The stiffness of guilt prevents my body from relaxing "it's my fault he's Infected in the first place, Thomas, when he tried helping me after we crashed in that tunnel, he cut himself on the shattered glass, his wound was exposed to that contaminated air" I whimper, he shifts, our bodies facing each other, he places a hesitant hand upon my cheek, his circles of reassurance cause fire to explode across my cheek "nothing about this life is fair, Rose" Thomas whispers, although I find it challenging to understand how his words are meant to comfort me, I allow him to continue. "The life we were dumped into is just a merciless inferno of betrayal and hopelessness, and we are just two Kids thrown into the flame, but the thing is, we're different from the others, whilst they succumbed to the bondages, we lit the spark that began the change", "I don't want to be different anymore" I confess to him "neither do I if it presents possibly witnessing everyone die around us and perhaps one day we'll be someone different, as characters in a different story, maybe then we'll share a more favorable lifetime", he shifts to be closer to me. "But for now, we must stay strong, Rose, even while we watch those who we care for the most undergo unspeakable torture" he encourages me, I allow his words to have effect upon me "okay", I have nothing left to say, fatigue coercing me to be blunt, not to mention the aftermath of his touch "try to get some shut eye", he shifts away from me, my skin exhorts for his touch once again "sleep well, Rose", I shove the strange longing I'm experiencing deep within "you as well, Thomas", I allow myself to fall victim to sleep once again. The gentle knock on Thomas's door is what awakens me, I groan, refusing to stir from my tranquil slumber "we're coming", his charismatically disoriented tone enters my ears, causing a slight flutter in my chest, he begins to shake me awake after a moment of hesitation, without much protest, I open my orbs, my heart sputters when I find him towering over me, a slight heat blossoms along my cheeks as I absorb his frazzled features, grinning slightly to the sight of his matted locks and brightened features, although he clearly displays his dislike for being inevitably awoken. In that moment, we find ourselves lost in each other's prescence, a foreign atmosphere that neither of us wish to destroy, I watch as his mouth parts slightly, absorbing my morning features, I send him a bashful smile, unable to prevent my gaze from flickering to his lips, a certain electricity is birthed between us as we remain still, fearful any movement would ruin the moment, but after a moment, Thomas blinks out from his fascination and leaves, abandoning me on the bed, particularly confused by the strange occurrence, I linger in the covers before irascibly rising to my feet. After freshening ourselves up, we stroll out from Thomas's room, detecting a strange chill in the air, I cross my arms over my chest, my muscles tense with awareness, steering our way towards the center room, we find all of the group awake, waiting for our arrival, Jorge, Brenda and Frypan all flicker their attention towards us, but my attention is effortlessly diverted the moment I find Newt standing on the farthest edge of the table, his gaze remaining on the table as he doesn't acknowledge me, my heed slithers towards Gally, who stands alongside him, a vigilant gaze surveying Newt's behavior. I send him a silent, but reluctant, glance of gratitude for him watching over Newt the whole night, he merely nods towards me as he strolls over to Thomas, handing him a bundle of casual attire, Thomas hesitates, connecting his gaze with Gally to somehow revise the boy's decision "it's now or never", with a heavy sigh, Thomas slings on the hoodie, flinging the hoodie of the dark azure jacket over his head, he stiffs the pockets with his hands, shoulders slackening with defeat "are you sure this is going to work?" He questions incredulously "I'm entirely positive. I've been watching her route closely since I had found out she was with WICKED" Gally explains, tugging a grey hoodie for himself over his body, tossing the hoodie over his head as he stuffs the burlap sack into his pockets "she'll be walking through the building we had entered after we exited the transit tunnels, meaning we have to move across the city as fast as we can because we'll have to take a longer, more complex, secret route to get back here, given that we can't be out in the open carrying a girl with a pouch over her head". Thomas nods, attentive to every word "how long do you think you'll be?" Newt finally speaks, I notice how raspy his voice is, not to mention the unimaginable fatigue behind it "we're going to shoot for an hour, we'll only have two more hours following that until the mandatory curfew, and I don't know how long it will take to get each of our trackers removed, so saying time is of the essence is an understatement" Gally replies "and if you're late?" I chime in, depositing all my weight on my right leg "we won't be" he replies. I almost want to believe his confidence, but I know from experience that confidence can lead to arrogance, he strolls towards the hallway leading into the ladder that brought us into this space, awaiting for the rest of us to follow, which we do, eager for his command, Thomas stands alongside him, preparing for the perilous trek, I grasp his arm as Gally assigns his tasks for the group "while we're gone, Brenda, I need you to memorize your assigned location on the map, because as soon as our tags are removed, we're going straight into action", "be careful, okay" I whisper to him "I promise".
Author's info- Hello reader! BOOM! Another amazing chapter and amazing cliffhanger, so, I am honestly proud of this chapter right here, mainly because I had an awesome time writing a small moment between Rose and Thomas. Now they have been acting rather strange towards each other, not to mention the prolonged periods of time where they just stare at each other, what do you think is going on? Do you have any thoughts of what happened the past couple of chapters? Will Newt try to distance himself from Rose as he first did back in the Maze? We will have to find out in the next chapter! Now this chapter is especially important, we all know how Rose always tties to be the strongest out of the entire group, mainly because if she isn't strong, then not only Newt starts to lose hope, but everyone. But this chapter, I'm conflicted, because I try to create this image of her being strong, composed and maybe too stubborn for anything bad to crush her spirit, but in this moment, she's finally letting herself be the scared teenage girl she is supposed to be. I kinda hate it because I hate being weak, but I love it because sometimes you have to make your character human, or with human qualities. And to make this chapter better, I also put a little clue in there for you as well! Hope you guys loved it and I will see you next chapter! Later reader!
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The Extirpated
FanfictionWICKED promised it was the end. No more tests. No more lies. But SHE knows well the statement could never be true. The Scorch was only the beginning. The group will witness horrors that will dominate over the towering Maze Walls. They will endure so...
