WCKD Love | A Newt Fan-Fiction

Chapter 8 - Conflict Of The Ages

My breathing gets ragged, and I feel like breaking something. Before I respond to Teresa, a man turns to Janson. "Sir, we are arriving at our destination." My father looks at the man and nods. I start to panic and shout into the walkie-talkie.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" I stand up in an instant and punch Janson hard in the nose.

"I'm sorry," Teresa's voice comes through the walkie-talkie soft, almost silent. When Janson recovers from my punch, his eyes have completely changed. Where they were previously mysterious and almost regretful, they are now dark and dangerous. I back myself into the wall and drop the radio.

"You should not have done that, Sweetheart," he says, wiping blood flowing from his nose.

Before I can say anything, I fall to the ground. The helicopter starts rattling and shaking. "They're shooting them! You have to stop them!" I grab my father's arm in desperation.

"Or what?" He snickers and looks down at me.

"Or you won't have any subjects left."

His face tightens, and he yanks me to my feet. "You are going to be coming with me. And you're going to help round the subjects up. You got that?" I nod and look out at the landscape. It's nighttime now, but I can still make out the desert surrounding the camp. Everyone in the helicopter gets ready to jump out and capture the subjects. I gulp.

As the helicopter starts to lower to the ground, my dad pulls a gun from his waistband. I look at him in shock, but he only winks at me in response. Everyone starts jumping out of the helicopters once they land, firing their launchers at anything that moves. Janson tries to grab my arm, but I swerve away from him. I start running around, looking everywhere for Newt and the others. As I run past a pickup truck with a man on the top using a machine gun, an arm comes out and yanks me down next to the car. I look up and stare straight into Newt's glorious brown eyes.

"You're okay," I laugh and pull him into a hug, and he hugs me back tight.

"This is crazy. What are you doing here?" He asks, pulling away to look at me.

"I came with them. I wanted to make sure you...and the others were okay." Newt goes to pull me into another hug, but someone tears me from his clutches.

"Harriet, let her go," Minho shouts from somewhere on the other side of the car.

"What?! She's part of WCKD. I saw her get out of one of the helicopters," the girl hisses and pins me to the side of the truck.

"Maybe she did. But she isn't part of them. She helped us escape," Newt says and pulls her off me.

"Sure. But I bet she knows who called these sons of-"

"Language," Newt interrupts her.

"Yeah. I know who called them." Newt and Harriet look at me expectantly. "It was Teresa," I state and look out at the WCKD troops. Harriet shakes her head and walks away while Newt hugs me again. "Who are these people?" I ask as I look up into Newt's eyes.

"We got some help when we escaped from WCKD, and they led us here. This is The Right Arm."

"Oh. I've heard of them."

"So, how did your father let you come?" Newt looks at me and raises a questioning eyebrow.

"As long as I was tied up on the trip. Dad knew I wouldn't have any weapons. So, I couldn't be much of a problem."

Newt nods and pulls me towards the front of the vehicle, the furthest part from the fighting. "Even though I don't remember you, I am really glad to see that you're okay," he says, looking into my eyes.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay, too."

- - -

After ten minutes of The Right Arm and WCKD fighting, WCKD manages to capture everyone.  By sheer size, they easily overpowered the Right Arm. There wasn't much of a fight. They line all the subjects in rows along the ground, including me. When Janson sees me kneeling with the others, he yanks me to my feet. "Oh, Sweetheart. You know you don't belong there," he whispers in my ear. Looking down at me, he smiles a snaky grin. "Where's Thomas?" He shouts suddenly, scanning the crowd.

"Right here." Everyone turns their heads and looks up behind the Right Arm crew. Multiple WCKD guards walk up to him with their launchers raised, and one of them grabs him and pushes him down to Janson and me. My dad grabs Thomas' shoulder and punches him in the gut. He pushes him over to another guard and tells them to put him in a line.

Janson turns around and marches over to a man. "Okay. Bring her in," he says and continues walking. After a couple of minutes of nothing happening, I notice loose rocks shaking lightly around my feet. A rumble and a distant hum echo around the camp. I look around to see what could be causing it and see a Berg flying towards us. I see Janson staring up at the sky, smiling. The Berg lowers itself to the ground and lands alongside the helicopters. The hatch door opens, and Chancellor Paige walks out with four guards flanking her. She smiles at me and pats me on the shoulder as she makes her way past, marching up to Janson. They start talking in hushed tones.

I struggle to make out what they are saying, but I manage to hear Ava telling Janson to 'start loading them in'. She walks away, and my father starts shouting for all of the guards.

"Alright, let's go! Get 'em on!"

The guards closest to the subjects start picking them up and shoving them towards the Berg, expecting them to be too scared to attempt to escape. Ava walks up to Thomas and gets the guard still holding him to bring him to her. She says something to him, and he just stares at her. A guard moves someone towards Doctor Paige; Teresa. I can hear Doctor Paige telling Teresa that she's glad she's safe, and I almost scoff. Ava and Teresa turn to the other Gladers, and they all stand up.

"What the hell?" Minho stares at her in disbelief. He doesn't believe that she could betray them like this. None of them would. They all thought she was their friend.

"Wait. What's going on?" Aris asks. It takes all of my strength not to run and hug him.

"She's with them," I say and stroll up next to Thomas.

"Since when?" I look to Frypan and mouth 'forever'. He nods at me and looks down at his feet.

"Oh, Teresa's always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good. Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time." Janson walks up and puts his arm around Teresa.

"I had no choice. We have to find a cure." Thomas rolls his eyes at her and looks away. I can only imagine the pain that he must be feeling. He has loved Teresa since we were all kids. And I have a feeling that he still does. Watching her betray him like this must be tearing him up inside.

"She's right. This is all just a means to an end. You used to understand that, Thomas. We have to find a cure, no matter the cost. I just need more time," Ava says, her eyes starting to water.

"More blood," a lady says from somewhere behind Thomas. She walks through the crowd and stands near the man who had been working the machine gun.

"Hello, Mary. I hoped we'd meet again," Ava snaps, looking at her coldly. "I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances."

Mary looks at Ava and nods. "I'm sorry about a lot of things, too. But not this. At least my conscience is clear." I turn and look at Newt, but he just shrugs at me.

"So is mine." This time I actually scoff.

"You don't believe that, do you? You are killing innocent teenagers. And for-" I'm cut off by the sound of a gunshot ringing through the camp. I turn around to see Mary fall to the ground, the man she was standing next to catching her on her way down. I look at my father, but I wish I hadn't. My blood runs cold with what I see.

There, in his hand, is the gun that just shot that poor woman.