Emotionless »« Newt

TWELVE

At the back of a technical, Aris, Leandra, Harriet and Sonya are sitting together. At first Newt was worried, unsure whether he should keep her so far away with people they don't know, but then his mind went back to what happened just earlier. The way she cried in joy to be reunited with her friends. And maybe, just maybe, they're what Andi needs more. People that remember her.

Even then, he can't help but keep his eyes glued on her as he sits in another truck with the others, smiling when she laughs loudly with the others, leaning on Sonya for support. He's not seen her that joyful, ever. While he may not have known her long, he knows she hasn't felt true happiness in a long time, and he wouldn't want her to be torn away from it.

The girls stand up at the back and his anxiousness peaks, worried they'd fall out, but they're rather steady as they raise their hands to their mouths like loudspeakers. Suddenly they bellow loud warrior cries at the top of their lungs, the wind raking through their hair, almost some sort of way to get their emotions out, a memory of something in the past. It's nagging at him, knowing there's something in his mind to tell him about this, but he can't remember. In the end, he won't remember, no matter what he does.

"That shucking grin of yours is scary." The voice snaps Newt out of his thoughts, along with the punch to his shoulder, and Newt sticks his head back in the truck to see the other boys smirking at him, the ones he knew in the Maze.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come off it!" Frypan exclaims, shaking his head with mock disappointment. "Haven't seen you like that since Minho whacked himself on the head with a stick on the first day in the Maze. And the joy on your face back then was everything."

"Nah, we were just best friends," Newt brushes off easily, shaking his head. "There's nothing else."

"He didn't say anything about you not being just friends," Teresa observes as she turns back to face Newt, raising an eyebrow. A smirk grows on her lips as Newt slowly turns pink, then looks away. "Looks like we got you."

"You're all making a bloody big deal out of a smile, you know," he rolls his eyes, muttering to himself. "Don't you have anything else to say? You know, like the fact we're so close to finding the Right Arm?"

"We're not close to finding them," a new voice suddenly says, making Newt jump furiously before whirling around to see Leandra leaning against the open window, a wide grin on her lips. "We've found them. Come on, kiddos." She taps the door once before heading off, leaving the boys laughing and Newt looking like a rabbit caught in headlights, wondering how much she heard.

The moment the kids get out of the trucks, though, they can't help but stare. The settlement is huge, full of kids and adults with smiles on their faces, free from constraint or fear. Rescued. "They've been planning this for over a year now," Sonya tells them, and Newt looks at her for a moment before looking away guiltily. Sister. "This is all for us. You guys are lucky you found us when you did. We're moving out at first light. Where's Vince?"

Another man passing waves his arm in the general vicinity of another makeshift tent. "Somewhere over there, I think."

"Who's Vince?" Thomas questions.

Harriet turns, smiling at him. "He's the one who decides if you get to stay."

Minho's still looking around, though, taking notice of the regularity people seem to have, the lack of scattered weapons and uniforms. It's a lot more relaxed than he thought. "I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army."

"Yeah, we were," a new voice says, and the girls stop as a man ambles over, three people with guns following at the sight of new kids. "This is all that's left of us. Lot of good people died getting us this far. Who are they?"