The rivers daughter

4- i cant believe it

As we get out of the helicopter, I see a lot of people. I only recognise a few of them, the rest are strangers. The sun is rising, causing everyone to look almost angelic. Tears begin to fill my eyes again as I realise who is standing in front of me.

Newt, Minho, Frypan, and Teresa are all there, the Gladers. Aris is next to them, I missed him so much. Though, it's when I notice who's standing next to them that I can't hold back my tears. Sonya and Harriet are there too. I instantly run over to them, hugging them both tightly.

"Sonya? Harriet?" I ask through tears. They hug me back, not noticing my gunshot yet. "They told us what happened to you," Harriet says, pulling back from the hug enough to see my face. "You're okay, right? No scratches?" She asks, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

I chuckle through my tears, "no, no scratches" I say. Sonya pulls back now too, her hand resting on my bicep gently. "Where the hell did you two come from?" I ask, "oh, and better yet, where am I? Thomas isn't exactly a big explainer."

I hear a slightly offended noise come from Thomas who was standing a few metres behind us. "Welcome to the Right Arm, Jade," Sonya says, a grin on her face. I glance between them, noticing Harriet's matching grin.

"Wait... the Right Arm..." I chuckle in disbelief, "holy shit, seriously?" I ask. Sonya gently pinches my arm, an old habit she used to do in the Glen. It was her way of telling me to stop swearing, not that it worked. Despite it being a pinch, it was almost comforting. The familiarity of the pinch was amazing.

"Yeah, seriously," Harriet says, looking somewhat proud. "You'll fit right in," Sonya adds, her thumb now gently rubbing the spot she pinched as if to soothe it. I glance around, taking it all in.

I see the makeshift huts, the people with genuine smiles on their faces, the way everyone is working as a community, it kind of reminds me of the Glen.

A smile spreads across my face, "this is kinda surreal," I say. Thomas walks up behind me, placing a hand on my lower back, "yeah, I get you, we only got here about two days ago," he tells me.

I feel my cheeks go slightly pink as his hand goes on my lower back. Harriet speaks up again, "we've got some stuff to do, we'll see you later" she says. Her and Sonya walk off, leaving me with Thomas.

I glance at him over my shoulder, "I can't believe it," I say. He chuckle and pats me on the back, "trust me, you're not the only one," he says. I glance around for another moment, once again studying the area.

"Do you want to go say hi to anyone?" Thomas asks, a soft tone in his voice. "Yeah, I wanna see Aris," I say, smiling at him before looking over to where Aris was. "Go on, I'll be up there if you need me," he says, pointing to the top of a hill where Frypan, Minho, and Newt were sitting.

I nod and watch as he walks off. My eyes dart down to his ass for a second. I can't help but chuckle as the memory of his ass being right up in my face plays over again in my mind. I snap out of my thoughts as I see Aris waving at me.

A smile appears on my face as I walk over to him. "I missed you so much!" I say, pulling him into a hug. He hugs me back, "I missed you too," he says softly. I feel my emotions flood over me again as the familiarity of Aris surrounds me.

His smell, his voice, his face, it's all ridiculously comforting to me. Aris has almost been like a brother to me since we met, we've always just gotten each other.

We pull back from the hug, looking at each other with smiles. "So, what did I miss while I was gone?" I ask. Aris takes a second, "it's not all good..." he says. I furrow my eyebrows, a little concerned now.

"Brenda... she got infected," he mutters. My eyes widen, "w-what? Is she okay?" I ask in a slightly panicked tone. Despite not having known Brenda for very long, I care about her safety. She saved our lives, I'd be an asshole not to.

"Yeah, she's okay..." he says, "she's just resting at the moment but she'll be alright." He fidgets with the hem of his hoodie as he talks to me. He continues explaining what happened since my capture and just overall catching up with me.

We talk for what feels like 2 minutes but based on the sunset, it was probably more like an hour. He heads off to see Sonya and Harriet and I decide to go find Thomas.

I walk up the hill to where he told me he'd be, seeing Frypan and Newt and Minho, but no Thomas. "Hey, guys," I say as I approach them. They glance at me, genuine smiles on each of their faces.

"How've you been?" Newt asks, patting the rock beside him in an invitation for me to sit down. I take my spot on the rock, "much better since getting out," I say. "So, uhm, where's Thomas?" I question, glancing around again.

"Talkin' to Teresa," Minho says, his voice betraying his efforts to hide his distaste towards her. He nods in the direction of one of the other hills and I look over to see two silhouettes, Teresa and Thomas.

"That's a random place for them to be talking," I point out. They all show some form of agreement but Minho speaks up. "She was standing up there all ominously, Thomas wanted to make sure she was alright," he explains.

I nod softly, my eyes fixed on the sight of the two of them. I've never really been the jealous type, but the way Teresa looks at Thomas makes me feel a little off. The way he seems to have a connection with her, one I'll never understand, I think that's what really bugs me about those two together.

Frypan, Newt, and Minho all continue their conversation while I watch Thomas and Teresa. My ears automatically drown them out, letting my eyes do all the focusing.

From how far away we are, I can't quite tell what's going on. Though, I definitely noticed when they looked over at the mountains in the distance. I reluctantly pull my eyes away them and look at the mountains, just in time to see some of W.C.K.D's plane things flying towards the camp.

My eyes widen and out of the corner of my eye, I see Thomas beginning to rush down the hill. Newt, Minho, and Frypan notice just a few seconds after me. We glance at each other before running down the hill we were on.

The plane is quickly approaching the grounds, none of us seem to be able to run quick enough. Especially Newt, his limp causing him to be slower than the rest of us. I've never heard about why he has the limp but when I noticed that he had a limp, it was all I could see when I see him walk.

I glance up in time to see a bomb drop down onto the ground. My eyes widen and before I - or anyone else - have the chance to react, it goes off...