FOREVER. newt

ten. brenda, xio, and jorge

"Brenda, are you okay?" Xio asked, now I finally knew what her name was— Brenda. For a split moment, it was just darkness, nothing else. Then, Brenda clicked on a flashlight, one I hadn't even known she'd had, and shined it on Xio.

The boy, who had been nothing but annoying and patronizing towards me does something that I never thought he had the heart to do— he hugged his sister. "What the hell took you so long?"

Thomas and I shoot each other a look. If Thomas was here.... and the escape routes blew up....

"What happened to them? Are they okay?" I question Brenda who shimmies herself out of her brother's grasp.

Instead of her answering me, it was Thomas. "They're all right, Nini. I saw them escape."

"All of them? Newt? Is he okay?" my voice creaks out, and I am suddenly reminded of my dehydration.

"Yeah," Thomas mutters tiredly, dusting debris off his jacket. Suddenly, a look of panic floods his face as he stood up. "No, no," Thomas huffed, "No, how are we gonna get back to the others?"

Grabbing the backpack she'd grabbed from before, Brenda shook her head. "Relax. I'm gonna get us out of here." Searching through the front pocket, she pulled out two objects. Carelessly, she tossed one of them over to me, a flashlight landing in my lap.

"That's not yours, by the way." she points out. "Give it to Xio."

Then why would she pass it to me? Grumbling, I threw the flashlight at Xio who was back to his cocky demeanor; as if he didn't just hug his sister. "Thanks."

"Why are you helping us?" Thomas suddenly asked, pulling my attention on him. I frowned, looking over at Brenda with just as much curiosity. I was definitely sure that they were gonna give us over to WICKED— why else were the helicopters there?

"Trust me," she groaned, "It's not my idea. Jorge seems to think you guys are our ticket to the Safe Haven. I wasn't really fond of bringing you, especially her. You must have said something really convincing to Jorge, because he was really set on selling you." she says snakily, her eyes drifting onto me with hatred.

Thomas, however, wasn't aware of the girl glaring at me. "Safe Haven?"

"You know, paradise." Brenda briefly glanced up at the two of us, "Safe from the sun, free of infection. Supposedly, the Right Arm's been taking kids there for years." Pulling on her backpack and groaning slightly in discomfort as she was helped by her brother to stand up.

"Immunes, anyway," Xio added bitterly, before pushing himself up to his feet. Then, Brenda went on thelp Thomas up to his feet. From the corner of my eye, I could see Xio offering me a hand but I stayed on the ground and held my hand up to Brenda to test my theory.

The girl glared at me, scrambling away with Thomas while I was left on the floor.

So she does hate me.

"What the hell are you doing? Get up on your ass." Xio snarks, forcefully pulling me upwards. I glare at the boy, but he ignores me and walks over to Brenda who was walking forward, shining her flashlight on a piece of wood.

"Wait, so you two know where that is?" Thomas asked, pulling up beside me.

"No," Brenda said, stepping forward. "But Jorge knows a guy. Marcus." she turned her flashlight every corner of the box, as if searching, before stopping, her breath hitching as if she'd found what she'd been searching for. Rushing forward, she crouched down and pulled it open as she spoke. "He use to smuggle kids up into the mountains."

I went back, smacking into Thomas as she threw the small piece of wood in my direction. Was she trying to kill me? What the hell was her problem?