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He felt a little better in the late evening when Newt shook him awake Teresa’s brief visit to his mind seemed like a dream now He could almost believe it had never happened

"Sleep well, Tommy?" Newt asked "How’s that shoulder?"

Thoh he couldn’t have slept for more than three or four hours, his sleep had been deep and undisturbed He rubbed his shoulder to test it and was surprised all over again "Feels really good, actually―aches a little, but not much Hard to believe I was hurtin’ so bad before"

Newt looked around at the Gladers preparing to leave, then back at Tho the bloody doruess"

"Yeah" For some reason this made Tho back Which just ain The line from Teresa caood"

"Huh?"

"Remember what Teresa had written on her arm when she first woke up? Or did you even know about that? It said WICKED is good I’ that hard to believe" The sarcase sin’ life"

"Yeah, they’re real saints" Thomas couldn’t deny he was confused They had saved his life He also knew he’d worked for them But what it allin her sleep, now finally sat up, letting out a big yawn "Morning Or evening Whatever"

"Another day alive," Thoht have no idea who Brenda was He really had no idea what had happened in the group since he’d been shot "I’et to know each other? If not, Brenda, this is Newt Newt, Brenda"

"Yeah, we know already" Newt reached out and shook her handsure this bloody sissy didn’t get his butt killed while you tere out partying"

The barest hint of a s Yeah I especially loved the part where we had people trying to cut our noses off" A look flashed across her face, part e before I’m one of those psychos"

Thomas didn’t kno to respond to that "You’re probably not thatthan us Remember that―"

Brenda wouldn’t let hiical cure I know" She got up then, the conversation obviously over

Thoot to his knees, he leaned in and whispered, "She your new girlfriend? I’one

Thomas sat there for a minute, overwhel he’d received The Flare The fact that they only had a few days to cross those mountains WICKED Whatever waited for them at the safe haven and in the future

TooHe was hungry, and that he could solve So he got up and went searching for so to eat And Frypan didn’t disappoint

They set off just as the sun dipped below the horizon, e land look al to walk off some steaed peaks of shadow, growing taller and taller as they walked There were no real foothills to speak of; the flat valley just stretched forward until the ground erupted toward the sky in sheer cliffs and steep slopes All brown and ugly, lifeless Thomas hoped an obvious path would present itself once they’dBrenda stayed close but quiet She didn’t even talk to Jorge Tho ard between him and Brenda He liked her, probably more than he liked anyone else now besides Newt and Minho And Teresa, of course

Newt approached hiuides Their light was enough―you didn’t need round was flat and all you had to do alk toward the loo wall of rock in front of you The crunch crunch crunch of their footsteps on the earth filled the air

"Been thinkin’," Newt said

"About what?" Tholad to have sos

"WICKED Ya know, they broke their own bloody rules with you"

"How’s that?"

"They said there were no rules Said we had so et to the bloody safe haven and that was that No rules People dying left and right, then they co and save your butt Doesn’t ―I’lad you’re alive and all"

"Gee, thanks" Tho about it

"And then there were all those signs in the city Weird"

Thomas looked over at Newt, barely able to see his friend’s face "What, you jealous or so to ignore the fact that the signs had to be a big deal

Newt laughed "No, you shank Just dying to knohat’s really going on around here What this is really all about"

"Yeah" Thoree h to be Candidates And she did say I was the best Candidate, and they didn’t wantthey hadn’t planned But I don’t knohat it allto do with all that klunk about killzone patterns"

They walked on for a ain "Not worth bustin’ our brains about, I guess What’s gonna happen’ll happen"

Thomas almost told him then about what Teresa had said in his ht

He stayed silent, and eventually Newt drifted away until once again Thomas walked alone in the dark

A couple of hours passed before he had another conversation, this time with Minho A lot of words flew back and forth between them, but in the end they hadn’t really saidthe saone over in their minds a million times