Destroyer - The Death Cure (Book 3)

Chapter 8: Worthless

**Trigger Warning**
And some ascetic for Alex

The berg lowered and the train car landed with a thump. Thomas and Newt unhooked everything, Alex didn't even bother to wait for the ladder, she swung down and landed on the ground, like a cat.

"Pass me the blow torch!" She called up. It was chucked down along with the goggles. Alex snapped on the goggles and got to work on breaking open the train car door. Newt grabbed the other one and helped Alex. It took longer than Alex wanted, her stomach was in knots and butterflies. She felt nervous and excited, hope and dread. Would he look the same, with the same sly sexy smirk or would he look like an entirely different person?

Alex felt like a different person. She struggled with a lot of silent demons. Her anxiety was worse. There were some days she couldn't get out of bed, and when she did she was angry and short tempered, snapping at everyone around her. She also had an addiction to adrenaline. She knew she did a lot of dangerous klunk. She knew Newt, Thomas, Frypan, Captain Ronin and Jorge worried about her constantly. She had even longer hair, she had more scars. She added some tattoos to herself. On one mission into a crumbling struggling city she stumbled across a shady tattoo shop still in business; she couldn't pass up the opportunity.

She had a big arrow with an anchor and compass going down her spine. That one was for Minho. She always shot straight, but Minho was her anchor, keeping her balanced and her head above water, he was her way home. She had thin arrows going the length of her ribs, an arrow each for her boys, their names written on each arrow shaft. One arrow for Chuck, Matt, Alby, Jeff and Clint. She had a small dog print for her beloved dog, Bark, on her other side, on her ribcage. Alex would always keep her loved ones close. Her last tattoo was a big one of winged dragon over her collar bone. That one was just cool...but reminded her of her demons, the things she still struggles with, and what she has overcome to get here. And like dragons, she was powerful, free, willing to fight for what she believed in and she was loyal. Vince wasn't happy she came back to camp a full day late, covered in tattoos. But she always did whatever she wanted anyways.

The train car door finally cracked, Alex and Newt jumped away as it swung down, creating a ramp. Alex ripped the goggles off, and dropped the blow torch. The spark of hope was a huge wildfire in the pit of her stomach now. She scrambled as fast as she could inside. Her jaw dropped.

Inside the car were rows of kids. They were all chained, it was wrapped around their wrists and ankles, all chained to the ceiling and floor. Each kid looked beaten and bruised, pale and gaunt, looks of apprehension, fear on all their faces. Their eyes all had a haunted look to them. Alex scanned the first row of kids, then the next, each row slowly walking forward.

"Aris." Thomas cried, he rushed forward.

Alex ignored that for the moment. She continued scanning faces. She was half way through the rows, the wildfire in her chest started to sputter. All the eyes that met hers weren't familiar, they all looked at her with hope and expectation.

The last 2 rows of faces.

She closed her eyes and took a shuddering shallow breath. Alex opened her eyes and slowly scanned the last two rows of faces.

He wasn't here.

Maybe she missed him. She spun around and went back up the rows. She stopped when her eyes met familiar hazel ones.

"Sonya!" Alex and Newt shrieked at the same time.

"Hey, you guys okay?" Alex heard Thomas ask.

"Yeah, we're fine." Aris replied, shakily.

"Shuck" Newt muttered, as he studied Sonya's face. He was crouched down in front of her. Her face in his hands.

"It's okay. You guys are safe." He whispered to Sonya, who had tears in her eyes, "Just hang on."