WICKED is Good

Chapter Nineteen

Six months and twenty nine days, and we were getting Minho back tonight.

We were destroying WICKED tonight.

I dressed in the black WICKED soldier uniform and snuck into the city, meeting Thomas, Newt, Gally, and Teresa at the stairs.

"I got this," Gally opened a control panel and got to work.

Then, I heard something. Heavy footsteps. Slight clanking. Weighed down. Creases of heavy fabric. Thuds of armor. Shuffling.

"Seven soldiers, heavy guns, light armor," I warned, "Turning the corner of the hallway. We have twenty seconds."

Ten seconds later, the others heard them.

"Move," Newt said, beginning to ascend the stairwell.

The rest of us followed, as I carefully listened for any soldiers.

We ended up in an empty hallway, walking towards the children. Gally opened the door and shot most of them, keeping one awake to get him into the serum vault.

I grabbed a blowtorch, against Newt's wishes, and got to work on one of the doors. When it opened, the kids sounded terrified of me.

But I pulled off my hood and said, "You're safe. Come on, quickly."

Gally had nearly cut through when I noticed something. A faint humming.

"Stop," I warned, placing one hand between Gally and the lock.

"What?"

I hummed the same frequency, then reached behind the lock to find a cable, "Bomb."

The soldier still awake sounded deflated that we'd found the trap, but Gally thanked me, "This could take a while."

"Where's Minho?" I asked.

Teresa got onto one of the computers, "They moved him- that's on the other side of the building."

"Let's go," Newt said.

Thomas shook his head, "Stay with Gally for the serum."

"Minho comes first," Newt argued.

"Wren, stay with Gally," before I could argue, he added, "Check for more traps."

I couldn't argue as he followed Newt and Teresa into the hallway.

"Sorry for spearing you," I said to get rid of the silence.

A more awkward silence followed.

"Sorry for killing Chuck," Gally replied, "And for trying to kill you. Several times."

"I was a jerk," I admitted.

Gally got the serum into Th r bag, then turned to one of the kids, "Protect this with your life, okay?"

The boy nodded nervously, taking the bag and following us into the hallway.

We ran down the stairs to the bus stop, where Brenda pulled up to meet us, "Get in."

"Where's Thomas?" Gally asked.

"Thought he was with you," Brenda replied, sounding concerned as the last of the kids got onto the bus.

Gally sighed, "I'll go get him."

"I'm coming," I stated before he could argue otherwise.

An alarm went off.

"What's he done now?" I muttered to myself, before finding a group of soldiers.

There was no way to avoid them, so I walked up to one and said, "Transfers for your unit, Captain."

"I guess you wouldn't know," the man seemed quite pleased with himself, "I've recently been promoted to Sergeant."

After I congratulated him, we followed the man a while until we reached a place in front of the main building.

"Smart," Gally remarked.

I laughed faintly, "Practice. And a little luck."

We got a radio call of three fugitives, wanted alive.

"Let's move," the sergeant said, signaling for us to all follow him to a place with rippling water and broken glass.

Some crazy idiots had jumped out of a window.

Thomas was involved, backed up by Newt. Of course those crazy idiots had jumped out of a window.

I was rather amazed they'd gotten Teresa to jump with them.

And shouts from at least fifty floors above in the building. In Janson's voice, though he quickly stormed off. Like a big baby throwing a temper tantrum.

But I knew all too well how cruel he could be when he was mad. I still remember thrashing around on the operating table, begging him not to cut off my wings.

I remember his laughter, sadistic and crazy.

He would be mad, wouldn't he? Of course he would. We were taking away the immunes. The chance of a cure.

The chance of his survival.

He had the Flare.

"Hands up," the sergeant ordered, "No. Don't even think about it."

And then Gally fired his gun four times, one for each other member of the group. We both took off our masks and ran over to the others.

"You jumped out of a window?" I asked, then corrected myself. Who did I think I was talking to? "Of course you did."

"Wren?" That voice- the third person wasn't Teresa, as I'd expected.

My breath caught in my throat as I ran over to Minho, "You're alive!"

"Are you crazy, coming here after me?" Minho asked, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Definitely," I replied. It was worth it.

I then took off the stupidly heavy WICKED jacket and pants, leaving me in a brown shirt and jeans.

With a few knives and guns, of course.

An explosion sounded as a bomb blew up the wall. The crazy Crank without a nose, most likely.

"Thought he'd take down the wall," Gally said as more things exploded, "Not the whole city."

"People can surprise you," I muttered, "Teresa?"

Thomas sighed, "With Janson and Ava Paige."

Newt creamed in pain, trying to keep his arm stable as he pulled up his sleeve to show Minho and Gally the infection.

The Flare was speeding up. It could kill him soon, especially without the serum.

"Why would you help us?" Minho asked,'"After what happened in the Maze?"

Gally shrugged.

"We killed you," Minho stated, "Or at least, tried to. Left you for dead."

"Yeah, well," Gally smiled, "Nobody's perfect."

Too true.

We decided to split up. Gally and Minho ran ahead to get the serum from Brenda, who Frypan was currently getting over the wall via construction crane.

Never heard of that method of travel? Well, I guess we just invented it.

Thomas was going to follow behind, more slowly, to get Newt to safety. They'd meet halfway to get Newt the serum.

I had other plans.

"Where are you going?" Minho asked me, grabbing my wrist as I turned to walk away.

"I'm going to end WICKED," I informed them, "I'm going to kill Ava Paige."