Deadly Atmosphere | Aris Jones [3]

Epilogue

Aris' POV

Watching the WICKED building collapse below Teresa became the ending of our battle. The way she fell down, staring at a wounded Thomas, who screamed for her on the Berg, marked the perish of everything WICKED worked for over so many years.

Everything really was going to change for us now.

All of us exchanged looks on the Berg, a silence looming over the small space. It felt different now, knowing that many of our friends were long gone at this point.

Everyone died fighting the enemies and helping their friends. At least their deaths were not in vain.

"So does this mean it's over?" Sonya asked in an exhausted tone.

Vince nodded his head. "Yeah, it's over."

"Are we going to the Safe Haven now?" Maeve questioned next.

He let out a small smile. "It's the moment we've all been waiting for, hasn't it?"

And so Vince and Jorge drove the Berg over the Last City, while some of the others tended to Thomas' wounds inflicted by Janson. I looked down at the burning city from the front window, the crumbling buildings and lifeless bodies all around. Knowing that Newt and Piper were still down there made my heart sink.

Piper was all alone down there. She died alone.

Why did I leave her?

The blood, her blood, was still on my hands. I saw the pain and sadness in her eyes, the way the blood was soaking through. I only wished she wasn't caught in the middle of Thomas and Newt's fight. Maybe she would still be here, sitting next to me.

Once we made it out of the city, I leaned against my seat and closed my eyes, dreaming of what the Safe Haven would be like when we settled there. Hopefully, after being in a world of darkness, there would finally be some light.

*******

The Safe Haven was everything we hoped for. Truth be told, all of us really just wanted to be away from WICKED. Relief flushed over our faces with the thought of being off the grid.

The Immunes cheered for the place the most, while the rest of us soaked it all in, observing every shelter that was made and the endless sky that went on forever.

Getting sleep was all we wanted, so we took a hammock and crashed for the night. I took the time to wash my hands as much as I could, but the red stained my palms. Though it took me a while to get to sleep, thinking about Piper and how much she would've loved this place, I finally fell asleep picturing her face.

The next morning, all of us got breakfast and sat by the water. Thomas was still asleep after being treated for his wounds. Brenda and Aurora said he would recover just fine. At least there was some good news about that spreading around the camp.

"I wish all of our friends were here," Lillie spoke up.

All of us nodded in agreement. "Yeah, imagine the entire bloody Glen here," Maeve chuckled.

"I'm sure that'd be loads of fun, having a bunch of sticks here," Sonya added, smiling.

Once the laughter died down, Harriet had a sad look on her face. "You know, Piper said goodbye to me." She paused, stirring her breakfast with her spoon. "She thanked me for being a strong leader in the Glen." The few tears that fell down her face were quickly wiped away. "I didn't have time to respond, because my walkie went out on me." She glanced at us, sighing. "I wish I had the chance to say goodbye."

Sonya took her hand and held on to it. "She knew you would have if you were able to."

Harriet looked down and nodded. "Yeah, Piper was very understanding like that."