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35. ♥︎ ₊˚༢࿐

Mae leans over the table with her elbows, listening to Thomas map out a new route with his finger. He wants to go to the Last City, and she could tell with a single glance Vince wasn't on board. He wants to get on the boat the second it's finished, avoid WICKED's Hive Mind at all costs.

They'd be falling right into their hands.

Respectfully, Mae agreed it was stupid. Disrespectfully? She's still going anyway. In fact, she already had ten ideas to improve the plan as the words jumbled out of Thomas' mouth.

". . .it's a few hundred miles—"

"Oh, just a few?" Teddy scowls, shoving his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

Thomas bites the inside of his cheek, "I missed you too, Ted, so I'm gonna let that one go, all right?"

The ten year old smirks, leaning back in his seat.

"But yes, based on railways, everything Aris and Mae told us, that's gonna be the way in," He continues, "That's where they're taking Minho, we take everyone who can fight."

Mae frowns, "Thomas—"

He aimlessly continues, face red with determination, "If we follow the roads where we can, then we can make it back within a week!"

Mae huffs, standing up, "Thomas!"

He turns his head to her, his eyes slightly narrow.

She raised a sharp eyebrow, "If we take all the people who can fight, that would be children. Kids no younger than Teddy, no older than us! We'd be sending them all to die. We'd be no better than them."

Mae falters, she thinks of the months she's spent away, deep through her mother's old contacts and tracking them down, taking information for the Right Arm.

What she did, kept them safe. It got them to the docs, and it got them to the tracks. What she did to get it? It was sly.

It was something her mother would be impressed with, and that alone was enough said. It made her no better than them, so she was preaching hypocrisy.

Those missions put Brenda and Harriet's lives on the line, countless close calls. They were proud to stand with her, yes, but Mae didn't like risking the lives of her friends. Her family.

Like Thomas, Mae clearly gets in her own head about what the others around them can handle.

Maybe being so alike isn't always a good thing. Feeding each other's bad habits, turning their friends into soldiers on fields instead of survivors who only take necessary risks.

Thomas frowns in thought. He was trying to win a War with a village instead of a real Army. He nods gratefully at her, "Us then, like before. In and out."

Still stubborn, but it was better than nothing at all.

"It took us six months to get here," Vince crosses his arms, "Mae had to go deep undercover with old WICKED ties just to get us this far. It was exhausting for all of us."

Their eyes shift to Mae, who kept her piercing gaze on Thomas without much of an expression at all. He was looking right back at her, emotions all over his face.

"We have over a hundred kids here now, we can't just hang out here forever after what we just pulled," Vince continues, "You want to wander to some random point on the map—"

"It's not random!" Thomas' outburst makes everyone pause, "Mae used to live there, remember? At some point, we were all there."

"Thomas," Mae says calmly, "We were hardly seven when we started, we never even left the building. You don't even remember."

"Who's side are you on?" Thomas huffs.

"Your side," Mae firms instantly, "But you must have a plan."

"We didn't have a plan when we escaped the maze, we just did it!"

"And look how that turned out!" She snaps, "More than half of us are dead."

"Stop throwing sand and settle down," Newt interjects, "Good that?"

Mae and Thomas don't respond.

"Eesh, I forgot what it was like to have them in the same War room," Peter mutters to Frypan.

Mae and Thomas were both Leaders. Mae had gotten her skills from watching Nick, Alby, and Gally. She knew strategy was important. In the Glade, numbers mattered, First in Commands did what they could to keep others safe. She used what she watched to her advantage, along with her own intelligent brain, being the daughter of two Scientists.

Thomas, on the other hand, used his survival instinct. He didn't have much memory, but he could surely use a weapon and if he did things quickly, he could get out of any sticky situation. He was smart, too, don't get them wrong. Thomas' intelligence is what got him working on the other side of WICKED in the first place.

When they work together, they're a unit, one brain.

But when they have opposing opinions. . . let's just say everyone else has to hear about it.

"I just think," Mae starts off slowly, calculating as she looks at Thomas, "A lot has changed since we were in the Glade. It's not just rotating walls and Grievers we have to worry about. They wanted us to escape to the second stage. It was hard for us, but they could've made it harder if they wanted."

Thomas nods, chewing the bottom of his lips as he looks at her, "I promised Minho we wouldn't leave him."

"And we won't," Newt firms.

"We'll get him back, man," Frypan agrees.

Vince sighs, "You don't even know what's there."

"I do," Jorge pushes off the pillar with his foot, hands in his pockets as he recalls his past, "It's been a few years. Sorry, Cuidadora, it's nothing like you remember it. But I have been there."

"It was their whole base of operation," Mae remembers, "My parents bought a house two blocks away from the main building." They truly couldn't stay away from work even if they wanted to. At least, her father did.

Jorge nods, turning to Thomas, "If that place is still standing, that's the last place you'd wanna go, hermano. That's the lion's den."

The boy shrugs, "It's nothing we haven't done before."

"With months of planning and reliable information, the element of surprise, none of which we have now," Vince reminds him.

"Vince, I've thought this through," Thomas huffs, "Will you just hear me out?"

"The last time we went off half-cooked, I lost everything! Remember that?" Vince snaps at him, his patience with Thomas wearing thin.

Mae bites the inside of her cheek. He means their base in the mountains, he means all the research and resources that went up in flames, almost all the kids they worked to save, all swept away in seconds by WICKED.

Vince also meant Mary. Mae regrets not getting her memories back before Mary died, she was a friend of her father's. She wished she could've had one last connection to him.

Thomas looked down at his shoes, guilt making his chest hot. He blamed himself for what happened. He trusted Teresa when no one else did, and he felt like a fool in the end. If he never led the Gladers there, if he never trusted Teresa—

Mae frowns, reaching over to squeeze his arm. It's not your fault.

"Look, I know it's Minho. You made a promise, I get it, all right? But I agree with Mae, you can't ask me to put those innocent kids on the line for one man, I won't do it." Vince puts his finger down, indicating his decision was final.

Static voices are muffled on the radio on the table, and everyone in the room's attention turns to the noise. Teddy, who was closest to the radio, lifts his head up from his arms slowly.

"WICKED," Teddy called out low and breathlessly, like the thought of them alone was like calling out the boogeyman.

WICKED helicopters are scanning the area, they're close, so close that everyone could hear whirling in the distance.

Teddy is sent into an instant panic attack. It surprises Peter, who quickly pushes Teddy out of his chair and grabs his chest, the cup dropping and shattering out of Teddy's hands as he did.

"Shit! Hit the lights!" Thomas orders.

"Ted. ." Peter calls out, pulling out his gun as he crouches in front of his little brother and squeezes his shoulders, "They aren't gonna find us okay, I promise."

"Teddy!" Mae crosses the room, handing her gun to Newt as she passes, "Stay with me, all right? C'mon," She grabs his hand and pulls him under the map table.

Peter crouches in front of the table. The Helicopter hovers in the distance, scanning buildings with bright lights. Thomas and Vince run outside to warn the others, and Mae catches Newt's eyes from across the room.

He's looking at Teddy, watching as the little boy seemed dazed at the sound of WICKED soldiers speaking on the tapped radio. He wonders if Minho was just as bad, even worse.

"It'll be okay," Mae vows, hugging Teddy tight as she stares directly at Newt. He'll be okay.

Mae felt a stone wall in her chest crumble. It now settled into her mind that she had found Teddy. He was right there after months of searching. She hadn't failed him, and a weight lifted off her chest for only a moment.

"All clear," Vince comes into the room, yanking the string lights on.

"They're getting closer," Peter states, "If they get any closer, they'll find us. We need to do something. The boat—"

"Tomorrow," Vince promised, squeezing his shoulder, "For now, everyone get some sleep. We've all had a long few months."

"C'mon," Mae mutters to Teddy, pulling him up, "You can stay with me tonight."

— 

Teddy had been half asleep by the time Mae and Peter walked through her tent. She tries to ignore the guilty pit in her stomach when she noticed the lack of Thomas' things. He must've cleared it out before they entered.

Mae forces a smile, placing Teddy down on her side, "I'm sorry we took so long to find you," She says, "You fought so hard with us to escape—"

"I knew you'd come," He smiles tiredly, shrugging.

Peter plops on the makeshift couch, crossing his legs at the ankles with a tired stretch, "Of course we'd come," He responds, "When have you and I ever given up on each other, aye?"

Mae looks down at her hands, thinking about her friends.

"You just don't like being in debt to anyone," Teddy rolls his eyes, getting comfortable.

"Can't be in this kind of world," Peter shrugs.

Mae nods with his words, "You should get some rest. Tomorrow, Thomas will want us to vote on whether we'll move or go to the Last City."

Teddy yawns, "And you'll vote to go." She paused, and he added, "It's Minho. We were there together, the whole time. He knows you'll come for him. Something about the third Glader rule or something."

Mae's heart clenched. You have to trust each other.

Minho trusts they'll find a way to save him.

"I need to find Thomas," Mae announced suddenly, grabbing her pack off the table.

Peter waves her away with a tired yawn, and Teddy watches her back up until the moment she ducks out of the tent.

By the time she found Thomas, he was making his trek towards the abandoned lot of cars, his bag slung over his shoulders and a map in his hands.

Mae frowns, stopping at the bottom of the hill.

"You don't plan on going by yourself, do you?" Mae voiced. Thomas pauses, but doesn't turn around, "Because that's incredibly dim witted."

His shoulders dropped with a sigh, and turned around to face her, "I don't need anyone else dying or getting captured."

"That's not your choice now, is it?" She states, meeting up halfway up the hill, "Minho's my friend, too. You know the second Newt finds out he'll come after you, which means Frypan close behind." She starts her trek past him, and he grabs her wrist.

She looks down at his hand, then back up at his eyes. He's guilty, shifting his feet, jaw clenched in hopes he can hold back the reality of what he's about to say.

"I don't want you to settle for me."

Mae looks confused for a moment, then her face slacks with realization. He was referring to her words on the beach, the things she admitted to Newt in her state of heartache, "Thomas—"

"You might think that I'm holding onto some puppy love we had before the Maze, but I fell in love with you all over again without those memories. I don't even have them fully now, maybe I never will." Thomas began, shifting his feet as he spoke.

Mae watches him loosen his hand before holding them back into his chest, allowing him the chance to speak his mind and taking whatever he says in stride.

"But it was different for you. Even with your memories, you still love someone else. Even with him gone. That's true love, I can't compete with that. I love you but you were never mine and that's okay," He swallows a huff of air into his lungs, his head spinning with how fast he cramped all those words into a single breath.

She smiles sadly and grabs his hand again giving it an encouraging squeeze.

"I'd rather have you than not. Who even has time for relationships anyway, when we're fighting for our lives every second," He jokes away heartache, and she laughs. He loves her laugh. "I know you love me, you're just not in love with me. I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't tell me. I don't want you to settle. I just want you to be happy."

"I felt like I was stringing you along," Mae admits, "I love you. I just know deep down that if he walked up this sand," Her own heart clenched so hard at her words she almost lost her breath completely, "I'm sorry, Thomas."

"It's okay," He shrugs it off, patting her back and they continue up the path together. "We should get out of here before Newt finds us."

"Where do you think you're going then?" Newt flicks a light on just as they step into the small lot.

Mae and Thomas are quick to glance at each other, mouths wide and unnatural noises of panicking exchanged as they point in each other's direction.

"Well—, We—, Uh, and um—"

"Oh don't be twats about it," Newt strolls up to them, looking at Mae and saying, "You know better," With a pointed look and a finger in her face, "I'm already in."

He takes Thomas' bag, and the Leader's instinct instantly kicks in, following after him.

"No. No, alright? Not this time!"

"This isn't just about you, mate." Newt explains, "He's my partner, and he's my best friend, too."

"Look, even if we find Minho. There's no guarantee we'll make it back from this," Thomas tries to reason.

Mae huffs, "Forget it, Thomas. You'll never get him to change his mind. They're lovers, it's a love thing."

"Right, it's a love thing," Newt agrees.

Mae goes to open the front door and jumps with a scream when she sees Frypan staring back quietly in the front seat. He grins at her frightened expression.

"Hey, Mae Mae," He smiles.

"We're going to need all the help we can get," Newt nods, not phased by them. He crossed his arms and looked at Thomas very smug— proud of himself for getting his point across at an uneasy Thomas, "We started this together, we might as well end it that way, too."

Thomas nods firmly, "Okay, let's go get him back."

Together, they drove into the dark with one thought on their mind. Saving their friend.

By the time the sun rose again, they were a good chunk away from the Right Arm's safe house. Mae was already down a breakfast bar and Frypan's random burst of song was so inconsistent she found herself flinching every time he opened his mouth. Thomas sat quickly in the passenger's seat, looking at the map with a frown as Newt glanced over his shoulder every once in a while.

Family road trip.

Frypan breezes under a sign that reads 'Mandatory Infection Check', keeping the path he slows to a stop at among the abandoned and rusted cars. Right in front of a dark tunnel.

"That looks sketchy as ever," Mae comments.

Thomas is quick to get out of the car, and reluctantly the rest follow.

"You want us to go in there?" Newt adds on, pointing uncomfortably at the tunnel, "I don't want to come off as too negative but if I were a crank that's exactly where I would be."

"Well, thankfully you're not a crank," Mae hums, crossing her arms. Newt hums back in agreement, "However, I agree completely, we'll be walking straight to our deaths."

"A little optimism, Mae?" Frypan grins.

She smiles back, "I am optimistically certain we'll be walking straight to our deaths."

"See, that's more like it."

"I don't really think we have a choice," Thomas butts in, rolling up the map with a sign.

"Alright, I get shotgun." Newt pats his back.

Mae reluctantly follows, "Why do I never get shotgun? I always got shotgun with Harriet and Brenda."

"Well you're not with Harriet and Brenda now, are you?" Newt waves away, "And I'm older. . . and I'm disabled."

She rolls her eyes, getting into the backseat, "I'm a lady, I should be in the front." She grumbles.

The tunnel was eerie and uncomfortably quiet. Mae scans what she can with the headlights. Cars abandoned, camping tents set up. This looked overrun decades ago.

"Oh here we go," Frypan says lowly.

"Just keep it slow," Newt eased.

Thomas commands them to slow when the headlights show a Crank in the middle of the path, gargling and groaning as he stares away from the light.

Instantly, everyone looks to Thomas.

"It's okay," He states, "It's just one. Take it slow, go around him. We'll be fine."

Mae could feel Peter and Teddy's sarcasm seeping through her bones as she rolled her eyes at Thomas. Not that she didn't agree on moving forward, but the fact he thought there was just one was a pipe dream.

"Take it slow," Frypan repeats.

They prepare themselves by rolling up the window, keeping firm hands on their guns. What they hadn't prepared for was the woman looking at them through the back window, startling Thomas and Mae with her rotten teeth and inhuman eyes.

"Please," She bangs on the window, "Help me. Please, let me in!" The stranger starts pulling at the handle, and when her eyes drifted behind Mae's head, she reluctantly turned around.

A Crank gnawing at the window causes her to squish into Thomas with disgust. Suddenly, the car was being surrounded by the infected.

"Uh okay, Fry? We gotta go!" Thomas says.

"Step on it!"

"Okay, okay!"

Frypan steps on the gas and the car shoots out of the area, shaking away the Cranks that held on. One jumps on the front hood, punching the glass and blocking their view.

"Come on, Fry! Shake him!" Thomas encouraged.

Frypan turns the wheel in all different directions until the Crank is shaken loose and hit with a metal ladder. It's guts spray across the car and tinting the windows — still, the friends have only a moment to cheer before they're completely knocked off the path by road blocks.

Mae embraces for impact when the car flips over on the hood, shattering glass against her face, even through the arms she blocked it with.

She wasn't wearing a seatbelt, so her body fell with the hood, as Thomas, Newt and Frypan struggled to even catch themselves. The only light comes from the flashlight in Thomas' hands.

"Watch out," Thomas kicks glass away from the window, sliding out. He was the only one, everyone else was still delirious from the fall.

"My hand," Frypan groans, "Thomas, the door!"

"Can you get out?" Thomas asks from the other side. He tries to pull the door open but fails, only managing to scrape it against cement as he orders them to go around.

Newt busts out first, then Frypan and Mae. The sound of agonizing screams filled the tunnel, reminding them they aren't alone.

Mae and Newt reach for their guns, the Cranks running erratically towards them from the entrance of the tunnel. Their groans and screams sent shakes up spines.

While Frypan struggles to grab something from the flipped car, Thomas and Newt scream frantically for him to hurry, the first Crank drawing near.

Mae stays quiet, watching the Cranks movements. It was headed straight for Newt. Just as she unhooked her gun, Frypan stands up and turns around, shooting the infected straight in the chest with a shotgun.

She releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Nice shot, Fry." Thomas slaps the old cook's back, a nod of acceptance was like a gold star to Frypan, who nods back with fueled adrenaline.

Every moment was short lived when the infected walked— no, ran towards them with the sheer determination of sinking into their flesh.

The Gladers were quick to run, something they do best. They race down the tunnel, and Mae finds herself ahead of the line. As Cranks circle from the other side, they find it hard to clear a path.

Mae pulls out her gun and starts shooting, aiming for the head. She tries her best to clear a path, but as more and more Cranks fill the tunnel, she starts to feel the lingering reality shock that she might potentially die.

She thought she'd get used to it by now.

"Okay, this way! Uh, no other way!" Thomas commands in panic, running back and forth as if his body hasn't taken in the fact that there's nowhere to run.

"I'm out," Frypan calls out.

Mae frowns at the sound of an empty chamber click, "Same here."

As if God themself wanted to see them save Minho, the sound of an engine echoes off the tunnel walls, plowing into Cranks and sliding straight in front of them,

Mae could recognize that copper mop anywhere. Peter and Brenda standing through the sunroof, shooting bullets into oncoming Cranks.

"Get in," Brenda commands with no room for argument — not that any of them would pass up the opportunity to see sunlight again.

Teddy is in the passenger's seat, sticking his head through the window and saying, "This has Thomas' dumb idea written all over it!"

Thomas actually laughs at that.

Once everyone was piled in, Jorge steps on the gas and the Cranks are far out of sight.

Mae and Newt collapse into each other.

"I'm impressed," Jorge smirks, "You guys almost lasted a whole day."

Brenda, who sat in the middle of Jorge and Teddy, turns to face the group. Shaking her head at Thomas, then glaring annoying daggers into Mae.

The blonde shrunk under her stare, "I've already dragged you into enough messes," She comments lightly.

"Yeah, and whose choice was that? Not yours." Brenda draws back.

Thomas scoffs nervously at her accusing stare, "I'm sorry, I didn't want to bring you guys into this."

Peter, who sat beside him, rolled his eyes, "Not you picking and choosing when to be a team. We've been doing this together for months," He pauses, "Which is like 4 years in War time."

"I think what Thomas is trying to say is, thanks for saving us," Frypan comments from the backseat, sending them a charming toothy smile.

"Don't get your hopes up, that checkpoint back there? That was the city's last defense. If that was overrun, chances are the city is, too." Jorge shakes his head.

Newt stares out the window, turning Mae's head with his hand — who was looking in the complete opposite direction, "Unless they figured out some other way to keep the Cranks out."

Jorge stops the car abruptly, and everyone piles out to see a massively tall wall around a large city. Not the easiest to sneak into.

"How would they have time to build the walls and fight off Cranks without massive loss? That City looks to be decently sized and full of people." Mae frowns.

Mae wonders how many rich buyers paid their way behind those walls, funding the experiments to find a cure that they'd never willingly share to others.

Peter scoffs, leaning against the hood that Teddy sat on, "Bet a loaf of bread that it's rich people and evil scientists."

Mae and Peter share a two fingered salute.

"Funny," Newt hums, "Spent three years trapped behind walls tryna break out, and now we wanna break back in?"

"Yeah, it's hilarious." Frypan says bluntly, no expression.

"That's not funny, that's depressing," Teddy comments, the dry humor flying over his head.

"Jorge, how do we get in?" Thomas asks.

Jorge waved him off, "Don't look at me, Hermano. Those walls are new, I guess that's WICKED's answer for everything."

Brenda crosses her arms, leaning on Mae as full body support, "Well we ain't gonna figure it out from up here."

Newt stands beside Thomas, who now stood beside Mae. The three of them looked out to the city with anticipation.

"You really think he's in there?" Newt asks.

"I guess we're gonna find out," He responds.

"You know she's gonna be in there, too."

Teresa.

Mae looks down at her shoes, then clears her throat and says, "If we see Ava. And we will. I want to be the one to kill her," She says bluntly, avoiding their eyes as she stared out beyond the tall buildings.

She was right to look away from Thomas and Newt's lingering eyes of concern. They look at each other, then back at her, unable to mentally agree on an answer.

"I know it's not ideal," She says softly, "I know you might not think it's necessary, but she'll never stop. If I get the chance, I won't let her hurt anyone else."

"Mae," Newt says cautiously, "She's your—"

"What does that matter?" She frowns.

"I never said she didn't deserve it," Newt firms, "But we won't blame you for hesitating, or letting someone else. To keep your head clear."

"My head is clear," She replies coldly, regretting it instantly when Newt closes his mouth in defeat. She felt guilty for shutting down his advice but she's never had more clearer goals in her life, "It won't be anything either of you need to concern yourself with, I was just letting you know."

"You got it, Mae," Thomas chimes in, giving her a gentle smile, "We have your back on that."

She nods in their direction and heads back to the car.

If they were heading into the city. If her mother was caught in her line of sight, Mae had no regrets taking out a monster.

okay okay so guess who gets a reunion next chapter—