Glader Girl

23

Narrator- Vince and Jorge landed the Berg near the shipyard and began waking the Gladers. Loud yawning, groans from stiffness, and confused mumbles spilled from their mouths. The group of friends glanced around at each other and, remembering what happened, smiled, knowing it wasn't a dream. "Newt!" Julia exclaimed, looking her friend up and down. Newt had healed up well throughout the night; his eyes were back to normal, and nearly all the darkened veins had faded away. Thomas nuzzled his boyfriend, kissing him happily asking how Newt felt. Minho and Fry began fussing over their friend while Newt rolled his eyes and scolded them all for babying him. "Boy, you almost turned into a Crank, we have every right to fuss over you, so shut up and take it, shank!" Julia scolded her best friend. Newt glared at her, but he couldn't hide the small smile on his face. Once the Berg door opened, the Gladers led all the Immunes off and over to the large group of kids they had previously saved. Every cheered when they saw everyone had come back unharmed. Harriet, Sonya, and Aris ran up to the Gladers, hugging Thomas, and Brenda, then scolding them all for running off. They welcomed Minho back and asked if he was okay, freaked when they noticed the remaining veins on Newt's face; both boys assured them that they were fine. Then they turned their attention to Julia, who was in Gally's arms, whispering to him.

"Is that the guy?" Harriet asked Thomas, frowning. Thomas nodded, smiling, "They're okay now, made up and everything. He's good." Harriet nodded and assured him that she wouldn't hurt Gally if that was the case. Hearing this, Julia laughed and hugged her, while Gally took a step back, in case the unknown girl wanted to swing at him. "Everyone gather around, please!" Vince called. The Gladers stood in a group next to Vince, facing the other kids, while Jorge and Brenda stood on the opposite side, smiling. "Alright, now that we're all back in one piece, and the ship is fixed, we can all get the hell out of here and move on to your new home!" Everyone cheered, jumping up and down and hugging one another. Newt, Thomas, and Julia turned to one another, smiling, and wrapping their arms around each other. Vince instructed the Right Arm and the kids to do a finale walkthrough of the place to make sure they didn't leave anything behind. Vince told the Gladers to get on the ship and relax. "You guys earned it after what ya'll went through. You can get to work once we've made it to the Safe Haven." Although the teens objected to not helping, they did as they were told.

Julia, Thomas, and Newt shoved themselves on one large hammock, while the others laughed at them. Gally and Fry sat with one another, watching as Brenda pulled out playing cards for her and Minho to play with. "Relax, yeah, like that's so easy. I'm sure I speak for all of us that we're too excited to relax," Julia said while she fluffed Newt's hair with her fingers. "Preach it, Ma'am! I'm ready to get out of here and leave all of this behind!" Fry said, nodding his head at her. "Vince said the journey will take a few days, so we might go stir crazy on here," Thomas said, pulling Julia close to him and resting his head on her shoulder. "No, shank, that's just you. You never could keep still," Gally teased. "Or quiet," Julia added, causing Newt and Minho to snort, covering their laughter, while Thomas pinched her. "Ugh! I'm glad you two are back together, but I did not miss you both ganging up on me!" Thomas whined. The couple looked at each other and laughed. "Who said it was just them, shank?" Minho said, leaning over to punch Thomas' knee. "Oh, come on! I am not that bad!" Everyone burst out laughing at Thomas while he continued to whine, trying to defend himself. "Newt! The hell, you're supposed to be on my side!" Thomas whimpered. "Tommy, I love you, but my God, you drive us all insane, me included. Do you have any bloody idea the number of heart attacks you've given me?"

Thomas frowned and flopped back on the hammock, burying his face in his jacket. "You're such a child, Thomas," Julia said, wiping a tear from her eye. Thomas mumbled something along the lines of "bitch" and "everyone is mean". Rolling her eyes Julia pulled Thomas' into her arms and ran her hands through his hair, calling him a "whiny shank." "Anyways, what happened while ya'll stupidly put me on Berg duty with Jorge?" Julia asked. Gally, Thomas, Minho and Newt shared uneasy looks, not wanting to tell her anything that would freak her out. "Well, the plan went slightly off track because Minho wasn't in the holdings cells, so we had to go to the other side of the building to find him," Thomas said. "Then all hell broke loose because someone couldn't keep his anger in check, and we got stuck running around the lab, screaming like idiots for Minho," Newt growled slightly, glaring at Thomas. Julia flicked Thomas' forehead hard, causing him to yelp. "The number of times we could've been shot is wild," Minho added.