The Defective Soldier || Newt

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟖

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕣𝕪

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Between ragged breaths, William watched Gally fall to the ground with a loud thud. A spear pierced his chest. He glanced at the boys, but he hadn't paid enough attention before to determine which one was missing a spear.

There was no time for him to think, as he heard a loud cry. Thomas jumped to hug the little boy, wrapping his arms around him fearfully. His trembling grasp on the boy, one step away from shaking like a leaf, didn't dissipate as he looked into the boy's eyes.

"Chuck, you're OK?" Thomas asked. "You're not hurt, right?"

"The mysterious-looking shank stopped it. Look at the bag," the bad pep talker said, patting Thomas' shoulder comfortingly. "Little Chuckie didn't get hurt. Calm down."

If Thomas's cry had been loud, it had no comparison to Rowan's. She came running towards William, jumping to hug him. Her arms, just like her entire body, were shuddering. He doubted it was only because of him. Almost killing someone - a Non-Crank at that - after weeks of peace, had taken a toll on the four from Group S.

"You . . ." Rowan choked out, her arms raising to wrap themselves around William's neck. "You do that one more time and I swear . . ."

"I'm OK," promised William, bending to hug her back. "I'm fine, I swear."

George and Leen practically stumbled their way to them; with ragged breaths and shocked expressions that spoke louder than any words they could utter. They didn't bother trying to calm Rowan down. Instead, they joined in. After making sure William was unharmed, their eyes met the group of boys they had forgotten about.

"Is . . . is the little kid OK, too?" Leen asked, running her fingers through her loose ponytail while blinking a couple of bottled tears away.

The boys exchanged dubious glances, mostly the pep talker and Newt, but none replied. Not even Thomas, whose arms were still gripping onto the boy, Chuck, like a lifeline.

"Yeah," Chuck answered, still shocked at his near-death experience.

His hand raised to grab onto Thomas's, which made the older boy look at him. They stared at each other, before Thomas let go of him and got up, keeping a hand on Chuck's back.

"Who are you?" Teresa asked, keeping up the appearances for everyone except William. "Why did you help us?"

Blinking twice to wash away all the surprise off his face, William turned around, the best he could with Rowan still having a tight hold of his neck, and answered Teresa's question.

"Name's William. Um . . ." He pointed at the two who had managed to get themselves together enough to let go of him. "They're George and Leen." He then looked down at Rowan, who didn't mind the stares the boys were giving them. "She's Rowan."

Leen gave her back to the boys and rested a hand on Rowan's shoulder, trying to get her to let go. Rowan complied partly, keeping a hand around William's arm as he continued to explain their situation to Group A.

"I sincerely have no idea what just happened . . . We were with our group, then these weird-looking people took us away . . . I . . . Everyone's alright, right? We didn't hurt anyone, did we?" His breathing was quick and shallow, making his explanation difficult to understand at first.

The boys, as if just realising they had been in harm's way, glanced among themselves. Newt, who, alongside the pep-talker, had probably become the voice and provisional leader of the group, took a step closer to them.