Dynasty // The Scorch Trials [Book 2]

TWENTY-THREE

T H I R D   P E R S O N   P O V 

"You know what? I think you need to stay away from me for a while," Leah stated, looking up at Thomas with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Wha-You're not serious, are you? Leah, you can't do that to me." He took a step forward and reached for her wrists, but she harshly pulled her hands away and moved to turn around.

Thomas's heart broke into a million pieces as he watched the girl he loved the most walk away from him. He couldn't let that happen. He took a determined step forward, wanting to fix what he had broken.

"Don't," Leah snapped and Thomas stopped. "Don't follow me." Her bottom lip quivered and he wanted nothing more than to hug her tightly and make sure she was okay. It killed him to see her walk out on him. "I thought I meant something to you." Thomas felt how his heart ripped in half.

He stood still, his hands still in the air as he watched her leave. She tried to hide her sobs but he could hear them loud and clear and this broke him. He dropped himself to his knees as she left his view, disappearing into the camp, and let out an aggravated cry. He looked back at the others and saw Newt glancing at him, worry filling his eyes until he jumped to his feet and rushed after his best friend. 

Thomas's eye fell on something new, Teresa, standing on the cliff.

He had to fix things with Leah and his first step was going to be telling Teresa to back off. 

He got to his feet and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He climbed up the cliff, determined to tell her the truth. 

"Teresa," he said, his voice quivering slightly. She turned around and her brows etched as he spotted his broken appearance. 

"Thomas, what happened?" she asked, worry lacing her voice. Thomas chuckled humorlessly. 

He shook his head in defeat. "Leah broke up with me."

She stepped closer, her face barely showing any sympathy. "I'm so sorry. What happened? I thought you were happy together?" 

"Yeah, I thought so too." He stood beside her and stared into the distance. "Look, I came up here to talk to y-"

"Do you remember your mother?" she asked softly. 

He looked at her in question. "Yeah, I guess," he said slowly, not sure how to answer her question. 

"I remember mine," Teresa said. "She was a beautiful woman, everyone loved her." She smiled and Thomas noticed the tears in her eyes. "Before Wicked, she was all I had. When she got sick, I didn't know what to do. I just kept her locked up, hidden." Her eyes travelled down and stayed focused on the rock they were standing on. "I thought she'd get better. Every night, she'd make these awful sounds and one night, it just stopped." 

"Teresa-"

"She had clawed her eyes out, Thomas. She told me she was feeling better, that the visions were gone." Tears leaked from her eyes. "There are millions of people out there who are suffering, millions of stories just like mine. I can't turn my back on them," she said. "I won't."

"What are you saying?" A bad feeling started to come up in his stomach. 

"I'm saying that I want you to understand." 

A cold shiver ran down his spine and he was almost afraid to ask, "Understand what?" 

"Why I did it." 

Behind her, two bright lights appeared at the horizon and it took Thomas a few seconds to comprehend what she did. 

She had contacted Wicked. 

They were coming. 

"Teresa, what have you done?" he asked her. 

"Please don't fight them, Thomas." 

He looked at her in disbelief. "What have you done?" He whipped around and sprinted down the cliff. He had to find Leah, he had to find her before they took her. He couldn't let them take her. 

"LEAH!" he screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran to the camp. The helicopters flew over his head and the next moment, a bright explosion erupted right in front of him. "NO!" 

The helicopters fired multiple missiles at the camp and he could feel the explosions through the ground, see the fires burning and hear the people screaming, but he didn't see anyone he recognized. 

The next moment, Wicked soldiers jumped from the helicopters and started tasering people. If one of those things hit Leah, there was a big chance that it would most likely kill the baby. "Oh, my god... LEAH!" he screamed again and sprinted into the camp, looking around frantically to find her. 

On the other side of the camp, Newt and Leah had reunited with the others. Vince was occupied with trying to get a machine gun to work and as soon as the others reached him, he threw a shotgun in Minho's direction. "You know how to use one of these things?" he shouted over the havoc. Minho nodded confidently and cocked the gun.

Newt and Frypan were also handed guns and Newt didn't hesitate to make sure Leah stayed behind him. "Don't leave my side!" he shouted at her and she nodded, even though he couldn't see her. 

Thomas had reached the tent where Brenda used to be and his hurt sunk as he saw the tent was on fire and already collapsing. "Brenda?!" he called, only to receive no response. "Brenda!" he called again and a body collapsing with his own caught his attention. It was Brenda. 

"Let's go, dumbass," she said as she pulled him with her. He dropped himself next to Jorge, who was hiding behind a pile of crates. Thomas peered over the crates in hopes of spotting Leah, but no luck. He hadn't seen either of the others and that only caused him to panic even more. 

"We have to go now or it'll be too late," Jorge muttered and got ready to sprint away.

"No, I have to find the others!" Thomas protested. 

"No, don't go there. They're not going to make it out of here." Jorge pointed over the crates and Thomas found his friends, shooting down the imposters. To his relief, he found Leah behind Newt, clasping her arms over her stomach. 

"I'm not leaving her, dammit!" Thomas exclaimed, startling both Jorge and Brenda. A lump formed in his throat. "I can't leave her knowing I was the one who screwed things up." 

"I understand." Jorge lowered his gaze. "But if we stay here, we'll die." 

"I don't care, I just need her to be s-NO!" 

He was just in time to see Newt shove Leah aside as the rest of them were electrocuted until they fell unconscious.