Divided // The Death Cure [Book 3]

SEVENTEEN

Minho had been staring at a wall for four hours without being able to get any sleep when he was picked up by a guard, dragging him to an interrogation room where he was handcuffed to the table. Teresa sat across from him, folding her hands on the table. 

"Minho?" she whispered softly. "Can you hear me?" He didn't respond. "There is a little girl here. Her name is Cheyenne. She's been infected for three weeks now, but Minho, you are going to save her. You and Leah both are. And you can save so many others. Everything we're doing here is working," she spoke. "Do you understand? That is why this is so important." 

Minho didn't say a word. He kept staring at the table with hollow eyes. Teresa came to the conclusion that he didn't want to see her so she got up. When she turned her back to him, she heard a tiny, "Teresa." It sounded weak, almost begging.

She turned back to the former Glader, leaning her head closer to his. "Minho?" 

He looked up at her, a murderous look in his eyes. "You're a TRAITOR!" he burst out, grabbing her by her collar and slamming her back on the table. "We trusted you!" 

Two guards rushed into the room and grabbed Minho by his shoulders, pulling him away from the girl. Her hair had fallen out of the bun she previously had it in, the pin holding it up fell on the table and Minho quickly grabbed it, making sure the guards didn't see it.

"You traitor! I'll kill you!" Minho yelled and Teresa fled the room and leaned her back against the wall, taking a few heaving breaths. 

A girl came rushing toward her and Teresa recognized her to be one of her colleagues from the lab. "Teresa, they need you in the Med-Lab, it sounds serious." Teresa's eyes grew and she sprinted in the direction of the lab. She could hear the screams from miles away. In the lab, three men in protective gear pinned Cheyenne to the chair while a fourth tried to anaesthetize her with a syringe. 

Ava Paige stood next to Teresa. "It's not your fault, Teresa. You did everything you could." 

Teresa felt paralyzed as she walked away from the horror scene. 

Cheyenne's screams kept echoing in her head even after she exited the Wicked building. She walked over the pavements, her mind numbed by the previous events. Minho lashing out at her and then the situation with Cheyenne. 

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she barely registered she had stopped walking to wait for the traffic light to turn green. People with mouth caps surrounded her and she glanced up. She froze in place as her eyes locked with his. The hood of his blue hoodie covered his head but she recognized him immediately. It was Thomas. He looked at her with sad eyes.

She blinked a few times to see if her mind wasn't playing tricks on her. A bus passed and he was gone, but she saw him walking away from her. The traffic light turned green and she hurried over the crosswalk, eager to get to him. 

She jogged to keep up with his fast pace, but in heels, she was still slower. As she pushed past a man, he left her view for a second. She stopped and looked around, afraid that he was gone. 

When she turned to her right, he was walking down a hall. "Thomas?" she called and chased after him. As he turned the corner, he glanced over his shoulder, their eyes locking a second time. 

She was running at this point and as she turned the same corner he did, he was gone. She whipped around, already punishing herself for believing he'd actually be there. It was way too dangerous. He risked being seen and captured. 

She averted her eyes to the ground. Behind her, the sound of footsteps arose. She slowly turned around, just in time to see Thomas taking off his hood, his eyes never leaving hers, making butterflies erupt in her stomach. She pushed the thought away.

"Thomas," she breathed, still not completely believing that he was standing in front of her again after all these months. 

"Hey, Teresa," he said softly. 

"You shouldn't be here. If Janson finds out you're here-" 

"I'm not staying," he stopped her from talking. "It's just... I had to see you. I had to ask you something." He paused. "Do you regret it? What you did to us?" 

Teresa's mind shifted to Leah. Thomas' pregnant girlfriend who she had kept away from him all these months. And Minho, one of Thomas' best friends. 

"Sometimes," she replied. "But I did what I thought was right." She detected a hint of disappointment in Thomas's eyes, even though he tried to hide it. His face was void of emotion as he looked down at her. "I'd do it again." 

A minimal smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "Good." She looked at him in perplexity and he glanced at something behind her. Gally whipped out a bag and pulled it over her head before dragging her with him.

***

Thomas sat down on a chair across from Teresa. Gally removed the bag and her distressed eyes came into view. She looked around in fear and muttered a small, "Gally?" when her eyes reached him.

Gally chuckled humorlessly. "Here's how this is gonna go. We're going to ask you a few questions and you're going to tell us exactly what we need to know. The first question is simple. Where is Minho?" he asked. 

"You guys don't seriously think-" Her eyes travelled to Thomas, looking at her with contempt in his eyes. Gally slammed a chair to the ground, startling the girl. 

"Don't look at him," he scolded her. "Why are you looking at him? Look at me. He's not gonna help you. Not after what you did to Leah and Minho." Teresa looked down after seeing Thomas's glare. "We know you have them in the building. We already know where you're keeping Leah, we only need to know about Minho. Where is he?" 

"He's with the others in holding. Sublevel three." Thomas's heart ached when he learned Leah had been alone. 

"How many others?" Newt asked. 

Teresa sighed. "Twenty-eight," she answered. 

Gally glanced at Brenda, sitting behind the others. "I can make that work," she chimed. 

"No, you guys don't understand. The whole level's restricted. You can't get in without a thumbprint ID," Teresa objected. 

"That's why you're gonna come with us." Thomas was bouncing a scalpel in his hands. 

Gally shrugged. "Well, I don't know. We don't necessarily need her." He got up and grabbed another scalpel. "Not all of her. We just need her finger." He stepped forward. 

"Gally, that's enough," Thomas called and Gally stopped. 

"What, are you getting squeamish? I'm sure she's off a lot better than Leah and Minho," Gally stated. 

"Back off." Thomas got up, taking the scalpel from Gally's grasp and placing it on the table behind. 

"It doesn't matter," Teresa spoke up. "Do whatever you want to me, you still won't get through the front door." 

Thomas knelt down in front of her. "You're gonna help us with that too." He held up the scalpel he had been fiddling with earlier.