Yay! Christmas Break! Finally free!

I should hopefully post a little more frequently with more free time.

Anyway, I wish everyone the best of the holidays; whatever you may celebrate.

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. Never will either.

Chapter 21 - George and Billie and Teresa...Oh My!

I woke early the next morning and found Jorge sitting at the entrance. Untangling myself from Newt, I crept over to him. "Everything alright?"

He nodded staring into the distance. "Just worried. I hope Brenda meets us there. She should know the way."

I smiled at him, trying to reassure him. "You know Brenda. She'll meet us eventually, even if it's in the mountains. She'll probably bash some crank skulls along the way." I patted his shoulder. "She's tough. She'll get through this. Plus, she has Tommy, though I doubt that he's good for her ears. He can talk a mile a minute...but he'll help her."

Jorge nodded even though a frown marred his features.

I broke him out of the trance. "Hypothetically speaking, what should I do if I know someone has a walkie-talkie on them and is possibly communicating with WICKED?"

Jorge didn't look at me. "Hypothetically speaking, you should probably trick them into revealing where they put it or take it off them before we meet the Right Arm. I don't think they will take kindly to spies."

I bit my lip in anxiety."I'll see what I can do." I left and rummaged through my backpack. I gathered up two apples and tossed one to Jorge. "Eat."

He laughed, "yes mother." I joined him in laughing.

The boys and one girl woke slowly. After eating we were on the run again. The city Marcus lived in wasn't too far away. We'd make it there tonight at the latest.

...

I broke off from Newt and walked with Teresa. I started off the conversation easily; asking how she felt about everything and how she handled being the only girl. I got more answers than I thought. I guess finally having another girl helped in making her feel at ease with me. That and maybe trust went both ways and she just wanted to see if she could weedle information out of me.

"How do you feel about WICKED? I mean they're the whole reason we're in this bloody mess."

Teresa looked down, increasing her pace. I ran to catch up, kinda hard with my slight limp. "I didn't mean to offend you. It's fine if you think they're good. I mean their goal is but the ways they use aren't." I nudged her playfully. "I'm here for you if you need a shoulder. Just don't do anything drastic." I looked into her eyes showing her I was serious. "You can talk to me, Teresa. We may not have gotten along when I knew you but we can start over." I saw her smile and thought maybe she had a chance at redemption.

...

As we continued walking Teresa and I became acquainted with one another again. It was like a clean slate. When we stopped for a water break I caught a flash of black against her white shorts. The walkie-talkie!

I 'accidentally' spilled a bit of water on myself and knocked into Teresa when I tried to clean up the mess. As I bumped into her the bump caused the walkie-talkie to fall into the sand. On my way down I grabbed the walkie-talkie. I buried as I got up and smashed it before leaving it in the sand. Problem solved.

...

I talked with Teresa some more before we continued on our journey. I left to find Newt after that. I saw he had a heavy limp. 'Wonder where he got that?...Wait, dumb question...Haha, now we match.' I thought with a bitter laugh.

We ran for another two hours before stopping. I sat next to Newt and decided to be direct with my question. "Newt, can you answer a question?"

He nodded. "Shoot."

I looked at my hands, feeling nervous. "Ummm...I overheard someone say something about George. Do you know what..uh...happened to him?" I stumbled over my words but now I might finally get an answer.

Newt paled at my question, pain entering his brown eyes. "Uh...yeah...one day George got too close to the walls." Newt ran a hand through his blonde locks. "A griever came out and gave George quite a scare. He was stung when we found him. He...uh...didn't make it through the changing. I'm sorry Sky." He gently wiped the lone tear away.

I nodded shakily, "at least I know now. Thanks for telling me Newt."

Newt nodded absently. "You know he only spoke of you toward the end." Newt managed to get out. "I think...I think he remembered you were his sister. He was the only one to insist that you were still alive. Guess he was right." Newt chuckled weakly. George's death hit everyone hard. "Annoying bugger, still right even from the grave."

I gave a small laugh. Newt always seemed to cheer me up. I gave him a kiss on the cheek. I still had one more question. "How about Billie..."

Newt's eyes darkened. He hated Billie's fate. "He wasn't the same after George passed. Stayed in the glade when we left..." I sighed, closing my eyes in pain. Sweet little Billie was probably gone by now. I'd heard rumors that those who stayed in the mazes were used to harvest a cure. It was only ever rumors but most rumors have a basis of truth. Billie's fate was probably worse than death.

I sniffed, furiously scrubbing my eyes.

It wasn't too long before I was helping Newt up. We were starting to run again.

Sorry about killing off George and what happened to Billie. I'm not even sure if Billie is alive. Think what you want. We never do figure out what happened to those who were left behind...of course, the fate I hinted at was only from the movies.

We'll see a reappearance of Tommy in the next chapter.

Later Gladers...