匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺 ㄒ山ㄖ
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❝Love will save you. But it won't save me. ❞
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Aife could feel her chest tighten with anxiousness as she awaited the arrival of their new destination. She was sat next to Thomas, every once in a while, the two glancing at each other, silently questing if everything was okay. They swerved through the mountains and through the scorch, the car ride was mostly quiet. Dust swirled behind the wheels as their speed picked up. When they finally reached the campsite, Aife released a small sigh and licked her chapped lips.

They had to take two cars, due to the fact that their group of travelers was beginning to increase, which Aife wasn't too fond of. More people to look after.

As they parked the car, the group of survivors exited the vehicle, slamming the door shut behind them. Aife felt her shoulders slump with relief at the sight, people were peacefully eating meals, interacting with one another, and they seemed genuinely safe. That was exactly what they needed. They began to walk down the hill and towards the camp sight.

"They've been planting this for over a year now," Harriet broke the silence that was smothering the group, causing some eyes to snap to her, "This is all for us," She turned to look behind her to see their reaction, and she couldn't help the smile the tugged at the corner of her lips.

"You guys are lucky you found us when you did," The blond, Sonya, spoke, "we're moving out at first light." The girl peered over her shoulder to an unknown man that wore a bucket hat and a large coat, "Where's Vince?" Sonya questioned, her tone laced with curiosity.

"Somewhere over there," The man pointed out into the distance, and the group began to follow his directions. Aife's throat felt like sandpaper, and she desperately wanted to jump into a cool lake. It was what she needed right now.

"Who's Vince?" Aife questioned, her scratchy voice captured the attention of others.

"He's the one who decides if you get to stay." Harriet replied cheekily, causing Aife to narrow her eyes in annoyance.

"I thought the right arm was supposed to be an army," Minho questioned out loud, though, he wasn't questioning anyone specifically, he got an unexpected response from an unknown voice.

"Yeah, we were. This is all that's left of us," A man with a brown leather jacket exited a tent, a bag wrapped around his shoulder and tucked underneath his coat. His light brunette hair, that had grey streaks in it, was slightly slicked back and out of his face. His eyebrows were deeply furrowed together as his lips curled upward, due to the head.

"Lot of good people died gettin' us this far," He spoke before pausing, his hands sitting on his hips as he directed his gaze to Harriet and Sonya, "Who are they,"

"Were right here, feel free to ask us yourself." Aife snapped back, her nose absentmindedly scrunching as she lifted her chin, though, she quieted down when she felt a soft nudge against her ribcage. Aris.

Harriet ignored Aife's attitude, and answered, "They're immunes. Caught em' coming up the mountains,"

As Vince and Harriet spoke, Brenda began to feel lightheaded as her eyes struggled to keep themselves open. Her chapped lips were now a shade of purple, and she had rather prominent eye bags.

"I know this guy, Aris, I trust em'," Harriet excused as she moved to step next to Vince. More people were beginning to crowd around, which made Aife feel slightly uneasy. Axel absentmindedly began to reach for the gun that was in the waistband of his jeans.

"Well, I don't, check em'," Vince ordered, one of his guys that were watching the go down situation began to observed Brenda's behavior, and took note of how she was beginning to wheeze heavily.

"Hey, boss," He tilted his head to the left as Brenda tossed her head back, her eyes rolling into her eyelids and her body falling limp to the ground. She fell with a grunt, and Jorge immediately stepped forward, his eyes wide as he crouched down.

"Brenda! Brenda, Brenda," He placed her head in his lap as she began to continuously apologized, though, Aife didn't know why. She didn't have a reason.

Vince was confused, and he knelt down beside Jorge, placing a hand on the other mans shoulder as he questioned, "What's goin' on with her?" His curiosity got the best of him as he reached forward and tugged on the wrap on her leg, that her jeans failed to cover. As he tugged off the wrap, he gasped and stood up quickly, his eyes widening at the sight of the horrible, rotted bite on the girls calf.

He immediately pulled out his gun and pointed it at Brenda. Harriet doing the same thing.

"Crank, we've got a crank," He announced, causing Aife to jump forward, as well as Thomas as everyone began to shout. Axel took this time to pull out his pistol and point it at Vince.

Aife put her hands out in surrender as she stood in front of the gun.

"Wait, wait," Thomas started, "Listen, okay look, "

Vince didnt want to hear it, he began to raise his voice, "Step back!" But Thomas wasn't having it. He was fed up, he was tired, and he was incredibly hungry. He wasn't going to give up this opportunity of safety.

"This just happened okay, She's not dangerous yet," Thomas protested.

"Well, you shouldn't have brought her here!" Vince began to argue, "Alright? We let cranks in here now, the safe haven doesn't last a week."

Aife quickly glanced back as Thomas began to stutter over his own words, her jaw clenching at the sight of her friends being detained by unknown men. Everyone had backed up by now, growing impatient as Brenda was panting on the floor, desperate for air to reach her lungs.

Aife chose not to speak, because if she did, she would ruin everything and she knew it. She always had the tendency to say the wrong thing.

"Please- please okay? They told me you could help, okay? Theres gotta be something you can do," Thomas pleaded once more, and Vince never loosened his grip on the gun, nor lowered it. Vince glanced back at Brenda and Thomas, his gaze lastly moving to Aife, who stood unmoving. Her chest was heaving as she began to peel at her nail beds, though, no one could tell how nervous she was. She felt as if she had just been led into a trap.

"Yeah, there is. . ." Vince panted, capturing the groups attention as he lowered his gun momentarily. He gritted his teeth as he cocked the gun in place and put his finger on the trigger, before raising it once more, "I can put her out of her misery,"

At this point, two men were holding back Jorge as he began to shout at the top of his lungs, panic flooding his veins, "No!"

Before things could escalate, an angelic voice called out, worry filling the feminine tone, "Enough! Let em' go." When no one moved, she repeated herself, this time, her voice more stern, to which they complied. The woman had average length black hair, and she had smile lines on her cheeks, as well as slight wrinkles on her forehead. She wore a puffer jacket and a pair of jeans, that fit rather snuggly around her waist.

"She's infected doc," Vince interfered, licking his dry lips before he continued, "There's nothing we can do for her,"

The woman's gaze fell over the group before pausing on Thomas, who stood cluelessly, "No, but he can." The group went silent once more, glancing between the two as they interacted with one another.

"Hello, Thomas."

Axel straightened as he slowly shuffled to Aife, "What the hell,"

"What?" Vince questioned breathlessly as Thomas shifted on his left and right foot, the sixteen year old boy was majorly confused now.

"Y-you know me?"

She knew him.

It seemed as though everyone knew Thomas.

The woman didn't reply to that question, instead, nodding her head as she hummed and took note of the situation, "Interesting. Makes sense that they put you in the maze," She stepped forward and crouched down to Brenda's body as she checked her pulse, "Though, I must admit, I was worried they'd kill you after what you did."

"What did he do?" Aife cut in, causing the woman, whose name was Mary, to glance up at her, doing a quick double take. Yeah, Mary definitely recognized her. She was there when it happened. Though, she wasn't scared. She was the only one who actually understood why Aife killed all of those men. Mary looked away, and back at Thomas

"The first time Thomas and I spoke, he said he couldn't take it anymore. Watching his friends die one by one. And the last time we spoke, he gave me the coordinates of every WCKED compound, trial, and lab." A grin fell onto Mary's lips as she informed them.

Vince was speechless as he looked at the teenaged boy, "He was our source,"

"We couldn't have pulled all this off without em'," Mary praised, and Teresa then glanced up from the group and locked eyes with Thomas. Teresa's eyes were bloodshot, as if she had been crying.

"Take her to the tent, and get these guys some warm clothes," They began to move Brenda's unconscious body under Mary's orders, and the survivors watched as she stood up and dusted off her jeans. The polite, older woman felt small under Axel's hard gaze, but she paid him no mind.

He was cautious. If she was working for WCKED, that meant she remembered. He couldn't have that.

"Come on' Thomas, you too, Aife," Mary spoke, though, she froze in her steps as she realized she had slightly slipped up. She hadn't meant to speak that to the group, now they were curious, and she wasn't sure if Aife was ready to share that.

"I never told you my name."

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Im sorry this took so long. I was so lazy, and I was in NC <3

I will get back to my schedule. Were almost done with this book!