A/N: More italics in this one referring to a flashback :)

Thomas' POV

Heat. Hunger. Thirst. Exhaustion. Clara. All things that constantly keep circling through my head.

The sand is up to my shin again as we continue making our trek through what Jansen called the scorch. It's brutal. It's hard to walk in sand this tall and even with the sun down it's still really hot. It's not an easy journey anyway but without food and now without water it's nearly impossible. Not to mention I'm carrying Clara's unconscious body and have been carrying her for nearly seven hours now. Thankfully she's light. She's been out for about thirty four hours or more and the fear that she won't wake up again is nearly crippling. She has to wake up, she just has to. She randomly keeps trembling and we think it's her body trying to fight the infection. She has a fever, a pretty bad one now, and is covered in sweat yet has chills at the same time. Her hand keeps grabbing onto my coat as if she thinks I'll drop her or maybe it's just a reaction. I don't know why she keeps doing it but I wouldn't drop her.

"Doing okay Thomas?"

I glanced over my shoulder at Chase who had carried her the first twelve hours after she passed out.

"Yeah. I'll probably need a break soon though. Just to resituate her if nothing else." I nodded to Clara in my arms before looking back at Chase. He nodded in understanding, glancing around our exhausted group.

"We'll probably all need a break soon. Newt's leg is really making him struggle. Minho is helping him now but I don't know how much longer we'll be able to last. And with no water..." He let the sentence trail and I knew what he was saying. We finished the last of our water this morning, well, in theory the last drop went to Clara. I smirked when I thought back to Chase holding her up while I poured the water down her throat. It's not easy getting someone to drink when they're unconscious.

A light tugging on my arm caught my attention and my eyes immediately locked on Clara's pale face. Her shaky hands had a tight hold on my coat and her lips were parted slightly as she took small, rapid breaths. She was getting worse.

"Chase, we have to find something to get rid of the infection. I can't lose her." My voice trembled as I looked at him and he nodded, staring intently at her. He knew how I felt about her.

"She won't last much longer. None of us will." His voice quieted and he looked around at the others again. "Can you guys keep going or do we need to stop?" His voice carried on with the wind so everyone was able to hear him.

I turned and saw Minho practically dragging Newt with him, both of them looked completely defeated. Teresa was walking close to Aris with Fry Pan staggering not too far behind them.

"We can't stop or we won't be able to get back up." Minho yelled out, glancing at Newt before returning Chase's gaze.

"And we have to get Clara something to help her." Newt added with a distraught expression. I could tell how badly he wanted to be the one taking care of her but he couldn't. Not in the shape he was in.

"We'll be fine for a little longer." Aris called out on behalf of Teresa and Fry Pan, both of them nodding in agreement.

Chase returned his gaze to me then shrugged. "I can take her if you want me to." He held out his arms but I held Clara tighter to me. With her in this condition I couldn't let her go now.

"No, I got her. Can you move her up a little higher in my arms though?"

He pulled her closer to my shoulder and I resituated my arms beneath her, nodding at him that I was good. "Okay, let's go. We can make it to that building up ahead by dawn and maybe there's someone who can help us."

"Ah, being the positive one now Thomas?" Chase forced a grin on to his face and I found myself nodding. We didn't have to say what we were both thinking. Since Clara wasn't up then someone needed to be hopeful.

I found my mind wandering as we continued on in silence and couldn't help but think of the moment I fell in love with Clara. I knew that day would change everything about my life and I was right.

The only sound that filled the room was the marker against the board as it ran out of ink. Our teacher, Mrs. Carter, began writing harder in hopes the marker would last longer to no avail. Clara sat beside me cringing every time the marker screeched in protest and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. I've known Clara for six years now and have become very accustomed to her personality. And that includes her likes and dislikes, noises that drive her crazy, and the teachers she doesn't particularly care for. Mrs. Carter is one of them.

Chase sits in front of me snickering in Clara's direction, knowing very well how close she is to losing her cool. Newt sits in front of her, glancing back nervously every time Mrs. Carter makes the horrendous sound, knowing Clara just as well as we do.

Finally, after one final letter makes the screeching noise we hear it.

"Oh for the love of God just change the marker!"

Everyone in class starts laughing aside from Mrs. Carter who spins sharply on her heel and glares daggers at Clara.

"How about you change the marker for me during detention Ms. Barton?"

Clara drops her head on the desk clearly shocked that the words managed to escape her lips, earning a few more chuckles from the class.

After class is over we all walk to the lunch room where we find Minho already sitting at a table with Gally, Alby, and a few others. Clara drops her tray noisily next to mine and plops down with a scowl on her face.

"I don't see how it's fair that I stay after school when it's her fault she doesn't know when to throw out a marker."

I grin at her before taking a bite of my grilled cheese. There's a soft clearing of the throat behind us and we turn to see Sarah, one of the "popular" kids in school. She's mean to anyone not in her inner circle and seems to pretty much despise Clara and all of us at this table for that matter.

"Hey, Thomas. I was wondering if you'd want to go out with me some time? We could go get some food or something?" She smiles brightly at me while trying avidly to avoid anyone else's gaze at the table. I shift nervously in the seat trying to think of the best way to turn her down. This girl is just not my cup of tea and I definitely don't trust her.

I'm about ready to speak when Clara places her hand lightly on my shoulder. "I'm sorry to break this to you Sarah but Thomas is seeing someone."

"Clara, stay out of this. Thomas is a big boy and can speak for himself." Anger radiates off of Sarah as she finally shifts her gaze away from me and lands a hard glare on Clara.

"I know he is but he just doesn't have the heart to tell you to get lost. I however know what you're really up to and if you don't want to get your ass kicked you'll leave. Now." Clara stood up and turned so she was facing Sarah.

"I'm not up to anything!" Sarah's eyes squinted into small slits as she glared at Clara and the side of Clara's mouth quirked up in response.

"Yeah?" Clara took a step closer to Sarah and arched her brow menacingly. " Then why did I overhear you talking to Jason earlier about some big prank you're wanting to pull on him? You need to think long and hard about your next move Sarah. I already have detention, I could care less if I get another one if it means I have the chance to kick your ass for trying to hurt my friend."

I felt my eyes nearly pop out of my head as my gaze shifts back to Sarah. She's not only stunned but her cheeks are bright red in humiliation.

"I'll get you back for this Clara. You can count on it." She spat before turning away.

"Yeah, and I'll be waiting for the moment you actually back up your worthless threats Sarah!" Clara called out sweetly with a bright smile on her face. We all watched her with amazed expressions as she bravely stood up to the most popular girl in school. And she didn't even hesitate to do it. She plopped back down beside me and focused on her sandwich as everyone at the table waited for an explanation.

"Clara?"

She arched a brow and looked up at Chase. "Yes?"

"What was that about?" Excitement shown bright in his eyes as he spoke to his sister, hoping the story would be as good as what just happened.

She shrugged before glancing at me. "I heard her say something about trying to hurt Tommy because he's the favorite around this place. She said she wanted to humiliate him so I figured I'd beat her to the punch line."

There were several small chuckles around our table and I couldn't help the blush that spread through me. "Thanks Clara. You didn't have to do that." My voice was quiet but we were so close to each other I knew she heard me.

"Don't thank me for that, I'd do it every day if I could. I won't let anyone hurt you guys. Especially you, Tommy." She smiled lightly at me and patted my leg before taking another big bite of her sandwich.

During my next class I purposely got detention, my first one, so I could give Clara some company.

About an hour later we were finally closing in on the building. There's a prominent ache in my heart now after thinking about that time, one of many, Clara stood up for me. She was never scared to stand up to the most popular girl in school if it meant defending one of us. She never cared what everyone else said about her, she only cared about her friends. Her and Teresa were the only girls in a group of about twenty or more boys and it wasn't easy for them to watch the jealous girls try to humiliate us. We had no problems with the guys but since we couldn't really fight a girl...Clara was more than happy to step in for us. It was Janson's fault for treating us differently from the others. He'd openly praise us in front of everyone else for being smarter than them and most of the kids our age didn't appreciate it. We all excelled in different areas so luckily we were usually grouped together. Clara, Chase, and I had nearly every class together for years.

I tried to shake the thoughts from my mind as another memory surfaced. One that wasn't as easy to deal with as a few petty teenaged girls.

The basketball sailed through the net and Minho cheered, loudly, as we won the game. Almost everyone else had gone in but we were allowed to finish our game of Horse before calling it a day. There was only one unarmed guard keeping an eye out on us and that should have been enough to make us go in. Chase, Clara, Newt, and Alby were on one team while Zart, Winston, Minho and I were on the other. Clara was arguing with Chase about the last letter they earned, that he earned, when we heard it.

The lone guard that was watching over us screamed out in pain as several cranks emerged from what seemed like nowhere. We tried running for the door, most of us made it, but I tripped. It was my own clumsy fault that could have gotten Clara killed that day. She stopped running immediately when I hit the ground and ran back to me, pulling me to my feet. There were a few cranks around us and she kicked at them, punched at them, anything to get them away from us. If it weren't for her I never would have made it inside. Jason scolded us for over an hour that night and we weren't allowed to go outside after that all because I nearly got us killed. When I thanked Clara for saving me she laughed and said, "Tommy, I'm not ever going to leave you." She rolled her eyes at the thought and punched me lightly in the arm before going to the detention she earned herself by smarting off to Jansen while he was yelling at us. When I asked why it seemed like she didn't care about her own life she just shook her head and laughed before replying, "my life means nothing without you guys in it."

There were now dark clouds hanging low in the sky and there was a new electricity in the air, charging the atmosphere.

"Looks like a storm is coming in!" Minho's voice slowly drifted up to me and I looked up at the sky again. He was right and we were still a pretty good ways away from the building. I looked back at our group and sighed at how pathetic we looked. After being dehydrated, starved, and wounded we weren't doing very well.

A loud boom of thunder got our feet moving faster, as fast as we could, and once again Chase was eyeing Clara in my arms.

"You want me to take her?"

"No, just keep going." I replied, focused on nothing but the building.

We picked up our pace quite a bit and now Fry Pan was also helping Minho with Newt as we stumbled through the scorch.

My eyes shifted to the sky when I saw streaks of lightning crawling through the low hanging clouds. I felt my body shiver as a cool burst of wind swept through us and I knew the storm was getting closer. The hairs on my arms stood on end as the lightning started coming down in strikes. Rain and thunder we could handle but with lightning things looked more hopeless than they already had.

I pulled Clara closer to me and glanced over my shoulder to make sure we still had everyone as the wind picked up. My legs trembled as we walked against the wind and each step was harder to take than the last. However, each step became even more important as the lightning struck down around us. The lightning lit up the sky, striking here and striking there, just enough to scare us into running as fast as we possibly could. The sand was kicked up by the dirt and it only took a few seconds for me to lose everyone else. My heart pounded furiously in my chest and if I didn't have Clara I would have turned to look for the others.

"Keep going Thomas!" I heard Chase's faint voice yell. He sounded much farther away than I would have liked and without realizing it my feet had stopped me. I couldn't just leave them. Even with Clara in my arms I just couldn't leave them behind. The sudden abruptness of my stop had a few crashing into me and I sighed with relief when my gaze met Newt's. "Newt, go!" I shouted to him. His gaze lingered on Clara briefly before he reluctantly started running towards the building knowing he'd be the slowest of our group.

My eyes immediately flickered to the others that bumped into me and I felt a small smile stretch across my face when Minho and Chase started pushing me to walk. Aris, Teresa, and Fry Pan had a hold of each other and were running as fast as they could in the wind to the building. I let out another breath as I realized for the moment everyone was okay.

Minho separated from us and started running after Newt when another bolt came down. The hair on my body stood on end as the bolt struck Minho. Chase and I were thrown back from the force of the strike as we had been closest to him when the bolt hit. My head hit the ground with a hard thud and for a moment everything was fuzzy. I shook my head and pulled myself to my feet with Clara still nestled in my arms. Chase was climbing to his feet beside me and we both watched in horror as Newt tried to extinguish the flames devouring Minho's still body.

A/N: The next couple of chapters are going to be exciting and I can't wait! :)