( 26. the big city)

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THE SHARP shake of her shoulder pulled Ellie from a restless sleep. Her hand instinctively reached for the knife under her pillow before Brenda's familiar voice cut through the darkness.

"They're gone," Brenda said, her silhouette barely visible in the pre-dawn light. "Thomas, Newt, and Fry. We think they left a few hours ago while everyone was sleeping."

For a moment, Ellie just stared at her, the words refusing to make sense. Then reality crashed in, and she sat up so fast her vision blurred. "What? Those idiots—we have to go after them!"

"Already way ahead of you." There was a glint in Brenda's eye that Ellie had come to recognize – the one that meant they were about to do something either very brave or very stupid. Probably both. "Jorge's got a car ready. But we need to move quiet. If Vince catches us..."

Ellie was already pulling on her boots. "He won't."

They slipped through the sleeping camp like shadows, the sound of waves masking their footsteps. Jorge was waiting by an old Jeep, engine already running but lights off. His expression was somewhere between amused and exasperated.

"Your boyfriend," he said as they climbed in, "is going to get himself killed one of these days."

"Not if I kill him first," Ellie muttered, checking her ammunition.

When they reached the tunnel it seemed to swallow them whole, their headlights barely penetrating the thick darkness. The air grew heavier with each mile, carrying the musty scent of abandonment and something worse – something rotting. Jorge's hands were steady on the wheel as they pursued the others, but Ellie could see the tension in his shoulders.

A gunshot echoed through the tunnel. Silence. Then another. Through the windshield, they could make out figures in the distance – three of them, backing away from something in the darkness.

Fry's voice bounced off the tunnel walls: "Yeah!" More shots followed, then: "I'm out!"

"Shit!" Thomas's panicked voice carried clearly through the darkness.

Ellie's heart leaped into her throat as the scene became clear. Cranks were pouring out of the shadows, dozens of them, their movements jerky and violent. Before the infected could reach the boys, Jorge gunned the engine. The Jeep burst through the mass of Cranks, sending bodies flying.

Brenda was already moving, climbing through the sunroof with practiced ease, her rifle steady in her hands. "Hey, get in!"

Ellie followed her up, the metal of the roof cold against her stomach as she took position. Below, she could see the boys scrambling for the car, Thomas pushing Newt ahead of him, Frypan practically diving through the door.

"Move!" Ellie shouted, taking down a Crank that got too close to Thomas. Her anger at him could wait – right now, she just needed him alive to yell at later.

"Go, Jorge, go!" Brenda called once everyone was inside.

Jorge floored it, the engine roaring as they shot through the tunnel. Ellie's last shot echoed off the walls before she dropped back into her seat, adrenaline making her hands shake. Now that the immediate danger was past, her anger came rushing back.

"I'm impressed!" Jorge's voice carried from the front seat, thick with sarcasm. "You guys almost lasted a whole day."

Brenda turned around to face them, and Ellie watched as guilt washed over Thomas's face. He looked younger suddenly, more like the boy who'd first arrived in the Glade than the leader he'd become.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, not quite meeting anyone's eyes. "I didn't want to bring you guys into this."

Frypan glanced between them all, clearly trying to diffuse the tension. "I think what he's trying to say is thanks for saving us." His eyes landed on Ellie, and he actually flinched at her expression. "Uh, why does she look like she's about to commit murder?"

"Oh, I want to," Ellie said, her voice carrying a deadly calm that made everyone in the car tense. "I'm just showing remarkable restraint by not throttling you all right now." Her finger jabbed in Thomas's direction. "Especially you, you reckless idiot."

Thomas actually shrank back in his seat, and Brenda let out a sharp laugh. "Shouldn't have left the girlfriend behind, stupid. Basic survival rule."

"That checkpoint back there, that was the city's last defence. If that was overrun, chances are the city is, too," Jorge cut in, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. They'd just gotten out of the tunnel, and made it back onto the dirt road.

Suddenly Newt leaned forward, his voice thoughtful as he stared at something through his window. "Yeah, unless they figured out some other way to keep the Cranks out."

The car came to a sudden stop, and they all piled out. The sight before them stole the breath from Ellie's lungs. The city rose like something from another world – massive metal walls stretching up toward the sky, gleaming dully in the morning light.

Newt let out a sound that might have been a laugh. "Funny... Spent three years trapped behind walls, trying to break out, and now we wanna break back in."

"Yeah. It's hilarious," Frypan muttered, but there was no humor in his voice.

Thomas turned to Jorge, desperation clear in his voice. "How do we get in?"

"Don't look at me, hermano," Jorge replied, shaking his head. "Those walls are new. I guess that's WICKED's answer for everything – build something bigger, stronger, higher."

"Well, we ain't gonna figure it out from up here," Brenda said, already moving toward the car. "Let's go!"

"You really think he's in there?" Newt asked quietly, his eyes on Thomas.

Thomas's jaw set in that familiar way that meant he'd already made up his mind. "I guess we'll find out."

Newt made his way back to the car, leaving Ellie and Thomas in an awkward silence. Ellie didn't look at him, she couldnt. She was so mad at him, yet the care she held for him seemed to be greater.

Thomas took a step toward Ellie, his expression a mixture of guilt and determination. She could feel his gaze burning into her head, could see him forming the words from the corner of her eye, but she cut him off before he could speak.

"Don't," she said, holding up a hand. "I understand why you did it, but I'm still mad. You don't get to decide who risks their lives for Minho. He's family to all of us."

She turned and walked back to the car before he could respond, leaving him standing there looking out at the city WICKED had built. Ahead lay WICKED, and Minho, and probably death.

But they'd face it together this time. Whether Thomas liked it or not.

୨ৎ

The outskirts of the city sprawled before them. Here, where the less fortunate gathered, the streets teemed with the poor, the sick, the desperate. Body bags were being loaded into trucks while children darted between legs and stray dogs roamed freely.

"This place has really gone through hell," Jorge muttered, watching another body being covered.

"We just gotta stay together," Thomas said, scanning the crowd nervously.

A voice suddenly boomed from behind them, making them all turn. A car was pushing through the crowd, someone standing atop it with a megaphone. Masked figures surrounded the vehicle.

"We are the voice of the voiceless!" the man shouted through the megaphone. "They hide behind their walls, thinking they can keep the cure for themselves, while they watch the rest of us wither and rot! But there are more of us than there are of them. And I say, we rise up and take back what is ours! Let's bring back a victory!"

Ellie caught one of the masked men staring at her through his mask's eyeholes. She gave him a weirded-out look before turning to the others. "If these guys are the city's last hope, they're screwed."

"They're already dying," Brenda added dryly.

The crowd moved toward a massive rally gathering at the walls. Thomas's eyes lit up as he watched the protesters.

"That's it," he said suddenly. "That's our way in."

They pushed through the crowd, Ellie getting jostled from all sides. Thomas tried to shield her from the worst of it, but there were too many people pressing in from every direction.

"Thomas!" Jorge called out sharply. "This is not what you're looking for. All these people trying to find their way in, you think you're gonna find something they can't?"

"Came this far," Thomas replied stubbornly. "I'm not turning back now."

"What the hell did we get ourselves into?" Frypan muttered as they reached the front of the barricade.

"Thomas, this doesn't feel right," Jorge warned, tension evident in his voice.

Newt suddenly noticed masked figures moving through the crowd towards them. He reached for Thomas's shoulder. "Hey, guys, we gotta go now."

A horn blared through the air, and massive machines whirred to life. The crowd erupted into chaos as gunfire erupted, explosions rocking the ground. Ellie spotted the danger first.

"Run!" she screamed, grabbing Thomas's hand. They sprinted down a side street, but before they could get far, black vans screeched to a halt around them. Men in masks poured out, surrounding them.

Everything happened in a blur. Ellie was roughly grabbed and thrown into one van, glimpsing Thomas being forced into another. "Thomas!" she yelled, but the doors slammed shut. Newt was tossed in beside her, both of them tumbling as the van accelerated.

୨ৎ

The van doors flew open, harsh light flooding in as rough hands dragged them out into what looked like an abandoned alleyway/ warehouse. Ellie stumbled, catching herself against a concrete pillar as another van screeched to a halt nearby. Her heart jumped when Thomas and Brenda emerged, both looking relatively unharmed.

The relative calm shattered as Jorge exploded into action. He launched himself at the nearest masked figure with a roar of fury, taking them both to the ground in a tangle of limbs. His fists connected with brutal efficiency, each impact echoing through the space.

"Where is she, you son of a bitch?" Jorge's voice was raw, primal, each word punctuated by another blow. "Where's Brenda? I'll kill you, I swear to God—"

"I'm right here!" Brenda's voice cut through the chaos.

Jorge froze mid-swing, his chest heaving as he whipped around to find her. The relief on his face was painful to watch. He scrambled up to check on her while guards held Thomas and Newt back, weapons raised.

That's when another masked figure stepped forward – the same one who had watched Ellie through the crowd earlier. Something about his stance made her blood run cold.

"Everybody relax," he said, his voice muffled but hauntingly familiar. "We're all on the same side here."

Thomas strained against the hands holding him. "What do you mean same side?" His voice cracked with tension. "Who the hell are you?"

Time seemed to slow as the figure reached for his mask. Ellie watched, frozen, as he pulled it away, revealing a face that belonged in her nightmares.

"Hey, Greenie," Gally said, and Ellie's world imploded.

"Gally?" Newt's voice was barely a whisper.

"No way," Frypan breathed.

The roaring in Ellie's ears drowned out everything else. Her vision tunneled to a single point: Chuck's murderer, standing there like he had any right to breathe while her brother lay cold in the ground. She didn't remember reaching for her knife. Didn't remember moving. But suddenly she was flying at him, a scream of pure rage tearing from her throat.

The blade caught him across the lip before Newt and Frypan managed to grab her. She fought like a wild animal in their grip, every muscle straining to reach him, to make him pay.

"You murderer!" she screamed, the words ripping her throat raw. "How dare you get to survive when he didn't!"

"Ellie, stop!" Newt's voice cracked as he struggled to hold her. "He was stung! The Serum—he wasn't himself!"

They passed her to Thomas when she nearly broke free. His arms locked around her like iron bands, but she could feel him trembling with his own rage, his breath coming in sharp bursts against her hair.

Gally wiped blood from his split lip, something like regret flickering across his features. "Kind of had that coming." His eyes swept over the group. "Anybody else? Fry? Newt?"

"Do you know this guy?" Jorge demanded, one arm still protectively around Brenda.

Frypan's laugh was bitter. "He was an old friend."

Brenda laughed at that, glancing at Ellie who had stopped struggling against Thomas and just let him hold her, "doesn't look it."

"How?" Newt's voice shook. "How is this possible? We watched you die."

"No," Gally corrected sharply, "you left me to die. And if we hadn't found you when we did, you'd be dead right now." His eyes narrowed. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Minho," Newt answered, his voice tight. "WICKED has him here. We're looking for a way in."

"I can help with that," Gally offered, as if he hadn't destroyed everything once already.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Thomas snarled. His grip on Ellie hadn't loosened, but she could feel the tremors running through him, the way his heart hammered against her back. Whether from rage or fear, she couldn't tell.

"Suit yourself." Gally shrugged, touching his bleeding lip. "But I can get you through those walls."

୨ৎ

They followed Gally through the dimly lit establishment, each step making Ellie's skin crawl. The smell of decay and desperation hung thick in the air.

"After the maze," Gally explained as they walked, "I got picked up by a group headed to the city. They realized I was immune, patched me up, and they brought me here to Lawrence." His voice carried a note of pride that made Ellie's hands clench into fists. "This group's been at war with WICKED ever since they took control of the city. But WICKED can't hide behind those walls forever. Day's gonna come, and they're gonna pay for what they've done. Listen, uh, he doesn't get a lot of visitors. So, let me do the talking. All right? And try not to stare."

A mumbling voice echoed through the darkness: "Rose took my nose, I suppose. Rose took my nose, I suppose. Suppose, suppose, took my nose... I suppose."

They descended the stairs, the mumbling growing louder until they reached Lawrence.

"Gally, glad to see you made it back," Lawrence said. "Jasper told me what happened."

"It was a slaughter," Gally replied grimly. "There's nothing we could do against those guns."

"No," Lawrence agreed, "but they can only poke the hornet's nest so long before they get stung. Now, who are these people? Why are they here?"

"We need to get into WICKED," Thomas said firmly. "Gally said you can get us through the walls."

Lawrence's laugh was harsh. "Gally should know better than to make promises that he can't keep. Besides, that wall is only half your problem. Getting inside WICKED is impossible."

"There might be a way now," Gally interjected. "But it doesn't work without Thomas."

"Is that so?" Lawrence shifted forward, and Ellie went rigid as light fell across his face. Half of it had rotted away, the Flare's destruction clearly visible. His missing nose made his face look like something from a nightmare. "Do you know what I am... Thomas?"

His ravaged face emerged fully into the light, and Ellie fought to keep her expression neutral despite the horror rising in her throat. Lawrence's remaining eye fixed on her, a disturbing smile twisting what was left of his lips.

"I'm a businessman. Which means that I don't take unnecessary risks. Why should I trust you?"

"'Cause I can help you," Thomas replied steadily. "You see, if you can get me through those walls... I can get you what you need."

"What is it that you think I need?"

"Time. Every last drop."

"Is that what I need?"

"WICKED has something we both want."

Lawrence studied them all carefully with his one good eye. "I'll tell you what. Two can go for now. The rest stay down here with me. Just a little insurance to make sure you find your way back." His ruined face twisted into what might have been a smile. "We have a deal?"

Thomas glanced back at the others before extending his hand. The handshake was brief but final.

"Gally," Lawrence commanded, "show him the way."

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