It Wasn't Real

Chapter 16

They arrived back at the facility, this time with the girls. The moment they stepped out of the van, Minho walked up to Thomas and Newt.

"You two. Talk, now." He said grabbing their hands and dragging them to an unused room in the back of the building, slamming the door behind them. "I know Janson said what happened back in the simulation, but I want to hear it from you two." Thomas nodded, looking over at Newt having another mental conversation.

Minho huffed angrily. "And out loud if you will."

Thomas and Newt both winced. "Okay." Thomas said. "Lawrence and I were on our way back to W.I.C.K.E.D when we drove past a group of Cranks. We ignored them at first as they didn't notice us, but after we crashed the car escaping from three other cars, I had time to really look. Standing twenty feet away from me was Newt. He wasn't with the rest of the Cranks fighting each other; he was standing off to the side just staring at us."

Thomas sighed. "I yelled at Lawrence to stop the van and after a lot of yelling, he finally did. I got out of the van and walked toward Newt. He really did look like a Crank; his clothes were torn and his body was covered with scratches and bruises, but his eyes were the scariest part, they were filled with madness. I thought I was already too late to talk to him."

Thomas stopped, feeling his throat constrict as he attempted to hold back tears. Minho was already slightly crying at the emotion of one friend and the brutal description of the other. Newt put a hand of Thomas' shoulder. "Do you want me to take over?"

Thomas shook his head. "No I need to finish." He cleared his throat. "I asked him if he remembered me, his face showed recognition and I thought he was still the level headed Newt I knew, but when he spoke his voice was filled with hatred. He told me that he remembered me. That I came to the Crank Palace just to rub the fact that I didn't read the note in his face."

"The note?" Minho asked.

"Kill me. If you have ever been my friend, kill me." Newt said emotionlessly, looking at the ground. "I gave it to Tommy after I found out I wasn't immune."

Thomas returned to the story. "I begged Newt to come back with us. Told him we could cure him. I even offered to tie him up if it made him feel better, but that only made him angrier. He yelled at me for being a traitor, said he hated me and he always did."

Newt winced. "I'm sorry Tommy, I didn't mean it."

"Don't worry I knew you didn't." He turned his attention back to Minho. "I tried to reason with him. Get him to calm down so Lawrence wouldn't shoot him, but it was no use. He suddenly screamed and tackled me. He asked me if I expected a hug or a sit and talk. When I told him I didn't he told me how he got his limp."

Minho stiffened, and Newt moved to wrap his arms around both Thomas and Minho, who sat on either side of him. "I begged Tommy to kill me."

"But I couldn't." Thomas sighed.

"So I threatened him, told him that I would shoot him if he didn't shoot me."

"After he screamed at me to kill him, he suddenly became calm. His eyes cleared and he looked as if he never had the Flare in the first place, and what he said to me was so sad, so desperate that I couldn't say no." Thomas couldn't say it; those words that back in the simulation made him kill his best friend.

"Please Tommy, please." Newt whispered, finally giving in and letting the tears fall.

Thomas closed his eyes. "I pulled the trigger, I had to. I never looked back; never saw for myself what I had just done. If I did, I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Minho sighed. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't there for either of you. I never questioned it when Thomas came back looking haunted. I just assumed it had to do with everything we had been through, not that you killed Newt."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Thomas said.

After a few more moments of silence, Newt released them and stood up. "How about we head back. All this crying and hugging makes me feel like a girl."

"You're not a girl?" Minho asked feigning surprise, Thomas let out a shocked snort.

Newt shoved him. "Slim it, Shuckface."

A/N: Thank you AG200 for proofreading!!