EPIPHANY ✁ newt

30 , inside

The next second was a blur - I could hear more WICKED guards approaching us from either side, yelling to drop our weapons. I wasn't sure exactly what made me act, but a second later I had pounced at the girl in front of me - grabbing hold of Teresa and pushing my hand gun into the side of her head. Would I really be able to pull the trigger?

I'll make sure Newt get's out alive and safe. My own words replayed in my head, and in that moment I knew I was willing to do anything for them to turn out true. I pulled my mask off, knowing there was no reason to hide anymore, all while keeping a firm grip on Teresa and the gun pointed at her head. "Tell them to back off. Tell them to back off!" I didn't know what I was doing as I screamed the words, causing all the WICKED guards around us to fall back when Janson signaled to them.

"Hey, Sephora, come on, its me. I've known you longer than you can remember, you're not going to shoot her." I could see a small smile make its way onto Janson's face as he spoke, his own gun not leaving my head even once.

"Oh really? You think so? Because in my head, you try lock us up, my friend here dies - and I can't have that happening. So you tell me - who do you think I'd choose? Teresa? The girl who betrayed all of us for your little experiment? Or one of the only people who's genuinely bothered about the people around them?" I could almost feel Newt's shocked stare drilling into my back as I spoke, but in that moment there was no going back or trying to be careful with my words. I had to show him I meant every word I was saying.

"Okay, go on then." my hand shook as Janson lowered his gun, dropping his hand to his side carelessly has he watched us with that same smug smile on his face the whole time. "Shoot her, prove me wrong."

Something inside me shifted at his words. Images rushed through my head, each time the girl whos life was in my hands had hurt one of my friends. How she was the reason Minho had been taken in the first place - she'd called WICKED to the Right Arm's camp. She was the reason Mary had almost died. She was the reason I was suffering such a restricting illness everyday. And worst of all, she was the reason Newt had gotten the Flare.

I thought about how much the boy had been through, about how scared I could see he was when we'd been sitting on that roof. How his hand shook when he showed me the bite mark. How much he was probably suffering inside right now. "Shoot. Her." Janson said once again, any trace of a smile having vanished from his face as he walked closer to where we stood.

"Fine." in the split second it took for me to press down on the trigger, I could see the expression change from a challenge to horror on Janson's face as he lurched forward. I didn't know what had happened other than I had missed. Teresa had pushed me back into one of the boys as she threw herself forward, flicking a red lever on the wall down as she moved. Seconds later a glass panel had fallen between us, and Janson, Teresa and the others guards who had surrounded the area.

"Clear! Clear!" I heard Janson scream, the man firing a few shots at the glass for it to barely even chip. Both boys behind me ducked, but I couldn't even move - too stunned at what I had just done. What if the bullet had found its mark? What if I'd managed to kill her? What if she'd been right about something different in Thomas's blood? What id I'd killed Newt's one chance at a normal life? I shook my head, knowing I couldn't let those thoughts plague my mind in that moment. We were all alive, that was what mattered.

"Sephora - what the hell were you thinking?! You tried to kill her. You actually tried to kill her!" Thomas suddenly yelled, causing me to flinch at his harsh words, but not turning back to meet his eyes, afraid to. Instead, I kept my gaze on whatever was going on in front of me, watching Teresa move away from the glass door quickly to avoid getting hit by a stray shot from Janson.