the death cure
chapter six

❛❛ this is a long way from the glade ❜❜

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Gally already decided to take Thomas, Newt volunteered to go with them, and Gally wanted Poe to come along. Poe was exhausted, he wanted to stay behind and implied that they should take Nico with them. The main reason he wanted to stay was that of Bark, all these months, the last six months, the death of Bark had haunted him, that he left him to die, and to know that Bark has survived overwhelms Poe with joy that he wanted to be with him from now on.

"Poe, it has to be you, besides, Bark is not going anywhere and he's safe here" Gally reassured.

Poe sighed, he was sitting on the floor while Bark was laying on the floor, rolling around as he was playing with Poe, the dog was just as overwhelmed as he was. "I just got him back. I mean why do I have to go?"

"Because you're just as important for this mission as Thomas," Gally said.

Poe glanced up at the guy and gave him the strangest look.

"Okay, pretend I didn't say that," Gally said quickly.

It wasn't that Poe was important as Gally just said, it was that he got curious, he was that same old Poe who came out of the Box back in the Glade, that Greenie who was very curious, Poe was that at that moment. He didn't respond right away. "All right, fine, I'll go"

"Good that" Gally got up, went to the next room where everyone was, and Poe and Bark followed him.

Gally walked to the middle of the room, there was a large metal squared object that Gally moved to the side and revealed a dark hole. It sounded hollowed. Gally grabbed the ladder nearby and set it down into the hole.

Bark made a soft whimper as he tilted his head as if he knew Poe was leaving. Or it's Gally he was anxious for instead. "Stay put, boy," Gally told the dog, he responded with a whimper, laid down on his belly and chin as he watched Gally about to climb down into the hole.

"Gally," said Frypan, Gally looked at him, "Take care of these three"

"Yeah" Gally then climbed down. Thomas was next to follow him.

Poe looked over Newt who was sitting nearby, clutching his hand, "Newt, you ready?" Poe asked him.

Newt had an odd look when he looked at Poe. "Yeah"

"Come on, you go in next"

Newt nodded, got up and approached to the ladder. Poe held the ladder as Newt climbed down, Thomas and Gally were waiting.

"Poe?" Leigh said. Poe looked up, "Careful out there, all right?"

Poe nodded, "Yeah, I'll see you later, Teddy Bear" he joked and Leigh laughed softly in response. It was the nickname he gave her since months ago because of the teddy bear she carries around with her. He then pat the dog's head before he climbed down.

They were in the sewers, it smelled terrible, there was a long line of a pool of dirty water, dead rodents were spotted in scattered places and there was a dead rat floating in the water. Small animal bones were also sighted.

After a few turns, the light from the entrance has faded as the four Gladers went further into the sewers. "Ugh" Newt uttered in disgust. "This is gross"

"Jesus" Thomas murmured.

The smell was the only thing that bothered Poe, he had seen worse than dead rodents, he was a Slicer back in the Glade, he wasn't sure what he had seen was the worst.

"Yeah, this is great" Thomas noted sarcastically.

Before they proceeded down the dark tunnel, Gally stopped, turned to some sort of a breaker on the wall, he pressed a single button, there was a sound of power being turned on and the hanging lights came on all the way down the tunnel, showing how far it is to the end.

"Stay with me, we got ways to go" Gally continued walking.

The tunnel felt never-ending, they've walked at least a few kilometres, few of turns with long way of tunnels. Gally explained that they've been trying to find the way into WCKD headquarters for a while, try to take them down and that this was far as they got to. It was too complicated with heavy security around the city, Gally explained. They've tried numerous times, and each time, they failed. He even explained how he met Lawrence, how they almost sold Gally to WCKD and he managed to persuade them with an exchange of the serum that slows down the Flare.

When Poe asked about how he and Bark survived, and why he took Bark. Gally answered, "I didn't take Bark, the guys that found me in the Maze, they took him, not to save him, but . . . well, they only took him as . . . a food. I managed to persuade them to keep him alive, told them he was all I got, and I threatened them if they did anything to him. Bark is . . . he's a goddamn good dog, I gotta admit. I don't think I'd make it this far without him. He saved my ass many times and I saved him as well"

There was a deep and fainted sound of rumbling ahead, there was a slight quake under Poe's feet, he felt that little shake, he assumed that they were underneath the city already. "What's that sound?" he said.

"You'll see, we're almost there" Gally answered. They took another long walk ahead before Gally asked the boys, "So, what happened to the rest? The ones that survived the Maze. I recall Teo, I mean, I never forgot he threw a spear into my chest"

Poe scratched his head. There were times where Teo had mentioned that day when he thought he had killed Gally, how he felt guilty of killing a person, but Poe always reminded him that he did what he had to do and that he saved most of them.

"We know that if Teo never did it—" Newt was about to say it.

"I know, man" Gally interrupted, "I'm just sayin', is he still— I don't see him, so"

"He's still alive," Thomas told him, "He couldn't come along"

"Yeah? Well . . . Good, I guess"

Poe wondered what it would've been like if Teo came along, he did imagine Gally holding the grudge against Teo, but to notice that Gally had changed, the meeting between him and Teo would probably be different than what Poe imagines. He can imagine Teo's reaction seeing Gally alive. Perhaps the burden, the guilt that weighs Teo's shoulder would be lifted as it turns out the person, he thought he had killed is alive.

"And Winston?" Gally questioned.

Poe couldn't answer that. He hadn't thought of Winston for a while, the sound of when the Keeper of Slicers pulled the trigger still haunts Poe. He dreams about that day at nights, about Winston, when he becomes a Crank, it's a nightmare. Teo often dreams about him too.

"He didn't make it," said Newt.

There was slight halt Gally did but managed to keep going anyways and said nothing. Never said anything else after what Newt told him. The rest of the walk in the sewers was quiet but sounds of deep and fainted rumbling that they heard before, they grew louder as if they were going toward those sounds. The sounds came and went every few minutes or so.

Gally walked ahead quickly then crouch down beside a hole on a brick wall. "All right, this way" he gestured the Gladers. He crawled into the hole, followed by Thomas and Newt. Poe was behind them, they had to keep crouching down, there was a light at the other side, another set of a tunnel. Gally stopped at the edge, "Hold up"

There was that sound again. A wind roaring, along with a deep squeaking sound, something was coming by the boys fast. By the second that something zoomed by the hole, Poe immediately realized it's a train. That's what made the small shakes in the tunnels he kept hearing and feeling.

"Okay, we gotta be about this!" Gally yelled over the sounds. "We ain't got a lot of time! Stay on me, okay?!"

Thomas, Newt and Poe exchanged concern looks.

The second the train passed by, Gally looked over then glanced back at the boys, "Okay, let's go" he said quickly then jumped down.

Thomas rushed forward, followed by Newt and Poe. Once Poe was on the ground, Gally pulled the metal grate to cover the hole. "Great, Tommy loves trains, don't you, mate?" Newt looked at Thomas.

"Great" Gally started to sprint to the opposite direction, "We'll be seeing another one real soon! Come on!"

Poe was perplexed for a second, realizing he meant that another train will be coming their way any minute. Poe nudged Newt's back as he sprinted after Gally, "Come on" he urged Newt and Thomas.

The four boys were running between the tiles of the railway, with Gally leading, and Thomas was the last, running behind Newt. "Gally, what the hell are we doing?!" Thomas demanded.

"Less talking, more running!" Gally replied.

There was some sort of signal soundwaves coming in waves down the tunnel as if it was a warning. It was a warning that a train was coming.

Poe saw the train's spotlight ahead and the boys were running towards it. "Gally!" Thomas called.

"Come on!" Gally urged them, "We're almost there!"

They kept running even when the train was coming towards them fast, it motivated them to run quicker. Gally made it to the ladder to the platform as they didn't notice Newt who had fallen behind.

Newt had a sharp pain that struck within his shoulder that caused him to slow down then stumbled forward and fell.

"Newt!" Poe shouted when he saw him on the ground, he was about to run to him, but Gally pulled him back.

"No! Stay back!" Gally ran back to Newt.

"Newt!" Poe tried to run to the boy as well, but Thomas held onto his jacket. He was standing in the middle of the tracks as he saw Gally reaching Newt, "Newt!" He screamed as he never saw how close the train was behind him until Thomas pulled him to the wall. He felt the train zooming by, just inches from his shoulder and back. There was split second he saw the train meeting Gally and Newt.

As the train drove by him, stuck against the wall, his mind was saying "No, no, no, no, no, no—" his chest ached, he could feel the wave of sorrow coming his way to hit him any second and his eyes were beginning to burn. He looked and looked where Newt had been, he had an urge of looking away as he was almost too scared to look like what if he saw Newt, or what was left of him on the ground? But Poe never looked away as he was about prepare for the worst.

Then the train finally passed. He saw two bodies between the tiles . . . they were moving.

A sudden relief hit Poe, he let out a sharp huff of relief and rushed to Newt.

"Well, that was a first" Gally panted, "We were never great Runners, were we, Newt?"

"No. I only got one good leg" Newt responded, somehow joking.

"Yeah, I only got one good lung" Gally helped Newt to get up.

Poe had his hands on Newt's cheeks, the boy was panting from all the running, "You okay?" Poe asked him.

"Yeah" Newt huffed and puffed.

"Jesus" Poe pulled him into a long and tight hug. "You scared the hell out of me" he murmured softly on Newt's shoulders.

Newt held back, "I'm all right" giving Poe rubs and gentle pats on his back. "I'm all right"

"Uhm, guys?" Gally said almost awkwardly, "We need to keep going" he found it weird how too close Poe and Newt were. Though he hasn't known yet about those two.

"Just give them a second" Thomas hushed as he went on ahead to the exit door and Gally followed him.

Gally did figure it out the hint about Poe and Newt without even questioning. He found it slightly surprising, he wasn't curious anymore after a minute, then just focused on the trip into the city. He continually led the boys through the exit door that lead a few flights of stairs, when they reached the top, there was another door, and on the other side was the city. Already within the city.

A large crowd of people were walking in left to right directions, some of these people had masks covering their noses and mouths, Gally walked casually into the crowd, Thomas, Newt and Poe followed his lead as they noticed that Gally was blending in.

There were announcements being made through the intercoms. A large screen was seen above the Gladers that read as a woman spoke out what the screen said "FIFTEEN MINUTES TO MANDATORY CURFEW. PLEASE PROCEED HOME IN AN ORDERLY FASHION. Remember, this is for your own safety. Thank you for your compliance. WICKED is good"

The boys passed by a people who were lining up, Gally explained what they were doing, "Faction checks. Either you gotta sneeze around here, or you get kicked out. That's the uh— price in paradise, I guess"

The streets were beginning to clear out as the people were heading their homes for curfew. Soon, it was just the four boys roaming through the empty streets and sidewalks while there were minutes left until the curfew.

Gally led the boys to a flight of stairs, as they were climbing up, the three Gladers found themselves astonished by the sight of the skyscrapers ahead. Poe found the view of the skyscrapers strangely beautiful, with all the lights brightening up the city, he never saw anything quite like it.

They stopped to view the sight for another moment while Gally looked around. "This is a long way from the Glade" Newt noted.

The woman was still repeating the same line the past five or so minutes, there could be few minutes left until the curfew hits. "Yeah, we better get off these streets," said Gally. "And I know it's hard, but act like you've seen it before" he proceeded ahead.

After the curfew, there were security vehicles with sirens and alarms driving around in the streets, forcing the Gladers to hide around and run across the streets. They ran about a couple of blocks, hiding behind buildings from the vehicles and avoid from being spotted.

"They've definitely upped the security" Gally stated while they were hiding, he turned to the Gladers, "I'm guessing you shanks have something to do with that . . . All right, let's get outta here" he continued running towards across the street and the three were right behind him.

They ran another few blocks before finally reaching one of the giant walls that surrounded the city. Gally ran ahead, stopped at the wall, "All right, Newt, you're up" he called. He positioned himself against the wall, had his hands down to give Newt a boost up to climb onto the security wall. Other side was the giant wall.

After Newt was on the wall, it was Poe's turn to climb up with the help from Gally giving him a boost meanwhile Thomas begrudgingly climbed on his own and refused Gally's offer to help.

They made another climb, this time, on the giant wall, taking a lot of stairs until they reached near the top.

"There it is" Gally affirmed when they finally reached the end. "If WICKED's got Minho, that's where they're keeping him" he nodded at the building ahead that stood in the middle of the skyscrapers. It had the letters; WCKD on the sides of the building.

Poe stood beside Newt, lean back against the railing, catching his breaths, it's been a long trip, it was late evening when they left the Palace and now it was nearly midnight. He was exhausted.

Gally grabbed something off the floor "Lawrence has been trying to find the way in for years" He places the binocular on the railing, looked into it to adjust it. "Place is crawling with soldiers. They got surveillance everywhere. Scanners on every floor"

"Sounds like a bloody fortress" Newt commented.

Poe moved forward, leaned forward, rested his arms on the bar, he let out a sigh, "So, if Lawrence has been trying to find the way in for years, what makes you think we can?"

"Yeah, I thought you said you had a way in" Thomas reminded.

Gally looked over at Poe then at Thomas, "I might"

"You might?" Thomas repeated, "What the hell do you mean, might?"

Gally took a step back, backing away from the binocular in response, "Take a look" he gestured at the binocular.

Thomas stepped close to the object then looked into it. Poe gazed toward the building, wondering what it is that Gally wanted to show them. Then Thomas had the startling look when he saw it.

"I said I had a way in" Gally went on, "I didn't say you were gonna like it"

Poe stared in confused at Gally. Newt moved over to see what Thomas saw, he had the similar look that Thomas had, but rather a concern look before glancing at Poe. Newt took a step back for Poe to look. Whatever concerned Newt, worried Poe as well.

When he looked into the binoculars, there was a sudden strange or a familiar feeling when he saw it.

Not it.

Her.

Teresa.

There she was. Standing over the counters, doing some paperwork. There was a time when Poe couldn't remember her face, all he could remember was when she betrayed them back in the Scorch, and the pain he felt. He was afraid of this, this was he was afraid of, to see her again, and to confront her.

There she was. It all came back to him. When he first saw her in the Glade, when he first spoke to her, and the long, lost memories he once dreamt of with her in them.

Poe looked away, "What exactly are you implying?" He asked Gally.

"Isn't it obvious?" Gally replied as he crossed his arms.

Then it hit him. Gally wants to use Teresa to get into the building.

*****

I have no thoughts about this chapter,
but do you???
Anyway, Merry Christmas
(Even tho that was few days ago)
and Happy Holidays :)