The Restored Girl

Chapter 18: Disguises

RHEA'S POV
I see Thomas trying to rein in his fury, his anger. Before I can say anything, he launches himself at Gally, arm pulled back.

He lands a solid swing at Gally's face, and for a second I feel proud of how well executed that punch was.

Newt, who was at the back of our group, pushes past me, rushing forward, shouting, "Woah woah woah, stop!"

Thomas has knocked Gally to the ground and he's standing over him, arm raised to deliver the next blow.

"Stop!" Newt yells, sliding to the ground at Gally's side, grabbing Thomas's arm with his hand. "Stop, stop. Stop it."

Thomas is breathing hard, and I see Minho's fists clenched tightly.

"He killed Chuck," Thomas whispers, and I feel myself stiffen. I know that Chuck meant something important to Thomas. Teresa mentioned him before, and so did the boys, though very briefly.

"Yeah I know," Newt says, breaths coming out quick, "I know. I was there too, I remember. And I also remember that he was stung and half out of his mind." Newt glances around at all the Right Arm members surrounding us. "Just calm down, alright?"

Gally is breathing hard beneath Thomas, but I can't find it in me to feel sorry for him.

Thomas takes a second, but eventually, he exhales harshly and shoves himself off Gally, backing away and to us, Newt moving away from the guy.

After a quick second, Gally pushes himself up to his feet, rubbing his jaw. "I kinda had that coming." He pauses and looks around at our group. "Any body else? Minho? Newt?"

"Who is this guy?" Quill whispers.

"He's from our Maze," Minho mutters in reply.

"How- How is this even possible? I don't- we watched you die," Newt says, sounding both breathless and uncertain, as if he can't believe this boy is standing in front of him.

"No," Gally says, "you left me to die. After WICKED had healed me, I managed to escape. I came to Right Arm, and they took me in. The last time you were in Denver, I was out researching something about a child of Ava's."

I keep my face impassive as I say, "Are you boys okay with him working with us?"

Gally's eyes meet mine for the first time. He eyes linger for a while longer before he says, "And who are you?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Rhea, from Group B."

Gally's eyes move to the rest of us girls. "And them?"

"We're from Group B, too," Harriet states, clearly on the defensive mode.

Gally fixes a cold gaze on me. "Well, I'm helping whether or not you want it. I want to be part of something that's taking WICKED down. You can't stop me."

"I think you'll find that I'm more than capable of making you unable to be there," I state bluntly.

Gally scoffs, turning to Minho and Newt. "Real charmer you have here."

Newt scowls, and Minho glares.

Thomas seems as if he's scared that if he says anything else, he may just start a fight with this guy again. I wouldn't mind, honestly.

"Careful, Gally," Vince says, stepping toward him and clapping him on the shoulder. "She isn't joking. Rhea means business."

"Where are the uniforms?" Thomas finally asks.

"Come on," Vince says, walking past the people gathered there.

As we make our way upstairs, Quill walks beside me and leans over and whispers, "I don't like him."

I steal a glance at Gally who's following behind us. "Neither do I."

~

We get into our WICKED clothes quickly. We wear them over our regular clothes, because the minute we're in WICKED, we're getting rid of them. Most of us are, at least.

"If this isn't déjà vu, then I don't know what is," Newt mutters, zipping up a WICKED jacket not unlike the one that he wore when coming for Minho and I.

"Do we get guns?" Minho asks.

"No," Vince says.

"Too bad," Quill mutters.

I smirk, reaching into a pocket and pulling out a gun. I hand it to Quill. "Here."

Quill's eyes widen. "How'd you get that?"

"Nicked it off one of the people here," I say, taking out another gun and passing it to Newt.

He takes it and slips it into a holster at his waist. "It isn't one of those cool WICKED guns but it'll do," he says with a wry grin that makes me smile just a little.

I make my way over to Thomas, lightly reaching out and touching his arm. "Hey, are you alright?"

Thomas turns to me in surprise, eyes widening just a bit. "Yeah. I just never expected to see Gally again."

"Because you thought he was dead?" I ask, glancing at where Gally stands at the door, talking to Vince in a hushed tone.

Thomas scowls. "He killed one of my best friends. I didn't care that he was dead. Chuck was only fourteen."

I inhale sharply. Even we didn't have someone that young in our Maze, save for some of us early comers who had been in the Maze for two years.

"You have mine and the girls' full support if you plan on going all rage mode on him again," I whisper.

"I heard that," Minho says loudly, making me turn and glare at him.

Newt didn't seem to hear, though. He's in a heated discussion with Sonya. I wonder what Adam had talked to him about in the berg. Sonya had looked extremely nervous when I pointed out that they were entering a room together.

"Let's get going," I say, patting Thomas's shoulder. In a softer voice, I ask him, "You ready?"

Thomas takes in a deep breath and nods. "Yeah. Let's take down WICKED once and for all."

"I'll drink to that," Quill mutters.

"Come on," Vince says, and we walk out of the room, back down to the lobby. "There should be WICKED vans coming here for their usual check up on our residence. There's been some protesting, so they come round to make sure nothing gets out of hand."

I roll my eyes. "Who wants to hijack the car?"

"Me," Quill says.

"Sign me up," Harriet says, and Sonya nods along.

"Why don't you four just do it while we boys sit round waiting?" Vince says, grinning.

"Fine by us," Sonya says, winking at us.