Burning; TST ➵ Thomas

S I X T E E N

"Teresa! Please, don't do this to us!" Thomas tried to be reasonable as they got the bag to slip entirely over his body. It only ended with a fist right to his stomach.

"Since you obviously don't care about yourself, talk again and maybe your girlfriend will get killed like your friends," Teresa hissed. Thomas felt the girls tying the open end of his feet with a rope and around the rest of him. They pinned him inside the bag, another knot just over his head. Holy shit, he thought. They're going to drag us. He felt another punch in his stomach and groaned in pain.

"Excuse you. I am not his stupid girlfriend!" Amelia snapped. Despite already having two punches to the gut, Amelia's comment felt the worst. Thomas couldn't blame her, though. I mean, she's already pissed about the kiss, then he procrastinated way too much that he wasn't able to tell her the warning and now they were being dragged away by psycho girl ninjas.

Thomas assumed Teresa ignored her comment, or at least possibly glared at the other girl.

"I meant what I said!" The black-haired girl yelled at the Gladers. "There won't be a warning. Follow us and the arrows start flying."

Thomas saw her outline as she knelt next to him, he listened as he heard her knees crunching the dirt. She grabbed him by the material of the bag and put her head against his, her mouth just a centimetre from his ear.

"You didn't tell her the warning, did you?" She whispered. It was so soft that he had to strain to hear her, concentrating to separate her words from the breeze. "Nevermind. They're blocking me from talking to you in our heads. Remember to trust me."

Thomas was shocked. He fought to keep his mouth shut. "What're saying to him?" One of the girls who held the rope attached to the bag asked.

"I'm letting him know just how much I'm enjoying this. How much I'm enjoying my revenge. Do you mind?" Teresa snapped. He had never heard such arrogance from her. She was either a really good actress or had started to go insane - possibly gained a split personality or two.

"Sorry to interrupt your highness. But if you're taking revenge on him, why am I involved in this?!" Thomas heard Amelia yell. It was slightly muffled because of the dirty bags that covered them. He heard Teresa huff in annoyance before answering. "He cares about you, ya know that? If I'm taking revenge on him, might as well drag the person he loves in this, right?"

He didn't know how to respond. He assumed Amelia didn't either because she didn't reply.

"Glad you're having fun torturing them. But we need to hurry," a different girl cut in. Teresa sighed and gripped the sides of Thomas' head once again. She pressed her mouth against the material, pushing on his ear and spoke.

"Hang in there. It'll be over soon," she whispered. The words numbed his brain, he wasn't sure what to think or do. Was she being sarcastic? She released him and stood up. "Let's get out of here. Make sure you two hit as many rocks as you can along the way."

"Fuck you, you know that?" Amelia shouted just as Thomas' captors began to walk. They dragged him along behind them. He felt the rough ground below him as he was dragged across it, the big sack providing no protection whatsoever.

He attempted to put all his weight on his feet by arching his back. He let his shoes bear the brunt of the impacts but he knew his strength wouldn't hold out forever. He was able to make out the silhouette of Teresa as she walked alongside him. He assumed Amelia was on the other side of her.