Sear \\ The Scorch Trials [Newt] [2]

xviii

| chapter- eighteen |

\ scar tissue /

Aris brought in more wood for the fire, as they all rested for the night seemingly in this place that deemed to be a junkyard of some kind. Aris then sat himself in the middle of Frypan and Newt. Avery being in the middle of Newt and Teresa, as she sat closer to the boy with blue particles and held onto her knees for support.

"I thought we were supposed to be immune." Minho mumbled, whilst fiddling with an object that Avery couldn't seem to grasp.

"Not all of us, I guess." Teresa shook her head as she stared into the roaring flames.

"If Winston can get infected," Newt suggested. "we should assume so can the rest of us."

Avery tightly grasped her arm with the bite, remembering again. And then she began to wonder what would've happened had her mother not shot him, would she turn and would her mother put her out of her misery? Or would she be left to die and gradually be devoured alive?

She could feel Nova wither about it with haunting chills.

"I never thought I'd say it..." Frypan sighed with a shake breath, tears running down his dark cheeks. "... I miss the Glade." Avery could see the rack of emotion surging through his orange particles, she knew that he meant it. Truly.

"I miss a lot of things... too many things." Newt hummed. Avery could feel his stare, and she instantly knew the meaning behind his words.

"I miss life before the Flare." Avery sighed, snuggling her legs closer.

"What was life like before the Flare?" Thomas asked, staring at her now instead of the fire.

"I don't know if I should." Avery shook her head. "Mother always told me to keep that memory locked or even better, burn it. It doesn't matter anymore."

"Yeah well, 'mother' isn't here right now." Minho quoted with fingers. "You may as well spill. Trust me, we won't tell."

Avery tried to explain the best she could, "Life was simpler before the Flare. We didn't have to worry about much, other than good grades in school and how not to fail in society."

She could sense Teresa's Beige particles look up at her, intently. Almost as though she remembered a little bit too, that or she knew exactly what the blind girl was saying.

Avery continued, "I miss school; I miss freshly cooked meals; I miss fresh air; I miss not having to worry about death at every corner; I miss the comfort of a real bed; I miss my mother - how she was before this mess; I miss the peace; I miss Cassie-" She pauses.

Shaking her head she finished with, "I miss a lot of things. You get the point."

"Whose Cassie?" Frypan asked.

Avery shook her head again, "Forget about it, I've said too much..."

She caressed the little bracelet around her left wrist and fiddled with the charms, as she felt Newt press himself against her. Knowing very well he did that to give her some sort of comfort and ease at these painful thoughts.

With some hesitation, Avery finally spilled. "Cassie was my best friend; my partner in crime; my platonic soulmate before everything went to hell..." She swallowed harshly, trying to calm her emotions as she was always told to.

"What happened to her?" Teresa was curious, as she carefully sat up. She seemed to be fully indulged in Avery's past life.

Avery shrugged, "That's what scares me the most... I don't know what happened to Cassie. I just remember rushing to the helicopter when getting attacked-" She clutched her arm once again. "-and that was it. Not a single word from her. I asked mother, but, all she did was apologize to me and handed me a braille letter that was from Cassie."

With a sad sigh she ended it with, "I just assumed she got caught in the crossfire of the Flare, and lost it all. For all I know she could still be out there, past the Gone, wandering this dead planet."

She calmed herself down carefully, she didn't want to think about that. She just hoped Cassie was put out of her misery. Or even better, didn't suffer altogether and she passed on in an explosion or the spray of bullets through the chaos. It was a very dark hope she had, but it was much better than Cassie suffering with the Flare for God knows how long now.

Teresa placed her hand on Avery's shoulder and rubbed with her thumb, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Avery..."

Avery didn't speak. Instead, she gave a small sad smile as her answer to Teresa. Somehow her chest felt a little bit lighter than beforehand, maybe talking about her sad thoughts wasn't such a bad idea after all.

What do you miss? Avery asked.

Nova didn't answer at first. She was focused on so many thoughts, trying to pin-point everything.

Nova? Avery wondered.

And then finally...

Myself... I miss myself.

------
Here's chapter eighteen! :)

What was your favorite part of this chapter?

I know, it's short. And I apologize. But Part-Three will be after chapter nineteen. It'll get more interesting from there, I promise.

Also, excuse the late update again. This Covid-19 thing is getting crazy. All of California is on lockdown, we're all under quarentine and even schools are shutdown. Scary stuff y'all. Please stay safe.

I'll see y'all in the next chapter.

xoxo <3