After the Crank (TMR Fanfic) [Completed]

Chapter 28

Thomas watched her carefully. His mouth closed, not wanting to release a word. WICKED’s trials were the last thing he would talk about.

“Newt doesn’t like the border.” Clarisse took her eyes off Thomas, staring back at the wall. “He will go anywhere, and always says no to come to the wall. He said, it reminded him to the maze.”

“If you’ve imagined how bad it is, I say it’s a hundred or a thousand times better than the trial had to be.” Thomas told. The worst part was the maze trial killed a lot of innocent kids for what they called ‘variable’. He couldn’t have it.

“No wonder Newt hates seeing this great wall,” Clarisse replied with a concerned tone.

Thomas spontaneously cast his gaze over the wall. Luckily, it wasn’t covered by the thick ivy. Sure, Cranks would be able to climb up the wall using the ivy and got people in Denver infected. The thought hit him on the head. Newt might be imagine something else if he saw the wall, something worse.

Thomas rose up. He walked forward, lined himself with her. “Did he tell you why he got his limp?”

“Yeah.” Clarisse nodded. “And he did try again for the same reason.”

“Seriously?” Thomas frowned. He almost didn’t believe his ears. Newt hadn’t told about it since they’d met.

“The explosion at WICKED’s headquarter and no information about you and the others made him so upset. I didn’t know either his trauma or the possibility of losing you guys that impact him so strong. But, Newt needed time to recover his mentality."

There was a long pause. For the second time, Thomas felt something stirred his stomach. Newt had some bad days. If there was no one by Newt’s side, he didn’t know what had happened to his best friend.

“Thank you,” Thomas said.

Clarisse moved his eyes, confused.

“Thanks for keeping Newt accompany along his bad days.”

Clarisse escaped a small smile. “Newt deserves that words either. He helped me a lot. We’re aqual.”

“Good that,” Thomas muttered.

“I’m happy seeing him recently,” said Clarisse. “He more often smiles, even laughs. Before he met you and the others, he rarely smiled. His face always strained. To forget his sadness, he did so many jobs, making himself busy. Sometimes, he did something unnecessary, just to kill the time.” She chuckled at the end of her words.

Thomas smiled. “That’s exactly what Brenda said to me.”

“Huh?” Clarisse glanced him, frowned.

Thomas stared. Both corner of his lips raised up. He’d supposed to say it only for himself, but his voice came too loud.

“I see you and Newt really close. You two and Minho.”

Thomas nodded. He wiped his forehead which covered in sweat using his sleeve. The sun was so bright. It increased the temperature.

“I knew him for a few weeks. But, we had some great days. Fear, worry, and struggle, all the things we did together just to live another day strengthened our relation. Sometimes, to be very close with people is not about how long you knew them, but what you have passed with them.” Thomas lowered his face. On the ground, he saw some flashes of his bad memories, making him close his eyes for a moment.

“Yeah, I believe that.” Clarisse turned over, heading to the Berg.

For Clarisse, the conversation had ended. Not for Thomas. Something popped up in his head. He wanted to talk while he had a chance to open his mouth.