In my Blood

CHAPTER 44 - Don't Lie to Me

That evening, no one talks about what the boys saw. Gally goes away to a different room, probably to plan out the mission, while the rest of us hang out in the basement. 

"(y/n), you can have the double bed," Fry smiles kindly. I shake my head.

"No, someone else can have it. I'm not that bothered," I laugh. 

"Are we really gonna talk about beds right now?" Newt mutters. I frown at his tired tone of voice, walking over to where he sits. I perch on the seat beside him and put my hand on his arm. He flinches at my touch, his arm tensing.

"S-Sorry, (y/n)," his sighs, closing his eyes. "I, um... in the tunnel, I fell and I think I just landed on my arm in a weird position."

"You fell over?" I ask Newt worriedly. He looks to me, his expression softening. 

"I'm fine, (y/n). I know that look; I'm fine. Don't worry."

I fumble with my hoodie sleeve anxiously, stealing a brief glance at Newt's arm. He has his other hand sitting protectively on it, gripping it tighter every few seconds with a pained expression on his face. I look away.

Newt stands up, clearing his throat. "I think I'll head to bed now. See you all in the morning."

"Night," I smile. He walks out of the room, and immediately, my smile fades. I see Thomas looking at me from the corner of my eye, and return the stare with worry in my eyes. He nods slowly, knowingly. Something feels off. 

***

"No," Thomas repeats stubbornly. "There's gotta be another way."

I close my eyes, leaning back in my chair as he refuses once more. We've been sitting in the basement of the building for two hours now, since the sun first rose in the morning, surrounding a messy desk with pieces of crumpled paper scattered around the room and pinned to the wall. 

"Well, you've seen the building," Gally resonates once more. "She is our only way in there."

"What about your inside source, Gally?" Fry asks. "The one who gets the Bliss?"

Gally shifts in his seat uncomfortably. "Lawrence found out.. well, let's just say that our 'inside source' didn't exactly keep things... inside. Lawrence sorted him out." I shudder. I don't know what Lawrence is capable of but by the sounds of it, I don't want to find out. Gally continues, "It seems that this Teresa girl is our best shot to get inside." 

"And you really think that she's gonna help us, after what she did to us?" Thomas retorts.

Gally exclaims, "I have no idea what the girl did to you to make you so angry - I don't even know who she is! You were the one who saw her, not me! And I'm thinking that we could use that to our advantage!" 

I open my eyes. "She sold us out to WICKED. Came from a different Maze, got her memories back and–"

"And thought it was acceptable to let WICKED torture you guys again," Brenda butts in. 

"Bren, she..." I sigh exasperatedly. "She did what she thought was right."

"So you're defending her now?" Jorge asks in a surprised tone.  

"No, I'm not!" I snap angrily. "I'm just saying, that as much as we can all hate her, she had a reason for doing what she did, and we can't dismiss that! It's not as if I'm justifying her actions, but if we could all try to think about from her perspective, maybe we could figure out a way to defeat WICKED in the most effective way possible. If she's susceptible to WICKED's persuasion, maybe she'll be susceptible to ours."