~Sara~

"Newt can't go out there with us," said Brenda, intensifying Sara's anxiety.

A day of travel had passed more or less, and things were still as frustrating as ever.

Sara shook her head, many things running through her mind. "Why did we bring him if you planned to leave him behind? He also needs his implant removed, you know?"

Rebecca wrapped her arms around Sara as they sat on one of the beds. It wasn't easy to promise Newt that they'd fight until the end, and then immediately listen to her other friends talk about leaving him behind.

"Sara, Denver is one of the few refuge cities still standing," Rebecca told her. "People there don't joke around. And nearly anyone is welcome until they get sick. Then they get taken to the Crank Palace, or any abandoned site outside of city walls. They test everybody, and if they find out he has the Flare, they'll exile him, or even kill him."

People wanted to turn the Immunes in to authorities anyway. Sara's friends were already in danger, yet they were planning on running straight into more. 

Sara wanted to think of a different plan, but nothing that included leaving Newt behind. 

Why did everything always have to come with a cost?

Sara looked over at him, but Newt held an idle expression.

"Not to mention, there's WICKED patrol in the city," said Brenda. "The guards roam the streets to keep watch, and people turn each other in if someone shows the slightest hint of sickness."

Jorge scratched his head. He'd been busy the last couple of hours while the berg had been on autopilot mode. "I created new identities for us. There's a sweet reward WICKED put out there for whoever finds you guys, though. Especially Sara. We just need to get to Hans, but it's not gonna be easy," he said. "It'll be better if Newt waits for us in here."

"He can wear a face mask. I'm sure many people in the city wear one," Sara insisted.

"Listen, niña. I don't wanna separate you from him, but he can't put himself in further danger, and we can't risk him exposing us without meaning to." Everyone was glancing at each other, none of them feeling too comfortable with the decision that had to be made in the next few minutes. The city wasn't too far away anymore.

Sara was really scared. She knew they were right, but if Newt stayed, the Cranks could break into the berg wherever it'd be stationed, or WICKED could find him and hurt him, or use him to get to the rest of them.

"He's in danger already," she argued. "We all are if we're stepping foot in the city."

Newt surprised everyone by imposing his opinion. "I'm dying anyway, Sara!" he shouted. "How do you think it'll feel knowing I ran around a city of healthy people and infected them all? And I'd rather die in here than putting any of you in danger out there." He gave her an earnest look, but he was desperately trying to calm himself. She knew he was fighting it, but the virus was quickly eating him away. "I'm staying, it's okay," he finally said, and everyone was stunned.

They'd assumed he wanted to leave with Sara, as did she. Him wanting to stay was a pang to her chest due to their previous heartfelt conversation. She was trying to be a changed person and not let certain things get to her, but that wasn't going too well for her.

She only needed to think of something quickly before she was forced to accept the truth. She even looked over at Chuck who seemed just as scared. It was also dangerous for him to go out into the city and potentially see things no kid his age should see.

In the meantime, however, she made a decision and blurted out, "Then I'm staying with you."

Chatter broke among the group again, and Minho gave her a harsh look. "You're immune, shank. And you need that thing off your brain more than anyone else here. Rat Man wants you in particular. Don't think he isn't gonna try to use that thing in your brain to track you and the rest of us."

Newt snapped his head over to her after Minho mentioned that. "I can't let you stay because of me," he said. "You've got more important things to do, love. Think about what you told me back there, it'll be fine."

Sara's mind was churning with ideas and doubts, and perhaps she did think of the perfect plan. "No, I can stay. Chuck too, and so can Becca," she said, and they all looked at her like she was crazy.

"Rebecca knows Hans more than anyone, we need her with us," said Jorge, frowning at Sara. "And you and the kid are also immune. You'll be safe in the city for now."

"Listen," Sara said, with more determination. "You and Brenda know Hans too, kind of. Just give him proof you come in Becca's name. And since we don't want WICKED to find you guys, it's best that Rachel's with you guys since she doesn't have her implant anymore. And if I don't show up with you guys, Janson will not be looking for you as desperately as he's looking for me. And if Becca's with us, she can remove mine, Chuck's, and Newt's implants right here in the berg. We can protect ourselves from Cranks that might wanna break in and take Newt, or anyone who wants to turn the rest of us in. My face is probably all around the city. It's safer for everyone that way; not just a select few of us."

Sara looked at everyone, scanning their faces in a desperate attempt to convince them. Jorge and Brenda shared a look, really trying to think things through. Newt and Minho gave her a hard stare, and Rachel bit her lip thoughtfully.

Rebecca reached out to touch her forearm. "I don't want to do that. I promised myself I wouldn't do what WICKED was doing to you guys. Enough surgeries." Her eyes reflected sadness, and Sara felt bad about it.

Nonetheless, Sara gave her a smile. "I know. But this time, I'm the one begging you to do it. You're not doing what WICKED does. They want to control us with those implants, and you're gonna remove that control from us. You might've done it without my consent before, but you can fix that by removing it, and now you have my consent," she said, giving the woman a hopeful look.

"She does have a point," Rachel blurted out, looking at the rest of them.

"Chuck stays with me, though," said Thomas, and Sara tilted her head. "It's safer if he has more of us with him, and..."

"Chuck shouldn't see me like this in case... that happens again," Newt finished for him. His voice was sad, but he gave Sara a pressing look.

She sighed, then she looked at Chuck. "Are you okay with that?" The younger boy looked at her, then at Rebecca, and he nodded reluctantly.

"And you're sure about this?" asked Jorge, and Sara nodded. Then he walked over and sat next to Rebecca. "What about you? Are you okay with this?" he asked softly. Rebecca raised her head to look at him, and she glanced at Sara once before she nodded.

"I am," she said.

Then Sara looked at Newt, and he had a worried expression on his face. He looked a bit angry as well, so Sara grabbed his hand and squeezed it, trying to reassure him.

"And you?" she asked softly. Newt squeezed her hand in return and nodded.

"It's settled then," said Jorge. "I'll leave the berg secured in case anyone wants to raid it when we're stationed. The rest of you, grab something to eat and then come with me and I'll give you your new IDs." He looked at Sara and Newt next. "Take care, muchachos," he said, then he and Rebecca locked eyes. "You too, Becky."

She smiled at him and nodded. "Be safe, and take care of them for me."

It was hard to say goodbye to her friends like that, but Sara knew it was inevitable. WICKED wouldn't rest until they were all found, so they had to move quickly.

❀❀❀

Sara woke up, her head aching and pounding like crazy.

Her vision was blurry, and she felt so lightheaded she thought for a moment the berg was descending at top speed like the first time she ever got on a berg with Rachel. 

Something felt odd. Her whole upper body hurt, especially her head, but she strangely felt liberated—like she'd been tied to strings for so long and now she was free.

She knew she would fall over if she tried to stand, but she wanted to know where Newt and Rebecca were and tried pushing herself off the bed.

"No, no, no. Lay down, you're still weak from the surgery," she heard the woman's soft voice. Sara's eyes focused on her, and the woman walked over with a smile. The light of the room was almost too bright, but her eyes quickly adjusted. "Hello."

"Becca? What—it's done?" Sara asked, bewildered, and Rebecca nodded. All she remembered after the others left was that she offered to be put under sedatives first, and Newt was holding her hand... Newt! "Where is he?"

"He's still out. He should wake up a little later," Rebecca said, pulling over a curtain between the two beds to reveal Newt who still hadn't woken up. Sara couldn't help but notice the uneasiness in Rebecca's voice, like something had really disturbed her, even though everything seemed like it'd gone alright.

"Becca, did something happen with the surgery?" she asked, looking over at Newt with worried eyes, then frowning all confused when she didn't see anything abnormal; just a peacefully sleeping Newt.

"No, the surgery was successful; they both were."

Taking a closer look at her, Sara noticed some kind of stain surrounding the woman's neck, and she thought it was just dirt at first. But the marks looked red and pale purplish as Rebecca walked closer to the light, and then it looked like they were finger marks all over her neck. Sara knew what that meant, and she hoped with all her might that she would be wrong, but she knew she wasn't.

"Tell me the truth, Becca. What happened?" asked Sara, looking at her with concern. The woman, feeling uncomfortable, fixed her hair behind her ears and brought the ends to the front as if to cover the marks Sara had already seen.

"Nothing, you guys just need about an hour of rest, and then you'll be as good as new," she said, forcing a smile. "These surgeries are simple, and the recovery's quick. You have nothing to worry about," she reassured, but her tone had an edge to it that didn't convince Sara.

"Becca, I was out before Newt. What happened? I saw those marks, so don't try to hide them from me." Knowing there was no way out of it, Rebecca's eyes focused on the ground, and Sara was already dreading what was gonna come out of her mouth.

"His body had a negative response to the small dose of sedatives. Since he has the Flare, the stimulus from the disease creates a response that repels the effects of the medication. I had to use higher doses until he was out, but as I was trying to make him sleep, he was fighting me over it, and..." she paused, like she didn't want Sara to panic, "he was trying to push me away from him and grabbed me by the neck." She visibly gulped, and Sara noticed how frightened she was.

Newt might've been one of the kindest guys ever, but when the Flare took control, things would take a terrifying turn. Her gentle Newt was slipping quickly.

"The look in his eyes, the hatred... it was like I wasn't looking at Newt anymore," Rebecca finished.

Sara shook her head in denial. "It wasn't him, then." Then she grabbed Rebecca's arms and pulled her into a hug as the woman silently wept. "Are you okay?" she whispered. Rebecca only nodded, and she quickly wiped away her tears as they pulled apart.

Rebecca looked down at the few marks she was able to see just below the neck. "It looks worse than it really was. I was just scared, but the sedatives finally worked. He'll just be blacked out for a bit longer than you were. I didn't use too much—thankfully he was out before I overdosed him."

She looked over at Newt, then at Sara with apologetic eyes. She might have thought Sara would never forgive her if she accidentally killed Newt, but Sara knew it wasn't something Rebecca could control if it was the Flare that was controlling Newt. At least she knew he would eventually wake up. Sara didn't know what she would do if Newt died.

"Don't blame yourself, let's just wait," said Sara, glancing over at Newt, hoping he would wake up soon. Then she turned back to Rebecca. "So, what's the plan now?"

Rebecca took a seat and sighed. "Jorge and the others are gonna be gone for days. We're stationed right outside the city, which means that WICKED might find out where we all are unless we keep moving at least one step ahead of them. Our only other problem is that Cranks can break in too. If they know you and I are immune, they'll kill us, and they'll take Newt to the Crank Palace with them. We don't want that to happen, obviously, but we can't avoid a raid if it happens."

Sara thought well and hard for a few minutes. 

The best option for Newt was the Crank Palace, and she knew he would want to go there instead of possibly infecting anyone. Her heart ached at the fact that he wouldn't care about himself anymore, but she didn't have the heart to just let him live with a bunch of Cranks, especially those that weren't even human anymore. She would hate for him to see others like that, knowing that one day, that could be him. And it was gonna happen.

"I can't let Newt go to the Crank Palace."

"Well, if Jorge and the others can manage to keep WICKED distracted as they look for you, we can also distract them by not staying here," said Rebecca, a thoughtful expression plastered on her face.

Sara frowned at her. She literally just told Rebecca she didn't want to go to the Crank Palace, and that was the only other place they could go to if they were to move from where they were stationed. Everywhere else was either a wasteland, a home for Cranks, a city with WICKED patrol, or other random cities affected by supernatural weather.

Seeing the look on Sara's face, Rebecca shook her head. "We're not going there. I have a better idea."

"What—?" but before Sara could say anything else, Rebecca stood up.

"Stay with Newt. I'll go back to flying this thing and try to send a false signal to drive WICKED away in case they're tracking the berg," she said as she was leaving.

Confused, and anxious to know what genius plan Rebecca had in mind, Sara sighed as the woman had already walked out and left.

❀❀❀

Sara sat next to Newt's bed, now that she felt well enough to get out of her own bed.

There was an itching sensation in her head, but at least the pain was gone. It was impressive how nowadays one could walk out of a surgery with minimal ailments an hour or so after the surgery took place.

But Newt was still out. 

Sara looked down at his face, smiling to herself at how peaceful and angelical he looked. He even looked younger. The boy never aged, while Sara felt like she was growing old against her will. Physically a teenager, and an old woman at heart and mind.

Sara then started stroking his hair, running her fingers along the soft, golden mess. They should've been like that already, him sleeping in her arms, Sara stroking his hair, both sitting in a living room by the fire, feeling safe for once. Not flying in a berg over a wasteland, at the peak of danger like always. They deserved a normal life for once.

And Newt shouldn't have had to feel afraid because of a virus taking control over his mind. He deserved to be a normal sixteen-year-old boy, laughing and joking with his best friends, going out on dates with Sara, gazing up at the stars together as they lay on the grass. It wasn't too much to ask for. All they wanted was the simple joys of a normal life.

She caressed the side of his face with the back of her hand; because that was what one did when staring at a loved one and thinking about all the reasons why they loved them. Sara knew there was nothing she wouldn't do for him. He was her everything. 

Leaning over, she moved his hair away from his face and planted a sweet kiss on his forehead.

After a lapse of three hours, Sara could feel her own heart thumping aggressively against her chest. By then, she had Newt lying on her lap, and she was clutching him in her arms even tighter. She pressed his head against her chest, as if he could feel her heartbeat and open his eyes.

This wasn't normal—he should've been awake. 

Frantically, Sara used her fingers to check his carotid for a pulse, and it was there. She even leaned over his chest, and his heart was still pumping regularly—everything seemed normal.

"I don't understand," she whispered in anguish. "Newt, angel, can you hear me?" She shook him gently, waiting for him to react, then shook him harder, patting his face, his chest, arms—anything. Still nothing. Newt was breathing, but his eyes remained shut; he was otherwise unresponsive.

Sara carefully moved from underneath him, gently laying his head back on the pillow before she rushed to get Rebecca. 

"Becca! I can't wake him up!"

The woman's head snapped to her, and she dropped the controls and the touchscreen immediately, setting the berg on autopilot mode.

She followed Sara back to the medical wing in a rush.

Immediately, Rebecca lifted his shirt and connected him to an electrocardiogram (EKG) with the cables and everything. Sara had studied a bit of its function before entering the Maze, back in her days of curiosity, and she saw that the cardiac patterns were regular. Blood was pumping through his system at normal rates—what the shuck was wrong, then?

"This doesn't make any sense," said Rebecca, a firm look on her face, but Sara could tell she was afraid.

Suddenly, Newt sucked in a huge gulp of air as if he were lacking oxygen, his chest rising and his upper body lifting off the bed, then his body began to convulse. His entire body shook, and his heartbeat was slowing down. The EKG became a straight line, giving out a constant, horrifying beep before Newt stopped convulsing.

"Becca—what's happening?!" Sara screeched as she tried to hold onto him. Her tears were blinding her, and she couldn't think of anything else but Newt's life. He was slipping away from her so quickly. And there was nothing she could do except watch as Rebecca tried to save him.

"He's in cardiac arrest, step aside!" she yelled, quickly equipping a pair of defibrillators, ordering Sara to deliver the charge on command.

"Clear!" yelled Rebecca as she placed the paddles over his chest.

Sara pressed the shock button, delivering an electric current on his chest. The sound of the electricity was terrifying, and it reminded Sara of the grenades fired by the launchers.

She watched with panic and distress as the shock made Newt's upper body shoot upward from the chest, and he fell back on the bed with a loud thump. Still nothing. Sara was crying, every inch of her face trembling as she watched his unconscious body, and his absent heart rate on the EKG.

Rebecca's face depicted anguish, but she tried to stay calm as she increased the voltage. Once again, she ordered Sara to press the button so she could discharge another current to his chest. But the results were the same as before. Rebecca began to tear up, and Sara could swear she heard her quietly mumble a desperate 'please.'

"No..." Sara cried, covering her mouth with her cold, trembling hand as she sank to the floor, her back against the wall.

"Sara, I'm sorry," Rebecca wailed, discouragingly recharging the devices again. Taking a shaky deep breath, she pressed them against his chest for the third time...