ᵗʰʳᵉᵉ 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 ⁿᵉʷᵗᵐᵃˢ (ᶜᵒᵐᵖˡᵉᵗᵉᵈ)

Take The Lead

NEWT POV

We've been walking around the desert for hours but it feels like decades. Thomas is breathing heavily. I mean, so am I, but I don't have a gunshot wound. 

"Tommy, should we stop?" I ask, realizing that was a stupid question.

"No. I'm fine. We have to find our friends." He says. "Totally fine."

"What have we decided about that word?" I say, grabbing his hand. "Come on, Tommy. Let's just sit for like, 10 minutes."

"Fine!" He says, giving in. 

We lean against a rock. 

"Why haven't we found anyone else yet, Newt?" He asks me.

"I have no idea." I say. 

"What if they're dead?" He voices my worries.

"I don't know, Tommy." I say, drawing my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. 

He bites his lip. "It'll be okay, Newt. We'll find them." 

That's when I see someone coming over the edge of a sand dune. Thomas and I jump to our feet. I can't tell who it is. We move closer. It's Elizabeth. Suddenly, she collapse. We run over.

"Oh my god, Elizabeth." 

Her breath jumps. "N-Newt. I'm...I'm sorry. I d-did this." She says, looking me in the eyes. "F-forgive me. I didn't...I didn't mean to hurt anyone." 

"Elizabeth, what's happening to you?" I ask.

"I'm d-dying." She says. "T-they did this to me b-because I did it to...to them." 

"Who?" I ask. "What did you do, Elizabeth?"

"I'm...I'm sorry, Newt. Thomas." She says. "I hope y-you can forgive me."

She blacks out. I check her pulse. She's dead. 

"Oh my god." I breathe. Tears fall involuntarily from my eyes. "She's dead." 

"What do you mean?" Thomas asks.

"I mean, she's dead. Not living. Passed away. 6 feet under. Do I need to say it anymore ways?" I snap. 

Thomas looks at me taken aback. "Whoa, Newt, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's not you." I say, running a hand through my hair. "It's just..." 

"Elizabeth's dead." He finishes for me. 

I nod. "I don't even know why I care." I say, my voice breaking slightly. "I shouldn't care. She tried to kill you. Me. But this also complicates things and I..." I put a hand over my face. "God,I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's okay." Thomas says, pulling me against his chest. 

I wrap my arms around him. I bury my face in his neck.

"I shouldn't care. Why do I care?" I say against his skin. 

"She was your friend, Newt, it's alright." 

"But she tried to kill you!" I cry.

"But that wasn't really her." He assures me. "It's alright to be sad." 

I pull away from him, wiping at my eyes. "Sorry. I'm fine. We should go."

"Wait." Thomas says, grabbing my wrist as I move to go up the small hill. 

"What?" I ask.

"We can't just leave her here." Thomas says, kneeling beside Elizabeth.

"Well, there's not exactly anywhere to bring her to, Tommy." I say. "It's better if we do. Please, can we just go?"

"But what if there is a way to find out what happened to her?" He asks. "Can I just...check?"

"What do you want to do, Tommy?" I ask. "Strip search her? Give her a full medical workup? There's nothing to do! There's nothing we can do! Okay? Please. Let's. Just. Go."

Thomas looks at me. "I-" He shakes his head. "We should, shouldn't we?"

I nod. "Mhm. Mhm, yeah. The others might know."

"But she did something to them. She said that." Thomas points out. "There's something wrong, Newt."

"I know." I whisper. "But I don't want there to be. I don't want there to be anything else wrong." 

"I know. Neither do I." He says, walking over to me on top of the sand. "But it'll be okay. We'll solve things like we always do."

"But we don't." I say quietly. "We don't. Chuck is dead and Minho's dead and Teresa's dead and Alby's dead and Elizabeth's dead and who knows who else? So we don't. We don't solve everything, Tommy. We just don't."

"Well then." Thomas says. "I guess we better go save the world instead, huh?"

"Shut up, shuck-face." I say, walking down the hill. 

We walk for hours more without finding anyone or even a sign of someone. As the sun finally sets, Thomas and I lay down in the sand. 

"I can't believe we lost them." He says. "I mean, we literally lost them. Who the shuck loses their friends?" 

"Us, apparently." I say dryly. 

We look up at the stars, both on the verge of sleep but neither of us can actually fall asleep. I'm finally about to drift off when we hear a scream. We both jump to our feet. I see a figure running over a hill.

"HELP!" It screams. "HELP! THEY'RE AFTER US!"

It's Aris. He reaches us and doesn't stop. We start running along with him.

"ARIS!" I shout. "WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" 

"THEY'RE AFTER US!" He yells again.

"WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?!" Thomas asks.

"I DON'T KNOW!" He replies. "I LOST THEM AGES AGO!" 

"Wait, you lost them too?" I ask quieter. "Are we all alone? All spread out?" 

"I don't know but we gotta keep going!" He says, running faster. 

"WHY?" Thomas shouts.

"THEY'RE AFTER US!" he says again. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU!?" 

After what feels like hours, we stop running. We duck into an abandoned building. We fall down to the floor, sweating, breathing hard.

"Aris." I say. "Who the bloody hell is chasing us?"

"I don't know." He says. "Someone. Someone with guns. Someone who took Harriet."

"Harriet?" I ask. "They have Harriet? What about the others?"

"I don't know." Aris says, shaking his head. "No clue. Harriet and I were together. Everyone else was gone."

"Same for us." Thomas says. 

"What do you think happened to them?" I ask. "Who do you think has them?"

"IMAT?" Thomas suggests.

"No." I say. "They're the ones who sent us out here in the first place."

"WICKED?" Aris asks.

"They're dead." I say blandly. 

"Then what the hell happened?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" I shout. "I don't know." 

I stand up.

"I have to go." I say.

"Newt, wait!" Thomas says as I leave the building, going out into the night. I ignore him.

A/N: Hehehehe