Thomas's eyes snapped open to the sound of the blood curdling scream that was now being joined by more screaming. He sat up and was immediately overpowered by the heavy smoke that surrounded the immunes. "FIRE!", he heard someone yell. Thomas ducked down to the ground and struggled to grasp for the last of the clean air. Suddenly he felt a hand on his back and looked up to see Minho's face staring back him.
"Come on you slint-head!", Minho yelled over the sound of the roaring flames. "Do you want to become a pile of ashes?"
Thomas scrambled to his feet and felt his eyes begin to water in the burning air.. The smoke around them was so thick he could barely see Minho standing next to him. "We have to find Brenda" Thomas yelled, pulling up his shirt to cover his mouth. Together the two boys made their way through the smoke coughing and sputtering until they were able to find Brenda who was struggling to lift the limp body of a young girl who looked like she was on the verge of passing out.
"I can't lift her!" Brenda yelled, "The smoke is making me too weak!". Without stopping to think, Thomas swooped up the young girl and the four of them began running towards what they hoped would lead them to fresh air and the rest of the immunes.
…
After 20 minutes of running the smoke around them had begun to clear bringing in the taste of fresh air. They kept running until they reached a small river where they immediately drenched themselves in the cold water. Thomas took long gulps of cold water and washed the soot off of his body and clothes. They had traveled far out of the smoke's reach and he felt exhausted. Dragging himself out of the cooling water Thomas crawled up the river bank to retrieve the little girl, who had passed out during the journey. Brenda was already there trying to wake her up. After a few minutes of failed attempts Thomas could feel the panic start spreading in his chest. What if we can't wake her up?, he thought. Suddenly Minho appeared behind them, he pulled off his drenched shirt and wrung it out over her forehead. The little girl's eyes snapped open and shock covered her face. She sat up and Brenda reached out to steady her. With wide eyes the little girl looked around at Brenda and Minho and managed to whisper "Who are you? Where am I?", before she burst into tears. Suddenly she looked up at Thomas, who had stumbled away when she woke up. Brenda tried to pull her into a hug but the little girl shook her off and ran to Thomas, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face into his arm.
"Thomas!" she cried into him, "They told me I would never get to see you again."