It Wasn't Real

Chapter 13

"Bye-bye" someone said from behind Newt. A gun went off and Newt closed his eyes. He opened them a second later to see Celia on the ground, blood pooled on the floor from a wound Newt couldn't see, her eyes open and glazed over. She was dead.

"Newt!" He heard the person scream. A short figure walked into his field of vision. It was Chuck, covered in dirt, soot, and sweat. He was dressed in their black uniform and holding a gun, looking much more mature than Newt remembered ever seeing him. "Come on! Get up Newt! You have to get up!" An explosion went off rather close to them.

Chuck put his gun down and bent over to grab Newt under his arms, pulling him into a sitting position and attempting to drag him to safety. Newt screamed as pain shot through his entire body. "Get out of here Chuck." He choked out as another explosion went off making his ears ring. "Just leave me and run."

"No way shank." Chuck said. "You're getting out of this. We need you. Alby, Thomas, Minho, me- even Gally." He choked back a sob. "Gally and Thomas would kill each other without you. Minho will end up in jail, and I wouldn't know what to do!"

Newt chuckled but groaned as it hurt his ribs and throat. "I'm sorry Chuck. I can't stand, and you can't bloody drag me back to the Med Tent. I promised Tommy you would be safe so go."

Chuck ignored him and dragged him even faster as another explosion went off even closer, making some debris fall from the walls surrounding them. Newt used the last of his strength to squirm out of Chuck's grip. "Go!" He yelled.

Chuck froze for a second, knowing it would be futile to drag someone twice his size so far. "Fine, but I'm getting someone to come back and get you!" He yelled as he ran off.

Newt smiled at Chuck's retreating figure before letting the pain pull him into blissfull unconciousness. He wasn't aware when Arthur, Thomas, Gally, and Minho returned for him, nor was he able to warn them once more about his dream when they retreated through the woods to the fields.

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He woke three days later. Opening his eyes, he groaned as the afternoon sun leaked through the thin sheets of the makeshift Med Tent. "Good, you're awake." Jeff said, walking up to him. "You've been out of it for three days. How do you feel?"

Newt, realizing he really didn't feel any pain, slowly sat up. "Fine." He looked around the room, immediately noticing the missing presence. "Where is Clint?"

Jeff looked at his feet. "He's gone. He was shot down trying to heal someone."

Newt lowered his gaze. "I'm so sorry."

"There's no need. He died for a good cause, that's all that matters."

Chuck entered the tent, looking down at his feet sadly. "Jeff? How's New-" He looked up at Newt and smiled. "Newt! You're awake! How do you feel?"

Newt returned the smile. "I'm fine. Thank you for saving me Chuck." The curly haired boy nodded, practically beaming. "Where are we? It's awfully quiet."

"We had to retreat to the fields. We were outnumbered and outgunned." Jeff said.

Newt's eyes widened. "We what!?" He screeched. "Where is Arthur?"

Jeff sighed, knowing not to get between an angry Newt and the source of said anger. "He's at a meeting in his tent right now. We need a strategy for when the government catches up to us."

Newt nodded and stood, almost falling over when he shifted his weight to his bad foot. His limp was worse than usual, almost as bad as when he first injured his foot back in the simulation, he must have landed on it wrong when he was sent flying.

He stormed over to Arthur's tent. All eyes turned to him as he marched in; Arthur stood up, shocked. "Newt, you're awake!"

Newt walked up to Arthur, his face scrunched in anger. "How dare you!?"

Arthur looked taken aback. "Excuse me?"

One of Arthur's guards stepped in front of Newt. "Hey man, calm down."

Newt shifted his gaze to the guard. "Get out of my bloody way right now or you will never be able to move again." The guard gulped and backed away. "I told you what would happen if we fought in the fields! Why would you even think about coming here?"

"Because we were outnumbered."

"You could have gone anywhere else!"

"This was the closest place, plus we could lose the government guards in the woods."

"We are all going to die if we fight here!"

"They know the risks."

"How can you talk like that? They're people not bloody puppets!"

"I know that!" Arthur yelled. "I lost many of my men, too many to even count! Marcus died for me. His last words were 'You must win this war. You must save them'. I witnessed endless deaths while you took a three day nap!"

Newt narrowed his eyes, his next words were spoken unnervingly soft. "And you're really going to risk more?"

"If I have to!"

"You're so bloody selfish! This is about your nephew! You think you failed him so you're going to risk everyone's life chasing someone who is probably dead!"

Arthur's face turned red. "That's enough! You are dismissed, I want you to leave this bloody camp now!"

Newt turned around. "Don't worry, I'm already gone!" He said as he left. Thomas, Chuck, Minho, Gally, and Jeff were all standing outside looking shocked. "I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it." He walked off, grabbing his things out of the Med Tent and heading back towards where he hoped was the base.

"Newt wait!" He heard Minho yell.

"Go back Minho." Newt called back.

"No way. Listen Newt, he does care about more than his nephew."

"Yeah. He cares about getting revenge on the government."

Minho shook his head. "No. He wants to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. He wants to keep people like us safe."

Newt snorted. "Coulda fooled me."

Minho grabbed Newt's shoulders, stopping him. "He cares about every single one of us. I could see that throughout these past few days. Every time someone was gunned down, it affected him. "

"Sure doesn't seem like it."

"It's true, and you know what? He cares about you the most. He sees his nephew in you, and he would do anything to keep you safe."

"Oh so that's why he didn't accept the offer? That's why he left me to die?"

Minho looked confused. "What offer?"

"He didn't tell you? I was a hostage, Celia gave him some kind of offer for my life and he decided to let me die. If it wasn't for Chuck I would be dead."

Minho shook his head. "Newt there was no offer. Chuck noticed you were gone and then the bomb went off. He ran over to the alley thinking you were there and found your gun. He found the hidden door and followed it to you. When Arthur found out you were hurt and possibly dying, he took off ahead of us to find you." Newt's eyes widened. "He was so scared you would die. For the first two days he wouldn't leave your side. He only left today because his guards forced him to make a plan for when the government attacked."

"But Celia said-" He trailed off. "I don't understand. Then why did he send me away?"

"That I don't know."

Newt's eyes widened in realization. "He knows something." He spun back towards the camp. "He knows something I don't and is trying to protect me." He spun back towards Minho, grabbing his shoulder's. "We have to go back. Now!"

Minho nodded and they began running back, just as an explosion went off at the camp site.

A/N: Thank you to AG2000 for proofreading!!