|Please Don't Leave Me| (Minho/TMR fanfiction)

Chapter Fifteen

I slipped away from Minho in the early morning.

I needed to get away, he needed to be out of my mind. He wasn't part of the plan. He didn't remember me, didn't know me- it should've been so easy to just avoid him all together.

But fate was cruel like that.

I stood at the edge of the woods, watching the next victim WCKD had picked. A Glader named Jack who was a Track-Hoe. They were always up early for some reason beyond me. As he passed by my hiding place, I moved quickly. One arm wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air supply, the other pressed firmly against his mouth so he couldn't make a noise.

He bucked and thrashed as I back into the woods, holding him like that but it was no use. Even with my shoulder, my hold was unbreakable. His movements grew weaker and weaker until he went limp in my arms. I blew out a breath, blowing a wisp of hair from my face. I dropped his body to the ground, laying him on his back. I scuffled around in the dirt for a moment before finding a sharp rock. I used the edge to slit both his wrists, the blood dripping down onto the forest floor. I let the rock fall near his hand, straightened up and walked further into the woods.

I leaned around a tree, dropped to my knees and vomited up the contents of my stomach. My throat burned and my chest tightened. I felt sick and disgusted.

It'd been a week and a half. Half the Gladers were dead, all found to have committed suicide. The Glade was in disarray. Word was the Creators were shucking with everyone's head and making them commit. No one knew who could be next. I spat on the ground and wiped my mouth. Then I fell onto my back and stared up at the sky through the canopy of leaves.

Obey or he dies. Obey or he dies. Obey or he dies.

"I know!" I screamed at them. "I know!" Tears slid down my face. I was giving everything. Piece by piece I was losing myself. I didn't know who I was anymore or what I was capable of.

Soon there would be nothing left of me to salvage.

"Nicci?"

I sat up quickly. Thomas, a Runner I'd just recently come to know, stood a few feet away. "Nicci, thank goodness, I-I found another body-" Thomas was a good friend of Minho's I knew and one of the few Gladers who could manage to tolerate my presence.

I stood up. "Who's body? Where?"

Thomas came closer. "Back there-" he pointed and then squinted at me. "Are you okay?"

"What? Yes."

He glanced at my shirt and hand. "You're- you've got blood on you." His eyes flickered to my face. My stomach dropped as I looked down. Jack's blood was smeared on my skin and stained my shirt. How could I have been so careless?

No witnesses.

I swallowed and looked back to Thomas. He back away a step. "What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing, just getting some peace and quiet." I gave him a crooked smile, edging closer.

He chewed his lip, hands uneasily clenching. "Why do you have blood on you?"

No witnesses.

I set my jaw. "I really wish you hadn't seen that." I started forward. He stumbled back and tripped over a branch, falling to the ground. He scrambled to get away but it was too late. I threw myself forward, grasping his arm and twisting it back. He yelped in pain but I yanked him upright, and with a firm grip, snapped his neck.

His body went limp and I let it fall to the ground. I gagged but nothing came out, I'd already throw up all the food. I slowly climbed from the ground, my chest feeling hollow. There was nothing left inside.

I turned to leave and found Minho standing a few yards away.