Variables → Group B [AU]

40 → "BETRAYAL"

40 → "BETRAYAL"

THE BOYS OF Group A came to a stop when they saw Teresa walking towards them in a brisk pace. Adeline watched as Newt and Minho noticed her, before Adeline glanced at the boys, realising that Matt wasn't there. None of the boys said anything, not until Minho spoke first.

"What's this crap about, Teresa? Nice way to greet your long - lost buddies."

Teresa didn't answer Minho's question. An eerie silence swept across them. The sun continued to rise. Teresa walked toward them again, and stopped about ten feet from where Minho and Newt stood side by side.

"Teresa?" Newt asked, moving his eyes away from her and facing Teresa. "What the bloody —"

"Shut up." Teresa said. She didn't snap or yell. Teresa said it calmly. "And any of you makes a move, the bows start shooting."

Teresa brought her knife up to a fighting position, moving it back and forth as she stepped past Newt and Minho and through the Gladers. She came to girl Adeline didn't know, who had long brown hair, and paused. Neither said a word, but the hatred between them was visible. How did Teresa know her? Teresa moved past her, until she was in front of Thomas.

"Teresa." he whispered. Teresa didn't move, just kept staring at him. "Teresa, what's —"

"Shut up." Her voice was still calm. Commanding.

"But what —" Teresa reared back and swung the butt of her spear at him, smashing it into his right cheek.

"I said shut up." She reached down and grabbed him by the shirt. "Is your name Thomas?"

Harriet and Sonya shared a glance with one another, and Adeline was taken back. Why was Teresa acting like she didn't know Thomas? She'd been saying all this time that he'd done something so bad to her, but now she was acting like she didn't know him.

"You know who I —"

Teresa swung the knife even more violently this time, crashing the end into the side of his head; he cried out, clutching his head.

"You know who I am!" he screamed.

"I used to, anyway." Teresa said, the tone of her voice soft but full of disgust. "Now I'm going to ask you one more time. Is your name Thomas?"

"Yes!" he yelled back at her. "My name is Thomas!"

Teresa nodded, then started to back away from him, boys moving out of her way as she passed the group and rejoined the girls of Group B.

"You're coming with us." Teresa called out. "Thomas. Come on. Remember, anyone tries something, the arrows fly."

"No way!" Minho yelled. "You're not taking him anywhere."

Teresa acted as if she hadn't heard him. "This isn't some stupid game. I'm going to start counting. Every time I hit a multiple of five, we'll kill one of you with an arrow. We'll do it until Thomas is the only one left, then we'll take him anyway. It's up to you."

For the first time since ambushing Group A, Adeline realised that Aris, who was standing next to Thomas, was staring at each girl from his group. Once he met Adeline's gaze, his face held a grimace.

"One!" Teresa shouted.

Thomas didn't seem to be taking any chances; he walked forward, pushing past people until he reached Teresa. He ignored the comments from Minho and the others.

"Fine." he said. "Take me."

"I only made it to one."

"Yeah. I'm really brave that way."

She hit him with the knife again. Minho made a remark, Newt looked betrayed. Aris was standing there, useless to the situation unfolding.

"Adeline." This came from Newt. "Persuade Teresa not to do this."

"I can't." Adeline stated. "We have to do this."

"Bring the bag." Teresa demanded, yelling over Adeline. Newt and Minho looked dumbfounded. Harriet and Sonya moved towards Thomas, who had collapsed to the ground when Teresa hit him with the knife the third time. "We're taking him with us!" Teresa yelled. "If anybody follows, I'll hit him again and we'll start shooting you. We won't really bother aiming. Just let the arrows fly any old way they feel like."

"Teresa!" Minho's voice. "You catch the Flare that quickly? Your mind's obviously gone already."

The butt of the knife smashed into the back of Thomas's head once more; he collapsed onto his stomach.

"Anything else you wanna say?" Teresa asked. After a long moment of silence, she said. "Didn't think so. Put the bag over him." Harriet and Sonya grabbed Thomas by the shoulder and flipped him onto his back.

"Don't resist." Harriet stated. "Or it'll just get worse." Then, after a moment, Harriet continued. "Better just to go along and let us kill you. Doesn't do you any good to have a lot of pain along the way."

Harriet slipped the bag over Thomas' head.