"Do you think this is really the Right Arm?" Minho questioned, climbing into the backseat with me, Rye, and Newt.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Newt groaned as he tried to fit himself in the small space.
"I don't trust them." Minho decided.
"Well, you don't trust anyone, so.." Newt chuckled but then grunted again.
"Newt, just sit down." Minho sighed and looked at the struggling boy.
"Do you see any space here?" Newt managed to say, almost crawling up in a ball.
"Sit on someone's lap," Minho ordered. "Not Jane's, though. We don't want her to suffocate."
"I think if I sit on literally anyone's lap, they'll all suffocate." Newt realized.
"Maybe we should let Jane sit on someone's lap then," Rye suggested out of a sudden, which caused the two boys to stare at him for a few seconds.
"I mean, she's smaller."
"I suppose I take that as a compliment?" I raised my eyebrows, then chuckled before furrowing them again. If I had to be the one to sit on someone's lap, that meant touch. Touch was fine with those boys, I hoped. They wouldn't hurt me anyways. But it would be weird to sit on Minho or Newt their laps, because.. just no. I didn't want to sit on my crush's lap.
"Alright." I sighed and got off my seat so Newt could sit there. Minho's mouth opened, but before he even got the chance to say something, Rye took my sign and pulled me onto his lap, his hands taking my waist.
I shivered but didn't stop him. I had to get used to it anyways, yet I scooted forward a little more, so I was more on Rye's knees than his lap.
Seeming offended, Newt and Minho stared at us. Especially Minho looked pissed.
"Hands don't involve with lap sitting," Minho commented at Rye.
"What?" We asked in unison, confused as Minho's eyes twitched at us.
"Just saying." He muttered and gave Rye a dirty glance before averting his head.
I turned my head to look at Rye. "Not suffocating?"
He laughed. "Nope. Just relax."
I snorted a bit nervous and embarrassed by my position but also felt comfortable around Rye.
"How long?" Minho questioned Harriet who sat in front of us.
"Five minutes." She replied.
"Five minutes of goddamn torture," Minho muttered under his breath, and to be honest, he was annoying me.
Newt pushed Minho with his elbow lightly as I turned my head and stared straight forward, a sudden feeling of the hands pressing down my body forming.
No, no, no... I begged in my head, hoping I wouldn't get anything like a flashback. It's just Rye.
Slowly my breathing sped up, chest tightening a bit. I tried to swallow the fear away, which of course, did not work.
"Rye, what are you doing with Jane?" Minho snapped when he saw my face get pale.
"Nothing." He said simply before leaning in. "You okay, Star?"
I nodded quickly. "Are we almost there?" I peeped. Still, I wasn't afraid of Rye, but I felt my body tense up.
"Just a little more," Newt assured, carefully taking my hand and giving it a squeeze in the hope to comfort me, what he kind of did.
I breathed in and out, my heartbeat starting to slow down. And the only thing I could think of was how embarrassing it was, especially in front of those boys. I couldn't even handle a small touch for more than a minute!
"Arrived," Harriet announced, and not even a second later the car stopped. I got out of it quickly and gave Rye a thankful nod, hoping I didn't offend him by my acting.
"They've been planning this for over a year now," Sonya explained when we all stood on the surface. I watched the place with shocked eyes. Tents were set up with fires in front of them. People baked their food, some watched us, and others just minded their own business by drawing or anything else. It looked nice to me.
"This is all for us." Sonya motioned at it. "You guys are lucky you found us when you did. We're moving out in two days."
"Where's Vince?" Harriet asked a man to our left.
"Somewhere over there, I think."
Thomas questioned something, as always.
"Who's Vince?"
"He's the one who decides if you get to stay." Harriet sighed.
"I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army." Thomas frowned.
"Yeah, we were." It was a man. He walked over to us. The first thing that caught my eye was his blonde goatee and tough clothes. I supposed it was Vince. "This is all that's left of us. Lot of good people died getting us this far." Then he paused, giving all of us a glance. "Who are they?"
"They're Immunes," Harriet replied confidently. "Caught 'em coming up the mountain."
"Did you check 'em?" Vince put his hands on his hips.
"I know this guy, Aris." Harriet looked at the boy. "I trust him."
"Well, I don't," Vince admitted. "Check 'em."
Just then I noticed Brenda was breathing heavily behind me, almost gasping for raspy breaths.
"Hey, boss..." I wasn't the only one who noticed it. Another man looked at Brenda suspiciously.
Brenda fell over. "Brenda! Brenda!" Jorge caught her right before she hit the ground.
"What's going on?"
"Brenda!"
"Brenda, talk to me."
Confused I stared at Brenda. What the hell was happening to her?
Vince frowned and bent down to his knees, rolling the pipe of Brenda's pants up.
"What the hell?" He screamed and stared at her leg. An infection of a Crank was there, slowly growing and even some black blood coming out. I winced at the sight but soon got distracted by Vince.
"Shit!" He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Breda. "Crank! We got a Crank!"
"No!" We all panicked. No one wanted to lose Brenda. "No!"
"Wait, wait!"
"Step back!" Vince ordered, staring at Brenda like she was some dangerous creature.
"Listen." Thomas started, moving in front of Brenda protectively. "This just happened, okay? She's not dangerous yet."
"You shouldn't have brought her here!" Vince replied.
"I know."
"We let Cranks in here now, the safe haven doesn't last a week! Step back!"
"I told her that you could help. Okay?" Thomas gave Vince a questionable look, who shook his head. "There's got to be something you can do."
"Yeah, there is." His grip on the gun tightened. "I can put her out of her misery."
"No!" I jumped next to Thomas. Jorge protested loudly when two men tried to get him off Brenda.
"Vince, that's enough!" A sudden feminine voice talked. "Let him go."
Vince didn't react and kept pointing the weapon at Brenda.
"Let him go!" She ordered again.
Vince stepped aside and put the gun down. "She's infected, Doc."
The woman was revealed. She looked nice to me, her eyes soft, and her dark hair flowing in the wind. "There's nothing we can do for her," Vince said.
"No, but he can." The woman looked at Thomas. "Hello, Thomas."
My stomach dropped. Did she know all of us? Did she know what I did in the past? Or did she only know Thomas?
"What?" Thomas lowered his voice so it was deep. "You know me?"
Her eyes inspected his face. "Interesting." She paused. "It makes sense they'd put you in the maze. Though I must admit... I was worried they'd kill you after what you did."
"What I did?" Thomas' eyebrows furrowed.
"The first time we spoke, you said you couldn't take it anymore... watching your friends die, one by one."
I felt worse by the moment and thought about all the friends that died, so didn't even notice Newt moving in front of me, watching Vince with his gun closely.
"The last time we spoke... you gave me the coordinates of every WICKED compound, trial, and lab." The woman explained.
Vince his face softened in realization. "He was our source. We couldn't have pulled all this off without him."
She nodded and looked at Brenda. "Take her to the tent. Get these guys some warm clothes. Thomas, you come with me."