Well, turns out they were in the Maze together. It was never explained to me that Aris was never a part of the boys's Maze, that he was in a Maze full of girls before they met him. Poor soul. It made me wonder what happened to him when that time of the month rolled around. I know if Brenda wasn't there, my dad would have had to go through a week of hell. Harriet suddenly made a sharp whistle, looking up to the sky.
"We're clear guys, come on out!" She called and I watched as over a dozen men came out of the bushes holding heavy weaponry. I leaned in close to Newt, whom I was next to.
"It wouldn't have mattered if we bolted for it, we were totally screwed either way." I said to the boy and he nodded, looking over to me.
"Yeah, thank god for Aris then."
"You can say that again." Minho agreed and I looked over to Brenda who seemed to be totally out of it. I was getting more worried about her as she was showing more signs of deterioration.
"Follow us." Harriet said as she and Sonya walked us down the path of cars.
As we continued, Sonya made a hand motion and called out to a man. "Back it up Joe." She said and a huge car was moved out of the way to the entrance. Behind it were people, people who looked like they were generally happy and missions were not to kill us. There were two cars parked by the edge of the road that the two girls lead us to.
"We're taking them to base." Harriet told the men and they nodded.
"Wait, so how did you guys get here?" Aris asked and the girls didn't turn as they explained.
"The Right Arm got us out." Harriet explained as she opened the door to one of the cars.
"Wait, you know where the Right Arm is?" Thomas asked and Harriet smiled, motioning for us to get in the car.
"Hop in." She said and I looked at them, shrugging as Minho got in first. I followed after him with Aris and Frypan in the smaller car while the others went with Sonya.
Aris took the front seat next to Harriet and I was between the other two boys. Harriet drove on the dirt roads and up to the top of the mountains, dirt clouds forming from behind us. I looked over to Minho and then Fry, they were both admiring the view. I however, couldn't stop thinking about Brenda and what we were going to do. Fry seemed to have noticed my concern.
"Hey, is something wrong?" He asked quietly and Minho turned to face me as well. Aris and Harriet were too busy catching up to notice.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied but they seemed to buy my fake smile and happy attitude.
As we continued on, I found that Minho seemed to have been debating something, lifting his arm up but then lowering it again. I knew what he was trying to do so I took his arm and snaked it around my shoulders. He seemed to relax more and I leant my head against his chest. I then dozed off, letting the whole world go silent.
I held the gun in my hand, blood smeared over my entire face. I was shaking, but I felt so stiff. My breaths were coming out in quick bursts and I wanted to throw up, but I didn't. I stood there trying to figure out what I had done.
It wasn't my fault. I told myself. I wasn't my fault, it wasn't my fault, it wasn't my fault....
But it was.
I didn't have to do it. I could have waited, I could have figured it out. But I didn't. And what I've done, it's permanent, I can't go back and fix it. The gun slipped from my hand and I thought I was going to collapse. Then, the door creaked open and a figure came from the darkness.
"(Y/n)?" The voice said, but the echo of that voice was someone else.
"(Y/n), we're here." Minho shook softly and I shot up quickly, shaking off the nerves of that dream. I hadn't had a dream like that in a long time, normally I don't have any dreams at all.
Minho looked at me, a little bit of concern but he never asked. He obviously knew that I didn't want to talk about it.
Harriet put the car in park and she and Aris jumped out, Fry following along with me and Minho. Fry took my hand as he helped me out of the car and I was shocked when I saw it.
It was a civilisation, a real one that wasn't disorganised and dangerous. People laughed and worked like they should. There were big tents hung up for people, the smell of actual food filled my lungs, and there were crates of supplies being moved or packed up. I couldn't help but let my mouth drop at the scene.
I turned to Minho and he looked just as shocked as I was. Harriet looked back to us as Sonya and her group joined us as well.
"This is all for us." She told us as she walked us down the hill and to the camp.
"You guys are lucky you found us when you did, we're moving out at first light." Sonya told us and I was a little confused, where could they be going? This place seemed perfect enough.
"Hey, where's Vince?" Sonya asked and some man responded, pointing her in a direction. We then walked straight into the camp, people waving and smiling as we walked by, some just staring.
"Who's Vince?" Thomas asked as we continued our walk and Harriet turned to look at him seriously.
"He's the one who decides if you get to stay." She responded and we came up to the middle of the camp, a big tent a few feet away.
"I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army." Minho said and I gave him a smack in the arm with the back of my hand.
"Yeah, we were." I jumped at the loud voice, the man owning it stepping out of the tent. He was a big guy, stone cold face, and an intimidating stance. He walked over in front of us and I found myself standing up straighter, feeling that if I didn't then he would see me as less then I was. This was obviously Vince. "This is all that's left of us. A lot of good people died to get us this far. Who are they?" The man asked and Harriet stepped up.
"They're Immunes." Harriet told him and I slowly turned to look at Brenda. Her face was still pale, lips a darker black, her eyes red and irritated, and her breathing quick and unsteady. "Caught em coming up the mountain."
"Did you check em?" Vince asked and I felt my heart drop, the word check going through my head over and over again. Check obviously meant search for a bite, and Brenda was definitely bit and there was no way to hide it.
"I know this guy, Aris. I trust him." Harriet said, pointing to the boy.
"Well I don't." Vince said and my heart was beating quicker with every word. "Check em."
I took a step over to Brenda, noticing the tears streaming down her cheeks and her breaths coming out heavily. I was terrified.
"Hey, boss?" Some guy said but he couldn't get too much out before Brenda took one huge breath and fell to the floor.
"BRENDA!" I shouted as I ran up and caught her, falling to my knees and holding the girl as she uncontrollably seized in my arms. I felt the tears run down my cheeks as this all felt familiar. Brenda looked up at me, the guilt filling her red eyes. I held her tightly.
"Brenda!" Jorge was down at my side as well, worried about Brenda while the others stayed standing. There wasn't much else they could do anyway except get in the way.
"What's going on?" Newt asked, and when I looked to Thomas he was not as shocked. I knew he knew what was happening.
"Brenda, Brenda talk to us." Jorge said, squeezing her arm reassuringly. I wiped the tears from her eyes and my heart melted when she spoke the only words she could make out.
"I'm sorry." Was all she could say and a sob left my mouth and I hated it. I was supposed to be strong for her, but I wasn't, I was weak.
Vince got down on one knee, putting a hand on Jorge's shoulder.
"Hey, what's wrong with her?" He asked softly but Jorge shook his head, looking at Vince.
"I don't know." He told him and I watched as Vince's eyes trailed down to the bandage around her leg. I couldn't stop him.
"What the hell?" He said as he pulled down the bandage to reveal the bite mark. I thought I was going to hurl just at the sight of it. It was deep, dark veins climbing up her leg, the blood had now turned a blackish color and it wreaked of death.
"Sh*t!" Vince cried as he got up to his feet, pulling out his gun. The group of people once surrounding us now backed away in fear. "We gotta Crank!" The man screamed out as he loaded his gun.
"No!" Jorge screamed as he was pulled away from Brenda. I wrapped myself around the girl instinctively so that he couldn't make a shot without hitting me too.
"Wait!" Thomas cried, jumping in front of Vince as well. "Wait!"
"Step back!" Vince instructed calmly, gun still held up.
"Listen, okay?" Thomas said as Jorge was fighting the grasp of two men. "This just happened, okay? She isn't dangerous yet."
"You shouldn't have brought her here!" Vince yelled in his face, lowering the gun.
"I know." Thomas said but Vince didn't care.
"We let Cranks in now then the Safe Haven won't last a week!" Vince told us and I knew he was right, but I couldn't go without Brenda. I just couldn't. "Now step back!"
"I understand." Thomas said calmly, still standing in front of Brenda as Vince raised the gun once more. "I understand. Just listen. Please. Please, okay? I told her you could help. Okay? There's gotta be something you can do."
"Yeah." Vince said, taking a deep breath and looking me straight in the eyes. I knew what he was going to say and what he was going to do. I knew that face, the face that said 'I have to do what I have to do', having worn it myself. Though, I'm not proud of that one. "We can put her out of her misery."
"No!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as the gun was aimed right for Brenda's head. He cared so much about her being dead that he didn't care that I was in the way.
"Vince!" A women's voice called out and the man looked over, like I did, to see a women approaching us swiftly. "That's enough! Let him go!" The women called and the men holding back Jorge released him and he got down next to me and Brenda.
"She's infected doc." Vince informed her. "Theres nothing we can do for her."
"No." The women said. "But he can." She then said, pointing at Thomas and I looked up at the boy. "Hello Thomas."
"What?" Vince questioned and I'm sure Minho had some kind of sassy comment to add to this but he held it back seen as it wasn't the time for that.
"Wait, you know me?" Thomas asked and the women looked intrigued, maybe even upset.
"Interesting." She said. "Makes sense, they put you in the Maze." Then the women walked over, looking me in the eyes with her kind stare. Slowly, she nodded down to Brenda and I reluctantly allowed her to examine her. "Though I must admit, I was worried they killed you after what you did."
"What I did?" Thomas questioned and I was so confused that it was giving me a headache.
"The first time we spoke, you told me you couldn't take it anymore." She informed. "Watching your friends die one by one. The last time we spoke, you gave me the coordinates of every WICKED compound, trial, and lab."
Now this was new information. Thomas worked for WICKED, I knew that, someone had mentioned it on the way to Marcus's. I thought Thomas had guts before, but to go up against WICKED like that, it seemed as though he was invincible.
"Wait, he's our source?" Vince asked and Mary nodded.
"We couldn't have pulled this off without him." Mary said, and I glanced over to see Teresa staring at the boy. There was something in her face, in her eyes, that showed heartbreak. What it meant, I had no clue, but it was something I had to focus on later.
"Take her to the tent, and get these guys some warm clothes." Mary instructed and some men came over and picked up Brenda carefully. I didn't hesitate to follow after them, not even bothering to ask for permission. I didn't hear anything else, only looked back to see Thomas and Mary following while Minho watched me as I walked away.
I wasn't really listening to what Mary, the doctor, had to say to Thomas about WICKED. I caught bits and pieces like WICKED used to be good and that the cure wasn't necessarily a cure but a serum that halted the flare for some time before, gradually, it started coming back. Thomas listened but I sat there holding Brenda's hand, stroking her sweat soaked hair from her forehead, and shivering from the cold weather.
My dad was sitting there too but he was, like Thomas, listening to what the woman was saying. I caught him giving me looks every now and then but nothing major. Then, Mary came up with a syringe of blue liquid she had concocted with Thomas's blood and some other chemicals. She stuck it into the girls arm and pushed down the plunger. The moment the liquid entered her system, relief seemed to have gone through her entire body as she relaxed, her breaths steadying.
"How long will that give her?" Thomas asked and I looked up to the women who was focused on her current task.
"It's different for everyone." Mary told us. "A few months maybe. But thats the catch isn't it? She'll always need more. Let's go outside, give her some rest." She then said and my father stood while I stayed sitting down, not wanting to leave her.
"(Y/n)..." He tried but I shook my head.
"I can't leave her." I told them. "I just can't."
"(Y/n), right?" Mary asked and I nodded. "Well, (Y/n), you can't comfort her if your sitting in the next cot over with hypothermia. Go get some warm clothes and a real meal; tell me, when was the last time you had a real meal?" She asked and I thought about it.
"I don't know..." I said and then, I felt my father gently haul me up to my feet and push me out of the tent. I took one more look back and saw her, still pale but seeming to be in less pain. Then, I let myself leave.
The moment I was out of the tent, I was surprised to see Minho standing there with something hanging over his arm, both his hands in his pockets and his breath coming out in steamy puffs. My father patted me on the back.
"I'll be around if you need me." He smiled and then gave me a wink and a kiss on the forehead before he left me and Minho alone. I looked back over to the boy as he stood there, not exactly sure where to start.
"You waited out here for me?" I asked and Minho smiled awkwardly.
"I, uh, yeah." He said, looking down to kick the dirt and then looking back up. "I wanted to see if you were okay. I mean, I kind of already know the state Brenda is in so I just wanted to check up on you."
"Yeah." I said, trying to smile but it was hard at first. Minho smiled kindly and then looked down to the thing hanging off his arm. He held it up to show the navy blue leather jacket, beanie, and grey gloves that he must have picked up for me.
"I found this thing, it's pretty sick if you ask me." He said, showing off the jacket. "It's got a lot of pockets. What you'd need them for, not sure, but they're cool looking." He said and I walked towards him.
Minho held out the items for me but I pushed his arm out of my way so I could wrap my arms around his torso and hug him. He was taller then me, the tip of my head resting underneath his chin.
"Oh, we're hugging." He said, not expecting the sudden embrace, yet he was relaxed.
I didn't really care, I just needed a hug, I needed a hug from him specifically. Something about Minho made me feel safe and all I wanted was to feel safe. His fresh kindness was all I needed to make me feel better. He then wrapped his arms around my shoulders, being taller then me and all.
"You want to talk about it?" He asked but I shook my head. "Do you want to go somewhere in private?" He asked and I nodded my head. "Okay, let's go then." He said as he wrapped the jacket around me and placing the worn down beanie on my cold head. Then, me and him walked off.