Emotionless »« Newt

THREE

Suddenly the boys are rushing through the vents, not caring about all the clattering sounds that echo out, knowing they need to get away in time. It's with speed Thomas shoots out into their room, where the boys are pacing anxiously, only to jump at the sudden sound. "We gotta go!" he's yelling frantically over their worried tones, and repeating himself over and over again as he rushes to throw a mattress at the door, tying it shut.

"'We gotta go'?" they're repeating, not understanding, the room full of voices barely distinguishable apart from the other, a mess of chaos till Thomas shouts, "IT'S WICKED!" That seems to shut everyone up, eyes going wide as they stare at their friend. "It's still WICKED. It's always been WICKED."

"Thomas," Newt says lowly, stepping in front of his friend. "What did you see?"

It's after quickly summing it up, the call, what they said, everything, that the boys are rushing through the vents as fast as humanely possible, managing to escape before Janson gets to the room. Aris is leading the way, knowing the maze of vents best, but that's only because of–

"LEANDRA!" he suddenly shouts, whirling around to face Thomas. "They were going to get Leandra too, we have to save her, too! We have to take her with us!"

"Aris, we don't–"

"Listen to me," he hisses, voice suddenly forceful. "She's my friend, okay? She was yours too, even if you don't remember. And I'm not leaving her behind."

There's silence between the boys for a bit. "Aris is right," Newt finally says. "Lead the way."

Rushing in another direction, Aris kicks the vent cover off before dashing out into a dark room, Winston banging his head on something as he gets out. "What the hell..." They all crawl out, only to catch sight of the blonde on her bed. She's not exactly sleeping, though, or at least not well – her eyes flicker wildly beneath her closed eyelids, body shivering as if dunked in cold water. Beads of sweat are forming on her face, hands shaking, breath coming out in short puffs.

"Aris–"

"There's a bag somewhere," Aris says breathlessly as he searches every corner of the room, darting everywhere he can, searching through the desk she has, checking the bathroom. "Leandra said something about how she had a back with some things in case she ever managed to escape, to try find a way home."

"Where even is home?" Frypan huffs in annoyance, and Leandra shifts uncomfortably on the bed, sweat lightly dotting her forehead. "Where is this place? What do we do when we're out of here?"

Aris shrugs weakly, suddenly unsure in this plan. "No clue. She never said anything, and we haven't stepped a foot outside since we got here. Someone wake her up."

Minho throws his hands up. "I'm not touching her. You remember what happened at breakfast yesterday, right? That girl is feisty."

"Well, clearly she isn't now," Newt replies, voice slightly harsh before he manages to catch himself. His eyes travel back to the girl, feeling a strange tug in his chest, then he finally reaches for her shoulder. "Leandra," he murmurs quietly, the gesture seeming oddly familiar to him for some reason. "Leandra, wake up. We need to go."

"We don't have time for this, just wake her up faster!" someone's suddenly shouting, but she suddenly jolts up.

Her eyes are wide, panic all over her face, and for a moment Newt swears he sees something wild in her eyes. Then it fades as soon as he saw it, and she stares at him for a moment. "Newt?" she whispers, then looks around at everyone else. "Hang on, what...?" Then her eyes seem to harden as she senses their panic, their fear, understanding crossing over her face. "They're coming, aren't they?"