No, it's...it's not true. That can't be true. There's no way Tony is my brother. It just...It doesn't make sense. All my memories are only with Chuck. I can't recall a single thing about Tony. Yet, he somehow has a picture of all three of us when we were just kids. It was a family photo with me on his lap while I was holding Chuck.
"You think this is funny?" Newt snapped. "You think we're just going to believe your Danny's bloody long-lost brother?"
Tony glared at him. "I don't give a rat's ass if you believe me. I only care is if Danielle does."
Minho rolled his eyes. "Yes, because you haven't tricked her before," he stated sarcastically.
"Maybe he's telling the truth," Thomas said as he looked at the picture. He looked from me to Tony multiple times. He rotated the photo a few times. "I mean, if you rotate it a few times and maybe squint one eye...you could possibly see the similarities."
Tony gave Thomas a look. "Danielle and Chuck look more like our mother. I got my looks from my father."
"I call that a bunch of clunk," Minho retorted. "Thomas and Tiger have a better chance of passing off as siblings than you." He looked at me. "You guys aren't related, are you?"
"No!" I shouted at the same time Thomas asked, "Are you serious, right now?"
Newt glared at Tony. "Let's say this is true and you are her bloody brother, how come you were never with Rat Man? Or the fact that you never showed up to help Danny and Chuck when they needed you? We escaped that Maze without your help -"
"Because my memory was wiped just like the rest of you, idiots," Tony snapped. "All I remember was waking up with her photo in my pocket along with this one."
"If that was true, then why didn't you show me the family photo?" I asked.
"Because all I saw was you. I was trying to see if Chuck was with you but once I heard he died, I couldn't bring myself to do it."
"Does this mean you have all your memories back?"
"Not all, just bits and pieces."
Newt scoffed. "Do you believe this, Danny?"
I slowly shook my head. "I...I don't know what to believe in anymore." Having the sudden urge to vomit rose in my throat. "I think I'm going to be sick." It wasn't even an urge anymore. I rushed toward the nearest corner of the room and just puked. "Oh, god, what's happening to me?"
Tony tried to rush to my aid but Newt pushed him back. "No, you stay as far away from her as possible. Once we get out of here, we'll figure out what to do with you." Newt came over and began rubbing my back, which felt really nice. "Feeling better?"
"No, I feel like shit," I admitted. "And being here isn't making this better."
"Maybe this will help," Brenda said as she came to my side. I looked in her hand to see some weird looking pill. "It's supposed to help with the vomiting."
"Is it?"
She nodded. "I'm sorry for not telling you guys about my involvement with WICKED. I took these when I wasn't feeling well. It works like a charm."
"Like we're supposed to bloody trust you?" Newt seethed.
I slowly stood up. "It's fine. I'll try anything," I said as I grabbed the pill from her.
Brenda gave him a look. "I wouldn't put Danielle's life in danger. If she doesn't take these, she'll be suffering far worst than how she is now."
"I don't care!" I snapped as I snatched my wrist back from Tony's grasp. "I decide what gets put into my body." I saw Minho opening his mouth to comment but I glared at him. "Don't you say a word!"
Thomas cautiously took a step forward until he was between all of us while I swallowed the pill. "Ok, let's just find our friends before Dan rips our heads off."
》》》》
We've been searching for an hour, but it's like our friends suddenly disappeared. Not just them: Rat Man, the guards, everything from the cafeteria, and the dorms were completely empty. There wasn't even a Crank in sight. Did something happen that we don't know about?
"Were you guys allowed to move around while they had me locked in the white room?" Thomas asked us. "Are you sure we haven't missed anywhere?"
"Not that I know of," Minho responded. "But I'd be shocked if there weren't some hidden rooms."
I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, WICKED is sketchy enough. I wouldn't be surprised. Let's just head to the hangar but keep looking for them."
We've been walking for a while now when Minho just stopped all of a sudden. He pointed to his ear, which was hard to see because of the small glow from the emergency red lights.
I wasn't sure what was going on until Newt pulled me close to him. That's when I heard a low moaning sound. It was just ahead of us through a window in the hallway that looked into a room. The room was completely dark. There were shards on the floor from when the window broke from the inside.
There was a low moan again that send a shiver down my spine.
Minho held a finger to his lips, then carefully set down his two extra Launchers. Thomas and Brenda followed after him while Newt set the box of ammo down. He moved the Launcher to his other hand before grabbing mine and we followed them. Tony held his Launcher up in case he needed to fire at that moment. We gripped our weapons as Minho took the lead as we crept toward the noise. It sounded like a man was trying to wake up from a horrible nightmare.
Minho soon stopped, his back was against the wall, right at the edge of the window frame. The door to the room was on the other side of the window, closed.
"Ready? Now," Minho whispered.
He pivoted and aimed his Launcher into the dark room just as Thomas moved to his left side, Brenda and I to the right, with our weapons ready. Newt and Tony stood behind to keep watch on our backs.
My finger hovered over the trigger as I tried to find the source of the moan. It was still dark in the room, the red lights weren't helping that much. Something was slowly moving on the dark mound-covered floors. Eyes squinting, I could only see the shapes of bodies and black clothing.
"They're guards!" Brenda shouted.
Muffled gasps escaped from the room as I could finally see several faces. Mouths were gagged and eyes open wide in panic. The guards were tied up and laid out on the floor from head to toe, side by side, filling up the entire room. Some were still but the others were struggling to get out of their restraints.
"So this is where they all are," Minho breathed.
"This doesn't make sense," I added.
Newt leaned in behind me to get a look. "At least they're not all hangin' from the bloody ceiling with their tongues sticking out like the last time."
"We need to question them and find out what happened," Tony said, already heading for the door.
Thomas grabbed him. "No."
"What do you mean no? This is the perfect opportunity with them tied up."
"It could be a trap, or whoever did this could come back soon. We just need to get out of this place."
"Yeah," Minho said. "This isn't up for debate. I don't care if we have Cranks or rebels or gorillas running around this place - these shuck guards aren't our worry right now."
Tony rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Waste a good opportunity to get some information."
Brenda pointed and said, "Hangar's that way."
After we got our weapons and ammunition, we began jogging down the hallway while looking out for whoever did this to the guards. Brenda stopped at another set of double doors. One was slightly ajar.
Without being told, Minho and Newt took position from either side of the doorway with their Launchers ready. Brenda grabbed the handle to the door, pistol aimed into the opening. There were no sounds coming from the other side.
I could feel my heart racing as I gripped my Launcher. "Open it," Thomas said.
Brenda swung the door wide and Thomas was the first to charge through. He swept his Launcher left and right, turning in a circle as he moved forward. The hangar was just big enough to hold three enormous Bergs, but there were only two in their loading spots. Thomas went forward as the rest of us spread out around him.
"Hey!" Minho shouted. "Over here. Someone's on the..." He didn't finish, but he stopped next to a large crate and had his weapon trained on something behind it.
Thomas went to Minho's side. I followed right after to see a man lying hidden from view on the other side of the wooden box, groaning as he rubbed his head. There wasn't any blood but with the way the man was sitting up, I could bet the guy was hit pretty hard.
"Careful there, buddy," Minho warned. "Nice and easy, no sudden movements or you'll smell like burnt bacon before you know it."
The man leaned on an elbow, and when he dropped his hand from his face, Brenda let out a small cry and rushed forward to him, pulling him into a hug.
I found myself letting out a breath of relief when I realize it was Jorge.