SOJOURNER (III): tmr gally

49: I should've expected nothing

Leo 49

We finally finish walking, just as the sun begins to rise. We've still got another two hours, or something like that, before we are supposed to be at the Safe Haven, yet here we are. Finally, arrived at our destination.

I look down at the banner, stretched out before us. It's orange, whipping in the wind on a pole. The black letters block out to show us where we are.

THE SAFE HAVEN

"You've got to be shucking with us," Hilde grabs the fabric, pulling at it with her hand.

"Go ahead, rip the only thing that proves we've made it," Minho sighs. Dawn rushes forward towards Hilde. Before she can rip the flag from the girl's grasp, Hilde let's go. Raising her hands in defence, she backs away.

I look over to Newt, and he looks back at me. This can't be all that there is, can it? Maybe this has all been so big game to map our patterns or some other klunk. Maybe at the end of this, we are all going to starve to death.

We won't die Cranks; we won't make it that long. Exposure will get us first.

"Look, there's Thomas!"

I spin around, turning back towards the mountains. Sure enough, Thomas is running towards us, his feet kicking up sand as he tries to push through something that is barely solid. Teresa and Aris are running behind him, though they struggle to keep pace with the Runner.

Their group is only about half a mile off.

"Aris finally decides to show up," Jay scoffs, not far to my left.

"I'm going to rip Teresa a new one," Dawn growls. Hilde grabs her arm, holding her back.

"They could be dangerous. Let me go, so none of you shanks cause trouble," Minho pulls himself out of the group. Newt moves to step forward, but I hold him in place. We should let Minho show that he can hold some restraint, though he rarely does.

"I should go too," Harriet suggests, moving forward.

"If I want someone to go over and bore them to death, you'll be the first I ask," Minho smiles. He tilts his head forward, the sun pressing down on to the red burns he still has from the lighting storm. "Seriously, I'll be fine."

Harriet sniffs, raising her nose at him. Minho just rolls his eyes, going off to meet Thomas.

The three arrive only a minute later. Our group watches, waiting to hear a word. They are too far away, but I can tell by the sour expression on Teresa's face that without a doubt, Minho has said something snarky.

Something tugs in my gut. It doesn't feel right to hate Teresa for what she has done to Thomas. Something doesn't feel right.

The three of them turn, heading back into our group.

"Go have a look-see," Minho suggests, before turning to the rest of our groups. "Maybe you shanks should let them through, huh?"

We all shuffle, allowing the three to pass towards the spot where we found the flag. Thomas and Teresa keep their heads forward, but Aris peers around at the rest of the group. I expect the group of boys to burst through the crowd and hug him, but they don't.

It makes sense. The relationship we have with Teresa can't be much better than how those boys feel about Aris.

"Are you kidding?" Thomas demands, turning around. "This is our Safe Haven."