Six months had passed since they last saw him, but he was still their Minho. His hair was longer, and flat now, but his eyes still held the cheeky shine to them, and on his lips was the same smirk Florence loved.
Although now, his eyes also held a lot of trauma. And his smirk had faded slightly.
WCKD had him for six months. Six months of torture and isolation that Florence knew she would never be able to understand no matter how hard she tried.
But she wasn't thinking about any of that right now. All she could think about was the fact he was finally in front of her again. Finally with her again.
She was starting to worry that she'd forgot what he looked like. But now he was here again, how could she ever have forgotten him?
Newt and Thomas immediately ran at him, tackling him in a tight hug with identical grins on their faces. Minho hugged them back, his eyes squeezing shut as he sighed in happiness.
"Is this real?"
Florence was frozen to the spot, her eyes running over every inch of Minho trying to figure out if he was real. As soon as Newt and Thomas moved out of the way, his eyes fell on her, but she didn't give him even a second to say anything. She didn't pause for a second to see his overjoyed expression.
She threw herself at him, her happy tears soaking his shirt as she held him tightly to her. His hands wrapped around her waist, his head burying in her hair as her hands stroked the strands that laid on the back of his neck.
"I missed you so, so much." She mumbled, her voice cracking and breaking as she spoke.
Her heart was swelling with joy, and although she knew they had only done half of what they came to do, she already felt content with Minho back in her arms. Pulling back, she kept him close, her hand finding his cheek and her thumb running over his cheekbone. He looked exhausted, but he also looked the happiest he had since being captured.
"I guarantee I missed you more princess." He replied, the familiar sound of his voice making her stomach fill with butterflies.
And there it was. That nickname.
Before she could stop herself, she surged forwards to kiss him. He immediately responded, threading his hand into her hair, and the other one coming up to cup her jaw.
His chapped lips felt like heaven on hers. Months of pent up feelings were being released in the kiss they were sharing, everything else around them having vanished.
He kissed back furiously but gently, passion and frustration and love all leading Florence's knees to grow weak from the intimate moment. She wanted to do it over and over again, to savour him as much as possible to make up for all of the time they spent apart.
When she finally pulled away from him, she rested her forehead on his, chuckling with tears still staining her cheeks. Her heart was fluttering wildly as she refused to separate herself from the boy.
A distant explosion reminded them of their surroundings.
"Not to rush you, but there are about a hundred WCKD guards on our arses." Newt called from behind, and Florence's cheeks flushed red.
Slipping her hand into his, they turned back to Newt and Thomas, both of whom were beaming at them like proud parents. And then the pattering of footsteps came.
"I got them! I got them! Over here!" A number of guards rounded the corner to them, setting them off running once again, searching desperately for a way out.
Florence didn't let her hand fall from the boy's. She had been away from him for far too long, and there was no chance she'd let go of him any time soon. They were painfully aware of the number of soldiers on their tail, determined to shoot them in their tracks, but getting away had never seemed so important in their lives.
Especially now they had Minho back.
And then they were forced to skid to a stop; Janson appearing in the corridor in front of them. Thomas dived towards a door on his right, finding it unlocked - luckily - and ushered them all inside as they dodged the bullets. Thomas slammed it shut behind them, locking it, and falling still for the first time in what felt like days.
Florence couldn't help but turn to Minho again, throwing her arms around his shoulders. She wanted to kiss every inch of his face, but only just refrained. She chose instead to press a kiss to his temple, then his cheek, and then the corner of his mouth, pulling away again in content.
He was beaming; that same smug smirk plastered on his face as if they were back in the Glade and he had just pulled a prank on Gally.
Except it felt so much better than that. Minho was certain he had never felt better in his life. Too long was he isolated, tortured, berated. And finally, he was sure it was over.
Reluctantly, he stepped away from the girl and moved towards the door. "Newt, come on." He pulled a table forwards from one of the walls and with Newt's help, knocked it onto its side and shoved it up against the door.
As they did so, Florence and her brother scanned the room they were trapped in. Although she had been feeling hopeful only moments ago, it had vanished, as she realised they were in a bit of a predicament.
The room was small, no other doors leading out of it - certainly no secret trapdoors or exits. Opposite the entrance was a window taking up the entirety of the wall, looking out at the city with a just-for-show pool beneath them on the ground.
They all backed up towards the window, eyes locked on the door in fear. "Oh shit." Minho murmured, as he realised too that they were trapped.
Sparks ignited from the other side of the door, WCKD's attempt to break the frame of it from the wall to get to them. It was clearly working.
"Any ideas?" Minho called to Thomas, the three of them only just realising the boy was inspecting the glass of the window intently.
"Maybe."
Just a reminder, Florence hates heights.
This is why Thomas was terrified in breaking the news to the girl that his 'maybe idea' was of course jumping from one of the top floors of the WCKD building down into the just-for-show pool below.
It was crazy.
But, it was their only option.
Still, she was paralyzed to the spot as the three boys lifted a large metal cannister to break the glass and shatter the window completely. Thomas, Newt and Minho all crept towards the edge, making the girl's stomach lurch as they peered down to the dark water.
The cannister barrelled into the water with a loud splash, shards of glass vanishing beneath the surface. They had no idea how deep it was. But they did know that by jumping, they at least had some sort of chance of escaping. By staying, they had none.
"Okay, it's doable." Thomas decided firmly. "Just need a- a little running start."
As the boy stepped away from the open air, Newt and Minho shared a ludicrous expression. They thought this plan was just as insane as Florence did.
But WCKD had nearly gotten through the door. They didn't have time to think about how stupid and thoughtless Thomas' plan actually was.
"You sure about this?" Minho asked Thomas as the four of them lined up together, beginning to hype themselves up before the jump.
Despite the fact she was completely terrified; it felt like old times. The four of them back together, going along with whatever Thomas came up with.
"Not really." He replied, and Florence's heart picked up in speed even more.
"Nice pep talk." Minho told him sarcastically.
"Yeah, we're all bloody inspired."
Florence didn't have time to laugh at Newt's words because they were interrupted. As the door smashed open; they all sprinted towards the window and leapt out into the open air.
Apart from her.
She hesitated at the last moment, and so she was left panicking in front of Janson and his guards. Janson smirked menacingly at her, knowing that by having her, the boys would never leave.
Before he could move over to her, she pulled the gun from her pocket and pointed it at him with barely shaking hands. He held his own hands up defensively, and as she cocked it to threaten him, he backed away a few steps.
"Now, now, Florence." He attempted to reason with her.
The guards behind him pointed their own guns at her, causing her heart to sink. She was outnumbered. But then she realised, she did have one advantage.
"I'm willing to die for this, I know you're not."
It was partly true. If dying meant that they got Minho out, and everyone to the Safe Haven, then it was worth it. But Janson only cared about himself. That's why he was working so hard to try and find a cure.
"Listen, it's still not too late to join us. You're a fierce warrior. Don't be scared to come to the light."
His attempts to make her join WCKD only infuriated her, and a growl rose from her lips as she moved forwards a few steps, making his eyes grow wide with fear.
"I'll join you, in Hell."
Janson's face turned stony, as if something unknown had come over him. He reached to his side and pulled out his own gun, causing Florence's arms to buckle slightly. She knew that the guards wouldn't shoot her without Janson's say - which would give her a little warning to escape - but now he had his own weapon directed on her.
"I know you're not willing to die for this Janson." She reminded him, but only a cold chuckle passed his lips, worrying her.
"I know you just got your boyfriend back, didn't ya?" Shit. "I'm more than a little certain that you don't want to lose him just yet."
A wave of panic passed over Florence, but she kept her cool in front of Janson as she ran through things in her mind that she could do to get away. She knew the boys would be panicking at the thought of her still up there, and she knew it wouldn't be long until they got caught.
She needed to hurry.
And that's what led her to do something.
Shifting her eyes to behind Janson, and behind the guards, she knitted her eyebrows together as if she was noticing someone. Feigning surprise, she left her mouth fall open, and out of her peripheral she could see Janson's confusion.
"Teresa?" She asked, with mock surprise.
That caused Janson to whirl around. As he was distracted, she took the opportunity to turn on her heel, and take a running jump over the edge of the building. She tried to do it as quickly as possible to avoid scaring herself about the height.
It actually worked.
Her stomach dropped to the floor as she fell fast towards the pool of water, and she begged for it to be deep so she didn't crash into the bottom. She hit it hard, causing shooting pains to run up her arms and legs, but she ignored it; and the cold was helpful in distracting her.
Her lungs screamed for air and she resurfaced again with a surging breath for fresh air. She pushed her now sopping hair from her face, swimming to the edge and hauling herself up onto her feet on the stone tiles.
She was nearly knocked over again by a hug she was pulled into by Minho. His words were muffled as he spoke into her hair, "Shuck princess, I thought we lost you then."
She pulled away to look at his soaking hair and his soft skin; which was freckled with rain droplets. "I can get away from Janson, no trouble." She replied, a smug smirk playing on her lips.
Thomas was helping Newt stand, staggering a little under the taller boy's weight. Before they could begin to move in any direction, the sound of a gun being cocked echoed towards them, and another, and another; like a domino effect.
"You four, don't move." One called out to them, the guards all advancing in a precautious way as if they were about to Crank-out at any moment.
It was a bit ironic of Florence to find the idea of one of them turning into a Crank on the spot ridiculous when Newt actually had the Flare.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Thomas exhaled, clearly sick of it.
His hand began to move back from his side, "Take it easy.", the soldier still yelling to them. Florence raised her hands limply in the air, glancing to Thomas nervously who was going for the gun in his pocket. "Uh-uh-uh! Don't even think about it." The guard warned.
Well, shuck.
"Get on your knees with your hands in the air." But just as the guard had finished speaking, another had spun around towards him, and shot the four others down to the ground, dead. It only took Florence a second to realise it was Gally.
Minho doesn't know Gally's still alive.
He jogged down towards them, ripping off his mask and meeting them with an ecstatic grin. As Newt and Thomas sighed in relief, and Florence let out a chuckle at how lucky they were, Minho's eyes grew like saucers and his jaw slacked.
"Gally?"
Gally in return nodded curtly at the boy, replying with a simple acknowledgment of the boy's presence. "Minho.". He was purposely doing this, to make the whole experience far more crazy for the boy. Florence knew this from the small smile he was fighting to keep off his lips.
He glanced up to the window they had jumped from, his eyes lit up in wild amusement. "You guys are nuts." He told them, before turning on his heel.
Newt and Thomas moved in an instant to follow him, and Florence was left to grab Minho's hand and guide him alongside her. "Oh yeah, we forgot to mention. Gally's back." She told him, a wicked smile on her mouth at his shell-shocked state.
Up until then, he thought he had killed a man. And one that was his friend.
Following Gally's tail, they were able to escape the grounds of the WCKD building, and darted quickly down a street, before ducking down behind a small stone wall. They sunk down into the floor, laying low until the sound of the screeching car wheels disappeared from their hearing.
"Well, they're definitely pissed." Gally put quite obviously, his sentence slowed by his lost breath.
"How far are the tunnels?"
"Uh, maybe 12 blocks from here."
Florence could catch Gally and Thomas' conversation from a few feet away at a different part of the wall, where she was crouched with Newt and Minho. Newt was letting out a string of coughs, sweat soaking his forehead and black veins crawling up his neck and jaw.
As Florence flopped back against the wall, eyes almost closing from exhaustion, Minho shifted so he was crouched in front of Newt, hand latched onto his arm comfortingly. If the girl wasn't so tired from all the running, she'd awe at the scene in front of her.
"Newt, how're you feeling?" Minho asked his friend softly.
The boy in turn let out a pained groan, fumbling over his uniform with his fingers, unbuttoning two of his buttons as if he were scorching hot. It was the dead of night. It was freezing.
"Terrible." He paused, and then reached Minho's shoulder to pat it twice. "It's good to see you though."
Minho's smile lit up his face, reaching where Newt's hand was settled on his shoulder with his own. After a moment, he sidled away from Newt, nodding further down the wall to signal the girl to join him.
"How long has he been like this?"
She didn't want to answer. It would only make Minho more stressed, herself more stressed, and therefore Newt more stressed.
"He'll be okay." She said instead, reassuring him and herself. "We just gotta get to Brenda. She's got the serum."
Minho didn't take his eyes off his long-time friend, nodding slowly. Florence could see with ease the frustration and upset Minho felt for having missed so much. She'd never be able to understand his pain fully, and she hated the fact he was having to endure it.
"Come on, let's go." Thomas urged, moving from besides Gally over to Newt. "Hey, Newt. Come on, bud. We gotta get you up. Let's go." He spoke softly to the boy, as if he could break at any moment.
Newt staggered a little on standing up, nearly toppling over, before Thomas grabbed a hold of his arm and steadied him. Moving his hand to his waist, he used his other to put Newt's arm around his shoulder to be able to support him properly.
"Why you helping us, Gally?" Minho suddenly asked bluntly, stealing Florence's attention. "I put a spear through your chest."
"Yeah." Gally replied, pausing for a moment. Then he shrugged, patting Minho's shoulder twice and getting up to leave. "Nobody's perfect, man."
As Minho faltered from Gally's odd reply, Florence giggled a little. The boy quirked an eyebrow at her, before cracking a grin with a shake of his head.
They got moving again down the streets; Gally first with his gun, then Thomas supporting Newt, and Florence and Minho at the back. It was surprisingly peaceful for the first part of it. Of course, there was a small worry of WCKD guards after them, and every car heard in the distance made them jump out of their skins, but they were yet to see anyone.
And then the explosion happened.
A couple streets away, an eruption of red, and yellow and black. Gas and smoke billowed up in the air as the ground shook and their ears rang from the disruption. They were stopped in their tracks to watch the fallout.
"We're supposed to take down WCKD, not the whole damn city." Gally muttered in horror.
He seemed impacted the worst by it. His eyes were lit in horror, glazed over as he watched buildings go up in flames, the people screaming louder in his ears than any of the others.
"Gally, come on." Thomas began to move again, and Minho moved to Newt's free side to help his friend along.
Gally paused for a moment, and Florence hesitated, watching the boy. Then she approached him, squeezing his shoulder as reassurance, and took a few steps away, waiting to see if he'd follow.
With a heavy heart, he did.
He didn't know that Lawrence had sacrificed himself, but he had an idea of it.
The explosion did help for one thing. The city was now being stormed by hundreds of angry protesters. This made it much easier for the small group to slip out from WCKD's watchful eye on them, as they'd be preoccupied with the rioters rightfully fighting back after years of neglect.
"Hey! Stay low! Stay low!" Gally warned, as he rushed them towards a stone wall to duck down behind.
On the other side of it, waiting on the road, were dozens of WCKD vans. Florence peeked out from behind the stone, catching sight of the guards all lined up by their cars, guns at the ready.
"Damn it!" Gally hissed, falling back against the stone and sighing heavily.
Minho's face suddenly twisted, carved in fear. "What are they waiting for?"
Before any of them could answer, yet another explosion had sounded. However this one was much closer. A bus just down the street had gone up in flames, seemingly empty.
And then a low hum of voices began to rise. Louder, and louder, until they could see it: the stream of rioters piling into the city. Only a few waved guns, but even these armed people didn't have a chance against WCKD's forces.
They kept low to the ground, Florence tearing her eyes from the bloodshed due to worry she'd vomit at all the dead bodies and dying bodies. Another eruption shook the ground, finally spurring Gally to say,
"We gotta go. We gotta go."
Thomas and Minho pulled Newt up onto his feet once again, and Florence and Gally followed quickly. Gally had shoved another hand gun into Florence's grasp, and she held it strangely, as if it was her first time with one.
She felt gross having a gun after watching all of those people get shot down. She hadn't thought like that in a long time. Maybe not even since the Glade.
It was impossible to walk the streets at this point. Gunshots and bombs came from all directions; it was a miracle none of them had been hit yet.
Florence's eyes darted around. She latched on to a shattered window, the deadly shards scattered on the street, but that's not what drew her to it. It was an empty room, the contents presumably having been looted by the rioters.
She called to her friends over the sound of firing, "In here!" and immediately steered off towards it. She scoured it out first quickly, her gun now held in her grasp properly, and she determined it was safe as the others piled inside.
Thomas untangled himself from Newt's side and Florence rushed forwards to help the sick boy hit the ground gently. Minho flopped down beside him, but the girl had nervous jitters. She couldn't let herself sit still at a time like this.
Thomas fished out the walky-talky from his back pocket, hoping and praying that it still worked after their little swim earlier. He held it up to his mouth, Florence's heart soaring at the crackling static sound that told her it hadn't broken.
"Brenda, are you there?"
He paused for a reply but it was instantaneous.
"Thomas, I'm here." She replied hurriedly.
"We're not gonna make it." He panted as he spoke to Brenda once again, and this time there was a pause before Brenda answered back.
"Wait, what are you talking about?"
As Thomas glanced to Newt and then to Florence, the girl felt her eyes fill up with tears at the sight of her hopeless brother. But it was true.
We aren't going to make it.
"Just take the others. Get everybody out while you still can."
"No."
As Florence slipped onto the floor beside Newt, she hit her head back against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut.
Why is Brenda so shucking stubborn?
She loved the girl, so much, but she was never going to listen to Thomas if he was asking her to leave them. Even though she had to.
"Brenda-"
"-I'm not leaving you. Okay? So forget it."
"Even though you should?"
Another pause. For a few fleeting moments, all any of them could hear was the crackling static of the walky-talky. All background noise had been blocked out, no matter how loud and disturbing.
"Thomas, don't worry. I'm coming to you."
Florence's eyes flew open, and she jerked forwards from where she was slumped against the wall. Her eyes were like saucers, staring so intensely at the walky-talky, that if looks could kill, it would've died ten times over.
"What are you talking about?" Thomas spoke back into it, and as if it would make Brenda reply any quicker, Florence moved away from the wall and crouched down beside her brother.
"Our ride's here!" A yell from Brenda, who was trying so desperately to shout louder than the engine of the Berg presumably hovering over her.
It was a beacon of hope.
"Just look for us near the tunnels." She advised, and Thomas found himself looking to Gally for confirmation they could make it that far.
He only stared back, face illuminated by the possibility of escaping after such a dark pit of hopelessness. Thomas took it as a yes.
Florence thought for a moment that they would be stuck in the city forever. The rioters would take over, Newt would become a Crank, and they'd be left to starve. And then Brenda gave them hope.
In an instant, they were on the move again.
Hurrying down the streets was a little easier than Florence's five minute old memory told her; everyone seemed preoccupied in fighting one another. However this didn't mean it was necessarily easy to avoid the bullets being fired from every direction.
Gally jogged in front of the four others, checking either way ahead as Thomas and Minho lugged Newt along, and Florence tailed the group. "All right. Newt, we're almost there." Gally told the boy encouragingly, as he let out a wheezing cough and rasped for breath.
Florence could see him paling more and more by the second, the veins creeping up and over more and more of his skin. He was becoming less like the Newt she loved. Although, no matter what he looked like - Crank or not - she'd always love him.
"Just leave me." He choked out, making the girl's heart lurch in pain.
Of course, he was ignored for saying something stupid.
Just before Gally stepped out into the next road, a car was blasted ten feet in the air in front of them, crashing to the ground and bursting into flames. They were thrown to the floor from the impact, safely hidden by a steel fence from behind which they could see rioters stampeding into the city centre.
However Florence's gaze was drawn to the sky, and the deafening sound of a Berg engine roaring overhead. She couldn't help but let a smile be drawn onto her face, thinking of Brenda, Gally, Jorge and Frypan all up there to save them, and with a handful of WCKD survivors.
"Okay, that's them." Thomas confirmed, scrambling to his feet in a panic. "It's them. We gotta go."
"Go without me, man." Newt tried to refuse the hands grasping at him, Thomas pulling his arms back for a moment with pain flashing through his eyes. "You should just-"
He cut his own conversation off as he lurched forwards and let out a heaving cough, black liquid splattering the floor. It was the same liquid Winston had coughed up when he fell victim to the Flare.
"That's not happening Newt." Florence replied, her arms folding across her chest firmly, but her voice wobbling. Her uneven tone contradicted from the intimidating tone she was attempting to give off.
Thomas' hands hesitantly reached for Newt's and the boy flinched, but he didn't move away. Thomas let his hands rest over the other's, head tilting every so slightly to his side. "Minho. You gotta run ahead, grab the serum, and get back to us as soon as you can." He ordered.
He was met by a questioning glance from the boy in return, who Florence could tell was reluctant to leave Newt's side, especially in this state. However, she knew it was the best choice at this point.
"Minho, go." He pushed, yet Minho still looked uncertain.
Florence crouched down by Newt, her eyes on the sick boy, but addressing Minho instead. "You have to. You're the fastest runner of us." She told him, speaking genuinely.
Not that she'd ever admit it previously, but the race they had back in the Glade - which was shortly interrupted by Newt - was won by Minho. The boy didn't even notice it himself, but she did. And she said nothing, of course.
Minho looked certain now. If Florence was admitting it, it meant something. And if it meant Newt would be okay, of course he would do it.
"They're right. I can cover you." Gally offered up, and even though he may have a dodgy lung, the boy could definitely keep up with Minho if necessary.
Gally reached out to pat Newt's outstretched leg, and then straightened up so he was standing tall. Minho hesitated for a moment, watching his oldest friend carefully.
Newt had a long stream of black liquid from his lips, rolling down his chin and onto his neck. He didn't bother to wipe it away, and as Minho went to stand up and leave, he latched onto the boy's arm to stop him for a second.
"Thank you. Thank you, Minho."
This was Newt's goodbye to him. Just in case he'd never see him again. No more words had to be said by Newt for Minho to know exactly what he was being thanked for.
"Hey, you just hang on. You hear me?"
And then, with fear pumping through his veins, Minho stood up to leave with Gally. Florence could read him better than anyone; his movements were almost mechanical. Every fibre of his being was tensed up.
So the girl brought herself to her feet and tugged Minho towards her by his shirt, which on the back read 'Property of WCKD'. Raising herself onto her tiptoes, she placed each of her hands on Minho's shoulders and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.
"I love you." She muttered quietly.
Instantly his body relaxed of the tension he was letting build up inside of him. Why was he so nervous? The answer to that was obvious. But this is what he knew how to do best.
Running.
His reply was swift, "I love you too."
Florence turned to give Gally a knowing look, and although nothing was said out loud, everything was said through their eye sight.
Just stay safe.
And so as Minho and Gally disappeared, Florence turned back to Newt and Thomas, wondering how the hell they were going to get the Flare-infected boy all the way to the tunnels.