The Defective Soldier || Newt

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟑𝟎

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟

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Six months of preparation had been reduced to nothing more than a half-successful plan.

Night arrived once again in the Right Arm's dormitory. A rather rushed one, in fact. No more than half an hour ago, Bergs had flown over the city near where they were, forcing a sudden lights-out that inevitably brought forward everyone's bedtime. The new Immunes rescued that morning had their hammocks and beds all together on one side, where they felt safer. All except one; Rachel. She slept near Aris, Sonya, and Harriet, tossing and turning around in her hammock like she hadn't known proper sleep in a while. It made sense since, the last time Thomas and Aris saw her, she was half-dead and being used as a vessel for a cure prototype.

Mae's eyes landed on her more times than she would like to admit. She was happy about the faint change in Aris's and Sonya's attitude ever since Rachel had arrived. They weren't livelier, but at least smiled every so often, even if it was only not to worry her and Harriet.

With William's letter in her hands, Mae lay in the dark and listened to everyone's paused breathing; ones forced, and others genuine. The letter to her group, the one she kept in her right pocket, was haunting her sleep. Words and phrases appeared in her mind with William's voice for company, forcing her eyes open to scan her surroundings each time.

It would be a long night of infinite waiting.

She pressed the letter to her chest while watching the reflected moonlight dance around the dormitory's ceiling. Although that wasn't the only light around. A couple of rows to her left, sharing a small table with Henry, George, and Chuck, the torch designated for emergencies only was being used for Newt's unexpected midnight reading. With his left hand, he held the letter, and with his right, he maintained the torch at a fair distance to read the words without blinding himself or others nearby. It had only been a day since that letter had gone from her possession to its rightful owner, and the reaction they all had been expecting finally appeared — obsession.

Newt's eyes didn't detach once from the ink and paper, just like hers the first day she had read her group's, or Aris when he had read his own. It would become unhealthy if it was left alone to unravel. However, with Thomas's 'secret' undergoing 'saving Minho at all costs' plan, she doubted Newt would have another moment to breathe and let his emotions take over him.

It had been six months since he had found the letters in his pocket. Six months since William had left them in his care without Newt even knowing. And he was the last one to read any of them. Through conversations in the Right Arm during their first month, Newt had naturally picked up a few details about Aris's and Group S's, but he had never dared to read them himself. Not even when Sonya, who, as William's letter explained, was his sister, offered to read it with him.

"Newt," said Sonya softly, almost like she was about to tell him a secret. "Thomas is not back yet."

"I know," Newt replied, his eyes leaving the paper, only to look at his sister. "He's planning to go looking for Minho."

Sonya fell silent at this. Not out of shock or surprise, but worry. "Are you going after him?"

"Well, we started this together," said Newt, "may as well end it that way, too."

"I guessed so." Sonya turned to look elsewhere in the darkness, around where Aris, Harriet, and Rachel were sleeping. "I wish I could go with you."

"No, you should stay here," Newt said, leaving the torch on the table, but keeping the letter carefully folded on his lap. "Take care of them. Aris has had enough. He shouldn't lose a friend now."