. He had a smirk on his face.

“Thomas.” He punched him hard in the stomach and ordered a guard to line him up with the others. At the moment of the blow, Grace protested, trying to get up but was pushed back down by a guard. She watched her brother as he was forced to his knees right next to her. He straightened up and exchanged a look of mixed concern and relief with her. She would have taken him in her arms if they weren’t tied up. Janson approached a man nearby. “Okay. Bring her in.”

“Why didn’t you run?” Minho asked Thomas quietly. The latter sighed, shaking his head.

“I’m tired of running.” It was definitely not the only reason, and she was aware of it because she knew him. He came back for his friends and sister. He couldn’t leave them behind and that warmed her heart in this tragic turn of events. A large aircraft flew out of the clouds and over their heads, blinding them with its headlights kicking up dust and sand as it landed, making them squint their eyes. Four guards walked out, the Dr. Paige right behind them.

“Is this all of them?” She walked up to Janson.

“Most of them. It’ll be enough.” He assured.

“Start loading them in.”

“Yes, ma’am. Okay, you heard. Let’s go! Get ‘em on!” On his command, soldiers started picking up people and leading them to the engine, straight up dragging the most reluctant ones. The woman stepped toward the teenagers and waved at a soldier to bring Thomas and Grace. They were forced up and pushed towards her.

“Hello, Thomas. Hello, Grace.” She greeted them with an oddly sweet voice and they just stared at her, dumbfounded to see her alive after they literally saw a recording of her shoot her brains out. Even though, after all the shit WICKED pulled on them, another lie wasn’t so surprising. Accompanied by a soldier, Teresa appeared in their sight. Paige glanced at her. “I’m glad your safe.”

“What the hell?” Minho exclaimed.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Newt was understandably confused.

“She’s with them.” Thomas stated bitterly. Everyone either looked at Thomas, shocked by the news, or stared directly at Teresa. Janson approached.

“Teresa’s always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good. Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time.”

“I’m sorry.” She said, looking at her peers. “I had no choice. This is the only way. We have to find a cure.”

“She’s right. This is all a mean to an end.” Paige added. “You used to understand that, Thomas. You too, Grace. No matter what you think of me… I am not a monster. I’m a doctor. I swore an oath to find a cure! No matter the cost.” They all remained silent at her explanation. Teresa sided with WICKED when they didn’t care about any of them. They were just necessary sacrifice for their own survival. “I just need more time.”

“More blood.” The voice of the woman that told Thomas and Grace about their betrayal of WICKED rose behind them.

“Hello, Mary. I hoped we’d meet again. I’m sorry it had to be under these circumstances.”

“I’m sorry about a lot of things too. But not this. At least my conscience is clear.”

“So is mine.” Paige replied quietly. Thomas and Grace jumped at the sharp sound of a bullet being shot. He grabbed his sister by the arm instinctively. Blood soaked Mary’s shirt as she slowly looked down at her stomach and collapsed. Vince shouted her name, struggling against the soldiers and he rushed towards her. Grace followed Thomas’ gaze and saw Janson, holding a gun in the direction of the doctor. Thomas tightened his grip over Grace’s arm, keeping her as close to him as possible and stared at Teresa in shock.

“Come on, Janson. Load them up.” Paige turned around, walking back to the aircraft. Teresa only seemed to realize the gravity of the situation now. “All these people. Get rid of them. Let’s go. Let’s go!”

Moving his hand from holding his arm to resting on her shoulder, she saw him discreetly slip his free hand inside his jacket while a soldier started pushing the two siblings towards the aircraft. He pulled out whatever he was reaching for, and Grace stepped away when he turned around and violently struck the soldier with his elbow, knocking him down. What he held in his hands was actually Jorge’s small bomb and detonator and he erratically shouted to everyone to stand back, catching Janson and Paige’s attention. The soldiers held their guns at Thomas and Janson ran towards them, raising his hands.

“Hold your fire!” For a moment, they yelled back and forth, their voices overlapping, making it hard to understand what they were saying.

“Stand back. Let ‘em go.” Thomas requested, pointing at the aircraft with his hand holding the detonator.

“Thomas, put it down.”

“Let ‘em all go!” He shouted again.

“You know I can’t do that.” Paige joined in, raising her voice.

“Thomas, please stop.” Teresa begged. “I made a deal with them. They promised we’d be safe. All of us.”

“And I’m supposed to trust you now?” His voice quivered slightly. Grace could hear the hurt, even though he wasn’t speaking loudly.

“It’s true. It was her only condition.” Paige assured.

“Shut up!”

“Everything can go back to the way it was. Thomas… do you really want all of them to die?”

“Listen to her, Thomas. Think about what you’re doing.” Janson said, getting annoyed at the teenager’s relentlessness. Grace glanced at Minho, Newt and Siggy and they slowly walked over to Thomas, standing around him.

“We’re with you, Thomas.” Newt declared. Paige and Teresa shook their head, telling him not to do it. But it didn’t matter to them, his friends would stick with him until the end.

“Do it, Thomas.” Minho encouraged. Thomas looked at Dr. Paige.

“We’re not going back there.” He held up the bomb in front of him, his thumb hovering over the button on top. “It’s the only way.”

They all closed their eyes as he was about to detonate the bomb. Paige yelled his name when suddenly, the loud horn of a vehicle sounded nearby. They turned their heads towards the car speeding through the camp, not knowing what was going on. Soldiers tried firing at the vehicle, but it was useless. Whoever was driving drove into a helicopter. The engine fell to the side, its blades spinning rapidly and hitting the ground, suddenly coming loose and breaking into sharp pieces that flew all over the place. Thomas threw himself to the ground to avoid getting hit. Everyone started running in all directions, screaming, shouting at each other. It turned into complete chaos in seconds.

“You good?” He asked his friends and sister, standing nearby.

“Freeze! Drop it, kid!” A soldier ordered Thomas to let go off the bomb but he glanced down at it, detonating it and throwing it at him and his colleagues. He turned around to the others, yelling at them to run and get down. They managed to get away a bit and shielded their faces with their arms when a blinding explotion blew the area up. Grace crawled to the side and stood up, looking around in panick. There were thick clouds of dust that had been kicked up and she didn't know where her brother or even her friends had gone. She heard shots being fired and gruntings but before she could determine where the sounds came from, she saw Vince jump in the back of the pick-up and shoot into the crowd of soldiers with the submachine gun. She ran into her brother, and they found the others, trying to flee from the soldiers who were getting dangerously close to them.

Minho picked up a gun on the ground, yelling at them to go, firing at the soldiers. As Grace was just running past him, Minho ran out of ammunition and got shot at by one of their electric guns. She stepped away, glancing over her shoulder, hearing her brother calling out to his friend. She turned around, about to keep running to join Thomas, Newt and Siggy when suddenly, she felt this sharp pain in her back, her body stiffening up before it was shaken with tremors. Thomas screamed at the top of his lungs, crying out her name but it was too late for them to save Minho and Grace. She tried to crawl away, but her limbs were rigid and it was such strenuous effort for nothing, she sighed and watched her brother try to run to them, yelling their names as they were picked up and dragged away by soldiers. Grace felt a tear roll down her cheek as she tried to call out for her brother but just like the first time they were stunned, no sound would come out of her mouth. She was paralyzed and every effort to move even just her arm or hand was so straining that she found herself staring blankly at her brother and friends in the distance, feeling the heels of her shoes dig lines into the sand as they passed. Thomas was trying to run in their direction, calling out for them, his voice breaking as he screamed his sister's name for the umpteenth time. Jorge grabbed him to stop him from running into the wolf's mouth in a desperate attempt to save them. He pulled him away as they ran but he struggled against him. She knew he must have felt guilty to have to watch two people he cared about being taken away, especially after telling Grace he wouldn't let WICKED take them away, and now this happened.

To Minho, and his sister, nonetheless.

[To be continued…]

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Published (16/01/2023) by Andrea

Taglist: @cathrin2405 @kika64

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