The Death Cure || 1

Chapter Fourteen

I could only feel the booming sound of the repetitive bumps of my heart, slowly juddering in an attempt to stitch up my wounds, it's screaming banging in my ears leaving no room for any other morsel of sound.

I fought to open my eyes, the dull blue tint of the city bled into the crimson explosions of hatred and despair, illuminating the hall I found myself dying in. The world seemed to be spinning as fear squeezed my chest, my eyes clenching shut to try clear my line of sight.

Through the blurred screen of my vision corroded with ash and smoke, my eyes opened just enough to see a figure examining Ava, who was still laying limp on the ground. The buff figure, tall and muscular after analysing her, jolted it's head towards me. I'd given myself away, diminishing my chances to lower than I thought they could've been.

"Fuck." I gasped, trying to haul myself further into the corner I'd decided to take refuge in, slowly sliding through the magma pool forming beneath me.

"Jack!" Gally?

The figure hurried over, his face coming into the light revealed the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. His rugged appearance fussed over me, his warm hands caressing my cheeks, his soft eyes frantically scanning my failing physique.

"If Ava sees us, Jack-"

"Just let her try and stop me." I grinned, looking up to see a younger Gally, beaming brightly back down at me, his full rounded cheeks creasing over his lips crookedly flashing his teeth at me.

Where were we? It wasn't a white room, it was a
lab filled with huge tubes of blue fizzing liquid, sloshing around in their tanks. The cure? No, no. It was too dark to be mistaken. It was Swipe serum, the one Ava gave me to take away my memories.

"We shouldn't be here." Gally sighed, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, gently letting his hand fall from my face to my arm, his thumb stroking my fingers. He stared intently at me, his eyes looking back and forth between mine, his gaze so acute it made my stomach concave with the force of the butterflies swimming through my arms, legs, chest.

All of a sudden, a pair of strong arms grabbed me forcefully by the shoulders, roughly yanking me away from Gally. I was screaming and shouting and so was he, but I heard nothing. The sharp silence sliced through me, his desperate cries useless against the power of the masked WCKD soldier brutally dragging him to the Maze, and all because of me.

Gally's hands held my head up from lulling to the side, sweat dripping down my forehead and over my nose, tickling it. I shivered, smiling at him, as he pulled my shirt up to reveal my stabbed stomach, and my glass ridden side.

"Bad, huh?" I tried for a laugh, only to come out as a jagged breath wheezing out of what was left of my lungs.

"Trust you to joke about this." He grumbled, holding my head up, his expression laced with concern. No actually fear. I'd never seen him like this before.

"You're gonna be ok, I'm here it'll be alright." He said firmly, his arms sliding underneath my back and legs to pick me up. Just as firmly as his voice, his arms didn't shudder or tremble one inch, but somehow his eyes did, his eyelids glued to his eyebrows furrowed in that fear.

"Help!" He screeched, presenting me to the Gladers still crouched over Newt, where I had left him. I barely registered a soft material being wrapped around my waist, slowly tightening like a constrictor bitterly coercing the life from its prey.

"Newt-" I mumbled, and I tried not to cry, but I couldn't help it. My body fought against me more strongly than I had bothered to fight against it, and eventually, it gave out, my mind lulling into a deep and breathless sleep.

GALLYS POV:

"Don't you dare." I mutter, seeing her eyes close, my arms jolting to shake her awake. Nothing.

"Stay with me, Jack."

"We need to get her to the berg." Frypan spoke, his face streaked with tears but his voice unwavering in determination. "Now."

Once we had managed to load everyone in, the airship lifted off from the city, the city we had changed so much, and now I wasn't sure whether it was for the better.  Thomas was on top of one of WCKDs main buildings, but on our way there, I couldn't help but just stare at Jack. Feeling her faltering breath and her quiet wheezing, the capacity in my lungs was getting smaller and smaller, her face twitched in agony, writhing in the conundrum of this whole thing, this whole shucking thing that was all because of me. She wouldn't have been here if it weren't for me.

I rested her head on my lap protectively, defending her with my arms that covered her colour depleting face from the view of the others. She wouldn't want anyone staring at her like this, I knew she wouldn't, and I found myself tearing my eyes away from her too.

The doors suddenly cranked open. I looked up to feel an immense heat storming into the back of the ship, melting everything it could engulf in its humid flames, licking up the sides of the bergs metal interior. Thomas and Teresa were struggling at the top of the building, a raging fire surrounding them.

Fry and Minho rushed to help them up, and just in the nick of time, Teresa was able to throw Thomas up to the ramp hanging open. He scrambled up, wasting no time in turning swiftly around to reach a hand out to Teresa, who was standing knowingly at the building.

A sharp crack deafened me, making me jolt. The building had caved in on itself, taking Teresa with it, her legs giving out from under her. I watched as her eyes shut, as she took her last breath, and I could help but feel sorry for her. Her arms flew up as if stuck in time, clawing for Thomas overcome with grief.

"NO!" Thomas muffled scream cried. His eyes, like Jacks had, quickly turned to white before closing completely, an obvious gun shot wound seeping into his shirt, his bleeding heart exhausted.

We wasted no time in hovering away. The whole mission had been a blur, it still was, I couldn't see anything or hear anything properly. I think I was in shock for awhile, with my thoughts being mainly preoccupied with Jack. But then again, they always had been.

✧✧✧

As the differences blurred together, the journey remained short, as we touched down I felt a wave of relief wash over me, we'd gotten to the Haven.

'Haven' seemed like a lucid concept to me now. It could've been Jack. I could've survived with just Jack. And now, after the months of talks and plans, I made it. Out of all the soldiers. I was one of the two. And entirely the least deserving.

The doors swung open again, and instead of raging fires, we were greeted by the view of a vast sea, it's salty spray delicately washing against the ramp, something I thought I'd never bare witness to.

As gently as I could, I picked Jack up, following the others down the ramp and into the lapping waves. A crowd of younger Immunes rushed over, greeting the new batch of WCKD kids, every one of them laughing, smiling.

"This way." Brenda spoke, pulling me idly away to a mashup of wood and steel, the only one it seemed for miles. It was some what reminiscent of an empty barn.

I brought Jack inside, quietly laying her down on a bed covered with blankets and pillows so she should've been comfortable. Minho and Fry carried Thomas into a twin bed opposite hers, both of them seeming to be in similar condition.

Vince didn't seem like the doctor type to me, but he seemed to know how to keep people alive, and that was something I would find myself eternally grateful for.

As I sat down next to her, brushing my thumb over her cold fingers, I felt a presence creeping through my spine as I did so. The hair on my arms stood up, the fear setting in, her calm form laying softly on the cot made me wonder if she would make it, turning my blood to an icy slush.

I mentally scolded myself, of course she would. I knew she would, but I couldn't help but feel if I had been there to help, to do something, she wouldn't have had to suffer like this.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, unsure of whether she could even hear me. "I'm so sorry."