✓ | battle wounds, scott m.

chapter seventy six.

Kira handed Scott and Ella stacks of papers that were all the 'Dread Doctor' book. "I don't think the Dread Doctors are the ones stealing the bodies," Scott said as they made their way down the stairs. "Are we really calling them that?" Ella asked with a brow raised. "Think about it. They killed Tracy and walked away. They killed Lucas and walked away. Why would they leave and come back to take the bodies? Someone else has to be taking them. But the bodies aren't just bodies. They're. . They're failures," Scott explained. "So if the Chimeras are all failures, what's the success going to be?" Kira asked. "Bad," Scott answered, "Probably really bad." Scott then came to a stop, causing the other two girls to stop as well. "What's wrong?" Ella asked. "I thought I smelled blood," Scott mumbled, a panicked look overcoming Ella as she looked at the ground. "I don't know. Maybe not."

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Ella stood beside Scott with her arms crossed over her chest, keeping her gaze down and off of Theo. "Sorry, but I'd never even heard of the Kanima until a few days ago," Theo apologized as he flipped through the copy, "You want me to read this?" "Well, not yet," Scott said, "I'm still only on chapter one." "You guys do this a lot, huh?" Theo asked. "Do what?" Ella asked as she lifted her head and raised a brow. "Get involved," Theo nodded. "Yeah, I guess," Scott replied. "What about the author? If he knew all about these guys, shouldn't we be talking to him?" Theo asked. "We thought about that, but it's pretty much a dead end," Scott answered. "What about this guy?" Theo asked as he pointed down at the paper. The couple leaned forward, Ella reading, "For providing scientific perspective and invaluable insight this book is dedicated to Dr. Gabriel Valack." The two shared a look, Theo noticing, "Do you know him?" "Yeah," Scott replied, "And I know where to find him."

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They had decided to not bring Ella along with them on their visit to Eichen House. Ella hadn't wanted to go in the first place; she hated Eichen House and everything in it. So instead, she sat on her bed with her knees pulled up to her chest. Ella's glasses fell down her nose, Ella pushing them up with her pointer finger. Thomas shook his head, gripped by terror, very slowly reaching for his gun with his free hand. 'You wanna know why I have this limp, Tommy? Did I ever tell you? No, I don't think I did.' 'What happened?' Thomas asked, stalling for time. He slipped his fingers around the weapon. 'I tried to kill myself in the Maze. Climbed halfway up one of those bloody walls and jumped right off. Alby found me and dragged me back to the Glade right before the Doors closed. I hated the place, Tommy. I hated every second of every day. And it was all ... your ... fault!' Newt suddenly twisted around and grabbed Thomas by the hand holding the gun.

He yanked it toward himself, forcing it up until the end of the pistol was pressed against his own forehead. 'Now make amends! Kill me before I become one of those cannibal monsters! Kill me! I trusted you with the note! No one else. Now do it!' Thomas tried to pull his hand away, but Newt was too strong. 'I can't, Newt, I can't.' 'Make amends! Repent for what you did!' The words tore out of him, his whole body trembling. Then his voice dropped to an urgent, harsh whisper. 'Kill me, you shuck coward. Prove you can do the right thing. Put me out of my misery.' The words horrified Thomas. 'Newt, maybe we can—' 'Shut up! Just shut up! I trusted you! Now do it!' 'I can't.' 'Do it!' 'I can't!' How could Newt ask him to do something like this? How could he possibly kill one of his best friends? 'Kill me or I'll kill you. Kill me! Do it!' 'Newt ...' 'Do it before I become one of them!' 'I ...' 'KILL ME!'

And then Newt's eyes cleared, as if he'd gained one last trembling gasp of sanity, and his voice softened. 'Please, Tommy. Please.'  With his heart falling into a black abyss, Thomas pulled the trigger." "NO!" Ella shouted, tears in her eyes as she threw the book across her room. The book landed open, pages down. Ella shook her head. Thomas couldn't have just killed Newt just like that! They were best friends! Newt was the glue of the gladers! Literally! James Dashner couldn't have just killed Newt with no excuse! Sure he was a crank, but Newt is strong and could've waited until they'd gotten the antidote. Ella shook her head, looking over at the copy of the dread doctor book on her table. She chewed on the inside of her lip and walked over to it, flipping the pages with her fingers before taking it into her hands and flopping back onto her bed.