Tired of Running

61|| broken trust

// my heart is
with you hiding
but my mind's
not made \\

    •

    Thomas took up the rear of the group; an exhausted and defeated looking Newt shuffled along beside him.  Jorge had gotten far ahead of them, shouting something to them over the wind.  Newt squinted, eyebrows scrunched together, looking at Thomas questioningly.  Thomas shook his head, finding it impossible to hear over the wind.  Gun shots were fired at the ground, scarcely missing Thomas.  The group was running once again.  Ducking behind oddly spaced rocks, they caught their breath.  A hot, metal point was pressed against Thomas's head, "Get up."

   Thomas turned his head, earning him a whack from the gun.  He jumped to his feet, lashing out.  His hand came in contact with a face, letting out a grunt.  Newt had come running, beside his friend almost instantly.  There were four people in front of them; an even fight.  If they were cranks it would have been an easy fight- but they had a gun.  Thomas took a step forward; they weren't attacking- they weren't cranks.  "You're coming with us."  Jorge had joined their side, "What's going on, Hermano?"  The tallest of the group pulled their scarf away from their face. 
It was a girl.  Aris stumbled forward in disbelief, "Harriet?"  The girl's brown eyes widened, "Aris!?"  The form next to her had ripped their scarf away as well- another girl.  Both girls recognized him; now embracing and clinging to him like their life depended on it.  "What is going on?"  Frypan watched skeptically.  "They- These are my friends,"  Thomas noticed the few tears that collected in the boy's eyes, "They were in my maze."

    The third figure- Thomas had already guessed was a girl, was staring at him coldly.  Thomas's heart stopped beating, his chest tightening, "Teresa?"  The girl tensed at her name; her stare hardening.  "Teresa!"  Thomas moved toward her as the gun was raised.  Newt grabbed Thomas, pulling him back.  "Teresa, what are you doing?"  Frypan had stepped back at the sight of the gun.  "I'm sorry Thomas," her voice was barely a whisper, "You're coming with me."  Thomas looked lost, confused, possibly hurt, "Ter- What?  We'll all come with you.  Just tell us-"  Her hand shook as she pointed the gun again, "No!" her voice shook, "Just you."  Newt looked at her harshly, "He's not going anywhere with you if you're going to point a gun at him."  But Thomas would go with her.  Teresa- his Teresa- was back.  Surely she would never hurt him.  "Teresa..." Harriet looked at her, doubtful, "Just let-"  "No!" her voice was sharp, shaky, "I have to do this."

    Newt held the gun behind his back, eyes anxiously watching her.  This could get ugly very fast.  There was a slight madness in her eye; it was possible she had caught the flare.  But this madness was even more terrifying- it was total sanity.  "Teresa...  Put the gun down." Thomas knew about the gun, and he knew Jorge would use it without hesitation.  Aris watched the two groups cautiously; a bomb that would detonate at any moment.  "Just-"  Jorge had come closer, "Put that down, hermana, you don't want to pick a fight with me."  Teresa snapped at him, "This has nothing to do with you.  Just him.  He's the only one I need."  Frypan held his hand out gingerly, "Give me the gun, Teresa..."  This was not the Teresa they knew; she was even acting off.  She shook slightly, eyes blank.  "Thomas..."  Newt's voice was low, "She's being controlled..."  The realization hit Thomas too late; as he turned to look at his friend's eyes, the gun was fired.

   The pain hit him before he registered what had happened.  A scream followed- his own.  Thomas was laying face down in the sand; the impact from the bullet making him spin.  Teresa had seemed to snap out of her daze, and was now bending over him in a panic, "Thomas!"
Newt shoved her out of the way, he and Jorge picking him up.  Thomas's vision blurred; all he could sense was the excruciating pain that ran through him- the bullet that ripped through his flesh and bone.  Blackness followed, an uninhabited void of silence.  The pain ceased.  It was a space of cold silence and complete darkness.  Yet there he dreamed.