Destroyer - The Death Cure (Book 3)

Chapter 9: Abandoned

Minho

He jerked awake. He had heard an explosion. Or maybe it was part of his dream.

No..it couldn't have been a dream. If it was a dream, why was the train slowing down?

"MINHO? SONYA? TES? ARIS?"

He recognized that voice.

Thomas! 

Thomas was screaming.

And then he heard HER voice. A voice he had only heard in his dreams. And nightmares.

Her voice was urgent, despite...pleading.

"MINHO?!? TES?!? SONYA?! ARIS?!"

He heard banging on the wall beside him. They were here!

He tried. He tried to move. But his wrists were bound, and they chained him around the waist. If he made a noise he would be shocked. He had tried out the shock collar before the train left the WICKED facility; he only came too once they were moving at full speed. He didn't want to try it again. His head twisted to see Teresa. Who was already staring at him, mirroring the same look of horror and desperation. Neither of them could move much or call back. But they both tried.

Gunshots. Yelling. Inside the traincar was confusion. Minho had no idea what was going on outside. Yelling, gunshots, and now a loud thumping of a Berg engine. More yelling and more gun shots.

Then it was quiet. Everything was still.

What is going on?

Minho and Teresa kept staring at each other, trying to have a silent conversation. They sat chained in the train car for a long time. It got colder and darker. Minho's exhausted body dozed off a few times, his broken body and mind couldn't stay awake. There was a quiet thump that got steadily louder. There was a loud creek and the door to their train car slid open.

A WICKED guard walked in.

Minho's stomach clenched. He physically sagged, his head dropped and he blinked rapidly. He would not let those tears fall because he was left behind.

They unchained them and pulled him out and into the cool fresh night air. They were made to kneel with the rest of the kids. There were still about 50 kids kneeling in lines. Surrounded by WICKED guards and soldiers, pointing guns at them. Minho looked around him, trying to figure out what was going on. Guards set up huge flood lights, lighting up their area. He didn't see Sonya or Aris in the lines. What he did see were many soldiers clad in WICKED gear lying dead on the desert ground. A handful of them had arrows sticking out of them. Minho's stomach twisted with glee. He only knew one person who would choose a bow over anything else. And if she was using a bow on WICKED, then she was working with the Right Arm! He smiled in satisfaction.

...But why would she leave me behind...?

His smile faded, and his doubts and confusing twisted memories of Alex came flooding back.

A berg door opened, a ramp was let down and Janson strutted down. He came to stand in front of the kneeling kids.

"Report captain!" He barked.

"They got 40, maybe 50 kids. One full train car. We're still compiling an official count, but the pilot got a good look. He thinks it was them." The new captain replied, scanning another kid's neck.

"Of course it was them!" Janson snapped. His beady eyes sweeping the lines of kids

"What about the Berg they got?" A soldier asked, he was cradling a bloody shoulder.

Minho smiled behind his metal gag.

"We tracked it a few miles. But someone must have known about the locator. They're totally off the grid." The captain said, his forehead wrinkled in confusion.

Jorge...he was a WICKED Berg pilot...well a defective WICKED Berg pilot.

He felt a spark of pride in his chest. His friends took out soldiers, and took a full train car of immune prisoners.

"Move it, Immunes!" A guard called, leading another row of kids and made them kneel.

"C22."

"B9."

"F12"

"We're searching the area, but they're probably long gone by now." The captain informed Janson.

The new captain was the complete opposite of Captain Ronin. Ronin was tall, broad and muscular. This new captain was short, out of shape and flabby. Ronin was quiet, intelligent and commanding without needing to show it. This new captain was loud and arrogant, didn't seem to think things through and was cruel. Minho knew first hand.

Janson's eyes fell onto Minho and then flicked to Teresa next to him, then back to Minho. His face twisted into a cruel smug smile, his dark dangerous eyes lighting up.

"Oh, no, they're not going anywhere. She didn't get what she really wanted!" He whispered maliciously. Janson slowly walked towards Minho, a twisted smile on his face. He stopped right in front of Minho, and looked down at him.

Minho wouldn't back down, he raised his head and glared at the Rat Man. He growled in the back of his throat.

Janson let out an amused chuckle, "Oh, she definitely did not get what she wanted. She'll come back for him. Guaranteed. And we will use this!"

She didn't get what she wanted? Does that mean they tried to get me? What happened? Why did they choose the other traincar with Sonya..?

Janson and Minho glared at each other for another moment. Janson snapped his eyes away, he spun on his heel back towards the Berg.

"Load them up, Captain. We can't take any more chances. We go straight to the city, in the Berg. They will all fit in the cargo hold." He yelled.

Minho was hulled to his feet and shoved towards the Berg, a gun digging into his back.

So close. So close to freedom. Did they get the wrong car? Or did they choose the other one? Alex picked Sonya over me? No...that's not fair! Maybe she didn't get to pick...Family over...love? A sister over..a..a..what? A boyfriend? Were we really in love though..? Either way I was left behind. 

He took a shuddering breath, as he was pushed up the ramp. His throat felt tight, with the sting of tears. He was left behind. Still in the clutches of evil. He was forced to sit on the cold metal floor in a cargo room full of kids. Yet he never felt so alone. He felt abandoned by his friends, his family and the horrible realization that the girl in his memories might not actually love him and his nightmares of her were true.

A single tear slipped over his eyelashes and ran down his cheek, with the terrifying thought the Alex he knew wasn't real and WICKED was planning something even worse for him.