Leo 13

I wake up, the sun streaming in the windows. The soft light is a pleasure I have missed. The sun was gone for so long, and then it was blazing, and then it was gone again. Now, it gently kisses me awake.

I wish Newt was hear with me.

I sigh, sitting up and forward. It seems so peaceful for the Scorch. Part of me wants to sit and relax, but I can't. I know where we are going. I know what we must do.

When I look to the door, I notice Sonya fast asleep. The front door is ajar. No one else is awake yet. I rustle out of the bag, spinning around. There was no one on guard last night except for her. I was supposed to be next. Why didn't she wake me up?

"Leo..." Teresa groans from where she sleeps next to me.

"Sorry," I manage, moving away from her. I head to the door, moving towards Sonya. I place a hand on her shoulder, and she violently shakes awake.

She gasps for air, before looking up at me. "Hey Leo." She always has such a pleasant smile on her cheeks. It reminds me of Newt's.

"Good morning," I manage, leaning down next to her. "You slept well."

"I hope you did too," she offers, her cheeks still tinged pink.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I ask softly. I was supposed to be the next watch.

She yawns, looking up out the windows. "Ella told me she would keep watch for you."

I stop, glancing around the room. Ella isn't here. I vaguely remember her nudging me last night while I was sleeping, but then she began talking to Teresa. Maybe she was trying to wake me up.

I move to where I left Ella, curled up tight to keep her warm. The spot is empty. I glance around at the rest of the girls, scanning the sleeping bags for any sign of her. If she is here, she is hiding in one of the doors branching off from this room.

I go to the first door, opening it. Inside is a simple closet. The next is the same, and the next as well. I run down the stairs, heading into the basement. All the doors are unlocked, except for one, and if I can't get into it I doubt Ella is in there. Still I bang on the door.

"What the bloody Hell are you off about?" Sonya is on the stairs staring me down.

"Ella isn't here," I turn around, letting my hand, curled up into a fist, slowly lower down off the door. The steel is cold against my hand. Cold and unrelenting.

Sonya darts back up the stairs hopefully to get Harriet, or Teresa, or someone else with some responsibility. I still have no place amongst their ranks, and while I hated the responsibility in the Glade, the lack of it here is driving me crazy.

"Ella!" I call out, banging on the door. I don't know why she would go down here. It's a concrete wasteland. There is exposed piping for shuck's sake.

Michelle comes up behind me, with her hammer, and smashes the doorknob. It clangs, rolling on the ground, and with her spare foot Michelle kicks the door open. Down underneath, is the tunnel we've been travelling through. No Ella.

I charge back up the stairs, pushing through the girls that have crowded on them. Everyone is staring at me. I can feel their eyes penetrating my skin. My arms start to itch, and I fend against the need to scratch them. Everyone already thinks I'm crazy.

"Ella's gone," I peer around the room. Talking to myself. Maybe trying to rationalized the fact that I somehow managed to let a sick girl disappear from beneath my fingers in a shucking desert.

Sonya has her head in her hands, struggling to breathe. Everyone else just continues to watch me.

"She disappeared," I continue. "She isn't in here. Not behind any of the doors."

"Maybe she left for the boys," Marie offers, quietly. She hides behind her dark black hair. Trust me, I'm not delicate. I don't need to be coddled, especially not by a blood-sensitive Med-jack.

"Not bloody likely," Dawn offers.

"She's not healthy," I continue. "She is epileptic, and we think she has a brain tumour. Her only friends that are boys are dead now, so she wouldn't go back there. Besides, she wouldn't know where to go. Before yesterday, she couldn't hold a conversation."

Harriet looks around the group, waiting for someone to come forward. No one does. I scan the eyes of people I know, and people who might know her. Marie doesn't seem to know, and Sonya was the last to see her conscious. I doubt Ella talks to Hilde or her friends. Rose isn't exactly friendly either, not that Ella would approach anyone anyway. She has never been one to chat with strangers. Ella is someone who you go to, or who just shows up and waits for you to speak. I don't get why she'd leave.

I honestly don't really get how she was capable of leaving. The most autonomy she has ever shown has been cutting her neck open and getting stung by a Griever.

"Leo," Saph has hobbled up next to me. She places a hand on my shoulder. I would swipe her off, swipe away at her attempt to calm me down, but her ankle is shucked so if I did she would collapse. "Leo, it's alright."

That's when I realise my hands and knees are shaking. I look around the group, waiting for anyone to say anything.

I gently take Saph off me, before moving away from the circle. My hands find my backpack, and I struggle to unzip it. My hands find the vials of sedative and are searching for the needle when Dawn rips them out of my hands.

"You aren't sedating yourself," she tells me, putting the vials back in my bag.

"Why the stuck do you have sedative?" Marie jumps in, looking at me.

"Boys get into a shuck ton fights," I tell her, as my hands continue to shake. Dawn has to practically drag me back to the group. "We use it when people need to calm the shuck down."

"You seem calm," she offers.

"I'm not!" I snap. Silence follows my words, and once again everyone is staring at me. I give myself three seconds to breathe in and out, but I don't take them. I can't take them. Now, I need to have intense power to my words, even if I don't want it.

They need to hear me.

"Well?" I demand, letting the eyes fall on me. "Are we going to look for her or what?"

No one answers me. Sonya's hair is dishevelled, the blonde strands sticking about in every direction. Does she think it's her fault? Ella is very sick. Lately, she's seemed okay. If I had just met her, like Sonya, I'd have thought she was okay too. Unfortunately, she isn't.

"We don't have time," Teresa cuts through the crowd. She holds her head high. Her entire face is exposed since her hair is pulled back, and I wish I was proud enough to show myself off like that. TO be me without any regrets.

"What?" I ask, turning to face her. "You're kidding. We aren't leaving her to die."

"We've got to keep moving." She tells me.

I look over to Dawn, who does not look surprised. Is this who Teresa is? I thought we were friends. I mean, I know she and Ella don't get on particularly well, but I didn't think she would let the poor girl die.

"No," I turn to face her. "We are getting Ella."

Michelle steps in towards us, grabbing hold of me. Does she actually think I would charge Teresa? I wouldn't. It wouldn't solve anything.

Teresa looks surprised by my reaction. She bites her lip, looking me up and down. "Leo, you have to understand..."

"I understand nothing," I argue, biting into my tongue.

"We don't make a decision unless it's unanimous." Harriet jumps in, offering up a rule that I have become very aware of.

"Well, then put me under a Banishment, or whatever you slintheads do." I tell them.

Dawn steps in, closer to me. She nods in agreement. Michelle takes this as her chance to back out, as if she has confirmed I'm not going to attack Teresa. I'm surprised she takes their side over mine. Maybe she is picking her interests instead of people. I forget loyalty is fickle.

"That's not what she means," Rose rolls her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic."

"We aren't going anywhere until we are unanimous," Harriet says. "For or against."

So, we are stuck here? That's only going to waste Teresa's time further. I will make us lose a whole day so be it. Surely, Teresa will give in by then.

"Initial vote," Harriet calls out. "Yay?"

I watch as Sonya's hand flies up, so I put mine up too. There are only a couple hands up with me, including Dawn, Saph, Hilde (surprisingly), Marie, and Michelle (surprisingly, although I can tell she isn't happy about it). I realise that this is almost half the hands we have here. It makes me feel sick.

So many have died.

Hilde's two friends give her a weird look. She simply rolls their eyes at them, gesturing forward. "Look, the stick obviously matters to them, and they aren't gonna budge. If I vote for it, we can find her faster, and get out of the way. I say we search for three hours in the area, if she isn't here, we walk an hour, and search those houses for an hour. Afterwards, we move on."

"Second," Harriet says, which confuses me.

"Third," Sonya offers, gesturing her head towards me to call out.

"Fourth," I offer.

"Fifth," there is a ridiculous sigh in Rose's voice. She doesn't sound like she could be more put off by anything in the world.

"Second vote?" Harriet calls out. "Yay?"

This time, more hands are up, including one of the few girls I don't know well. Their whole process is confusing, but exponentially faster than ours somehow. I guess they've sped it up to accommodate for the repeated votes. There is a lack of explanation from every person. Instead, one vote, one explanation, next vote. Pretty quick.

"Nay?" There are a few outliers still. Four, exactly, since three of the girls I don't know are still holding out, and so is Teresa.

"We don't have time for this," Teresa says. "We've got to move.

"Seriously?" I turn to face her. "Does her life not matter to you? I know you two know each other. I saw you talking last night."

Gears start to click in my head. They were talking, and then Ella was gone. I can't believe I missed that. I'm so stupid.

"What did you say to her?" I demand, looking Teresa up and down. I can feel my nose tinging pink. I tried to use the rage to my control, but now it uses me. "What did you do?"

"You must've been dreaming." Teresa counters, seemingly distracted. "Maybe you were remembering whatever it was that man was talking to you about. Since you are apparently working with him."

"You know shucking well I wasn't," I add on. People are staring at her now. "Also, you used to work with WICKED and you trust them. Ella doesn't, and I know she never liked you. She said she remembered bits and pieces of Thomas, so why not you too? What did you say to her last night?"

"Lee," Dawn hisses in my ear. I realise she has had to restrain me. It didn't occur to me that I was moving for Teresa. This isn't me. I'm not a violent person.

There are hushed whispers circling around the room, but my blood is pumping. I can't hear what they are saying.

"Third vote." Harriet calls, looking at different people. "Yay?"

Almost all the hands in the room shoot up. Teresa's is down, with her arms crossed. I can't tell if it's about time for her, or if she just wants to get rid of Ella.

"Nay?" Harriet asks, and I was right. Only Teresa disagrees.

"The Involvement Clause," Dawn calls out. "It needs to be invoked."

Harriet crosses her arms over her chest, examining Dawn. She holds her ground steady, staring the group.

"Second," Marie calls out, her face bitter.

"Third," Hilde agrees.

Rose calls out fourth, and then Sonya fifth, one beat after the other. The two girls with Hilde bite their tongues, lowering their hands.

"Settled," Harriet decides. "We search for her."

People around me begin to rush about, and I only have a few seconds to try and calm down. Teresa disappears in the crowd. Dawn grabs hold of my arm. I sigh. "What did you do?"

"There are two clauses Saph told me about," Dawn pushes through the crowd, she quickly pulls our stuff off the ground, piling it into both of our arms. "The first, is the Deserter's Clause. We die if we back out, pretty simple. The other, is the Involvement Clause. Those who are part of the decision don't get a vote."

"What does that mean?" I ask, pushing forward.

"It means," she tells me. "At least four other people think Teresa, in part, caused Ella's disappearance."

Klunk.

"It means," she continues, "that things are about to change."

We get to the door, and are about to push out, when Harriet stops us. She looks us up and down, before spreading her feet apart and crossing her arms. Her dark lips are pressed together in a tight line. She's trying to look powerful and intimidating, but I'm not going to let it work. I've still got all of this adrenaline running.

"I'm going with you Leo," she tells me. "Dawn, you can go with Sonya. I have a feeling, since you are so savvy on clauses now, you both might be trying to avoid one."