Say You Won't Let Go

I knew

Quintin's POV:

YN wasn't immune.

I found out when I had to check Group A's documents. I cried long and hard at my desk that day.

WICKED had put her through hell and in the end, she wasn't even immune. She wasn't safe to the outside world. Any second she could catch the virus and she could die.

And I knew. And I didn't tell her.

I couldn't. I could've when Janson ordered us to retrieve them six months ago, but I didn't. If I did, she'd live with fear every second of her life, knowing she could turn into a crank. Who knows, maybe she even had it right now.

Stop Quintin, I tell myself. You can't think like that. The old YN wouldn't want you to assume the worst could happen in any situation. But I couldn't stop worrying. I was scared for her.

I also learned that day, six months ago, that her other friends were safe. Most of them anyways. The boys, who's names I learned: Winston and Jack were not immune, just like YN. The rest: Thomas, Frypan as they called him, Teresa, and Minho, the boy we had here, were immune. I didn't see two of the boys that day though and I assumed the virus or the cranks had taken their lives away.

Minho and Teresa were with us at the last city. I had heard that on the way here, some people by the mountains had stolen one of the train carts. Immediately I thought there was no one else it could be but YN and her friends. I felt happy for them, that they were able to free some of the kids, but they didn't get who they wanted most. Minho was still here, and somehow I knew they would come back for him. I wanted to help YN and her friends, but I had no way to communicate with them and even worse it could get me killed if WICKED found out.

So instead I sat in WICKED's skyscraper, looking out the windows and prayed that where ever YN was out there, she'd be safe.

*****

It was a Friday evening, meaning we worked late.

The work I did was always the same from the day before and I got finished early, but I still had to wait for my parents shifts to be over. So I roamed the halls of WICKED's medic wing, trying to find Minho. Along the way I heard terrible screams and I peered in one of the labs Windows's to find the jet black haired boy I was looking for. My face fell when I saw him. He was hooked up to machines and wires and shouted. I turned my head away, not wanting to see the boy in pain. There was nothing I could do to help him. Even though I wanted to, I couldn't. I was a useless 19 year old boy.

"It's really helping," I heard a feminine voice say from the opposite direction I was facing.

I turned my head and saw Teresa. The betrayer. I had never spoken to her, but I didn't need to know her to know that what she did was terrible. Anger filled my body as I looked at her. "How can you stand there watching one of your friends being tortured?!" I raised my voice.

"Because it's my job," she calmly states, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Your sick," I spit, "they trusted you and you were selfish enough to bring them back to this hellhole because it would benefit you!"

"I thought you would understand, working at WICKED yourself."

"I have no choice!" I tell her angry. "If I could've I would've gladly taken your spot. That way I could've been somewhere else actually living happily."

"You have no idea what I've lost to get here." Teresa glares at me. "My friends hate me for what I did. But I did it because it was the right thing to do."

"Yeah and I don't blame them for hating you. You have the nerve to call them your friends." I can't stop myself from arguing, "they'll never trust you again. What you did is unforgivable!" I walk away not wanting to engage with conversation with this girl anymore.

What I've lost to get here. Who the hell does she think she is. Everyone's lost something in this world. Some have lost a lot more than her. I get it WICKED is trying to find a cure to save humanity, but this is not the way. Torturing kids and traumatizing them is not going to get us anywhere. The results prove that. Like YN.

All I know is that if I ever see her again, I'll do whatever I can to help her. Because she deserves it. YN's been to hell and back. She deserves a bright beautiful life filled with happiness.