**BOOK #2 of The Promise Series**
❝ We finally escaped the maze, but with what costs? I miss Ben. I miss Clint. I miss Zart. I miss Jeff. I miss Alby. I miss Chuck. And I miss Gally so much- maybe if I just had kept my promises, Gally could still...
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Finley's POV:
A throbbing pain wracks my body as I force my eyes open. A blanket is held up by a few sticks over my body like some sort of tent. I can see that the sun has begun to set. I look to see the others laying down on the ground, their heads resting on their backpacks. I then see Thomas sitting in front of the makeshift tent that I lay under, staring out at the mountains.
"Thomas?" I try to talk, but my voice comes out in a rasp. "Thomas?" I try to speak louder and it catches his attention along with the others. He flings his head around to see me awake. He crawls towards her as the others stand from where they laid and rush over, all crouching around me now with worried expressions.
"Finley?!" Thomas lets out a breath of relief. Teresa rests her hand on my forehead to check my temperature.
"She's cooling down," she informs the others.
"Here have this," Aris hands his water.
"No. I won't take your water," I shake my head.
"I have plenty left from rationing, okay? I'll be fine," Aris tries to convince me, pushing his water bottle further into my grasp.
"Just take a few sips," Minho attempts.
"Please," Newt pleads. I shake my head.
"Drink the damn water, you shank!" Minho grabbed the bottle from Aris and shoved it to my lips.
"Fine. Jeez," I take the bottle from Minho and took a tiny sip. The liquid was warm, but it ran down my dry throat like it was the coldest thing in the world. Even for that small sip, I felt much better. "Thank you," I hands the bottle back to Aris.
"What happened out there?" Thomas asked seriously.
"I'm sorry for stopping us. It's gonna take us longer to get to the mountains now," I apologize, ignoring Thomas' initial question.
"It's okay if it takes us an extra day or so, I think we all needed a break," Thomas says with a small smile. "I should be the one saying sorry for not stopping when you kept asking too. You should have said something that you weren't feeling well."
"It's okay," I say, returning the smile. Everyone looks at one another before looking back down at me. "What?" I question hesitantly.
"I saw the bite," Teresa was the one to break the silence. I close my eyes and takes a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, I should have told you guys. I was going to, I was, I just didn't know how or when. So much has happened, it just never felt like the right time."
"Well, Teresa said that you should be fine. That you're immune," Newt tells me with a hopeful smile.
"R-really?" I look over to Teresa.
"Yeah... and, your temperature is cooling down, you're not as pale anymore, and the bite seems to be slowly healing. You should be fine."
I let out a breath of relief. I need to stay alive to get everyone to the mountains. I need to stay alive so I can keep Winston's promises.
