Broken Soul.

Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning, feeling surprisingly good. I hadn't felt that way in a long time and I knew it was thanks to my chat with Newt and also just knowing that I could go to him if I ever felt like it. It was still early but the sun had already risen. It had been so hot that I had decided to leave the window opened. Now, in the early morning, the fresh wind caressing my skin felt good. I thought about last night, the memory still fresh in my mind. This had been unexpected but not unpleasant. I thought about everything Newt had said, from his suicide attempt to his feelings for Thomas. I felt really bad for him. I could tell that he needed to get that off his chest and I was glad he had decided to confide in me. Lost in thought, I allowed myself to stay in bed for another five minutes because I knew we had a long day ahead of us. I casted a glance at the room. It was tiny but I felt comfortable there. A wooden desk, placed against the wall next to the wardrobe, gave the impression that it could fall apart at any moment. I thought about the people who used to live here. What had happened to them? Had they survived the Flare? Probably not. I wasn't even sure there were any people left beside the ones we knew.

I summed up what we had to do today. The plan was simple. Look for Thomas and Brenda all over the city before heading for the mountains. Jorge couldn't bring himself to abandon her, not before doing his absolute best to find her. The same applied to us, of course. We wouldn't leave Thomas behind if there was still a chance we could find him. I got up and put some clothes on. I had been wearing the same jean and shirt since we had escaped from WICKED so finding new ones in the wardrobe got me to smile genuinely for the first time in a long time. As I was getting ready, I heard voices I didn't recognise coming from outside the house. I looked out of the window and saw three armed men heading towards our house. It made my blood boil. I froze. How the hell had they found us? I did a quick thinking and discreetly opened the window to listen to what they were saying.

- Inside. Heat signatures.

- On my signal.

Shit. WICKED agents. Normally, I wouldn't have fought them, but Thomas was still missing. I couldn't risk blowing my cover by letting them take us. There wasn't enough time to wake everyone up, I had to improvise. I grabbed the gun placed on the nightstand and quietly got out of my room. Jorge was still deeply asleep on the filthy couch we had retrieved from the abandoned house next to ours. The front door was right across the room so I bent down and pointed the gun at it, waiting fearfully. At this moment, Newt got out of his room and saw me, gun in hand.

- What the bloody...

- Don't !

I raised my hand to make him stop moving. He looked confused. I indicated the front door.

- 3 men. Armed. Go get your gun.

He slipped away to his room and came back, pointing his gun at the door.

Seconds later, one of them knocked the door down which crushed on the ground. Newt didn't hesitate and shot the man down. He fell as the other two hid outside.

- Fuck!, we heard one of them screaming.

The noise had woken Jorge up. Minho got in the room straight after.

- What the hell was that? he asked, taken aback.

- WICKED agents, Newt said, out-of-breath. Two of them are still here.

- Everyone step back, Jorge warned. I got this.

We all looked at each other, confused. He went to the kitchen and came back, a hand grenade in his hand.

- Wow, you're sure about this? asked Minho, hesitating.

- Don't worry Hermano, it's nothing I haven't done before.