"MINHO. WICKED HAS HIM HERE. WE'RE LOOKING FOR A WAY IN." EXPLAINED NEWT. It seemed like Gally realised the importance of the 'issue' they had as disbelief crossed his face. "I can help with that. Follow me." he stated as he turned around. "I'm not going anywhere with you." declared Thomas while crossing his arms.
"Suit yourself. But I can get you through those walls." explained Gally. Even if it was quite hesitant, the group still followed Gally. "After the maze I got picked up by a group headed to the city. They realised I was immune, patched me up and brought me here. To Lawrence. His troops have been at war with WICKED ever since they took control of the city. WICKED can't hide behind those walls forever. Day's gonna come and they're gonna pay for what they've done."
The boy with the buzzcut stopped suddenly, "Listen. He doesn't get a lot of visitors so let me do the talking. Alright? Try not to stare." Thea did not know what to expect now. "Try not to stare" didn't really tell them for what they had to prepare.
The group entered a different room which was covered with fewer flowers and vines. In the middle of it stood a man who was visible due to the sunlight which shone through a window. He mumbled some inaudible things before he said, "Gally." with surprise in his voice. "Glad to see you made it back. Jasper told me what happened."
"It was a slaughter. There's nothing we can do against those guns."
"No, but they can only poke the hornets so long. Before they get stung." Lawrence smelled at a rose. "Now, who are these people? Why are they here?"
"We need to get into WICKED. Gally said you could get us behind the walls." explained Thomas as he politely stepped forward.
"Gally should know better than to make promises he can't keep. Besides, that wall are only half your problem. Getting inside WICKED is impossible."
"There might be a way now. But it doesn't work without Thomas." argued Gally. The group did not know what way Gally meant but it sounded like an option.
"Is that so? You know what I am, Thomas. I'm a businessman." Lawrence whispered the last sentence as he neared Thomas. Lawrence was a man without a nose. It seemingly was cut off, leaving a triangle shaped space. One of his eyes was white and half off his face was partially burnt of and torn apart. "Which means that I don't take unecessary risks... why should I trust you?"
"So I can help you. You see if you can get me through those walls, I'm gonna get you what you need."
"What is it that you think I need?"
"Time. Every last drop." Thomas spoke about the liquid which kept Lawrence alive, there was not much left anymore in his bag. The man glanced at his bag where the blue liquid was contained.
"Is that what I need?"
"WICKED has something we both want."
"I tell you what. Three can go for now. The rest stays down here with me. I am still a little unsure, it makes sure that you find your way back. We have a deal?" Lawrence held out his torn up and rather bony hand to Thomas. Three could go and the rest had to stay, what a deal. The brunette boy accepted the deal. "Gally will show you the way."
It was a rather interesting decision but Thomas insisted that Thea would join him, Newt and Gally. She was his second decision after Frypan - who did not want to go with them, probably as he wasn't too keen on parting the couple. Thea insisted that Thomas should pick someone else to go with him as she saw herself as someone who is not a good teammate and she probably wasn't fit for such a expedition. But Thomas kept insisting that she should join them until she finally agreed.
Gally opened a hatch to reveal a hole in the ground in which he stuck a ladder in. Thea looked down into the deep end of the black hole. "Gally, take care of these three." spoke Frypan as he crouched down besides Gally who sat on the edge of the hole.
"Yeah." replied the boy with the buzz cut as he climbed down. Thomas followed next as Thea still looked at Newt who stuffed his pants into his shoes, he looked worried for a bit. His hands were shaking making Thea wonder if he was nervous. The girl just shrugged it off and climbed down the hole.
Down there was not a beautiful place to say the least. Another canalisation like system. "Ew, this is gross." spoke Newt as the group progressed further through the system.
"Yes, it's just great." added Thomas with sarcasm in his voice.
"A masterpiece, really." Thea was not a big fan of the system as they have once been walking through one for a time which felt like ages.
Gally turned on a light switch to reveal lights hanging off the walls which lit the place up. At least it didn't look so ugly anymore, it looked way better. It also was way more comfortable to walk through as you finally saw where you were going and what you step on.
"Stay with me." spoke Gally as he continued down the system.
Thea looked around the system as she walked it was fascinating and way better than the last one. But the girl also worried about Newt as she wondered if everything was alright with him. The rest of the walk was rather short as they arrived at a metal door. Gally opened it and stepped out with the others following him.
They walked into a public area where many people walked by. Thea noticed how most of them wore white masks in front of their mouths and how they were dressed formally, completely different from the group. They tried to blend into the crowd as they continued to walk. They made their way up polished marble stairs until the arrived on its end.
There it was, the city in its full glory. Many building tall enough to possibly scrape the clouds stood in their full glory. Lights shone brightly as different kinds of technology was displayed. It was way different from what Thea had seen in the other WICKED facility. There wasn't just one building, there were too many to count. A train drove by them on tracks. All of it made Thea wanting to stand there and ogle at its glory.
"This is a long way from the glade." stated Newt as he stared at the city. He seemed to have the same problem as Thea and Thomas who also couldn't stop ogling. Overtime Thea had forgotten how the group wasn't in the same maze, it felt like she had known them for so long that she just forgot.
"Yep. We better get off the streets and I know it's hard but act like you've seen it before." instructed Gally before he kept moving. The three others just glanced at one another with surprised faces before they also moved on. Even if it was rather hard, they still managed to act like it wasn't new to them.
They walked through the streets of the city in a suspicious way. Sometimes cars would drive by from which they would hide. "They definitely have security. I guess you shanks have something to do with that." Thea was not sure what 'shanks' meant but it probably was an insult.
"No really, ya stick." mumbled Thea in response which made Newt stifle a laugh. Gally just raised an eyebrow at her as he did not understand what she meant.
"Okay, let's get out of here." said Gally as another car passed. Finally they made it to their destination, a wall, how ironic. "Okay, Thea was it?-" Gally was quite sure that it was the girls name but he still asked her the question to which he received a nod. "-you're up first." he spoke.
Just as the boys wanted to help Thea up the girl already jumped up to the edge and started to pull herself up, something which impressed the boys greatly. Thea was not really sure where her strength came from but she wasn't really questioning it either.
Next up was Newt who got heaved up by Gally and then pulled up by Thea. At this point Thea noticed how Newt's hands shook slightly as he grabbed onto the edge making Thea wonder what was going on. Thomas came up next - ignoring Gally who offered him some help. Their climb was a challenge but they made it to a staircase which led them to a little viewing platform kind of space.
"There it is. WICKED's got Minho. It's where they're keeping him." explained Gally as he prepared a telescope. Thea just looked at the building which stood higher than the others, this must be WICKED's base of operations. "Lawrence has been trying to find a way in for years. The place is crawling with soldiers, they got surveillance everywhere. Scanners on every floor."
"Sounds like a bloody fortress." declared Newt as he leaned on the railing. And Thea couldn't agree more.
"I thought you said you had a way in." quizzed Thomas with confusion evident in his voice as he stared at the seemingly safest building.
"I might." explained Gally.
"You might? What the hell do you mean 'might'?"
"Take a look."
Thomas looked through the telescope with a shocked face. "I said I had a way in. I didn't say you were gonna like it." Gally's statement and Thomas' face made Thea assume that Teresa was meant. Teresa was supposed to be their way in.
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The last city is actually a very fascinating place (in my opinion). Poor Thomas, I mean we all know that at this point he still liked Teresa and then he has to use her. Wow.