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Minho: There's only one thing worse than dying.

Minho: *Rips off card so it says "Thomas dying"* Boom.

Gally: *Gasps* Thomas

Minho: No

-✼-

The ride wasn't as bumpy as I thought it was going to be. With the blindfolds, raggedy van, and people with guns, my brain automatically prepared me for a treacherous journey, but it was actually unbearably smooth. Only the fact that my shoulders were tightly sandwiched between Thomas and Garret made me uncomfortable.

The van pulled to a stop, and the gulp Garret swallowed was audible to me. I tried to slow my racing heartbeat and steady my breathing during the seemingly agonizing three seconds it took for someone to open the side door.

One of the members in our group must have reached for their hood, because the leader's voice snapped, "Don't you dare take those off until we tell you too. Now get out, nice and slow. Do us a favor and keep yourselves alive."

"You sure are a tough shank," Minho taunted dryly from what sounded like the end of our row. "Easy to do when you've got six people with guns. Why don't you–"

He was cut off by the sickening sound of a punch and a pained grunt. My heart climbed into my throat as Garret's shoulder roughly bumped into mine at the force of the man hitting Minho. It caused me to slam into Thomas' arm as well, making a sharp burst of pain blossom in my arm as it rammed into his elbow.

Just as suddenly, Thomas was gone. I barely had a second to breathe before I was roughly grabbed by my collar and yanked out of the vehicle with a cry of surprise. My feet struggled to get themselves beneath me, but the person pulled me along without waiting for me to balance myself. I felt like a dog being cruelly dragged by a leash.

After what happened to Minho, none of us dared to speak as we were guided by the mysterious people. My other senses seemed to be heightened now that my eyes were blocked. I felt my skin prickle as the temperature dropped slightly and we were led down a flight of stairs, the coolness like a blessing compared to the humidity outside. The floor was made of concrete- that much I could guess because of how hard my steps were. Next came a seemingly endless hallway, which ended with the swipe of a key card. A lock clicked. A door opened. What was once silence was replaced by indistinct murmurs from inside the room.

The person shoved me inside with enough force to knock me off my feet. I went sprawling to the ground, and with no sense of knowing when I'd hit the floor, the stinging sensation that stung my palms as they abruptly stopped my fall was enough to make me hiss in pain.

Someone grabbed my arm and hauled me to a standing position, yanking off my hood in the process. I was met with dull lighting that seemed impossibly bright in comparison to the pure darkness the hood had provided. Thomas' face was staring down at me in concern, his hand gripping my left biceps.

I silently nodded to show I was okay before turning to the rest of the room. Most of the people in the spacious area were sitting on the floor, meaning they had a full view of us near the door. A mere dozen of them stared at us. Their faces had varying amounts of dirt on them, but almost everyone had obvious signs of a struggle, whether they sported cuts or bruises or both.

A woman stepped forward, smudged face holding enough fear to make my gut twist. "What's it like out there? We've been in here for a few hours, and things were falling apart. Has it gotten worse?"

I opened my mouth to speak, to say anything, to attempt to reassure her, but the words became stuck in my throat.

"We were outside the city- they got us at the gates," Thomas explained as more people took notice of us and gathered around. "What do you mean things were falling apart? What happened?"

Her face turned to the floor. "The government declared a state of emergency, without any kind of warning. Then the police, the cop machines, the Flare testers – they all disappeared. All at once, it seemed. We got snagged by these people trying to get work at the city building. There wasn't even time to figure out what was happening or why."

"We were guards over at the Crank Palace," another man jumped in. "Others like us had been disappearing left and right, so we finally gave up and came to Denver a few days ago. We got nabbed at the airport, too."

"How'd everything get so bad, so suddenly?" Brenda questioned, which was exactly what I was thinking. "We were just here three days ago."

The man released an ironic laugh, shaking his head like she was a clueless child. "The whole city is full of idiots thinking they've been containing the virus. It's been a long and slow rumble, but it's all finally exploded in our faces. The world has no chance – the virus is too strong. Some of us have seen this coming for a long time."

Thomas' grip on my arm became tighter. I looked up at his face in question, but he wasn't looking back at me. I followed his confused gaze and was startled when it landed on Aris.

"Minho," Thomas whispered, elbowing the boy. I hadn't even noticed he was beside my brother. "Look."

Aris grinned - grinned - and began heading over to us. Some of the girls from Group B were milling behind him. I caught sight of Flo among other faces I couldn't place names to. For once, her trademark scowl was gone and was replaced by an expression of anxiety.

The boy reached us and extended a hand to Thomas, who shook it.

"Glad you guys are okay," he said.

"You too." Thomas had a look of relief on his face. "Where is everyone?"

Aris' expression darkened. "Most of them aren't with us anymore. They got taken by another group."

My heart sunk. Sonya, Harriet, the others from Group A that were left... They were nowhere to be seen.

I was violently snapped from my thoughts at the sight of Teresa. Thomas' mouth opened as if to say something, but I ripped myself from his grip and practically pounced on her before he could get a single sound out. My arms flung themselves around her shoulders. She staggered back at the force of the embrace, but returned it with a small chuckle.

"Glad you're feeling better after that procedure," she said as if trying to disguise the hollowness in her voice that I detected anyway.

I pulled back, examining the sad smile on her chapped lips and the way her crystal blue eyes were holding an emotion I couldn't place. Although Thomas had told me that she and the others had abandoned us at W.I.C.K.E.D, she didn't look like someone who'd done that. In fact, she seemed almost confused. Her pitch-black hair was a mess of tangled strands and her pale skin was home to bruises and scrapes.

"Where did you guys go?" Teresa asked once I stepped back. Her gaze mostly flickered between my brother and I, not Minho, who was leveling her with a stare that could cut diamonds. "How did you get all the way to Denver?"

Thomas' face pinched in perplexity. "What do you mean, where did we go?"

Her eyes searched his for a few seconds. It was obvious something had gone wrong. "We've got a lot to talk about."

"What are you up to now?" Thomas asked, squinting in suspicion.

"I'm not up to..." She sounded almost tired of defending herself, but sighed and started over. "There's obviously been some miscommunication. Look, most of our group was captured by different hunters yesterday- they've probably already been taken back and sold to W.I.C.K.E.D. Including Frypan. I'm sorry."

My heart sunk once again. Whatever joy I'd felt at seeing her again vanished at the memory of the kindhearted cook. What were they doing to him? Was Janson performing a new, crueler experiment on him as we spoke?

Minho spoke up. "I can see you're as cheerful as always. So glad to be back in your sunshiny presence."

Teresa let the comment slide off of her, ignoring the venom in his words. She was looking at Garret with utter disbelief. I had forgotten that she thought he was dead, because even if they hadn't spent much time together, she had known him in the Glade. She shook her head and focused her attention back onto Thomas.

"Tom, they'll be moving us soon. Please come talk to me. In private. Now."

For a fleeting second, I wondered why I wasn't included in what she needed to talk about. But then I realized that while Teresa knew I still trusted her, she also understood that Thomas didn't. Whatever she wanted to say would hopefully change his mind. Or, at least, she wanted it to.

"The Rat Man already gave me his big speech," Thomas said indifferently. "Please tell me you don't agree with him and think I should go back to W.I.C.K.E.D."

"I don't even know what you're talking about," Teresa argued. She closed her eyes and inhaled as if gathering her pride. "Please."

Thomas merely stared at her for a long moment. I twitched uncomfortably at the tension.

"Well?" she asked, motioning to our surroundings. "Not a lot to do in here but wait around. Are you too busy to talk to me?"

I almost snorted at the sarcasm in her voice.

Thomas, unable to find a retort, pointed to a few empty chairs in the corner. "Let's go, but make it quick."

She nodded and began to turn around. While she wasn't looking, Minho grabbed Thomas' sleeve and hissed, "Don't listen to a word she says."

I glared at him. "Minho."

Thomas shook him off and followed Teresa to the chairs. The former Keeper watched him go with every step under a scrutinizing state. It almost appeared as if he was preparing for her to attack Thomas at any moment.

"What the shuck did I miss?" Garret wondered aloud. I couldn't tell if he was actually curious or was just trying to relieve the heaviness stifling the air.

"She's a shucking backstabber," Minho answered at the same time I said, "She did what she had to do."

The Keeper looked at me sharply. I returned the gaze unwaveringly, even as his jaw twitched.

I'd never know who'd end up breaking the stare first, because someone grabbed my arm and caused me to jump back from Minho. A ragged woman with stringy brunette hair and hollow brown eyes pulled me toward her.

"I'm sorry," she said, voice hoarse either from lack of water or disuse. Her grip was strong on my forearms. "You just look so much like my sister..."

"I'm not your sister," I deadpanned harshly, if only because her ever-so-tightening hold was beginning to frighten me. My brain was already planning an escape if necessary. "Let me go."

"Her name was Clara," the woman continued as if I'd never spoken. "Clara." She yanked me close enough that we were face-to-face and I could count the freckles dotting the bridge of her nose. "You're Clara."

"Hey!" Minho cried. "Let her go, you crazy shuckface!"

I attempted to pull myself out of her grasp, but she was determined to keep me there. My eyebrows pinched as I recalled what Brent had programmed into my brain. I let my wrists relax for a split second, then rotated them toward her thumbs, loosening her grip. This made it possible for me to successfully break free. The woman reached wildly for me again. I sucked in a breath and stumbled back before instinctively bringing my knee up to her stomach, causing her to topple onto her backside.

Breathing slightly heavily, I felt two hands steady me on my feet. Brenda was sharply glaring at the lady from her position behind me.

"That'll teach you," Minho spat to the woman on the floor.

She only peered at me with ever-so-saddening eyes. Even if she had just caused me to attack her, I felt sympathy for her. Whatever she'd faced outside had turned her this way.

"I'm sorry," I breathed, repeating her words from earlier. "But I'm not your sister."

The woman stared at me for a long moment before scrambling to her feet and disappearing into the crowd.

gif is dylan after she gets into the room

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unpopular opinion: thomas is a bit of a hypocrite lmao but that's okay he's still a solid dude

i don't have any questions for this chapter because it was a bit short and basically a filler, so there's nothing to ask (whoops). but please drop a comment and tell me what you think!

-kristyn