BOOM!

The loud noise startled us, heading towards the window to see a bright flash of fire and smoke. "Lawrence," Beth mumbled. "He came here to wreak havoc in the city." She shook her head. "That wasn't the plan!"

"Well, now, we gotta come up with a way to get out of here if what Aris is saying is true," Sonya said.

Aris nodded. "Then we need to hurry and get moving."

"Wait a second." Beth stopped us. "You mean to tell me that I just killed my best friend and now you're telling me that there's a cure that could've saved her?!"

"Beth, we got the timing wrong in this situation, but there's nothing we can do about it now," Sonya said. "Gwyneth is gone."

"But it could've been prevented!" she cried out. "Maybe if he had shown up just a bit earlier, then..." She stopped, inhaling so that she wouldn't cry anymore.

"Listen to me, Beth," I said, my voice getting quiet as I approached her. "Gwyneth was suffering. We saw it with our own eyes. She would have turned into a Crank by the time we got a cure and it would've been too late." I looked into her eyes, the hurt still there. "We need to keep going. Gwyneth wouldn't want us to just stop because she's gone."

I watched as Beth's eyes softened a bit, with tears still coming down. But she finally composed herself and nodded her head. "Yeah, you're right. She would want us to keep going."

I nodded with her. "Okay, so let's figure out a way out of here."

"Hey!" Aris called out for us from down the hallway. "I think I found something!"

Beth and I dashed over there with the others and looked at the empty and trashed room, along with the broken window. "You think this is how the boys got out?"

We looked down at the fountain that settled down below. "Well, if that water wasn't there to break their fall..."

"Look, we gotta move fast," Aris said. "More guards are after us and there's a mandatory evacuation. I think some overheard me telling Teresa about you guys still being here..."

"Okay, we can jump and make it," I assured them. "I mean, if the boys did it, then we can. Right?"

"Well, by all means, you go first," Beth offered.

"I'm coming with you." We all looked at Aris. "Look, Rachel made sure we all stuck together when we were leaving the Glen, and we're sticking together until the end of this sticking war with WICKED." He took a deep breath, then continued. "I'm not letting you all go in that crossfire without me."

"So does this mean you're on our side now?" Sonya asked.

He took a second, but nodded. "Yeah, I am. I wanted to find a cure just as much as WICKED did, and now that we have one, maybe it can save Newt and anyone else infected with the Flare." He paused, sighing. "My job with WICKED is done."

I felt a sense of happiness knowing that Aris was back on our side. All of us had excited yet exhausted looks on our faces and we nodded our heads all at once. With all of the emotions running high, we had to jump into the crossfire and fight until the end.

This was the final battle, and we were going to win this time.

"Uh, guys? I think we're about to get company," Sonya announced, the sound of running and yelling getting closer.

"Follow me!" I shouted, giving myself a head start and lunging out of the window and down into the water. I felt my heart dropping and the screams, along with my own, taking over. The breaking of the water as I went under was enough to burn my nose. Hearing the muffled splashes around me, I went back up the surface, inhaling.

"Bloody hell!" Maeve coughed from behind. "We're never doing that again."

"Is everyone okay?" Sonya asked.

"All good over here!" Beth yelled.

"Same!" Aris added.

I looked up at the window we jumped out of, seeing the guards spotting us. We swam to the edge of the fountain and got out, catching our breaths. While our wet uniforms stuck to our skin, I managed to grab my walkie, shaking it and hoping it still worked. "Thomas? Thomas, where are you? We're out of the building." When I was met with silence, I began to panic a little. "Thomas!"

"Piper?" a voice that wasn't Thomas' finally responded.

"Minho?" I asked, feeling relieved. "It's you!"

"You really thought Thomas and Newt would give up on me?" he joked, though, the shooting and screaming from both of our ends almost made it hard to hear him. "We're heading for the Berg. Got word from Brenda and Aurora that Jorge came back with Vince."

A feeling of hope ran through my head. "How far are you?"

"Gally said it's twelve blocks, so you shanks better get moving."

"Copy." I hung up and placed the walkie back in my pocket, then getting my gun ready. "Okay, let's get out of here!"

So everyone prepared themselves for the battle we were about to get in the middle of. Then, we all headed into the smoke and fire.

The fighting from both sides became more violent with each block we crossed over. All of us had our shares in firing our guns and physical fighting from WICKED soldiers. The sweat and blood ran down our faces, hair and clothes glued to us. We did all that we could to keep going and to have each other's backs. We had to stick together until the end, no matter how chaotic the situation was getting.

"Are we almost there?" Sonya asked, panting while we kept running. "Please tell me we're almost there..."

"Let's hope so!" Beth yelled over the madness around us.

"Wait, is that Thomas? What's he dragging?" Aris questioned, pointing in the distance.

Sure enough, Thomas was going across the street as he was barely holding on to another body. The grunts and the weak in his arms were visible from afar. "It's Newt," I muttered. We watched as they both fell to the ground, with Newt not moving.

"We have to go help them!" Maeve protested.

I nodded in agreement. "Okay!"

"Thomas?"

We all froze at the sound of Teresa's voice echoing all over the city, making it seem like the chaos around us to halt. "What is she doing now?" Beth asked in annoyance.

"Can you hear me, Thomas?" Teresa spoke up again. "I need you to listen to me. I know you have no reason to trust me." There was a slight pause, then she went on. "But I need you to come back. You can save Newt. There's still time for him. 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. All you have to do is come back and this'll all be finally over. Please. Just come back to me. I know you'll do the right--"

The street lights all of a sudden went out and lights from buildings appeared. Thomas was standing up now, looking confused at what decision to make.

"Do you think he'll go back?" Lillie questioned.

"If he really cared for Newt, he'd do it," Maeve commented, shaking her head as a few tears came down her face. "We can't keep going on like this."

Then slowly, we spotted Newt as he stood up and turned towards his friend. The looks of horror came over us as we saw him. While we were a bit far from him, seeing the veins snake around his face and his dead expression told us all what happened to him.

He was a Crank now.

All of a sudden, Newt lunged for Thomas.

"No!" I shouted, my feet taking off with no second thought. I ran as fast as I could, hearing my friends yelling after me.

"Piper, this isn't your fight!" Beth yelled. "Let Thomas handle it!"

I couldn't listen to Beth, because something inside me was telling me to go help him. Leaving Thomas there to deal with a Newt who was no longer himself was not an option. Newt became a friend and an ally not just to me, but to my friends as well.

"Newt!" I grabbed him, trying to get him away from Thomas, but he was stronger as he shoved me on the ground. His snarling startled me as I sat up and groaned at the pain from the back of my head.

Thomas grabbed Newt, the two tumbling all over. Newt began to pant, the blood and spit hanging off his lips, the anger taking over. "Tommy, kill me!" He then flung himself onto Thomas, knocking him over.

"No!" I repeated, heading over towards them. I attempted to hold onto Newt's arms as he tried to take a bit out of one of us. "Newt, stop!"

"Piper!" Aris shouted, running towards us, followed by the others.

"Newt, please!" Thomas begged, pushing Newt's body away from him.

After a struggle, Newt panted, his breathing becoming steady and his face becoming softer. My friends stopped running and observed from afar. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry, Tommy."

"It's okay," Thomas whispered. "It's okay."

But just as I thought there was still a chance for him, Newt swung me away and grabbed the gun from Thomas' hip, pointing it to his head.

"No!" Thomas shouted grabbing the gun, resulting in the two having a battle with the weapon.

"Newt, let go!" I screamed, heading back over and putting grips on it.

"This isn't you, Newt!" Thomas cried.

"I told you I wanted you to kil--"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I stood there, not being able to move, my mouth open. When Thomas saw what happened, he tried to help me, but Newt pulled him back, wanting to keep going with their fight.

There was a pain that emerged from my body. My hands were wet, looking down at the shaky palms that were now red.

It was the blood that seeped through my uniform.

As the gun fell to the ground, I went down with it.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, yeah, there ya have it.

This wasn't exactly how I was gonna do it, but I figured this was the best way to write it.

So yeah, my poor Piper is injured.

Song above is Battle Cry by Imagine Dragons.

Comment, vote, only 1 more chapter and the Epilogue left!

-A