We began walking through the larger entry way of the Wicked facility. Thomas and Teresa were walking first. And me and Newt emerged from the sides.

Teresa lead us to an elevator of sorts as we all filed in, us "Guards" standing in the back.

"Hold it" A voice rang as they held their hand between the closing elevator doors. Teresa's breathing became heavy. Janson.

"You're working late" Jansons said to the girl as he made his way in. She only nodded, not being able to form a coherent sentence.

"See, that's what I like about you, Teresa" Janson began "No matter how bleak times get, you  just... well you never give up! It's times like these when you need a real friend you can count on" He said to her as he patted her on the back.

I wanted to throw up. God Janson's stupid rat face was hideous. He made it like he was a good person. 

"I'll bear that in mind" Teresa said as she smiled at him quickly, returning back to the closed elevator doors.

"Ah! There is one thing you should know" Jansons said, his voice getting low as he glanced at us "Wicked Guards"

"One friend to another. Thomas is here. A surveillance picked him up outside of the walls. Ava didn't want you to know, but if there is any chance that he contacts you, or he tries to, I'd like to think that I'd be the first to call" Janson said, a smug smile on his lips.

"Are you going to kill him?" Teresa asked, her eyes this time were full of fear as she looked at Janson. 

"Would that be a problem?" Janson asked as his voice turned sympathetic. 

Before Teresa could answer, the bell in the elevator rang, indicating our time to get off. 

"This is me" Teresa breathed.

I filed off first after her, Newt following behind me. Thomas last, but a grunt came from Janson as soon as he left.

"Y/N, listen to me, getting that serum won't cure Newt. It might buy him some time but..." Teresa began

"Just ignore her" Newt shot up, as he walked right behind me. "She's trying to get into your head."

"Y/N, listen. We all know whats going on out there. People are dying. The world is dying. But there's something about your blood, that I don't understand" Teresa rambled as we continued to walk down the corridors. "If you let me run some tests... I promise I can protect you"

"Yeah? Protect me just like how you've been protecting, Minho? Yeah, like that?" I asked annoyed.

By now, we were all stopped in a middle of a hallway, Thomas and Newt kept look out while Teresa and I were arguing.

"How many people is it going to take? How many more people do you guys have to round up to torture, kill? Huh? When the hell does it stop, Teresa?" I questioned, my finger now pointing at her chest.

"It stops when we find a cure" Teresa replied calmly.

"For shucks sake! There is no cure!" I yelled.

"Don't waste your breath, Teresa" A man said from behind me. I could tell it was Janson. Of course it was... Stupid Rat-Face. "She made her chance a long time ago" I scowled at Jansons as Thomas held up a gun towards him.

"Tell them to back off!" Thomas yelled.

Janson held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, Thomas, come on, it's me"

Thomas still stood his ground. I watched as Janson forcefully grabbed at Teresa, holding her in front of him. Of course he was using her as a shield. Selfless ass shank.

"I've known you longer than you can remember. You're not going to shoot her" Janson taunted.

"You don't think so?" Thomas asked.

"Okay. Go on then. Shoot her. Prove me wrong. Shoot her" Janson said with a smug smile. 

Before any of us could react, Teresa got out of Janson's grasp, pushing us into a hallway and pulling at a lever which dropped down glass. 

I heard Janson scolding at her from the other side of the glass, probably threatening her.

We all rushed through the hallways, urgently looking for Minho. Without Teresa, it was harder to tell where we were going. She knew every direction to this place, while all of us knew nothing of the sorts. It was like the maze in the Glade.

"Y/N! No!" I heard Newt shout from beside me as a Wicked guard came into view right as we turned the corner.

"Oh shit" I mumbled.

"Freeze!" The guard yelled. Thomas shot him with his gun, electrifying the man.

"Thanks" I said to the brunette.

We all continued shouting for Minho, but he wasn't anywhere. 

"Over here! There they are!" A Wicked guard yelled as they spotted us.

I began shooting at the guards coming our way, blasting at them with one of the guns from Wicked.

"Y/N! Get down!" Newt said as he yanked me back, making me fall onto him. If we weren't in a life or death situation, yes I would make a move.

"Get back!" Newt said to me and Thomas as he placed a hand infront of us. He threw something which exploded and knocked out the Guards.

"Nice! Let's go" Thomas said as he helped us to our feet.

Again, running through an endless corridor that looked exactly like the rest. Another Guard jumped out at us, holding a gun towards our chests.

"You three! Get down now!" He ordered. All of us looked at each other, hesitating if we should just get down and roll.

"I said get you..." He let out a grunt at the end. 

My eyes readjusted to what I just saw. A feisty Asian boy came into view, screaming. Hie eyes widened as he looked up at us and our breathing staggered. Minho. We ran up to him, embracing him in a large hug. At this point it felt like nothing was wrong. Like we were all a family again, in the Glade.

"Is this real?" Minho asked us. His eyes had dark circles under them, and this was the first time I had seen him without spiky hair.

"Yes, this is real slinthead!" I said as I punched him playfully.

Of course more guards came running towards us, shouting random 'get down' to us. We all completely ignored their commands and just ran.

published : february 5th, 2023

A/N : i'm so close to being done with this book! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!! mwah i love you and thank you for the reads!