After the Crank (TMR Fanfic) [Completed]

Chapter 40

14.5.19

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385

Thomas sat on a cliff. His legs hung over the edge of the cliff. He occasionally used his heels to beat the cliff, harmonizing with the sound of the waves. His gaze stared at the ocean, seeing the water roll before breaking when it hit a cliff, producing a very soothing sound. That was one of the many reasons Thomas often spent time on a cliff since he returned to Safe Haven.

Newt and Minho were on his right and left. Looking in the same direction, both of them were stunned by the orange color on the horizon. They sat quietly, not wanting to ruin the moment with unimportant conversations - even though Thomas though the conversation between them was always important.

This is over, Thomas said to himself. He always wanted to say that since he had stepped in Safe Haven for the first time, but only this time those words meant something. Yes, everything was finally over. There was no more fight between his group against WICKED which often took victims. They could peacefully live every second of every day.

One that was still left behind, Thomas still often saw Chuck and Teresa in his dreams. That was a bad thing he could handle. At least, he didn't really lose them even though the the dream always made his heart sick when he opened his eyes. He always had the cure. Looking at cheerfulness that covered every face he met was more than anything.

He was always grateful, the mission he planned with Minho and Sonya was accomplished. They took Newt home, they even got a bonus of dozens of people. About Newt was very important to him. He no longer needed to spend every day worrying about his friend after he left him with the Cranks in Denver that always led to an attack of guilt which made him lose his desire for living his life.He was grateful Newt survived. Hans did his job very well, except he couldn't fix one of Newt's kidneys that had been damaged by the knife. Hans saved him, that was the most important. Newt had no problem living with with one kidney. After several days of recovery, he looked good and could do everything normally - Thomas hoped it would always be like that.

Minho was a miracle according to Hans. The virus has damaged almost his whole brain. Hans predicted Minho couldn't be cured with only ten milliliters of the serum they got from WICKED's headquarters. But, Minho proved himself as a true fighter. His body fought the virus very well.

Slowly, it took more than three months, Minho became the real himself. The first thing Minho said when his sanity returned was an apology to Thomas. Then, the words became like a prayer that he had said millions of times, every time he met Thomas. Thomas got tired of hearing that. Nevertheless, Thomas didn't stop Minho. It was okay if that was able to make his friend felt better. After all, Minho would stop after he realized that Thomas had forgiven him since the first time he said it, even Thomas had forgotten about it if Minho didn't remind him.

Thomas himself didn't experience any significant problems. The incision in the leg and shoulder weren't a big problem. The wound dried in a few days. The main problem was his hallucinations. According to Aris, WICKED had done something to his head. WICKED wanted to use Thomas to destroy his group by implanting false memories into his brain - the hallucination he experienced were part of that process. They, especially Sphenson knew the mission to make everyone infected wouldn't succeed as long as Thomas and his group were there. And he thought, Thomas was the key to stop them. Now, he was fine. Luckily, they had Hans who could fix his head.

"I've never imagined that I would end up in a place like this," Newt became the one who broke the silence.

Minho turned to him, glancing with a grin on his face. "You have to thank me, Dude!"

"Well, yeah. You, Tommy, Lizzy, Gally, Brenda, Jorge, Frypan, The Right Arm ... all of them."

Minho was still grinning. Thomas thought, Newt lost his point. He could almost guess what Minho really meant.