They walked for an hour and didn't see a single car, much less a cab. They ran into only a few scatteredpeople, and cop machines let out their eerie hum as they flew by at random. Every few minutes they'dhear a sound in the distance that brought memories of the Scorch back to Thomas—someone talking tooloudly, a scream, an odd laugh. As the light faded to darkness, he began to feel more and more spooked.Finally Brenda stopped and faced the rest of them. "We'll have to wait till tomorrow," she announced."We're not going to find transportation tonight and we're too far to walk. We need to sleep so we'll befresh in the morning."Thomas hated to admit it, but she was right."There's gotta be a way to get out there," Minho countered.Jorge squeezed his shoulder. "It's useless, hermano. The airport's at least ten miles from here. And bythe looks of this town we'd get mugged or shot or beaten to death on the way. Brenda's right—better torest up and go help himtomorrow."Thomas could tell Minho wanted to be his usual defiant self, but he gave in without arguing. Jorgemade too much sense. They were in a huge city, at night, completely out of their element."Are we close to our motel?" Thomas asked. He told himself that Newt could make it through one morenight alone.Jorge pointed to his left. "Just a few blocks."They headed in that direction.They were a block away when Jorge pulled up short, holding one hand in the air and putting a finger to hislips with the other. Thomas stopped dead in his tracks, alarmsuddenly tingling through his nerves."What?" Minho whispered.Jorge turned in a slow circle, scanning the area around them, and Thomas did the same, wonderingwhat had suddenly made the older man so apprehensive. Darkness had completely fallen, and the fewstreetlights they passed barely put a dent in it. The world Thomas could see seemed made of shadows,and he imagined horrible things hiding behind every one of them."What?" Minho whispered again."I keep thinking I hear something right behind us," Jorge replied. "Whispering. Anyone else—""There!" Brenda shouted, her voice like a crack of thunder in the silence. "Did you see that?" She waspointing off to her left.Thomas strained to look but saw nothing. The streets were empty as far as he could tell."Someone was just coming out frombehind that building, then jumped back. I swear I saw it.""Hey!" Minho yelled. "Who's over there?""Are you crazy?" Thomas whispered. "Let's get inside the motel!""Slimit, dude. If they wanted to shoot us or something, don't you think they would've done it by now?"Thomas just sighed in exasperation. He didn't like the feel of this at all."I should've said something when I first heard it," Jorge said."Maybe it's nothing," Brenda responded. "And if it is, standing around won't help. Let's just get out ofhere.""Hey!" Minho yelled again, making Thomas jump. "Hey, you! Who's over there?"Thomas smacked himon the shoulder. "Seriously, would you stop that?"His friend ignored him. "Come out and show yourself!"Whoever it was didn't respond. Minho moved like he was going to walk across the street and take alook, but Thomas grabbed himby the arm."No way. Worst idea in history. It's dark, it could be a trap, it could be a lot of terrible things. Let'sjust get some sleep and keep a better eye out tomorrow."Minho didn't put up much of an argument. "Fine. Be a wuss. But I get one of the beds tonight."And with that they went up to their room. It took forever for Thomas to fall asleep, his mind spinningwith the possibilities of who might be following them. But no matter where his thoughts wandered, theyalways came back to Teresa and the others. Where were they? Could that have been Teresa out on thestreet, spying on them? Or had it been Gally and the Right Arm?And Thomas hated that they'd had no choice but to wait a night before checking on Newt. What ifsomething had happened to him?Finally his mind slowed, the questions faded away, and he fell asleep.
CHAPTER 34
The next morning, Thomas was surprised at how rested he felt. He'd tossed and turned all night, itseemed, but at some point he must have gotten some deep and recharging sleep. After a long, hot showerand breakfast out of a vending machine, he was ready to face the day.He and the others left the motel around eight o'clock in the morning, wondering what they'd find in thecity on their way to check on Newt. They saw some people here and there, but far fewer than they'd seenduring the busy hours of the day before. And Thomas didn't notice any strange noises like the ones they'dheard the previous night during their long walk."Something's up, I'm tellin' ya," Jorge said as they made their way down the street in search of a cab."There should be more folks out and about."Thomas observed the few pedestrians around him. None of them would look him in the eye—everyonekept their head down, often with one hand holding their surgical mask to their face as if afraid that asudden wind might blow it off. And they walked with a hurried, frantic gait, almost jumping out of theway when another person got too close. He noticed a woman studying a poster about the Flare just like theone he'd read the day before while being escorted by Red Shirt. It brought to mind that memory he hadn'tbeen able to grasp—it was going to drive himcrazy."Let's hurry and get to the shuck airport," Minho muttered. "This place is giving me the creeps.""We should probably go up that way," Brenda said, pointing. "There have to be cabs around thosebusiness offices."They crossed the street and headed down a narrower one that passed what looked like an empty lot onone side and an old, dilapidated building on the other.Minho leaned into Thomas and half whispered, "Dude, I'm a little shucked in the head right now. I'mscared of what we're gonna find with Newt."Thomas was scared, too, but didn't admit it. "Don't worry. I'msure he's fine for now.""Good that. And the cure for the Flare's gonna fly out of your butt any second.""Who knows, maybe it will. Might smell funny, though." His friend didn't seem to think that was veryhumorous. "Look, we can't do anything until we get there and see him." Thomas hated sounding soinsensitive, but things were hard enough—they couldn't assume the worst."Thanks for the pep talk."The empty lot to their right contained the scattered remains of an old brick building, weeds filling everysquare inch. A large section of wall stood right in the middle, and as they passed, Thomas noticedmovement on the far side of it. He stopped, and instinctively put a hand out to halt Minho as well. Heshushed himbefore he could ask what was going on.Brenda and Jorge noticed and froze in place. Thomas pointed at what he'd seen, then tried to get abetter look.A shirtless man had his back to them, and he was hunched over something, digging with his hands likehe'd lost something in the mud and was trying to find it. Oddly shaped scratches covered his shoulders,and there was a long scab crossing the middle of his spine. His movements were jerky and ... desperate,Thomas thought. His elbows kept popping back like he'd torn something loose from the ground. The tallweeds prevented Thomas fromseeing the focus of the man's frantic attention.Brenda whispered frombehind. "Let's keep moving.""That guy's sick," Minho whispered back. "How's he loose like this?"Thomas had no idea. "Let's just go."The group started walking again, but Thomas couldn't tear his eyes away from the disturbing scene.What was that guy doing?When they reached the end of the block, Thomas stopped, as did the others. It was clearly botheringeveryone as much as it was him—they all wanted to get one last look.Without warning, the man sprang up and turned toward them; blood covered his mouth and nose.Thomas flinched and stumbled back into Minho. The man bared his teeth in a nasty grin, then held upbloody hands as if to show them off. Thomas was just about to yell at him when the guy bent back overand returned to his business. Thankfully they couldn't see exactly what that business was."This would be a good time to go," Brenda said.Icy fingers crawled along Thomas's back and shoulders—he couldn't have agreed more. They allturned and ran, and they'd gone two blocks before they slowed to a walk again.It took another half hour before they found a cab, but they were finally on their way. Thomas wanted totalk about what they'd seen in the empty lot, but he couldn't put it into words. It had sickened him throughand through.Minho was the first to speak about it. "That guy was eating a person. I just know it.""Maybe ...," Brenda began. "Maybe it was just a stray dog." Her tone made Thomas think she didn'tbelieve it for one second. "Not like that'd be okay, either."Minho scoffed. "I'm pretty sure that's not something you're supposed to see during a nice leisurelystroll through a quarantined city in the middle of the day. I believe Gally. I think this place is crawlingwith Cranks, and soon the whole city's gonna start killing each other."No one responded. They stayed silent the rest of the way to the airport.It didn't take long to get through security and back outside the massive walls surrounding the city. Ifanything, the staff they encountered seemed thrilled that they were leaving.The Berg was right where they'd left it, waiting like the abandoned shell of a giant insect on the hot andsteamy concrete. Nothing stirred around it."Hurry up and open it," Minho said.Jorge didn't seem fazed by the curt command; he pulled his small control pad out of his pocket andpressed some buttons. The ramp of the cargo door slowly pivoted down, hinges squealing, until its edgelanded on the ground with a grating scrape. Thomas had hoped to see Newt come running down that ramp,a big smile on his face, glad to see them.But nothing moved inside or out, and his heart sank.Minho obviously felt the same way. "Something's wrong." He sprinted to the door and ran up the rampbefore Thomas had a chance to react."We better get in there," Brenda said. "What if Newt's turned dangerous?"Thomas hated the sound of the question but knew she was right. Without responding, he ran afterMinho, entering the dark and stifling Berg. All the systems had been shut down at some point: no airconditioning,no lights, nothing.Jorge followed right at Thomas's heels. "Let me power her up or we'll all sweat till we're nothing buta pile of bones and skin." He moved off in the direction of the cockpit.Brenda stood next to Thomas, both of them peering into the gloom of the ship, the only light comingfrom the few scattered portholes. They could hear Minho calling Newt's name somewhere deep in theship, but the infected boy wasn't responding. A cavity seemed to open within Thomas, widening andsucking the hope out of him."I'll go to the left," he said, pointing toward the small hallway to the common area. "Why don't youfollow Jorge and search up there. This isn't good—he would've been here to welcome us if everythingwas okay.""Not to mention the lights and air would be on." She gave Thomas a grimlook, then headed off.Thomas went down the hallway to the main room. Minho sat on one of the couches, looking at a pieceof paper, his face as stony as Thomas had ever seen it. The hollowness inside him grew even more, andhis last ounce of hope faded."Hey," he said. "What is it?"Minho didn't answer. He just kept staring at the paper."What's wrong?"Minho glanced up at him. "Come see for yourself." He held up the paper in one hand while he slouchedback on the couch, seeming on the verge of tears. "He's gone."Thomas walked over and took the paper from him, then flipped it over. Scribbled in black marker, itsaid:They got inside somehow. They're taking me to live with the other Cranks.It's forthe best. Thanks for being my friends.Goodbye."Newt," Thomas whispered. His friend's name hung in the air like a pronouncement of death.
