Fire ➳ TDC, Thomas [3] ✓

Chapter {5}

"I'm not going anywhere with you." At those Thomas' words I snapped back at last, drawing my eyes back to Gally, trying and trying yet uselessly to stop thinking about them constantly; revival, processing that word was impossible for me as I could not find any solid ground of which a spear to the chest could be healed.

"Then we might..." Chris taunted, eyeing Thomas in a challenging way and shifting his arm to position them across his chest before Gally rose his hand and silenced him, the boy drawing in an unsatisfied puff of air— the way Chris held himself full of pride and everlasting repulsion toward Thomas, indicated he did not want Thomas near himself at all, not even after six and more months that we had all spent apart.

Gally turned to Thomas again, his expression much less taunting than Chris'. "Suit yourself, but I can get you through those walls." Thomas would not let go that soon, still held onto his impassive expression and the grudge, the reminder of Chuck's death he held against Gally since the Maze. I hesitated, one moment staring up at the taller boy the other lightly shaking my head in agreement with Thomas.

Silent. Both sides were silent— ours, for we all thought of what had happened half a year in passing, the Maze when I was too quick and too naive in trusting the duo, that in the end turned to be a game of who would forgive who sooner and theirs, expectant we'd follow them, for in that moment they were our only help.

Eventually, Thomas sighed and looked around himself reluctantly, landing his sight on me as if in confirmation to continue after the two boys. I nodded slowly, reluctantly began following the group through halls and stone rooms, ground littered with cracks and holes punctured in the walls which were covered in cloth after cloth of scraped and scratched material which only shielded by a little the imperfections they were supposed to shield.

"After the Maze I got picked up by a group headed to the city. They realised I was Immune, patched me up and brought me here. To Lawrence. His troops have been in war with WICKED ever since they took control of the city. WICKED can't hide behind those walls forever. Day's gonna come and they're gonna pay for what they've done." Gally explained, led us to a secluded area, a type of balcony shielded by a cracked gray wall behind which I did not see anything but sunlight surrounding whoever was down there.

"Listen. He doesn't get a lot of visitors so let me do the talking, alright? And try not to stare." Gally gave us a small, reassuring smile just so the tension our group was currently in could be reliefed by a little, yet that last sentence sent no reassurance down me that I began thinking, maybe actually trusting the two boys was a grave mistake.

We entered the secluded room, full of flowers and wrapped in vines, aside the burning and scorching heat that left a smell of dust and metal, there was indeed a faint one of greenery and roses. In the middle and by vases of roses stood a man, hidden by sunlight of the window just above his head and silently mumbling and speaking words to himself, repeating them over and over again until his surprised voice called the boy who led us here. "Gally, glad to see you made it back. Jasper told me what happened."

"It was a slaughter. There's nothing we could do against those guns." Gally answered solemnly.

"No, but they could only poke the hornets so long, before they get stung." Carrying a rose between his fingers, the man brought it to his nose, or at least to where his nose was supposed to be as there was left nothing of it but a reminder it once stood there as of the rest of his face was pale, paler than in most people and stroke with blue veins which ran all the way up to his white, fading eyes and down to his neck— I realised, in that moment we were dealing with an infected man, whose one hand spun a carrier of blue liquid around while the other held the flower delicately.

"Now, who are these people? Why are they here?" The man, as Gally had before called him Lawrence, discarded the red flower and stepped just a little closer to us, now that I managed to see him even better.