Chapter 38

The longer they stayed by the coast, the more impatient everyone grew. Things were going great, though. The rescued WICKED kids were all pulling their weight, a lot of them were eager to learn how to defend themselves too. The more people they had ready for a fight, the better chance they had against WICKED if they found them. They were slowly growing an army. Not intentionally of course, it wasn't as if they were planning on attacking any WICKED compounds. They didn't want to attack, they wanted to escape. The training was just a precaution.

Everyday they got a step closer to fixing up the old cruise ship sitting in the harbour. It had been about a month since they'd done their first ambush on that convoy. They've done two more since then, each time there were more WICKED soldiers. It seemed like they were preparing to get attacked. The same thing had followed, they'd taken the trucks and brought them back to their base... And every time it was the same thing, loads of gear and kids, but Minho hadn't been one of them. Each time they'd find out Minho wasn't there, Thomas would get more frustrated.

Mary thought back to how things felt leading up to their last ambush. Thomas seemed to be emulating a hostile vibe, laying it onto the rest of the team. Everyone was feeling the pressure, knowing that if Minho wasn't on that convoy, even though they saved a bunch of kids, they wouldn't be celebrating. No one saw Thomas for an entire day after that. No one knew where he ran off to, Newt was trying to be the reasonable one, as usual. He tried to keep the rest of the group calm, assuring Brenda specifically that Thomas just needed time to be alone, but he would be back. And he did come back. When people asked where he'd gone, Thomas just shrugged and said he went for a walk. He wouldn't look anyone in the eye.

Mary and Vince were currently gathered around the giant map in the room they had been planning all their moves. Vince was suggesting routes they could take to intercept more convoys. Thomas hadn't been seen all day, the sun had barely set but lately he's been keeping to himself more and more. Mary knew that if he needed to talk, then he would come find her. She knew he would talk to her. Ever since they got stranded in the Hell Hole, they grew closer. He knew how much Minho meant to her, and she pushed the thought to the back of her head, but she kept thinking the stress he's been feeling lately had a little bit to do with her, and how much she wanted to get Minho back. He always seemed like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, that he had to fix every problem. She was there to remind him that that wasn't true, that they were all in this together.

"This isn't going to work." Mary sighed, rubbing her hands over her face in exhaustion. "We've been over this before, the same thing keeps happening..." She looked up at him.

Vince looked down at the map, looking at all the marked off X's they had drawn on the map. Each convoy they had intercepted had come from a different facility. Each facility that didn't seem to be holding Minho was crossed out.

"We don't have any other plans. The ships almost up and running... We're running out of time." He told her regretably.

"What do you mean we're running out of time?" She asked.

"We have to think about other people here, not just Minho." He told her.

"I already told you, I'm not leaving this place without him." She assured Vince.

"Then I hope you're prepared to stay behind." He said sternly. Mary looked away from him and back at the map, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Why don't we pick this up tomorrow..." She said, not sure where to go from here.

"I have a couple men scheduled to come back from reconnaissance tomorrow morning. We might get some news then." He assured her. He knew how frustrating it was to be let down over and over again. To be so close and yet so far from what you want.

"Thanks. I'll let the others know." She nodded, pushing her weight off from where she was leaning against the table and slowly walking out of the room.

She pushed past the front door to the building and walked out into the shipping yard. As she walked through, she glanced over in the distance where some Right Arm soldiers were teaching some of the rescued kids how to shoot. Some soldiers were even teaching some of the kids self defence. She, Newt, Fry, Harriet and Brenda were lucky enough to practice some self defence one-on-one with Vince. He was a really good teacher and it didn't take them long to pick it up.

Instead of walking into the big building across the shipping yard, Mary veered right, heading to where the kitchen was. Dinner had long since ended and that's where she would usually find Fry and Brenda washing up after everyone's finished eating. When she entered the kitchen she could instantly hear the sounds of her friends laughs and the sound of running water.

"And when we woke up, Minho was the first one to throw up. The poor guy looked like his mouth was an open tap." Fry said after a long fit of laughter. Mary walked towards them. She took a seat on the counter on the opposite wall from where they were washing dishes. Brenda was leaning against the sink, towel in her hand as Fry passed her another plate.

"Fry was telling me about when you all woke up in the Glade." Brenda smiled over at Mary. "That must've been some day."

"Yeah, someday." Mary smiled, leaning her head against the wall as she thought back to when she first woke up. "And it's never been a dull moment since."

"Newt was the first name you remembered, huh?" Brenda smirked, sending her a mischievous look.

Mary snickered and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, not even my own shuck name."

"Yeah not until you came back in from the maze the next day." Fry told Brenda. He nodded over at Mary. "This girl out ran a Griever the first time ever going in there."

"Impressive." Brenda smiled.

"Got stung by one a couple months later, not that impressive." Mary shrugged.

"Any news on our next ambush?" Brenda asked.

"No, Vince said he had some people coming back from scoping out WICKED scheduled to come back tomorrow morning. Who knows, maybe they know something we don't." Mary shrugged.

"Let's hope, cause we aren't getting anywhere with what we're doing now. The only thing we've gotten from these ambushes are gear and more kids. They've already started getting restless." Fry said, drying his hands as he turned off the tap, also leaning against the sink.

Brenda groaned. "I'll say, I'm getting a little tired of kids knocking on my door in the middle of the night with more questions." Brenda glared. Because they were the first group of kids to get rescued, Vince had put them all in charge of making sure all the other kids they had saved were situated and all had places to sleep. He then gave them all different floors in building B, putting them in charge of all the kids on their floor. It was annoying, really. It felt like they were more like camp counselors rather than refugees. Mary would wait until really late, after most of the kids on her floor had gone to sleep before sneaking out and up a floor to Newt's room. They had been spending most nights together. It was the only way either of them could really sleep. Mary had grown so used to hearing his even breath from next to her each night, and Newt had grown far too familiar to the smell of her hair against the pillow.

"I mean, it's not too bad, it kinda reminds me of new Greenies. But they gotta stop asking so many questions." Fry groaned.

"Who else are they going to look to, Vince? One of the Right Arm Soldiers packing heat outside?" She asked. Mary knew she had a good point. There was a reason the kids were asking them so many questions, it was because they could relate to their current situation.

"You think you have it bad Fry? The kids from Thomas' floor have started knocking on my door now because Thomas refuses to answer his." Brenda told him.

"Have either of you talked to him?" Mary asked. The two shrugged, looking blankly at each other. "He hasn't talked to me either."

"He's worried about Minho and getting out of here." Fry told her. It was then that she realized she hadn't seen Newt all day either.

"Have you guys seen Newt?" She asked. Fry and Brenda shrugged.

"He wasn't at dinner." Fry told her.

"I know..." She muttered, hopping off of the counter.

"You think something's wrong?" Brenda asked curiously.

"I don't know." She said as she walked out of the kitchen. She hadn't seen Newt or Thomas at all that day. Not seeing Thomas was normal, but Newt was always wandering around the base, helping out with the kids when he can and helping fix up the ship. She walked up the stairs to his bedroom and knocked on the door. After a moment of silence, not even hearing anyone inside when she put her ear up to the crack of the door, she opened it, peaking inside. The bed laid untouched, covers still pushed to the end of the bed from where they had gotten up this morning. After breakfast, Newt had wandered off, but to where?

Newt stood next to Thomas, looking out at the target. Newt had found Thomas sulking near the beach again. Thinking it was about time to get him out of the funk he'd been stuck in for too long, he decided to bring him away from the base and out by the big rocks a few miles south of where everyone had been residing. They brought a rifle with them. Newt needed an excuse to come and find Thomas, they could get some of their stress out while practicing their aim. If they were going to get Minho back, they'd need to shape-up.

Thomas held the rifle out, using the boulder in front of him to support the gun, and shot the target, missing.

"I don't know why we're doing this." Thomas sighed as he handed the rifle to Newt.

"Because clearly you need to work on your aim." Newt told him as he reloaded it. "Try again." He handed it back to him. Thomas took another shot, again he missed. "Have you even been practicing?"

"Yeah..." He said unconvincingly.

"Bullocks, you've not once come with me and Mary when we do target practice." Newt called him on his bluff. "You're too busy brooding by the water."

"I'm not brooding." Thomas defended himself as he took another shot. This time, he barely scraped the target, only getting more frustrated. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Look Tommy, I know you want to get Minho back just as much as we do. We're trying as hard as we can." Newt told him, taking the gun and reloading it again.

"Then why do I feel like I could be doing more?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Newt asked, handing him the rifle.

"It feels like I haven't done enough to get him back." Thomas admitted. "I just have this... feeling that I could be doing more." He took the shot, missing. He handed Newt the rifle, done trying. He walked up to the target, retrieving it.

Newt watched him as he walked up to the target. He knew that look too well, the one Thomas wore on his face so clearly. It was shame, regret. He had felt it too many times when Mary got hurt. As he watched Thomas he pieced together what was going on. Of course he felt an overbearing responsibility to be the one to find Minho, to bring him back into Mary's life. He realized that he was so adamant on her not jumping head first into dangerous situations because he couldn't stand feeling that feeling of regret, thinking he could have done something to stop her.

"You can't control how things work, Tommy." Newt told him as he came back. Newt slung the rifle around his shoulder as he looked at him.

"What?" Thomas scrunched his eyebrows.

Newt scoffed, shaking his head. He knew exactly how he was feeling, having felt it so many times himself. "I know what you're thinking. Again, it's bullocks you know." He walked next to Thomas as he went on. "You can't control what happens. If you start playin' the blame game then you're just gonna spiral. Believe me, every time I see Mary get hurt I get that feeling too." He said, looking out at the water. "You don't have to do this all on your own. We're here to help, we're a team mate." Newt assured him.

Thomas took in a deep breath, letting it slide out of his chest slowly. "When we were in the Hell Hole, she told me about her list of names, the names of all the people who've died. Newt, that was a long list." Thomas looked over at him.

"It keeps gettin' longer too, yeah I know." He nodded.

"I made a promise to Minho that I wouldn't leave him behind, and I made a promise to her that Minho wouldn't be another name on that list." Thomas began to explain.

"Seems like you've gotta stop making promises that you can't keep, mate." Newt smirked.

"I gave them my word, it's not going to happen." He told Newt.

Newt noticed the tone in his voice become even more serious then it had just been and stopped walking. "I'm here to help keep that promise too, Tommy. I'm here because I care just as much as you do." He assured him. "I can't see her lose someone else." He said after a long silence. They kept on walking until they could see the base finally come into view from on top of a high sand dune. They looked down at the Right Arm soldiers. Newt noticed Mary walking out of building B, looking around for no doubt him and Thomas. "Thomas there's probably something I should mention..." Newt hesitated to say. He saw Thomas look over at him as Newt watched Mary down at the base.

"What's up?" He asked.

Newt looked over at Thomas, still extremely hesitant. He had been thinking a lot the last couple of days, a lot about how things were escalating. How far they've all come, him and Mary especially. How they've grown together and as individuals as well. He had been thinking about the safe haven, and what life would be like once they were finally free from this place, from WICKED. He was lost in thought, almost forgetting that he was talking to Thomas.

"Well, seeing as you're her only family..." He shrugged. "We haven't talked about it, I don't know if we will ever get a chance to talk about it, but if we finally get to the safe haven and things get easier... If we're all safe and she's safe..." He took in a quick breath. "I wanted to know if you'd ever let me... Marry... Mary..." He winced, it sounded stupid, why did he say it like that? He caught Thomas' eye, he didn't seem mad or angry, in fact his face didn't hold much expression at all. In all honesty, Newt brought Thomas out today to get a chance to clear his head, think things through before talking to Mary about it. He had no idea how she would even feel about it. Would she ever marry him? Had she ever even thought about it? It seemed like a silly thing to say out loud, given the state of things and how old they were. But ever since he had shared that first kiss with her in the Glade he hadn't quite been able to get the thought out of his head. It was like an itch in the back of his mind that he couldn't quite get to.

"You want to marry her?" He asked.

"Well not right now." Newt clarified.

"Yeah, no..." Thomas shook his head. "I didn't mean right now." Thomas chuckled.

"Yeah I do." Newt said surely. "Would you let me?"

"Well you'd have to ask her." Thomas nodded toward Mary in the distance.

"Well of course I'd have to bloody ask her." Newt rolled his eyes. "Tommy, I'm asking if you'd be okay with it."

"Newt yeah, yes." Thomas put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "You're the only other person she trusts. Besides, even if I didn't, it's not like she'd listen to me anyway." Thomas shrugged. "When Mary sets her mind to something... She'll do it."

"You think she'd say yes?" Newt's eyebrows almost shot to his hairline.

Thomas laughed genuinely at Newt's comment. "Why the hell wouldn't she?" Newt smiled as they walked down the sand dune and towards the base. He was glad that Thomas had said what he said. Newt looked over at him, Thomas was actually smiling. He hadn't smiled for what seemed like ages. The expression almost looked out of place on his face as they approached the base. "Just do me a favour and talk to her about the idea of it first." Thomas said between them as Mary approached. Newt was about to say something back but Mary seemed like she was within hearing range.

"Where have you two been?" She asked, walking up to them with an exhausted smile on her face.

"We went out for a bit of practice." Thomas smirked at Newt, who was blushing.

"Yeah, Tommy here needed a bit of it." Newt said, clearing his throat.

"Well, you missed dinner, and the meeting." She crossed her arms. "Thanks for leaving me alone with Vince by the way." She rolled her eyes.

"Sorry." Thomas winced. "Any news?"

"No." She shook her head. "But Vince has a couple guys coming back from scoping out a WICKED compound. He'll know tomorrow if anything's changed." She told her brother. She noticed he held himself a little taller as she approached them. She looked between them, while they were on their little adventure doing god-knows-what, they must've talked something out. She was anxious to hear about it that night when she visited Newt. "Did you guys bring anything to eat out there?" She asked, both boys shook their heads. "Alright, why don't I take that back to the armoury, Fry saved some food for you two." She took the rifle from Newt, taking the target from Thomas as he handed it to her.

"Thanks Mar." Thomas smiled, walking past her. Newt gave her a quick peck on the cheek as he rushed off to the kitchen with Thomas.