Leo 45

The sun is beginning to set when I wake up. I'm never going to get used to that. I walk over to Sonya with my backpack. I unzip it, taking out the bottle of antibiotics. When I nudge her with my foot, she stirs. Her eyes flutter open. I hand her my water bottle, offering her a sip.

She takes it in her hands, swishes the bottle, and shakes her head. She dry swallows the pill again, glancing me up and down. "Finish that. You look worse than I do."

That seems impossible, but I am not going to challenge her. After all, my head is pounding, I can actively feel the dryness in my skin, and standing makes me dizzy. I drink the rest of the water in one gulp, but my throat is still parched. There isn't enough to fill me. I can't handle it.

She hands me back the antibiotics, and I put them in my backpack. People are waking up around us, packing their supplies. Sonya nudges Ella awake.

The Corpse. She certainly sleeps like one, but I doubt that is why the Creators chose that name. The Anchor, the Roots, the Hermit, and the Corpse. It sounds like the beginning of a joke. The four of us walk into a bar. Why would any of us ever fit together?

While people are packing, I venture farther away. The sun is beginning to set now. It reflects off the tops of mountains. It really is beautiful, despite how much pain it brings. There is some metaphor in there, but I am too lazy to think about it. I barely slept at all last night.

"Beth, calm down!" I am taken out of my serenity by the shouts of Saph.

The two are at the entrance to the cave, bickering. Saph pins herself against the rock wall, trying to melt into it. Obviously, she has no luck.

Beth's head twitches from side to side. She lifts her hands up to her head, tugging at the hair on her scalp. A few strands rip out, and she chucks them aside. I watch as she kicks the ground over and over, so much so that she looses balance and nearly falls over. I can feel my heart beating for her, over and over.

She's getting delirious. Since I don't want anything in my backpack to break if she tackles me, I drop it on the ground. Then, I stalk over towards Beth.

"Knock it off!" I call out.

Her head turns towards me. Beth's nostrils are flaring, her head is twitching. Her eyes are ablaze with hatred. I stop in my tracks. Am I going to have a heart attack? It feels like my heart is thumping so hard it might break my ribs.

"Was it you?" Beth moves closer to me. "Was she in love with you?"

What? "Beth, you're sick."

"Saph's hiding from me!" Beth sticks out an arm, pointing at the girl. Saph is crying against the wall. She holds her wrist limply. It's hard to tell from here if it's just hurting, or if it's broken. "She's not the same!"

"Beth, you should calm down," I don't let my voice get any louder. "You have the Flare. This isn't you."

"You don't know anything!" Beth shouts, biting her lip. Blood trails down her chin. Does she even notice? "You don't know me!"

She charges towards me, running. I place my hand at my belt. As she leaps into the air, I let her tackle me. My body hits the ground, the wind knocked out of me. My vision is going black, but I try to focus on my hand. I pull the needle of sedative out of my pocket. She is ripping at my hair, so I grind my teeth together instead of screaming.

I stab her in the leg. Beth cries out in pain, grabbing me by the ponytail and slamming my head against the ground.

She falls off me. Saph is above me, having shoved her off. She helps me to my feet. Somehow, I am not dizzy. In fact, I can feel adrenaline pumping through me. It turns me off, because I don't feel the need to check on Saph, but instead to tackle Beth again. I drop the used needle on to the ground, and the clatter seems to ring forever.

Saph checks my head. I feel the back of it, even though she tries to swat me away. There isn't any bleeding. I'll need to make sure over the course of the night that I don't display any other signs of concussion.

Harriet moves out of the cave, along with a few others. All of our stuff is packed.

"You alright Leo?" She asks, moving over to me. I can't stop blinking, since my eyes feel like they are going to water. Harriet grabs me by the arm. It feels like the world has gone sideways. For sure that's the hardest that I've ever hit my head. I've been tackled before, but never like that.

"Would somebody grab her bag?" Harriet barks over her shoulder.

"I'm fine," I manage, still resting my weight against her. "We can move out."

"What did you do to her?" Hilde asks. I notice her, finally. She is helping to lift Beth's barely conscious body off the ground. Though Beth whines, she seems unaware of what is around her. In a couple minutes, she'll be unconscious.

"Sedative," I tell them. "I've got one more vial, so don't try anything."

This earns a laugh out of Hilde. Her laugh is high pitched and round, and I can't help but smile.

"Would you just carry her?" Harriet asks Hilde, gesturing to Beth. "This will slow us down for a while. No use leaving her though. The cure is only two days away."

Hopefully, we will be fine for that time being. Harriet helps me forward. We begin our trudge through the mountains. After about half an hour, I'm good to walk on my own. By then, the sun has set completely, leaving us in darkness. Harriet clicks on her flashlight, and I look away.

No nausea, yet. My headache is still persistent, but in my head's defence, it was slammed off a rocky ground. I am damn lucky if I don't have a concussion. It's not like wood, or like grass. My skull could've been split open. I just hope Beth didn't have that much force behind her hit.

Worse comes to worse, I have a concussion and it's two days until we reach the Safe Haven. It couldn't be too bad, right?

If it is, I walk for at least an hour with it being alright. It hurts, but that's expected. Eventually, we stop for a bathroom break. I haven't drunk enough over the past 24 hours to need to go the bathroom.

Sonya walks over to me, handing me a water bottle. "It's the last extra I have. Make it last two days."

I drink it, slowly, letting myself swallow about a third of the bottle. The refill that the boys gave me lasted three days, so this should a piece of cake. Granted, I feel like klunk, and if I am concussed, it's only going to get worse, but I'll let bygones be bygones.

When I'm done, she hands me my backpack. "Ella's been carrying it."

I nod, not offering her a thank-you. Part of me is still so angry at Ella, and another part understands. I put the water bottle into my backpack and throw it over my shoulder.

Eventually, people begin to come back to the group. We wait for Sheil and Lott to come back, but they don't.

"What's taking them so long?" Hilde asks. Her face turns red, and she smiles. "You think they are, getting it on?"

"Knock it off," Harriet calls over. "I'm sure they will be back in a minute."

She's right. The trees rustle, and out they come. Both are out of breath, huffing up and down.

"What's wrong with you two?" Harriet demands, her voice harsh. "You scared a load out of us."

Sheil huffs, his hands on his knees as he is bent over. He tries to speak, but his lungs are full of air. Lott is even less help.

"Lights," Sheil says, pointing behind him. "Just a mile off."

Harriet looks around the group, charging off. I run after her, my boots providing a firm grip against the stone. We climb up a hill, looking out.

They were right. There are lights, shining out of the pathway about two storeys beneath us. It's a decent drop, but the rocks are uneven. So jagged that I could probably climb down. Cut myself in the process but get there. Harriet doesn't move, watching them shine further up then we are.

I can't tell who they are, but there are a dozen lights, and I don't know who else would have flashlights in a mountain.

Before Harriet can say anything, I spin around, dangling my feet off the edge.

"Leo!" She shouts, reaching down for me.

I ignore her as she tries to grab on to my arms, finding grips with my feet. I begin to climb down the mountain.

"What is she doing?"

"You're going to fall and die, stick."

"They could be Cranks."

I ignore their calls, pulling myself down the hill. My feet slip, and the muscles in my arms tighten. For a second, I don't move. Rocks slip above me.

I look up at the source of the sound. Sheil is climbing down, moving next to me. Once we are on the same level, he puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Climb down, you sticks," Sheil calls out. "It's those other dumber Gladers."

Harriet's face contorts, and eventually she climbs down after us.

I mouth Sheil a thank-you.

He smiles at me. "If I take you from them, it's only right that I bring you back."

He continues to climb down, and I move after him. Above us, more people are climbing after us. I am nervous that they could fall and take me down with me, but I don't care. It could be Group A. It could be the others. If there is even a chance my friends are there, I need to take it.

When I get to the bottom, Sheil is there to steady me to the ground. I would run if my feet weren't shaking. One second is all I need. "Did you make up with Lott?"

He smiles, faintly. "I'm working on it. Now go chase after your dream boy. The rest of us will follow."

I nod, once again thankful for Sheil's generosity. Without hesitation, I chase down the lights. My lungs have not fully recovered, but I don't need Sheil to tell me again. In the time it took me to climb down, they moved much farther away. It's got to be close to a mile, but I chase after everyone regardless. If they are Cranks, they are bound to be at least somewhat sane, and Group B will be behind me. No Cranks carry flashlights.

My feet pound off the stone ground. These walls are so tight and rocky that they are almost like the Maze. Winding, and cold, and isolated. I pant, stopping only for a second. I am halfway to them.

"Newt!" I shout out, trying to catch my breath. "Newt!"

I can't tell if they can hear me. How far does the human voice travel? Does the mountain amplify me, or trap my cries?

I continue to run, trying to pick up the pace. Struggling forward. The lights turn my way. I can hear the footsteps of Group B behind me. One of the lights drops to the ground, rolling away. I only pick up speed.

The lights all charge forward, one still on the ground. I can see as they shine towards me.

Newt leads the pack. He has no flashlight, and he is running.

If I could run faster, I would. The ground pushes me forward. My lungs struggle, but I can't stop moving. I feel dizzy, I'm almost definitely concussed, but I don't care. I will make it to him.

Our arms meet. We collide into each other, stumbling, tripping. We hit a rock wall, which saves us from the ground.

I can't let go of him. His hands are wrapped around my hair, and mine are around his back, pulling him into me. I lean in and kiss him. Or he kiss me. I can't tell. My breath is heavy still, and between kisses I'm practically panting, but so is he. We are sweaty and dirty, and he tastes like salt, but none of that matters. He is soft, and warm, and mine.

Newt pulls back, resting his forehead on mine.

"Shucking finally!" Dawn shouts.

Over his shoulder I spot her amongst the crowd. With only a quick squeeze to Newt's hand, I leave. Dawn and I run to each other. Once I reach her, her arms surround me.

Michelle moves in. I turn towards her, out of Dawn's grip. Michelle slaps my shoulder, trying to smile but struggling. I can't help but laugh. The rest of the girls slowly filter in.

"Group B, we meet again," Minho says. "When I said we'd find Thomas, I didn't think you'd bring him to us."

Doug steps forward, twirling his knife in his hand.

"Where is he?" Minho scans the crowd. His face tightens.

Both Michelle and Dawn turn to face me, their eyes narrowing in on my face. Neither of them touches me.

Klunk. This isn't good.