SOJOURNER (III): tmr gally

46: I shouldn't be bleeding like that

Dawn 46

"We didn't kill him, if that's what you think," Harriet barks, crossing her arms over her chest.

Somehow, I doubt it. When I step closer to her, Leo blocks me. She shakes her head back and forth, as she spins around to look at all of the others. "They exiled Teresa, once they realised, she was lying."

"Your Thomas ran away in the mountains, probably to come find you sticks. We don't know where either of them are. Put those things away." Harriet insists, pointing at Doug. He continues to twirl the knife in his hands despite her please.

"We lost Aris. He disappeared."

"I bet the three of them ended up meeting up somewhere," Leo's voice is a bit too quick, almost breaking into a nervous laugh.

"Let's shucking hope not," Minho nudges Doug beside him. In response, Doug shoves his knife back into the pocket of his belt.

Harriet mimics Minho's gesture on Sonya. She lifts her hand in the air and whistles. A few of the girls grumble, but they follow Harriet and lower their own weapons.

"Anything else we should know about?" Minho demands, his voice biting into the crisp air. His hands rub together. I can hear him cracking his knuckles as he stares the girls down.

Leo looks around the rest of the group, waiting for anyone to answer.

"We aren't interested in killing you," Harriet says, sticking her head forward. Her dreadlocks swing around in the air. "That was Teresa's game. We were just interested in making it out of the Scorch."

"At our expense," Doug cuts in. His voice is harsh and low, and in the dim lighting, his face is hidden in shadows.

This isn't good. Leo puts herself directly in the center of both of our groups. Newt reaches for her, but she ducks away from him. Why is she so keen to work with these people? If I remember correctly, they've threatened to kill me and Leo and Michelle and Ella (although, I am totally fine with them trying to kill Ella).

"Would you knock it off Doug?" Minho asks. "When WICKED makes you the slinthead in charge, then I'll listen."

Minho looks down at me, smirking. He offers Leo a wink, waiting for her to continue.

"I know we have a lot of differences, but we both want one thing," Leo continues. "Surviving is all that matters. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and kill each other. Thomas will meet us at the Safe Haven."

"Did you forget about all those times those shanks attacked us?" Fry pushes in, looking across our group. "We're the pigs, and they're the Slicers."

"You certainly look like a pig," Hilde sticks her tongue out at Fry.

I hide the smile from my face, mostly to please Leo. Instead, I grab her by the arm and pull her in close to me. Her eyes still remain focused on the others, trying to prevent a fight. Honestly, Leo baffles me.

"They kidnapped you, Lee," my voice is more of a whisper as I lean in closer to Leo. "Especially Ella. Shuck Ella."

She nods, her ponytail bobbing up and down. It's impossible to tell if she cares about any of the klunk Group B put us through. At least she doesn't come to their defence. They took her, again! Forgive me if I am not going to trust them.

"Sonya was sick," she whispers back. "It was to save her life."

I roll my eyes, sighing out loud. Seriously, Leo? She always has to be somebody's saviour. I should be used to that by now. As much as I love her, I guess I've got to let her do her thing.