Echoes ~ (Book Two of The Elite Series)

Chapter 9

It was long after dark when they finally stopped for the night, making their camp in a little niche created by a cargo ship flipped over on its side and a rusted shipping container.

Aris and Minho built a small fire from old, half rotted wood left over from pallets still in the metal shipping container.

Everything was so quiet.

Thomas had gone to sit outside of the campfire after Frypan had lost it at him not long after they'd made camp.
He had spewed all his pent up grief and anger at Thomas, blaming him for them being stuck out there, and for the deaths of their friends.

Thomas had said nothing to defend himself, as he was already beating himself up for all of that already.

Getting up from his spot next to Emma, her eyes followed Newt as he sat down next to Thomas.

"You haven't slept a wink since we left the Maze, have you?"

Thomas didn't answer, fingers running over Chuck's wooden figurine he held.

Newt sighed.

"Listen, Frypan was just letting off steam."

"He's right though, I'm the reason we're stuck out here." Thomas's shoulders were slumped.

"No. No, you're the reason we're free. Now the others may have their doubts and that's fine but....they would follow you anywhere."

"They'd follow you too. And Emma." Thomas looked at him.

"No." Newt shrugged, turning his head to one side. "Its different with us though, you know it is. Look, we all have our roles to play."
His gaze became far away for a brief second, before switching back to Thomas.

"I don't know where we're going," Thomas confessed,  disheartened. "We're lost."

"Well we've been lost before."

"Yeah, but not like this."

Silence again, before Newt decided to speak, weighing his next words carefully.

"There is a place, for us out there somewhere. I don't know where it is," he admitted.
"But, I do know that an awful lot of our friends have died for us to get this far. And so we can't give up. You can't give up. I won't let you."

Thomas, finally looked Newt in the eye, the two boys sharing an emotional moment of quiet understanding and peace, before he patted Thomas's shoulder.

"Come on then. Get some sleep, yeah?"

Going back down the hill, Newt sat back down at Emma's side, putting his arm back around her shoulders.
Thomas followed, not long after, giving Newt a nod, the ghost of a smile on his face as he sat back down.

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~

Deciding to take turns keeping watch for WCKD and for cranks, it was during Newt's turn when Emma gasped herself awake for what was the third time during his watch.

But this time it was different, she was wide awake, not half asleep like the two other times.
Newt had been able to calm Emma down then, just enough for her to fall back asleep.

"Hey, hey love, it's okay. It's okay, I'm here."
He was at her side in an instant.
"What's going on?"

"I can't--" she just shook her head, her breathing coming in faster and faster.

"I can't breathe, I can't breathe! I don't know what's happening, I don't know--it hurts," Emma cried, doing her best to keep it down so she wouldn't wake anyone. "I----"