Narrator- The Gladers began exploring, having noticed people had lived here. They grabbed extra clothes and anything important they might need, throwing it all into bags. Minho and Thomas split from the group, hoping for signs of life and a way to turn on the power. When everyone else was packed and ready to go, they all waited for their friends to return. Then the lights turned on, and the group glanced around, hearing screams. They saw Thomas and Minho running towards them, yelling at their friends to run. Then they noticed they were being chased, and booked it, trying to stay together as much as possible. They all ran for what felt like hours, until they finally found a door, but it was locked or stuck. Fry, Thomas, and Minho tried their hardest to open it, scarcely making it in time before they were caught. Winston ended up getting grabbed, but saved by the others, and they ran until they found shelter.

The group stayed quiet, turning off their flashlights, huddled together, as they listened to the horrible screeches of the monsters that had once been people. After some time, the Gladers fell asleep. The next morning, when they were sure it was safe, they began their journey. They glanced about at the large, ruined city, wondering what had happened, praying the entire world wasn't the same way. Then Thomas had them stop and listen for something. As the sound got closer, Thomas told everyone to hide. They glanced up at the sky, seeing three aircraft slowly making their way, looking for them. As they continued their journey, climbing steep hills of rubble and sand, they finally saw mountains in the distance, their destination. Then Winston collapsed. His friends knew he could no longer walk, so they all fashioned a kind of stretcher to pull him in, occasionally carrying him themselves whenever they went up or down hills.

After some time, a storm began, harsh winds blowing hot sand everywhere. They pushed on, trying to find shelter. By the time they found it, the storm began to cease, slowly. Everyone collapsed, getting sand out of their shoes or hair, hydrating as much as they could without wasting water. Thomas went out by himself to see the distance from them and the mountains. Teresa joined him, commenting that they seemed to be getting further away. Then she and Thomas talked about her reoccurring memories, that Wicked had done something to her. And then she suggested they all go back.

Thomas- "The hell do you mean go back? After everything they did to us?" Teresa tried to explain herself, but she wasn't making any sense. "Everything was fine until you…" she began but stopped. I was getting nervous and slightly angry now. "Teresa, what aren't you telling me?" "Yeah, Teresa," Julia said, walking up behind us, a dark look on her face as she rolled up her sleeves, looking ready to fight. "What aren't you telling us?" she hissed in Teresa's face. Teresa looked terrified of her, but it was different from usual; she started shaking slightly and looked her up and down like she'd never seen Julia before. I went to step forward and pull Julia away, but then we heard a gunshot and the guys yelling. The three of us ran back, and we saw Winston, struggling to breathe. They told us he just woke up and grabbed the gun. I went to check on him, but he retched and collapsed. It reminded me of Ben before they banished him. No, not another one, I begged silently.

"It's spreading," Winston croaked, lifting his shirt. Julia whimpered next to me, and I almost threw up seeing the ugly black veins and misshapen skin. He begged us to kill him, begging us to make sure he didn't become one of those monsters from last night. Then Newt, of all people, slowly took the gun. Julia placed a hand on his chest, looking at him like she was in pain. He removed her hand, then knelt next to Winston and handed him the gun. The two said their goodbyes, and then everyone else did the same, until it was just me and Julia. Julia knelt down and Winston managed a pained smile. "So long, Princess," he whispered. She kissed his head, then walked away, crying silently, and running after Newt. I walked away, joining the others, and we all seemed to drag ourselves away. Then we heard the gun, and we stopped for a moment. I noticed there was a large gap in front of Aris, as if no one wanted to fill the space Winston once occupied. And we walked on.

I have no idea how much time had passed, but the sun was setting, all but gone, so we took shelter and started looking for things to burn for a fire. We pondered Winston's injury; confused. We thought we were all meant to be immune, that's what Paige had said. "If he got infected, we should assume the rest of us can too," Newt said, his voice monotone, his face impassive. Fry, emotional, actually said he missed the Glade. Julia stiffened next to Newt, and he pulled her close. That's when I had a thought. "Guys, you remember when Julia had that gun pointed at Janson? And how freaked out he got when people tried to go after her?" Everyone looked at me, then at Julia. Newt sat up and pulled her closer, as if shielding her. Julia looked at me confused. "Yeah, so? You trying to say something, Thomas?" "Julia, he was terrified. He said you couldn't be touched; did no one find that weird?" "Tommy, I think we were all too busy freaking out over the fact she had someone at gunpoint to worry about that," Newt said. I was confused as to why he sounded angry. "He's right, though," Julia said, holding Newt's hand. "They had no problem grabbing you guys after your fake freak-out, so why am I special?" Newt's eyes widened and looked back and forth between the two of us. "I cannot believe the two of you are getting along, or whatever this is." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Nothing we can do about it, though. Not like we can ask, you know?" I nodded, apologizing for bringing it up. "I didn't mean anything by it. You know that, right?" I said to her, but also looked at Newt. They both nodded.

I walked off to be by myself, feeling guilty for dragging them all into this mess. Then Newt came over to check on me. He told me I couldn't give up, that he wouldn't let me. That if it weren't for me, we'd all be in an even worse situation and we'd be done for. We smiled at each other, and I felt so bad for him. I know he's not weak, but he's so perfect, it wasn't fair to him to go through all this. Julia, too. They were both too perfect, too sweet and caring, for this messed up world. Maybe that's why they're so close. I glanced at Julia over my shoulder, seeing her rest her head on Minho's shoulder. "Tommy," Newt called to me. I looked at him and he had a weird look on his face. "Is there something you're not telling me?" he asked. I was confused. Then he nodded his head over to Julia, and I almost burst out laughing. "Newt, I don't have a death wish! Are you nuts? What even gave you the indication that I'm into her?" His face changed, and he shrugged. "She's gorgeous," he said. "Yeah, and she kind of hates me, or did you forget? The number of times she's threatened me isn't a turn on, it's a fear factor."

Newt chuckled and shook his head, glancing back at her. "So, you were into her?" I asked. He looked at me and nodded. "We all were, you can't blame us. But I was the only one that acted on it, as you heard." I nodded, remembering the words Gally flung at them; years ago, he had seen Newt kiss her, but they stayed friends. "What happened?" He sighed. "It took me a week of her being with us that I realized I was jealous of Gally, and that I wanted her." "One night we were just sitting in the woods and the moment just felt right. I was at war with myself, actually. But I took the chance and prayed she didn't hate me after, that I didn't ruin our friendship." "How long did it take until you got over her?" I asked. He shrugged. "Not sure, few weeks, maybe a month. I couldn't tell you. But when I kissed her and nothing happened, I knew it was because of Gally, not just because she wasn't into me, but because she always wanted him." I noticed Julia looking at me, and she raised an eyebrow. I discreetly shook my head "no", knowing what she meant, and she nodded. "I'm glad you're starting to understand her, though."

I chuckled. "It's hard, but we're getting there. I'm hoping we can end up friends after all of this; she's cool when she's not wishing me dead." He smiled at me. "You should talk to Minho about it; he's the only one that understands that kind of dynamic with her." I laughed. "He was avoiding her, did you realize?" I asked. He sighed and looked over at them. "You can't blame him; he killed Gally. I'm shocked they're sitting with each other like that. Guess deep down she knows it's not fully his fault." "Yeah. Weel, we should get some sleep," I said, standing and holding my hand out to pull Newt up. When he was on his feet, I realized how close we are. We looked at each other, neither of us moved, then we stepped back and went over to the fire. Julia was smirking at us, walked over and laid down between us. She was whispering to Newt, and he scoffed at whatever she said, then took her hand to hold and closed his eyes. Eventually, we all fell asleep.

**In Thomas' Dreams**

Note- Thomas is seeing this happen, not just dreaming. So, he's actually there in the dream, like a double

I was walking through a facility, apparently looking for Paige, to give her some reports she asked for. The dream shifted, and I was in a different room. Paige was speaking to someone on the phone. Whoever it was, Paige was frowning, but her voice was sweet as she spoke. She seemed to be consoling the person. Whoever it was, she said that she would see them later, and not to worry. "Doctor?" She turned to me, holding her hands out for the reports. "Problems?" I asked, gesturing to the phone. "Oh, no. Just giving someone bad news. I was informing someone of a death." "My condolences. Someone you know catch the virus?" She nodded. "Mary did. The doctor I worked with; you met her a few times." I nodded. I walked over to the desk while the other me continued speaking, noticing the picture frames. Some of them were blurred, but one was of Ava and another woman holding a baby.

I woke up, groaning as I tried to get comfortable. Why the hell would I remember that, I wondered. Sometimes I would get random memories back, so this isn't new, but still, that was weird. I hated when it happened, I hated being reminded that I once worked for Wicked. I looked over and noticed Julia watching me, one eye barely open. "You good?" she whispered. I shrugged. "Memories or bad dreams?" she asked. "Memory, but nothing important. Just random crap," I told her. I noticed she had her arms wrapped around herself, and once again, I felt bad for her. Only a few days ago, she'd slept peacefully, being held by someone she loved. Now, she had to sleep alone while running for her life. If it wasn't so terrible, I would laugh at just how bad I felt. I hated Gally for killing Chuck, I hated the asshole that he was, but I can't put that on Julia. I reached out a finger and tucked it around one of hers. Newt was sleeping, so he couldn't comfort her, and I really wanted to make an effort with Julia. She looked at me like I was dumb, but she didn't pull away. We both laughed, quietly. "Go to sleep, shank," she said, yawing and closing her eyes. I smiled and let sleep take over.

**A/N: I really enjoy writing the odd, blooming relationship between my OC and Thomas. Because she still doesn't trust him 100% and you can't blame her, but the OC and Thomas are both bonding through pain; they've both lost someone they cared about and it's just one big mess. Now, about the dream: this is 100% my own scene that I've created for plot. Since this is a fanfic, authors are allowed to make up their own scenarios and plots, even if they're following plots of actual books and/or movies. Don't worry, there's a point to it!