I Corrupt. ~ Minho (The Sequel to "For My Help")

The Unexpected Emotion

The chapter cut off the first time I uploaded it, so here it is again. Sorry about that!

To put it plainly, River was pissed. The past ten minutes were a whirlwind of emotions, and they barely got out of there with Minho alive. When Thomas and Jorge marched back into the room, and announced the deal they had struck, River felt like a hand had reached into her chest, broke through her ribs, and squeezed all of the air forcefully out of her lungs.

That pivotal moment that had completely flipped how she felt about Minho upside down. Like all at once her feelings for him that came about in the maze returned forcefully into her as Jorge spoke aloud two words.

He had pointed at Minho and declared, "he dies", with such certainty that almost any hope of saving him was gone. And Thomas just stood there, looking grief stricken, but he didn't do anything.

"Thomas?" River had looked towards the brown-haired boy, waiting for a plan or for him to saying anything at all. But when he did speak, it wasn't the words she was hoping to hear.

"I don't know what to do." He admitted. And River noticed in that moment how hard it must have been for him to admit that. He was in charge of striking a good deal with Jorge, and he had failed. He looked utterly hopeless.

And as she walked beside him now, almost fifteen minutes later, she could tell that he still felt awful. Even with Minho alive, and walking just up ahead of them with Newt, he still looked as though he was the one to threaten his friend's life in the first place.

"I can't believe you did it." Thomas hung his head down low. "I thought it was impossible. But you changed Jorge's mind."

"I couldn't let him die." River squinted through the sunlight towards Minho and felt like she could finally breathe again. Because he was there, and he was alive.

"I guess it wore off then," Thomas stated as they moved around the side of the building, as Brenda lead the group to the back and Jorge took the rear.

River furrowed her brow. "What wore off?"

"Whatever they did to your mind to make you hate Minho."

"I guess so." They were nearing the back of the building now, and the sun was almost completely shaded.

"You love him again." Thomas stated as though there was no doubt about it, and River couldn't speak. She couldn't think of any possible words that could begin to describe what she felt, but as Thomas said it, it hit her. When she couldn't respond, he continued. "Well it's a good thing he never stopped loving you."

She thought back to the last ten minutes, to her conversation with Jorge, and felt her stomach drop.

"What good will killing him do?" She tried to hide the prominent shake in her voice, but she was failing. She felt better knowing at least that she stood only in front of Jorge, and not her friends. She still wanted them to think of her as strong, even when she didn't feel that way.

"What good wouldn't it do, hermana?" His voice sounded condescending, and it made her stomach churn.

"You want the cure, don't you?" River raised her eyebrows, almost challenging him. "For you and your friends."

"I'm only taking Brenda, the others aren't coming." Jorge leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms almost nonchalantly, assuming a much less threatening position.

"That makes no sense. How will we get through the cranks without them? You told Thomas-"

"I told Thomas what I had to tell him to shut him up and agree to my terms. But I ain't gonna lie to you."