The Inventor

Chapter Fifty Two; "We're family"

     Many agreed to go for the escape, in fact the majority of the glade did. Those who didn't were such a nuisance, yelling about how hopeless it was and trying to convince people to stay. You steered clear of them since they liked to try and bring you to their defense. They would bring up Gally, Ben, even Alby.

     Once it was known that Alby had agreed to come, though, they shut up and kept to themselves.

     You let Chuck fill water bottles with Teresa, nodding to her briefly and handing her a backpack stuffed with supplies. That was all you did for the simple tasks before Newt was on your back, gathering everyone around to discuss the bombs and how they would be distributed. The danger of this was emphasized but the unofficial they could make on the fight would overpower any doubts. You were assigned to hand them out, giving a certain number to each and briefing them on what you estimated to be the bombs power. You tried your best to make them wary of the weapon but you could easily pick out who was most likely to blow themselves up.

     Supplies were handed out in backpacks and you spent your time bringing everything humanly possible from your workshop. That was the hardest part, trying to decide what to bring from your chaotic land of half built inventions.

     Newt, on one of his common information stop ins, put his foot down and helped you find the most useful things to bring. You weren't happy about leaving your workshop behind, it unnerved you. It took awhile of stalking around your room while Newt explained all that was occurring for you to begrudgingly decide to not drag seventy bags along just for the sake of your inventions.

     You did, however, get an extra bag to sit on top of your other one. Newt wasn't happy.

     "Everyone has food, water bottles, a dose of grief serum, weapon distribution is wrapping up, Minho and a pack of runners just came back from the Cliff. It's all looking- Y/n, I swear to god, put one more thing in that bag and I'm leaving you here," He scolded.

     You rolled your eyes and tossed what you held back into a drawer, "Great, everything going well, what about the people that are sticking around here."

     "We left them some stuff but..." He trailed off.

     "But they're going to be dead anyway," You finished for him, "Yeah, makes sense. They made their decision, we can give them resources but it's not going to do much."

     Newt nodded, "Some of them are good people, I wish they could have come with us."

     "It's not our job to convince them," You reminded him, "We give them a choice and let them decide for themselves, that's the least we can do."

     "I know, at least Alby is coming," Newt smiled to himself, "I don't know, it would hurt like a mother to have to let him die here."

     "You two are a good team, I wish we could have had you two as leaders in the beginning, would have saved a lot of trouble," You joked, "Alby's not all that bad, I feel bad that the guy went through one heck of a changing. He's lucky to have you, just like the rest of us."

     You could see Newt's face light up but he turned away so you couldn't see it for long. It was so rare anyone gave any appreciation to his devotion here. He deserved it out of everyone.

     "Don't get sappy with me, Shank," He said.

     "What do you want me to say?"

     "Something you-like."

     "Uh," You thought for a moment, crossing your arms, "Oh, can I bring booze on the trip? I'm really going to miss it. That's good?"

     He let out a huff, "You are not bringing bloody booze."

     You shrugged, "I know, would help everyone unwind after the mass amount of trauma they're going to endure."

     "Already have," Newt grunted, "Now we get out or die trying."

     "Yep," You muttered, going quiet and looking at him for a while. He met your eyes, moments passing, trying to find words to say.

     It was rare that anybody knew that they would die, there wasn't any option for 'last words' for them. Everybody would like to have them but when you stood, high probability of death facing you, it was hard to find anything to summarize how you felt.

     'Thank you' didn't even begin to express it, it felt too final to say goodbye, 'good luck' was too formal. 'See you after' was too hopeful and empty, useless words.

     Newt held out his wrist, head still turned to the stairs leading up to the chaos outside. You reached out and took his sleeve.

     "We're family," He stated, "Not going to bloody change no matter who lives or dies."

     You nodded and said in confirmation, "Doesn't change."

     He gave a short, clipped smile, before walking up the stairs with you on his heels.