November 6, 2018
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Hans drove his minibus, leaving Thomas, Newt, Minho, and Sonya. The four teenagers stared at the back of the minibus until it disappeared after turning to the left.
“Where do we start?” The question signified they would be in a bustle.
“There’s a place nobody knows, only Hans, Clare, and me.” Newt answered. He started to walk, followed by Thomas, Minho, and Sonya. “I’m sure Clare’s there.” He stepped toward the ruins.
They walked carefully on the ruins. Newt led them to the middle of the ruins. He stopped, eyes darting around, as if he’s ensuring that he’d taken the right direction. A few minutes passed. He continued to walk ten feet more, then stopped.
“Here!” Newt bent down. He looked at a pile of ruins beneath his legs. “I think it’s here.”
No need time for Thomas, Minho, and Sonya to join Newt. They stood to his left and right., observing the pile of ruins beneath them. Thomas frowned. He imagined a basement. He hoped the room was wide so if Clarisse was there she would get enough air even though it fully covered by the ruins.
“That’s why you need us, dude. You’re lucky to have two strong guys by your side. Let’s do it!” Minho reached out. His hands gripped a big ruin.
Newt got closer to Minho. He help him to move the ruins. Thomas helped with another ruins. Sonya was about to lift a smaller ruin as Minho interrupted her.
“It’s the guy’s job. Don’t let your perfect hands get dirty because of these klunks.” Minho winked.
Thomas and Newt automatically exchanged glared. They both smiled and shook their heads.
“I bet you don’t have no idea what the girls could do in the Glade.” Sonya ignored him. She lifted the ruin and moved it, making Minho and the others widened their eyes. She really could lift that heavy thing.
They spent forty minutes or so until the area around them got sterilized from the ruins. Instead of seeing the carpet that covered the floor or the ceramics, they saw the wooden floor. That must be the door which led them to the basement. Newt confirmed it by knocking the wood.
“Clare? Are you there?”
“Newt? Is that you?” Clarisse answered quickly.
Just like Newt, Thomas and the others sighed in relief. She was okay. Thomas wondered she could keep silent while they’d making noise above her.
“Yeah, it’s me!” Newt swung the wooden door.
They could see her. Clarisse stood beside the staircase. She quickly walked up. A little bag in her hand raised Thomas’s curiosity. Whatever the things stuffed in that bag were certainly important for her or even for the group—she wouldn’t dare to risk her neck if those weren’t.
“What do you thing you’ve done, slinthead?” Newt jumped toward her. He didn’t give her time to feel the fresh air. His strong hands caught her shoulder, pulling her into a tight hug. “You scare me to death!”
Minho placed his hand on Thomas’s shoulder. Thomas glanced at him. Minho smirked, then aimed his face to Newt and Clarisse. Thomas nodded. Just give him time.
“I’m sorry, Newt. Can you let go of me? I can’t breathe.”
Newt loosened his hands. His face blushed as he realized there were three couple of eyes were locking at Clarisse and him. When his eyes met Minho’s, he saw Minho’s lips widened.
“What’s that? In your bag?” Thomas pointed at the small bag in Clarisse’s grip, preventing Minho to mock Newt.
“Um yeah. Hans told me these would be important.” Clarisse turned her face to see at Newt, signaling Newt knew what she was about to tell. “The serum, Newt.”
Thomas swore, he saw fear flashed on Newt’s face, making he raised his eyebrows.
“Serum? What serum?” Sonya strode a couple feet closer, trying to get a better view.
“The grief serum.”
With their eyes widened, Thomas, Minho, and Sonya targeting their gaze to Newt. The target nodded. That was right. It was the same serum they’d used in the maze trial.
“That means, they’re gonna release the grievers?” Minho stared at Clarisse. Curiosity burnt in his eyes. Anxiety also took part in his expression. Thomas was sure it wasn’t formed because of the current situation, but the memories that rusted in his head. They had some bad experiences with the grievers and Minho had a long time to see the worst effect from those nasty creatures.
“I’m not sure. But, WICKED have the virus. Hans heard they talked about the virus.”
“Great job, Clarisse. However, I don’t hope one of us get infected by the virus.” Thomas stated. “We have to go after the others.”
“Right, Tommy. Come on. This way!”
***
They found a public transportation. Unluckily, the driver didn’t want to take them until the Denver’s gate because Newt didn’t have enough money to pay. Minho was angry. He tried to threatened the driver using violence. The driver hushed him though. Once Minho got a pistol pointed at him, he stilled. They didn’t have the choice, only to continued the trip on foot.
According to Newt, they needed to walk about two miles until they reached the place they met Newt for the first time. That meant, they had to go a miles further from there to get to the Berg. It wasn’t a big deal for Thomas after he passed the Scorch Trial—also for his friends, including Clarisse.
The one and only problem was, Thomas couldn’t stop himself to think about his other friends. Can WICKED find them? If the answer is ‘yes’, will they be able to handle them? Do they make it to the Berg? Thomas had to grow his positive thought as big as possible to conceal his worry.
The sun slowly crept down. Twilight was coming, reducing the light. Lamps turned on, keeping the town bright. Orange decorated the sky. Although the view was beautiful, Thomas couldn’t enjoy it. He was too worry to feel the beautifulness.
A miles passed without any troubles. Soon they found out something weird. There were a lot of people in the town. All the store opened. At least, there were three or four people visited each store. Road became a bit crowded. They looked as a normal people as any. Thomas hesitated they were immune or not. If they weren’t and they had the Flare, they must be in the early stage.
The situation around bothered Thomas. He felt every people who faced them gave them a sharp look. Hatred that filled their eyes was readable. Are they not immune? Do they still hate the munnies? Thomas stopped the thought, refusing to receive another anxiety.
“I don’t think thee will be a lot of people in this city.” Minho mumbled.
Newt led the way with Clarisse. He turned his head to face Minho. “The last time people showed up in Denver, something happened.”
“Something? What do you mean, Newt?” Thomas asked. He guessed what Newt meant by ‘something’ wasn’t good thing, but bad.
“You won’t like to hear that, Tommy. And I’d rather to talk once we arrive at a safe place.”
Chill spread through Thomas’s body. He could only look at Minho who shrugged. They both fell into curiosity.
“Why they look at us as if they want to eat us?” Sonya whispered. She attempted to ignore their gaze. Still she used the corner of her eyes to observe them.
“They hate the munnies, remember?” Minho reminded her, whisperring.
“Yeah, and the entire city know Tommy.” Newt added. By the tone of his voice, he regretted his statement.
Thomas shook his head. He hated the fact that WICKED still had a big impact and that those poor people still believed in WICKED’s words about his blood.
“I want to punch the klunk-face who lead WICKED right now.” Minho clenched his palm. He really meant that, not bothering about anything. “They should’ve stopped giving the fake hope to the innocent people. What do they get anyway?”
“Money,” Thomas responded nonchalantly. “If they stop that shuckin’ research, nobody will pay them. No idea how they ensure the benefactors to donate them their money. I don’t care. But, they do. They need money. You surely remember not all of WICKED’s workers are immune. Flare must be infected them by now, or earlier. They need bliss to slow the virus down.
“That’s one reason. Besides, you’ll need money for live your life. It’s not like you’ve done in the maze trial. Here, in the real world, you won’t get the ...” Clarisse looked at Newt. She seemed to forget something Newt’d ever told her.
“Supply,” Newt said succinctly.
Sun disappeared beneath the horizon. Lamps were the only source of the light. Night started to spread the cold air. People still crowded around, bustling everywhere. Denver was still alive. It was more busy than he’d seen the first time he’d stepped on the city.
“Can we come to a store? My stomach’s starving. I need some carbohydrates.” Minho stated.
Thomas realized, he was hungry too. The last time he—and Minho and Newt—ate was this morning, before they looked for Hans. Foods and beverages in the display window of the stores immediately looked more interested than before.
“I’m sorry, Minho. I don’t have any money.” Newt said regretfully after he checked his pocket, searching for money. Unluckily, he didn’t have.
“How if we rob?” Minho asked innocently.
Although he’s really hungry, Thomas didn’t like the idea.
“That’s Kevin and the others’s job. We only need to be patient until we meet the others.”
Oh, yeah. Thomas’d almost forgotten about Kevin.
“You mean, you don’t believe in my capacity, Newt?” Minho spat.
Thomas shook. He couldn’t believe Minho asked that stupid question. He himself understood what in Newt’s mind. It’s too risky to do the criminal thing in the middle of crowd, and nobody by their side. Challenging the big group was a suicide. Hunger seemingly scraped his intelligent.
“The situation is different now, Minho. We don’t have the buggin’ weapon.” Newt denied.
“Oh came on, Newt! We’ve fought some scarier guys. Are you being a coward now?”
Newt stopped, turning back. His face tightened. Anger plastered his face. “I’m not a coward, Minho!”
“Oh, really? If so, let’s do it!”
“Stop it you shuck-faces!” Thomas placed himself between Newt and Minho. Hands on Minho’s and Newt’s chest, stopping them from fighting each other. “You won’t fight for a lice of shuckin’ bread, will you?”
“Listen to me, Minho!” Newt ordered. His face softened. “Remember what I said previously? The last time people gathered in the city, something happened. I got the feeling, something bad will happened and it relates to us, moreover after they saw Tommy. We’re in the dangerous situation. Don’t make it worse!”
Newt’s words didn’t only impact Minho, but all of them. Actually, Thomas was the most affected since Newt said his name. He couldn’t resist the fear. That wasn’t the strange feeling for him. He should handle it easily. In fact, he couldn’t. He felt his heartbeat got accelerated.
“Okay. I’m sorry. I just ... whatever. I’m sorry. I listen to you, dude.”
“Good that.” Seeing Minho’s face softened and the strain between them decreased, Thomas loosened his hands from their chests.
“Can we continue right now?” Sonya glanced at Minho and Newt who nodded.
They continued to walk. One miles and a half they would be arrive at the Berg.
Thomas saw everything in the store with hunger tore his stomach. All he could do was swallowed his saliva and imagined the cakes fell to his mouth, crushed by his teeth, then slid down his throat. Still, he starved to death. He shifted his eyes from the bakery. His eyes narrowed as he saw a figure dressed fully covered his body. The stranger was watching them.
“Guys, I think we have to walk quickly.” Thomas told. He took his eyes away from that figure. He added, with a whisper, “There’s someone watching us.”
They quickened at once. Thomas couldn’t resist the urge to look back. He did it spontaneously after he passed that figure and got the figure followed right behind them. He immediately moved his eyes. The air felt more colder. Who’s that person? There's no sign that showed he’s WICKED. Then, what does he want?
Thomas was still busy with his mind when Sonya who walked beside him got pulled by someone. His heart jumped to his throat. Whatever he felt right now, he didn’t like the feeling.
“Guys!” Thomas said a little loud, making his friends stop.
“Stay away from her, shuck face!” Minho strode forward, stopping in front of Sonya whose mouth covered by the stranger's palm. His other hand grip a pistol that pointed to Sonya.
“Slim it, man!”
The syllable surprised Thomas, Minho, Newt, Sonya, even Clarisse. Before they built the thought, the stranger opened his mask. His teeth looked very bright with his tanned skin.
“Fry?”
***
To be continued.
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Love,
Samina.