Bound

nine

Emma stepped out into the sunlight, stretching. "At least W.C.K.D is kind enough to provide nice weather" Emma snarked, walking down the front steps. Minho chuckled, shaking his head as he followed after her. Sure they were all under strange circumstances but they have all come to love each other in an odd sort of way. 

"I wouldn't even give em' that much. Those shanks" Teresa groaned as she followed, sending Minho a look of pride as she used a glade slang term. Minho gave her a nod of approval with a small smile. As long as they had each other, they could survive this. 

"So what's the plan exactly?" Newt asked, catching up with Emma who walked in front. Emma smiled at Newt, beaming up at the sun. 

"Get to the walls. Escape" Emma stated simply because that really was the plan. They could never predict what W.C.K.D was going to throw at them. There was just no way to tell what was going to happen.

"Good that" Newt smiled walking along. Emma's face darkened for a moment as they walked, Newt quickly taking notice. "Em, you okay?" he asked, nudging her with his elbow. He glanced back at Thomas who stared blankly at the ground as they walked, Teresa and Minho wearing smiles as they joked. 

"I just-I feel weird. I don't know" Emma shrugged, glancing back over her shoulder. "I think something's up with Thomas though. You should ask, when I did he lied and said nothing was up" Emma shrugged, Newt nodding slowly as he too had noticed his friends sullen state. 

"Good that" Newt nodded, slowing his walk until he fell in pace with Thomas, leading Emma to walk by herself in front of the pack. "Hey Tommy, why the dark face? Well, darker than usual" Newt asked in a chipper voice, hoping to get him to crack a smile or to tell him nothing's wrong and he's just tired. But instead Thomas glanced up, his eyes blood shot and dancing back and forth. 

"Can I trust you with something? Something I can't tell Emma" Thomas grabbed Newt's shoulder, speaking in a hushed tone. Newt gulped nervously, an instant wave of anxiety washing over him. Something was wrong. He knew it, and so did Emma.

"Yes" Newt answered seriously. He could sense when his friend was being serious. Although Thomas was always pretty serious, this was something big, Newt could feel it. 

"It's Emma. I-I think W.C.K.D is trying to kill her" Thomas whispered as Newt bit back a laugh. 

"Yeah, me too. I think they're trying to kill bloody all of us" he said loudly, forcing Thomas to shush him. Newt gave him a confused look, blind to what the big deal was. Of course they were trying to kill people.

"No, Newt, not like that. We're all in a test of some sort. We all have an equal chance of surviving, right?" Thomas asked Newt, who nodded slowly, nervous as to where this was going. "Right, but Emma, she knows too much. It's like she is helping us survive by cheating the system and for that, I think they are trying to get rid of her" Thomas explained, constantly glancing up to make sure Emma wasn't listening in. 

Thinking it over, Newt's stomach churned. The pieces fit together perfectly, Thomas' theory making too much sense. "You know, you might be right mate" Newt finally spoke in a low voice, all traces of joking gone from his voice. "I mean she has nearly died what, four times now? And you and I? Almost none" Newt thought out loud, his heart going heavy with dread. "Oh shuck. This is bad, very bad" Newt began to worry, running his hand through his hair. 

That is when they bumped into Minho and Teresa who had stopped walking. "What are you doing?" Thomas asked in annoyance, rubbing his shoulder where it had slammed into Minho's back. Why had they just stopped walking in the middle of the road?

"Look" Minho whispered, pointing ahead of them. Thomas looked over his shoulder, spotting Emma who stood farther ahead, holding her hand out which signaled them to stop. Thomas' eyebrows came together in confusion as he tried to figure out what she was doing.