But there was only so much he could take. How much any of us could take, many of the other were gasping for breath and holding their sides as they soldiered on. I wasn't having the best of it myself actually, having a hard time getting any breath in my lungs.

And maybe two hours, probably close to three, he stopped and turned around to see the lot of them in the distance.

Minho reached him first. And to say the least, he wasn't happy. He was visibly fuming actually. He walked around the boy who had sat down in the dirt a little bit earlier. "What… Why… What kind of shuck idiot are you, Thomas?"

He didn't answer.

"How could you do that? How could you just come out of there and take off like that? Without explaining anything? Since when is that how we do things? You slinthead." He sighed loudly before falling to the ground on his butt, shaking his head.

"Sorry," He muttered. I was just close enough to make out his words. "It was kinda traumatizing."

The others had caught up as well, most doubling over in an attempt to catch their breath, though there was also a fair bunch pressing in to hear what Tommy had to say. Newt and I stood nearby, but let Minho take the lead in digging the info outta Tommy.

"Traumatizing? Who did you see in there? What did they say?"

"It was… It was Teresa," Thomas said hesitantly. There had to be to this story that simply that. He wouldn't have just left here there. Not without a bloody good reason at least.

Silence.

"What?" Minho said finally. "You're serious?"

He only nodded, his eyes locked on the small rocks on the ground. I contented myself in looking around at the surrounding landscapes. It had brightened considerably in the last few seconds.

"Wow." Minho's voice was weary as he somehow wrapped up the entire conversation in one word.

Several minutes passed with nothing. Nothing but the dry wind scratching the ground and filling the air with dust as the orange colored sky rose over the horizon, officially beginning the day. No one spoke as the time passed. There were sniff, long breaths and a few coughs, but no words. Some were drinking from their water bags. But it wasn't the sounds that caught my attention. It was the town. Its seemed to have grown over night, it's clustered building stretching towards the purple sky. Another day or so and we'd be there.

"It was some kind of trap," Thomas said, breaking the silence. "I don't know what would've happened, or how many of us would've died. Maybe all of us. But I could see that there wasn't any doubt in her eyes when she broke away from whatever restrained her. She saved us, and I bet they make her…" he paused, swallowing. "I bet they make her pay for it."

I nodded solemnly. Note to self: Thank Teresa for saving our butts.

Minho reached out, squeezing T ommy's shoulder. "Dude, if those shuck WICKED people wanted her dead, she'd be rottin' under a big pile of rocks. She's just as tough as anybody else, maybe tougher. She'll survive."

Thomas sighed deeply. "I know. Somehow I know."

Minho stood. "We should've stopped a couple hours ago to get some sleep. But thanks to Mr. Desert Runner here down here" –he whacked Tommy lightly in the head- "we ran ourselves ragged till the freaking sun came back up. I still think we need to rest for a while. Do it under the sheets, whatever, but let's try."

For Tommy it ended up being no problem. He fell asleep almost instantly, sheet pulled over up over him to protect him from sunburns. Some of the others slept as well. And I tried, closing my eyes to the sun which turned the insides of my eyelids a sort of crimson color and pulling the sheet over my head and… nothing. Nothing at all. I was tired, have not doubt, but I simply couldn't sleep.

With a sigh I sat up, pulling the sheet over a dozing Newt and making my way over to where Minho sat, sheet pulled over his head as he watched over his charge, not saying a word. Moving the sheet I sat beside him so the sheet covered the two of us.

He glanced at me, but didn't say a word. He didn't say anything. I looked around at the others. Some were sleeping, but not many. Most were sitting with a friend under the sheets, talking probably, about what I had no idea. What did you talk about in a place like this? With a life like ours? What was there to talk about? Nothing happy at least. Still, we kept going.

Minho was looking at me, his dark eyes locked onto me, studying me.

"What?" I asked narrowing my eyes in confusion.

He shook his head. "Nothing."

Now, I was positive there wasactually something wrong, but i wasn't sure how to pry it out of him. So, I went for the direct approach. "We both now that's not true," I told him, scooching just a bit closer.

He glared at me, rolling his eyes and looking away, refusing to acknowledge my words.

I sighed, "Minho, what's up? Why are you acting so weird around me all the sudden?"

He shook his head, not meeting my eyes. "MaC, I'm not talking about this."

"But-"

"No"

I opened my mouth to respond, but, I had no words. Nothing. No response for that... for shoving me away. "Sorry..."

He sighed, dropping his head into his hands. "I didn't mean it like that," he said, sounding half exasperated and half angry and I wasn't really sure what to think at this point. "I just... I'm not mad, okay?" he said, lifting his head to look at me, "I just... don't want to talk about it."

At that I smiled slightly, leaning to knock my shoulder into his. "Okay."

He smirked slightly, rolling his eyes, the both of us leaning on one another as we drifted into a companionable silence. There wasn't really much to say. At least nothing that wouldn't drag us back into some rather unpleasant thoughts. And so we simply sat there, shoulder to shoulder, unspeaking.

An hour or so later Newt woke, his yawn drawing my attention as he pawed at the sheets, in an attempt to pull it off his face enough for him to see. I snickered, watching. "Good nap?"

He didn't answer, just looked at me as he gather the sheet. Wordlessly, he stood, crossing the fix or six feet that separated us and sat down on my other side.

"Not a good nap?" I questioned, as he still hadn't answered.

Minho snickered, rolling his eyes.

Newt shook his head up and down, rubbing his face with both hands and groaning softly. I frowned, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him down. "Go back to sleep." He didn't fight me, moving so he could lay comfortably with his head resting on my leg.

His breathing soon evened out and he began to snore softly, signally he was indeed, sleeping. Minho didn't exactly look wide awake either. "Need a pillow?" I offered with a small smile.

He snorted, rubbing his face tiredly. "I think I'll pass."

I shrugged. Creators, it was hot. The sun's heat had intensified since we'd sat down to rest, it was near unbearable and completely impossible to ignore. Just sitting here I was sweating. God, knew how Newt had managed to get some shut eye in this weather.

"How long've we been here?" I asked, looking to Minho.

He glanced down at his watch. "Three hours," he said shortly. "We'll wake everyone in an hour."

And we did just that. Minho roughly kicking a few heavy sleepers in the side while I nudged Tommy awake. "Rise and shine, Tommy-boy." I smirked at the roll of his eyes.

Walking around I began to realize one thing. We stunk. Bad. Really bad. Body odor hung around us like at thick cloud, following our every move. The showers back at the dorm seemed like heaven on earth right now. Oh what I wouldn't have given for a river, a lake, rain, anything moist!

We were pretty quiet as we readied for our journey. Solemn, really. But, as I said earlier, it's not like there was anything to be happy about. But we kept going. For me, it was a hope for some food and water… as well as a certain curiosity about that town. It looked more and more like a city as we neared.

"Let's go," Minho said once everyone was good and ready. And we were off.

Walking again across the dry dust laden landscape. No one said, it but we all knew it. We didn't have the energy to run while the sun was up and even if we did… we didn't have enough water to keep us alive if we went at a faster pace. So we walked with sheets over our heads, food and water strictly rationed as our supply dwindled. There were more sheets available as the packs were emptied and supplies used up. Fewer of us walked in pairs, though I still walked beside Newt or Minho depending.

There was a sick repetition to it all. Walking. Heat. Walking. Break for food and water. Walking. Heat. The wind was kicking up now, bringing more dust and rocks than relief from the heat. It whipped against the sheets, making it difficult to keep them in place as we coughed after inhaling a cloud of dust. It made you long for a drink of water, but, it seemed like if you did take a sip, you'd only want more. But our supplies were low. Dangerously so. If there wasn't any fresh water in the city when we reached it… well, we're screwed. Wholly and completely.

We kept going. Each step just a bit more agonizing than the last. And no one spoke. Silence, like a few words were simply too much, a waste of energy as it was. It was all most of us could to put one foot in front of the other. Over and over and over again.

The buildings seemed to grow as we go closer. Taller and stretching towards the sky. Stone. Had to be. We were close enough now to see. The majority of the buildings were constructed of a dull gray stone. Glass windows shimmering in the sunlight. Some were broken, but far less than I expected. From here, the streets looked empty. Not a single sign of life. Not even a tree. Not that that was surprising, really, there was no way it could in this climate. But if… how would people survive here? How would they get food? Water?

Tomorrow. That's when we'd reach the town. A bit longer than I thought I'd originally thought, but there wasn't a doubt in my mind that we'd make it tomorrow. Though, it probably would've been better to go around, we needed supplies.

More walking. More breaks. And more ungodly heat.

You know, the more I thought about it, the more I thought that god either really hated us, or flat out didn't give a klunk.

When night fell and the sun set at an agonizingly slow place, the wind bean to pick up even more. This time, it brought about the slightest chill. I can't say how grateful I was for any relief from that scorching heat.

It was around Midnight when Minho called for us to stop and get some sleep. The city and its now-steadily-burning fires seeming closer than ever. The wind was even stronger now, blowing in gusts, whipping and curling, sweeping small rocks and dust up off the ground and propelling them into the air with increasing power.

Soon after we stopped I lay down on my back, looking up at the perfectly dark sky, not a star in sight. Just darkness. Newt lay down beside me, closer than he usually slept. The shadowed figures of the others lay down as well, drifting off to sleep.

And so I did I.