Chapter 28 ━━ Reunite With An Old Friend

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"This place has really gone through hell." Jorge mutters as the group pushes through the crowd of people, heading to the entrance of the city. 

"We just gotta stay together." Thomas announces as they keep moving forward to meet a crowd of angry people gathering together, raising their fists in the air, forming a commotion as they chant the same thing in unison. 

"Let us in! Let us in! Let us in!" 

"Thomas! This is not what you're looking for." Jorge yells at Thomas over the noise. "All these people trying to find their way in, you think you're gonna find something they can't?!" 

"Came this far. I'm not turning back now." Thomas yells back. 

"What the hell did we get ourselves into?" Frypan wonders out loud as he tries his best to keep with the group. 

Katherine titles her head slightly, observing the masked men lurking around them. "This doesn't feel right." 

Noticing the same, Newt grabs into Katherine's hand and moves past through the crowd to stop at Thomas. "Hey, guys, we gotta go now!" 

"Look." He adds, pointing at the masked men nearing them through the crowd. 

Jorge's eyes widen before he takes his gun out of his holster, ready to shoot. Before Thomas reacts or makes a move, a thunderous echoes from the walls, shaking the air and utter lull fill within the crowd. 

Katherine knits her eyebrows together with confusion as people run in the opposite direction with fear. "What the hell?" 

Machine guns rise from the posts in the wall and directly point towards them. 

"We gotta get out of here!" Frypan urges. 

The rest of the group agrees and turns around to run as Thomas keeps glued to his spot, watching the huge machine guns. 

"Move your ass, you imbecile!" Katherine grabs on her twin brother's arm and forcefully yanks him backwards. 

Thomas comes to his senses and turns around when the machine guns fire, beginning the chaos. 

People scream in terror and pain as Katherine runs, avoiding the explosions of the mini-missiles and losing Newt into the crowd. 

She covers behind a building and searches for a glimpse of the familiar blond boy. "Newt! Newt!" 

Abruptly two arms grab her from behind. It is a masked man. 

"Get your hands off of me!" Katherine struggles to fight back but another masked man joins him. "Get off me!" 

"She's the feisty one. Be careful." The second masked man says to the first one, helping to drag the struggling girl to prevent from doing damage. 

The sour feeling of fear bubbles in Katherine as she's forcefully shoved into a van and the door slams shut. 

"Kat." Newt's eyes overflow in relief at the sight of the girl as he gathers her into his arms.

The van comes to a stop and the couple is pushed out. Katherine notices an unharmed Thomas and Brenda already there with Frypan. Her eyes trail along with the surrounding of the building she's in and more masked men standing with guns. 

Another van halts and the doors burst open as a masked figure lands on the floor then Jorge jumps out of the van and straddles the masked man. 

"Where is she, you son of a bitch?" 

"Shit!" Thomas reviles before rushing to stop Jorge. "Hey! Wait!" 

Katherine raises her hands in defense as she and others are dragged away with guns pointing at them to step back. 

"I'm right here. I'm right here!" Brenda leaps forward, revealing herself to Jorge and he instantly stops throwing punches at the masked man. 

"Everybody relax. We're all on the same side here." A muffled voice of a masked man says, stepping forward and his hands on his gun. 

"What do you mean same side?" Thomas scoffs, challenging the man. Katherine groans in her head at his stupidity as the environment is against them to fight back. "Who the hell are you?" 

Silence takes place for a moment before the previous masked man takes his mask off to reveal his face. It's none other than Gally. "Hey, Greenie." 

"Gally?" Thomas mutters, rather in disbelief to see the dead Glader standing in front of him very alive. 

Katherine opens and closes her mouth like a fish, not having words to explain the situation in front of her. How is he alive? 

In the very moment, Thomas stumbles forward and throws a punch straight into Gally's jaw, sending him to the floor. 

A proud smirk appears in the corner of Katherine's face at her brother's action but it disappears as all the guns point at Thomas. 

Newt immediately holds back Thomas's fist just above Gally's face. "Stop. Stop." 

"He killed Chuck." Thomas reasons as the anger boils in him. 

"Yeah, I know. I remember. I was there too, all right?" Newt says, trying to calm his friend being the glue. "But I also remember that he was stung and half out of his mind. Just calm down. All right? Come on." 

"Kind of had that coming." Gally says, looking around and rubbing his jaw right after he gets on his feet. "Anybody else? Kat? Fry? Newt?" 

"Do you know this guy?" Jorge asks the kids. 

"He was an old friend." Katherine rolls her eyes in irritation. 

"How? How is this possible? We watched you die." Newt asks, wanting the answer to the burning question. 

"No, you left me to die." He corrects him. "And if we hadn't found you when we did, you'd be dead right now. What the hell are you doing here?" 

"Minho. WICKED has him here." Newt clarifies. "We're looking for a way in." 

"I can help with that. Follow me." Gally says and swivels to leave when Thomas speaks again. 

"I'm not going anywhere with you." 

Gally turns to Thomas again. "Suit yourself. But I can get you through those walls." 

Another round of silence takes place and Katherine huffs dramatically, hating the awkwardness. The trust she has in the guy is still lower than the dust she's stepping on her shoes but there's no other option than looking into his idea. "Alright, Gally. Show us what you got." 

Gally nods and signals the group to follow him. 

"After the maze, I got picked up by a group headed to the city. They realized I was immune, patched me up, and they brought me here to Lawrence. This group's been at war with WICKED ever since they took control of the city. But WICKED can't hide behind those walls forever. Day's gonna come, and they're gonna pay for what they've done." Gally explains as he leads the group through a balcony like an area and comes to a halt to look at the group. "Listen, uh, he doesn't get a lot of visitors. So, let me do the talking. All right? And try not to stare." 

The group look at each other before following Gally to end up in a room full of flowers and dusty shelves with books and other items. 

In the middle, there is a man in the shadows silently mumbling the same phrase again and again as he turns to see the boy who leads the group. "Gally, glad to see you made it back. Jasper told me what happened." 

"It was a slaughter. There's nothing we could do against those guns." Gally replies. 

"No, but they can only poke the hornet's nest so long before they get stung." The man picks a rose, brings it to his nose or where his nose is supposed to be as it now no longer exists and inhales. "Now, who are these people? Why are they here?" 

Katherine discovers the man to notice the visible black veins on his decaying pale skin to recognize that he is infected. His bare hand is connected to a wire with a bag with blue liquid. 

Thomas steps forward, talking politely to the man. "We need to get into WICKED. Gally said you can get us through the walls." 

"Gally should know better than to make promises that he can't keep." Lawrence states. "Besides, that wall is only half your problem. Getting inside WICKED is impossible." 

"There might be a way now. But it doesn't work without Thomas." Gally argues back, gesturing at Thomas. 

"Is that so? Do you know what I am… Thomas?" Lawrence settles the bag with the blue liquid before him as he steps out of the shadows, confirming his infection. "I am a businessman. Which means that I don't take unnecessary risks. Why should I trust you?" 

"Cause I can help you. You see, if you can get me through those walls… I can get you what you need." Thomas negotiates, looking straight into the sick man's eyes. 

"What is it that you think I need?" Lawrence questions. 

"Time. Every last drop." Thomas answers confidently. 

Lawrence chuckles. "Is that what I need?" 

"WICKED has something we both want." 

Lawrence takes a few seconds to think into the conversation. "I'll tell you what. Two can go for now. The rest stay down here with me." 

"Just a little insurance to make sure you find your way back. We have a deal?" He adds and holds out his partially decayed hand. 

Without hesitation, Thomas shakes his hand and a flash of trust emerges in Lawrence's face with a smile. "Gally, show him the way." 

The group parts third way with Lawrence and Gally leads the group towards an empty hallway to end up with a room in the corner. "This way guys." 

Katherine slides out the blade in Newt's pocket without his knowledge as she follows Gally silently. 

Gally unlocks the door and walks in when Katherine pushes Gally to the wall, holding the blade over his neck. 

"What are you planning on?" 

"There she is. I was wondering what took you so long." Gally chuckles and Katherine pressures the blade further. "Geez, Kat. What makes you think that I am planning on something?" 

"I gave you a black eye, embarrassed you in front of everyone more than once, kicked your balls and sent a spike into your chest." Katherine retorts. "I'm asking you again. Why are you helping us?" 

"Kat, let him go." Newt requests, trying to stop the girl from slicing Gally's neck as others simply watch the scene. 

"No! I want answers right now. At this very moment." Katherine refuses to let go. 

"Let's get a few things on the line before we go any further." Gally tells, looking at the group. 

"Look, I know what I did. Okay? I mean I remember, but I know. I see Chuck's face every time I close my eyes." He pauses for a moment, wincing at the memory. "We don't have to be friends. And I'm not asking anybody's forgiveness. I'm asking to put it behind us because we want the same thing. And after this, we go our separate ways. But until then, none of this works until we trust each other." 

Katherine looks at Thomas for confirmation before releasing Gally from her grip. "Ok." 

"Thank you." Gally states, massaging his neck and moving to the shaft in the room before sticking down a ladder. 

"Be careful, Thomas." Jorge says to the elder twin and he pats on his back as the response. 

"Gally, take care of these two." Frypan says to the boy who crouches down to the opened shaft. 

"Yeah." 

Thomas is next to follow, imitating Gally and crouching next to the shaft. He glances at Katherine who nods at him with a smile before disappearing into the shaft. 

Katherine turns her gaze to see Newt, trying to tie up his shoelaces with his shaking hands. She kneels in front of him and ties his shoelace for him with a beam. "Scared already, big boy?" 

He chuckles nervously. "Kind of." 

Katherine pulls him up to his feet and drags him out of the room and to the empty hallway. "What's wrong?" 

"Nothing." He shakes his head, his eyes not meeting her gaze. "Look, I have to go. They—" 

"They can wait." Katherine cuts him off. "Newt, you know that I hate to repeat things. But for you, I'll repeat. What's wrong?" 

"I—I'll tell you later, okay? This is not the time for it. Not yet." He says and before she replies with his unsatisfied answer, he pulls her into a breathless kiss. 

She melts into him as her arms go around his neck and pulls him impossibly close. Every second of the kiss turns up more and more into passionate. 

His hands are on her hips and lower back. She's drinking him and he's doing the same as if they're making their own territories of their feelings. She's his and he's her. 

Pulling away, she finds herself breathless and at a loss for words. "Come back safely. We're not done here." 

"Can't wait." He says breathlessly with a smile. He pecks her again before releasing her all together.