Divided // The Death Cure [Book 3]

SIXTEEN

"No. There's gotta be another way," Thomas stated. The group had retreated to Lawrence's hideout and were now standing around a table, discussing their next move. Thomas had told everyone about Gally's idea and couldn't help showing his unwillingness to go with that particular plan. 

Teresa was someone who Thomas called a friend once but ever since she had betrayed them by calling Wicked, resulting in Leah being taken away from him, he hated her with every fibre of his body.

 "Like what? You've seen the building, she is our only way in," Gally objected. 

"You really think she's gonna help us?" Thomas retorted. 

"I don't plan on asking her permission." 

"Am I missing something here?" Brenda cut in. "This is the same girl who betrayed us, correct? The same dick?!" 

"I like her." Gally pointed over his shoulder at the girl. 

"What's going on?" Brenda asked Thomas. 

Newt chuckled humorlessly. "What? Are you afraid your second girlfriend is gonna get hurt?" he retorted. Thomas's eyebrows knitted together. "Hm?" Newt asked again. "This has obviously never been just about rescuing Leah and Minho." 

"Newt, what are you talking about?" Thomas asked, confusion lacing his voice. 

"Teresa," Newt stated plainly. "Right before Teresa betrayed us, I was with Leah. She was more upset that I have ever seen her before and that was because of you. I'm guessing it had something to do with Teresa," he rambled. "I lost my best friends because of some stupid mistake you made. And now we have the chance to get them back and you don't want to because of her?!"

Newt backed Thomas up by slowly walking toward him. "Because deep down, you care about her a little too much. Just admit it."

"Newt-" 

"Don't lie to me!" Newt shouted, slamming Thomas against the wall behind him. "Don't. Lie. To me," he repeated, fury lacing his voice. Something in his eyes shifted and the washed-over look disappeared. He was visibly shocked by what had happened as he stepped back. "I'm-I'm sorry." He turned to the others. "I'm sorry." 

He fled the room without another word, rubbing his arm as he did so. 

Thomas looked at the others for a second before he chased after Newt. He found him on the roof of Lawrence's building, sitting on the edge, his eyes glossy. Thomas stood behind his friend, knowing he had heard him approach.

"Sorry about that, back there," Newt said softly before sighing. "I guess I can't hide this anymore." He rolled up his sleeve and Thomas closed his eyes for a second, not wanting to believe what he saw. A trail of dark veins circling around an infected wound. 

Thomas squatted to the ground. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. 

Newt shrugged. "I didn't think it would make any difference." He sighed. "Well, at least now we know Wicked must've put me in that Maze for a reason. Maybe it was the literally to tell the difference between immunes like you and people like me."

"We can still fix this, Newt," Thomas said. "Okay? We can." 

Newt chuckled. "Don't worry about me, okay? This is about Minho, Leah and your kid. They need us, so if there is even the slightest chance that we can save them, that we can get them out of there, then we take that. No matter what the cost." 

Thomas was left speechless for a second. "Okay," he decided to say. "I hear you." 

The two looked up at the towering wall that split them from their friends, the wall that kept Thomas from seeing Leah, the wall that kept Newt from seeing his best friends. They had to get to them, to get them out. There was no other option.

"Do you think they're together?" Newt asked. Thomas raised a brow. "Minho and Leah." 

"I hope so, Leah hates being alone," Thomas sighed. He sat down beside Newt. 

"How much longer do we have?" 

"Until what?" 

"The baby? I assume you want to get her out before the baby is born." 

"Yeah of course," He paused for a moment, doing a quick calculation in his head. "About a month, max. Assuming it'll be nine months." 

Newt chuckled softly. 

"What?" Thomas asked. 

"It's so cute to hear you talk about Leah, your entire personality changes when you talk about her," Newt laughed. 

Thomas let out a breathy laugh. "Well excuse me for worrying about her. She's only pregnant and a Wicked lab rat." His smile faltered. 

A silence hung between the two of them. 

"You really love her, don't you?" 

Thomas shifted his gaze and nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Then you better make sure you never let go of her again, because when I'm not there to-"

"Don't say that," Thomas said. 

"Let me finish," Newt shot back. "When I'm not there to kick your ass, I'll tell Gally to do it," he joked and Thomas couldn't help but laugh. The two fell silent again. 

"Let's go back inside." Newt got up. 

"Yeah, you're done lecturing me?" Thomas grinned, resulting in a glare from Newt. 

"I mean it, Thomas. Leah is like a little sister to me and I don't want to see her hurt again." 

"Okay," Thomas said. "I'll take care of her." 

"Good." 

The duo went back inside to find the rest of the group in the exact place where they left them. "Are you okay, Newt?" Brenda asked. 

"I'm fine," Newt assured her and leaned his palms on the table. "So, what's the plan?" 

"As I said before, Teresa is our only way in." Gally glanced at Thomas, unsure what to expect. 

Thomas nodded softly. "Okay, we'll do it," he stated. He got surprised looks from most of the people in the room. "Guys, we need to get them out. We're running out of time." 

"I agree," Newt added. 

Gally rolled out a map on the table, showing the floor Leah was on. "According to what we saw through the telescope, she's in this room. Assuming she's still in there, we need to pass six scanners. So we need Teresa, whether we like it or not." Gally pointed at the different places on the map. "The question now is how are we going to get in? We're all still tagged, so the scanners will pick us up as soon as we step inside. Unless we can find a way to deactivate them, we can't go in. We'll have to tell Teresa to get everyone out and we'll meet her-"

"No, no way. I'm going in as well. I'm not gonna sit around waiting for her to return." Thomas crossed his arms. 

"Me too. I'm not letting her betray us again. Don't forget she's helping Wicked, guys," Newt stated. 

Gally looked around. "Okay, so how are we going to do this?"