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Vince couldn’t stop talking, spilling thoughts that had obviously churned inside him for years "We could’ve stopped the spread of the disease a lot better than we’ve been able to cure the disease But WICKED sucked up all the ave us false hope, and nobody took the care they should’ve Thought the ical cure would save theer we’ll run out of people to save"

Vince looked tired now The roo for a response And Thoue hat thethe Immunes could certainly plant the device once they’re inside, but it would be a lot easier if it was in place e arrive Having the Iet us into the airspace and permission to land, but …" He raised his eyebrows at Thomas as if he wanted him to state the obvious himself

Thomas nodded "That’s where I co "I believe that’s where you co calm settled over Thomas "You can drop me off a few miles away and let me hike in I’ll pretend I’ve come back to finish the Trials Based on what I’ve seen and heard, they’ll welcome me with open arms Just shohat I need to do to plant the device"

Another genuine smile crossed Vince’s face "I’ll have Charlotte do it herself"

"You can get information and help from my friends--Teresa, Aris, others Brenda here knows a lot, too" Thomas’s decision was quick and absolute, but he’d accepted the dangerous task It was the best chance they had

"All right, Gally," Vince said "What’s next? How are we going to do this?"

Thoet Charlotte to train you on the device Then we’ll take you to our Berg hangar, fly you close to the WICKED headquarters and drop you off while the rest of us are getting ready with theout there--we should wait a couple of hours before we come in with the Immunes or it’ll look suspicious"

"I’ll be fine" Thomas made an effort to pull in deep breaths, to calm himself

"Good We’ll move Teresa and the others over here when you leave I hope you don’t h the city"

Charlotte was a quiet, petite wo device’s functions to Thoh to fit in the backpack they provided hi for the cold hike he’d have to take Once the device was planted and activated, it would search for and connect with the signals from each weapon, then scramble its system It would take about an hour to render all of WICKED’s weapons useless

Si the thing when he got in without arousing suspicion

Gally decided that Lawrence would be the one to take Thoar where they kept the Bergs They’d fly to WICKED’s headquarters straight froh the Crank-infested streets of Denver, but they’d take the hway, and dawn had arrived For some reason thathiather last-minute supplies for the trip when Brenda appeared He nodded at her and gave her a sonna miss me?" Thomas asked He made it sound like a joke, but he really wanted her to say yes

She rolled her eyes "Don’t even say that You sound like you’re giving up already We’ll all be back together, laughing about the good ol’ days before you know it"

"I’ve only known you a feeeks" He sain

"Whatever" She put her arms around him and spoke into his ear "I knoas sent into that Scorch city to find you and pretend to be your friend But I want you to know that you are ain, which was unreadable "What?"

"Just … don’t let yourself get killed"

Thomas sed, not sure what to say

"Well?" she said

"You be careful, too" was all he could get out

Brenda reached up and kissed hi I’ve ever heard you say" She rolled her eyes again but shter to Thos up," he said "Make sure all the plans make sense"

"I will We’ll see you in a day or so"

"Okay"

"And I won’t get killed if you won’t I pro "Deal"

CHAPTER 54

The Right Arave theer seat next to hi reatest ofa food distributor in a locked-down facility to serving as designated driver through a city of Cranks Twice

The sun had risen, glinting off the buildings of what seeht before For soht iven his pistol back, fully loaded, and he had it stuck in the waist of his jeans He knew a round of twelve bullets wouldn’t do a whole lot if they got aain, but it went far for his peace of mind

"Okay, re the silence

"And as the plan?" Tho"

It sounded good to Thomas

They lapsed back into quiet, the only sounds those of the engine and the bumps of the road Such a moment couldn’t help but force Tho in the next day or two He tried hard to shut hisby outside