To Miles

All of a sudden, the rumbling of the helicopter got louder and deeper. It sounded almost like four helicopters were now closing in, making the pit in Hope's stomach get even worse. But from the sky, entering through a cloud, came one of the largest aircrafts anyone had ever seen. Thomas' friends remembered seeing the aircraft before: it looked big even hundreds of miles in the air. Still, it was nothing compared to how threatening it looked up close. It was so big that it needed four rotor blades to keep it in the air, and it looked as if nothing could damage it. Furthermore, when the aircraft started to land, the noise was so loud that it made the ground tremble; there was also a horrible dust storm caused by the hundred-mile-per-hour wind that this thing created. If anything, WICKED sure knew how to make an entrance.

But regardless of how shocking the aircraft's entrance was, it was nothing compared to who the aircraft was carrying. Seeing that woman walk out of the aircraft with a posy of men around her, made everyone's day get even worse. Ava Paige was wearing all white, her blonde hair was in a perfect bun, and the way she walked radiated authority and elegance. Even when she walked up to Janson to ask a question, her voice was as smooth as silk. "Is this all of them?"

"Most of them," Janson replied. "It'll be enough."

"Then start loading them in," Ava ordered, and in less than a second, WICKED soldiers started doing just that. They started pulling the kids to their feets before pushing them toward the aircraft. Ava Paige ignored their yells of anger, though, and focused her attention on Hope. The woman walked up to the scared-looking girl, a sad smile forming on her face. "Hope… I'm glad you're all right."

"A-Ava…" Hope could only whimper out her name in response. This was the first time in over a month that Hope had seen Ava. And yes, that wasn't a very long time, but after those years of seeing this woman every day, the month had felt like a year. A year's worth of things had happened to Hope during that month, too. "I…"

"I'm proud of you," Ava said with true sincerity. "You've exceeded my expectations. Well done." The woman then turned toward Thomas before motioning her hand upward. This made one of the soldiers yank the boy back up onto his feet. "Hello, Thomas."

"...You took my sister away from me," Thomas said with eyes full of hatred. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Understood," Ava remarked while her sad smile returned. That smile turned to relief, however, when an unexpected person walked forward. "Teresa. I'm glad you're safe."

"W-Wait, what?" Immediately after seeing Teresa stand beside Ava, Frypan stood up from where he knelt. "Teresa…"

"What the heck?" Minho huffed as he stood up as well. "This isn't what I think it is, right?"

Newt also stood up, his expression the same as his friends. "Woah, what's goin' on?"

"She's with them," Thomas finally answered, making Minho whip his head toward him.

"Since when?"

"Oh, Teresa's always had an evolved appreciation for the greater good," Janson chimed in proudly. "Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time."

Disbelief. Betrayal. Frypan, Newt, or Minho could believe it. They could only stare into Teresa's eyes, a slow anger growing within them. No, they didn't want to believe that this was true. Mara was bad enough, but Teresa too? How could a teenager just like them, who had gone through the same torture, chose the side that wanted to continue that torture? It didn't make any sense, and yet the senselessness had happened. Even Thomas, who had known before everyone else, still hadn't figured it out. He thought that… Well, he thought that Teresa was… Thomas was angry, but he was so much more heartbroken.

"Huh. Would you look at that?" Mara questioned as she walked up to stand beside her mother. "They hate her."

"I-I'm sorry." Hearing Mara say that made Teresa's heart burn even more, and she hated seeing that look in her friends' eyes. She didn't want to hurt them; honestly, she just wanted to help. "I had no choice! This is the only way! We have to find a cure! I-I can't keep watching people-"

Before Teresa could finish, she abruptly felt something warm grace the skin underneath her eye. Hesitantly, Teresa looked to her left, where she found Hope staring down at her pointer finger. On her finger, Hope could see the glisten of the teardrop she had wiped from Teresa's eye. Hope's eyes found Teresa's, a calm understanding within them. "If you're so sure, then why are you crying?"

"I…" Teresa could only shake her head. "I-I don't…"

"She's still right, though," Ava countered when Teresa couldn't. "This is all just a means to an end. You used to understand that, Thomas." Thomas' jaw clenched even harder. "And no matter what you think of me, I am not a monster. I'm a doctor. I swore an oath to find a cure, no matter the cost! I just… I just need more time."

"More blood!" It was Mary's turn to enter the scene. Thomas looked behind him to see a gun pointed at Mary's head, but with no one holding her, she was able to step forward.

"Hello, Mary," Ava greeted her old friend. "I hoped we'd meet again. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances."

"I'm sorry about a lot of things, too," Mary stated. "But not this. At least my conscious is clear."

Ava's expression went blank. "So is mine."

BANG! The sound of a gun went off - it echoed across the mountain tops and into the sky. Every single person started snapping their heads around, trying to see who shot the gun or who the gun had hit. Vince was the first to figure it out, and he was the one who caught Mary in his arms.

"Mary?! Mary!" Down on his knees, Vince's voice was breaking. He tried to stop the bleeding, shake her awake, or anything he could think of to help. But the only response he got were Mary's dead, lifeless eyes. The sight almost made Vince throw up. "NO!"

Another death. The death of another person that Hope cared about. However, unlike Vince, Hope's grief was silent. Her sadness was the tears falling down her cheeks, and her heart squeezing in her chest. This hurt. Everything hurt, because everyone was suffering. Right now, everyone that Hope cared about was suffering, and she didn't know what to do. Even worse - the thing that made Hope feel like the worst person in the world - was the fact that she couldn't find it within herself to be mad. Not at Ava, not at Mara, not even at Teresa: the anger simply wouldn't come. Hope was just… heartbroken. She wanted to make things right, to help those who were suffering. But, again, she couldn't. And when she tried to blame those who had caused the suffering, Hope just felt even more heartbroken.

What a horrifying world they lived in.

"Nice shot, Janson," Mara complimented and then glanced over at a soldier beside her. "Do it now."

While everyone was still shocked by what had just happened, that same soldier suddenly grabbed both of Hope's wrists from behind. Hope let out a yelp of surprise, while also instinctively trying to free herself from the unwanted grasp. But before she could do much, she abruptly felt metal handcuffs tightly snap her wrists and an arm wrap around her neck. Sadly, Hope wasn't a match to a man twice her size with years of combat training, who now also had her in a pretty nasty chokehold. At the same time, though, that scene made four certain boys explode with rage.

"Let her go!" Thomas, Minho, Newt and Siggy each snapped, but they too were reprimanded in under a second. The moment they tried to get to Hope, four WICKED soldiers were there to grab them and stop them. Nonetheless, their furious glares remain.

"If you even try to hurt her too…" Minho growled. "So help me God."

"I swear," Siggy scowled, "if I get outta this alive, you guys are gonna be the first people I unalive."

"Again with the denial!" Janson scoffed, but he had an amused smirk on his face. "You know you can't win, so why do you try? Exactly like Teresa, Hope was always going to come back to WICKED… where she belongs."

"It is truly sad how close-minded you boys are," Mara added. "You're so distracted by hating us that you can't see what is right in front of you. There is no other place for us in this world than with WICKED, especially when it comes to Hope."

"Bloody hell…" Newt let out a scoff, and Hope's eyes widened upon seeing the look in his eyes. She had never seen this look before: it almost looked like… controlled rage. He was angry, obviously, yet instead of getting lost in the anger, he was able to use it to his advantage. "You still think that you're in control here, don't you? Well, aren't you more bloody insane than I thought you'd be."

"Tch," Mara clicked her tongue, "and you are?"

"I'm nobody," Newt said with a shrug. "I'm just the person that's gotta tell you that Hope's not your little toy anymore. You don't control her, Mara. You've lost."

"You need to be flawless."

In Mara's past…

"Nobody can love a loser."

She had never lost.

"Take her away," Mara hissed, lifting her arm to point right at Hope. "Take her away so she'll never see her friends again."

"NO!" Once again, the four boys tried to retaliate, yet it seemed that they truly couldn't escape the inevitable. Whatever they did, WICKED merely held them back from what they wanted. From who they wanted, and Thomas… Thomas couldn't lose Hope again. He'd rather die than let that happen again. Hence, right before Hope could be taken away from him, Thomas somehow managed to elbow the soldier holding him, escape his grasp, and then take out… the bomb from his pocket. "GET BACK! Everyone, GET BACK!"

"HOLD!" Unlike his soldiers, Janson saw the bomb and immediately stopped the soldiers from firing their guns at Thomas. "Hold your fire!"

"Let her go, or I'm gonna do it!" Thomas warned the entire mountain range. "Let them all go!"

"T-Thomas…" Hope whimpered, her throat still being choked. "I'm sorry."

"You don't want to do this!" Janson continued to try to calm the situation. "Thomas, you really don't want to do this!"

"Just let them go!" Thomas continued his own commands. "Let them all go!"

"You know I can't do that!" Ava argued, prompting Teresa to do the same.

"Thomas, please stop! I made a deal with them! They promised! They promised we'd be safe! All of us!"

"Oh," Thomas scoffed, "and I'm supposed to trust you now?!"

"It's true!" Ava furthered. "It was her only condition!"

Thomas gripped the bomb even harder. "Shut up!"

"Everything can go back to the way it was!" Ava tried harder. "You can be with Hope again! Together! And do you really want her to die?! Do you want all of them to die?!"

"I'd listen to her, Thomas," Mara threatened, yet her expression was still very blank. This situation wasn't scaring her at all. "You're acting irrational. This will only make things worse."

Despite the arm choking her throat, Hope had to smile upon seeing Frypan, Minho, and Newt walk up to stand beside Thomas. They had so much faith in him. So much trust. Hope didn't see a single ounce of doubt in their eyes.

"We're with you, Thomas," Newt stated. "Until the very end."

"N-No…" Teresa cried.

"Don't," Ava warned.

"Do it, Thomas," Minho said. "We're ready."

Siggy placed his hand onto Thomas' shoulder. "We're with you, man."

"Thomas!" Hope called out to her brother, causing his eyes to instantly find hers. "Remember! Even if there's miles of land between us, we'll still be together… Forever."

"...We're not going back there." Thomas had no more doubt in his mind. He looked back into Ava's eyes, sadness swirling within them. "It's the only way."

…

Well…

…

There's a whole other book…

…

And I think we've all watched the movie, so…

…

Jorge to the rescue!

…

Seconds before Thomas detonated the bomb, yet another rumbling noise was heard. This time, however, it wasn't a helicopter or a ginormous Berg or any other kind of flying object. This time around, it was just Jorge in a truck. And Jorge in a truck was as terrifying as Griever, because he pretty much became one with the machine. From a ledge up above, Jorge's truck flew off the edge and violently slammed onto the ground below. The shock of it all gave everyone enough time to free themselves from WICKED's grasp; Vince started rallying his people to get any weapon they could find, while the four boys found a window to take down the soldiers holding them. Jorge's crazy idea had saved them yet again. Well, except for one person, who sadly did not benefit from Jorge's entrance.

"Hope." Just then, Mara was standing right in front of Hope. "I hope you know that this doesn't change anything."

Hope felt a sting at the top of her neck… before the world went black.

Explosions, guns, more guns, shouting, more shouting, and everything else that somebody needed for an epic battle scene. Thomas had thrown his bomb at a group of WICKED soldiers, Vince had found himself man-handling a truck gun, Brenda was up on a ledge sharp shooting, Jorge was doing Jorge things, and WICKED themselves had even started retreating back into their Berg or helicopters. That last part, though, wasn't a completely good thing, because by the time everyone had gotten the high ground, Hope was already gone. And once Thomas had gotten over the explosion that had just happened directly beside him, his first instinct was to find Hope. But when he saw her lifeless body being carried onto the large aircraft, he felt lifeless as well.

"They took her!" Thomas yelled to his friends. "They have her!"

Siggy's heart dropped. "No!"

"There's no way…" Newt muttered, shaking his head. There were already tons of meters between them and there were soldiers everywhere. "W-We can't get to her."

"But we can try to stop them!" Minho acknowledged, prompting his three friends to snap their heads backwards. And upon seeing a gun in Minho's hand, they quickly stepped out of its way. "Run back! Hide behind the boxes if you need to!"

With Minho protecting them, Newt and Siggy and Thomas each started moving away from where WICKED was fleeing from. The soldiers were still firing at the camp, trying to stop anyone who tried to stop them. So when they noticed a teenage boy shooting at them, they naturally were going to shoot back. And Minho wasn't moving very fast, since half of his attention was on hitting a target. A certain soldier noticed this, so he raised his gun, aimed it right at Minho, and then pulled the trigger. It was going to hit him. There was no way that Minho could dodge it in time, unless two certain people… finally came back from the dead.

"MINHO!" Chuck bellowed as he rammed into Minho's body. "MOVE!"

In the nick of time, Chuck managed to push Minho's body out of the way. The two of them fell to the ground, and when the older boy saw Chuck laying beside him, he let out scoff. "Chuck…?! Where in the world have you-?!"

"...GAH!" On the opposite side of the playing field, the guard that had tried to shoot Minho let out an unexpected scream of pain. This had been caused by a hound covered in black fur, who had sprung from the darkness and dug his teeth into the soldier's arm.

"Hugo, come!" Ignoring Minho's confusion, Chuck jumped back up onto his feet and ordered Hugo to come back. Then, once the dog was safely beside him, Chuck took out a metal ball from his pocket. He lifted his hand with a gulp. "This better work, Jorge!"

Chuck pressed a button on the ball before chucking it at a group of guards still firing at the Right Arm. And when the ball hit the ground, it exploded into hot flames that could burn through the toughest of metals. Though, Chuck had to admit that the explosion was much bigger than he was expecting. Jorge even said that it was called 'a baby bomb'! Still, Chuck took the distraction as their ticket out, so he hurriedly turned around to grasp Minho's wrist. "C'mon, man! We gotta go!"

Seeing Chuck pull Minho away, the three other boys had no other choice. There was a wall of bullets, fire, and death between them and Hope. There was nothing they could do to help her - they'd just kill themselves in the end. Thus, Frypan, Minho, Newt, and Thomas followed to where Chuck was leading them. They hid themselves behind a wall of cargo boxes, which were directly beside Vince's trunk gun that was still firing shot after shot. They were going to win. Thomas knew that they had managed to once again outrun WICKED. This was supposed to be good. This was supposed to make him happy.

But Hope wasn't with him. She wasn't with any of them. Instead, she was standing beside the people who had separated them. Again. Thomas couldn't be happy. Newt couldn't be happy. Minho couldn't be happy. Siggy couldn't be happy. None of them could be happy when Hope had been taken by the ones who had caused her so much pain.

"W-Wait, guys?" As the Berg's large hatch door closed, Chuck had finally noticed what they had lost. "That's not… Th-That can't be-"

"We lost her," Newt breathed while hitting his forehead against the box in front of him. "I lost her…"

In the end, there were no winners.

There were only the empty spaces unoccupied by the ones they'd lost.

For years Hope hadn't been in their lives. They lived most of their childhood and teenage years without her in it, after all. But during those many years, none of them could recall ever truly living. Chuck, Frypan, Minho, Newt, and Thomas remembered only living to survive. They got through every test, every day, because they wanted to live long enough to win against WICKED. And they had. With the sun rising over the horizon, almost as if to congratulate them, those five boys had managed to escape WICKED - they had won against them. Their years and years of hard-worked survival had paid off. They should have been happy. Ecstatic. Over the moon.

But they weren't, because Hope wasn't free. She had taught them that there was more to life than just surviving. That life could be about laughter, joy, and something to look forward to. That, even if they weren't free, their lives were still worth living. Hope had mentally freed those boys from WICKED. She showed them how it felt to have their lives be completely wanted by someone. So no, finally winning against WICKED meant nothing. Their bodies may have been physically freed from WICKED, but because the person who had freed their minds wasn't there, they felt so...

Hope had freed them, so why didn't she get to be free, too?

It just felt wrong.

Chuck, Frypan, Minho, Newt, and Thomas… felt trapped.

"What do we do now…?" Frypan mumbled, sitting on a piece of rubble.

"What is there even to do?" Minho scoffed.

"Well, we pick up what's left of us," Vince replied as he knelt beside one of his fallen friends. "We stick to the plan. We get you kids to the Safe Haven." The man then stood up and gazed out at the equally fallen camp. "Then we start over, I guess."

"...Thomas." Chuck, who was sitting beside Thomas, showed him a worried stare. "W-We can't, right? We can't just… start over."

Nobody was going to be able to move on from this, especially not Thomas. He couldn't live a happy life by forgetting about Hope and 'starting over.' It was impossible. Thus, Thomas picked up his backpack and stood up. "I'm not going with you."

"What…?"

"I can't leave Hope again," Thomas said in response to Vince's bafflement. "I can't let her be alone again. There's no way I can live with that."

"Hey, kid, look around you! WICKED just kicked our ass!" Vince chided. "You need to think about where you're headed."

"I'm not askin' anyone to come with me," Thomas remarked with a shrug. "I'd rather go alone than not at least try to save her. Again."

"I get that, but…" Vince shook his head. "This is in-"

"I'm in," Newt unexpectedly agreed. He was sitting beside Minho, Hugo's whimpering body lying sadly in his lap; Newt's eyes were barren of anything but unhappiness. "I don't care if it's stupid, or if it bloody kills us. I promised Hope that I'd always be there for her. I won't betray her."

"H-Hold up a second," Minho interjected. "I get Thomas, but you, Newt? I want to save Hope as much as you all, and I know I'm not even close to the voice of reason in this group, but… Isn't it impossible?"

"More like suicide," Jorge added.

"More like stupid," Brenda furthered.

"Maybe," Thomas said, yet his eyes didn't lose any of their determination. "But I know what I'm supposed to do now. It's not just about Hope. It's about all of us. It's about everyone WICKED has ever taken, everyone they will take. They'll never stop… They'll never stop, so I'm gonna stop them." Thomas nodded to himself. "I'm gonna kill Ava Paige."

"...I have to admit," Harriet walked up to stand beside Vince, "I'd like some revenge."

Vince's eyes left Harriet and found Thomas' once more. He knew this was insane. The man knew that it was almost impossible to do what Thomas was suggesting. However, there was this look in Thomas' eyes… And that look made Vince's eyes widen with shock. There wasn't only hatred or malice in his eye, nor was there only sadness or grief. Then, Vince's eyes found Chuck still sitting beside Thomas, and he saw the same look in his younger eyes. Vince looked at Frypan, Minho, and Newt, each of them having the same exact look in their differently-colored eyes as well. Vince thought that they'd be angry and extremely sad over what had happened. It was natural for them to feel such things after losing someone they cared about.

Still, Vince didn't only see that anger or that sadness in their eyes…

He also saw…

"I know you have scars, Vince, but…"

Suddenly, Vince heard her voice in his head.

"I want you to show them to me."

He hadn't heard her voice for so long.

"Show them to me, and I will soothe them."

Layla.

"Because scars can easily be reopened, but if there's someone there to stitch them back up for you, then they won't hurt as much."

Vince saw this light. This life. Chuck, Frypan, Minho, Newt, Thomas: they had this light within their eyes. Realizing this, Vince's previous realization had come back to him. Those five boys weren't like the other immunes that the Right Arm had saved, because they had already been saved. They had found a healer in Hope. They had found a home in her. She was the person who had stitched up the years of scars that WICKED had given them. And looking into their eyes now, Vince could see a will to fight and a will to live. Someone who could bring life back into people, was someone worth saving. Vince had once taken life out of the people he cared most about, so if he could help save someone like Hope, then… then he was ready to take the plunge.

"That's a good speech, kid," Vince stated. "So, what's your plan?"

"Before that, there's something else I need to say." All of a sudden, Newt chimed back into the conversation. His expression hadn't changed, but there was this added regret to his tone. Whatever Newt was about to say next, it wasn't going to be good. "There's something that… you guys need to know about."

"Like what…?" Chuck asked, causing Newt to let out a long sigh.

"Hope didn't tell you… everything that happened in her past."

A/N: Since Chuck is a canon divergence, and Hugo is an OC, I thought they'd be the perfect candidates to make another canon divergence. ;+)