Chapter 2 - Mistake

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Song - The Chain (Fleetwood Mac)


"Ella, it's almost opened!" Thomas called me over.

I ran over to Newt and Thomas's side, as they pushed open the door of the container. A cry erupted from the interior. Thomas, Newt, and I rushed inside, taking in all the terrified faces of kids... almost all our age or younger.

There was only one face I scanned for. After a once over and no result I started again. Slowly guiding my eyes row by row checking every face as I walked forward. I spotted Sonya and Aris. Aris looked... awful. Face covered in yellowy and spreading bruises. Both eyes puffy and purple. His lip split and cracked with dry blood.

"Hey... Jesus," Thomas murmured to them while squeezing Aris's shoulder. I continued my eyeline through the back of the container.

What?

No.

I looked over everyone again. I felt both Newt's and Thomas's presence stiffen. I could not see the face of my friend in any of them.

Thomas turned back to face us. His eyes were... it was... it was the worst look I'd ever received from him because I knew exactly what he meant by it. I didn't want to hear the next words that came from his mouth,

"He's not here..."

Newt released a short breath from beside me.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

"Shit," I cursed before spinning and storming past all the others out of the container.

Newt tried to grab my wrist,

"Wait El-"

"Leave it babe, she just needs a minute," Tom breathed back softly before I walked out of earshot in the late afternoon sun. I kept walking past the crowds of people gathering outside of our new headquarters... another abandoned warehouse right on the gravesite of a boat harbor.

I walked past Vince starting to gather everyone in a crowd in front of him. He had taken charge the past couple of months. With everything that has been going on it's been nice to have that person to listen to and follow other than Thomas.

I kept walking through the people milling around, no destination in sight.

I couldn't believe we had stuffed this up. How? We had practiced this for so many months. Prepared. Planned. We waited so fucking long... knowing that Minho had been suffering for all that time and we could finally get him out.

It's been a hard couple months.

Constantly knowing that every second we wasted while we were safe... Minho was out there somewhere in Wicked's grasp. But, after everything that happened in the maze, in Wicked, and the scorch, and now suddenly having this purpose other than running. Causing havoc for Wicked and Janson. And saving all these kids... making a positive difference. This has really been good for me. At least I think so. 

It's been nice spending time with my brother. Finally, I was able to tell him about all the times we shared together as kids. All the memories I had been given back of our parents. 

And Brenda and I are good now two. Since Teresa... it's been nice having a real girlfriend. I told her about Gally. About everything that had happened. She told me about her brother George so since then we have gotten close. And Harriet... she'd been struggling without Sonya and Aris, so she's stuck with us.

As I finally pulled myself from my thoughts, I saw I had taken myself back from my short walk around the rocks of the harbor, back to the side of the main building on the beach side. As I trudged up the last couple of rocks, my head feeling better, I spotted two very familiar figures on the back wall of the main building by themselves.

Newt...

Thomas was holding him while rubbing his back, whispering words into his ears. Newt's chest rapidly fell up and down. He was crying...

Thomas looked up and we caught each other's gaze. He shook his head as Newt buried his face further into the crook of his boyfriend's neck.

I sighed while leaving them be and moving through the other side of the building.

I found Fry, Brenda, Sonya, Aris, and Harriet in one of the lower-level rooms in the building. Sonya was tending to Aris's injuries. They all looked up and smiled weakly as I entered.

"Hey... sorry I didn't seem happy to see you guys before, I wasn't exactly thinking straight," I sighed.

"It's fine El, we understand... you're disappointed about Minho..." Sonya murmured.

I opened my mouth to respond but before I could I heard two more people enter behind me. I turned to see Newt and Thomas. I smiled weakly. They both returned the favor.

Harriet handed Aris a drink.

"Here, drink this," she said before sitting on another stool. Thomas crouched in front of him.

"Took you guys long enough to rescue us," Aris chuckled while clutching the warm drink in his hands.

"It's good to see you too, bud," Thomas laughed airily back. I sat on a chair alongside Newt. I glanced his way... his face was unreadable.

"So, what happened?" Thomas asked.

"I fought back. Tried to, anyway," Aris responded solemnly.

"You're lucky you found us at all," Sonya added, "They had us on the move a lot... It felt like something big was happening,"

"Any idea where they were heading?" I asked. Both looked up at me with doubtful eyes.

"All I know is they kept talking about a city," Aris revealed.

"I didn't think there were any cities left," Harriet breathed.

"That's because there aren't. Not still standing, anyway," Brenda affirmed.

"Okay, wait. What about Minho?" Thomas asked, "Why wasn't he on the train?"

Aris sighed and looked away,

"I'm sorry, Thomas... He was,"

"What?" Thomas exclaimed.

"He must have been in a different carriage... I'm so sorry guys," Aris murmured.

Aris looked at Tom, then Newt, then Frypan, and then me.

"It's okay..." I smiled weakly at both of them, "We're just glad to have you two back where you belong... with us,"

"Yeah... it's good to have you back," Thomas followed up and Aris and Sonya looked around at all of us clutching each other's hands. I was never entirely sure about their relationship... whether they were dating or not, but they definitely had chemistry. I thought they would make a good couple.

Thomas stood up and squeezed Aris's soldier before heading out the door. Newt followed him quietly and I stood up and looked at the two one last time,

"Really... I'm glad you guys are back,"

They both smiled and Sonya responded,

"Thanks, El... we're really happy to be back,"

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