Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-EIght

One Year Ago 

Newt desperately tried to pull Nick's hands off his throat. He could feel the air deflating from his lungs as he tried to gain more. He tried to knee Nick in the stomach, but it didn't work. 

"You hope that you'll take my job, Shank," Nick taunted. "You think you're better than me, well you're not! They might not be able to see it, but I can." 

Newt was starting to see dark spots in his vision. 

"Your friendship with him didn't save you, it didn't save any of us. Even Alby doesn't trust you. That's why he never told you about George." 

Newt was losing focus, he could feel himself slipping away. 

"I HATE YOU!" 

Suddenly Newt was able to take in a large chunk of air. He coughed uncontrollably as he breathing returned to normal. As soon as he was able to focus again, he noted that Nick's body weight was no longer on top of him. 

Newt sat up and saw Nick and Alby fighting each other. Even though he was still in a bit of shock after having the life nearly drained out of him, Newt had to help his friend. When Nick had Alby down, Newt jumped onto his back. Nick elbowed Newt in the stomach, and after a few tries, the blonde boy fell down. Nick turned to Newt, ready to finish what he started. 

But before Nick could take a step closer, he felt a horrible pain in his back. He could feel something warm dripping down him. Alby had stabbed Nick in the back with a knife. As soon as the knife was pulled out, Nick charged at Alby. That's when the leader stabbed his second, his friend, in the chest. 

Nick fell to the ground as the life left his body. 

For a moment, Newt stayed on the ground, shocked by what he had just witnessed. Alby stood over Nick's dead body, knife still in hand and covered in blood. Newt knew that Alby was only doing what he had to, but the sight still made Newt ver uneasy. 

Then Alby regained a calm expression and looked at Newt. 

"Are you okay?" 

Newt nodded. "You?" 

Alby didn't answer the question. Instead he told Newt to call a gathering. 

*************** 

Present Day 

The teens hiked until it was dark. Few words were spoken between them. 

Soon they came across debris they could use as shelter for the night. Minho and Aris built a fire for everyone to sit around. Claire rested her head on Newt while he had his arm around her. Teresa was next to her, using her backpack as a pillow. 

"I thought we were supposed to be immune," Minho said, breaking the thick silence. 

"Not all of us, I guess," Teresa said. 

A new fear was now present among the teens. Perhaps they weren't as safe from the virus as they thought they were. 

"If Winston can get infected we should assume so can the rest of us," Newt said. 

"I never thought I'd say it, but I miss the Glade," Frypan said. 

The words had a heavy affect on Thomas. He had barely been in the Glade for a week, not long enough to grow attached to it like the others might have. Apart from the fact that they had been trapped, life in the Glade actually hadn't been that bad, and Thomas took them away from that. 

Feeling unable to be near his friends, Thomas stood up and went off to the side to be alone. 

Newt exchanged a look with Claire and knew that they were thinking the same thing: Thomas was feeling guilty and shouldn't be left alone. Deciding Thomas would feel more crowed if multiple people went to talk to him, Newt volunteered to go talk to him. 

"You haven't slept a wink since we left the Maze," Newt noted, sitting down next to his friend. 

Thomas didn't respond. 

"Listen, Frypan was just letting off steam." 

"He's right though, I'm the reason we're stuck out here," Thomas said. 

"No, you're the reason we're free. The others may have their doubts, and that's fine, but they would follow you anywhere." 

"They follow you too," Thomas pointed out. 

"No, it's different with me, you know that, We all have our roles to play." 

"I don't know where we're going," Thomas confessed, something he would never say to the others. "We're lost." 

"We've been lost before," Newt pointed out. 

"Not like this." 

"There is a place for us out there somewhere. I don't know where it is, but I do know an awful lot of our friends have died for us to get this far. So we can't give up. You can't give up, I won't let you." 

Thomas still felt terrible, still felt like the weight of the world was crushing him. But in that moment, he felt better, like he could actually do this. 

"Get some sleep, man," Newt said before going back to the camp fire. 

A moment later, Thomas rejoined the group. Minho had already volunteered to take first watch. Frypan and Aris were passed out. Teresa looked like she was struggling to fall asleep. 

Newt and Claire were cuddling while their breathing grew deeper and sleep began to take hold of them. Thomas couldn't get over how peaceful they looked snuggled up next to each other. He admired the way they worked well with each other. They had a way of speaking to one another without words. When one was down, the other immediately got stronger. Thomas wondered what that kind of bond was like. 

For a moment Thomas glanced at Teresa and was tempted to lay down next to her, then immediately banished the thought from his mind. He didn't have time to think about...stuff. 

Taking Newt's advice, Thomas curled up on the ground and closed his eyes.