Burning; TST ➵ Thomas

S E V E N T E E N

The light dimmed to a dull grey as the sun sank to a horizon Thomas couldn't see. Harriet and Sonya were sitting a metre away from him and Amelia, who was already awake but didn't bother to meet any of their eyes. 

"Great. Prince Charming is up," Amelia greeted with false enthusiasm. She had a fake smile plastered on her face. Sonya looked at her with amusement. It vanished a second later. "The other royal majesty decided to scout around, see if the group followed behind. It's been about an hour."

Thomas' eyes examined the area before him. He hadn't even realised that Teresa was missing.

"We want to know what you know," Harriet said quietly. The lingering fog of sleep quickly vanished as the words left her mouth. He tilted his head to face Amelia. A judgemental look was plastered on her face. She stared back with boredom in her eyes.

"Why should I help you?" He questioned with a brow raised. He wished to sit and think it through, but he knew something had changed - he just didn't know what. In addition, this could be a chance to save him and Amelia - there's no way he'd pass this up.

"You don't have much of a choice," Harriet stated irritably. "But if you share whatever you've learnt or figured out, maybe we can help you." 

Thomas turned back his head to the blue-eyed girl beside him. They made eye contact. She shrugged before speaking to the armed women before them. "If we tell you, or if he tells you, you won't kill us?" 

Sonya stayed mute as Harriet smirked. "Don't jump to conclusions," she said. 

The blonde picked up her line of thought. Thomas couldn't help but think she looks eerily similar to Newt. "The smartest thing at the moment is to do what we were ordered. There's more of us and two of you. If it were your decision, what would you do?" 

Her face was stoic. The question hit Thomas like a thump to his chest. She was right, on some kind of level. If that would actually happen, they'd all die if they didn't kill them. 

"If you could choose, and the two options were you die or all of us die, which would you pick? This is all about you are us." 

Thomas held his gaze but didn't reply. Sonya pushed him to answer but Amelia stepped in. 

"Does it matter?" She snapped. "This is WICKED. The assholes put us in a death maze for three years. Who knows, maybe we all die in the end." Sonya pursed her lips tightly as she glanced at Harriet who took in a deep breath. 

With that attitude, she might die earlier than me, he thought. "Maybe we should share what we know, figure something out. I think it's some kind of test. Maybe you're not actually supposed to kill us."

The girls before them shared a long look. Sonya finally nodded slowly. "We better do this before Teresa returns." 

Thomas and Amelia were still tied to the lifeless tree as the other two gathered their group. Amelia lifted her hand and smacked the boy at the back of his head. "That's for dragging me into this mess." 

He rolled his eyes as he rubbed the back of his head. He leaned back, eyes following the girls who began to gather. "I'm sorry, okay? I was going to warn you-"

"You knew this was going to happen?" she interjected. Her blazing blue eyes met his, hers filled with angry, his with guilt. "Wow, T. Wow."