the scorch runner

Chapter 18.

Chapter song: backstabber- Kesha

Thomas' POV

I stood in place in the city, praying that Teresa didn't walk another way, we didn't have time for this plan to mess up. I took a deep breath as I saw her, standing on the other side of the crossing. I pulled up my hood as our eyes connected, turning on my heels and walking away,
"Thomas?" I could hear her shouting behind me but I had to ignore her, I had to keep going until we got somewhere quieter. I continued making my way towards the outskirts of the city where I would meet Gally, ever since y/n's disappearance, he's been uncharacteristically quiet, not as bad as Newt though, he's barely spoken to anyone. I began moving quicker as I could hear her pace pick up and like planned, I hid behind a pillar, allowing the girl to catch up to me,
"Thomas?" She asked, her voice slightly more confused, like she thought she got the wrong person. I stepped out from my hiding place, standing behind her,
"Hey Teresa" I said quietly. She jumped slightly, turning around quickly, looking at me with a shocked expression,
"You shouldn't be here. If Janson finds out you're here..." She began saying but I cut her off,
"I'm not staying. It's just uh, I had to see you. I have to ask you something," I paused and she nodded at me, her hair gently blowing in the breeze, "Do you regret it? What you did to us?" She stared at me, a tiny hint of guilt ridden in her eyes. It didn't last long, if I had blinked, I would've missed it,
"Sometimes. But I did what I thought was right. I'd do it again" She confirmed and I could feel a small smile creep onto my face,
"Good." I muttered, walking away as Gally came from behind her, placing the bag over her head, dragging her back to Lawrence's place.

Teresa was sat down, tied to a chair and the rest of us gathered around her, waiting for the bag to be removed. Newt was the one to do it, pulling the bag from her head, walking around her, slowly making his way across the room.
"Gally?" She asked, I kind of forgot she thought Gally was dead,
"Here's how this is gonna go. We're gonna ask you some questions, and you're gonna tell us exactly what we need to know. We'll start simple: Where's Minho" 
"You guys don't seriously think.." She looked at me as she spoke, her eyes begging me to help her, to set her free, but I couldn't. I wouldn't.
"Why are you looking at him?" Gally asked, slamming a chair in front of her, sitting down on it, "Don't look at him. Look at me. He's not gonna help you" Teresa looked at me one last time and I turned away, looking down at the floor. "We know you have Minho in the building, where?" Gally pushed and the girl finally gave in, sighing before she spoke,
"He's with the others in holding. Sublevel three." She spoke calmly, despite her current situation, Newt asked from besides me
"twenty-eight." Our eyes flicked to Brenda, who was currently playing with a deck of cards,
"I can make that work" She told us, holding a single card in between her index and middle finger, flicking it down onto the table.
"No. No you guys don't understand, the whole levels restricted. You can't get in without thumbprint ID." Teresa told us, we already knew that though, we also had a solution for it,
"That's why you're gonna come with us" I spoke up. It was the first time I had said anything and Teresa's eyes flicked straight onto me, tracking my every move,
"Well, I don't know. We don't necessarily need her. Not all of her right? We just need her finger" Gally walked over to a scalpel, holding it his hand as he began walking back over to the girl. I grabbed his wrist as he walked past me,
"Gally, back off." I warned him, letting go of his wrist harshly,
"What are you squeamish? I guarantee you she's done a lot worse to Minho" He said, pointing the knife in her general direction,
"That's not the plan." I told him again, standing up, taking the scalpel from his hand, throwing it back on the table.
"It won't make a difference what you do to me. You still won't make it through the front door. The sensors will pick you up the-" She began but I cut her off, picking the knife back up from the table, walking over to her,
"We know. We're tagged. Property of Wicked... you're gonna help us with that too"

I was the last to get their tags removed. It had looked pretty painful and as I sat in front of Teresa, I watched Newt and Gally dab bits of tissue on their neck where Teresa had made the incision.
"Try to relax. This is gonna sting" She told me but I was fed up now, we were running out of time.
"Yeah just get it over with" I mumbled, taking a deep breath as I felt the cold metal pierce my skin. It had been a few minutes and I admit, she was right, it did sting. I just hope that she's nearly done.
"She's looking good," Teresa spoke up, looking over the room at Brenda, "Healthy. How have you been getting her serum?" She asked me, making me furrow my eyebrows,
"What are you talking about?" I mumbled, getting even more impatient than before,
"Brenda." Teresa said, sighing as she did, "I didn't think she'd still be alive. When was her last treatment?" She asked. I felt like I shouldn't give her the information, but it didn't matter anymore anyway,
"At the right arm. Last time we saw you" I sighed, a slight bit of anger hidden in my voice,
"But that was months ago... Thomas that's not possible. She should've turned by now. There's no way she could possibly still-" Something snapped in me. I turned around so I was facing her, standing up,
"All right that's enough" I spat. She looked chocked and a little hurt but I didn't care, I couldn't care.
"You don't believe me?" She asked, scoffing as she did,
"You really expect me to? You made your choice" I spat, looking over at Gally as he walked over,
"Everything okay over here?" He asked. I picked up a tissue from the side, pressing it onto the back of my neck,
"Yea. We're done here" I hissed, walking back over to where Brenda sat. I glanced over at Newt and Fry, who were making sure we had all the things we needed. We had moved our plans around and were breaking in tonight. I almost couldn't believe it, in an hour or so, we were gong to be breaking into Wicked's main HQ.
"You were in love with her, weren't you?" Brenda asked as began changing into some soldier's uniform,
"I don't know." I muttered, loading a pistol, placing it into the holster on my leg,
"Just be careful," She told me, watching as I place the jacket on, grabbing the mask from the table, "You sort of have this problem where you can't walk away from people. Even when you should" I could see her glancing at Newt, even though she meant Minho in this instance, 
"You can't save everyone, Thomas" She reminded me but I shook it off,
"I can try."

word count: 1219
total word count: 24, 068