Lately, it seemed that all Thomas did was sit on the beach. It was the best place to clear his thoughts, and he had a lot of them that he couldn't seem to shake. It had only been a day since their trip to the Last City, but so many thoughts were crashing around in his head like the waves on the sand.
Thomas pulled the injector out of his pocket. He didn't know why he kept it, but he couldn't seem to throw it away. He ran his fingers over the smooth glass, positioned his thumb over the plunger, and watched the sun glint off the bits of metal.
What was in here?
And more importantly, why was it so close to where Newt had been?
He turned it over in his hands, inspecting it closer, like he had been doing all of yesterday and today, until he noticed something different, something he had missed before. Tiny letters had been inscribed into the metal by the tip. They looked professionally done, like an automated machine. He ran his thumb over the letters. W-C-K-D. Thomas jumped up.
"Hey, Teresa!" he called, scanning the camp. "Teresa!" And he ran up toward the mess of tents.
"This was definitely made by WCKD." Teresa said as she turned the syringe over in her hands, inspecting it. They stood alone in one of the supply tents.
"Yeah, I know. But what was it for?" Thomas asked breathlessly.
Teresa stared down at it, not looking at Thomas. "It's an injector for the serum."
"How do you know?"
"I've used them before...on people with the Flare."
They both sidestepped the elephant in the room. "So what was it doing by where Newt...fell?" he asked.
"I don't know...we-I mean they, don't usually leave them lying around. And this has been used, see the blue residue on the inside? And the plunger isn't as stiff as one that's new."
"What does that mean, that they just tossed a used syringe on the ground, that just happened to be where Newt died?"
"It's possible, or they could have used it on Newt." That stopped Thomas in his tracks. He met Teresa's eyes. "Why would they do that, why would they put serum into a corpse?"
"Thomas, do you not know what this means?" Teresa's eyes were wide, hopeful, desperate. "It means that Newt might still be alive."
Thomas looked at her, shock and horror etched in his features. "No, no that's not possible, that's not possible. I watched him die, how could he be alive?"
"It's not 100%, but it makes sense, why would WCKD use the serum on someone who was dead?"
Thomas put his hands up, moving to face the opposite way. "No, now you're just messing with my head, you're trying to give me false hope, only when I've just begun to accept it, you-"
"Thomas, listen to me!" Teresa pleaded. Their voices had been rising in volume steadily, and by this point they were almost shouting. She took a deep breath, and spoke in a quieter volume. "I could see if this was used on Newt, by seeing if there is any of his DNA left on the needle. Did you touch the needle itself?" Thomas shook his head, himself calmer as well. "Last supply run, Gally and the others grabbed lots of WCKD's medical supplies. I can see if they injected it into his bloodstream, because if they did… he might still be alive."
Thomas was silent for a long time, keeping his eyes unfocused on the ground. "Why?" he finally croaked. Teresa shook her head.
"I don't know. But if this was used on Newt, I'll bet he's alive, because nobody would waste this on a corpse." Thomas nodded, the news still not fully registering.
"Do you have anything else that might have Newt's DNA on it?" Teresa asked. Thomas's heart sank, as he realized what he'd have to give her. He slowly unhooked Newt's necklace, and extended his hand, and dropped it into her palm. She looked up at him with a questioning glance.
"Keep it really safe," he murmured, and it was like he had taken a blanket off and was exposed to the wind and the cold. Teresa was still curious, but nodded, wrapped the syringe in a cloth, and headed for her tent, leaving Thomas alone with his whirlwind of thoughts.
"Hey Thomas!" Brenda sat down next to him on the log next to the fire. A party of some sorts was going on, with music, dancing, and a larger fire than what they usually lit. It crackled and flickered, sending sparks and embers up into the night sky. "Great party!" She was holding some kind of beverage, probably one of Gally's brews.
"Yeah," Thomas replied flatly. He was trying to keep his spirits low, trying to expect the worst, but there was a ball of hope in his chest, that tightened every time he thought about Newt. That he could still be alive.
Brenda frowned. "You okay? You look a little dead behind the eyes." She waved a hand in front of his face, and giggled. "Hellooo? Anybody in there?" Thomas smoothly plucked the glass from her grasp and set it down behind her.
"Maybe you've had one too many of these, yeah?"
Brenda looked scandalized at the thought, but as Thomas continually looked at her with raised eyebrows, she deflated. "Fine. But don't tell Jorge."
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. You'll have to be nice to me."
She drew a sharp breath, and turned her wide eyes onto Thomas. "You wouldn't dare tell him…"
Thomas chuckled and leaned back on his hands. "I won't if you do something to make me laugh." God, he needed to laugh, to release this ball of tension in his chest, strangling him...
"Alright," Brenda said defiantly, and stood up. Thomas sat up straight. He was just teasing her, but he watched as she walked up to Gally. He couldn't hear their conversation, but he watched as she suddenly leaned in and pecked a kiss right on the tip of his nose. Gally's face turned beet red, and he awkwardly coughed into his hand, as he stood in shock, watching Brenda walk back towards Thomas. He turned to go one way, then seemed to think better of it, and turned back again. He sat down, stood up again, then turned and disappeared into the crowd.
Thomas was roaring with laughter, and had fallen into the sand in front of the log he was sitting on. Brenda sat down beside him, and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, smiling as well.
"I could always tell Gally was shy around girls," she whispered. "Soon as he recognized that they could do other things rather than just run away. He always gets flustered around us."
Thomas didn't respond, he just kept watching Gally awkwardly moving amongst people, and kept laughing.
"Now, are you going to tell Jorge?" she pressed him.
Thomas shook his head. "Was...never...going to!" he managed to gasp out between laughs. It felt good to finally laugh like this again.
Brenda's mouth fell open. "You mean you made me...Thomas!" she smacked him repeatedly on the arm, only making him laugh harder.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Minho joined them by sitting on Thomas's opposite side.
"Brenda just put the moves on Gally!"
"What?" Frypan sat next to Minho, eager to hear this story.
"What! I did not! I swear I didn't, he dared me to…"
"No I didn't, I said make me laugh, it was your choice how!"
"Yeah but...how else was I going to make you laugh?"
"She's right man, it's hard to make you crack up," Minho chimed in.
"Y'know, Newt used to do this thing…" Frypan started, and it was like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on all of them. The conversation abruptly ended, and was replaced by stone faced, awkward silence. Frypan realized his mistake and put his hands over his mouth. "I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean-"
"It's okay man," Minho said, a lot quieter.
"You okay Thomas?" Brenda asked softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Why would you say that?" Thomas asked, shaking off Brenda's hand, directing a glare towards Frypan.
"I didn't think, it didn't occur to me-" Frypan stammered.
"Yeah, you didn't think. And it didn't occur to you that topics might be sensitive? That you might be poking at fresh wounds?" The brunette's voice started to rise steadily.
"Hey Thomas, he didn't mean anything-" Minho started.
"Can we have no filters around here?!"
"Look, Thomas, his name is going to come up. We can't tiptoe around him anymore, we have to move on!" The Asian boy looked angry.
"So you're just accepting it?" Thomas and Minho had both stood up, glaring, standing about 2 steps away from each other.
"Yes! And you should too!"
"You weren't there, you have no respect-"
"The dead are dead! You can't bring them back by not saying their names, because then it's like they never existed! You want to pretend Newt never existed? Huh? Do you Thomas? Then fine, do that, but I won't pretend that my best friend never existed!"
"Goddamnit Minho, I can't-"
"Thomas!" The argument was interrupted by Teresa running up to them, breathlessly gasping "It's his! It was him!"
"Hold up, what? What are you talking about?" Minho asked, his eyes narrowing more, his voice calmer, but still dripping with venom.
"Newt was injected with serum with this injector!" Teresa held up said injector, the firelight glinting off the glass.
"What does that mean?" Frypan asked, his eyes glued to the syringe. Thomas's mind was like gear wheels, linking together the facts, spitting out the truth.
"It means that Newt is still alive...and I think WCKD has him."
Dun dun duuunnnnn! How's that for a cliffhanger? Now the story's getting started! Thank you to everyone who's read this far, and I promise we'll get some more action/exciting things soon.