hopelessly devoted (thomas x oc) BOOK 2

Chapter 9

"Yeah. Down here they'll be full term. Let's go." "how the fuck do you act so calm about this?", I asked Brenda as we followed her down into the sewer. "why the fuck are you so scared?" "are you seriously asking that? I'm sure you're just as scared as us but you wanna put on a tough act for Thomas." "whatever.I think it's this way." "You think?", Thomas asked as we followed her to the left. I really didn't want to hate the girl. She seemed nice but she's so arrogant, pushy and bossy. And she seems to like Thomas which not gonna lie is making me a bit jealous. "Do people live down here?", I asked as we followed Brenda. "The Solar Storms forced people underground. Jorge says there's settlements all over these tunnels." I was surprised she answered me so I decided to keep the conversation going. "So, what about Jorge? Is he your father?" "Close enough. Truth is, I don't really know what he is. He's just always been there. And I've always done what he's asked me to do, no matter how stupid." "So you don't think the Right Arm is real?", Thomas questioned. There was a weird screaming echo noise from behind us which caused all of us to turn and look, Thomas and Brenda shining the flashlight in the direction to see if there was anything there. When we realized it was nothing (hopefully, we turned back and Brenda answered the question."I think... hope is a dangerous thing. Hope has killed more of my friends than the Flare and the Scorch combined. Just thought Jorge was smarter than that." We reached a split in the tunnels so I stayed with Thomas in fear that if I separated from him I would get lost which I most likely would. There were a bunch of graffiti on the wall which looked like a bunch of nonsense and gibberish. Some of it sorta looked cool though. The light from Thomas and Brendas flashlights shined on the "art" and I admired it though I had no idea what it could mean. "Damn", Brenda whispered as though she was admiring the confusing art as well. "Hey, I think it might be this way", Thomas said as I followed him down one of the tunnels(??? i think they're tunnels lmao). I turned around and noticed Brenda had not been behind us. "Brenda? Brenda?", I called out. "I'm over here", she said. Both me and Thomas followed her voice to see her still looking at the art. This girl is gonna get us fucking killed oh my god (literally me when I was watching this scene)."Look at this." There was what seemed to be blood and vines of some sort. She kept walking and we followed though my gut was telling me that this was stupid and we should just keep walking but here we are most likely following Brenda into a dangerous situation. We continued walking and more blood and vine things were along the walls which made me more skeptical. They have to be something and i'm guessing that they don't lead to a rainbow and a pot of gold. "What the hell is this?", Thomas whispered. "I don't know." His light shines over what seemed to be a body. It was seemingly lifeless but I was guessing it was not. Their lights shined past that and there were more bodies. Then a noise echoed through a small tunnel next to us. We turned around to see it and I knew exactly what Brenda had just gotten us into. And I had no idea if we would make it out alive. A hand came out of the tunnel causing Brenda to shake her head but then the Crank crawled out. "Jesus." It began crawling out of the vent/ tunnel as we began running. "Go, go, go!" "Oh, my God!", I screamed as a bunch of Cranks started chasing us. "Come on! Keep going! We're almost there. Come on." We ran down the part of the tunnel that me and Thomas were previously in and ran as fast as we could while the cranks chased us. "Come on! This way!" Thomas was falling behind which caused me to panic because I couldn't imagine losing him. "Thomas! Come on!" He hurried up and we continued running. The tunnels led into a building which we ran into. "Go, go! Come on! Keep going!" We ran, going up the stairs of the seemingly tilted building. The Crank reached up and went to grab my foot. "Watch out!", Thomas shouted as I kicked the Crank in the face, sending it down. I kept running as the others caught up. "Are you okay?", he asked as we kept running. "yea yea i'm fine just go!" "Come on!Follow me!", Brenda shouted as we kept going up. "Yeah, we're behind you", Thomas told her as we kept running. The Cranks stumbled up the stairs behind us. "Go, go, go!" We ran up the stairs. Brenda almost fell but pulled herself up and began running again. "Okay, go, go!" "Come on!" We slid and ran up the stairs. Brenda went to grab onto a metal bar in attempts to pull herself up so we could keep running but the bar broke and sent her tumbling down. When she fell onto it, a door opened. "Brenda!" She hit slid down and hit a glass window which cracked a bit beneath her. "Brenda!," Thomas and I shouted. "You okay?", he asked. I gave him a 'what the actual fuck' look as she moved a bit, groaning but managed to get out a "Yeah". She turned her head to look down beneath her as she breathed heavily. "Hang on, I'm gonna find a way down", Thomas told her. "don't look down Brenda it'll only make it worse", I said as she turned a bit more to face the glass while she pressed her hand against it, making the glass creak beneath her and crack a bit more. "No, Brenda, don't move. Don't move!", Thomas told her. He held onto the door and slid himself down as she pressed her foot against the glass now. "Thomas be careful!", I told him. He slid down a bit more and grabbed onto something that stuck out of the floor, turning to reach out toward Brenda who now fully stood on the cracking glass. "Come on", he told her extending his hand more toward her. "I can't." she tried reaching up but the one hand she used to steady herself wouldn't be able to move because if it did, she would most likely fall through the glass. "Brenda, grab my hand", he said again just as a Crank came up the stairs and ran toward me. I screamed and it made its way toward the door, not even bothering to attack me. "Thomas look out", I shouted to him as I tried to grab the Crank before it jumped down. "No, no!" The Crank slid down and onto Brenda, attacking her. She reached out to Thomas while she tried to get the Crank off of her. "Thomas!" "Brenda!" He moved closer so she could reach out and she tried desperately to grab his hand. "I can't reach!" The crank was thrown around and seemed like it but Brenda. Thomas pulled something off whatever he held onto and slid down. "Come on!Brenda!" He hit the glass with whatever he had and the Crank fell through the broken glass and he held tightly on Brendas hand. "Got you." We found a way down and walked down alleys till Brenda told us we were near Marcus's place. "Try to blend in", she advised as I tried to make myself look more presentable. I fixed my hair a bit and saw Thomas smiling at me from the corner of my eye. "You're cute", he whispered to me causing my face to turn red. "Are you sure this is the place?", he asked. Before Brenda could respond, a blonde woman came up from behind us, her heals clicking loudly against the floor. "You here for the party?", she asked, strutting toward us. "No. We're looking for Marcus. This is his place, isn't it?", Brenda asked. I'm still very confused how she stays so damn calm. "This is my place", a voice said from behind us, causing me to jump a bit and bump into Thomas, who held my waist. We walked toward him, Thomas's hand moving to hold my hand. This guy was weird and gave me a bad feeling. "Are you Marcus?", Thomas asked cautiously."Marcus doesn't live here anymore", The man told us as he looked me up and down, making me very self conscious. Out of instinct I wrapped my arms around my body, attempting to cover the part of my stomach that my shirt and jacket couldn't. "Do you know where we can find him?", I questioned, my voice shaking. "Sure, sure. He's over in Zone B." The girl ran her fingers along Thomas's back and shoulders which made me angry at the fact she was touching him at all. "Okay. What's Zone B?", Thomas asked. "It's where they burn the bodies", the girl spoke into his ear. "Okay, look, has anyone else been by here... looking for him?," Thomas started. "Group of kids around our age? They had a girl with them. Dark hair", I finished, though as Thomas got closer, I stayed back with Brenda. "You know... I think they might be inside. Here. Drink this", he said pulling a flask of some sort out of his jacket and holding it out to us. That is really suspicious and disgusting. "What is it?", Thomas questioned cautiously. "The price of admission. Drink it!" Brenda snatched the flask out of the mans hand and took a swig of whatever was inside of it. Brenda choked a bit on the disgusting drink. I grabbed it from her hands, hesitantly lifting it up to my mouth and taking a sip. "Your turn", he smiled at Thomas, as I choked on the drink, holding back tears. It was a strong disgusting taste that burned my taste buds. Thomas stared at the drink as if he was afraid of drinking it but took a sip anyway while the blonde held it to his lips longer than necessary. Thomas coughed a bit and the girl took the drink away while the man wrapped his arms around our shoulders. "All right. You three, enjoy the party", he said, pushing us into the building. "Maybe we should split up. See if we can find the others", Thomas said. We nodded but when I went to go he grabbed my hand and called out to Brenda. "Hey. Don't drink anything else." She nodded and Thomas grabbed my hips. "what are you doing?", I asked as he started dancing with me. I smiled but felt light headed and felt as if my throat was closing. I breathed heavily as Brenda came back, seemingly very drunk. "That was fun!" Whats she talking about? "What? Brenda?", Thomas asked though he seemed out of it."They're not here." "Okay, well... we should keep looking", Thomas suggested as he grabbed my hand. "Why? We couldn't find the Right Arm anyway. Not without Marcus. Your friends are gone. It's over. It's just us now. Just try and relax. Let go", he asked. "How?" "Like this", she smashed her lips onto his as if I wasn't there. My eyes widened as Thomas pushed her away. "What?" "You're not her." "what the actual fuck Brenda! that's my boyfriend!" "Brenda. Thomas. Jules." A bunch of voices were calling out to us but they sounded so muffled as the world went black. When I opened my eyes again, light flooded my sight and I groaned, rolling over, only to bump into something. Or someone in this case. When my eyes adjusted I could see that it was Thomas. "Thomas", I whispered. Everyone, seeing we were ok, came over as Thomas opened his eyes. "Hey, you're both okay." "Hi." "Welcome back, you ugly shank. And welcome back Jules", Minho smiled. I grinned in response and Chuck came and squeezed me in a hug. "hey Chuckie. I missed you." "I missed you too Jules. i thought you guys died." "well sorry buddy you can't get rid of me that easily", I joked, hoping to lighten the mood. Chuck smiled but then a voice from the other side of the room broke the comfortable silence. "I suggest that you talk! You son of a bitch!" There was a loud crack sound which sounded as if someone just got slapped in the face. "Damn it!" "I'm sorry... you're going to have to leave my house." "Looks like you've been having fun", I said, standing up and walking toward Jorge and the man from before who I now assumed was Marcus. "Listen. I don't enjoy hurting you. Okay? Where is the Right Arm, Marcus?" " Wait, this is Marcus?", both Thomas and I asked at the same time as Thomas made his way to my side. "The kids catch on quick. Are you two the brains of the operation?" Jorge slapped him again making him shut up. "I know you know where they're hiding. So you tell me, and I'll make you a deal. You can come with us", Jorge told him. "I burned that bridge a long time ago. Besides, I made my own deal. You're the one who taught me, never miss an opportunity." "What's he talking about?", Thomas asked. "I'm talking about supply and demand. WICKED wants all the Immunes they can get. I help provide that for them. So I lure the kids in... they get drunk, they have a good time. And then, later, WICKED comes in... they separate the wheat from the chaff." "I changed my mind, hermano. I do enjoy hurting you", Jorge said, hitting him yet again in the face. "Talk! Talk!" "Okay! Jesus! But I'm not making any promises. These guys like to move around.They have an outpost in the mountains. But it's a long way away. You got half of WICKED on your ass. You're never gonna make it. Not on foot", he admitted. "Where's Bertha?" "Not Bertha." Turns out, Marcus is a weirdo who names his car and that is exactly what Bertha is. A fucking car. I had to sit on Thomas's lap being as there was barley enough room for all of us in the first place. The truck stopped meaning either the engine stopped or we were out of gas. Most likely out of gas, this guy didn't seem to get out much. "Well, I guess we're on foot", Jorge said as we got out of the car. But the second we all got out, we were being shot at. "Get down! Take cover!", Thomas said. I grabbed Chucks hand and ran behind a car with Thomas and Jorge. "Hey, is everyone okay out there?", Thomas whispered to everyone who was scattered behind a bunch of cars. "We're fine." "Anyone know where those bloody shots came from?", Newt asked quietly. "That son of a bitch, Marcus. He led us into an ambush", Jorge cursed. "What do we do?", I questioned, holding Chuck closer. "Here. Hold this. We gotta create a diversion. You get ready to chuck it", Jorge told Thomas, handing him some sort of grenade like thing. "Everybody! Get set to sprint back to the truck! And hold your ears! Ready? One... Two...", Jorge told us. Then a girl spoke from behind us. "Drop it. Now! I said drop it!", she ordered when Jorge just sat there. He dropped it to the floor. "On your feet. Let's go. Let's go! Move!" We slowly got up, holding our hands up in surrender. "Back up!", she shouted. "Easy", Jorge whispered as she pointed the gun toward us. "You two, over here now! Come on, let's go! Don't be stupid! Move. Slowly." We all slowly backed up, getting closer and closer together until... "Aris?", the girl said, making us all look to Aris to see what the fuck was going on as the girl pulled down the scarf that covered her face. "Oh, my God. Harriet?" they walked toward each other and embraced each other in a hug. "My God.What the hell are you doing here?" The blonde girl pulled her scarf off and smiled at Aris. "Sonya", he smiled, pulling her into a hug. "Aris, you're lucky we didn't shoot your dumb ass. You all right, man? How...?" They were talking until Minho interrupted, speaking for everyone. "uh...What's happening?" Aris turned to us, grinning widely, "We were in the maze together." Harriet whistled to who i'm guessing were the others who were shooting at us. "We're clear, guys! Come on out!" "Copy that! We're clear!" "Stand down!" Voices traveled down from the top of the mountains where a bunch of people stood with guns, that were once aiming at us. "My God, you're alive", Sonya said as she held Aris's face. Aw they're cute together I wonder if they're dating- "Back it up, Joe! Back it up!", Sonya said as she lead us to a truck. "We're taking them to base", Harriet told the driver who nodded. "Wait, so, how did you guys get here?", Aris questioned. "The Right Arm got us out", Harriet said simply though it made both Thomas and I smile. "Wait. The Right Arm? Do you know where they are?", Thomas asked. "Hop in", Harriet smiled. As we were in the car driving to wherever the base may be, they explained everything to us. "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. We're moving out at first light", she told us. We got out and she walked to someone who was talking to a bunch of other people. "Where's Vince?", Harriet asked. "Somewhere over there, I think", the man gestured. "Who's Vince?", I asked curiously. "He's the one who decides if you get to stay." "I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army", Thomas spoke. "Yeah, we were. This is all that's left of us. Lot of good people died getting us this far." "Who are they?", a man with long hair asked Harriet and Sonya, gesturing to us. "They're Immunes. Caught 'em coming up the mountain." "Did you check 'em?" "I know this guy, Aris. I trust him." "Well, I don't. Check 'em." "Hey, boss..." Suddenly Brenda collapsed to the floor and started rolling around and acting all weird. Chuck clung to my arm in fear as I held him tight in hopes of making him feel safe. "Brenda! Brenda!", Jorge shouted. "What's going on?" "Brenda! Brenda. Brenda, talk to me." "I'm sorry. I'm sorry", she whispered. "What's going on with her?" I asked. "I don't know." "Brenda, are you all right? Brenda? Talk to me." "What the hell?" Now she was acting really weird. Veins were popping out of her skin and the once tan skin became paler and more green each second. "Shit! Crank! We got a Crank!" "No! No! Wait, wait! Step back! Listen, okay? This just happened, okay? She's not dangerous yet", I tried to reason, hoping they wouldn't kill her. "You shouldn't have brought her here!" "I know." "We let Cranks in here now, the safe haven doesn't last a week!" Damn this guy was really panicked about this. "Step back! I understand, okay? I understand. Just listen. Please. Please, okay? I told her that you could help", Thomas pleaded. "Okay? No." "There's got to be something you can do@, I begged hoping they could save her. "Yeah, there is. I can put her out of her misery", he said, pointing his gun at her. "No! No!" "Vince, that's enough! Let him go. Let him go!", a woman shouted. "She's infected, Doc. There's nothing we can do for her." "No, but one of them can", she told the man, pointing to me and Thomas. I was very confused and looked at Thomas for an answer but he merely shrugged which made me very nervous. "Hello, Thomas. Hello, Jules." "What? You know us?", Thomas asked. "Interesting. It makes sense they'd put you in the maze. Though I must admit... I was worried they'd kill you after what you two did." "What we did?", I questioned. "The first time we spoke, you both said you couldn't take it anymore... watching your friends die, one by one. The last time we spoke... you guys gave me the coordinates of every WICKED compound, trial and lab. You two were our source. We couldn't have pulled all this off without you guys. Take her to the tent. Get these guys some warm clothes. Careful. Come on." Jorge and Vince carried Brenda to a tent. "Hey, it's the least we can do. Thomas, come on. I need to get some blood from one of you." "i'll do it", Thomas said. "no i'll do it. Thomas you don't have to." "Jules you don't have to, baby", he said, placing his hands on my hips and pulling me closer to him. Everyone walked away. Mary would want whoever was gonna do it to go. Maybe I could sneak away from Thomas... He brought me out of my thoughts by pressing his lips gently against mine. My eyes widened at first but then I slowly closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. His grip on my waist became tighter and we stayed there kissing until Mary came out of the tent and called out for us. "hey lovebirds, we got a sick girl in here. Maybe you can make out later, after she's cured." I turned red and nodded, going to the tent. "nope", Thomas said, running past me. "nooo I wanna do it!", I shouted, running after him. I caught up quickly and tried to distract him. I twirled around but he didn't care he just kept running. So I ran faster and beat him to the tent. "haha sucker! i'll do it, Mary!" "well I see your remember my name." "huh..oh yea I guess I did." I went to sit in the chair but before I fully sat, Thomas pushed me out of the way. I landed on the floor. "ouch you asshole", I pouted, crossing my arms playfully. "sorry baby. i'm doing it." "fine. So Mary can you tell us more about what happened with us?" "of course.  In the beginning, we were lost. All we knew for sure... was that the younger you were, the stronger your chances." "You worked for WICKED?," i questioned as she made some weird serum type thing. There was a blood machine hooked up to Thomas's arm and it was taking some blood. "Long time ago. 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 questioned, turning to look at Mary. I rested my head against his knee and stared at Brenda while I continued listening. Jorge gave me a small smile and I returned it and mouthed that she would be ok. He nodded and smiled a bit.l Not exactly. The enzyme can't be manufactured, only harvested from the immune. The young. Of course, that didn't stop WICKED. If they had their way... they'd sacrifice an entire generation. All for this", she said and I turned to see what it was. A blue vial with some sort of cure? "A gift of biology. Of evolution. But one not meant for all of us."She walked to Brenda and injected the cure into her arm. "How long will that give her?", Jorge asked. "It's different for everyone. A few months maybe. But that's the catch, isn't it? She'll always need more. Okay. Let's go outside. Let them rest. Let's go. She'll be fine." When Jorge left, Mary went to grab her coat and looked at Thomas. "Thomas. You know she can't come with us, right?" We sat in silence. Of course we knew. It was just sad to think about it. There was something in Brendas hand and though I knew I probably shouldn't touch it, I gently took it from her hands and opened it up. It was some sort of locket with a boys picture in it. Thomas looked over my shoulder at the picture and then shot me a questioning look. I shrugged and looked back at the picture trying to figure out who this may be. "He was my brother", Brenda said, making me jump a bit. "Hey. Sorry. Are you okay? How are you feeling?", I asked her, handing the locket back. "You remind me of him. He always saw the best in people", she said to Thomas. "and you, Jules, you remind me of myself when I was younger. Afraid and hopeful. But also very suspicious of everyone and anything. And the sarcasm is to hide the pain. I know that better than anyone." I turned red but smiled at Brenda, who smiled back. "Where is he now?", Thomas asked. "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 good-bye." "That's terrible", I whispered. "What was his name?", Thomas asked curiously. "George." "That's Chuck" "No. I remember. Newt told me about a George. In the glade. Chuck's real name is Charles. I remember from when I was younger. I always called him Chuck, his name wasn't George." "How did he die?", she asked. "well Newt told me that..he uh.. he was stung by a griever and then attacked some kid and started clawing at his eyes. Then Alby...stabbed him in the neck to save the other glader. Newt said he died almost instantly. I remember seeing it too... sometime when we were in headquarters watching. It was me, Chuck, Teresa and Thomas. We were shocked at the fact that the grievers even stung and could kill someone. I felt terrible for him." Brenda looked upset so I gave her a hug. "i'm sorry, Brenda. I'm also sorry about earlier before we went in the tunnels. I was just scared." "it's ok. It wasn't your fault. And I was scared too, I'm sorry for being pushy." "Get some rest", I told her, kissing her forehead.  As we walked out, we were stopped by Jorge. "Hermano. If anything were to happen to her, I...", He started, speaking to Thomas. "I know, I know. You should get in there. Go talk to her." "I guess I owe you, now", he said before going into the tent. I sighed but Thomas kissed me again. What is with him and just randomly kissing me. Not that i'm complaining... His hands gripped my waist yet again and he pushed me against the tree, while my hands wrapped around his neck yet again. His hands moved from my waist, to my cheeks. He moved a strand of brown hair out of my face before pulling away for air. "you're so beautiful." It was almost as if fire was spreading rapidly across my lightly freckled cheeks as looked down at the ground, smiling. "you're not to bad yourself Tommy." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to where Newt, Minho, Chuck and Frypan sat on the rocks up above. We sat next to them and I pulled my jacket closer to my body, zipping it up in hopes of warming myself up. Chuck moved closer to me, hugging my waist in an effort to keep himself warm though he was wearing a heavier jacket. We sat in silence until Newt spoke up, his British accent flooding my ears. "I wish Alby could've seen all this", he whispered, staring over the small camp.

heyyy so the next chapter will be the last one before book 3!!! thank you for all the love and support, it means a lot. im truly sorry i haven't posted a chapter in a while but this one was super long and I've been working on it as well as trying to keep up with school work. but thanks for all the love because it motivates me to actually continue the books and not give up on them. i love you all and hope you enjoyed today's chapter❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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