They Don't Own Me

Chapter 48

"Erin!" Ivy cried, rushing to her side. She looked over Erin's body, spotting the blood pouring from her chest, and pressed her hands to it to try and stop the blood. "No, Erin, come on!"

Tyson and Gally joined her on the ground. Gally pulled Ivy away, trying to calm her, while Tyson replaced his hands over where Ivy's had been. When he realized that she had stopped breathing, he began to push on her chest to try and get air back in her lungs.

"Come on, Erin," he muttered. "Come on!"

The three held their breaths as Tyson worked, waiting for some kind of sign that Erin was still alive. The only result they got was still, cold eyes and a small trickle of blood dripping from her nose. Ivy covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to sob.

"What happened?" Ivy asked after she regained control of her voice.

"She pushed me out of the way," Tyson said, sitting back on his heels. "Mae was going to shoot me and Erin took the hit." He glanced over at Mae, who was lying on her side, blood dripped from her forehead and mouth. "Who-?"

"I'm sorry, man," Gally said, running his hand up and down Ivy's arm to comfort her. She had to close her eyes tight to shut out the sight of Erin; everything that had happened reminded her... no, reminded them too much of Chuck's death. "I had to do something."

"It's okay. I get it."

"What do we do now?" Ivy questioned.

"We need to find Thomas," Gally replied.

"And what about Erin? We can't just leave her here."

"We can't take her with us," Tyson said sadly. "We have to move quickly and she'll only slow us done."

"Ivy." She looked up at Gally. "It's what she would have wanted," he told her gently. "You know that. She believed in this cause as much as we do. We have to keep going for her."

"But Wolf..."

"We'll tell him what happened and that she died saving Tyson's life."

"But Gally is right, Ivy," Tyson said. "We need to keep going. For Erin."

Ivy slowly nodded, getting up off the floor with Gally's help and drying her tears. She took a deep breath, calming herself so she could prepare for whatever came their way next. The trio quickly gathered their things and put their helmets back on before hurrying down the street.

~

"You two, freeze!" Thomas and Newt came to a sudden stop when a guard holding a blaster appeared in front of them. "Get down on the ground. Now! I said get your-"

Before he could finish his command, a figure shot from around the corner and slammed into the guard. He screamed in the guards face before hurling him through a window. The newcomer's chest heaved with heavy breaths as he turned to look at Thomas and Newt. The two boys stared at him for a moment before rushing forward.

"Minho!"

They quickly wrapped their arms around him in a hug, happy to see their friend alive and safe after so many months apart.

"Is this real?" Minho breathed when they pulled back.

Thomas and Newt smiled at him. Suddenly, a series of footsteps came from down the hall, prompting the three to break into a run.

"I got him! I got him!" a guard shouted.

"Come on!" Thomas said, leading his friends down the halls of the building, trying to escape.

Just as they turned down another hall, Janson appeared suddenly, causing them to come to a quick stop.

"In here, in here!" Thomas said, ducking into a room.