Ticking Time Bomb [THE SCORCH TRIALS]

CHAPTER FOUR

           "I got invited too, so I figured that I should've went," Ingrid scratched the back of her neck anxiously, her mind telling her to exit immediately. A blush had begun to make its way onto her cheeks, definitely not going unnoticed by the others present. Luckily, no one brought it up, and she let out a small puff of air that signaled relief.

           "Let's just keep our heads low, and try not to draw much attention to ourselves―"

            Newt's sentence hadn't even finished yet before Thomas slammed his hands on the table, standing up from his seat beside Ingrid. He hid his face as he walked towards the door that the few had been talking about a few moments ago, and because Ingrid felt that it was her duty to protect him, she ran straight after him. She was flanking behind as the rest of the group found it in themselves to stand up as well and race towards their friend. Ingrid could see the huge commotion that Thomas caused from where she stood, and since she knew that she needed to stop him, she pushed past Newt and faced Thomas directly. "Hey, hey! Officer, I know him!"

The two officers turned to face her, and she nervously exhaled a small breath that she didn't realize she had been holding, "You know him, Clearwater?"

"Yes. He's my responsibility, and I let him off his leash, alright? I'm sorry," Ingrid muttered, causing Thomas to raise his eyebrows at the mention of the word 'leash.' His blood boiled at the thought of being just Ingrid's responsibility, and the fact that he hadn't seen Teresa in a little while didn't help the fact that he was utterly deprived of happiness. All his anger went into him as he charged towards the heavy guard, who immediately pushed him back, only causing Thomas to continue retaliating. "Hey, what's your problem?! Let me through! Hey―"

"Thomas, stop!" Ingrid yelled as she attempted to pry off Thomas from the officer, only making the problem at hand more violent. His yells only continued to get louder, and just as his arms flailed in the air, he also managed to punch Ingrid in the face unintentionally.

         She fell to the floor from the shock of the blow, Newt and Minho immediately running beside her to help pick her up. She could feel something slimy trickling from her nose, and without even pressing her finger against her nostril, she knew it was blood. Once she was up on her feet again, she opened up her eyes to see Thomas and Janson looking directly at her. "Thomas, do you not listen to me? I told you, I freaking told you, that you needed to stop. Just leave it alone! God, just, just―"

"Ingrid, I'm sorry―"

"What the hell is going on here?" Janson suddenly roared, his eyes averting between Ingrid and Thomas in an accusatory manner. He slowly walked over to Thomas, gripping his shoulder tightly. "Thomas! I thought we could trust each other, we're all on the same side."

Thomas's expression softened slightly as he looked over at Ingrid, who was currently using a wadded up napkin to wipe the remaining blood off her face. He then focused his attention back on Director Janson, asking a question that he didn't realize would cause more damage than once assumed, "Are we?"

Without showing any significant amount of emotion, Janson spoke coldly, "Get them back to their bunks. And you," Janson motioned to Ingrid, "You alright?"

         "Don't ask me if you don't care," Ingrid sneered before following after the guards that were dragging the boys to their room. She completely ignored Janson's calls behind her, only finding herself flicking up the middle finger towards the man she had once thought was her leader.