One Day Too Late

12

The Gladers and Lacey ran towards the tunnels and Gally said encouragingly, "Newt, Lacey we're almost there."

"Just leave me," Newt and Lacey begged.

Their pleas weren't heard. Guards came out of the tunnel and Gally said, "Back! Back!" Once again, the group ducked behind a wall.

They heard engines whirring and looked up to see the plane.

"Okay, that's them," Thomas said. "It's them. We gotta go. We gotta go."

"Go without me, man," Newt said, knowing he had little time left for being himself before the virus took over. Black liquid was already running down his chin from his mouth and his breathing was labored.

Lacey was managing to hang on, but she knew she didn't have forever. The black veins had trailed up her neck and were slowly starting to cover her face.

"Minho," Thomas said. "You gotta run ahead, grab the serum, and get back to us as soon as you can."

Minho looked at Newt and Lacey.

"Minho, go," Thomas said.

Gally nodded. "He's right. I can cover."

"Thank you," Newt and Lacey said, grabbing Minho's arm. "Thank you, Minho."

"Hey, you two just hang on," Minho told them. "You hear me?"

"Go, Minho, go!" Gally yelled, covering for him.

Newt and Lacey watched as their friends left and the former felt himself slipping away, becoming a monster.

Thomas' voice pulled him back. "Newt? Newt? Hey! Hey! Newt! Hey!"

"No. No, Thomas," Newt said. "Stop. Please."

"No, Newt. Later. Later. Really gotta go. Come on."

Newt ripped a necklace from his neck. "Look, you gotta take this."

"We gotta get you up, now."

"No, just take it!" Newt yelled, unlike himself. "Please. Please, Tommy. Please."

Thomas took the necklace. "All right. All right. I need you to give me everything you got. You and me, right now. Come on, Lacey. Let's go. You ready? Come on, ready? Here we go. One, two, three." Together, the three of them supported Newt and Lacey's weight, though Thomas was doing most of the work.

They walked in the middle of the gunfire, braving it. They entered an abandoned building and Newt started grunting. "We're almost there, Newt. Stay with me, come on."

Newt fell from their grasp. "Newt, no, no. Hey! Come on."

Lacey collapsed nearby and hot tears fell down her cheeks as she came to terms with what was about to happen to her.

Thomas knelt above them and then started dragging Newt and Lacey. But he couldn't make it very far.

He fell to the ground and Teresa's voice came through a loudspeaker. "Thomas? Can you hear me? I need you to listen to me. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need of you to come back. Thomas, you can save Newt and Lacey. There's still time for them. There's a reason Brenda isn't sick anymore. It's your blood. Do you understand? She isn't sick because you cured her. She doesn't have to be the only one. All you have to do is come back. And this will all finally be over. Please. Just come back to me. I know you'll do the right..."

She was cut off and Newt stood, his back facing his friend.

"Newt?" Thomas called. "Newt?" Newt growled and lunged at Thomas.

Thomas glanced to Lacey, silently telling her to hide. Newt started chasing after her and Thomas cried, "Hey! Come after me! Leave her alone! Newt? Newt, it's me. It's me!"

Newt rested on all fours for a moment and said, "Tommy, kill me!"

Newt lunged at Thomas again and started choking Thomas, but the latter managed to free himself.

"Newt, we're here. I'm here. Newt, please. Please!" Thomas begged.

"I'm sorry, Tommy. I'm sorry."

Thomas nodded. "It's okay. It's okay."

Newt grabbed a gun and pressed it to his head. Thomas cried, "No!" He swatted it to the ground.

Newt turned his back to Thomas and pulled out a knife and pressed it closer to Thomas' heart. The knife started to enter Thomas' skin, and he screamed in pain before kicking Newt away.

He dodged the knife that Newt was swinging and all abruptly stopped. As Thomas pulled away from their accidental hug, Thomas saw that Newt had stabbed himself in the heart.

"Tommy," Newt whispered.

Newt fell to the ground and Thomas tried to break his fall. "No, no. No, no, no. Newt? Lacey, help!"

Lacey stumbled over and checked his pulse. She shook her head slowly.

Newt's glassy eyes were looking up at the sky, seeing nothing but darkness forevermore.

Brenda ran over, just a few moments too late. Thomas looked up at her, revenge, anger, sadness, and hatred swimming in his eyes.

Thomas picked up the gun and took Lacey's hand. The three of them stared at each other for a long moment before the Gladers walked off, making sure the creator of the whole mess paid the ultimate price.

Lacey glanced at Thomas. "If your blood really can heal someone, I need it before it's too late."

Thomas met her eyes. "First we need to see if she was lying."

"Somehow I don't think she was. I'm sorry about your friend."

"Thank you. Lacey, we'll save you. I promise. I'm not losing someone else I care about."