Requested by andyfowlersgirl_xx
Kaitlin ran through the camp. The safe heaven were waiting until the boat was fixed and able to sail, they said it would be a few days. They had a bunch of new kids from WCKD, they thought Minho was in the compartment but he wasn't. Thankfully Aris was and he assured them he was on the train somewhere, he also told them where WCKD were taking them. "Brenda!" Kaitlin whisper-shouted. "Brenda!"
Brenda's head lifted and she looked slightly confused, "what-"
"They've gone," Kaitlin said in a panic, "come on we have to help them!"
Brenda took a moment and then it clicked, Thomas. He had gone to the Last City for Minho. "Who else went?" She asked Kaitlin, pulling on her jacket.
Kaitlin followed her, "Newt and Frypan." Brenda sensed hurt in her voice.
"I'll her Jorge," Brenda said, before she left to get him she placed a hand on her shoulder, "they'll be alright, bring the car." Kaitlin always found comfort in Brenda's confidence with everything.
Kaitlin was glad there were no longer speed limits, at least one good thing came out of the flare. "They'll be fine," Brenda continued to say. Kaitlin thought until I get my hands on them. She sat in the back of the truck, gun at the ready, boiling in her anger. "You sure you don't want to sit inside the truck?" Brenda asked as they reached the tunnel.
"Nah, I can get a better shot from up here," Kaitlin said firmly, as she stood up and aimed the gun ahead. She knew that they were in here, they always got stuck in the most dangerous (and stupid) places. Brenda and Jorge exchanged looks, they weren't sure if she was talking about a better shot for cranks or Newt, Thomas and Frypan. "What you waiting for?" Kaitlin asked, kneeling to poke her head through the small window at the back of the truck. She looked back and forth at each other.
"Try not to shoot them," Brenda said.
"Oh. I'll try," Kaitlin replied sarcastically, then cocked the gun as she stood up.
"Great," Brenda whispered to herself. Brenda made sure to remember never to piss Kaitlin off. She guessed there was something more to all of this. Jorge didn't take his time going through the tunnel, Kaitlin had to hold onto the bar which ran along the side of the truck.
Kaitlin suddenly remembered when she road a train.
The train was so full of people that she couldn't move and yet she still managed to sway from side to side. Occasionally the train would jerk to a stop and the passengers would attempt to move further into the middle of the train aisle. No one wanted to be near the window or the doors. Every time the train stopped it meant that there were cranks on the tracks. The overhead tannoy would let out two sharp bursts of what would usually be classed as a fire alarm, "WCKD apologises for the delay, we are working hard to fix this inconvenience. While we do so, we will take the opportunity to run checks. WCKD thanks you for your cooperation." After the recorded voice had finished the two sharp alarm rings would sound again. That was when the gunfire would begin, inside the train and out. Kaitlin could remember the adults pulling her away from the door as a crank began banging the window.
She could the remember the adults trying to stop the men in all black armour from taking her away. Back then she didn't know what WCKD were. Back then she didn't know why the cranks acted how they had. She always thought that they were just sick, after all, she had grown up around them in the house she lived in. Kaitlin remembered the train ride because it was her first and last.
Kaitlin realised that that was the first memory she had gained since she had been in the Glade. That seemed like a lifetime away. Kaitlin was snapped back to reality as she heard shouting. She knew that voice.
There was a round of bullet fire. Thomas, Frypan and Newt ducked down. "Well don't just stand there!" Kaitlin shouted as they froze for a moment while they watched her shooting cranks. They had never seen her kill as many of them as she did just then. Kaitlin believes in a cure for them, which also meant she didn't like to kill them. She believed in a cure but she didn't believe in the way WCKD were trying to get it.
The ride was silent until they reached a safe distance away from the tunnel. "You left me behind,"
Kaitlin said after it had been boiling up inside her. "What happened to leave no man behind." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
Newt looked guilty, he couldn't look at her. Thomas and Frypan stayed silent along with Brenda and Jorge. "I didn't want you to get hurt," he said, looking over at the dead trees as they drove. Kaitlin huffed and tutted watching the dust trail coming from the tires. She wanted Jorge to slow down, but she knew they couldn't. They were running out of time.
The Last City • Morning of the Rescue.
Thomas came back into the room. Kaitlin couldn't read his expression as he walked up to her. She stopped mid-sentence, Brenda turned to where she was looking. "Urm-" Thomas began, this was when she knew something was seriously wrong, "Newt wants to talk to you."
Kaitlin said nothing only pushing past Thomas and headed for the roof. "Newt?" She questioned, she still wanted to be annoyed at him but she just couldn't. She knew that whatever was coming would make her regret her anger towards Newt over the past couple of days. She stood slightly away from him.
He patted the space next to him without looking at her. Kaitlin frowned and then smiled a little, she wasn't sure if it was a sad or sympathetic smile. Nevertheless, she sat down in the spot Newt had patted. She didn't ask what she used to in the Glade.
Kaitlin had always sensed when Newt was down, she would take his hand in hers and walk him to the other side of the Glade. She would then sit him down, sit down next to him and ask, "what's going on?" She would say it in a way that made Newt open up without even thinking. Kaitlin felt that this was something that he had been struggling with for longer than she had realised. That made her feel sick inside. She hadn't noticed, she had been so busy with Thomas and the need to take down WCKD.
"I don't want you to get mad," Newt began.
"Why would I?" asked Kaitlin, a frown on her face, "you haven't-" she cut herself off, this wasn't helping Newt.
Newt continued, he still hadn't looked at her, "I also don't want you to blame yourself in any way." Newt went silent as if an inner fight was happening in his head. He then looked at her, right in the eye, "I'm infected." He said. Kaitlin wanted him to say something else, say something cheesy like 'with love'. But, he didn't.
Kaitlin sat there staring at him, or past him. She wasn't reacting and it was scaring Newt. She was never usually this quiet when faced with hard news. But, then again, this was completely different. This bad news affected her in a different way from seeing WCKD take Minho, to seeing it was Teresa who told them, to see that Gally was still alive.
"With the flare," Newt added, he wasn't sure if she had fully understood. If Kaitlin wasn't in shock and guilt wasn't filling her up, she would have told him that she wasn't stupid. He would then apologise and they would kiss and make up. This wasn't going to go that way. "I'm guessing they put me in there to see how we," he struggled to find the right word, he was still looking at her. He was studying her, trying to figure out how she was processing the information, "function," Newt finished. He still wasn't sure if that was the right word.
"We," Kaitlin repeated, her mind fixed on that word. She still hadn't blinked.
"Cranks."
"I know what you meant, Newt," she snapped. That was the reaction Newt wanted, just so he knew what she was feeling. That response said it all. She wasn't angry, even if it may have sounded like it. She was upset, beyond that probably. She was definitely blaming herself. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "I should have-"
"No, I didn't want to cause a fuss, you know what they have in the city anyway," Newt was thinking what Kaitlin said.
"The serum," she said. But, Newt said, "Minho." That's when they realised the seriousness of what they were really doing. This was no longer a game, not that it ever was, but it seemed they had been looking at it that way.
Night of the Rescue.
Something was echoed in Kaitlin's mind. It might save someones life. It was something Teresa had said to her while she was getting her tracker removed. This was after Thomas had told her that Brenda hadn't been given more treatment. "You and I both know that's impossible," Teresa said to her.
"I know," Kaitlin said, "don't say it, I already know." Kaitlin didn't want her to say that they needed to carry on testing because they were so close to finding a cure. She knew that, but she didn't want them to test 'subjects' they way they were, it was cruel. Teresa pricked the back of her neck and Kaitlin flinched, "you did that on purpose," she said to Teresa.
"I'm sorry," Teresa said, cleaning the blood off as she attempted to stop any more from spilling out, "Kaitlin, I think it's his blood." She whispered in her ear. She had pricked her on purpose, so she could have more time to talk to Kaitlin.
"I do too," Kaitlin admitted, she didn't want to.
Teresa spun Kaitlin around on the chair, "Promise me something, it might save someone's life."
As she watched Newt attempt to kill Thomas, she never realised that Teresa, even then, was talking about Newt. That someone was Newt. Teresa knew but then again she was an expert in the flare. "Newt!" Kaitlin screamed as she ran towards them. Thomas tried to push her away from them, away from harm. Kaitlin understood the promise. "Thomas, get to Teresa. You can save him, Thomas." Kaitlin realised that she had repeated the exact words Teresa had said on the loudspeakers. "Please Thomas," she asked.
That was when Newt heard what was being said and somehow he came back. "Kaitlin?" his voice was so small, he looked around and down at his hands, clearly confused as to how he had gotten there.
"It's alright, I'm here. We'll get through this," Kaitlin caught Newt as he dropped to the floor. She wasn't sure if he was hurt or not. She had no time to check, Newt changed as if someone had flipped on the light switch. She let out a noise that signalled she was shocked and struggling to keep him off her. "Newt," she repeated his name over and over, to see if it meant anything to this thing that had taken over his body. But, it didn't. "Newt," she said louder, pushing him off so he sat down. "What's going on?" she asked, still managing to say it in the same tone she had before.
At that moment, Newt was back. "I'm scared, "I'm really scared. I don't want to lose you, nevermind myself," he said, he was so calm. That was just enough time for Brenda to appear, she said nothing as she handed the serum to Kaitlin. Newt's head was in his hands, Kaitlin took his arm carefully as if it would snap if she moved it too fast. She then injected the serum. She didn't know if it was going to work but Newt suddenly sighed.
"Come on, let's get you both to the berg," Brenda said softly, as she helped Kaitlin up and Minho helped Newt.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! I realise that my preference before this was slightly based on this request without me realising