To The Shucking End

Chapter 21

Tanya was quiet as they watched Jorge wail on Marcus as he tried to get answers out of him, Thomas still out cold after they'd saved him from Marcus' club and his toxic drinks.

Her happy mood had really faded after she was told what the toxic drinks did. How they made you lose your inhibitions and hallucinate things. Things like your worst nightmares or if you were lucky, what you really wanted most - more like who you really wanted most.

She didn't think she'd ever stop thinking about Gally.

Part of her wanted to try the drink just so she could see him again, but she knew no one would let her. No one would let her take the chance that she might live out her worst nightmares.

"Tan? Hey, Tanya. Can we talk, please?" Minho asked as he approached her, the girl eyeing Newt who nodded at her before she inhaled a deep breath, Minho having done the same before he got the guts to finally talk to her.

"Yeah. Yeah, we can talk," she said as she stood and followed him into the next room, an awkward silence washing over them as she closed the door behind them before Minho began blurting words.

"Look, Tanya, I didn't know how badly what I did to Gally affected you until Newt told me about your nightmares. I didn't realise. And I am so sorry and -"

"I don't blame you, Minho," she interrupted, looking more tired than anything else.

"You don't?"

"I don't," she confirmed. "Did it rip my heart out of my chest to see one of my best friends kill the man I love? Absolutely," she said as insubordinate tears dripped down her face, her voice raspy and on the edge of breaking. "But Gally was stung. He was out of his mind, and he needed to be stopped. I just needed some time to realise that," she explained as she sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve before Minho couldn't take it anymore.

He crossed the distance between them as he pulled his friend – his sister - into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Tanya. I'm so sorry. I know you loved him."

Though she was sobbing, she still laughed into his shoulder.

"I did love him, but I also love you. And I'm sorry I didn't help you when you got struck by lightning. I'm sorry. I just couldn't. And that stupid thing with my scarf-"

"It's ok," he promised. "It's ok. We're both still here, aren't we? To the shucking end, right?"

She laughed against his shoulder as they squeezed each other.

"To the shucking end, Minho."

"No, but seriously, how are you?"

Her laugh was bitter as she pulled away from the former Runner.

"Well, first, me loving Gally wasn't enough for him to get over his hatred of Thomas or his fear of seeing me hurt to get him to leave the Maze with us. And then I had to watch him die. And now we're in the middle of a shucking desert hoping that a two-faced businessman can lead us to an army that everyone pretty much thinks is mythical. I'm fucking fantastic."

Minho looked unbelievably guilty at her answer but before he could respond or offer any words of comfort, a knock on the door sounded and Newt walked in.

"You two shanks finally made up, did you?" he asked with a smirk and the two of them rolled their eyes at him.

"What is it Newt? It better be important," Tanya shot as Minho hugged her to his side, rubbing her arm with his hand.

"Thomas is waking up. And Jorge thinks he's close to getting answers out of Marcus soon, so we'll be heading out," he explained.

"Alright, we'll be there in a sec," Minho said as Newt nodded before closing the door again, the sound of his footsteps fading as he left. "Are we ok?" he asked her once they were alone again, and her smile was warm as she leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"We're ok," she promised before she headed for the door, Minho following after her.

And just like that their little pact group was back together again - more than they knew.