" A splintering, shattering noise split the air so loudly that Thomas looked back. His eyes drifted upward, where a massive section of the ceiling had torn loose. He watched, hypnotized, as it fell toward him. Teresa appeared in the corner of his vision, her image barely discernible through the clogged air. Her body slammed into his, shoving him toward the maintenance room. His mind emptied as he stumbled backward and fell, just as the huge piece of the building landed on top of Teresa, pinning her body; only her head and an arm jutted out from under its girth.
"Teresa!" Thomas screamed, an unearthly sound that somehow rose above everything else. He scrambled toward her. Blood streaked her face, and her arm looked crushed.
He shouted her name again, and in his mind he saw Chuck, falling to the ground, covered in blood, and Newt's bulging eyes. Three of the closest friends he'd ever had, and WICKED had taken them all away from him.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered to her, knowing she couldn't hear. "I'm so sorry."
Her mouth moved, working to speak, and he leaned in to make out what she was trying to say.
"Me...to," she whispered. "I only ever...cared for..."
And then Thomas was being dragged to his feet, yanked away from her. He didn't have the energy or will to fight it. She was gone. His body ached with pain; his heart stung. Brenda and Minho pulled him up, got his feet under him. The three of them lurched forward, pushed ahead...
...[Thomas and Minho] then looked at each other for a long moment, catching their breath, somehow reliving in those few seconds all the things they'd gone through, all the death, all the pain. And mixed in there was relief, that maybe- just maybe-it was all over.
But mostly Thomas felt the pain of loss. Watching Teresa die - to save his life - had been almost too much to bear...
...For the first time in his life, he was both free and safe, as costly as the accomplishment had been.
Then Thomas did the only thing he could think of. He reached out and took Brenda's hand.
She squeezed his in response...She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then on the lips...
...Thomas put it all out of his mind and pulled her closer as the last wink of the sun's light vanished below the horizon."