𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦, thomas (tmr)

Chapter Forty

The camp was suddenly lit in flames.

Clara wondered briefly whether they should run, but she could never bring herself to leave Thomas.

She instead clung to her friends as they hurtled towards a stationary car housing Vince and Harriet, who were already firing off bullets at the WCKD guards dropping into their settlement.

It wasn't long before they had guns pressed into their own hands, to cover the two shooting from the top of the vehicle, and they were trying to take down the guards themselves. Clara bit back a comment she wanted to make about Newt's impeccable aim. 

Instead, she called out, "Have you seen Thomas? Or Teresa?"

She received only head shakes in return. Trying to ignore the lump in her throat, she continued to shoot at the WCKD guards, not nearly as accurately as the blonde boy at her side. 

"I'm out of bullets!" Frypan yelled over the chaos.

The other Gladers also quickly came to the same conclusion. Clara huffed in frustration as she settled down behind the car, casting her eyes across the destroyed, fire torn camp to try and spot her missing friends.

"Watch out!"

Vince's warning came too little too late, as Clara only spotted the taser bomb a second before it let off. She felt her being light up with electricity, causing her to come crashing down to the dusty ground. Stars clouded her vision as she coughed out a breath, inhaling the ground's dust as she did.

Her bones felt too weak to support her weight, and she struggled to pull herself from her laying position, helpless to the guard who then hauled her by the back of the shirt and yanked her upwards. She stumbled over her footing, her body thankful when she was moments later forced to her knees, providing relief to her aching body.

Minho was at her side, equally as wracked with pain as she had been by the bomb. They were at the front of rows upon rows of young kids, all returned to WCKD's captivity, which Clara now knew the entire purpose of. She wondered how quickly they would begin to be harvested.

A hand went to the back of her head then, yanking it forward forcefully, causing her to throw out her hands to catch herself from falling. A electronic beep was sounded from the device pointed at the back of her neck.

"A0." The soldier recorded. 

He moved onto Minho, to do the same, but Clara was distracted by her subject number. As she heard the others' numbers being called, none of the others were zeroes.

"Where is Thomas?"

Janson.

He was met with shrugs from the guards surrounding the kids. He let out a frustrated growl, eyes scanning the kids they had managed to capture. Clara felt her blood run cold when he spotted her.

Janson slinked over to where Clara was knelt besides Minho, catching her breath, wisps of her hair falling in front of her face. He had the most menacing smile present on his lips, and when he reached for her arm, she thought her lungs would never intake oxygen again.

Janson's hand tightened on her arm as he pulled her to her feet, and then his other hand reached for his gun. She felt the barrel of the gun press against the side of her head, and could hear distantly the shouts and protests of her friends watching in horror, all of whom were also being threatened with weapons.

"I know you're watching, Thomas! If you don't come out in the next five seconds, your girlfriend will unfortunately have to pay the price."

"His girlfriend has a name. If you're planning on killing me, use it at least." She spat back spitefully, only making Janson's smile split wider.