Florence didn't find out how, but Gally persuaded Lawrence to let her come too.

"Alright shanks, shall we get going?" Gally asked, a little impatient.

Florence nodded swiftly. Although she felt a bit embarrassed about causing a scene, she didn't regret it. If she had to fight to be as much a part of Minho's rescue as Thomas and Newt, she would.

She watched Gally climb the ladder down into the manhole, before moving and doing the same. She caught eyes with Frypan right before she disappeared, the boy giving her a reassuring smile that spurred her on.

They had climbed down into a sewer. It smelled strongly and badly, Florence feeling the urge to gag at the stench. She carefully avoided the suspicious stream of water down the middle of the tunnel, demanding that Gally directed his torch at the ground so she could see where she was stepping.

"Ugh." Newt let out a groan of disgust, his nose wrinkling. "This is gross." He complained as they walked through the tunnel.

Florence could've sworn she saw a smile pass Gally's lips at the way the three of them were so grossed out by the path they were taking. Her brother however, didn't notice this, commenting,

"Yeah, this is great."

Gally moved to the side of the tunnel, hitting a button and causing the generator to power up. It set off a series of lights down the tunnel, illuminating the brick walls in a strange yellow glow.

"Stay with me. We got a ways to go." He encouraged as he moved again, the three others exchanging glances and trailing after him.

At the end of the tunnel, Gally reached a door. He paused as they readied themselves, before opening it and slipping out, attempting to look inconspicuous. 

Florence copied him, keeping up to his pace as she tried not to marvel over all of the people. All of it was incredible. In fact, if she were to concentrate on it properly, the city would bring a tear to her eye.

It would make her think of all of the things she and Minho wanted to do outside of the Glade. 

Despite being under the control of WCKD, the city was bustling with life. Well, controlled life. 

"Red zone, departing the station in five minutes. Thank you."

The neon lights and towering skyscrapers made her stomach twist in excitement, as if this would be the sort of place she would want to explore in an idea world. Or maybe it was the thought of Minho being close by, and getting him back from WCKD.

Or both.

A train whizzed past on a raised line, weaving in and out of the tall dark buildings with tiny bright lights scattered across them. 

"This is a long way from the Glade." Newt muttered.

His eyes were shining in awe as the four of them came to a stop at the top of a set of stairs. Florence had been silent for a while, breathing in the life of the city, which - unsurprisingly - felt much more alive than anywhere they had been in the past six months.

"Fifteen minutes to mandatory curfew." An announcement began to echo out in the street. No more people were around, so it was safe to presume the curfew was a regular occurrence and most people went home a little earlier to be ready for it. "Please proceed home in an orderly fashion. Remember, this is for your safety. Thank you for your compliance."

"Yeah, we better get off these streets. And I know it's hard, but act like you've seen it before."

Not knowing how she'd manage it at all, Florence listened, and continued to follow the knowledgeable boy. They jogged across a crossing, falling flat against the wall of a building as a car - presumably a WCKD worker's - swung out of the turning just beside them, but turning away.

"They've definitely upped security. I'm guessing you shanks have something to do with that."

"They do hate us." Florence mumbled in reply.

"All right, let's get outta here." Gally whispered, before taking off again.

He led them almost across the entire city, having emerged in pretty much the centre of it, and stopped by the giant stone walls barricading the outsiders from getting in. It was hard to forget that just twenty minutes ago, they were on the other side.

"All right, Newt, you're up." Gally stopped at the wall.

He pressed his shoulder to it and knitted his hands together in a cradle-like form, making the perfect grounds for Newt to place his shoe on it and boost him up to grab onto the wall. Pulling himself up, injured of course, was incredible.

Florence knew that without Gally, she had no chance of even getting to the right height to get up. She swiftly climbed up after Newt, looking down just in time to see her brother stubbornly refuse Gally's help and jump up unaided.

Gally led them up to the taller part of the wall, where they could look down on pretty much anything in the city, excluding the very top of a few alarmingly giant skyscrapers. It was impossible to measure how glad she was that she wasn't at the top of any of those.

"There it is." His eyes were focused on one building in particular.

Lit up by neon blue lights, the WCKD building caught Florence's eye because of the bright arrow that laid down the length of it, practically screaming where its entrance was.

"If WCKD's got Minho, that's where they'll be keeping him. Lawrence has been trying to find a way in for years. Place is crawling with soldiers. They got surveillance everywhere. Scanners on every floor."

Gally had clearly been to this particular spot a number of times, because at that moment he was setting up a telescope he had found on the floor of the platform they were stood on. Florence knew they were in a well positioned place: it was dark, they were hidden in the shadows, and there were no lights illuminating them or suggesting people were there.

Florence swung her arms over the bars that blocked her from falling to an instant death. Gally began to look through his telescope and fiddle with a few buttons on it, adjusting the settings and zoom.

"Sounds like a bloody fortress." Newt said, earning Florence's laugh.

She was barely really listening to the conversation; her eyes trained on the building. She wondered if Minho was in there in that very moment. She wondered if he was thinking about them; or specifically her.

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

"I might." Gally replied, and Florence jolted from her trance.

Might?

"You might? What the hell do you mean 'might'?"

"Take a look." He motioned to the telescope, and Thomas gave him an uncertain glance before moving over to it carefully.

Florence didn't have to look in it to know what Gally was referring to. Or who he was referring to. 

Teresa was inside the building. They needed her to get inside. 

Thomas didn't say a word, and so Gally spoke again. "I said I had a way in. I didn't say you were gonna like it."

Florence presumed that when she had dramatically stormed from the room before they left on their trip into the city, the others filled Gally in on the exact details of Teresa's betrayal. And of course the girl was now a well known doctor working for WCKD.

"No. There's gotta be another way." Thomas said stubbornly.

The group were crowded around a circular table, maps and other supplies spread out on the table to plan out their way in to the building. Thomas knew deep down, they needed Teresa. But if they could do anything to avoid it, he would take that option.

"Like what? You've seen the building. She is our only way in." Gally retorted, and Florence was reminded of their constant arguing back in the Glade.

However, unlike back in the Glade, the bickering now was more productive. After all, it was about saving Minho rather than throwing Thomas in the Slammer or making him a Runner.

Simpler times, though.

"You really think she's gonna help us?" Thomas caved, agreeing to Gally's plan.

Since everyone's attention was on Thomas and Gally, no one noticed Newt's intense glare on a certain spot on the table. His hands were fumbling with one another as if he was nervous, but his eyes seemed dark, and unknown to anyone, the Flare was beginning to cloud his mind.

"I don't plan on asking for her permission."

"Am I missing something here?" Brenda asked, impatiently. "This is the same girl who betrayed us, correct? Same dick?"

"I like her." Gally looked over to Brenda, who just grinned.

As much as Florence agreed with the girl, it was a little different for her. She didn't share the same history with Teresa as the Gladers. It was harder for them to be cruel to her, as much as she had been to them.

"What's going on?" Brenda asked Thomas softly, to no reply.

"What, are you afraid your little girlfriend's gonna get hurt?" Newt asked, out of the blue. The question took Thomas off guard, especially as Newt was still fixated on the table, but when the boy didn't reply, he glanced up. "Hmm?"

Thomas' eyes darted away from the blonde boy, Florence catching his fear in the brief moment their eyes locked on each other. No one else could look at either of the boys, afraid of being caught up in the tension. And then Thomas looked at Newt, finally.

"Because this has obviously never been just about rescuing Minho. Has it?"

Florence was confused to say the least. For starters, girlfriend? Teresa's interest in Thomas was so obviously one-sided. And then it hit her.

The Flare. It's starting to affect him.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Thomas responded, shifting uncomfortably.

"Teresa." Newt said simply, Florence sensing the angry lying under the surface of the tone, ready to erupt.

Thomas took a few steps towards him, Newt also moving to minimize the gap and continuing to rant away directly in his face. "She's the only reason that Minho's even missing in the first place. Now we finally have an opportunity to get him back. And what? You don't want to because of her?"

Florence - at first - wasn't worried about Newt hurting Thomas. But now she was. The boy was backing her brother up into a wall, in such close proximity to him that if he threw a punch out now, there would be no way for Thomas to avoid it.

"Because deep down inside you still care about her, don't you? Just admit it."

He never cared about her, not in that way.

"Newt, I-" Thomas' voice was below a whisper, practically begging for whatever Newt was worked up about to be a private conversation, instead of in front of everyone. 

But it was too late for that.

"-Don't lie to me!" Newt seized either one of his arms and slammed his back against the wall, not hard enough to hurt badly but enough to cause Brenda to jump out of her skin. "Don't lie to me!"

And then, as if suddenly aware of what he had done, he let go. His face flashed with guilt and regret, his eyes darting across Thomas' face over and over, continually going back to his lips. 

"Sorry." He said, turning back to address the group, in a smaller voice than Florence expected.

No one knew how to respond. Newt had gotten angry before, but never - never - like that. And so he was met with silence.

Backing away from Thomas, and rubbing what Florence knew to be his infected arm, he quickly left the room. Thomas was left paralysed on the spot.

"Hey!" Florence called over the table, a stern expression set on her face. Thomas glanced around to look at her, still in shock, in obliviousness, and in confusion, causing her to scoff.

"Go talk to him you idiot." She hissed. Immediately, he turned off in the direction Newt took as the others watched curiously. There was another beat of silence in which everyone thought to themselves about whatever just occurred.

"What the hell was that?" Frypan asked, Florence avoiding his eyes. She kept her focus on the map on the table, not wanting anyone to catch on to the fact she knew something that none of them did.

"I have no idea." Brenda mumbled in reply.

"Does Thomas really love Teresa?" Gally asked suddenly, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Florence rolled her eyes, still looking at the map on the table in front of them.

"Of course not." She turned to Gally with the slightest bit of amusement due to his obliviousness, and questioned him. "Did you really not notice anything between the boys back in the Glade?"

He shrugged, leading Frypan to snicker and Florence to grin. He pushed Frypan's shoulder playfully for teasing him as they focused back on their plan.

When Thomas returned into the room, his eyes were wide with fury and it was directed firmly at Florence. She felt unease washing over her. Marching up towards them, he stopped only when he had squared up to her threateningly.

"Why didn't you tell me about Newt?"

Her guilty eyes shot away from his, to where Newt was stood in the doorway that led to the building rooftop. His hand was on his infected arm and he was staring at the floor in sorrow.

So he knows.

"He- he told me not to. I knew he would tell you when the time was right." And of course it was Newt's business to tell, but she still felt awful about it.

"I mean, the other thing."

Florence had no idea what he was talking about for a moment, her eyebrows knitting in confusion, but then she realised. Her eyes widened at Thomas's stony expression, and the smallest gasp escaped her lips.

Newt told him he tried to kill himself.

"Hang on, what about Newt?" Frypan spoke up, his confusion evident. Neither Thomas nor Florence said anything, they both just looked at Newt who finally glanced up from the floor.

"I'm not immune. A Crank must have scratched me when we got caught in that tunnel."

A sense of upset passed through everyone's eyes and no one seemed to know what to say. What could they say? At that moment, it was pretty much a death sentence.

Thomas's anger had faded as he dropped down into a chair across the room. Avoiding everyone's eyes, he buried his face in his hands and sighed heavily.

Sharing a knowing glance with Newt, Florence followed him, with Newt stealing everyone's attention by returning their focus onto how they were going to rescue Minho. He didn't care about himself at all in comparison to getting Minho back.

"Tom," Florence murmured, setting down beside him. She knew he wasn't really angry at her; only at the world, at everything that had happened and was happening to them. He wiped at his eyes furiously, but she still saw the tears that shone in them.

"He told me he loves me." He told her bluntly, and she felt so bittersweet about the moment. She only wished things could be different for the two of them, and for all of them.

He finally did it.

"What did you say back?"

He found her eyes and gave her a brief sad smile. "I love him too." Then, another tear fell.

"I can't lose him Florence. He means everything to me." He told her hushed but urgently, to avoid the others from hearing.

Grabbing his hand, she squeezed it tightly, her expression more serious than he had ever seen before. She spoke with the upmost certainty.

"There's no way you're losing him. We're getting that cure."