ᵗʰʳᵉᵉ 𝐑𝐄𝐁𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 ⁿᵉʷᵗᵐᵃˢ (ᶜᵒᵐᵖˡᵉᵗᵉᵈ)

With Or Without You

NEWT POV

I wake the next morning. Thomas isn't here anymore. I sit up. Everyone's still asleep, but I don't see Thomas anywhere. I shake my head. He's probably just gone to look for something. I sit up. The sun is barely making an appearance over the edge of the horizon. Stars are still spattered above it. 

Soon, Sonya wakes up.

"Oh, Sonya!" I say, walking over to her. "Have you seen Thomas?"

"Newt, I've been asleep." She says.

"But I mean, like last night or anything?" I ask. "Cause I haven't seen him since I woke up." 

Sonya shakes her head. "Sorry."

I draw my knees up to my chest. My mind won't stray from Thomas. 

"I'm sure he's fine." She says, putting a hand on my shoulder. 

"I know." I whisper. "He can take care of himself." 

Sonya nods. I rest my head on my arms.  

"You really think he's alright?" I ask.

"I do." She says. 

In an hour or so, we're all awake. Thomas still isn't here.

"Where the hell is he?" I ask, pacing in the sand. "I'm going to kill him." 

"Newt." Aris says. I ignore him. "Newt. Newt!"

I look up at him. "What?"

"We have to go." He says. "Thomas is smart. He'll find us. But if we stay in one place for too long, they'll catch up to us."

"But we can't just leave without him!" I cry. "That's insane! No way."

"We have to, Newt." Brenda says gently. 

"He'd wait for me." I say.

"I know." She says. "But that wouldn't be smart. I'm sure he'd want you to be safe."

"He's not dead!" I shout. "You can't speak for him!"

Brenda sighs. "Please, Newt? Come with us. Because we're leaving. With or without you." 

I lower my head. Tears fall from my eyes onto the sand. 

"What if he can't find us?" I ask. 

"He'll find us." 

"But what if he doesn't?" I say, looking up.

"He'll find us." She says. 

I look around. He's nowhere. 

"Fine." I say, my voice breaking. "Fine, I'll come."

We walk for hours and I don't stop looking for Thomas. There's an ache in my chest and it won't go away. It's a terrible longing. I need him to be okay. He has to be okay. I don't talk to anyone as we walk. We're so far from any cities, broken down or otherwise. We haven't found any more non-immunes. 

My eyes glaze over, not really taking in anything I'm seeing anymore. I know we won't find him. He'll have to find us. I suddenly feel a hand on my arm. I jump slightly, surprised my the sudden touch. It's Sonya.

"Sorry." I mutter. 

She looks at me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm..." I sigh. "I'm fine. Great."

She nods. "I figured you'd say that." She grabs my hand and squeezes it. "He'll be okay. He'll find us. You don't have to be worried."

"I do, though." I say. "It's not...I do. What if he's hurt and can't get to us? What if he's been taken?" Fresh tears fall down my cheeks. "Shuck it. I-" I let go of her hand. "I'm fine. You can go."