"Okay, they're through." Thomas muttered to himself, getting to his feet to peer out at the chaos in the street and find an opening for them to escape to.
In contrast, Florence crouched down besides Newt, scooting closer to him out of worry. His once kind brown irises had been swallowed by the darkness of his pupils, and his head lolled to one side as he heavily panted, clearly focused on keeping himself conscious.
"Newt?" She asked him gently, moving a hand to his cheek carefully. His skin was scorching hot, slick with sweat, and he flinched at her brief touch. "Newt?" She repeated, to no response.
"Newt? Newt! Hey!"
Thomas was a little harsher. He gripped the boy by the shoulders, shaking him to get a reaction. Florence couldn't blame him. He loved him. He was desperate.
And it worked. Newt jolted from whatever state he had gone into, and his eyes were now lazily trained on Thomas.
"We're gonna try this. Okay? We gotta move, now. Let's get you up, come on."
As Thomas moved to his right side, Florence went to the left. Her hands reached for his arm, to hoist him up from the floor, but he resisted.
"No. No, Thomas,"
His hand grasped for his own neck, Florence knowing immediately what was happening. He fumbled over the necklace he wore, and tugged it furiously. It broke from around his neck and with a trembling hand, he held it up to Thomas.
"No, Newt. Later. Later." Thomas pushed, barely watching what the boy was trying to give to him, still trying to move him from the ground.
"Look, you gotta take this. No, just take it!" He shrieked at the boy, and Thomas fell back onto the ground in surprise. He fell still, and Newt's eyes pleaded with him. "Please, Tommy, please."
Before Thomas could move, Florence reached for the shaking hand, untwining the necklace from his fingers, and pocketing it herself. She'd guard it with her life, but she was firm in the belief she wouldn't have to give it to Thomas.
"I've got it, okay?" She reassured him, and instantly, his head fell back again in relief. His shallow, uneven breaths returned, the yelling clearly having tired him as he tried to regain his breath.
"All right. All right." Thomas mumbled, a questioning glance still lingering on the girl at her understanding of the locket. However he didn't address it, and instead moved to Newt again. "I need you to give me everything you got. You and me, right now."
And me.
Always third wheeling.
"Let's go. You ready?"
Florence focused back in on what she and Thomas tried to do from the beginning of the small kerfuffle, reaching under Newt's arm as Thomas did the same with the other. Newt's face strained in effort as he readied to help the siblings lift him from the ground.
"Come on, ready? Here we go. One, two, three."
On three, they had heaved him up from the ground, the boy letting out a concentrated growl. Florence let his arm fall over her shoulder and grip her arm strongly enough to leave a mark.
They began walking - or limping - in the direction Thomas had determined as the safest, at a quick pace. Of course Brenda would wait as long as necessary, but they didn't have all the time in the world to spare.
Quicker than Florence expected, they had made it through an empty, trashed train station and were now in a deserted street, dim streetlights flickering above their heads. Newt was weakening by the second, but her and Thomas' determination was only getting stronger.
"We're almost there Newt, stay with me, come on." Thomas's words all came out in one breath, barely distinguishable from each other.
And clearly the boy hadn't heard, because his leg gave way and he toppled onto the floor. His arm slipped from Florence but Thomas kept a tight grip on him, letting him gently roll onto his back.
"Newt, no, no. Hey!"
He stared up at the sky, eyes dark, mouth agape, and lifelessly. The only indicator that he wasn't dead was the short raspy breaths he was taking every two seconds. Thomas gripped his shirt and shook it ever so slightly, Florence reaching out to try and calm her brother.
He brushed her off, making her stumble back a little, as he moved around Newt to grab him under the arms and begin dragging him across the floor. The girl's hand flew to her hair, tugging it gently and letting out a frustrated groan as she jogged after him.
"Thomas, this is not efficient in any way-"
"Thomas? Can you hear me?"
Florence was cut off as she jumped out of her skin, startled by the eerie and cautious voice that suddenly echoed through the isolated street and the entire city.
Teresa.
Thomas had dropped Newt carefully to the ground, and instantly scrambled to his feet. He spun in a circle once, whipping his head around in every direction as if he expected to see her face on a fifty foot screen in the sky.
"I need you to listen to me." She was impossible to ignore. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to come back."
Why would he do that?
"Thomas, you can save Newt. There's still time for him."
That's why.
"There's a reason Brenda isn't sick anymore. It's your blood. Do you understand? She isn't sick, because you cured her. She doesn't have to be the only one."
Holy shit. Thomas is the Cure.
"All you have to do is come back, and this will all finally be over. Please, just come back to me. I know you'll do the right-"
And then it all shut down. The announcement system, the lights, everything. They were cast into darkness.
All this time, he's been right there in front of us. When Winston died, when Brenda got sick, and now Newt.
I wish we knew.
Thomas's wide eyes turned to Florence, frantic and terrified all mixed together. Neither of them had noticed Newt's figure getting up from the ground just yet.
"What do I do?" He asked, his expression begging her to give him guidance.
The answer was obvious for both of them.
"You have to go," She urged him, his eyes instantly relaxing at her encouragement. "For Newt."
And then they finally turned to the boy in question. Florence's heart jolted when he saw the tilted stance he had taken on, his black eyes, and the dark veins crawling over his face.
He was a Crank.
Newt had become a Crank.
The boy who was always so kind, so caring, so pure, had become one of the monsters they spent every waking moment trying to escape. She never thought she'd have to see one of her friends turn right in front of her eyes, and she was certain she had never seen anything more heart breaking.
Feeling her heart sink, Florence ignored the tears pricking at her eyes as she found herself automatically taking a step backwards without a second thought. Thomas, however, stepped forwards.
"Newt?" He advanced closer to the boy, who in a single second let out an unrecognisable screech, launching himself at Thomas.
"Newt? Newt, it's me. It's me!" Thomas desperately tired to get Newt to identify him, so he would see what he was doing, and stop.
It didn't work.
Newt roared at Thomas, fighting him relentlessly with the other boy having to fight back in order to keep himself alive. Florence was frozen in place, not knowing how to handle the situation.
"Tommy, kill me!" Newt roared, with Thomas not listening of course. Tears were sliding down his cheeks, Newt having overpowered him, hovering over him as he clutched at him.
"Newt, please! Please!"
Florence ran forwards, throwing her hands out and using all of her might to barrel into Newt and send him onto the floor besides Thomas. She felt a swarm of guilt at being so brutal with her friend but she had to be.
Staggering back, she watched as Newt's clouded eyes cleared up, and he began to pant, suddenly realising what he was doing. He scanned over Thomas, his eyes glassy with tears as he stuttered over an apology.
"I'm sorry- I'm sorry Tommy."
Thomas was heart broken. Lying on the floor, gasping for breath after fighting off his boyfriend - they're pretty much boyfriends - who was trying to kill him wasn't the most fun experience. But still, he muttered, "It's okay, it's okay."
In one swift movement, Newt had reached to grab a knife from his belt, and brandishing it, began slashing it through the air in Thomas's direction. Crawling back towards him, his hands came down towards Thomas's chest, the knife clenched tightly in them.
"Newt!" Florence yelled out helplessly, watching the scene unfold.
What was she supposed to do?
When the knife made contact with Thomas's skin, she knew she had to act. Florence rushed forwards, grabbing the back of Newt's shirt and dragging him off of Thomas, aiming to send him to the floor once again.
However, in doing so, Newt's hand whirled around and stabbed the knife randomly in the air, trying to catch anything. Florence didn't have enough time to defend herself as the knife came plunging into her side. She took in a breath, a sharp pain rattling through her body, and her legs collapsed on herself. Newt had pulled the knife back as he crashed onto the floor himself.
But she didn't feel angry, or sad. She was relieved. She was relieved she saved her brother from being killed by Newt, relieved she saved Newt from killing himself, and relieved it was her side and not somewhere more important.
It gave her more of a chance of survival.
And then Newt's Crank-state had passed. Florence watched how his empty eyes returned back to his own kind, brown ones, and she wondered how long it would be until he turned again.
He dropped the knife instantly, a look of horror on his face, and she knew he would be beating himself up right now. He did just stab her.
"Florence," The words left Newt's mouth in a breathy sob. "Florence I'm so sorry, look what I've done, I-"
"-Get him down Thomas. Make sure he can't get up if he turns again." Florence said to her brother, struggling to take in breaths without her side paining her.
He hesitated, his eyes flickering to her wound and then back up to her face. She scoffed, trying to turn away so he couldn't see it, and she snapped at him, "Thomas, do it now!"
Thomas did as she said, sitting on Newt's chest with either hand on his wrist, restraining him. Newt didn't put up a fight for the moment, only squeezed his eyes shut as he began to cry at what he had done.
"You need to stop the blood Florence." Thomas's shaky voice said, Newt's sobs almost drowning him out.
Florence's hand finally went to her side, coming away again coated in dark red blood. A wave of nausea passed through her but she ignored it, putting her hand back there in attempts to stop the blood loss as best as she could. Her head was beginning to swirl as she became more dizzy from it all.
They waited for a few silent moments, the only sound being Newt's cries, before hearing a pattering of footsteps. Florence's head immediately whirled around to see who it was.
Minho, Frypan, Brenda and Gally.
With the serum.
"The serum!" She yelled over, spotting the small vial of it in Minho's hands. Instinctively, she raised her hand - the one not on her wound - for Minho to throw it over. They were still around fifty feet away and Florence was sure Newt would turn soon again, but this time he might not turn back.
And so Minho threw it.
At that moment, everything else in the world faded out. Newt's struggles, Thomas's shaky intakes of breath, the guns being fired around them, the rubble and the fire and the screaming. It was only Florence and the vial containing the blue serum that would turn Newt back into Newt.
Her fingers fumbled for it, nearly letting it slip away, before her fist clenched it to her palm. As the others continued to sprint towards them, Florence shoved the serum into Thomas's hands so he could administer it.
The others reached them just as Thomas injected Newt with the serum.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Florence let herself fall onto her back, her hand still clamped to her side to stem the blood flow. No one had noticed her wound yet but it was more than alright with her; they had to make sure Newt was alright first.
But as she fell back, her eyes briefly swept over her legs, and a rip in her pants exposed a bit of skin that she had realised upon sight was also burning in pain. She couldn't tell before since she was hopped up on adrenaline. Seeing how dark it was, and how prominent the veins were, she sat up again startled. It caused a yelp to emit from her lips, but she could barely hear herself.
Reaching forwards - her wound forgotten about despite the amount of blood she was losing - she fumbled over her pant material to rip more of it off. As she exposed more skin, her thoughts were confirmed.
I'm not immune either.
The virus was airborne now, so there was no way of telling if she got it from Newt or the atmosphere. But did it really matter?
She had the Flare.
The blood spilling out from her side stole her attention again as she became drowsy. A pained groan left her lips as her head hit the ground beneath her, falling still with the desire to be relieved of the torture she was being put through.
She had quite a bit of time, Newt didn't turn for a while if that was anything to go by. But she wasn't sure how long she would last with the wound in her side.
The others turned towards her on hearing her groan, immediately seeing the stab wound in her side. Going to her side, Minho and Thomas ripped off parts of their own clothing, trying to limit the blood loss as she laid helplessly on the ground.
She could see Newt out of the corner of her eye, lying on the floor himself with Frypan at his side, his eyes fluttering open as he was now himself again. He'd be a little weak, but he was normal again.
Florence was glad.
"By any chance is there any serum left for me?" Her words were slurred, but they all understood, and then they saw the infection on her skin.
"Shit, she's not immune." She heard Minho's worry as clear as day despite the fogged feeling in her mind.
She had only just got Minho back, and now she might be losing him again. Although this time, it's her life in danger.
Rather it be me than him, she thought to herself firmly, referring to both Minho and Newt. It was what she had thought when she saw Newt going to stab Thomas, and what she thought when she tried to fight to get to Minho when he was being taken by WCKD.
And it was like she had finally been listened to.
"Thomas, find Teresa, we need the cure. Fry - help me get Florence to the ship."
Minho was ordering everyone around, his hand slipping around Florence and lifting her from the ground. Brenda helped Newt up - who was a little drowsy but could pretty much walk for himself by now - and who was watching Florence in horror.
After all, he had stabbed her.
Minho and Frypan helped Florence to the Berg, the girl's eyes drooping closed every few minutes, but being encouraged to remain open by Brenda who was walking backwards in front of them.
"Florence, focus on me."
The girl forced herself to focus on Brenda, her face becoming much clearer as she widened her eyes. Brenda grinned back at her reassuringly, although it was obvious she was absolutely terrified.
"Guess what Fry and I did?" She asked, in order to keep her attention and keep her conscious. Florence mumbled an indistinct "I don't know," in reply, and Brenda began to explain.
"We lifted a bus full of kids with a crane."
A laugh escaped Florence's lips but then she winced in pain, being reminded of her stab wound. She still gave Brenda a faint smile, who now didn't even try to pretend she wasn't scared.
"Well Brenda, I did the lifting." Frypan pointed out, winking at her teasingly.
"That's amazing." She tilted her head in Frypan's direction, to where he was now watching her in worry, and he flashed her the same terrified smile Brenda had given her.
She kissed him on the cheek and when she pulled away she could see the glint of tears in his eyes; it was as if she was saying goodbye. She was certain she was going to die, so she needed to have said her goodbyes to her friends.
"I love you Fry." She mumbled, her words slurring, but he understood. His grip tightened on her shoulder as he gave her a brave smile in return, not wanting to let himself cry.
"Love you too Flo."
As they reached the Berg, Brenda rushed on first in search of a medical kit. Fry and Minho released the girl onto the ground, so she was slumped against the wall.
She shifted, but the pain in her side caused her to yelp in pain, tears stinging her eyes furiously. Newt was crouched in front of her, guilt covering every inch of his face as he whispered,
"Florence I am so sor-"
But Florence didn't want to hear his apologies. It wasn't him that did it. It was the Crank that had invaded his body.
"If I hadn't have gotten in the way, Thomas would be dead right now." She cut him off, shutting her eyes to try and get some relief. Minho tapped her cheek twice to make her open her eyes, which she did grumbling.
Neither her nor Newt had noticed the shocked expressions from the others when they realised it was Newt who had stabbed her. It was extremely obvious when they really thought about it, but hearing her dismiss it was even more surprising.
"You have to stay awake Florence." Minho encouraged, and she nodded in agreement, although it was being managed with great difficulty.
Brenda returned, with a box of medical equipment and an empty syringe she would presumably be using when Thomas returned with the cure.
If Thomas returned with the cure.
She began bandaging her side, well, Florence presumed she was. She couldn't focus on a single thing she was doing because of the pain it was sending through her body.
The Berg had taken off from the ground, Newt having informed Jorge of where Thomas would be. There was no way they would leave without him.
Minho took her hand, squeezing it gently as a way of telling her to squeeze his. And she did. Minho ignored the way she was practically crushing his hand because he knew the pain she was feeling was far far worse.
Florence turned to him and smiled weakly, her eyes shining with pained tears. "I love you Minho."
She couldn't see the boy's eyes filling up with tears, his head shaking in refusal of the possibility of her dying. In his panic, he didn't say it back.
She was saying goodbye.
First Fry, then Minho. Minho was zoned out in horror as she said the same thing to Brenda, and Newt, and even Gally. She told Brenda to tell Jorge the same - but in Spanish.
She was certain she was going to die, but uncertain of whether it would be the stab wound or the Flare. She hadn't yet begun to think about becoming a Crank, but she was sure she would ask - like Winston - for them to give her a gun to end it.
Florence shifted her head so it was tilted in the direction of the sky, where the ship's rear was still open. They were hovering over the roof of the WCKD building, which had begun to flame up, smoke billowing from the windows.
"T-Thomas is in there." She just managed to say, her eyes threatening to droop closed, but she forced them open.
"He's gonna get out, okay?" Brenda reassured her, appearing by her side and sweeping a piece of stray hair out of the girl's eyes.
"But what if he doesn't?"
Florence usually wouldn't think about these things, but she didn't have the strength to block it out when she was in this much pain.
Newt and Brenda shared a pained expression. They may not have gotten along famously so far - due to the fact they were both in love with Thomas - but they shared the pain of the boy they're in love with potentially dying.
"He will." Newt finally said firmly, patting her shoulder and giving her the biggest smile he could muster.
Brenda moved to her side again, holding a needle with a suspicious clear liquid that Minho questioned but Florence happily welcomed. She was sure that whatever it was, it couldn't make the pain any worse.
"It'll relieve the pain a little." She explained, instructing Minho to roll up her pant leg more, so she could inject it into her thigh.
Her eyes fluttered away and outside again, where two figures had appeared on the rooftop, hobbling along awkwardly. As they drew closer, Florence recognised them as Thomas and Teresa. She straightened up, mustering the strength from the injection that indeed did numb some pain - however, it wouldn't prevent her from passing out due to blood loss.
"Look," She muttered, pointing to them both.
Thomas was hurt too. Just like Florence, he had a wound in his side, although it was clear that his was from a bullet instead. Teresa was helping him along the roof towards the ship, struggling under his weight.
Minho and Vince immediately rushed forwards, flattening themselves right at the edge of the ship and throwing out their hands for Thomas and Teresa to take. As they got close to the edge, Florence could hear the yells from Gally to get the Berg even closer so they could climb on. However, the flames prevented them from doing this.
Florence watched, half conscious, as Teresa pushed Thomas forwards, who gained enough strength to throw himself onto the ship. Vince and Minho helped him up, Brenda immediately going forwards to inspect his wound.
The others turned back to Teresa, still stood on the roof of the building, but as they all beckoned for her to follow, Florence saw that something had changed in her expression.
Teresa had accepted it.
Her eyes swept across the people that she once called her friends - and probably still did - passing over Florence with a soft smile and settling on Thomas.
"Teresa-" Florence found herself beginning to yell out.
A rumbling emitted from a few levels below her in the building, fire and smoke billowing more than before, and then whole building collapsed in on itself, engulfing Teresa in flames.
Florence didn't get to say a proper goodbye.
She may have 'wanted' to kill her, but for a long time, she considered the girl her friend. And as her eyes finally closed to lead her to unconsciousness, she found herself thinking about the first girl friend she ever made.
Even after everything, I still loved you Teresa.
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This book is so, so close to its end. In fact, there's only one chapter left. Is it weird I feel a little emotional?
I never expected the book to blow up like this. I know that to many people, 16k reads isn't much. But to me, it's insane. People have read words I put together 16k times!
Thank you all so much. Reading the comments you leave here makes me so happy. And just the fact you're reading this at all makes me happy.
I promise this isn't the end of my writing, in case you were worried. I have some more Maze Runner fanfics in the making that I'm hoping to get up sometime during 2021.
This year has been a little crazy - more than a little crazy - but thank you all for making mine better. The last chapter will be up soon! (probably the day after Christmas)