To The Shucking End

Chapter 28

It was supposed to be a routine patrol.

Rally the people denied entry to the city and return to base. That was it.

He wasn't prepared to see them in the crowd. He didn't think he'd be seeing them anytime soon.

He didn't think he'd be seeing him.

And funnily enough, once upon a time, the sight of Thomas would've enraged him, but now, it brought him both hope and worry. Worry for what he was doing here but hope because where Thomas went, revolution tended to follow, and they could use a revolution to breach the city.

He was entirely unprepared to see her though.

He could barely breathe when his eyes landed on her.

If anything, she looked even more beautiful than he remembered.

There were light circles under her eyes that he didn't remember being there, but her hair was longer, and her body looked stronger, and more muscled than before. And he saw it when she fought that guard and he felt it when he put her in the van and when she punched him when she got out.

Similarly, he was taller, leaner and more muscled. His hair was shorter though. His time out of the Maze hadn't been riddled with as many threats as hers, which contributed to his wellness.

He hadn't given a thought to looking elsewhere for her because he believed that she was still in WICKED custody and if he could get into the city, if he could get into WICKED, he could find her. It was his best option because he knew she wasn't dead. She couldn't be. She was too stubborn for that.

It was one of the many things he loved about her.

Of course, they still needed to have a very long conversation about what happened to both of them over the last year but that could wait until after they saw Lawrence.

Gally let go of her hand for all of a second to take off his rifle and gloves and set it down before he grabbed her hand again, relief rolling off him in waves as he touched her skin.

"Gally," Lawrence called as he approached, the sun shining through the window as it gave life to the many plants Lawrence tended to. "Glad to see you made it back. Jasper told me what happened."

"It was a slaughter," Gally said. "There's nothing we could do against those guns."

"No, but they can only poke the hornet's nest so long before they get stung," Lawrence replied as he lifted a rose to his face and inhaled, and Tanya realised that he didn't have a nose. "This must be the famous Tanya," he said as he glanced up at the girl and Tanya looked up at Gally with a surprised expression on her face. "But who are the rest of these people? Why are they here?"

As usual, Thomas didn't listen as he stepped forward and said, "We need to get into WICKED. Gally said you can get us through the walls."

"Gally should know better than to make promises he can't keep," Lawrence replied as he picked up the cane that was leaning on his leg, the rose still in his hand. "Besides, that wall is only half your problem. Getting inside WICKED is impossible," he said as he grabbed the pole that his IV drip was hanging from and began making his way towards them.

"There might be a way now," Gally insisted. "But it doesn't work without Thomas."

Both Tanya and Thomas were surprised at Gally's words. If anything, Tanya was proud of him for how far he'd come.

"Is that so?" Lawrence questioned as he moved into the light and Tanya realised what Gally meant about staring.

Lawrence was a Crank and the IV drip was full of the same blue serum that Mary had given Brenda, except he was much further along. His nose was missing, and half his face was black and deformed almost as if there were barnacles growing on it.