STATIC → newt , tmr [EDITING ; VERY SLOW UPDATES]

chapter vii

"Does anyone know where those bloody shots came from?" Newt asked.

Tiago peeked his head back up to the window of the car again. He clutched his bow tightly, looking through the window to the top of the canyon. Tiago knew a bit about snipers, and the most basic knowledge was that they had to be high up. There wasn't much place else to hide in this narrow canyon. Tiago narrowed his eyes when he saw a glint from the sun. Bingo. He rose a little higher, to the roof of the car, and pulled back. There was no way his bow had enough power to reach the top of the canyon, but he had to try. If it meant buying them time to move, he'd do anything.

Another shot fired. He ducked immediately, then heard a bullet whoosh past his head. He let out a deep breath.

"Everybody, get set to sprint back to the truck!" he heard Jorge call out. "And hold your ears!"

Tiago did exactly as he said. He shouldered his bow again, slipping the arrow back into his quiver. He turned himself in preparation to run back to the station wagon. He waited for whatever Jorge had planned, but then he heard a different voice.

"I said drop it!"

Tiago looked back and saw two women standing behind Thomas and Jorge.

"On your feet. Let's go." Jorge and Thomas slowly rose from the car they had hidden behind. "Let's go!" the woman demanded loudly. "Move! Back up!"

"Easy," Jorge tried gruffly.

"You three over here, now," the woman said, pointing her rifle at Newt, Minho, and Tiago.

"Come on, let's go, on your feet," the other blonde woman said, moving towards Aris, Brenda, Frypan and Teresa.

"Don't be stupid, move," the black woman said when she saw Minho's hesitation.

Tiago raised his hands and moved closer to Jorge. He felt Newt move next to him, the blond's raised arm brushing against Tiago's own.

"Slowly," the blonde woman said.

The group huddled together, all hands raised. Tiago had lowered his head slightly. He knew there were still snipers above them somewhere. If these women were in charge of those snipers, he knew they were in trouble.

"Aris?"

Tiago jerked his head up. His gaze shifted to Aris. When he looked back at the black woman, she had yanked the scarf down from around her mouth.

"Oh my god, Harriet?" Aris exclaimed.

"God," the black woman, Harriet, breathed out. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around Aris. "What the hell are you doing here?" Tiago watched the blonde woman remove her scarf as well, staring in disbelief at Aris' frame. Harriet pulled away from Aris, cupping his face with her hands. Aris' gaze settled on the blonde woman.

"Sonya," he said, and as if on command, the blonde threw her arms around him as well.

"Aris, you're lucky we didn't shoot your dumb ass," she said, emotion thickening her voice.

"You alright man?" Harriet asked him.

"Uh, what's happening?" Minho asked before anyone else could comment. Aris turned to look at the group again.

"We were in the Maze together," he said, a gleeful smile taking over his face.

Harriet stepped away, putting her fingers to her mouth and letting out a loud whistle.

"We're clear, guys, come on out!"

Tiago watched as, at the top of the canyon, at least nine snipers stood up, shouting directions at each other. He raised his eyebrows, turning to look at Newt again. The blond met his eyes and raised his own eyebrows. Tiago leaned down and murmured in his ear.

"Well this is an interesting development."

― ➶ ―

y'all this is nearly 3,000 words lolol. i wrote this in a day and a half, can you believe?? comments really do keep me motivated to write lmao, so i really appreciate all the people saying how invested in this story they are.

i'll say right now that there's going to be a bit of heavy stuff in the next chapter. i've planned out so many ways to explain tiago's past/childhood and i have finally settled on one specific one, but there's a bit of questionable things involved before we get there. i'll put a warning at the beginning of the chapter as well, but i thought i'd disclose that right now.

anyway, i hope you enjoyed the chapter!! i'm really proud of myself for keep this up to date, like 3 updates within the same month?? go me :D

see you in the next chapter!!

p.s. this is once again not proofread. none of these chapters really are, i just get very excited at finishing them and publish them immediately, so sorry about any continuity or grammar errors!