The white page stared back at William, mocking him silently for his continued pauses and shaky grip on the pen. His indecision had prolonged the matter for longer than he would have liked. There were three letters he wanted to write: two apologies to his friends and Aris, and one to tell Newt what he couldn't in person.
Only Newt's was left to be written, and the time until midnight was slipping away from his grasp.
Some of his friends had tried to take him out of the corner where he had been for a couple of hours, but he refused, not telling them why, just that he needed time alone. Most respected his decision, though they never left to join the rest without assuring him for a hundredth time that he would be welcomed to join whenever he wanted.
He simply nodded, and waved them off, watching them go back to the fire where the large group had reunited since they had reached the Right Arm. Only Teresa and William were missing. And Thomas, after checking on William, couldn't do less for Teresa.
"Hey," said Aris, taking a seat next to him.
"Welcome back," greeted William, folding the papers, so his brother wouldn't have time to read a word. "Bored already? And here I thought you'd stay by Sonya's and Harriet's side a bit longer. It's been a while since you've seen them."
"It's been a long while since I could talk to you," Aris replied, shrugging his shoulders while disregarding his brother's attempts at making him go back. "Flor and Leen act different around Chuck and Minho. I guess you remembered something, didn't you?"
William nodded weakly. "You knew, right? We were constantly tested … They wanted us to kill the ones we loved."
"They weren't real," said Aris.
"Who cares? I remembered the twelfth test, Aris. And, by the looks of it, I had to be younger than thirteen. Thirteen." The grip on the papers increased without him even knowing, making the letters crumple. "That means I had to have those tests at least twice a year to get to the twelfth at thirteen. I had to kill people I loved twice every year, and then go out and kill Cranks? Actual people?"
"You never killed any of the illusions," his brother assured.
"That's the problem. I never killed them." William let go of the letters, letting them fall on his lap. "My group had to go through all that crap because of me. Because I couldn't just fake and be done with it. No, I had to be a heroic idiot and get myself in trouble. Sent to the darn Probation, whatever that is."
"They're all safe now." Aris grabbed his hand, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "We are safe."
"Yeah," William mumbled, his eyes landing on the letters, which he forced himself to ignore as he glanced into his brother's eyes. "I just need to write all my memories down, and I'll go back with the rest, alright? Everything is just … it's too much for me right now. I need to clear my head. And I need to do it alone."
After a quick hug, Aris walked back to the fire. His arrival made some turn around to look back at William. To their dismay, he wasn't joining them yet, much less would he any time soon. He seemed concentrated on writing something, but he never got to put the pen down and actually do it.
"How's he doing?" Mae asked.
"He's got a lot to think about," Aris replied, his eyes meeting with the ones from Group A left around the fire. "When he became a Crank, he got some memories back." He explained, knowing that the A's had no knowledge of William's reason to stay isolated. "None of them were pretty, I guess."
Newt's eyes instinctively glanced over at William, carrying a worried look that Mae couldn't ignore. Her mind was racing with thoughts and worries. From what William would be going through alone, to why would WICKED use Harriet against her and Henry simultaneously. She knew one had more importance than the other at that point, but it didn't seem like William would like it if she tried to check on him. So she let her mind keep rambling until he came around and felt like talking about his memories.
"And 'shuck'," Chuck replied to something Bea had asked, with a finger pointed to the sky as if he was trying to make a point. "And 'klunk', 'shuckface', 'slinthead'—"
"We get the idea," Leen interrupted the boy, rubbing her temple with a sigh. "The hell do you need so many weird words for?"
The boys glanced among themselves, but none answered. They simply sniggered at Leen's comment, while Minho raised his eyebrows at her, almost as if trying to mock her silently. If any were willing to give an answer, their attention was stripped away before they could.
"Hey," William greeted and tapped Newt on the shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"
The sun hid under the horizon as Newt got up, not only bringing the night upon them but also making odd mechanical sounds appear in the distance. Not a word was spoken. Everyone stayed put to listen, trying to decipher what was happening. Just as Vince and Mary got out of the medical tents, two helicopters showed up out of nowhere, firing at the tents that could potentially hold armour, blowing them up and whoever was around.
"Watch out!" Minho shouted, pulling Leen out of the way. "Run!"
"Get your weapons!" Vince commanded.
In the middle of the chaos, William managed to slip the letters into Newt's pocket without the boy noticing. People were running around everywhere, trying to evade those dressed in protective black armour that had been dropped in. Contrary to most in the Right Arm, they were armed with stun guns. No one was being killed, only brought to the centre of the compound, where anybody who had been in the Trials was forced on their knees right next to one another.
The jet-black intruders shot at a man right in front of the group, forcing everyone else to scatter. Between the pushing, running, and hiding, William lost sight of everyone else. He could only hear the shouts and constant gunfire filling the air. His breath was quick and shallow, a downside of having been a Crank for too long. His body's resistance was at worrying levels. At that pace, he wouldn't make it out of the advancing jet-black intruders' zone in time.
He fell to his knees as he ran, barely evading the electric device aimed at him, but hitting his head against the ground harshly. His eyes were overtaken by darkness for a split second. The cold, the fear, and the shouts became distant as his mind tried to tune back to reality.
Somewhere along the silence, a voice popped up unannounced, just like every other memory he had had so far.
"I guess this is goodbye," said his younger self. "Tomorrow morning, you won't even know who I am."
"I'll be back, I promise," Newt said.
"It'll take years. They made sure it would take years this time."
Tears bottled up in his eyes for no reason, though he quickly learned to ignore them as he got up. William ran through the compound, still having his and Newt's younger selves' conversation as a helpful distraction from the gunfire and yells. He hid behind some containers just as a person fell right next to him. Without having to stop to think, he immediately took the gun away from their hands and hid it in his holster, pulling his shirt over it to conceal it better. He got on his feet, ready to run anywhere, but there were no paths that an intruder wasn't blocking.
"Just remember that I—"
Two intruders cornered William against a flaming tent, forcing him to surrender and raise his hands. As if he had shown any signs of trying to escape, an intruder racked their electric gun and shot at him. William fell to his knees as the electric shocks danced around his body, forcing him to stay down.
"I love you."
William blinked his way back to reality. To his side, far away from him, he saw Vince shouting something before a blazing blue light sent everyone around him to the ground. He didn't get to watch much more, as an intruder took him by the arm and forced him to get up. They dragged him to the centre with many other people. The uneven ground made his feet stumble on air every few steps, bothering the intruder, who apparently had little patience.
The intruder halted next to the first row, pushing down William's shoulder, so he would fall on his knees by Minho's side. At least they left him alone after that, since there were others to retrieve, and countless people left to be forced to kneel.
"Where are the others?" William asked.
"Mae said something to Flor, and the next second, she, Chuck, and the rest were gone. Newt, Frypan, and I stayed to help Vince." Minho motioned with his head at William's left, where Newt, Harriet, and Frypan were being forced to kneel down. "Where did you run off to?"
"I lost sight of you while running," replied William, though his eyes were concentrated on Newt.
Before he could articulate a single word, an intruder dragged Sonya in by her scarf. Though she tried to resist, there was nothing she could do against them. Without giving any orders or uttering a word, she was forced to kneel beside Aris at the other end of their line. A scanner was pressed against the back of her neck, and the intruder read her number.
"B5."
Next was Aris.
"B1."
Then Harriet, Frypan, and Newt. And finally, it was William's turn.
His head was pushed down, and the sound of a scanner kept going, tracing the back of his neck for some seconds. As if unbothered by it, the intruder let go of his head and said, "no number."
While shrugging his shoulders to take the uncomfortable feeling off his skin, William raised his head, watching Janson walk over to him. His usual mocking smile was present on his face, like he knew he had the upper hand and was not worried in the least that he could ever lose it.
"No number, huh?" Janson said, halting in front of him. "Hello, William."
It was difficult, but William swallowed the urge to shoot at Janson. It wasn't the time to create a diversion, much less condemn himself before anybody could make it safely to the outer section of the compound. Instead, he looked up and forced a smile.
"Fancy seeing you again, Janson. Here to put kids back into misery with the excuse of a cure to make your little ego feel better, or does being a major slinthead help you sleep at night?"
Janson made an abrupt motion with his hand, and in no time, two intruders were grabbing William by his jacket and arms, forcing him to stand up. He wasn't sure what they wanted out of him, but somehow, watching Janson take a gun out of his holster surprised him.
"You've always caused trouble, William. Always the one to have the last word. If only you followed orders, this wouldn't happen to you. But that's exactly the problem. You can't follow orders." Without a prior warning, Janson left the gun in William's hands. "But we still have control over you. Soldier S5, aim at Subject A5's heart."
"No," mumbled William, forcing his body to stay in its place.
"No?" said Janson with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Alright, Soldier S5, kill Subject A5."
The grip on the gun, though shaky, became stronger, his finger sliding itself over the trigger. It wasn't pointing at Newt, but William knew he couldn't relax. Only one moment of distraction could get him to follow the order. He needed to stay strong. Fight it for as long as he could.
"I won't." His trembling voice didn't help to convey his message, but the gun lowering did.
"Then you'll be sent to Probation," Janson said. "This time it won't be as easy as the last time. Who knows if you'll survive?"
"It would be a shame if I died." The corner of William's lip carefully curved up, copying Janson's mocking smirk. "My existence created Group S. Wasn't that what you told me? Then, my death also disbands it. And that means no answer to all of WICKED's questions."
The smile on Janson's face fell, his eyes narrowing with a mix of hate and another emotion that was quite difficult to place. He took the gun away from William's grasp, putting it back in his holster while giving him a harsh stare. Without saying a word, Janson pressed a hand on William's shoulder and punched his stomach, knocking him back down to his knees.
"Not so brave anymore." Janson smiled, then turned to search for someone in the crowd. "Where's Thomas?"
"Right here." Thomas appeared with his hands raised up to his chest at the back end of the lines of people.
An intruder pushed Thomas forward, forcing him to walk up to Janson, who greeted him with an ominous smile. "Thomas," the Rat-Man said, before repeating the previous action, and punching Thomas in the stomach, making the boy drop to the floor right next to Minho. "OK."
Vince struggled to get up and help Thomas out, but an intruder prevented him from doing so. Much like everybody else, they couldn't move without either being shot or perhaps even killed.
"Why didn't you run?" Minho asked in a hushed tone.
"I'm tired of running," Thomas answered.
With a huff, William rubbed his forehead and turned to look at the two boys. "Very poetic."
As if the recent events had just been processed in his mind, Newt placed a hand on top of William's, diverting the boy's attention back to him. "Are you alright? What happened to you?"
"Mind control," William replied quietly, knowing he should have to elaborate, but preferred not to do it. "That's how WICKED gets what they want." William stared at Newt, deep down, afraid that it could be his last time doing so. "Newt, there's something I—"
A noise, louder than the helicopters, made its presence up in the dark sky. Slowly, but surely, it got near until it landed right in front of them. It was a Berg. One enormous at that, although it didn't seem like everyone in the Right Arm could fit there. Nevertheless, the mouth opened, revealing at least half a dozen armed intruders and, then, Chancellor Ava Paige.
"Is this all of them?" She asked Janson.
"Most of them," he answered immediately. "It'll be enough."
"Start loading them in," she commanded.
"OK, you heard. Let's go! Get them on!" Janson shouted, getting every intruder back to their respective jobs.
An intruder pulled Thomas up by his jacket's collar, and pushed forward, making him stand right in front of Chancellor Paige. As always, the wintry smile she could muster sent shivers down William's spine. His mind was begging him to run off, but he knew better than to do that. Neither would he do it with his brother, Newt, and half of his friends in the middle of danger.
"Hello, Thomas," Ava Paige said. Not a minute later, she turned to her right, where Teresa was being escorted to her, suspiciously nicely. "I'm glad you're safe."
Newt held a hand out for William to take, helping him up as they watched Teresa glance from Chancellor Paige to them. William pulled on Aris' hand, making both him and Sonya stand closer to the rest. He didn't like where things were going at all. And the last thing he wanted was for his brother and Sonya to get involved.
"Teresa?" Frypan breathed out, confused at his friend's presence right next to the woman.
"Wait, what's going on?" Newt asked.
"She's with them," was Thomas's answer.
Minho turned to look at him, just as the rest did. "Since when?"
Janson appeared behind the two women, placing a hand momentarily on Teresa's arm. "Oh, Teresa has always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good. Aris used to have it, too. Unfortunately, his brother is a bad influence." He gave William a harsh stare. "Once we restore her memories, it was only a matter of time."
"I'm sorry. I had no choice. This is the only way." Teresa tried to defend her point, but no one could sympathise with her at the moment. "We need to find a cure."
"What about the Immunes whose lives you're ruining, Teresa? What about those who have died trusting us to find this 'safe place' where we could be free and finally live for ourselves? Do they not matter?" said William, almost offended at how Teresa was talking, though something about her felt odd.
"We need to find a cure, William." Teresa took a step closer, her eyes softening for a second before her mouth opened once again to blabber an excuse to defend her position. "You told me once. Can't you remember that yet? You said you wanted to find a cure for Newt. That you wanted to have a future together. Don't you want that anymore?"
"Not like this." William shook his head, hardly keeping himself from walking away, even if that meant getting shot. "Not like this, Teresa. Nobody deserves to be treated like this."
"She's right, William. This is all a means to an end." Chancellor Paige then looked directly at Thomas. "You used to understand that, Thomas. 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 need more time."
'William, please. Please, listen to me.' Teresa's voice infiltrated his mind, something he did not appreciate at the moment. 'William, I can't—'
'Teresa?' He asked, worried at the abrupt halt. 'Teresa!'
Teresa's eyes widened, but her mouth was sealed shut. Her eyebrows furrowed and tilted her head at odd times. Still, no voice appeared in William's head, and she seemed to pick up on that quickly since her eyes constantly glanced from him to the mountains. She was trying to tell him something, though he couldn't understand past the initial idea that Teresa, who had just betrayed them and the entire Right Arm, was trying to tell him to escape to the ridge. Something he would never do under any circumstance.
Newt's grip on William's shoulder descended to his hand, trying to divert his attention from Chancellor Paige and Teresa to something else. He had seen a part of what William could do when angered, and, even if it was unlikely William would fall back into the Crank behaviour so soon, it would be better to prevent it from being unravelled.
"More blood," said Mary while jerking her arm away from an intruder's grasp.
The two women stared at each other as Mary stepped forward, facing Ava Paige. Although standing not far behind the group, she stopped in a deserted spot. The rest of her colleagues, even Vince, were being dragged away to who knew where, leaving her alone. Something that Vince did not like, and gave him enough determination to yank his arms back, forcing the intruder to let go of him.
"Hello, Mary," Chancellor Paige greeted. "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. But not this." Mary stopped to breathe in, not minding the fact that her conversation with Ava Paige was suspiciously peaceful. "At least my conscience is clear."
It could be his lingering jumpiness, or how blatantly obvious it was, but William couldn't help to notice Janson patting his holster. The Rat-man was staring at his gun way more than he should be. With the new information, the paused conversation made sense to William. Ava Paige was only a distraction for the next part of WICKED's mission; killing Mary.
There wasn't much time to act. Janson had the gun in his hand, awaiting an order or the right moment to shoot. William's hand detached itself from Newt's, driving the boy's attention to him. With a hand carefully sliding the gun he had found before to his back, William locked eyes with Newt.
"I'll be careful. It'll be fine, I promise," he mouthed, hardly any sound leaving his lips.
Newt gave him a quick nod, just as Chancellor Paige declared, "So is mine."
As soon as the words left Ava Paige's mouth, Janson raised his gun and aimed at Mary's chest. William didn't let him shoot. His bullet fired first, brushing past Janson's hand, causing the man to let go of the gun.
"You just tried to kill someone because they disagree with your cause," said William, pointing his gun from Janson to Ava Paige. "And you still want us to believe that you're not a monster?"