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"Good that" Tho the pistol back into his jeans He walked slowly toward his friend, who stood alone, far away fro on their pile of refuse For the moment they seemed satisfied with that--they didn’t seem interested in him

Thomas walked half the distance to Newt, then stopped The worst part about his friend was the wildness in his eyes Madness lurked behind the pools of sickness How had it happened so quickly?

"Hey Newt It’s ht?"

A sudden clarity filled Newt’s eyes then, al Thomas step back in surprise

"I bloody remember you, Tommy You just canored o completely crazy in a few days"

Those words hurt Thoht of his friend "Then why are you here? Why are you with … them?"

Newt looked at the Cranks, then back at Thooes, man I can’t explain it So But usually it’s just like an itch in h to bother ht now"

"Yeah, well The only reason I’m with these wackers from the Palace is because I don’t knohat else to do They’re fighting, but they’re also a group You find yourself alone, you don’t have a bloody chance"

"Newt, coht now We can take you sohed, and when he did his head twitched strangely a couple of times "Get out of here, Toed "I’ll tie you up if it makes you feel better"

Newt’s face suddenly hardened into anger and his words shot out in a rage "Just shut up, you shuck traitor! Didn’t you readfor me? Gotta be the hero, like always? I hate you! I always hated you!"

He doesn’t mean it, Thomas told himself firmly But they were just words "Newt …"

"It was all your fault! You could’ve stopped theured out a way But no! You had to keep it going, try to save the world, be the hero And you came to the Maze and never stopped All you care about is yourself! Admit it! Gotta be the one people remember, the one people worship! We should’ve thrown you down the Box hole!"

Newt’s face had colored to a deep red, and spit flew fro steps forward, his hands balled into fists

"I’onna blast him!" Lawrence yelled from the van "Get out of the way!"

Tho!" He faced Newt again "Newt, stop Just listen to h to hear me out"

"I hate you, Tommy!" He was only a few feet away and Tho to fear "I hate you I hate you I hate you! After all I did for you, after all the freaking klunk I went through in the bloody Maze, you can’t do the one and only thing I’ve ever asked you to do! I can’t even look at your ugly shuck face!"

Thomas took twoto shoot you Just stop and listen to me! Get in the van, let me tie you up Give me a chance!" He couldn’t kill his friend He just couldn’t

Newt screa shot fro across the pavement, but it missed hiround, knocking the breath out of his as his old friend climbed on top of him and pinned hi Thomas with spit "Teach you a lesson in stupidity Why’d you co? Huh? A nice sit-down to talk about the good tiripped by terror, very slowly reaching for his gun with his free hand

"You wanna knohy I have this limp, Tommy? Did I ever tell you? No, I don’t think I did"

"What happened?" Thoers around the weapon

"I tried to kill myself in the Maze Cliht off Alby found ht before the Doors closed I hated the place, Tommy I hated every second of every day And it was all … your … fault!"

Newt suddenly twisted around and grabbed Thoun He yanked it toward hi it up until the end of the pistol was pressed against his own forehead "Now make amends! Kill me before I become one of those cannibal monsters! Kill me! I trusted you with the note! No one else Now do it!"

Tho "I can’t, Newt, I can’t"

"Make amends! Repent for what you did!" The words tore out of hient, harsh whisper "KillPut me out of my misery"

The words horrified Thomas "Newt, maybe we can--"

"Shut up! Just shut up! I trusted you! Now do it!"

"I can’t"

"Do it!"

"I can’t!" How could Newt ask hi like this? How could he possibly kill one of his best friends?

"Kill me or I’ll kill you Kill me! Do it!"

"Newt …"

"Do it before I become one of them!"