Soldiers were bringing Jorge out through the corridors. They would kill him in the underground garages, out of sight where no one important to WICKED's operations would notice them. They walked with their blacked-eyed prisoner through a steel tunnel. Jorge fell to his knees. Eyes dropped.
"Hey!" one of the soldiers ordered. "Up!" The shut-eyed Jorge didn't move. He growled and bent down, grabbing his cheek. "I said move!"
He was met with a punch to the face. His gun was grabbed and before the other soldiers could react, they were electrocuted out cold. Jorge stood up, smirking.
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Thomas was rolled into the doctor's lounge, all the doctors at machines.
"You sure we're doing this to him again?" one asked. "This could kill him,"
"We have our orders," the way that the other doctor spoke back stubbornly made Thomas's hatred for Ava grew. No matter how much it seemed she still had a soft spot for him, he would always see her as the monster who had tormented him and his brother their whole lives.
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The guards outside on the prison level glanced eerily at the cameras. They noticed they were buzzing, flashing on and off. They could just see quick glimpses of people heading down the corridor towards them. One of them took a gun and walked over to the main door. It opened slowly. He raised the barrel of his weapon. An electric bullet struck him in the chest and he was knocked down. Before the other guards could react, more bullets came flying at them. They were knocked out cold.
Edward, Teresa and his allies entered the prison level. They walked towards the cells. Forcing Teresa, she sat at the computer and engaged the locking system of the doors. Edward stood at one of the doors, desperate to see his brother's face behind one of them. The first one opened. Six kids were inside. Scared. He pushed his mask off. "It's okay," he said. "We're here to get you out," One of them was brave enough to come forward. "That's it. You're okay now. Everything's going to be all right,"
The kids followed after him, grouping together. He watched Minho and Frypan take the rest out. Gally was at another pair of steel doors, the vault containing all the serum WICKED had kept from all the kids they had harvested at their desert facilities. He watched desperately for Thomas to appear but he saw no brother. Minho glanced worriedly at him. "He's not here. And Jorge and Hans aren't here either,"
Edward marched on Teresa. "Where are they?" Teresa sat at the computers again, typing in Subject A2. Thomas's profile picture appeared. Then his tracker.
"That's the hospital wing. That's on the other side of the building,"
"And what about the men?"
"I don't know," The group glared coldly at Teresa. "I swear I don't know. But we can find out from Ava's office. It's right near the lab,"
Edward pulled her up. "You're gonna take me there. Guys, get the kids to Brenda and Chuck. If I'm not there on time, leave without me,"
"No Ed. You're not going alone," disagreed Minho.
"He's right. I'm going with you," Amelia voted.
"No. I'll do it," her boyfriend argued.
"You don't have to do that," Edward supported his decision.
"I do," she said. By the desperation on her face, Edward's mind jumped back to the day she held that same face when she was in the Maze, desperate to escape from certain death. "You and Thomas risked your lives to get me out of the maze even though you both got caught. It's time I returned that favour by helping you save him,"
"Then I'm going too," said Minho.
"No Minho. If more of us go, it'll get noticed,"
"I promised your father I would protect you,"
Amelia held his cheek. "I will be fine. This isn't about me. It's about everyone here that we came to save," Minho hesitated. He felt embarrassed expressing his true colours and feelings for Amelia in front of everyone who saw the love between them.
"Just go you two already! We're wasting time!" Gally shouted from his position. "Just get to Thomas and meet us at the rendezvous point,"
Amelia took one last look into Minho's scared eyes.
"Just come back to me," he begged. He held her cheek and reached forward to kiss her. Edward pursed his lips and look away. They pulled apart and hugged tightly. Minho glanced firmly at Ed. "You take care of her,"
He nodded. Pulling his mask over his face again, he forcefully pushed Teresa out of the cell block with Amelia behind him. They headed back into the main corridors and hallways and made it to the main section again. They found a lift. Teresa pressed the button and it opened. They entered inside and stood still watching the doors close slowly. Suddenly a hair snaked through the gap. They opened. "Hold it," Jerry entered inside. Teresa rolled her eyes. The sight of Jerry made Edward's fingers grip tighter around the handle of his weapon, his finger snaked up to the trigger. He wanted to shoot him. He wanted to kill him for everything he had done to his friends and his brother. But Amelia's strong eyes behind her mask made him pause.
Jerry stood right next to Teresa in front of Edward. "You working late I see?" Teresa didn't answer him. "Will you not answer me?"
"There is no 'us' if you think there ever will be," she hissed repulsively.
"Sure. Let your personal feelings for that traitor get in the way of what needs to be done and what's real before you," Jerry's mockeries made Edward feel tense. He felt his hatred for Teresa dissolve away very slightly. She had no feelings for Jerry. She had feelings for him. It was always him. His heartbeat slowed. Another flashback came back to him. Teresa's face of utter betrayal. His hatred fumed up again. Anything she said about him meant nothing to him now. "Why do you even care for him? He betrayed us all,"
"Is it true?" Teresa asked up quickly.
Jerry scoffed. "True what?"
Teresa didn't meet his eyes. "That WICKED created this virus. That they're responsible for everything?"
Jerry tried effortlessly to be assuring. "It was meant to help control human populations, to ensure there weren't too many mouths to feed,"
"And Stephen? Did WICKED really threaten his sons like that?"
"So what if they did? Stephen cared more about his own family than he didn't about the millions of lives suffering out there!" Every word Jerry spat out made Jerry want to pummel him the same way he wished he could have back at that facility after the Maze. "And he should program it to have a simple cure. Instead, we're stuck here in this building, getting nowhere because of him. And his no-good sons,"
The word 'cure' made Teresa remember the box Edward had discovered. She wanted to speak out about what she was thinking but the presence of her love interest made her pause. The lift dinged. The doors opened. "Don't ever come near me again Jerry," she tried to walk out but he grabbed her hand. Edward tried to do something but he felt Amelia grab his arm. 'Not here'. He imagined her saying behind her mask.
"If you think you can cross me like that again, you're as foolish as you seem," he warned.
Teresa pulled her hand free, petrified. She walked away. Amelia and Edward in their disguises followed after her. Jerry eyed them very suspiciously. He pressed a button on a consul attached to his pocket.
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Sonya, Harriet, Aris and Lawrence drove the jeep down a dark narrow road towards the outskirts of the city. Bordering the sidelines were abandoned buildings. A towering fence of cold metal stood before them. Lawrence braked to a stop. Looking closely, the four saw giant signs pinned to the rusty bars. They spelt out warnings such as: "Stay out!" or "Beware!"
Aris gulped. Harriet remained calm but her heartbeat accelerated. Sonya held her breath.
"If we go in there, we may never come out again," warned their guide grimly.
"I'll go in alone," Sonya declared.
"Never," Aris held her hand. "We came here together. We'll go together,"
"We're right with you," Harriet said devotedly.
Sonya smiled at her proud, touched by their loyalty. They gathered their guns and exited their vehicle. Lawrence as the adult would lead the way. They walked carefully towards the gate. It required no thumbprint idea to get in. It was ancient but it was a prison of the infected. Would they find Newt? Would he already be transformed?
Lawrence unlocked the gates and they made their way through. Sticking together, they walked towards a tall building with broken windows and bars sticking in and out of rooms. A tear fell down Sonya's cheek. Her poor brother. They approached the metal pane doors where some rusty chains held them closed. Lawrence pulled out his revolver. Bang! The lock busted. He approached carefully and pushed the doors open. They creaked, sending chills of anxiety up the teens' spines. Inside the building, they saw only darkness. Not a single Crank in sight. Lawrence glanced seriously at the three friends. "Remember. You're to do everything I say. No matter how crazy or how much you disagree. Do you three understand?"
They nodded. Lawrence glanced with concern at Sonya. "We're gonna save your brother lassie. Now come on. Let's do this,"
Sonya wiped her eyes. Bravery glowed on her cheeks. Her eyes narrowed. Her lips straightened. And she nodded. Attaching torchlights to their weapons, they stepped slowly inside, barrels of guns raised. As they walked into the hallways, they heard the doors creaking behind them, closing. There was no turning back now.
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Teresa led Edward and Amelia towards the doctor's labs. Teresa felt her heart thumping in her chest. She wondered how Edward was reacting behind his disguise to everything he had heard her say. She needed to say something before it was too late. "Edward, please listen to me,"
"Don't you dare speak to me," Edward hissed, not looking at her, hatred still burning in his heart.
"Please listen. Getting all that serum won't save Newt or any of the Immunes. And WICKED won't stop whatever you do,"
"Like I'm gonna listen to you. You've been lying to me from the moment we met,"
"Not everything was a lie," Teresa's pleas boiled Edward up. He couldn't hold back. Luckily Amelia stepped in and roughly grabbed her shoulder.
"Either you shut up traitor or I'll taser you," she shoved her forward towards some security doors with thumb scanners.
Still, Teresa kept talking to Edward, desperate to get through to him. "Please listen Edward. People are dying out there," Still he wouldn't answer her. "Just give me your father's box and perhaps we can end it," She was reaching her last straw. She grabbed Edward's arm. "I promise I can protect you,"
Edward had reached his limit. He pulled his mask off and marched at her. "Yeah? Like you protected my brother,"
Amelia grabbed his shoulder. "What are you doing?"
But Edward ignored her. "How many people is it going to take? How many people does WICKED have to round up? Torture? Kill? Uh? When the hell does it stop?"
"It stops when we find a cure," Teresa retorted. "You just don't understand,"
"I do understand," Edward leaned his face forward so she could only see the cold, unforgiving nature in his eyes. "I understand that Ava is so desperate to redeem herself for what she forced my father to do, that she is willing to sacrifice innocent children just to get what she wants. Nothing should be worth that. And it sickens me that despite everything she's done to us, you choose to operate with her,"
Teresa was speechless. Edward pulled his mask over his face again and pushed her towards the door that led inside the lab sections. His disheartened escort led them through the shiny hallways past doctors passing to and through between rooms. Not long now till they'd reach Thomas.
Unknown to them, Jerry walked closely behind them with some soldiers. Teresa could feel his presence. Edward felt tense too. He eyed Amelia carefully. She did nothing. They had to act normal for as long as possible.
Behind her wet eyes, Teresa saw a large red emergency button. She was five metres away. Then four. Three. Two. One. Quick as a whip, she pressed the button and a siren rang through the hallways. The nearby doctors and scientists started screaming and rushing.
Jerry knew what the signal was. "Get them!" he ordered. He cocked a gun.
Edward turned and saw him raise his gun. Quickly he grabbed and pushed Teresa to the floor, pulling out a pistol from his side hoister. "Back down! Or I'll shoot!"
Jerry chuckled. "You don't have the guts, Ed,"
With Amelia by his side pointing her gun at the soldiers for backup, Edward growled back at him. "You don't know what I am!"
"Course I do! All those years of you always getting everything...I've watched you. I've observed. You don't have the guts to shoot Teresa,"
Edward found his mind bouncing back to his youth, the times when he and Teresa were so close as friends that it seemed perhaps they would become something more. HE realised how much he did care about her. "Maybe. But that was the old me. The me before the Maze doesn't exist anymore," he pulled off his mask and dropped his helmet on the floor. "So I'm warning you to back off and release my brother!"
Jerry scoffed. "Why would I do that? It's not like you're gonna do it?"
"Why do you keep saying that?" Edward pulled the trigger. Teresa gasped in shock. Even Amelia was quite surprised. Jerry blinked. "Now back down!"
Jerry stared at him. But he wouldn't accept defeat. "Fine. Go ahead," he lowered his gun. "Kill her for all I care,"
Teresa's lips parted. Even Edward was surprised.
Amelia turned her eyes just a glimpse to the side and she saw Janson in a hidden corner about to shoot. "Edward!"
Quickly she grabbed Edward and pulled him into a corridor just as the trigger was pulled. They made a run for it, Amelia pulling off her mask and smashing it into a doctor who tried to stop them.
Jerry stumbled forward to help Teresa up. "You okay?"
Teresa shoved him away. "Get off me!"
Janson came forward. "After them!" the soldiers dashed off. He glared disappointedly at her son. "You still underestimate him,"
Jerry shoved past him and bounded after the soldiers.
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Thomas felt little strength in his body. But he had to get out. He was no longer going to hold back. He saw a doctor approach him with a needle. Another one was about to strap his feet and then his arms. He heard some doors opening. A guard entered, keeping a firm watch on him. He wondered why. This was no time to think. Time to act.
"Okay. Let's get your eyes shut," the doctor raised his needle.
Thomas kicked the doctor at his feet in the face. Then he grabbed the needle from the doctor's hand and stabbed his face, making him cry out. More doctors tried to subdue him but with all the rage he felt at them for all they had done to him and his loved ones, he roared and fought them all. A soldier charged him but he charged towards him too.
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Gally and Minho delivered the children to the garage. A bus pulled in front. The children jumped. Chuck pushed the window open. "All aboard everyone!"
Brenda opened the doors and everyone scrambled inside. She stepped out, hoping to see Edward or Jorge, but neither was there. "Where's Edward?"
"He went with Amelia to get Thomas,"
"And Jorge?"
Gally and Minho exchanged worried glances.
"He wasn't there," Minho said regrettably. "We don't know where he is,"
Brenda became scared. So did Chuck who held her hand tightly.
"Get the children to safety! We'll go find them. Just get them out of here," said Minho. He and Gally dashed away pushing their masks over their heads. With no choice, Brenda and Chuck drove the bus away with all the rescued kids on board.
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Amelia and Edward hid in a storage room as Jerry, Janson and a few soldiers passed. Amelia peeked out and she saw the last one disappear behind the corner. "Come on," she whispered.
"I hope we're not too late," Edward prayed. They snuck through the corridors, hearing the alarms echoing against the walls. They had to find the others quickly before it was too late. They turned a corner and to their shock, they saw Ava Paige standing there staring at them with wide eyes.
Amelia aimed her weapon at them.
Ava blinked. "Amelia," she tried to step forward.
"Don't you dare come a step closer," Edward warned, pointing his weapon at his former mentor. "Tell us where you have Thomas, Jorge and Hans,"
Ava didn't speak. Nor did she even heed Edward's words. She wanted to speak only to Amelia. "Darling..."
"Why would you call me that? You took me from my father. You had me sent into the Maze. You left me to die,"
Ava was struck by her truthful words. "You're right," her unexpected words made Amelia lower her gun just an inch. "I was wrong. I should have focused more on what was important,"
"It's too late for forgiveness," Amelia spat back. "It was too late the moment you brought all this on the world,"
"Where's my brother?" Edward demanded. Ava didn't answer. "I will shoot,"
"You're not a killer Ed," she tried to speak calmly.
"You don't know what I am. But I know what you are. You're a monster. The whole city will learn what you did, what you forced my father to do. And when they do, all of this will be over," His words froze Ava. He was going to put an end to her now. This was his chance now. He could kill her now. Avenge his parents. The pain she brought to his brother.
Bang!
"Ahh!" Edward dropped his gun. He pressed his hand over his arm, blood seeping through his fingers. Amelia saw Janson just down the corridor. Quickly she shot at him and the soldiers giving them cover. She grabbed Edward and pulled him away to safety, away from her mother and Janson.
Though wounded in the arm, Edward refused to not participate. The soldiers followed them but they shot back, taking many down. But they were running out of ammo very quickly. They hunched against a wall. Amelia eyed Edward's arms wound worriedly. "Don't worry about me," he said. "keep the mind in the fight,"
Amelia pulled the trigger again but no bullet came out. "Dang it!" She tossed it to the floor. She dug into the weapon's pouch of a fallen soldier. "Get back!" she tossed it and zap! the small gadget released an electric shock, much like the one back at the Right Arm Camp attack, and with the combined amount of electricity in some of the ceiling lights, it knocked the soldiers out cold.
"Nice," Edward praised. They made a dash for it but around a corner, they found themselves blocked.
"Freeze! Get down on the ground now!" Edward and Amelia froze but would not accept defeat. "I said get your hands on the ground!" the guard ordered.
Suddenly a teenager came out of nowhere and rammed into the guard. He shoved him against the wall and then threw him through the glass. He breathed viciously in and out. Edward felt his heart soar, his joy return for the first time in weeks. There in front of him was Thomas, wide-eyed, tears spilling. "Tom," he breathed.
Thomas's lips formed a joyful smile. "Hello, little bro,"
Unable to hold back any longer, Edward flew right into Thomas's arms, hugging him tightly. Thomas breathed in his scent and stroked his hair. His tears fell onto his shoulder. "I'm never letting you out of my arms again,"
"I'm never letting you go," cried his younger brother.
"I can't believe you came here,"
"Of course I did. I never would have stopped looking until I found you,"
"Uh guys...hate to ruin the reunion but we gotta go," Amelia reminded. Voices echoed from behind the corners. Their hearts jumped. Quickly she grabbed the brother's hands and they shot off, hearing another group of guards behind them.
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And that's brothers reunited at last. Don't worry. There'll be more reunions soon. Sorry for not updating. I've been busy with uni. Hopefully, the next update will be sooner.