HI! I'm still here, trust me. I'm so sorry for the long delay. Ok warning, this chapter is a kind of transition chapter. There is no major action or anything. Now we're coming down to the final legs of this story, or so I think. Let me know if there is anything you'd like to see from your character and please don't be to harsh about this chapter, I know it's not my best work, but the next few will be better and quicker!
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Kit rubbed her arm gently. It was still sore from the incident yesterday. She blinked a few times, attempting to rid her eyes of the small grains of sand that plagued them.
"You ok?" Thomas asked.
She nodded, "Tired, that's all."
Dante walked a few feet a head of the others. He was leading them to a center point on the other side of the Crossing. He claimed that it was almost a beacon; that Scar would come there and the others would be drawn there.
"How much further, Dante?" Minho asked.
"Just a few minutes." He called behind him.
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"This. This is where we should stop." Ross said. They group of 4 had been walking for a few hours or more trying to find any of the other Vultures or Gladers. They'd come to a large open area. Stone bleachers peaked out of the sand along with the marble head of president Obama. Crooked light posts spouted form the ground like corn stalks.
"It's a park… or at least is was, wasn't it?" Green asked.
Dana looked at the girl and nodded. He didn't say anything, but he couldn't help but notice her small hand was interlocked with Newt's.
Dana cleared his throat, "Yeah, I guess it was."
"Yeah, let's stop here. We can start looking again in a few minutes."
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Cloud hadn't said anything since they left Prez. Neither had Fox. Neither had Glue. They'd all walked with an unspoken agreement that no one would talk until they found the others. For Cloud, it was because the first words she spoke were going to come out as sputtered sobs. She still couldn't believe he was dead.
The sand bit at her skin but she trudged on.
They had just passed the Crossing.
She wanted to find the others desperately, but she didn't know how they were going to explain Prez's death.
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"Tyler!" Ice cried. As the group of Vultures took their first steps out of the long tunnel that had entrapped them for the last 15 hours, they reunited almost instantly.
Ice tackled Tyler with a hug and pulled Wasp right in after him.
"It's good to see you." Tyler groaned as Ice squeezed the life out of him.
"Um… a little help." Jay hissed as she struggled under Tate's weight.
"Oh God, Tate, are you ok?" Tyler asked, rushing over to his sister.
Tate let out a weak smile, "I'm fine thanks to these guys. "
Tyler flashed the pair a grateful smile.
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Things had been… awkward since Scar had his little freak out. Jet had focused all her attention into Otto and his shoulder. She made a sling for his arm out of her jacket. She asked him every few minutes if he was ok. After nearly passing out, he was able to stand up and walk. He didn't need all that much attention, but Jet couldn't bare to look at Scar.
She couldn't handle the disgust and fear she felt. It was unfair, he saved them, and yet Jet just couldn't manage her feelings. So she hid them. She focused on Otto and didn't even turn her head to face Scar.
"How close are we to this center area?" Otto moaned.
"Close." Scar said.
He didn't turn around. Jet didn't want him to. She felt like a terrible person for being so upset. Scar saved her life, he saved Otto's life, and Jet felt contempt for that.
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"Look! Over there!" Minho cried. He shot up and pointed out into the distance.
"What?" Thomas asked.
Kit peered out through the sand. Silhouettes formed along the line where the sky and ground met.
"Over here!" Minho shouted to the figures.
"What if that isn't one of us? What if those are Cranks."
Minho glared at Kit, "Then let 'em kill us." He went back to waving at the figures.
Kit rolled her eyes.
"No, he's right, it's Newt and Dana!" Thomas yelled, standing up and forcing Kit to her feet.
She stared harder at the incoming people. Thomas was correct, it was Newt and Dana… and some one else.
Her eyes opened wide, her mouth hung open and then stretched into a wide smile. She couldn't stop her self from taking up at full speed and tackling the tall boy to the ground.
"Ross!" She yelled as she smashed into his chest, wrapping her arms around him.
"Oh my God! Kit!" He exclaimed, returning the hug and lifting her off the ground.
Green stepped out from behind the tall boy, revealing her self to the Vultures other leader.
"Green! Put me down Ross I need to hug Green!" Ross began to put Kit down, but before she even touched the sand she was already on top of Green.
"I missed you guys so much." Kit whispered into Green's shoulder.
Green wiped a happy tear off her cheek.
"We are never splitting up again. That's for sure." Ross admitted.
"Agreed," Kit said, pulling away from Green. "And... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so stubborn."
"No. You made a good call. I shouldn't have been so irrational."
Kit shook her head, "We are sticking together from now on."
"Is anyone else here?" Ross asked.
Green gave reuniting hugs to Thomas and Minho, and an awkward high five to Dante.
"No." Ross frowned, "Hopefully they'll find us soon."
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The sky had grown dark and the newly united group made a small fire in the middle of the Park. They shared storied of almost getting eaten, falling to their deaths and almost drowning while happily munching on some cans of beans Ross had nabbed from the mall.
"I thought I was going crazy! I mean, I just kept hearing this little voice yelling my name!" Ross said.
The others erupted in a chorus of laughing. It felt good to laugh at the horrible things that had happened in the days past, it reassured them all that those things were gone.
"Anyone over there!?" A deep voice called. "Dante?"
"Scar?" Dante exclaimed, shooting to his feet.
The firelight illuminated Scar as he ran over to his brother and wrapped him in a hug.
"It's good to see you Scar." Ross admitted.
"Hey guys." Another voice squeaked.
"Oh. Jet." Kit stammered. "Hi."
"Otto!" Green yelled, she too shot up and almost squeezed the sniper.
"Watch the arm!" Otto warned.
"What happened to you?" Minho asked.
"Crank shattered my shoulder. I think I might've died from the pain if it wasn't for Jet. She was amazing."
Jet blushed.
"Thank you." Ross said sincerely, placing a firm hand on Jet's shoulder.
"As soon as we find Prez he'll take a look at you." Kit promised.
Green gave him a gentle hug, being very careful of his injured arm.
"Is there room in this reunion for a few more?"
"ICE!" Green left Otto side and tackled the blue-eyed boy.
"Oh thank God you're all ok!" Kit squealed, dolling out hugs to the new arrivals.
"I can't believe we all found each other!" Ross said giving his share of hugs as well.
"C'mon, sit down, tell us what's been going on with all of you."
Jet took a seat next to Otto. She didn't speak, she let Otto tell the story of what happened to them.
"You should've seen Scar, it was so cool. He took out like 6 guys all by himself."
Jet felt like she was going to be sick.
The others explained their journeys. Ice talked about thinking Tate was dead and carrying her through a dark tunnel. Tate laughed and said it was a nice rest.
"I've got some news." Wasp spoke up. Her brown eyes looked golden in the firelight. "I think this might be obvious to you guys now, but WICKED isn't done with us. The explosion, the tattoos, the note, they're all trials. This is still a trial."
No one gasped like Wasp expected, but they did focus all their attention on her.
"So you think WICKED is still monitoring us?" Kit asked.
Wasp nodded, "I think we are still their data pieces."
"Well, even more reason to put an end to that awful organisation." Jay muttered.
"Speaking of, do we have any sort of plan as to how we are going to do that?" Thomas asked.
The Vultures frowned. No one had thought that far.
Before anyone could respond, a cold voice snaked it's way into their warm circle.
"Hi guys." Fox whispered, just barely loud enough for the group to hear.
"Fox, Cloud, Glue, You guys are here!" Kit called, standing up along with the other Vultures.
No one ran to give them hugs or cried happy tears. The trio looked like they'd just come from a funeral. They cast their eyes down and crossed their arms. None of them would meet anyone else's eyes.
"What's wrong?" Ross asked quietly.
Cloud fell to her knees and burst into tears, burying her head in her hands. Green ran to her side and placed her arm around Cloud's shoulder, letting her soak the blonde's shoulder with her tears.
"What happened?" Jay asked. Everyone was to shocked to move.
Fox swallowed hard. "Prez… died."
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Fox felt like he'd just stabbed each of the Vulture's in the heart. No one spoke, no one moved or cried or blinked or breathed. They stood in still silence and stared at Fox.
"I'm… so so sorry guys." Fox whispered.
"It wasn't your fault." Kit said, "…..Was it?"
"No." Glue spoke up, "He was shot by a WICKED worker. She was crazy, she kept talking about how we could'vebeen useful. She told us that some of us were actually crazy and that WICKED made Saph kill her self." Tears streamed down Glue's cheeks as he spoke. "She aimed the gun at Cloud but Prez dove in front of her and took the bullet. We tried so hard to save him, but he died almost instantly."
"Oh God." Ross sat down, resting his head on his knees.
"I'm sorry you guys had to endure that." Newt whispered.
"What'd you do with his body?" Tyler asked.
"We buried him in the Scorch." Glue choked out.
Tate wiped her eyes. Dana placed a hand on Ross's shoulder.
"You guys need to rest. We all do. We should talk about this in the morning." Kit said solemnly.
The others nodded in agreement. It seemed unreal, and if they didn't talk about it, maybe it wouldn't become real.
The happy reunions were over. No one laughed for the rest of the night.
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"Pssst, Kit. Wake up."
Kit jolted a wake. "Who's there?" she asked the darkness.
"It's Scar."
"And Dante."
"Look, we didn't say anything earlier because of the doctor dude's death, but we know how to take out WICKED."
Kit rubbed her eyes. "How?"
"We know a guy, some one who deals with explosives. They're stationed right out side the WICKED base and we could get just enough to send that building crumbling to the ground."
"How can we afford that?"
"Trust us, this person owes us."
Kit remained silent for a second, thinking it over.
"Can we talk about this is the morning? With everyone?"Sure," Dante said, "We just thought you might want to know now."
"Alright. Thanks. Now go to bed. We've got a hard next couple of days a head of us."
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Review please :)