Break My Bones

Chapter 12: Nightmare

A plan was one thing; executing it was a whole other thing.

The group stumbled through the streets as things exploded all around them while civilians fled from the cross fire of the storming rebels and the police doing their best to keep the rebels at bay. Gally led the way as he was the only one who still had a long-range weapon left while Rachel paced alongside Minho and Thomas as they continued to support Newt. The blond was weakening fast and his mood was swinging constantly as they did their best to run through the burning city.

"All right." Gally called as they rounded a corner into a narrower street. "Newt, we're almost there."

"Just leave me." Newt groaned yet again.

They ignored him but Rachel yelped as a car exploded right in front of her and Gally, blowing passed the street opening they had been about to step into.

"Back! Back!" Gally warned as the group all staggered in the after wave of the explosion.

They all crawled back into the shadows just in time before a crowd of rebels went storming by, shouting and firing more guns and explosives. Minho propped Newt up against the wall again as the others regrouped quickly, needing to determine their next course of action when a whirring noise made them all pause and look up slowly.

Where once the sound of a Berg would have made their skins crawl, Rachel could have cried with relief as she saw the large aircraft fly overhead.

"That's them." Thomas murmured in equal relief before he quickly bent down next to Newt again. "We gotta go."

"Go without me." Newt snapped as he started coughing again. "Just go-!"

He cut himself off as he hacked and this time he spat out dark blood the colour of ink. Rachel covered her mouth with her hands while Thomas leant back as they realized Newt couldn't move. Thomas moved aside numbly as Rachel slid in next to Newt, her hand touching his forehead again only for him to slap her hand away.

"Just go!" He snarled, spitting more blood and phlegm out to the side.

"I'm not leaving without you." Rachel protested when Newt shoved her back with more force than any of them had been expecting.

"I said, leave me and go!" He yelled at her while Rachel stumbled. Minho caught her and steadied her as they both stared at Newt, stunned, while he collapsed into another coughing fit. Minho in particular had never seen Newt lose his temper while Gally exchanged a grim look with Thomas.

"Minho." Thomas said softly as Newt's coughs subsided into wheezes. "You gotta run ahead, grab the serum, and get back to us as soon as you can."

Minho glanced at Thomas and then took one more look at Newt before he nodded as he saw the wisdom in Thomas's plan.

"I can cover." Gally offered, when Newt pushed Rachel's hand weakly.

"You... go... too..." He croaked out between his wheezes and she shook her head.

"They don't need me, I'm staying with you." She insisted and Newt tugged her sharply against him.

She yelped before flinching back as Newt hissed at her, "You're not helping. Just go, get away, LEAVE me!"

He broke off as he started hacking violently again. The other boys looked on uncertainly, torn between getting Rachel away as they worried Newt would hurt her and letting her decide.

"Go away!" Newt snapped again when he stopped coughing and saw Rachel was still there.

"Rachel, maybe you should go with Minho." Thomas murmured. "You're a fast runner and the two of you might be faster."