|A warning to the people, the good and the evil. This is war

|This is war, Thirty Seconds to Mars

|||

Dawn's P.O.V.

'Good luck, kids,' Lawrence said, as we stood by the open cargo door, looking out over the huge forest of pine trees that spread out around us. 'I'd tell you to be careful, but you're not idiots, so I won't.'

'Okay then,' Thomas said, 'we'll get the device planted as soon as we get in. You might have to hurry though, Janson already told us he needs our brains to make this work. But I'm sure everything will go down with no problems. Right?'

'I'll have lizards flying out of my nostrils if we have no problems,' Lawrence replied, but there was kindness in his voice. 'Now get. Once you're out there go that way.'

I followed his hand with my eyes, he pointed to the left, towards the edge of the forest. Pulling my coat closer around me I stepped out of the Berg. Not throwing a single look over my shoulder to check whether they would fly away or just stay there. I didn't care, I just wanted to reach Wicked and get it all over with.

The tall, thick pine trees surrounded us as we made our way through the thin layer of snow. I remembered loving the snow as a kid but now I honestly couldn't recall why. It was cold and wet and made a horrible sound that was way too loud to my ears.
The wind was cold and my breath left my lips in silver puffs of air as we walked on in complete silence. The walk lasted at least an hour before we finally reached the forest edge. And before us, resting on the edge of a huge cliff, right next to a glittering blue ocean, lay a huge complex. The walls were made out of white cement, with narrow slits as windows. One round building rose amid the other smaller ones placed around it, like a huge tower. Wicked's headquarters.

I felt my chest tighten by the sight of the building, recalling when I first came here as a kid, so scared and mad at my father for betraying us. And now here I was again, completely voluntary and I wondered why I had been so crazy as to agree with the whole plan.

Thomas started walking towards what looked to be the maingate.
Taking a deep breath I forced myself to follow him, every bone in my body telling me to turn around and walk away, but it was too late. The cameras on the sides of the building would probably have spotted us by now. I had to do this, put an end to all the lives they were destroying, if not for myself then for him. For Newt.

We walked along a paved lane, closer towards the building. I looked up towards the closest windows but couldn't look inside, the glass was heavily tinted but I did notice two red lights on the walls and for some strange reason felt myself smile.

'Look,' Thomas suddenly said, pointing up at the lights. 'Beetle blades.'

I nodded, remembering the first time I saw them crawling on the walls inside the Maze and my stomach dropped. Although I wasn't thinking it back then, but my time in the Glade truly hadn't been this bad. At least we were all together, even though it was only for a little while, alive and happy.

We walked on in silence across the sidewalk, reaching a set of glass doors, which I knew to be the main enterence. As soon as we were only a few feet away a series of locks disengaged, one after the other and I knew what it looked like from the inside, like the doors to a treasure room, being heavily guarded. Then one of the doors swung open, revealing Janson, my father or Rat Man according to Minho. He extended a hand to gesture for us to enter.

'Welcome back Thomas,' he said, 'No one believed me, but I've been saying all along that you'd return. I'm glad you made the right choice.' Then he turned to me, smiling, making my stomach turn to ice. 'And my daughter, I am so happy you decided to come back, it's sad your sister isn't as smart.'

I didn't reply, feeling an overwhelming hatred float through my body by hearing his words.

'Let's just get on with it,' Thomas broke the silence, his voice impatient.
'Sounds like an excellent idea,' Janson said, stepping back and bowing slightly, 'after you.'

I looked at Thomas who nodded at me and then, taking a deep breath, I stepped inside Wicked's headquarters, every bone in my body protesting as I did.

We entered a wide lobby with a few couches and chairs scattered around a large empty desk. The whole place seemed empty and abandoned and it scared me to think about how crowded it used to be.

'I thought we'd spend a few minutes in my office,' Janson said, pointing down a hallway to our right. 'We're terribly sorry about what happened in Denver. A shame to loose a city with so much potential. All the more reason we need to get this done and get it done quickly.'

'What is it we have to do?' Thomas asked.

'Well as we told you before, it is essential for the cure to work that we need your killzone. But first we have to discuss the details with you,' Janson replied, nodding.

I looked at Thomas, we had to find a way to be alone for a minute so we could install the device.

'That's fine,' Thomas said, 'but I really need to use the bathroom first.'

A simple, almost dumb idea and yet it would work perfectly well. Now I just had to keep Rat Man talking long enough so he wouldn't notice if Thomas stayed on the toilet for too long.

'There's just one up ahead.' Janson pointed at a door to our right. 'We'll just wait right here.'

Thomas nodded before stepping inside, leaving me alone with the last person on earth I wanted to be with right now.
Janson turned on his heels to face me and I had to take a deep breath to keep myself calm and look back at him.

'I'm just curious, what made you decide to come back?' Janson asked me.

I tried to swallow the cotten-ball-feeling that had suddenly appeared in my throat. That feeling you get, right before you start crying, as if your throat was being squeezed shut. My heart was suddenly heavy in my chest as I looked up to the man I so desperatly wanted to love, but never would be able to. 'Newt is dead.'

By saying those three words I could see it happening before me all over again. The sound of the bullet flying, his body touching the ground, my horrified screams. I looked at my feet, avoiding Janson's gaze at any cost. I wouldn't cry, not here, not now.

'And I just-' I tried talking but my voice was small and weak. 'I don't want anyone else to go through something like that.'

Looking back up at Janson I noticed his calculating look, almost as if he was thinking about putting his hand on my shoulder but he clearly decided against it as he folded his hands on his back. 'Then let's make sure no one will.'

Nodding I looked away from him again, towards the door that just opened. Thomas stepped back into the hallway.

'All finished?' Janson asked, annoyingly polite.

'All finished,' Thomas replied.

We started walking down the hallway again, passing a few portraits of different people that had worked for Wicked. I didn't look at them, not wanting to be reminded of a single person. Thomas, however, had a different idea.

'Am I ever going to meet Chancellor Paige?' Thomas asked, breaking the heavy silence.

'Chancellor Paige is very busy,' Janson answered, 'you have to remember, Thomas, completing the blueprint and finalizing the cure are only the beginning. We're still organizing the logistics of getting it out to the masses. Most of the team is working hard at it as we speak.'

'What makes you so sure this will work?' I asked, my throat still hurting from trying to swallow my tears earlier.

Janson glanced at me, flashing me a smile that made a shiver crawl down my spine. 'I believe with every ounce of my being. And I promise you'll both get the credit you deserve.'

'I don't want any credit,' Thomas replied.

'Here we are,' Janson said, ignoring Thomas. He pointed towards a white door and opened it, gesturing for us to step inside.

The room was small, with white walls and no windows. An unnatrual blue light hung on the ceiling and a simple desk with two people behind it filled the small office. A woman with long red hair and thin-framed glasses and a man. He was bald, and skinny, dressed in green scrubs.

I didn't recognize either of them.

'These are my associates,' Janson said, moving to sit behind the desk as well. 'Dr. Wight,' he pointed at the woman, 'is our lead Psych and Dr. Christensen our lead physician. We have a lot to discuss, so you'll pardon me if I'm short on introductions.'

Thomas and I took place in two chairs that stood before the desk and it almost felt like being called into the principal's office.

'Why am I the final candidate?' Thomas asked, immediately cutting to the case.

Janson folded his hands in his lap. 'Excellent question. We had a handful of, pardon the term, subjects slated in the beginning to compete for this honor. Recently it was narrowed to you and Teresa. But she has a way of following orders that you don't. Your tendency toward freethinking is what ultimately determined that you are the Final Candidate.'

My eyes slightly widened at this explantion and I could almost feel the fury that vibrated from Thomas next to me. We had been played until the very end. They had wanted, expected, our rebellion and used it to help them in their experiments. It made me doubt if any choice we'd made hadn't been anticipated beforehand.

'Let's just get this over with,' Thomas said, his voice slightly trembling.

'Some patience please. This won't take long. Keep in mind that collecting the killzone patterns is a delicate operation. We're dealing with your mind, and the slightest mishap in what you're thinking or interpreting or perceiving can render the resultant findings worthless,' Janson explained.

'Yes,' Dr.Wight spoke up, 'I know A.D Janson told you about the importance of coming back and we're glad that you made the decision.'

Dr. Christensen cleared his throat, then spoke. 'I don't know how you could've made any other decision. The whole world's on the verge of collapse, and you can help save it.'

'So you say,' Thomas responded.

'Exactly,' Janson said, 'so we say. Everything is ready. Now we just need to know if you are truly on board with this.'

Thomas looked at his hands and I knew he was uncomfortable and I couldn't blame him. It wasn't everyday someone asked you if you were comfortable with giving up your brain. If the Right Arm didn't arrive here fast enough, they would kill Thomas. And I couldn't let that happen, not after losing Newt. I wasn't going to loose anyone else.

'On board with giving up my brain,' Thomas said, letting out a shaky breath.

'Yes,' Dr. Christensen answered. 'The Final Candidate holds the missing piece to complete the date for the blueprint. But we had no way to tell until we monitored the patterns against the Variables. This will give us our final data, your systems functioning properly while we do it. Not that you'll feel any pain, if we'll heavily sedate you until...'

His voice drifted off and I finished the sentence for him, my voice sharp. 'Until you kill him.' Then I turned to look at Janson as suddenly something became very clear to me. My heart started beating faster in my chest as I realised how stupid I had been to think he actually cared about me. 'Hold on, so all that crap about I'm not sacrifing my own daughter, that was all klunk. You knew, even back then, that you needed Thomas, not me.'

Janson turned to look at his hands, his eyes avoiding me as I stood up from my chair, anger clawing inside of me like a monster trying to get out of me.

'Was anything you ever told me real? Was something real?'

Finally he looked up at me, his eyes piercing mine and I felt hatred wave through me, overwhelming and all consuming.

'Just because you lost Newt doesn't mean you have to get angry-'

'Don't you dare involve him into this!' I screamed before I walked up to the desk and put my hands on it, squinting my eyes at my father. My very own father who kept lying to me, time and time again. 'Just tell me what you need me to do, then I can go and do it without having to look at your face a minute longer.'

Janson sat up straight in his chair and nodded at me. 'Very well, Dr. Goonell is waiting for you outside will escord you to your work station.'

All my anger suddenly left me, making me feel like a balloon with no air. That meant leaving Thomas here, alone, meaning I wouldn't be able to safe him if the Right Arm wouldn't arrive in time.

I threw a look of discomfort over my shoulder at the boy who saved our lives in the Maze, who made stupid choices but always with the intention of saving us. Was he going to end up saving the humanrace? Or just another dead body in Wicked their path to creating a cure?

Thomas gave me a curt nod, knowing we had no other choice. It would seem supicious if I refused to cooperate now.

So I slowly took a step back from the desk, took a shaky breath before turning to do the door. With one last look at Thomas I stepped outside, my heart beating like a war drum in my chest.