Promise Me ➵ Newt [3]

SEVEN | sneaking into the city

(Newt's p.o.v.)

Newt felt someone tackle him to the ground and they laid flat against the train tracks just as the train thundered over them.

Its underbelly were centimetres away from shredding off his skin and tearing his hair, the wind howling in his ears like mad. A few long moments passed before the train finally sped past, and Newt could see who his savior was despite the dim lighting.

Surprisingly, it was Gally. The ex-Keeper got up and knelt there on the train tracks over him, breathing heavily.

"Well, that was a first," he said.

Newt groaned in reply. He coughed up dust as Thomas ran to their side and helped him up.

"You okay?" He asked.

Newt nodded, coughing, and he followed Gally to the hole in the wall, the pain in his legs and infected arm poking at him so that he was forced to limp. With some help from his friends, he was able to climb up the metal rungs and into the hole. Already, he could hear the faint, muffled roaring of another train echoeing down the tunnel.

Newt decided he didn't like trains.

Gally crawled through the tunnel again and Newt and Thomas followed. They reached a wide open cavern and Gally led them through it and to a blue metal door in the side. He pushed it open carefully and peered through to the other side.

When all was clear, he stepped through and Newt and Thomas followed him. Immediately, they found themselves diving into a moving crowd of people of all colours and sizes. Newt glanced around him and saw that most of them wore masks over their mouths and noses. Tired, sombre expressions hung on everyone's faces.

He, Thomas and Gally followed the crowd down what looked to be some sort of an airport. Intercoms blared with announcements every few moments or so, echoeing through the room. There were billboards and signs everywhere, most of them related to something about WICKED or the Flare virus, with guards pacing around metal machines stationed at the side. Everywhere he looked, Newt saw something so modern and unfamiliar from his life in the Glade that he felt as if he had travelled through time.

He glanced to the side, where a line of people was milling about. Guards were checking them with machines, their expressions stern and cautious.

"Infection checks," Gally said, nodding towards them. "All you gotta do is sneeze around here and you get kicked out. That's the, uh... price of paradise, I guess."

Newt's hand immediately went to his other arm, the one that was infected. He was grateful for his jacket that hid his skin and the warzone of veins underneath.

He bowed his head and continued walking alongside his friends.

-

Newt wished he had brought Rose with him now. The Last City was gorgeous in the modern, luxurious way - everywhere he looked, the neon blues, whites, reds of blinking lights and shiny black buildings glowed back at him, almost like a beacon in the dark and the ruined world outside its walls. The sound of sleek, modern cars and trains floated through the air, a huge contrast to the rough rumbling and roaring of the old trucks he had riden in. He couldn't believe that something as technologically-advanced like The Last City could exist after everything he had seen in the Scorch.

He stared out at the scene before him, gazing down at the streets and buildings as Gally peered through the telescope beside him. Thomas admired the city on Gally's other side, looking alert and nothing like the dazed, sleepy boy he had been an hour earlier.

"Lawrence has been trying to find a way in for years," Gally said, nodding towards the tallest skyscraper in view, which was lit up by countless neon blue and white lights. "See that over there? That's WICKED's main headquarters, where they do most of their important stuff. The place is crawling with soldiers. They got surveillance everywhere."

"Sounds like a bloody fortress," Newt commented.

"Yeah, I thought you said you had a way in?" Thomas said irritably.

"I might."

"You might?" Thomas repeated, staring at Gally. "The hell you mean 'might'?"

"Take a look." Gally stepped back, gesturing to the telescope balanced on the metal railings that overlooked the city.

Thomas gave him a skeptical glance, then went forward and peered through the telescope. He looked for a moment; then he glanced back up again, his eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed. He looked troubled.

"I said I had a way in," Gally said. "I didn't say you were gonna like it."

Puzzled by his words and Thomas' stricken expression, Newt peered through the telescope and tried to find out what his two partners were talking about. He moved the telescope round until he was staring at a female figure on one of the floors of the building. Though it had been six months since he had seen her, there was no mistaking the wavy black hair and bright blue eyes. His heart skipped a beat when he realized he was staring at Teresa.

Almost instantly, he felt his blood boil with anger; he stepped away from the telescope, his fists clenched at his side as he fumed. He felt a strange, sudden desire to storm the skyscraper and punch the living lights out of Teresa.

He stood in that stance for a long moment before he realized what he was doing. He blinked, and uncurled his fists. Uncertainty and fear washed through him instantly; what was happening to him? He had never felt this angry before, even after Teresa's betrayal. Why was he feeling so furious all of a sudden?

"Newt, you alright?" Thomas asked from behind him.

"Yeah," Newt said quickly. "I think I'm having a bloody headache. I'm fine though."

"We should go," Gally said. "Before any of the security drones catches us. Can't risk getting caught now."

As Newt followed him and Thomas down the stairs and streets that would lead them back to the underground base, he thought about what he had said. He wasn't lying about the headache part - he did feel a dull throbbing in the back of his head, and it was concerning him. It almost felt as if... as if there was something crawling around in his brain.

Newt shivered, despite the warm night air.

[ END OF CHAPTER SEVEN ]