"Guys, sorry to break this up, but we gotta go."
At Thomas's words, the two quickly followed him as he ran onward; but not before Newt grasped Rachel's hand tightly in his own.
"I'm sorry." He murmured.
"Don't be. Just don't push me away again." Rachel answered as they ran.
The trio turned another corner, only to skid to a halt as they found themselves right in the path of a guard.
"You three, freeze!" He shouted as he aimed at Thomas, who was by now unarmed as he'd run out of bullets. Newt and Rachel stopped too, and the soldier shouted at them, "Get down on the ground. Now!"
The trio didn't move, all three of their minds working frantically to look for a way out of their predicament, and the soldier yelled at them, "I said get your-"
Rachel flinched in shock as a black and flesh coloured blur suddenly came flying around the corner and rammed into the soldier, shoving him hard into the wall. The trio all stared in shock as Minho roared with fury or aggression or a mix of both while the soldier screamed in terror as Minho grabbed him by the lapels and smashed him right through one the lab windows.
Rachel's jaw dropped while Minho let out another roar, his fists clenched and his shoulders heaving with adrenaline. The man didn't move and Minho turned to face them, still panting heavily but his expression slackened as his eyes focused on the trio and recognized them.
The trio were just as stunned, but as the realization hit them that Minho was actually there they unfroze.
"Minho!"
Thomas and Newt launched at their friend, hugging him tightly while Minho seemed somewhat dazed.
"Is this real?" He gasped as he pulled back to stare at his friends in disbelief and a tiny bit of hope.
The other boys grinned while Rachel smiled as she came up beside Newt, who hugged her to him. Minho zoomed in on the action and a slow smile started to creep up on his face as he realized WCKD wouldn't make him hallucinate something like that; but their moment of respite and relief was cut short as dark figures rounded the corner behind them again.
"I got them! I got them!" The guard yelled as he aimed at the trio and Thomas yelled, "Go! Go!"
The four scrambled to escape but the moment they turned a corner, they found their way blocked as Janson appeared at the other end of the hallway with a couple of guards.
"In here, in here!" Thomas yelled as he raced to a metal door nearby and the group scrambled after him as Janson and his men started firing at them.
"Newt!" Rachel yelled as she pulled him inside behind her, just barely avoiding a bullet that bounced off the metal frame where Newt's head had been seconds earlier.
As soon as Newt was inside, Thomas slammed the door and locked it.
"Newt, Minho, help me!" Rachel called as she pushed at a metal bookcase that was being used to hold some medical equipment.
The boys hurried to help her and together they sent the case crashing down so that it blocked the doorway. Now that they had bought some time, they all looked around the room wildly but they found nothing that might help them. Unless they wanted to set fire to the huge gas tanks that sat in a corner of the room and blow themselves up along with Janson.
"Sh*t." Thomas muttered as they all reached the same conclusion: they were trapped. As if to prove that thought, the door frame suddenly sparked as Janson's men started to cut the lock.
"Any ideas?" Minho asked as the group slowly backed away from the door that was probably going to break down at any second.
Newt's hand found Rachel's and she held onto him tightly, but neither had anything for Minho. But an ominous silence from Thomas had them slowly turning to face the boy who was staring out the glass window that made up the entire back wall. Specifically, he was staring down at the reflection pool that was below the window.
"Maybe." Thomas muttered and Newt's lips parted in shock.
"You're joking."
"You got anything better?" Thomas asked and Newt closed his mouth. Thomas gestured toward one of the tanks.
"Minho, help me."
Minho exchanged incredulous looks with Newt but followed Thomas. Rachel and Newt backed up out of the way as Thomas and Minho heaved up a tank between them and then, with a little bit of a run to help, they launched the tank at the window. It smashed through the glass easily and they gathered to watch the heavy tank fall out into the wind, sailing in a small arc before it splashed into the pool below. The pool twenty floors below.
"Okay," Thomas nodded although he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself as he smashed down the unbroken sides of the window with his gloved hands to create a large enough opening for them. "It's doable. Just need a little running start."
Thomas backed up toward the door while Minho, Newt and Rachel exchanged looks. Minho was clearly still very incredulous, Newt was more resigned and Rachel was determined as she looked up to see Newt even paler than before and the dark circles extremely prominent under his eyes. Her worry spurred her to join Thomas by the door first; Newt followed swiftly behind her.
Minho joined last, still looking unsure and as he came up beside Thomas, he checked, "You sure about this?"
"Not really." Thomas admitted honestly.
Minho shot his friend a look of pure disbelief before he grumbled, "Good pep talk."
"Yeah, we're all bloody inspired." Newt agreed sarcastically.
A particularly sharp snap sounded behind them, and the four friends looked back to see that the door was almost completely unhinged.
"Okay, on three." Thomas suggested. "One. Two-!"
There was a loud crash behind them and the group looked back to see the door was open, only stopped from opening fully by the bookcase they'd barricaded it with.
"Sh*t!" Thomas gasped while Rachel yelled, "Jump!"
She ran first with Thomas right with her, both leaping right out the broken window and launching themselves as far away from the building as possible. Newt and Minho were right behind them, but even so, Newt swore his heart stopped for a half-beat when he saw Rachel's dark hair fly out into literally empty space. And then he was falling as well and together the four flailed in the air as they descended toward the pool.
"Thomas!" Minho yelled at the top of his lungs as they dropped while Thomas swore as he approached the water.
They all plunged into the pool, falling like sacks of potatoes. For a moment, Rachel was winded from smacking into the pool although she thankfully landed feet-first rather than flat on her stomach. And at first, she was a little disoriented on where she was as she hit the bottom of the pool before she gathered her wits.
Pushing off the pool floor, Rachel inhaled sharply as soon as her head cleared the water. She ended up choking in water as she fought for air but she didn't care; coughing meant she was alive. Minho and Newt were already above water when she surfaced and Thomas came up not a second after she did, all of them wheezing and coughing as they regained their bearings.
"Love?" Newt swam over to Rachel and she clung onto him more out of relief than anything else.
"'M fine." She confirmed before her eyes raked over his face. "How are you?"
He grimaced. "I've been better."
Rachel nodded; at least it was an honest answer.
"We'd better go." Minho coughed.
They glanced up to check whether they had been followed to see Janson and some of his men staring down at the group - but there was nothing he could do short of leaping in after them. Grimly satisfied, Rachel and Newt began to swim toward the pool's edge with Minho and Thomas behind them; but not before Rachel saw Thomas giving Janson the middle finger.
Rachel hoisted herself up at the pool's edge before turning to help Newt up as his strength abruptly seemed to fail him. This worried her but he shook his head at her before he pulled himself heavily up with her help as Thomas and Minho rolled out onto the ground beside them.
"Rachel, Newt, you guys good?" Thomas checked as he got heavily to his feet.
Rachel hesitated but Newt just answered, "Yeah, yeah, fine."
Minho glanced over sharply, but they all stiffened when they heard guns cocking nearby.
"You four, don't move."
The group turned to see four guards coming their way, their weapons raised and pointed right at the group.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Thomas muttered, voicing all of their feelings.
Rachel placed herself in front of Newt despite his weak attempts to pull her behind him, while Minho tensed beside Thomas as the guards slowly approached, tightening their own formation as they came steadily closer.
"Take it easy." The lead guard ordered. "Get on your knees with your hands in the air-"
Suddenly, one of the soldiers spun on his heels and he fired at his fellows, knocking them all down as they shrieked while their bodies were electrocuted. The four looked on incredulously as the soldier whipped off his mask to reveal-
"Gally?" Rachel asked in relief. She hadn't thought she would ever be so happy to see the odd and contrary boy but she was perfectly okay with being proven wrong.
Newt also let out a sigh of relief from behind her, while Minho's jaw dropped and he asked in shock, "Gally?"
"Minho." Gally nodded before he glanced up at the broken window they had jumped out of. He looked back at them.
"You guys are nuts." He said flatly before he walked away. Rachel took Newt's hand and led him along as he refused to let her support him even though he stumbled just a little bit as they followed Gally.
Thomas meanwhile saw Minho's dumbfounded expression. Too tired for now, Thomas patted Minho's shoulder reassuringly and muttered, "I'll explain later."
Minho stared at Thomas in disbelief while the boy hurried after Gally. If it weren't for the fact that Newt looked so ill and Rachel was clearly worried about it, Minho thought as he finally managed to get his feet to work and follow the others, he was sure he wouldn't believe that what was going on was real. But maybe that was why this was real, he reflected numbly as he ran with the others: not even WCKD was this crazy.
**********
The five teens hurriedly skid behind some decorative trees outside some office building, ducking behind the concrete benches around the trees just as a police patrol came down the road, sirens blaring.
"Well," Gally gasped as they took a moment to regain their breath from all the running they had been doing. "They're definitely pissed."
"Let's hope Frypan's got Brenda and the kids out by now." Thomas muttered as he tried to get a signal on his walkie only to get feedback. Minho frowned as he looked over.
"What kids?" He asked.
"The other Immunes you were trapped with." Gally explained and Minho's eyes widened.
"They're okay?" He asked. "How?"
"Brenda and Rachel stole a bus while we infiltrated. Frypan should have picked them up by now." Thomas explained as he glanced over the edge of the bench to see if the coast was clear. He ducked as another patrol went screaming by.
"What do you mean picked up, like by a forklift?" Minho asked sarcastically.
"Something like that." Thomas mumbled and Minho was silenced again.
Thomas meanwhile checked the coast again as he asked Gally, "How far are the tunnels?"
"Uh, maybe 12 blocks from here." Gally answered when Newt's coughing interrupted them.
Thomas looked over to find Rachel crouched in front of Newt worriedly, her hands on his shoulders as she steadied him while he leant on her as he coughed uncontrollably.
Gally glanced at Thomas and, seeing the other boy's furrowed brows, he reassured, "We can make it."
Thomas pursed his lips, while Minho slid over to Rachel and Newt. Newt had stopped coughing but he was looking worse as his hands tugged weakly at his suit zipper. Realizing what he was trying to do, Rachel unzipped it for him, her eyes never leaving his face even as Minho came up beside her.
"Newt, how are you feeling?" Minho asked worriedly as Rachel helped Newt get his suit off.
Newt groaned in response. "Terrible."
His eyes then focused on Minho and he reached out to clasp his friend's shoulder.
"It's good to see you though."
Minho smiled back slightly before he slid back over to Thomas and Gally while Rachel checked Newt's forehead. He was burning up and she said worriedly, "Newt-"
"Don't worry about me." He cut her off and she shook her head.
"How can I not worry?" Rachel whispered and Newt gave her a bleak look in response.
Thomas joined them and he murmured, "We gotta go. Newt?"
"Mhm." Newt groaned and Thomas helped Rachel pull Newt to his feet.
"Come on, bud." Thomas urged softly. "We gotta get you up. Let's go."
Newt stumbled as soon as he was on his feet and Thomas and Rachel's hands flew out to steady him in alarm.
"Woah, woah, woah. You okay?" Thomas asked anxiously and Newt grunted.
"Yeah. You go ahead, Tommy, you know the way." He waved Thomas away and the dark-haired boy let go reluctantly.
"I've got him." Rachel promised as she helped Newt lean against her shoulder but her worry never let up as she looked at Thomas. "We have to get to Brenda and that serum."
"I know." Thomas answered grimly. With one last look at Newt he hurried on with Gally. Minho stooped in to help Rachel support Newt as they ran after the other two and Newt didn't protest their help any longer as he realized he was a greater burden if he tried to go alone.
A sudden boom and blast of orange flames made them all jump and the group whirled around to the source of the explosion in time to see a hule hole being blasted open in the walls to the city.
"Oh my God." Rachel whispered.
"We're supposed to take down WCKD," Gally said numbly, "not the whole damn city."
Thomas glanced at Gally, but it was clear there was no use in trying to discuss this further. Alarms were beginning to blare all around the city as a result of the explosion but they could already just make out the black wave in the distance that had to be the people from the slums running into the city now that they had a way in.
"We gotta go." Thomas muttered and he touched Gally's shoulder. "Gally, come on."
The boy remained watching the inpour for a second longer before he followed Thomas and the others. Rachel and Minho kept Newt in pace with Thomas while Gally quickly caught up as Thomas kept his pace just slow enough for Newt to keep up. They managed to make it nine blocks without being seen before they hit a snag.
Thomas swore while Gally warned, "Stay low! Stay low!"
Rachel and Minho pulled Newt down with them as they slowly approached the corner of the alleyway they were in, just out of sight of the police barricade that was right between them and the tunnels they had used to enter the city.
Newt collapsed as soon as they stopped to hide and Rachel let him sink slowly to the ground, helping him lean back on the wall. Minho watched her worriedly as Rachel ran her hand across Newt's sweaty brow while watching his face with fearful eyes. Newt was running out of time.
"Newt, stay with us, okay?" She whispered as Newt coughed again. "Just stay with me."
Newt heaved another cough and this time they could hear something wet. Rachel's heart hammered as she placed her hands on Newt's cheeks and he gasped.
"That feels nice." He mumbled. "Cold."
Rachel's heart sank; her hands were not cold. With all the running and adrenaline pumping through her, she knew for a fact that her sweaty palms were anything but cold.
"Newt, you have to stay with me, okay?" Rachel pleaded as his head lolled and his eyes slid out of focus. "Newt. Newt."
His eyes focused on her again, and he registered her despair. Newt opened his mouth when suddenly something exploded nearby, making them all (except Newt) flinch. Rachel turned in shock to see that a bus had gone up in flames and her eyes widened when she saw the stampeding crowd appear around the corner at the end of the street opposite the police barricade. With them came more explosives... and gunfire. From both sides.
"Get down, get down!" Gally yelled in warning as he crouched down low against the alley walls.
Rachel flung herself across Newt, shielding him as they all pressed close against the wall in an attempt to evade the explosions and gunfire. One particular explosion hit close to where they were, showering glass not too far from them, and Thomas cried, "We gotta go! We gotta go!"
"Come on!" Gally shouted, darting out and down the street, away from the fighting.
Thomas took over shouldering Newt with Minho as the two boys all but dragged Newt along as they ran for better cover. They barely managed to get inside a closed shop when a car nearby exploded and sent glass flying. The group lunged for cover before they recovered and Rachel instantly checked on Newt.
"Newt? Newt." She pleaded and he barely focused on her.
"You've got to leave me." He mumbled and Rachel shook her head firmly.
"Don't be ridiculous. We're not leaving you even if we could." She muttered before she and Minho flinched as something else exploded nearby. They turned to stare out at the burning orange flames and Rachel grimaced; they weren't going to last long at this rate.
Turning away, she saw Thomas speaking with Brenda on the walkie - it seemed they had finally gotten close enough that the signal was back. She hoped that it would be good news; Jorge had been pretty sure he could manage his side of the plan but so much had already gone wrong and Jorge's part had been the one with the most uncertainty. Which had been saying a lot.
Rachel jumped when Brenda's voice suddenly blared through the walkie as the woman suddenly shouted into it. "Our ride's here! Just look for us near the tunnels!"
The walkie cut and Rachel looked over as Thomas looked down at the thing, dumbfounded for a moment, before he looked back at the others. It seemed they had a plan again after all.