Promise Me ➵ Newt [3]

TWENTY ONE | turning into a crank

"End it!" She screamed, pulling at her hair. "End my pain!"

"We will if you could just sit still!" Minho said.

Wrong move.

She jumped towards the sound of his voice and tackled him, and he had to arch his arm so as to not break the syringe with Thomas' blood inside it. Using his free hand he tried to push Rose away, but she seemed to have gained inhuman strength for she pinned him down forcefully and tried to scratch at his face.

"Slim yourself, Rose!" Minho yelled, kicking at her. "The cure's right here, just calm down!"

"The cure doesn't exist!" Rose roared back, and she suddenly lashed out and wrapped her hands around his wrists, squeezing, and Minho was sure she was going to cut off the circulation in his hand. "If it existed Newt wouldn't be dead!"

"That's not true!" Minho gritted his teeth, despite the sudden jolt of pain in his heart. "Newt's dead because we couldn't the cure to him on time!"

"LIES!" She shrieked, and squeezed harder. Minho's hand was going numb now - he could barely feel his fingers. Gally and Jorge tried to pry her off him but she held on tightly, stradling him. "DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK ABOUT NEWT LIKE THAT YOU UNDESERVING SLINTHEADED PIECE OF SHIT!"

She pulled at his arm and tried to bite him, but he arched his back and pushed her off - she tumbled off, a look of surprise on her face - and he quickly scrambled back. He held up the syringe to Brenda, who grabbed it just in time before Rose pounced on him again, but he was ready this time - he grabbed her wrists in midair and twisted around so that now he was the one pinning her down. She twisted and shrieked, flailing around madly - it was practically impossible to get a steady grip on her.

"Calm down!" Minho yelled. "Just calm down! The cure is right here! You need to calm down!"

"THERE'S NO CURE!" She screamed, thrusting her hips in an attempt to throw him off her.

"Yes there is! Now shut up and let us heal you!"

Rose let loose a high-pitched shriek and curled her fingers into a fist - she reared her arm back and was about to punch him when he gathered every ounce of energy he had left and slammed her arms against the floor above her head, pinning her wrists down.

"Newt!" He exclaimed suddenly, his eyes fierce as he stared down at her. "Do you not care about Newt? He wouldn't want you to be this way! He'd want you to be free of the Flare and happy!"

"SHUT UP!" She shrieked.

"No, you shut up!" Minho snapped back. "You know it's true! There's a reason why he loves you, you stupid shank! He wouldn't want you to turn into a Crank - he'd want you to be cured!"

Rose sobbed then, the tears leaking from her eyes like a waterfall. To his surprise, she stilled, all the energy in seeming to seep out slowly as she cried. Very carefully, Minho released his grip on her and she curled up into a ball, hiding her face from view as her chest heaved with racking sobs, her wails echoeing hauntingly throughout the Berg as they stared down at her hopelessly. 

Minho glanced at Brenda, who returned his gaze fearfully, and he nodded. Very slowly, she walked forward, taking care to quieten her footsteps. Jorge scowled, looking as if he wanted to rush forward and yank her away from Rose but thankfully, he stood still where he was, smart enough not to interfere.

Brenda knelt down next to Rose and positioned the syringe in her hand properly. She was about to inject her with the blood when Rose lashed out suddenly and crawled to her knees. Brenda stumbled back, eyes wide with fear as Rose suddenly crawled over to Newt's body at the side and grasped at his face, ignoring the coolling blood that flowed down his forehead. She continued sobbing as she cradled him, tears splattering onto his shirt.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, Newt. I love you too, I'm so sorry..."

"Brenda..." Thomas said weakly, clutching at his wound. "Hurry. She won't stay passive for long."

She nodded slowly and with only second's hesitation, she inched forward. Rose appeared not to have seen or heard her, continuing to whisper and mutter frantically to Newt. Brenda seized the chance and stabbed the needle into Rose's arm, who finally took notice of what was going on. Her eyes widened as Brenda pressed down the plunger, Thomas' blood flowing into her veins.

"What-" she said.

"Rest," Brenda said, her voice full of sadness. "You're cured now. You'll be alright."

As if on cue, Rose swayed, blinking rapidly as she tried to catch hold of her consciousness - but then she slumped to the ground, her head hitting the cool, metal floor with the loud thump, and her limbs went limp as her heavy breathings started to even out slowly.

Then her eyes closed and she stilled, finally, completely, as Thomas' blood did its best to kill the virus crawling around in her brain, her dark hair splayed out around her head.

Dead silence. 

Minho heaved out a sigh. Thomas groaned in pain and they rushed over to him, free to take care of his wound now that Rose was no longer acting as a crazed obstacle in their way. Brenda pulled away his hand and they stared down at his bloodied shirt, at the hole in his skin and muscle.

"We need to get you a doctor, fast," Brenda said, her voice laced with urgency and concern. "You're losing too much blood."

"Jorge, how much longer till we get to wherever the hell we're going?" Minho asked.

"We're going back to The Right Arm base," Jorge replied. "I can make this Berg at full speed, but I don't know if we have enough fuel for that."

"I don't care, just do it! Thomas needs help!"

Jorge nodded firmly, then rushed to the controls.

"Just hang in there, alright?" Brenda said, her lips quivering. "Just hang in there. You're gonna be okay, Thomas."

"I'll kill you if you die on me, ya little shank," Minho threatened.

Despite the obvious huge amount of pain he was suffering through, he managed a weak laugh, the sound so pathetic and frail that it managed to tug a grin into Minho's face.

"I won't die on you," Thomas promised.

"Good that."

Thomas' eyes flickered over to where Newt and Rose's bodies lay. "Do this one last thing for me, will ya?" He asked, grasping Minho's hand. "Make sure no one does anything to... to Newt. Only Rose gets to decide what to do with him, alright?"

Minho nodded gravely. "Got it."

Minho got up and left him with Brenda; he had a feeling the two needed to be alone together for a while. He traipsed over to Newt's body on the floor, where his empty eyes stared up at the ceiling, his mouth slightly opened from his last breath. 

He still couldn't believe that one of the oldest friend - the one who had always been there for him -  was... dead. It didn't sit well with him, like the fact that Newt was dead was just some random food particles floating around in his system, undigested. He could only imagine the unfathomable amount of pain Rose was going through.

He glanced over to her body, where her chest rose now in not ragged, heavy breaths, but slowly, rhythmically, her eyes closed as Thomas' blood worked its way to her brain. His eyes traveled down her arm, where horrendous thick, black veins snaked around, down to her hand where it laid on top of Newt's, her ashy fingers wrapping around his knuckles.

Minho sighed. He felt someone tap his shoulder and he glanced up to see Jorge holding up a plain white sheet to him, his eyes full of respectful grief. Wordlessly, Minho took the cloth from him and bent down, his dark eyes taking in all of Newt's features for the last time. Then he drapped the cloth over him, over his legs and torso, over his arms and chest, and finally, his face.

"Goodbye, old friend," he said quietly.