𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 - 𝘋𝘌𝘈𝘛𝘏 𝘊𝘜𝘙𝘌

26 ~ the denver huddle

Lottie

Packing ourselves into the Berg was an uncomfortable experience, especially once we got into the air. It was a rough journey, and there was only a small amount of sitting room for each person so there was quite a bit of jostling and shoulder-bumping. It was also very loud – with the sounds of the aircraft's engine as well as the voices of the Right Arm spies, I could hardly hear my own thoughts. The ex-Gladers and I sat towards the back, unusually silent and tired from the night before. I sat with my legs pulled up to my chest. On one side of me was Julian, who had stuck by me ever since my drowning incident last night, regardless of the way I treated him afterwards. On the other side was Newt. He was calm from the medicine, but he was limp like a doll. His eyes were blank and staring, and his arms hung by his sides as if his bones had just disappeared. I didn't dare touch him in case it set him off, but I had faith in the Bliss so far.

I made eye contact with Minho a few feet away. He was struggling to keep his large shoulders from knocking into everyone else's, but aside from that, his attention was on Newt. He stared at his friend sadly. I knew what he was thinking; that the Newt we had in our presence was not Newt at all, but rather a shell of him. His soul had been snatched by the disease, eaten away, and replaced by a ferocious beast. But then the beast was taken from him too, and he was left with nothing.

I could think of nothing else except finding Annabelle at the WICKED facility. I knew she was the only one who could help us, but I also knew I was depending on a sheer whim. Just a simple feeling that the girl I once knew was still alive. It wasn't much, but me and her used to have a bond. Not just a friendship – a scientific bond. I knew WICKED. There wasn't a single child in their grasp whose mind they didn't tear into and poke around in, or one who wasn't an experiment. Annabelle and I were no different, so I had a theory that our minds or bodies were connected in some way. I was certain that she wasn't dead.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" Gally's booming voice pulled me out of my thoughts. He stood in the middle of the sea of spies and Gladers, slightly wobbly from the movements of the Berg. "We all know the plan, alright? We've gone over it a million times and practiced with the tools. But this is the real deal. We can't afford mess-ups, okay? No one dies because of some stupid mistake. The whole world could depend on this, if you think about it enough." He fell silent for a moment, then cleared his throat. "But, uh... no pressure."

I looked sideways at Thomas, a few spaces away. He caught my eye and gave a smile, although I think his nerves caused it to be a sort of grimace. No pressure? I wasn't sure I even knew what that was. There had always been pressure for as long as I could remember, and probably before that, too.

I could just barely see out the window from where I was sitting, but I was able to catch glimpses of evergreen treetops flying by. I was reminded about the last time I had seen these trees; I was escaping instead of invading. That was only a couple months ago, but it felt like another lifetime.

I could feel the Berg getting lower and lower. Our fate getting closer and closer. The crew inside the aircraft were becoming uneasy. Many of them opened their packs to quadruple check that they had everything they would need. Nobody seemed to have forgotten anything – this was too important of an event to mess up.

Everything suddenly became very loud. The wheels were being extracted from the bottom of the Berg, and we were slowly being lowered to the ground. Tree branches squealed against the exterior of the aircraft; the pilot was supposed to find the largest clearing he could, but there were still stragglers. It was a dense forest.

There was a rough thump as we landed. I instinctively grabbed Newt's thigh to steady myself but tore it away immediately, worried I would set him off. I observed him out of the corner of my eye, but he had no reaction. His eyes remained glazed over, his expression remained neutral. I sighed. How were we going to be able to succeed in our mission if we had to drag a half-conscious boy along with us? I wished we could leave him here so he would remain safe until we returned, but unfortunately that just wasn't an option.