( 30. goodbye )

trigger warning: character death :(

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THE FIRST explosion hit like a thunderclap, sending tremors through the ground that made them all stagger. Orange flames lit up the night sky, casting an apocalyptic glow over the city's towering buildings.

"We're supposed to take down WICKED, not the whole damn city," Gally muttered, steadying himself against a crumbling wall.

"Gally, how far are the tunnels?" Thomas called out, his voice strained. He and Ellie struggled under Newt's weight, each step becoming harder as their friend's condition deteriorated. Newt's skin burned with fever against Ellie's side, and she could feel the tremors running through his body.

"Tunnels are right up ahead," Gally announced, leading them forward through the smoke-filled streets.

The evacuation sirens wailed through the city, their piercing cry mixing with distant gunfire and the shouts of guards. They ducked behind a half-destroyed concrete wall, all of them breathing hard. Newt's coughing had gotten worse, each breath sounding wet and wrong.

"Shit!" Thomas hissed, peering around the corner. A line of armed vehicles blocked their path, guards moving into position with military precision.

"What are they waiting for?" Minho asked, just as another explosion rocked the ground, closer this time. The blast sent debris raining down around them as people began pouring out of buildings, screaming and running.

"We gotta go. We gotta go," Gally urged, his eyes scanning for a path through the chaos.

They found temporary shelter in an abandoned building, the windows long since blown out. Thomas pulled out his walkie with shaking hands: "Brenda, are you there?"

"Thomas, I'm here. Shit! You okay?"

"We're not gonna make it." The defeat in his voice made Ellie's chest tighten.

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Just take the others. Get everybody out while you still can."

"No."

"Brenda."

"I'm not leaving you. Okay? So forget it."

"Even though you should?"

"Thomas, don't worry. I'm coming to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Our ride's here! Just look for us near the tunnels."

Newt's breathing coming in ragged gasps. Black veins stood out stark against his pale skin, spreading visibly now across his face.

"Just leave me," he wheezed, trying to push them away.

"That's not an option, slinthead," Ellie snapped, though her voice shook. She gripped his hand tighter, refusing to let go.

Newt doubled over without warning, a violent cough wracking his body. Black blood splattered across Ellie's shirt, the sight of it making her stomach turn. "Sorry," he gasped, weakly trying to wipe his mouth.

"I've seen worse in the slicers hut," Ellie said with a forced smile, though her face had gone pale. She used her sleeve to wipe some of the blood from his chin, pretending her hands weren't trembling.

"Minho," Thomas called urgently, his decision visible in his eyes. "You gotta run ahead, grab the serum, and get back to us as soon as you can." He turned to Ellie, his voice softening. "Ellie, go with him."

She started to protest, everything in her screaming not to leave them, but Thomas's pleading look stopped her. She knew he was right – they needed that serum, and they needed it now. She pulled Newt into a fierce hug, breathing in the scent of him that was still there underneath the sickness. "We'll be right back," she whispered against his hair. "You better be here when we return."

"Good that," Newt said softly to her, his voice barely audible over the chaos outside before turning to face Minho, "Thank you, Minho."

"Hey, you just hang on. You hear me?" Minho's voice cracked slightly on the last word.

୨ৎ

Minho and Ellie ran through the burning streets, Gally covering their backs. They found Brenda near the tunnels, the Berg hovering overhead.

"Brenda!" Minho called out desperately. "Where's the serum?"

"I've got it! why?" she asked. But Ellie snatched it from her hands, Brenda letting out a 'hey' before Minho and Ellie took off running back to Thomas and Newt. Brenda, Gally and Fry weren't far behind, racing through the destruction.

Ellie's lungs burned with each breath, but she pushed harder. The sound of her boots hitting the pavement matched her thundering heartbeat – too slow, too slow, too slow.

They rounded the final corner where they'd left Thomas and Newt, but the sight that greeted them turned Ellie's blood to ice.

"No," she whispered, staring at the empty space where their friends should have been. Only a dark stain on the ground remained, and something that made her heart stop – Newt's body, motionless, a knife in his chest.

But Thomas was gone.

Ellie's walked towards newt before her legs gave out and she collapsed beside him, a sob tearing from her throat. She buried her face in Minho's chest as he too collapsed in shock, tears streaming down his face as he stared at his friend's body. The serum they'd run so hard to get now useless in Brenda's hands.

It was silent for a moment, each of them now mourning a lost friend. Until another explosion sounded off, and reality set back in.

"We have to go," Brenda said gently, trying to help Ellie up. When Ellie resisted, her fingers clutching Newt's jacket like she could somehow keep him here, Brenda's voice broke. "Please, Ellie. We need to find Thomas."

"No," Ellie protested, her fingers white-knuckled in Newt's jacket. "We can't leave him. We can't—"

"Ellie," Gally's voice was uncharacteristically soft. "We'll lose Thomas too if we don't go now."

That got through to her. Brenda finally managed to pull her away while Gally helped Minho, who hadn't taken his eyes off Newt's face. Every step they took felt like betrayal, leaving their friend behind in this burning city that would become his tomb.

"The Berg," Brenda said urgently. "We can search from above. We'll find him."

୨ৎ

On the Berg, Ellie sat with her head on Minho's shoulder, both of them lost in a grief too deep for tears. The city burned below them, orange flames reflecting off the Berg's windows, until Jorge's voice cut through their haze.

"There! On the bridge!"

Ellie shot to her feet, her heart leaping as she spotted a familiar figure through the smoke. "Thomas!" She rushed to the cargo door. "Open the back, Jorge! Now!"

She gripped the safety harness as the door lowered, wind whipping at her clothes as she saw Thomas barely standing, supported by Teresa. "Thomas!" she called out, but he could barely lift his head, blood staining his clothes.

"Give me your hand!" Vince shouted over the chaos, reaching as far as he could from the Berg's cargo hold.

"Get closer!" Teresa called back, supporting an injured Thomas. The metal bridge groaned beneath them, swaying in the violent winds created by the Berg's engines.

"You gotta get closer," Minho shouted to Jorge, his knuckles white on the safety harness as he watched his friends teetering on the edge of disaster.

Another explosion rocked the city, sending tremors through the already unstable bridge. Behind them, a towering building began to crumble, its steel framework screaming as it gave way. Teresa looked over her shoulder, her eyes widening at the wall of debris cascading toward them.

With one final surge of strength, she practically threw Thomas forward. Minho and Vince caught him, dragging him into the Berg. Ellie rushed forward to help, pulling Thomas closer to safety as he slumped against her, barely conscious.

"Come on!" Minho shouted to Teresa, extending his hand back out to her.

She took a step forward, but the bridge shuddered violently. The collapsing building behind her slammed into the bridge's support structure, sending a spiderweb of cracks racing through the metal. Teresa stumbled, catching herself just as another section of the building crashed down.

"Teresa!" Thomas called out weakly from Ellie's lap, trying to push himself up despite his injuries.

She stood there for a moment, locked eyes with Thomas one last time. Something passed between them – understanding, forgiveness, goodbye. The ghost of a smile touched her lips.

The bridge gave way beneath her feet just as the remainder of the building came down. Teresa disappeared beneath it all in a matter of seconds, swallowed by steel and concrete and flame.

"No!" Thomas's cry was barely more than a whisper before he slumped unconscious in Ellie's arms.

"We have to go!" Jorge shouted from the cockpit as more buildings began to fall around them. "Now!"

The Berg banked sharply away from the collapsing city, leaving behind the ruins of WICKED's last stronghold. Ellie held Thomas close, her tears falling into his hair as his breathing grew shallower. She could hear Brenda talking rapidly about medical supplies, feel Minho's steady presence beside her, but it all seemed distant.

The city that had taken so much from them – Newt, Teresa, their innocence – disappeared into the smoke behind them, its towers falling one by one like dominoes in the night sky. The last thing Ellie saw before they flew into the darkness was the bridge where Teresa had made her final stand, now nothing more than twisted metal in a sea of destruction.

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authors note:

not me literally balling my eyes out writing this.
i'm so sorry newt.