In my Blood

CHAPTER 48 - Three Words

One nervous hour passes as we prepare for the mission. Thomas, Newt and Gally and I get clothed in WICKED uniforms, the helmets covering our faces and disguising our bodies. Fry leaves early to prepare for his separate part of the mission, and Brenda pulls on a large, oversized hoodie to walk around the streets unrecognised, so she can fulfil her part of rescuing Minho. The plan is for me and the boys to free Minho and the other kids trapped in WICKED, while Brenda waits by the bus ready to drive away once we've finished. And although we've talked it over at least fifty times now, with backup plans set in place, I can't shake the feeling that something is about to go very, very wrong. Sitting beside the door ready to leave, my fingers trace the soft material of Newt's bandanna, tied securely around my wrist, and I immediately feel less scared. 

***

I feel adrenaline pulsing through my body, filling every vein, muscle and tendon as I take another purposeful step forward across the street. The distant echo of sirens wail in my ears as me and Gally cross the road, separated from the other two. We exchange a determined nod as we run down the back-alleys of the streets, making our way to the WICKED compound with large guns in our arms. The air is dense and humid, and as I take a breath in I feel as though my lungs are burning with fear, anticipation, caution.  

"Over here," Gally commands, his deep voice muffled by the heavy helmet. We make our way to a side entrance in the colossal WICKED skyscraper, and step inside. We are immediately faced with a large scanning device at the entrance, with WICKED patrol officers on either side. I tense up. What if Teresa did the operations wrong, and the trackers are still inside us? What if she only pretended to take them out? A million anxieties run through my mind of all the possibilities that could've gone wrong, but I try to swallow my doubts as we walk through the scanner. I wait for the red lights to flash and alarms to blare, for the guards to seize us and drag us to Janson - but the lights turn green, and we continue to walk confidently forwards. My worries partly subside, though I can't help but still feel paranoid.

Gally nods towards the front entrance. I look to see Teresa and a guard walking through the scanner, though I know that the guard is in fact Thomas in disguise. They stop to face us, and Gally gestures towards a side corridor. We walk quickly through the corridors of the compound, going down staircases and meeting Newt halfway there. Although I can't see his face, his limp looks more prominent than usual. He's gotten worse, I know it.  

Teresa scans a card to the side of a door before we walk through it, faced with layers of stairs. We begin to make our way down, before Gally stops us. 

"Hold on, hold on," he says, facing a series of grey boxes on the side of a wall. He takes his helmet off. "I can get into these, to disable the CCTV for a bit. It can give us extra time."

"Throw me the key card," Thomas says, and Gally quickly throws him the flat card that is used to open the locked doors. Thomas immediately rushes downstairs to unlock the next door as we wait for Gally. I take my helmet off briefly, savouring the cool air on my sweaty face. Newt does the same, but when he does, I feel my chest tense and my breath stop.

Even in the past hour I can see that his appearance has deteriorated considerably, with beads of sweat dribbling down his forehead, his complexion waxy and pale. His eyes appears slightly bloodshot, and his lips are cracked and dry. My mouth falls open and eyes widen as he takes a few brief, heaving coughs, scrunching his face up in pain. 

Rushing over to him, I place my hand on his good arm. "Newt? Are you okay?" I ask quietly. I can see Teresa glancing warily at us from beside Gally, who continues to work into the CCTV. 

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," he replies, his voice raspy. I shake my head. 

"If you can't carry on..."

Ho looks at me darkly. "(y/n), it's Minho. We're here to save Minho."