Divided // The Death Cure [Book 3]

TWENTY-FIVE

"Hang in there for a little longer, Leah. We'll find him," Minho said, patting her knee and she nodded, brushing the damp strands of hair out of her face. A film of sweat was on her forehead as the contractions started coming quicker and quicker after one another, each one more painful than the one before. 

She had been holding on to Kasey's hand for a while and she was sure that she was hurting her, but Kasey had told her that it wasn't a problem. Jorge was flying around with the Berg in hopes of spotting Thomas somewhere. They had checked almost every building and every street.

Leah was just praying that they would find Thomas quickly and that he wasn't hurt. She just wanted to have him with her as she brought their baby into the world. "We have to find him. I can't lose him too." A light bulb went on in her head. "Jorge!" she called, pushing herself from her seat. "Jorge, you need to get to the Wicked tower," she told the pilot. 

"Why?" the man asked. 

"He's getting revenge. He wanted to avenge Newt. That's why he left. You have to get us there, now!" she frustratedly called before she sank back in a seat, breathing through another contraction.

Back in the Wicked building, the sound of the doors sliding open caught Thomas and Teresa's attention, telling them Janson was getting closer by the second.  

"You know, Teresa, you had me fooled," he sang as he stepped inside with his gun raised in the air, ready to fire if he found either one of them. He slowly crept through the lab. "I thought we were friends." He heard a sound behind him and whipped around, only to find no one there.

He walked right past Thomas's hiding spot where he was tiredly resting his head against the cabinet behind him. It wouldn't be long until the blood loss resulted in unconsciousness.

Teresa jumped from her hiding place to another and Janson took a shot as he heard her footsteps. His bullet bounced off the steel table. "Maybe it's in your nature to betray the people closest to you." He took a few steps. "C'mon, let's not prolong this. We both know that there's no way out of here." 

Thomas pushed himself around the corner to hide from Janson's view and Teresa followed his lead on the other side of the room. As she turned the corner, she saw no sign of Janson so she crawled further, but Janson stepped up in front of her and a gasp left her lips. 

She squirmed backwards but there was no escaping anymore. "I think you have something of mine," he grumbled. Teresa slowly rose to her feet and fished the syringe from her pocket to hold it up to him. 

Janson shook his head. "Not that," he said. "Where is he?"

"Just take it!" Teresa exclaimed. "Leave him alone." 

"What is it with you two?" He spat. "You think he's so special? You know he has a girlfriend, right?" Janson mocked and Teresa narrowed her eyes at him. "He's a lab rat. He's born with the gift, he never had to fight for it, he never earned it," Janson taunted as he walked up to Teresa. "He never deserved it." 

"Maybe," Teresa stated. "But it's his." 

A muscle in Janson's face twitched as his expression shifted. "What about you, Thomas?" he called. "What do you have to say? Don't you have enough blood on your hands already? Because you weren't able to shoot her, but I can." Thomas gave no reaction. "Okay, fine." Janson tightened the grip on his gun and moved to step forward. "Have it your way then." 

"Janson!" Thomas exclaimed and hurled a microscope in Janson's direction. It didn't hit him, but Thomas got the result he wanted. It hit the glass of the cell that contained two infected Cranks. Now that he knew Janson wasn't immune, he had an opportunity to take him down.

Right after Thomas had thrown the microscope, he dropped back on the ground, pressing his hand against the wound. 

"Miss, you little shit," Janson sneered and Thomas smirked weakly. 

"Did I?" 

Janson turned back around and was faced with a large crack appearing in the window. The Cranks saw it too and the male one threw himself through the glass, taking Janson to the ground with him. Janson let out a yell as the other Crank jumped on top of him, clawing at his face and biting at his arms.

Teresa hurried to Thomas's side and heaved his arm around her shoulder. "C'mon, we need to go!" she said as she pulled him off the ground. They quickly exited the lab, leaving Janson and the two Cranks behind. 

Teresa carried a big part of his body weight as he could barely stay on his feet. The blood loss was causing a lot of damage already, it wouldn't be long until it would become a serious problem. 

She took him to the staircase and chose the one that led downstairs, but the second she stepped down, a bright explosion erupted and they were forced to go up. Teresa pushed open the heavy door and saw they ended up on the roof of the building. No aircraft was at sight. It was a dead end. 

She moved to turn around, but a bright fire swallowed their way back. They were stuck.

The entire building was on fire and it caused Thomas's eyes to tear up from the amount of smoke in the air. He was still clutching onto his side but it had barely any use as he had lost the cloth on his way up. His breathing pattern was heavy and hitched as he couldn't get enough air in his lungs. 

His legs lost their power and Teresa wasn't strong enough to keep him on his feet. He sunk to the floor and she was quick to pull his head to her chest. "I'm sorry, Thomas. I'm so s-sorry. I never should've taken Leah away from you. It's my fault that you'll never get to meet your son or daughter," she started to say and he nodded softly. 

"It's okay," he mumbled, his eyes slowly closing.

"No, it's not. I tried so hard to make things right." Tears started to leak from her eyes. "You were going to be a great dad." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he leaned his head against her. 

Thomas shut his eyes completely and focused on Teresa's heartbeat to calm himself. 

Tears started to leak from Thomas's eyes as he realized he was never going to see Leah again, he never got to say goodbye to her, he was never going to see their son or daughter. Their child was going to grow up without a father. He was never going to see their first steps, or hear their first word. He failed them. He failed them both and now he could never make it up to them.

He was awoken seconds later by Teresa lifting her head from his own. He glanced over his shoulder to find the Berg. He couldn't help the tired smile on his lips.

They were found.