Trials Together (Book Three): The Death Cure

Chapter 12

"Wasn't he dead?" Thomas thought the girl who spoke was Alejandra, all he knew about her was that she had been a Keeper, her partner was dead, and she did not trust him and the other Elites.

"No, he wasn't." That was Beth, she seemed very taken aback by this turn of events, not that Thomas could blame her. He remembered how she had tried to wake Gally in the final chamber before being Controlled to rejoin the rest of the Gladers, so she would know.

"Before we go to meet your weird friend I want breakfast, and we need somewhere to stay and a plan." Jorge was saying. "And we cannot just stand here with you all looking so lost."

"Didn't you say you knew people here?" Harriet asked Teresa, still working at getting the bracelet open.

"Yes, but I don't know where. I'm sure there's info in this thing." The jewellery flew off her wrist due to her irritation and cracked against the floor, the catch opening to reveal a small key and piece of paper.

"Well that worked." Rachel smirked, picking up the pieces and handing them to Teresa. "Let's go."

Using a money card stolen from WICKED Brenda bought enough monthly travel passes and breakfast for everyone. Thomas decided that stealing money from WICKED wasn't unethical in the slightest.

"So the plan is?" Aris asked after everyone had piled onto a tram full of morning commuters who kept staring at them, something would have to be done about the subject tattoos on their necks. Everyone with long hair was using it to hide them but that still looked suspicious.

"We need someone who knows this city. It seems that the choices are crazy people Teresa knows and Gally." Neither option sounded great to Thomas but he trusted Teresa more than he would ever trust Gally, or Beth.

"How do I know that it's going to be 'crazy people Teresa knows'." Rachel was staring out of the window, looking at people and buildings go by. The WICKED propaganda posters and huge portraits of Chancellor Paige that had been defaced en masse, cop machines, flashing lights and advertisements. For someone who remembered nothing but WICKED it must have seemed like another planet. Thomas felt almost as amazed.

"There's an address and phone number, but I think it'd be better to just go. They'll be able to trace a call. You just have to agree to let me talk." Teresa had shut the bracelet and put it back on, reading and rereading the paper. Nothing else was written on it, just a few lines and numbers that had been scribbled quickly.

He did envy Teresa, that she would likely be able to find her family out here, even if they weren't strictly related to her. Thomas racked his brains for all of her stories about her early childhood, they weren't happy ones, but whose were?

They got off outside a dingy hotel in a graffiti-ridden neighbourhood. The sort of place no one asked questions as long as you could pay. Jorge gave the clerk a large tip and said something about unlisted, buying four rooms for seventeen people. Thomas knew he would be sharing with Teresa, Aris and Rachel but that sounded just fine.

"So map of the city." Rachel printed one from the tiny, old computer in the room that worked well enough, marking the address Teresa had and the one for Gally in pencil. Harriet had used her authority to call a Gathering in the only room with both a NetBlock connection and a working phone. They had to decide what to do and fast, Brenda was in the middle of a call with the guy she said could check the chips in their heads.

"Right, current priorities are to..." Newt trailed off unsure, but Sonya stepped in.

"Get something to cover our tattoos, investigate these addresses we've got, check to see if our brains are on GPS and then see how we're going to live here." Put that way it seemed simple, but it wouldn't be.

"Good enough for me." Harriet smiled weakly at her friend. "Gotta think about those unlucky shanks we left in the Berg." Minho still hadn't spoken and no one had prompted him, when he broke his silence it would likely be explosive.

"This Right Arm group can cause a lot of trouble, so we'd better make them first, send a few people to go see Gally, there's enough of us to divide and conquer." Brenda had a good point, and Thomas mulled it over for a second.

"I'll go to see Gally, he says Beth has to come and I'll take Rachel too because he'll be expecting that." Without his memories Gally wouldn't know Aris or Teresa at all.

"And Newt because I'll need a leader." He could have chosen Harriet but she would be invaluable when Minho did blow up.

"Teresa and Aris can go see those people she knows. Teresa decides if anyone else goes." Thomas continued, amazed that everyone was listening to him.

"Better not, we'll be lucky not to get shot at." Teresa backed him up.

"Do I get a say in this?" Aris rolled his eyes, knowing that the answer was no.

"The rest of us stay here?" That was Emme, Thomas was surprised he remembered her name considering he hadn't heard her voice since the Glade.

"Probably best, no way we can all move together without attracting attention." Brenda had finally gotten off the phone. "Hans says he can see two at once, anytime within reason."

"I'll go check that out." Harriet volunteered, Thomas guessed Sonya would go with her.

"I can see why they called you the Real Leader Thomas, you've got us all in, no complaints." Thomas wished Frypan hadn't said that, it was the sort of thing that set people off but no one really responded. The few survivors left were past such things. Fifteen Gladers left, out of a hundred and twenty. Sixteen if the thing with Gally wasn't a trick.

Aris, Teresa, Thomas, Rachel, Harriet, Newt, Sonya, Beth, Minho, Mary, Frypan, Jane, Clint, Emme and Alejandra. Everyone else dead.

A/N: Sorry for another short chapter, A-Level mocks are a form of torture.