Chapter 4

We drive for about 20 minutes for turning into a large building, at least I think we do. It's hard to tell. The back of the van opens, and we are forced out. I look around and gasp. Hundreds of people surround us, of all ages. I bring my attention back to the masked guy in front of us. Before I can say anything, the other van pulls in. It comes to a stop beside us and loud shouts can be heard from inside. I roll my eyes and bang loudly on the side.

"JORGE!" The shouts stop. "You wanna calm down for 5 seconds to come out and join us, Brenda's out here." The van door is slid open and Newt and Fry get out looking pretty shaken. Jorge comes out next, frantically looking around before his eyes settle on Brenda and he pulls her into a hug. I peer in the van and see a masked guy, pulling himself into a seated position groaning. "Sorry about that," I wince at his state before a hand rests on my shoulder. I turn and am pulled into a tight hug. I breathe in Newt's scent before pulling back.

"Are you okay?" He asks, eyes urgent and blazing. I smile at him softly.

"I'm good. We were never in any danger, right?" I turn and gaze at the masked guy. "We're all on the same side." Thomas glares at me. The others just look confused.

"What makes you think that?" The masked guy asks, almost teasingly. I smile before approaching him.

"Because I know who you are," I say softly. I reach up to his mask and gently pull it off his face. Gally stares guiltily back at me as I drop the mask on the floor. I hear gasps from behind me, but I continue to look at him.

"Hello Gally," I whisper.

Gally smiles softly as I step back, and he moves his gaze to the others, the smile transforming back into a guilty stare.

"Hey, Greenie," He mutters. I pull my eyes away from him, to look at the others.

"Gally?" Thomas stutters.

"No way," Fry whispers. I watch Thomas. I know him. I know what's running through his head right now. Almost on cue, Thomas lunges towards Gally and punches him in the face. I surge forward and grab his hand, Newt grabbing the other.

"No, wait! Hold! Stop! It's all right!" Gally shouts to his people, who all raise their weapons.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop! Stop it! Stop." Newt shouts, trying to get Thomas to calm down.

"He killed Chuck." Thomas spits.

"Yeah, we know. We remember. We were there too, all right?" Newt continues to try. I huff angrily and pull Thomas off Gally. He sprawls out onto the floor, jumping up and surging forward again. I stand and push him back.

"Stop!" I shout. "We also remember that he was stung and half out of his mind. Neither of us know what that was like. We both passed out. Calm down!" Thomas breathes heavily but doesn't move again. "Gally, you okay?" I ask, not taking my eyes of Thomas.

"Kind of had that coming," He says.

"Chuck…" Thomas trails off.

I walk up to him and put a hand on his face. "You know that's not his fault. None of us know what the changing does to people, apart from that it makes them crazy. You didn't know Ben, but he was the sweetest boy imaginable until he got stung and then he tried to kill you." Thomas pushes out a shaky breath before nodding. I smile gently before turning back to Gally.

"Do you know this guy?" Jorge says from behind us.

"He was an old friend," Fry stuttered, clearly struggling to take all this in.

"He IS an old friend," I correct, not impressed with how the boys are reacting.

"How? How is this possible? We watched you die." Fry continues.

"No, you left me to die. And if we hadn't found you when we did, you'd be dead right now," Gally answers, but I shake my head.

"That's not what happened." Gally looks at me confused. "WICKED turned up and took us. We tried to get to you and Chuck but they pulled us away before we could." I needed him to know that we didn't leave him by choice. He sighs before nodding in acceptance.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Gally then asks us.

"Minho. WICKED has him here. We're looking for a way in." Newt states, looking at Gally suspiciously.

"I can help with that. Follow me." I go to follow but the others don't move. I turn to state at them.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Thomas glares.

"Suit yourself. But I can get you through those walls." Gally shrugs and continues walking. I look at them.

"You got another plan? Maybe go one on one with the guns?" I raise an eyebrow before rolling my eyes and following after Gally. Footsteps behind me told me they were following too. I quicken my pace to catch up with Gally.

"They're just in shock," I say resting my hand on his arm. He stops and looks at me.

"Don't worry, I wasn't really expecting a warm welcome," He laughs bitterly. "I know what I did, and I have to live with that." I sigh before deciding enough's enough. I wrap my arms around his shoulders and pull him into a hug. Gally's hesitant but responds in kind.

"The fact that you're here, is a miracle. One that I'm very grateful for," I whisper into his ear. I pull away and grip his hands. "I mean that. We started this together…"

"So, lets finish it together." He smiles. I grin and it turn to face the others who have finally caught up.

"We're a family," I spit at them. "No matter what! Okay?" I glare at the boys until they all nod and murmur apologies. "Okay then, lets go talk to your guy."

We walk through the building, people everywhere.

"After the maze, I got picked up by a group headed to the city. They realized I was immune, patched me up, and they brought me here to Lawrence. This group's been at war with WICKED ever since they took control of the city. But WICKED can't hide behind those walls forever. Day's gonna come, and they're gonna pay for what they've done." I smirk at Gally's passion. I've missed him. He stops walking and turns to us. "Listen, uh, he doesn't get a lot of visitors. So, let me do the talking. All right? And try not to stare." I look at the others.

"Stare?"


We come down some stairs and walk into what looks like a makeshift rose garden. Rose plants litter the room all blooming. It's the first time I've seen flowers since the Glade. I walk over to one of the plants and take a deep breath in. Floral notes fill my nostrils and make me smile. I look over to the others and focus on the man pruning another bush.

"Gally, glad to see you made it back. Jasper told me what happened." He said. I walk forward as Gally addresses the man.

"It was a slaughter. There's nothing we could do against those guns." The man sighs. I look the man up and down, noticing the IV he has on a stand next to him. Blue glowing liquid sits at the bottom of the bag. The cure? But that doesn't make any sense. I make sure to listen to what he has to say, my brain whirring with this new information.

"No, but they can only poke the hornet's nest so long before they get stung. Now, who are these people? Why are they here?" He looks up at us. His nose is almost gone, and blue veins cover the right side of his face. The skin has fallen away, making his cheek almost look like coral.

Thomas steps forward. I roll my eyes again. What happened to let Gally do the talking? "We need to get into WICKED. Gally said you can get us through the walls." I stand just behind Thomas, trying to get a better view of the man's IV.

"Gally should know better than to make promises that he can't keep. Besides, that wall is only half your problem. Getting inside WICKED is impossible." The man growls.

"There might be a way now. But it doesn't work without Kira and Thomas," Gally looks at us, and we stare back. What's his plan?

"Is that so?" The man smirks, walking towards us. "Do you know what I am? I am a businessman. Which means that I don't take unnecessary risks. Why should I trust you?" I narrow my eyes at the man.

"'Cause we can help you. You see, if you can get us through those walls... we can get you what you need." I say.

"What is it that you think I need?"

"Time. Every last drop." Thomas answers, looking at the IV.

"Is that what I need?" The man says quietly.

"WICKED has something we both want." I finish, hoping he's convinced.

"I'll tell you what. Three can go for now. The rest stay down here with me. Just a little insurance to make sure you find your way back. We have a deal?" I eye Thomas and give him a small nod. Thomas shakes the man's hand in agreement. "Gally, show them the way." We start to leave but the man calls me back.

"Kira. Gally has told me all about you." I furrow my brows.

"All good things I hope." I quip, raising an eyebrow at Gally.

"You were trained by WICKED. And now you work against them. Interesting… very interesting."

"That's true." I nod.

"You are a product of WICKED. Give me a reason to trust you?" He murmurs. Is he testing me?

"If anything, they have given me all the more reason to hate them." My temper starts to bubble at the insinuation. "They killed my parents, took me away from my home, kept me separate from the others until I went in the maze, made me a leader of my maze, made me care about the boys in there and then killed them. I've seen so many of my friends, my family die because of them. And now they have one of my best friends, so I am not going to stop until WICKED is destroyed, Minho is back with us and Ava Paige and Janson are both dead." I narrow my eyes at the man. His mouth pulls into what I'm sure is a very uncomfortable smile, before he turns to Gally.

"Just as you described. Good." I look over to Gally, who shrugs a little. "Off you go." Gally takes my arm and pulls me away. Once we are a far enough distance away, I turn and stare at Gally.

"I'm sorry," He moans, "When I first got here, the sting was still in my system and I told them everything. That's the one reason that they decided to trust me, I think." I sigh a little.

"It's okay, now how do we get to the city?" Gally smirks and heads off. I follow dragging the others with us when we reach them. We reach a large room with a manhole cover in the middle. I look up at Gally. "Seriously?" I grimace. He shrugs.

"It's a way in, isn't it?" He replies. We pull the top off and Gally stats to head down.

"Gally, take care of these two," Fry says. Gally furrows a brow.

"Two?" We stare at him in confusion.

"Yeah two, it's not like Kira's gonna need you." I smirk. Gally lets out a small laugh.

"Yeah." He heads down the ladder and Thomas follows. I look over to Newt to make sure he's following and watch as he looks down in confusion at his hands. He stretches them before looking up at me.

"You okay?" I ask. He nods, before getting up and heading towards us. I nod, unconvinced but head down the ladder all the same. At the bottom of then ladder my foot splashes in something, that judging by the smell, I'd be better off not knowing.

"This is gross. Jesus." Newt says from behind me as he steps off the ladder.

"Yeah, this is great," Thomas drawls, unimpressed. Gally rolls his eyes and flicks a switch on the wall. Lightbulbs begin to light up along the tunnel so we can actually see where we are going.

"Stay with me. We got a ways to go." Gally mutters before heading off.

I look at the others before heading off too. "Okie dokie, love a sewer." I groan.

"At least it's not a vent." Thomas jokes next to me. A shiver runs down my spine.

"There is that." I smirk as we catch up to Gally.


It feels like we walk for hours but realistically it was only probably one, before the floor starts sloping upwards. We finally reach a door and Gally pushes it open and we come out into a bustling street. There are people everywhere, some wearing masks covering their mouths, some not, but all looking very clean and put together. I keep my eyes down and follow Gally through the crowd. We eventually make it out of the crowd and come to a stop at the top of some stairs. Gally leans against the railings and looks at us. I try and take in what I'm seeing. My head struggles to comprehend all the building's and the light and the trees and… is that a train? I feel my mouth fall open at the sight.

"This is a long way from the Glade." Newt gapes at the sight.

A tannoy sounds. "Fifteen minutes to mandatory curfew. Please proceed home in an orderly fashion. Remember, this is for your safety. Thank you for your compliance." I raise an eyebrow at Gally.

"Yeah, we better get off these streets. And I know it's hard, but act like you've seen it before." He smirks at us, as we try and pull ourselves together as we follow him. As we walk, I notice how clean everywhere is. You wouldn't know that the city is surrounded by desert. Gally pulls us into an alley. A car with a siren comes whizzing past us. He gives us a nod as it passes, and we run across the road to hide behind another building as another car comes past. "They've definitely upped security. I'm guessing you shanks have something to do with that." He raises an eyebrow at us. I grin and give him a small shrug. "All right, let's get outta here." He takes us through the winding streets and to the edge of the city. We reach the wall and Gally gives us the nod.

"Up there?" I say. He nods. "Okay." The boys give me boost and I pull myself up onto the wall. Once were all up, Gally takes us along the wall, up some stairs, along another part… not going to lie, I was completely lost. It was clear how many times Gally had done this. We finally came up a final set of stairs and Gally stops.

"There it is. If WICKED's got Minho, that's where they'll be keeping him." Gally points to a large fancy skyscraper in the centre of the city. "Lawrence has been trying to find a way in for years. Place is crawling with soldiers. They got surveillance everywhere. Scanners on every floor." I sigh. That's going to be tricky. Gally pulls out a stashed telescope and places it on a pole, looking through it for a moment before coming to lean on the rail with us.

"Sounds like a bloody fortress," Newt groans, resting his elbows on the railing, and running his hands through his hair.

"Yeah, I thought you said you had a way in," Thomas asks.

"I might." Gally looks stressed.

"You might? What the hell do you mean 'might'?" Thomas snaps. Gally looks through the telescope once more before gesturing to Thomas.

"Take a look." Thomas peers through the telescope for a second before pulling back and staring at Gally. "I said I had a way in. I didn't say you were gonna like it." I look at Thomas confused. Thomas doesn't answer just gestures to the scope. I look through it and can now see a WICKED lab. I move the scope slightly before seeing what's got Thomas so worked up. Teresa. She looks so clean and focused, walking around the lab like that's where she always belonged. I pull back, moving back so Newt can see.

"Oh," I say. I give Newt a look when he's finished. Neither of us know what to say.

"We should go," Gally says, and we follow without saying anything.

The walk back to Lawrence is tense at best. We can see that Thomas is clearly trying to process everything that's just happened. I keep Newt's hand in mine, but I can feel it twitching in mine, I look down at it and when he notices me looking, he pulls it away and massages it gently.

"Is everything okay?" I whisper. He nods quickly.

"Yeah it's fine." It's fine? Is that it?

"Did you hurt it or something?" I press.

"I said it's fine!" He snaps. I stop walking and stare at him. He ignores me and continues walking. Okaayyy. Something's going on with him. He's clearly keeping something from me, and that doesn't usually happen. It worries me.


We reach Lawrence just before dawn and head to what looks like a planning room. The others are already there waiting. I give Fry and Brenda a hug before going to sit on box at the side. My feet hurt from all the walking. I wait for Gally to lay out his plan. I flick my eyes between Newt and Thomas, at this moment in time not knowing who I should be more concerned about.

"No. There's gotta be another way." Thomas states, angrily shaking his head.

"Like what? You've seen the building. She is our only way in," Gally, shrugs.

"You really think she's gonna help us?" Thomas asks. I watch as Thomas and Gally go back and forth but am worried as I bring my gaze over to Newt. He looks angry. Really angry. I've never seen him so angry. He bites his thumbnail and glares at the table, breathing hard.

"I don't plan on asking for her permission." Gally responds.

"Am I missing something here? This is the same girl who betrayed us, correct? Same dick?" Brenda interrupts.

"I like her." Gally smirks.

"What's going on?" Brenda continues. Thomas doesn't respond.

"What, are you afraid your little girlfriend's gonna get hurt?" Newt's angry voice rings through the room. I watch as he straightens up and walks towards Thomas. "Hmm? Because this has obviously never been just about rescuing Minho. Has it?" Newt is right up in Thomas' face now. I jump off the box to intervene if needed.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Thomas questions.

"Teresa. She's the only reason that Minho's even missing in the first place. Now we finally have an opportunity to get him back. And what? You don't want to because of her? Because deep down inside you still care about her, don't you? Just admit it." Newt has pushed Thomas into the wall, his voice getting louder and louder as he continues.

"Newt, I..." Thomas starts but Newt interrupts.

"DON'T LIE TO ME! Don't lie to me!" Newt shouts in Thomas's face. My breath catches in my throat. What is going on?

"Newt…" I whisper, breaking the tense silence of the room. He turns to me, his eyes flashing with the realisation of what just happened. Newt would never shout at anyone like that.

"Sorry." Newt whispers to Thomas before turning around, looking a mixture of confused, upset and guilty. He looks at me, whispering again, "I'm sorry."

"Newt…" I start, but he waves me off, clutching his arm and walking off. I look after him, not knowing what to say. Thomas takes a deep breath before following him. I rest my hands on the table, before realising I'm shaking. Brenda walks around the table and grasps my hand.

"What was that?" She whispers. I shake my head.

"I don't know, but I don't think it's good." I squeeze her hands before following after Thomas. I come to the roof but hang back knowing that Thomas and Newt need to speak first. I lean against a pillar and listen to their conversation. I know I shouldn't but I'm worried.

"Sorry about that. Back there. I guess I can't hide this anymore." I hear Newt say. Hide what? I peek round the pillar, but Thomas is blocking my view.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Thomas whispers.

"Didn't think it would make any difference," Newt responds. I furrow my brow.

"Have you told Kira?"

"No, she'd only worry, and we all need to be on the top of our game now. If anyone is going to be able to take WICKED down, it's her." Only worry about what? I want to go out there and ask, but I can't make my feet move.

"You should tell her. She'll kill you if she finds out you've hidden it from her."

"What am I supposed to say Tommy? This thing we've all been running from, this thing that WICKED is trying to cure, is going to kill me? And then expect her to continue trying to stop them? I can't do that." My heart stops at his words. Kill him? The Flare? Is he infected? No. No. That can't be true. He's immune. We all are. He wasn't scratched or bitten. I don't understand. How did this happen? I sink to the floor and try and process what's just happened.

"All I know is that WICKED must have put me in that maze for a reason. Maybe it was literally just so they could tell the difference between immunes like you and people like me." I can hear Newt speaking but I don't care anymore. All I want to do is be with him.

"You know we can still fix this, Newt. Okay? We can." Thomas.

"Don't worry about me. This is about Minho. Now he needs us. So, if there is even the slightest chance that we can save him, we can get him out of there, then we have to take that. No matter what the cost." Newt speaks again.

"Okay. I hear you." Thomas finishes and then they both go silent. I wobble to my feet and come out from behind the pillar. I stand there for a moment before clearing my throat. The boy's heads whirl round to glance at me. Thomas takes a deep breath and stands. He walks up to me, squeezing my hand as he passes. He heads off downstairs leaving us alone. I walk slowly to the edge of the roof and sit next to Newt dangling my legs down. I don't say anything for a moment trying to think about what to say.

"How much did you hear?" Newt whispers. I keep staring at my feet, not being able to look at him.

"Enough." Newt sighs next to me. "How long did you really think you'd be able to hide it from us? From me?" I turn to look at him, curling one leg up in front of me. He grips his arm. I sigh and reach for it. He doesn't stop me taking is arm in my hands and pulling up his sleeve. Dark veins have started to make their way from his wrist to his elbow. I run my fingers along the veins shakily. It's real. It's really real. "Does it hurt?" He nods.

"Aches." I sigh before bending down and kissing his wrist gently. I feel a shiver run through his body.

"You should have told me." I whisper leaning my head on his shoulder. He nods and kisses my head.

"I know. I just… didn't know how." I look up at him. Bringing one of my hands to his face a run my thumb over his cheek. I curl my fingers round the back of his neck and pull him towards me gently. I kiss him softly, pouring everything that I'm feeling into him. His arm wraps round my waist and pulls me closer. I pull back after a while and look him in the eyes.

"We'll figure it out, okay?" Newt scoffs about to interrupt but I don't let him, "No, we have been through too much, and fought too hard to be here and together to give up now, okay?" I rest my forehead on his and he nods against me.

"Okay."

"We're not going to give up now." I reaffirm. He sighs. "I'm not giving up on you now." He runs his thumbs over my cheeks before kissing me sweetly.

"Started this together…" he whispers.

I choke out a rough laugh, "…finish this together." I take a deep breath before pulling away and standing up. "You ready to do this?" I put out my hand for him to take. He nods before taking it and standing with me.

"Hell yeah." He says, leading me downstairs to the rest of the group. As we walk in, we notice Gally and Thomas are absent. I raise an eyebrow at Brenda.

"They've gone." She shrugs simply. I nod.

"Better get things ready for when they get back then, eh." Everyone nods and we head off to get everything ready. I watch after Brenda as she walks away and flick my eyes to Newt. I smile, as a plan starts to form in my head. 'Queen of backup plans', Newt calls me. Now it's time to live up to that name. I just need Teresa.