Pure content clicked inside Mara's heart. Her friend was back and safe, and she couldn't have asked for anything better. He was alive, and it was at that point that Mara had realised just ow much she had missed him.
She ran at him almost immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. He returned her hug after a moment of surprise, but then quickly pulled away to face Mara head on.
Thomas looked tired and discombobulated; his eyes were droopy and surrounded by dark circles. He had scratches and fight marks along his skin, but then again, so did everyone else. It looked like he had found himself in some tough situations, but it wasn't the time or place to ask him what had happened.
"It's been quite the trip to find you, shuckface." Mara smiled, ruffling his hair jokingly.
"What happened to you guys!?" He exclaimed, directing this at the other Gladers as well as Mara. "Where have you been?"
"Hey, it's Thomas!" Frypan roared, only just noticing him. "As ugly and alive as ever!"
Newt came up to him and Mara stepped back, allowing the two of them to reunite. "Glad you're not bloody dead, Tommy. I'm really, really glad."
Mara nodded in agreeance, the idea that Thomas had been dead had been eating at her brain, trying to convince her that it was the truth. Words couldn't express how great she felt knowing that she had been wrong. That he was alive.
"You too." Thomas nodded, smiling back at him. "Has everyone made it so far? Where'd you guys go? How'd you get here?"
Newt nodded happily. "Still twelve of us. Plus Jorge."
"We got lucky." Mara added, sliding back into the conversation. "Real lucky."
Thomas seemed relieved to hear that, and Mara didn't blame him. Still, she could tell he was still on edge. "Any sign of Barkley and the rest of them? Were they the ones who set off the explosion?"
"Not Barkley," Mara answered him, crossing her arms. "We did have a run in with the others the other day though, but it was a smaller group than before. They found our hideout, and some shuckface re-opened my stitches. Haven't seen them other than that though."
"They re-opened your-"Thomas began with wide eyes, but was quickly interrupted.
"I'm fine, Tommy. Honestly, no need to worry." Mara interrupted; she didn't want him to worry about her when everything had been fixed up. She was still feeling a little groggy and there was still a slight pain in her stomach when she moved, but she was okay, and that was good enough for her.
"We got away pretty quickly after the explosion, and most of them are too scared to come deeper into the city." Jorge jumped in, changing the subject, to Mara's relief. He was still standing over the men he had prevented from running away, making sure they wouldn't attack him or the other Gladers.
Mara looked back over to the group of Cranks that the other Gladers were still guarding, and they were all looking rather agitated. They were going to have to move soon, otherwise they would have to fight their way through a diverse group of angry Cranks, and Mara wasn't very keen on that idea.
"We should get out of here soon." Mara addressed their small group in a low hushed voice and nodded towards the group of Cranks their friends were trying to control. "They're getting aggravated and looks like their hangovers are wearing off."
Minho, Newt and Thomas all nodded in agreeance. They needed to leave before anyone else managed to stop them.
"You wanna start roundin' everyone up?" Minho looked at Mara, who smiled lightly.
"Yeah, no problem." Mara headed away from the three of them, the gun pressing against her skin as she walked. She had forgotten it was there, and felt a little relived to know it was there. If anyone tried to disagree with her, she could handle herself.
But then, came the flooding thought of how she had used the gun before the Scorch, how she had been forced to use it.
As quickly as the thought had appeared, Mara had shaken it away; she couldn't think that way. If she did, it would take her mind from reality, and then, she wouldn't be focused on the situation in front of her.
Turning back to the others, she had noticed that Thomas had pulled Newt and Minho closer to him, and he was whispering about something. It had to be important since they had dropped their voices, but Mara didn't want to interfere; if it was important, then she needed to give the privacy they desired.
She turned back to the group of Cranks, and strolled over to them, choosing to stand in between Frypan and Aris.
"We're gonna head off soon." She whispered to them both, trying to make sure the Cranks couldn't hear her. "Need to make sure this lot stay where they are. Can you spread the word to the others?"
Both of them nodded, and headed off slowly into separate directions, making sure to keep one eye on the Cranks as they left. Mara stood where she was, watching over the group before her. Most of them seemed to be submitting to the Gladers, but small groups of them were huddled together, trying to whisper between one another. Mara knew that was not a good sign.
"Hey, Mara." A boy's voice came from beside Mara, making her jump a little. She turned to see one of the younger Glader standing beside her, his dark black hair dangling in front of his eyes. She had recognised him immediately, but couldn't quite pin a name to his face. She did, however, remember that she had met him in the Glade; he had been one of Adam's friends.
"Hi." She mumbled, wondering what he wanted, and at the same time, feeling a little guilty at the fact that she couldn't remember the boy's name.
"Some of the Cranks are whisperin', and I think they're talkin' about trying to get around us- the ones that seem to be less hungover are, anyway." He explained, his darkened eyes glancing over to the group every few seconds. "We need to get a move on before they try anything."
Before Mara could agree, Minho's voice came booming from behind them.
"Listen up!" Minho called out, stepping past Mara to talk directly to the group of Cranks. "We're leaving now. Don't follow us, you'll be fine. Follow us, you'll be dead. Pretty easy choice, don't ya think?"
Mara couldn't help but smile a little at his statement. "Well said," she whispered when he had turned back to face her, and greeted her with a cheeky grin. "You start gettin' everyone out of the crowd, I'll make sure they don't try anything." Minho noticed as Mara's hand grazed her gun, and then nodded before moving off to gather all of the Gladers.
Every Glader made their way to the door and then out of it, but Mara waited until they had all at least reached that part of the room before following along, making sure to keep her eye on the Cranks, who all watched her from where they sat.
She walked back slowly, only looking away from the Cranks in order to make sure that she didn't bump into anything or fall. Mara noticed Thomas standing still, towards the other end of the room, but before she could say anything or summon him, yet again Minho had beaten her to it.
"Hey, Thomas!" Minho he had shouted at him, running over and grabbing him by the shoulder. "Dude, wake up! We're leaving!"
Most of the Gladers had gone by this point, and since Minho was now dragging Thomas towards the sunlight, Mara knew she had to make her move. So, she turned her body and moved quickly beyond the room, leaving the Cranks behind her.
Newt, Jorge and- once he himself had left the room- Minho kept guard at the door, making sure that no one was following them. Once everyone had evacuated the dismal building, the three of them slowly backed away, keeping their weapons out in front of them, and swinging them back and forth in warning to the Cranks. However, none of them seemed eager to attack, instead they seemed happy to be left alone.
Everyone gathered in the alleyway, just beyond the steps that led down into the dismal building.
"Alright," Minho raised his voice and positioned himself within the group so that everyone could see him. "Now that they're all staying in there, and we've reunited with our buddies here, we're gonna get ourselves through this shuck city. When we're out, we can make a run for it."
Mara, and everyone else, nodded in agreeance. Now, all that Mara wanted to do was escape the city and get away from W.I.C.K.E.D's grasp. Hopefully, after this experiment they had set up, they would be able to get away. To find a nicer city and live out their lives without death and Cranks and W.I.C.K.E.D. Although, somewhere inside Mara, she knew she would never be truly free. She knew a part of her would always be interesting to W.I.C.K.E.D.
"There's only about a mile left," Minho continued, grabbing Mara's attention back. "These Cranks aren't so hard to fight after all. So let's—"
"Hey!"
A loud, maddened voice erupted from beyond the group, and when Mara searched for it, she found herself staring back at the building they had just left. A blond man with dark features stood before them, standing on the bottom step, his arms extended and aimed up at them. His strangely steady hands held a black gun, pointed directly at Thomas.
Before anyone could do anything the man fired, the sound blasting through the alley. For a moment, no seemed to be injured.
But then, Mara saw Thomas fall onto his face, clutching his body.
-
A/N
I'M SORRY ITS BEEN A MONTH SINCE I'VE UPDATED, I PROCRASTINATE TOO MUCH. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME, thanks.