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BACK IN THE GLADE, WHENEVER RITA WAS WOKEN UP BY HER LOVELY BOYFRIEND; IT WOULD ALWAYS BE BY SOFT SPOKEN WORDS AND KISSES BEING SHARED THROUGH THE SWEET AIR . . . AND NOT BY HIM SHOUTING AT A STUPID BIRD CURRENTLY NUDGING ITS WAY INTO THEIR BAGS OF FEW SUPPLIES. His shouts awoke most of his friends as Thomas sat up hurriedly, waving the bird off with his hand. "Hey, hey, hey! Get out of here!"
Hearing the rustling behind him, the teen gave his girlfriend a small, sheepish smile when he saw her sitting up and awake, meaning he had woken her up with his shouting. Rita shook her head as a sign it was fine as she stretched, hearing her friends awaken around them also. "They gone?" The couple heard Newt's tired, groggy voice ask as Thomas stood up to look around at the now sunny Scorch sky around them.
"Yeah, I think we're safe for now." he nodded back in reply, turning to face the group once more as he bent down with a small grunt to retrieve his bag. "Okay, we should get moving. Let's pack it up."
As Thomas continued to call out to his friends to wake up and get moving, Rita released a small yawn as she stretched out her limbs. Teresa mirrored the action right next to her, rubbing her blue eyes tiredly. The brunette smiled at the girl slightly with a kind undertone. "Rough night?"
Teresa let out a scoff as she shook her head with a slight snicker, looking over at the girl as her blue eyes shone in the brightened sun. "You have no idea." A tight groan being made by Winston not that far away from them broke the girls' conversation, both of them frowning as Frypan helped the struggling boy up. "He doesn't look good at all, does he?" Teresa frowned, keeping her voice low as to not alert any of the others of her worries.
A certain thickness appeared in Rita's throat at the darkened state of blood seeping through Winston's 'bandage' as she got up herself, collecting the bag of supplies she had rummaged up together back in the abandoned mall. "I-I'm sure he'll be fine. Just give him some time."
Even her own words being spoken didn't convince the teen as much as she thought they would. In fact, it only seemed to darken her twisted thoughts on her good friend and his wound caused by what she believed to be the Cranks her uncle was talking about.
Her heart didn't want to believe it, but her brain's common sense tested the waters heavily. Teresa was absolutely right in her statement. Winston wasn't looking good at all . . . and his condition didn't seem to be improving.
Following her friend's lead, Rita trailed behind all of the Gladers as they began to descend up the rubble they had all came down and sheltered upon for the night. When reaching the top, it was fair to say all of their jaws slacked at the sight.
