The guys all went wide eyed and then scrunched their noses when the three Runners stopped in front of the Keepers. Their eyes were wide, all staring at Evelyn.
"Problem?" She asked, raising an eyebrow?
"Uhh...what the bloody hell went on out there?" Newt asked, his eyes wide taking in her appearance.
"Dissected a Griever."
"You're covered in-" Gally started.
"Griever guts and slim, yes. I am aware." She answered, and wiped some of it out of her hair, "We brought some stuff!"
She shrugged her backpack off and pulled out the wrapped up Griever stinger. And Minho pulled the cylinder out of his bag. Handing them over to Nick and Newt, who both looked shocked.
"So these letters on both the stinger and whatever that thing is-"
"-It's heart or brain!" Thomas interrupted.
"Yeah and-"
"she pulled it from this ugly slimy organ that looked like a brain!"
"Yeah, but-"
"And then she figured it all out! The letters and the Creators and everything!"
"Thomas?!" Evelyn finally yelled.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Shut up!"
"Sorry..." He said sheepishly, shoving his hands in his pockets, and looking at the ground.
"It's fine, please keep praising my brilliance...but stop cutting me off, sheesh ya Shank!"
He gave her a sheepish grin. Minho snickered.
"But yeah, what the shank said. The letters on both those match, and are the same as on the Grief Serum and supply crates. It's the mother shucken Creators! Their messing with us for whatever shucked up purpose and then watching us with those Beetle Blades."
Everyone stared at her, mouths open in shock.
Newt was rubbing his bottom lip with his thumb. His tell he was thinking, working something out.
"Newt? What's going on up there?" Evelyn asked.
"Those letters...w i c k e d..."
"What about them?" Evelyn asked, there a small spark of something in his eye, they didn't look so empty and dead.
"World in Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department"
"Experiment Department." Minho said at the same time, "Wholly Shuck!"
"What?" Gally asked.
"There are these buggen' metal signs everywhere in the bloody maze, never paid much attention to 'em. But...it connects...must be the Creators."
"Wicked...seems like a fitting name." Evelyn mutter.
"Absolutely! You're buggen' right, Love it is fitting." Newt nodded in agreement.
A knife went straight to her heart. She froze in her spot, her face loosing colour, she was very aware of how fast her heart had speed up. The guys all froze and looked back and forth between Evelyn and Newt. It took a moment for Newt to realize what happened, and his face also lost colour.
"Sorry. Ol' habits..." He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and looked away dejected.
"Well..." Thomas said slowly, trying to cut the tension. "This is new information, right? Right Minho?"
"Yeah." He nodded, his eyes flicking back and forth between Evelyn and Newt.
"We gotta go back out and keep looking!" Thomas turned and took a step.
Minho broke out of his staring and placed a hand on Thomas's shoulder.
"We just got out and you wanna go back in?"
"Yeah! Aren't you curious! We just found an answer to something! There's more out there!" Thomas tried to push around Minho.
Minho groaned and rolled his eyes and stepped in front of Thomas. "What is it with you, huh? You got a death wish?" Minho growled and gave Thomas a small shove in his chest.
"We gotta get some more answers!"
"Thomas!" Evelyn snapped. He finally stopped and looked at her. "The doors will be closing soon. We can go tomorrow."
Minho's eyes shot up, "WE? Pixy? Are you coming? Are you a Runner now?"
"I didn't swim in shucken Greiver guts for nothing! Of course I'm shucken coming!"
Minho looked at her and a smirk grew on his face and mischief in his eyes.
"No! Minho don't you dare!"
"Oh come on! That was too easy..."
Evelyn tried to hold the laugh in, she bit her lip. But she could feel it in her chest.
"Don't you dare..."
"Imma say it...you better say it with me...'cause you made it too easy...come on Pixy.."
"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!" They yelled together and then burst into giggles, while everyone else groaned and rolled their eyes. Thomas looked shocked and confused.
It took her a full minute to stop laughing so hard she could talk. Trying to wipe the tears away, instead just smearing Griever guts onto her face.
"Sooo...we're not going back out?" Thomas asked.
Minho and Evelyn shook their heads.
"No. It's not safe right now, I don't plan on having a shucken sleepover again."
"But who knows where this might lead us!" Thomas was looking at the stone halls with longing.
"Tomorrow Thomas." Minho said firmly.
He deflated.
"All right ya shanks, Imma go have a shower."
"Yeah please. You stink."
"No better than you Solider!"
"I smell like man!"
"Keep telling yourself that."
Evelyn went straight to the showers, peeling the disgusting clothes off and dropping them onto the floor and turning the hot water on. She stood for a long time, with her eyes closed; trying to ease her tight muscles. The events of the last few days swirled around her head like the Griever guts and slim sweat and a bit of pink blood from a puncture that had reopened.
She placed her forehead on the cool wall, trying to ease the throbbing. She slowly slid down the wall, her legs feeling shaky and exhausted. She really thought she was all done with the tears, but they sprang back up. It wasn't just the last few days, it wasn't just tears from Newt's actions, it was everything. It was the hurt and anger and fear from the last three years. It was tears from trying and failing to save her boys, it was the loss of George and Jack. It was fear of possibly losing someone else. They were tears of fear and trauma from spending a terror filled night being hunted by monsters.
She cowered in the corner and cried. The crying turned into sobs. It didn't take long before those sobs had turned into screaming and heart wrenching cries. Her chest was hurting, sharp pain was shooting through her. Her lungs weren't working anymore, they were squeezing closed. Her throat was tight and her brain wasn't getting the oxygen it needed. Her legs and arms where shaking and shooting pain.
There was a loud crash. And then a loud scared voice yelling her name.
"Evelyn?"
She was pulled from the shower a towel was placed over her and she was pulled into his lap. The boy she had wished would hold her. The boy her heart longed for. The boy she knew she still loved. Newt held her while her body tried to work through a full blown trauma induced panic attack.
"Shhh. Love, you're safe. You're okay." He whispered into her soaking wet hair.
"I can't...I can't! I can't!"
"You can. You always can. 'Cause your stronger an' braver than all of us. You're strong an' capable. Just breath." He had her face in his hands, making her look at him. "There ya go, slow...slowly. In an' out."
Her hands grabbed onto his now soaking shirt and held on tight, his shirt held tight in her fists. Her short shallow breathing started up again, she wanted to hold him, to hear his heart beat, his arms around her.
"No, slow down, Evy, you're gonna make yourself pass out." He said quietly, but it was thick with worry. "Eve, tell me two things you can hear. Right now, two things."
His hands were still firmly on her face, keeping her from pulling away.
"The...shower..and..and.."
"Tell me Love, what do you hear?"
"You." She gasped.
"Good. Okay, what do you see? Two things you can see?"
Her foggy head heard his words, and heard the instructions. She tried to focus. All she could focus on, was his big brown eyes. They looked clear, they looked sad, and worried, but the dead hard haunted look was gone. They were soft and worried.
"You.." She whispered.
"Good Evy..." He whispered back, "What can you feel?"
"My..my heart...and you..I feel you." Evelyn breathed.
Her breathing wasn't wild gasps anymore. It seemed to be the opposite now, her breathes were now stuck in her throat. Her eyes were glued to Newt's. She felt his thumbs gently running back and forth over her cheek bones. He hadn't looked away either.
"Eve...I'm so sorry!" He whispered. The pain in his voice made her heart hurt again, tears slowly slid down her cheeks.
"Why..why did you do it?" She whispered between hiccups and shuddered broken breathing.
"It was like a buggen' dream. Sometimes...the last few days, I don' remember what happened."
She was quiet, waiting for him to continue.
"Like...when you got back an' stumbled all bloody an' half dead into the buggen' council room..."
She nodded, remembering.
"Well I took a step, but then..." he frowned, remembering back, "it's like I went blank. Like I don't bloody remember anythin' solid until later that evenin'. Like I do but I don'. I can't explain it! An' I know that sounds like such a shucken lame explanation and I'm tryna make up some excuse for what I did."
"Do you love him?"
"No." He shook his head.
She nodded once.
"I know I messed up. I know I broke your trust, and I hurt you so many times over the last week."
She took a shaky breath. Sitting up more straight, she took his one hand and took it off her cheek, flipping it over. Holding his arm in her lap, she gently ran her fingers over he bandage on his forearm.
"And this?"
"I was fully aware of what I was buggen' doing there." He whispered, and finally looked away from her, shame washed over his face. "You were gone, I watched you run in for Minho and Alby. I watched you franticly try and get them up, your hands glowing. By the time I got to the doors, Nick had grabbed me from behind. I watched you fall an' slam your head. I called for you and then the doors slammed shut."
"No, It was Thomas you called for." Evelyn shook her head, hurt clear in her voice, her soaking hair dripped down her bare shoulders, making her shiver.
Newt frowned. His eyebrows pulled together.
"What..? No. It was you... I called for you!"
She shook her head again. Newt opened and closed his mouth a few times, his eyes so lost and confused.
"That's not buggen' possible! Why the bloody hell would I scream for him?"
"That's what I've been trying to figure out."
"No! no, it was you Evelyn! I called for you!" He pleaded, his voice catching and thick with desperation. He looked close to tears, his eyes were wide and scared, his pupils were dilated, his face was pale. She felt his one hand still on her cheek shaking.
"Please, Eve..please! Please believe me!"
The tears finally escaped and slid down his cheeks. She was silent for a while, just sitting, trying to process what he was claiming. He seemed to upset to be making it up.
"I don't know what to believe anymore, Newt! I mean... I wouldn't put it passed the shucken Creators to be messing with us somehow. I mean look what they did to George..." Evelyn finally said, "But...still doesn't change how I feel, and what I went through!"
Her body deflated, she was sore and exhausted. He exhaled, and his face relaxed. Tears still slid down his face. Both hands were now back on her face, cupping her face. She still had one hand clenched tight around his shirt, like he would disappear any second.
"I understand." He whispered, "I'm sorry for everythin' Evelyn. I really am. I've felt like half of me died. I know we can't go back to what we had...but can I start tryin' to make it up to ya?" He asked quietly.
"Yes. But it's going to take time, I don't know how to process this. You're claiming it wasn't you, it was some mind blank memory laps...I don't put it passed this stupid shucked place, but it still happened and it hurts. It hurts so much."
"I'm so sorry!" His voice think and sad.
They were both quiet. Her wet hair dripped down her bare shoulders, making her shiver. Newt frowned, she was aware she was only wrapped in a towel on his lap. She still had to wash her hair and get the slim off. She shivered, he skin was covered in goosebumps, but she was exhausted, emotionally and physical just exhausted. The panic trauma attack was taking its tole on her now.
"Come on Love, I'll help ya."
She was so tired now, she didn't even care. He had seen her in less. She let him guide her into the shower and he made her sit, and he washed her hair, carful of the scabbed gash on the back of her head.
"Did you grab clothes?" He asked, breaking her from her daze, she had slowly fallen asleep.
Her eyes flew open, she had completely forgot to grab clothes before coming to the shower. She shook her head.
"All right, stay here-"
"I'm not going out there with no clothes."
A small ghost of a smirk appeared on Newt's face.
"I'll go grab you some." He got up and left.
He was only gone a few minutes. He came back in a dry shirt and holding some clothes for Evelyn. He stood outside the broken door and let her change. Evelyn felt so weak and shaky. That PTSD episode took a lot out of her. When she stepped out of the bathroom she stumbled and arms caught her and picked her up. She laid her head on Newt's chest, her exhausted eyes slid shut, her limbs were shaking and heavy, her head was pounding and her chest was sore from hyperventilating. His uneven footsteps were familiar. The short walk across the Glade and the familiar smell lulled her to sleep.
Newt pushed her door open and laid her down, pulling the blanket up. He went next door to the MedHut and busied himself at her desk. Jeff and Clint glanced at each other, shrugged and let him do his thing in silence. But they both noticed a small smile on his face now, and his eyes didn't look dead blank and haunted. He took the steaming mug of tea and grabbed one of the fresh daisies from the jar on the table and left without a word.
Evelyn woke up suddenly, rolled over and sat up with a small smile. There was a mug of warm energy replenishing tea, a daisy and a small note that said:
Lee,
Drink your tea, Love.
Her heart softened, and a small smile appeared. She missed him so much. And maybe his story and claim of blanking out and not remembering things wasn't as wild as she first thought. She had seen some crazy klunk that was un explainable.
"I mean...we wall woke up with no memories...wouldn't be so unrealistic.." She whispered to herself.
A wild scream cut threw the calm of the Glade.