"So when did you- you know- fall in love with her?" Thomas smirked, knowing he had him right where I wanted him, with his head in Fionaland.
"Woah," Newt defeated with his hands up, "What?"
"I may be slow to getting to know things around here, but...
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This Brenda girl led us through the warehouse, constantly yelling at us to hurry up. I looked over the railing seeing a group of WCKD soldiers below.
"Brenda! Hurry! We don't have much time!" Jorge's accent was recognizable by now, "Let's go, let's go, let's go! Right this way!"
He pushed open a set of windows, revealing a zipline from her to the next closest building. Fi stepped back from the edge window, as Jorge pulled a gliding contraption down.
"You gotta be kidding me." Fry gaped.
"Plan B, Hermano," Jorge said without a care. "You kids wanna get to the Right Arm? I'll lead you to them. But you're gonna owe me. Follow me!"
He then jumped, trusting his whole body weight on the zipline, swinging all the way down to the opposite side. We all watched, letting him be the one to test it, just in case it broke. When his feet hit the ground through another window, we had to face the fact that this was the best way out.
"All right! Let's go!" Minho leads us as the first to jump. Frypan jumped next, I think partially so he couldn't talk himself out of it.
"Aris, come on." Fi urged him next.
The poor kid always had a look on his face like he was waiting to wake up from a nightmare. That one day we would just laugh about all of this and wake up in his maze with the company of thirty girls.
"Teresa, you're next. Come on." Thomas led Teresa just as Brenda ran in the opposite direction. All his attention turned away from Teresa for a moment, "Brenda! Where are you going?"
"Just go. I'm right behind you." He told all of us.
Teresa nodded, testing her hold, before jumping. "Hurry."
"Okay Fi go," I instructed her, mentally preparing what I had to follow as I pulled my loop of cable.
She gripped the line and then regripped and then again once more. She took a deep breath, taking a step forward like she was going to jump before putting the brakes on. She jumped back from the edge.
"Shit." I heard her mumble.
The girl who ran the maze, fought grievers, and kicked a crank to its death. Still feared heights.
All the color in her face had disappeared and I began to worry if she would jump at all. "Fi, we have to go now."
Her mouth hung open as she tried to think of something to say back. But her eyes were trained on the darkness below, a spotlight grazed the ground, lighting up the destroyed ground hundreds of feet below us. She frantically wiped her hands on her jacket.
"You go first... I go right after you." She tried to stall, stepping away from the edge and letting go.
I put my good knee at the bottom of the loop, knowing it was the best way to rely on my legs more than my arms to keep me on the zipline. I knew we were running out of time as stomping on the metal stairs grew louder. There was no time to think about the consequences.
I looped my hand around her belt, pulling her closer. I noticed the sudden inhale as her eye met mine. "Close your eyes, love."
I didn't allow her the time to think about it before I looped my arm around her back, my other on the rope as I pushed off the ground.
She yelped instantly, having a scream followed right in my ear. She desperately reached for the line as we started soaring through the air. In a full panic she wrapped her legs around me, locking at the ankles and crushing my side, and clawing my shoulder.
"Shuck you!" She cried, burying her head into the crook of my neck. "I hate you. I hate you. I shucking hate you." I would have laughed if I wasn't so focused on keeping us both alive.
"Just hold on!" I yelled over the wind.
She was nearly paralyzed with fear. "Shut up!"
We hit the ground harder than I expected. I let go, falling to the ground. My back hit the ground first, softening the blow on Fi as she came down on top of me.
Her hands landed on either side of my head, I could see her light up with a dozen emotions at once, unable to decide which to choose. I couldn't help but laugh, the relief flooding my system fast. She broke down soon after, giggling at herself with embarrassment.
"That was quite the sight," Jorge commented.
Fi snapped back, "I'm still willing to gouge your eyes out."
"I just saved your life, Hermana." He countered as Aris helped her up.
"You're also the one that put it in danger, Hermano." She mocked him.
"All in the past." A grin came to his lips. He looked out, seeing gunfire in his old office. "Where's Brenda?"
Fiona was still aggressive with the man, so I thought it was a better choice to answer. "She ran into another room, Thomas followed after her."
"Shit..." He sighed, seeing additional sparks of light.
"We don't have time for this. They will find another way. If we stay here we are toast." Minho instructed, pulling us all back to life.
"He's right." I gathered myself.
Fi stared out over the gap, looking for any sign of them. She sighed, biting her nails. She turned and caught my gaze. She answered before I had to ask. "Why do we always have to leave someone behind?"
She got herself together, falling in line behind the rest. Every choice she had made was the right one but that didn't make it any easier. Losing Gally was more hurtful than I could have imagined. Not only did Gally protect Fi but she only felt right in giving the same back.
Under everything, I couldn't help but know we would never get a part of Fi back, not because WCKD erased it or because she was no longer the keeper of the mapmakers, but because of some part of her heartbeat for Gally. It slowed when she left him in the glade and then came to a full stop when the spear impaled him.
--
Our best shelter for the night was taking up an old RV. The tires were a thing of the past and any bit of food had been plucked out years ago. But it was a roof over our heads and somewhere WCKD couldn't find us from a helicopter. Minho was knocked out on the tiny couch before he even dusted it off. Jorge offered to teach us some sort of card game, Fry agreed to pass the time. But I decided to look around for Fi instead.
I found her in the backroom talking quietly with Aris. I noticed how close they were first, a boy who was basically a stranger was only inches from her. I had no reason to trust the kid but I also didn't feel the need to push myself into it. She reached up, putting her hand on his shoulder and then her chin on top of it, speaking softly. I bit the side of my cheek, fighting my instincts to go in there and stop it.
All at once, the RV seemed smaller than before, after all, it took me three steps to get to the door and one more to get outside into the chilled night.
--
This chapter was brought to you by Monster Energy drink.
