To The Shucking End

Chapter 41

It took them two days to reach the top considering they had to stop various times for Thomas' stitches and Gally's one lung. But when they did, the sun was shining down on them as they gazed out at the view, their village so tiny from where they stood, the sea stretching for miles in every direction.

It was so unbelievably peaceful, the air fresh, the wind cool and not a single threat in sight.

In the end, they decided it should be Tanya that should spread Newt's ashes, but she disagreed.

Together, the five of them all put a hand on the jar that contained Newt's ashes as they tipped them out and let them blow away with the wind.

Newt did it.

He made it to Safe Haven where he would always be watching over them.

Minho and Gally even made a small headstone for their fallen friend, Gally being the one to etch his name into the stone along with the words, 'who made it to the shucking end.'

And while the others were setting up camp for the night, Tanya stood in front of the headstone as she allowed herself to just miss her friend when her brother neared her side.

"He should've been here. He deserved to make it to the shucking end," she said after a time, and she was really proud of the fact that she wasn't crying.

Thomas squeezed her hand as he twined their fingers together.

"We did everything we could," he said as they looked down at the headstone. "He's in a better place though."

"I hope so," she replied as silence fell over them once more until Thomas broke it.

"I didn't realise it before," he began. "But Teresa left something in my pocket before she helped push me onto the airship."

And her eyes widened at the sight of the vile of blue liquid in Thomas' hand. The vial that Janson died trying to get and the vial that she and Thomas were kidnapped to make.

"I just – I don't know what to do with it. I can barely even look at it sometimes. She gave up her life so that no one else could get their hands on it and us."

Tanya moved to give her brother a reassuring hug.

"It was supposed to save Newt," Tanya said as she pulled away. "We won't need it here, but if we ever do, I think Newt should be the one to safeguard it."

Agreeing wholeheartedly, Thomas and his sister buried the only vile of the cure to the Flare virus right in front of Newt's headstone.

That night, around a fire, with some of Gally's moonshine, the group of five laughed and smiled as they remembered the best times they had with everyone they'd lost since the start of it all when Alby first came up in that Box.

And then after they made their way down, it was time for them to carve some more names.

It was a hard thing to do, but, Tanya had mostly made her peace with what she'd done as she approached Peace Rock, the affectionate nickname that had been coined for the boulder etched with the names of the fallen.

Her hands were shaking as she held the hammer and chisel.

"Hey," came a soft voice from behind her as Gally placed a hand on her back. "You can do this."

She tilted her head to look up at his green eyes.

"So can you," she replied, seeing the hammer and chisel that he clutched tightly in his hands.

"Together?"

She nodded as she blinked away the tears that had welled up in her eyes.

"Together," she agreed as they both approached Peace Rock.