p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;"span style="font-size: 1em;"I turn away and bury my head into Minho's chest and begin to cry. Minho strokes my head and I hear shouts, and footsteps. Then Minho isnt holding me anymore. I fall to the ground, now too numb inside to cry. More shouts, more movement. Then Minho was beside me again. His arms wrapping around me. The sound of guns being fired. Glass shattering. More screams. More footsteps. Then Minho picks me up and starts to run. That brings me back to my senses. I wrap my arms around his neck and lower my body until I am running beside him. I look around and see that there are new people. Rescuers! We are being rescued! We ran out of the building and into a rainy night. We kept running until we got on a bus and once everyone was on the bus driver speeds off. I put my guitar safely next to me and close my eyes. I feel numb inside. After everything I have been through I finally can't feel a thing. I put my head in my hands and feel Minho scoot closer to me and wrap his arm around me. I lean into him and now I can't tell the difference between pain, sadness, and numbness. I'm not sure if I want to scream, cry, or just drop dead right here, right now. /spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""It's okay." Minho promises me. "We're all okay."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""Not all of us. Only twenty of us." I correct him./spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""Yeah, but you're okay. And that's all that I care about."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""That's not true. You care about the others."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""I suppose so, but the others I can live without. If you die I die."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""Don't say that."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""Why not? It's true."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""Because I don't want it to be. I don't want you getting hurt because of me."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""I'll be fine."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""You keep saying that, but you can't be fine forever. One day something is going to happen to you, and that promise is going to break and I'm going to be left alone."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""You wont be alone. You'll be with the rest of the Gladers." /spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;""The rest of the Gladers don't mean as much to me as you do."/spanbr /span style="font-size: 1em;"He falls silent and I lay my head on his shoulder and try to get some sleep, but before I can I hear the woman in front of us talking. /spanbr /"It started with the sun flares." She /"What-" I hear Teresa ask, but stop. My breath catches in my throat and I look up at /"This is it." I say /"This is what?" Minho /"Shhh. Just listen to the lady in front of us." Luckily he listens to me and shuts up. The lady goes through the whole thing that I heard in my dream and afterwards Minho is /"What does any of that mean." He asksbr /"I'm not sure yet, but I'm trying to figure it out." br /Minho nods and I sigh and fall asleep against his chest. br /br /I have no idea how long the ride is, but when I wake up we are at some building. We are all rushed off of the bus and into the building and I made sure to grab my guitar. The inside of it is full of color. It looks like some sort of a pre-school with how much color there is. I look over at Minho to see his reaction to our new temporary home. He is staring at everything in /"I've been shucked and gone to Heaven." He says and I can only nod in agreement. br /Soon, after we almost get used to the inside of the building, some people showed us our rooms and assigned beds and delivered pizza. Real pizza, not just the stuff that Frypan cooked up in the kitchen back in the Glade. As we ate, most people smiled, though we all stayed quiet. When I was done I grab my guitar and try to think of a song to sing. I am too tired to come up with one on the spot, but most of the songs I know are more up beat, or, if the lyrics are appropriate for this moment, are too rock or fast. I finally pick out one song that has the perfect lyrics, but is too fast for the situation and I slow it down. The beginning starts out at a slower tempo that then speeds up for the rest of the song, so I will just play the whole song at the beginning tempo and not speed it up like it's supposed to do. Finally when I am ready I clear my throat and strum the first chord of the song. /p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"When I was a young boy,/span/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"My father took me into the city,br /To see a marching band,br /He said, "Son, when you grow up,br /Would you be the savior of the broken,br /The beaten and the damned,"/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"He said, "Will you defeat them,br /Your demons and all the non-believers,br /The plans that they have made,br /Because one day, I'll leave you,br /A phantom to lead you in the summer,br /To join the Black Parade,"/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"When I was a young boy,br /My father took me into the city,br /To see a marching band,br /He said, Son, when you grow up,br /Would you be the savior of the broken,br /The beaten and the damned,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Sometimes I get the feeling,br /She's watching over me,br /And other times I feel like I should go,br /When through it all, the rise and fall,br /The bodies in the streets,br /And when you're gone we want you all to know,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"We'll carry on, we'll carry on,br /And though you're dead and gone, believe me,br /Your memory will carry on, we'll carry on,br /And in my heart, I can't contain it,br /The anthem won't explain it,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"A world that sends you reeling,br /From decimated dreams,br /Your misery and hate will kill us all,br /So paint it black and take it back,br /Let's shout out loud and clear,br /Defiant to the end we hear the call,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"To carry on, we'll carry on,br /And though you're dead and gone, believe me,br /Your memory will carry on, we'll carry on,br /And though you're broken and defeated,br /Your weary widow marches,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"On and on we carry through the fears,br /Disappointed faces of your peers,br /Take a look at me,br /'Cause I could not care at all,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Do or die, you'll never make me,br /Because the world will never take my heart,br /Though you try, you'll never break me,br /We want it all, we wanna play this part,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Won't explain or say I'm sorry,br /I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar,br /Give a cheer for all the broken,br /Listen here, because it's who we are,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"I'm just a man, I'm not a hero,br /Just a boy who wants to sing his song,br /Just a man, I'm not a hero,br /I don't care,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"We'll carry on, we'll carry on,br /And though you're dead and gone, believe me,br /Your memory will carry on, you'll carry on,br /And though you're broken and defeated,br /Your weary widow marches on,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Do or die, you'll never make me,br /Because the world will never take my heart,br /Though you try, you'll never break me,br /We want it all, we wanna play this part,br /(We'll carry on)/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Do or die, you'll never make me,br /Because the world will never take my heart,br /Though you try, you'll never break me,br /We want it all, we wanna play this part,br /(We'll carry on)"/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"All the Gladers are silent the whole time I am singing. When I was done, the people came back and told us it was time to go to bed. None of us argued, we just got up and left. Teresa and I to the girls side, and the boys to theirs. At the last second I paused and ran back to Minho. I grab his arm and force him to turn around. I kiss him quickly and make a split second decision. br /"That dream that I had when I was saying goodbye to my friends, you were in it. When we said goodbye you asked me what the best part of all of it was, I didn't reply, so you answered for me and you know what you said. You said that the best part of getting our memories wiped was that we would get to fall in love all over again." I kiss him again. "I love you Minho." I say quietly before stepping back and jogging into my room that I now share with Teresa. I lay down in the bunk beside hers and try to fall asleep, without much luck. I hear Teresa mumbling and laughing and I wonder what she's /"Teresa?" I /"Yeah." She says, sounding a little out of /"Who are you talking to?" br /She freezes. "What do you mean?" br /"You keep mumbling and you laughed. I just thought that maybe you were talking to some imaginary friend or something."br /She pauses for a moment before saying, "I can trust you, right?"br /"Yeah. Of course you can."br /"I'm talking to Thomas." She says /"You mean the Thomas that is on the other side of the building with the other guys?" I ask /"Yes."br /"How does that work."br /"Telepathy." She says /"You mean, mind reading?"br /"Not quite. Telepathy is more like having a conversation with someone in your head and in theirs, whereas mind reading is.. well, mind reading."br /"Right.." I say, not quite /"You don't believe me. You think I'm crazy."br /I am about to reply with yes, but the more I think about it the more I realize that if I can have dreams of the future, it's not that crazy that she can use telepathy. "No." I say finally. "I think it's plausible."br /"Really?"br /"Yeah. I mean, I've been having dreams of the future and the past since before Chuck came into the Glade."br /"Dreams of the future?"br /"And the past. The ones of the past were memories that slipped through the block in my mind."br /"And what about the future?"br /"I'm not sure. WICKED must have some way of predicting the future and then plant them into my head while I was asleep."br /"Then they probably let those memories slip past." She says and I pause. She has a good point. br /"So whats with you and Thomas?" I /"I don't know. Whats with you and Minho?"br /"Touche. But seriously. You had all those Gladers practically drooling over you when you first arrived and you chose Thomas, the Greenie as your.." I pause, not sure what to refer to him as. "Best friend." I decide /"You jealous." She asks in a somewhat playful /"Not at all. I've got the one that I want. I was just wondering."br /"I don't know. I remembered him from before the Glade and he and I have that mind thing, so he just seemed like the person to go to."br /"Sounds reasonable." I say and she doesn't reply. Finally I decide that she must be asleep and I decide to get some sleep myself. /span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 24.48px;"_/spanbr style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 24.48px;" /span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 24.48px;"The song she sings is Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance./span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;" /p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;""span style="font-size: 11pt;"span style="color: #292929; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif;"When I was a young boy,/span/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"My father took me into the city,br /To see a marching band,br /He said, "Son, when you grow up,br /Would you be the savior of the broken,br /The beaten and the damned,"/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"He said, "Will you defeat them,br /Your demons and all the non-believers,br /The plans that they have made,br /Because one day, I'll leave you,br /A phantom to lead you in the summer,br /To join the Black Parade,"/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"When I was a young boy,br /My father took me into the city,br /To see a marching band,br /He said, Son, when you grow up,br /Would you be the savior of the broken,br /The beaten and the damned,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Sometimes I get the feeling,br /She's watching over me,br /And other times I feel like I should go,br /When through it all, the rise and fall,br /The bodies in the streets,br /And when you're gone we want you all to know,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"We'll carry on, we'll carry on,br /And though you're dead and gone, believe me,br /Your memory will carry on, we'll carry on,br /And in my heart, I can't contain it,br /The anthem won't explain it,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"A world that sends you reeling,br /From decimated dreams,br /Your misery and hate will kill us all,br /So paint it black and take it back,br /Let's shout out loud and clear,br /Defiant to the end we hear the call,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"To carry on, we'll carry on,br /And though you're dead and gone, believe me,br /Your memory will carry on, we'll carry on,br /And though you're broken and defeated,br /Your weary widow marches,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"On and on we carry through the fears,br /Disappointed faces of your peers,br /Take a look at me,br /'Cause I could not care at all,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Do or die, you'll never make me,br /Because the world will never take my heart,br /Though you try, you'll never break me,br /We want it all, we wanna play this part,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Won't explain or say I'm sorry,br /I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar,br /Give a cheer for all the broken,br /Listen here, because it's who we are,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"I'm just a man, I'm not a hero,br /Just a boy who wants to sing his song,br /Just a man, I'm not a hero,br /I don't care,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"We'll carry on, we'll carry on,br /And though you're dead and gone, believe me,br /Your memory will carry on, you'll carry on,br /And though you're broken and defeated,br /Your weary widow marches on,/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Do or die, you'll never make me,br /Because the world will never take my heart,br /Though you try, you'll never break me,br /We want it all, we wanna play this part,br /(We'll carry on)/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px; text-align: center;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"Do or die, you'll never make me,br /Because the world will never take my heart,br /Though you try, you'll never break me,br /We want it all, we wanna play this part,br /(We'll carry on)"/span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;"span style="font-size: 11pt;"All the Gladers are silent the whole time I am singing. When I was done, the people came back and told us it was time to go to bed. None of us argued, we just got up and left. Teresa and I to the girls side, and the boys to theirs. At the last second I paused and ran back to Minho. I grab his arm and force him to turn around. I kiss him quickly and make a split second decision. br /"That dream that I had when I was saying goodbye to my friends, you were in it. When we said goodbye you asked me what the best part of all of it was, I didn't reply, so you answered for me and you know what you said. You said that the best part of getting our memories wiped was that we would get to fall in love all over again." I kiss him again. "I love you Minho." I say quietly before stepping back and jogging into my room that I now share with Teresa. I lay down in the bunk beside hers and try to fall asleep, without much luck. I hear Teresa mumbling and laughing and I wonder what she's /"Teresa?" I /"Yeah." She says, sounding a little out of /"Who are you talking to?" br /She freezes. "What do you mean?" br /"You keep mumbling and you laughed. I just thought that maybe you were talking to some imaginary friend or something."br /She pauses for a moment before saying, "I can trust you, right?"br /"Yeah. Of course you can."br /"I'm talking to Thomas." She says /"You mean the Thomas that is on the other side of the building with the other guys?" I ask /"Yes."br /"How does that work."br /"Telepathy." She says /"You mean, mind reading?"br /"Not quite. Telepathy is more like having a conversation with someone in your head and in theirs, whereas mind reading is.. well, mind reading."br /"Right.." I say, not quite /"You don't believe me. You think I'm crazy."br /I am about to reply with yes, but the more I think about it the more I realize that if I can have dreams of the future, it's not that crazy that she can use telepathy. "No." I say finally. "I think it's plausible."br /"Really?"br /"Yeah. I mean, I've been having dreams of the future and the past since before Chuck came into the Glade."br /"Dreams of the future?"br /"And the past. The ones of the past were memories that slipped through the block in my mind."br /"And what about the future?"br /"I'm not sure. WICKED must have some way of predicting the future and then plant them into my head while I was asleep."br /"Then they probably let those memories slip past." She says and I pause. She has a good point. br /"So whats with you and Thomas?" I /"I don't know. Whats with you and Minho?"br /"Touche. But seriously. You had all those Gladers practically drooling over you when you first arrived and you chose Thomas, the Greenie as your.." I pause, not sure what to refer to him as. "Best friend." I decide /"You jealous." She asks in a somewhat playful /"Not at all. I've got the one that I want. I was just wondering."br /"I don't know. I remembered him from before the Glade and he and I have that mind thing, so he just seemed like the person to go to."br /"Sounds reasonable." I say and she doesn't reply. Finally I decide that she must be asleep and I decide to get some sleep myself. /span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;"span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 24.48px;"_/spanbr style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 24.48px;" /span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 24.48px;"The song she sings is Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance./span/p
p style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14.4px; line-height: 24.48px;" /p