Leo 49

We finally finish walking, just as the sun begins to rise. We've still got another two hours, or something like that, before we are supposed to be at the Safe Haven, yet here we are. Finally, arrived at our destination.

I look down at the banner, stretched out before us. It's orange, whipping in the wind on a pole. The black letters block out to show us where we are.

THE SAFE HAVEN

"You've got to be shucking with us," Hilde grabs the fabric, pulling at it with her hand.

"Go ahead, rip the only thing that proves we've made it," Minho sighs. Dawn rushes forward towards Hilde. Before she can rip the flag from the girl's grasp, Hilde let's go. Raising her hands in defence, she backs away.

I look over to Newt, and he looks back at me. This can't be all that there is, can it? Maybe this has all been so big game to map our patterns or some other klunk. Maybe at the end of this, we are all going to starve to death.

We won't die Cranks; we won't make it that long. Exposure will get us first.

"Look, there's Thomas!"

I spin around, turning back towards the mountains. Sure enough, Thomas is running towards us, his feet kicking up sand as he tries to push through something that is barely solid. Teresa and Aris are running behind him, though they struggle to keep pace with the Runner.

Their group is only about half a mile off.

"Aris finally decides to show up," Jay scoffs, not far to my left.

"I'm going to rip Teresa a new one," Dawn growls. Hilde grabs her arm, holding her back.

"They could be dangerous. Let me go, so none of you shanks cause trouble," Minho pulls himself out of the group. Newt moves to step forward, but I hold him in place. We should let Minho show that he can hold some restraint, though he rarely does.

"I should go too," Harriet suggests, moving forward.

"If I want someone to go over and bore them to death, you'll be the first I ask," Minho smiles. He tilts his head forward, the sun pressing down on to the red burns he still has from the lighting storm. "Seriously, I'll be fine."

Harriet sniffs, raising her nose at him. Minho just rolls his eyes, going off to meet Thomas.

The three arrive only a minute later. Our group watches, waiting to hear a word. They are too far away, but I can tell by the sour expression on Teresa's face that without a doubt, Minho has said something snarky.

Something tugs in my gut. It doesn't feel right to hate Teresa for what she has done to Thomas. Something doesn't feel right.

The three of them turn, heading back into our group.

"Go have a look-see," Minho suggests, before turning to the rest of our groups. "Maybe you shanks should let them through, huh?"

We all shuffle, allowing the three to pass towards the spot where we found the flag. Thomas and Teresa keep their heads forward, but Aris peers around at the rest of the group. I expect the group of boys to burst through the crowd and hug him, but they don't.

It makes sense. The relationship we have with Teresa can't be much better than how those boys feel about Aris.

"Are you kidding?" Thomas demands, turning around. "This is our Safe Haven."

"You're still as loud as ever," Minho remarks. "Slim it, would you? We're here, so we're safe."

"Only half of us are safe," Thomas's voice is quiet, but the bitterness is inescapable. His words seem so poisonous that I wonder if just hearing them will make me keel over and die, like the rest of our friends.

"You weren't there," Michelle shouts from the back of the crowd. Her voice seems to suck the force out of the wind. While the others continue to whisper, her voice is the loudest and clearest thing I've ever heard. "You didn't see them... you don't know what it's like."

"WICKED wouldn't just bring us here to kill us," Minho cuts her off, trying to deescalate the situation. "We've just got to wait until our time is up."

"Well," Thomas stutters as he tries to sort through the ideas in his head, "I've got a nasty feeling about this."

"I'm with Thomas," Teresa chimes in.

"Sorry, does someone here that? It sounds like a traitor is offering her worthless opinion." Minho uses his shoulders to shove his way through the crowd.

Though I don't like Teresa, I am forced to agree with her. Something isn't right. Newt pushes through the crowd after Minho. He holds my hand, pulling me along. I can't help but follow him as the rest of the group dissipates. People are pulling themselves into small groups, which makes me more nervous. We've finally got together, but tensions are brewing.

What we need now more than ever is to stick together.

Minho is sulking on the ground, while Dawn rubs his shoulder. She looks up, shooting me an uneasy glance. Though he has stayed calm for now, at any second, Minho could erupt and chargeback towards Teresa. She did, after all, really mess with Thomas.

Fry sits kneels down on the ground, next to Minho. When he moves, I realize that I should be too. So, I join Dawn standing up, while Newt sits down. None of us say anything since no words will fix this unless they come from WICKED and unless they proclaim us safe.

"So, you and Newt, huh?" Dawn asks. I was waiting for her to say something, but there hadn't exactly been an opportunity yet.

"Man, I've just been shucking waiting," Fry remarks, rolling his eyes. "Joe always thought something would happen between you too, and he's never wrong. Course, I didn't believe the poor shank."

"I didn't even know Joe spoke," There is a faint smile on Dawn's face that fades with every passing second. I remember the night the Grievers took Joe. Apparently, Joe was sitting right next to her, unsuspecting. Can't imagine how that messed with her psyche.

"Hey, Tommy," Newt smiles. I'm thankful for the distraction of Thomas's arrival. The poor boy looks uncomfortable. His knees tuck into his chest tightly when he sits on the ground, and the bags under his eyes are so heavy I wonder if he has slept since I last saw him.

"Hey," Thomas smiles. "It's good that you're all alive."

"You're the one who went MIA on everybody," Fry smiles. "We see you made it to your girlfriend though."

"Rotten luck," Minho snarls. Dawn kicks him gently, a soft warning to the boy.

"She's not my girlfriend," Thomas insists.

"What happened?" I ask, moving over to Thomas. I sit down next to him, bringing myself down to eye level. Much like the last time I saw him, I lean my head against his shoulder, for a brief second before raising it. "You can tell us."

Thomas sighs, before looking back up at the sky. He takes a second, scanning the grey clouds settling above us before he begins. "I ran into Teresa, while we were walking one night. She seemed fine. She told me that she was done pretending that she wanted me dead. Then, she brought me to Aris. Apparently, they've been communicating since the Glade. They locked me in a cave. Gas started coming in it, and I was out cold. How long have I been gone?"

The rest of our circle turns to me, and I realize that I'm the only one here who would know. "Two days."

Thomas nods, carefully. "Well, a couple of hours ago, Teresa and Aris let me out. They said WICKED was manipulating them and threatened to kill me if they didn't force me in the cage. Apparently, WICKED wanted me to feel betrayed, which I guess I did. Now, we are here."

"Which is lucky," Minho notes. "I wouldn't have been surprised if they had walked you straight off a cliff."

"Minho," Dawn scolds.

"I'm serious, I don't trust those shanks. Never did. Never will. Michelle was right about that boy." Minho continues on, ignoring Dawn's attempts to shut him up.

"Michelle?" Thomas and I speak in synchronization.

"It's not important," Minho shoos us away from the topic.

"Why would WICKED want you to feel betrayed?" Newt asks. He glances over at me, asking me to chime in. The sooner we steer this conversation away from Michelle, and from Aris and Teresa, the better. Nothing good comes from focusing on those few.

"I don't know," Thomas shrugs. He, too, doesn't seem to want to dwell on it any further. "How are you doing?"

"We're dehydrated, starving, exhausted, and due for another lighting storm," Minho sighs. In half a second, he perks up, faking a smile. "But otherwise, we're fantastic, Thomas. Really."

Thomas rolls his eyes. "Maybe we should ditch WICKED and look for shelter."

"No way, people are already freaking out as it is," Newt shakes his head. "We're here, so they should come too."

"One of those girls already has the Flare. We don't have enough food to make it through another night." I chime in since I am down for Thomas's plan. All eyes are on me, but I don't care. "I have a bad feeling."

"Leo, you always have a bad feeling," Dawn rolls her eyes, but there is a smile on her lips. Sometimes, I can't tell if she is mocking me or showing me that she loves me. Only now do I realize that I can stand up for myself if I want. "Next thing you know, you'll be calling our friends from Group B the four horsemen of the apocalypse like Michelle."

"What?" A chorus rings out. I can't tell who didn't say that.

"Later," I don't explain. There is no use getting into the whole debate of who is who. None of the boys here would get it since they don't have some sort of weird thing going on with the other group. Perhaps it is self-centred to think about, but there is something odd about the four of us. Not quite like WICKED's obsession with Thomas, but enough that it impacts our lives.

With that, we grow quiet. I really, really, don't feel like explaining Michelle's paranoia.

"I bet that you are Sheil though," Dawn says.

That seems rather obvious, at least to me. When I look up at Dawn, I can see that she is waiting for an answer. Her lips are slightly parted and her bright blue eyes are unblinking. "Does that make you Jay?"

Dawn shakes her head back and forth. "Not a compliment."

"Sheil's the only compliment," Fry offers.

Dawn can't help the smile that bursts on to her face, and neither can I. He's right, I guess. Jay's the only one out of the three that I don't really know.

Newt continues to sneak glances at me. I almost expect him to get up and move around Thomas towards me. Instead, we are trapped on either side of the boy. Separated and together. Nervous, but alive.

We sit like this for what feels like forever. My skin aches to grab his hands and to feel them in mine. We've waited far too long for this. The feeling bursts out of my skin. I doubt I can wait much longer.

"What the shuck is that?" Minho points over our heads.

I spin around, staring.

The ground is opening up.

~~~~~

Sorry that I took so long, but I am back now! Like, I'm basically just editing this book, so I'll be moving on to the next book soon! There are only five chapters left until the final book (how exciting)!