A/N: This is a bit of a shorter chapter today but I think you're gonna like it! :) Enjoy my lovelies!
Chapter 8
A weight pushes down on the bed next to me.
'I know you want to talk, but can we do it later?' I ask.
'Yeah,' Newt's voice comes back. 'So long as we do talk.' I open my eyes to look at him. He looks tired. I take his hand.
'We will. I promise.' He smiles slightly and squeezes my hand.
'You wanna sit up?' I nod as Newt helps me swing my legs over and sit up. 'Here, she told me to give you this.' I nod and take the cup. Sniffing it, the distinct waft of alcohol tickles my nose. I look up at Newt and he shrugs. Tipping up the glass I pour the amber-coloured liquid down my throat and savour the burning sensation. Newt chuckles, before kissing me on the cheek and saying, 'I'm gonna go check on the others.' I smile at him and watch him duck under the tent flap.
My gaze falls on Brenda, who is still sleeping on the bed. Getting up, I walk over and sit down on the bed next to her. Her breathing has eased now and she looks, almost peaceful. I notice the object that she went back for in the warehouse, sticking out from underneath her. I gently take it, and pop the top. It's a mirror, with a picture of a boy in the top half. Tears prick at my eyes as I recognise the boy's small face.
'George.' I whisper staring at it.
'He was my brother.' I flicked my eyes away from George's face and towards Brenda.
'Hey. Are you okay? How are you feeling?' I ask hurriedly sitting down next to her and handing her the mirror. She takes it, and stares at the picture.
'He always saw the best in people.' I looked down at my knees, trying to decide what to say.
'When we were kids...we were taken in by one of WICKED's camps. They gave us a bunch of tests. They didn't want me. They wanted him, though. They didn't even let me say good-bye.' A lone tear trickled down my face. 'His name was George, but you knew that already didn't you?' I look back at her and nod gently.
'He was in our maze. Came in pretty early.' I whisper.
'He's dead isn't he?' Her voice came out quiet but strong. I nod again. 'How?'
'In the maze, we had these monsters called Grievers. If they sting you, you die. George is the reason we know that.' She nods.
'Was it painful?' I shake my head quickly.
'No,' I lie. 'It was quick.' I felt my body lurch at the lie. You're protecting her from the truth. If she knew, she would never forgive herself. I feel myself reach into the pocket of my jacket and pull out a small knife. I hand it to her gently.
'That was Chuck.' I say quietly. Seeing movement, my eyes flick to Thomas, who had woken up and is starting towards us.
'This too.' He says as he reaches us, holding Chuck's bloodstained owl. Brenda took this as well, staring at them. Thomas comes and sits down next to me as we wait for her to say something.
'How did he die?' She whispers. We pause, thinking back. My answer catches in my throat causing nothing to come out.
'Saving my life.' Thomas whispers.
'Our lives,' I counter looking at him, putting my hand on his knee. She smiles sadly, looking at us.
I take a breath gripping Thomas' knee, seeking some comfort from someone who knows how I am feeling. Thomas rests his hand on mine and gives it a small squeeze. I give him a watery smile before looking back to Brenda.
'Get some rest.' I say to her. She smiles and gives us back our things. I nod at Thomas and we leave quietly. I wait for Thomas to leave the tent before following.
Standing right outside the tent is Jorge. His face looks about 20 years older than it did yesterday. I give him a small smile.
'Hermana.' He says before pulling me into a hug. I chuckle as I pat his back. If anything were to happen to her, I...' He starts.
'I know, I know. You should get in there. Go talk to her.' I say. 'She needs you.'
'I guess I owe you, now.' I smile before shaking my head.
'You got us here.' I whisper, gesturing around. 'Count us even.' He nods before going inside. I chuckle before wandering through camp. I chuckle as I see Aris sat with Sonya and Harriet.
'So we broke out.' He's telling them. The girls both laugh. 'I'm telling the truth.' He says with a grin.
'Couldn't have done it without him!' I call towards them. Both girls look at me wide eyed and then at Aris. I laugh before raising my eyebrows at Aris. He grins again before turning back to the girls to finish the story. Turning away, I keep an eye out for the others and continue to wander through camp.
'Hey,' a voice calls. I stop to see Vince coming up to me.
'Hi,' I say. 'I'm really sorry about earlier. I'd completely forgotten she was bitten. I kinda had a lot on my mind.'
He grins before saying, 'Don't worry about it. How you feeling?'
'Good,' I respond. 'All stitched up again so…' He nods. I continue to look at him. 'Did you need something?'
He shook his head. 'No, just thought you'd like to know that your friends are up there.' He pointed to a small cliff that overlooked the camp. I could just about make out the top of Frypan's head. I nodded.
'Thanks.' Vince smiled before leaving.
Walking up the hill, I could hear the boys chatting at the top.
'I wish Alby could've seen all this.' Newt says.
'And Winston.' Frypan adds.
'And Chuck.' This was Thomas.
'He'd be proud of you, you know, Tommy.' Newt says quietly.
'Yeah.' He whispers. Reaching the top, I plonk myself down beside Newt.
'You okay?' Minho asks. 'We can't afford to be held back having to haul your ass along, you know!' I grin at him.
'Don't worry, I'm fine.' I say before smacking him on the upside of the head.
'Oww!' He groans. 'What was that for?'
'That was for thinking you would have to "haul my ass about". My ass is staying put, thank you very much.'
'Fair enough,' He laughs, holding his hands up. I sneak a quick look at Newt who is looking at me. Giving him a small smile, I motion away from the group. He nods and we both move to get up.
'Hey, Aris!' Frypan calls.
'Hey, guys!' Aris' voice echo's from the camp.
'I kinda like that kid.' Frypan says, smiling at us.
'Yeah. I still don't trust him, though.' Minho says, with a cheeky grin.
I grin at Minho. 'If it wasn't for him,' I say, getting up, 'we would still be with WICKED. We're lucky we found him.' I sigh before heading down the hill. The crunching of the rocks behind me tells me Newt is following.
I find a small cut out section away from the camp. Perching on a rock, I wait for Newt to join me. He comes round the rocks and sighs. I take deep breath and look at him.
'I dunno what to say…' I whisper. Newt sighs.
'Fine, then I'll talk.' He says. 'I knew, in the Glade, that you would do anything for anyone; whether it be cooking us a meal or risking your life against a Griever. Okay. I know that, that is just who you are. You feel responsible for us. But you need to stop. We're not in the Glade anymore. You cannot protect us from every little thing that comes along. Especially not if you are putting yourself in harm's way to do it!' I open my mouth to answer back. 'You have been shot. Twice. Within a week. Both times protecting someone.' I laugh bitterly at this. 'What?' He says.
'Fat lot of good that did huh. Chuck still died. Winston still died. Brenda still got bitten.' I spit, getting irritated.
'But that's not your fault! Stop blaming yourself for events that are out of your control!' Newt shouts.
'Everything is supposed under my control! I let that slip and that is why they are dead!' I storm off leaving Newt gaping after me. Reaching the camp I see Brenda sitting at the camp fire with the others. I go over to join them.
'Everything okay?' Minho asks. I nod, not even going to try and explain right now. Newt joins the group as well, sitting on the other side of the fire. Minho, Thomas, Teresa and Frypan stare at me and then at Newt. I ignore them and focus on Brenda. She smiles at me.
'I was just telling the others what happened when we got separated.' I inwardly groaned. Newt is not going to like this story, one bit. Outwardly though I smile and motion for her to go on.
'So like I was saying, I reached out to grab a bar to pull myself up with, when the bar came loose and I fell down about 40 to 50 metres, at a 90 degree angle. 'The group gasped as I kept my eyes locked on Newt. He was looking anywhere but me. I have to admit, Brenda was a good story teller but I kinda wish she would leave out all the terrifying death bit. 'The floor to this room was as vertical as the stairs and at the bottom were full length windows. I didn't even realise as we were climbing that this whole building was leaning over a huge, like, ravine thing, which this window was hanging over! I fell onto this window and it started to crack, every time I moved. Kira told me not to move, but I ignored her which probably wasn't the best idea in hindsight.' She shot me a small smile. I forced a grin onto my face. 'Anyway long story short, Kira slid down like a superhero, to rescue me. But then a crank slid down as well and attacked me, so Kira grabbed my hand and shot out the window from underneath me. The crank dropped to its death and I was safely hanging on to Kira.' She grins at me.
'You got bit in that fight, remember!' I say, to which Brenda just waves off.
'She is super strong! If she lost hold of me when she shot that window out, she would have dropped as well. And with a shot shoulder and a shot arm. You risked your life, for someone you just met. You could have died. Seriously you're either crazy tough or just crazy.' Newt gets up and storms off before Brenda can say another thing. Everyone looks at me in confusion.
'Really wished you'd left out the possible death part.' I say and follow him. He doesn't get very far before he spins round. 'Newt,' I start.
'Don't.'
'Will you just let me…?'
'No,' He says glaring.
'What do you want me to say?! That I won't get hurt? This is the world we live in. It's dangerous and people get hurt and die. I said to you a long time ago that we can't get annoyed at each other for putting ourselves in dangerous situations!' I shrug my shoulders in frustration. Why won't he say anything?! 'Please say something.' I sigh.
'I wasn't there.' He says quietly.
'What?'
'You nearly died again, and I wasn't there.' I look at him in shock.
'I, I had to protect Brenda. She was gonna die. I had to do something.' I stutter out.
'You always have to do something!' His voice starts to raise. 'You are so focused on protecting other people that you don't look out for yourself! You have been shot. Twice. In a week. And you don't even flinch. One of us gets a papercut and you're at that paper like it's WICKED!' His words come out in a shout now.
'WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?' I scream at him.
'BE SELFISH! PUT YOURSELF FIRST! DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE WOULD DO IF YOU DIED? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO?' He roars gesturing around at the watching group of Gladers.
'I'M TRYING TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE I LOVE!'
'SO AM I! He screams, gesturing furiously at me.
I stand in shocked silence, staring at Newt. His face is red, his hair tousled from him running his hands through it in frustration, and his eyes sparkling with fury. Did he just say what I think he said?
He just said he loved me.
He just said…
He loves me.
Moving forward quickly, I grab him by the lapels of his jacket and crash our lips together. Heat flares from my stomach as I move my lips against his. My skin tingles at the sensation of his hands resting on my hips. As I begin to pull back, he wraps his arms around the small of my back and pulls me back towards him. I move my hands from his lapels and wrap them around his neck, playing with the small piece of hair at the nape of his neck. A tightening in my check alerts me to the need to come up for air, so putting my hands on his chest, I pull pack and look at him. His eyes are still shining, but not with rage anymore. With something softer, something deeper, something that makes me want to jump up and down in the air with joy.
'Sorry,' I whisper. His arms, still wrapped around me, tense and then shudder and Newt laughs. 'Guess I couldn't help myself.'
'Next time you can't help yourself, give me a bit of warning. You scared the crap out of me, surging forward like that.' He jokes with a grin. I giggle and let my head fall onto his shoulder.
'THANK FUCKING GOD!' shouts a voice from behind us. Minho. 'MUM AND DAD HAVE MADE UP! CARRY ON!' Newt and I turn to look at him. Minho smirks at the pair of us before jogging over. I glare at him and shake my head. He instantly notices, makes an 180˚, and heads back in the opposite direction. Newt laughs causing me to turn back and look at him. Wrapping my arms around his neck again, I whisper, 'I love you too.' Newt looks at me with a small smile before leaning down and kissing me again. It's soft this time, gentle. I feel a tear leak out of the corner of my eye. Newt obviously feels it too because he pulls back to look at me.
'Hey,' he whispers, 'what is it?'
'I'm sorry.' I say finally. 'I'm sorry for making you worry. I just thought about how I'd feel if I lost you and…' Newt shakes his head slowly, moving his hands away from my waist to hold my face. His thumbs brush away at the light stream of tears falling over my cheeks.
'Don't think about that. You were right. This is the world we're living in now, but were about to enter a new chapter now. Were gonna go to the safe haven, and were gonna sleep and eat and laugh like we have always done.' I chuckle at this. 'I can't make any promises that we won't need to fight anymore. We both know WICKED aren't just going to let us leave but for now…' Newt doesn't get to finish that sentence before I kiss him again. I pull back giving him a wide smile and take his hand, leading him back to the others. As we walk back over I notice that Teresa is now absent from the group. Before I can question this however, Minho bounds up to us like small child.
'So…' he starts. I give him a glare. He ignores this and grins at me before pulling Newt away and towards the boys. I roll my eyes before settling down by the fire with Sonya, Harriet and Brenda. I look round at them as the grin manically at me.
'What?' Brenda rolls her eyes.
'What happened?' Sonya asks, motioning over to the group of boys all with similar grins.
'We had a fight and then made up.' I sum up simply. Brenda rolls her eyes again.
'Oh come on,' she says, 'The other boys were saying that you two never fight. That this was the first time.' I laugh.
'Oh, I see, so whilst we were arguing, you guys were gossiping.'
'Of course we were!' Harriet says. 'This is the most interesting thing that has happened since we got here.' She nods to Sonya. A large 'WAYYYYYY!' comes from the boys. I roll my eyes this time.
'He was pissed that I kept putting myself in danger. Your story didn't help.' I state looking over to Brenda. She just grins at me.
'And…' Sonya pushes.
'And we argued and then he told me he loved me.' I rush the last part of the sentence but the girls get the jist.
'OH MY GOD!' Sonya squeals, throwing her arms round me. The sudden rush of affection from her startles me somewhat, but I give her a small side hug back.
'You said it back right?' Harriet asks.
'After I kissed him, yeah.' I nod feeling my cheeks begin to burn. We all begin to laugh as Sonya and Harriet begin to dance round the fire.
'Newt and Kira, sitting in a tree…' They begin. Minho seeing this as a brilliant chance to embarrass us runs over to join. 'G! First comes love…'
'CHECK!' Minho shouts.
'Then comes marriage…' Minho just looks pointedly at me. I narrow my eyes at him.
'Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!' They all squeal with glee together. I roll my eyes and look at Newt. He grins at me and rolls his eyes. 'What do you expect?' they say. I chuckle and raise my eyebrows. 'From Minho, nothing.' He laughs and comes over to sit by me.
'Hey,' he whispers.
'Hey,' I reply leaning my head on his shoulder. 'So girl talk was fun. How was boy talk?'
'Oh you know,' he grins. 'It was mainly Minho asking questions and then answering them himself since he seemed to have seen the whole thing.' I laugh.
'That little sneak.' He grins at me.
'How was girl talk?' He asks.
'I don't think I'm very good at it. I've never done real girl talk before so it was a bit… stilted. But Harriet and Sonya, who seem to be well versed in the act of girl talk, manged to worm out some answers.'
'Well their maze was full of girls, I suppose.' I chuckle.
'Remembering about Teresa, I ask Thomas where she is.
'I don't know, she disappeared the same time you and Newt did.' I furrow my brows. I don't have a good feeling about this. 'What is it?' He asks, walking over.
Not caring that Newt is beside me, I say, 'Did she tell you about her doubts?' Thomas nods grimly.
'Do you want me to go and find her?' I nod.
'Would you? I'm worried that she'll do something stupid.' Thomas nods and heads off in search of her. I lean back against Newt, chewing my lip.
'Doubts?' He asks quietly.
'They gave her, her memories back. She remembered all the reasons that she began working for them in the first place. She had doubts, about whether us leaving was the right thing to do.' I whisper. Newt inhales a sharp intake of breath.
'That was what you were talking about. When you brushed it off as girl talk.' I nod against his shoulder.
'Yep. See, not great at girl talk.' I sigh. 'I gave her the option of leaving and going back or continuing with us. She chose to stay, but I'm worrying now that, she may have had ulterior motives.' Newt looks at me.
'Like what?'
'If she really is on WICKED's side, then who do WICKED fear the most?'
Newt gasps. 'The Right Arm.' I nod. 'We have to warn them.' I nod again getting up from my place. I look around for Vince and Mary, eventually finding them in the main tent. They both smile at Newt and I when we enter, but they become more sober when they see our expressions.
'What's wrong?' Mary says, walking up to me.
'We think, we've done something really bad.' I whisper. She furrows her brows and looks between us. 'One of our group… she has doubts… about whether we're the doing the right thing. We… I thought that she would okay, that once she saw this place, heard about the trials from a different perspective, that… she would come round, but… now I'm not so sure.'
'What do you think she would do?' Vince asks, walking up to us. I look over to Newt.
'You know her best.' He says quietly.
'I think she would try to get in contact, and if she does she could tell them we are or they could track her signal.' I take a deep breath realising the impact that could happen.
'Do you think they are coming?' Mary asks. I think about it for a second and nod.
'How long?' Vince asks, picking up his gun.
'I don't know.' I say, trying to produce a timeline. 'If they are coming the facility we were at that's hundreds of miles, but they have helicopters so a couple of hours if she just told them.'
'And if she didn't just tell them?' Mary asks.
'Seconds, Minutes, I don't know.' I whisper, my voice shaking.
'Then we better be prepared for when they do. Vince…' He nods and leaves the tent. Shouts and the sound of people running signal Vince getting ready. I turn to Mary, with tears in my eyes.
'I'm so sorry. We've ruined everything. Everything you have built.' Mary shakes her head and takes my hand.
'You have given us time. We don't know long but more than we would have had.' I nod as she leaves. I turn Newt, Janson's words ringing in my ears.
He stands in front of me, gun in hand. I have one to, the cold metal resting comfortably in my hands. 'You're about to enter a warzone, emotions cloud your judgement, emotions make you weak.'
'We can't try to protect each other out there.' I say quietly taking his hand. 'No more than we would the others. We have to focus on protecting ourselves.' Newt nods gently. 'I can't be worrying about you. And you can't worry about me either. We have to stay focused.'
'Ok.' He whispers. 'But if you die, doing something heroic, I swear to god I'll kill you myself.'
'Right back at'cha.' I say with a chuckle. We stand there for a few moments, in the mouth of the tent, clutching each other's hands like this is it. I take in a shaky breath and Newt pulls me in for a hug. I grip the back of his shirt as the tears threaten to fall. Pulling back, he puts his hand on my neck and pulls me in for a kiss. Desperate and full of feeling, our mouths move together. My hands settle round his neck, whilst his stay on my neck and hip.
A loud BOOM and a wave of heat pulls us from our moment. Adrenaline rushes through my body as I grip my guns, quickly checking that they are full. I nod at Newt as we rush out into the chaos.
AHHHH! They kissed, they kissed, they kissed! I had that moment basically planned out from the very beginning but actually writing it was so difficult. I must have rewritten it about 12 times. I hope it turned out okay.
BookNerd011504: This review made me laugh. How the hell did you explain the scream to your friend? Are they a fellow fanfiction reader? If not then I can imagine that was an interesting conversation. I'm so glad that you like Brenda in this fic. I really like her and really wanted that to come across and I'm glad that I have converted you! HAHAHA! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :*
Spoonie: Oh no, its just one thing after another! Glad you got everything back though.
PandaBeaar77: OMG this makes me so happy. It's kinda weird to think that people share my fic with their friends but its completely amazing at the same time. Who's your friend? I'd love to give her a shoutout. I'm interested to see what they will do with the Death Cure movie, and concerning 'the page that shall not be named' i have some ideas about what i'm doing for that. ;)
So i got a new job recently. For any of you that are from the UK, France or Spain you may know of the activity centre's called PGL. Well that's where I got a job. It'll be pretty full time so i'm not sure how much I'll be updating but I only have one chapter left of this until Death Cure so this story will be finished next month. I am currently in the process of fleshing out a Harry Potter fic but because of my job I'm not sure when that'll be up. I'll let you all know.
Hope you enjoy the chapter,
Have a great week,
Zoe xx
