.* ﾟ

G A M E O F
S U R V I V A L

· 。ﾟ

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲, 𝐢'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨
𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐞
𝐢 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢'𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫
𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

chapter twelve
may he finally rest

.·:*¨༺     ★      ༻¨*:·.

FRYPAN HELPED CARRY Winston onto the lift as the boy winced trying to adjust himself. The Cook chewed on his bottom lip watching Rosie kneel down helping Winston drink water. The girl rubbed the back of his head trying to comfort him in any way possible as he laid back down.

      "You can do this, right?" Frypan asked, the state of his best friend was making him fear the worst outcome. "Keep going, I mean."

      With blurry vision overriding his eyesight, Winston blinked a few times trying to make his sight clearer. He answered tiredly, "yea, Fry."

"We promised each other, Winston." Frypan reminded his best friend. "You fall, I fall."

Rosie raised her eyebrow up in confusion looking up at Frypan wondering what he meant by that. Her attention went back to Winston shaking his head as he coughed out, "this one doesn't count."

       "What do you mean?" Rosie questioned Frypan who squeezed his eyes shut trying to fight back tears. "Wins? What's he talking about?"

The girl sort of knew what he meant but didn't want to believe it. With the few months Rosie shared with Winston and Frypan, she knew they shared a bond like no other. The two were inseparable the majority of time and would always look for one another if they weren't together. There bond was stronger than any other friendship Rosie had ever witnessed or remembered. Frypan would do anything to help Winston and vice versa.

Winston would sacrifice himself for Frypan. And Frypan would sacrifice himself for Winston.

They were more than just friends.

More than best friends.

More than brothers.

They were soulmates. Platonic though. Soulmates who were able to find each other in other lifetimes. The type of friendship that made sense. A soul tie. Their friendship carried depth and understanding. They found each other in every life and saw each other in all of life.

"I can't do this without you, man." Frypan admitted running his hand over his head. The boy had started bouncing his foot in worry. "How am I suppose to keep going if you won't be there?"

"I'll be there." Winston cut his best friend off, "physical or not, I'll be with you."

"We have to keep going." Minho announced looking around the group of people with him. His attention went to the curly headed girl who had her head leaned on Mara's shoulder for support. "You okay?" Jessie lifted her head up nodding not able to form sentences from the exhaustion. "Need anything?"

Mara shakes her head, "she just needs rest."

"I can keep going." Jess responded putting her right hand over her heart feeling how fast her heart was beating. The girl stood up a bit too fast almost falling to the ground before Samadhi was able to grab her by the waist.

"We'll help her walk." Samadhi stated before handing Jessie her water. "Drink."

       Minho took notice of Samadhi's arm and the healed scars that were scattered around. The girl looked up realizing he was staring, "eyes up here, kid." Her hands went up to motion her face as Minho looked back up.

      "What happened to—"

      Samadhi grabbed her backpack from the floor as she hissed at him, "none of your goddamn business."

       Minho took a step back as he realized it was best not to ask her anymore questions. Samadhi wasn't one for telling stories. She was a private person and rarely ever let anyone in. Her past had made her toughen up and to learn to depend only on herself. Her battle scars ran down her body reminding her every second of what she'd been through inside WICKED's walls.

       Aris snorted trying to keep his chuckle lowly. The girls specifically, Samadhi, reminded him of the girls he was with in his maze. She reminded him of Harriet. Harriet was definitely someone with authority and was somewhat bossy. She was fiercely independent and only cared for a few people. Samadhi was definitely more sharp tongued but Aris could see the loyalty she had for Mara and Jess and a little bit now for Rosie.

      "Come on guys," Thomas announced grabbing one side of Winston's lift as Minho grabbed the other side. Teresa lead the way with Aris in the front.

       Samadhi hooked Jess' left arm over her own neck as Mara did the same on her other side. The two girls helped Jess walk trying to take the pressure off her. Rosie carried Jessie's backpack and was at the end with Frypan and Newt.

☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜★

☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜★

    A FEW HOURS in and the gladers were in search for shelter. The wind picked up rather quickly with the sand burning their eyes. Rosie had already covered Winston's eyes with a piece of cloth she carried. "Fuck," the girl muttered under her breath as she rubbed her left eye quickly regretting the decision.

     The sensation worsened as the sand had worsened her own vision. Her bicep was hurting and she was too scared to check it. Rosie wanted to cry as she didn't want to believe that the serum wasn't working. Especially when the bolts of pain became quite frequent and harder to hide from others.

"Thomas grab his legs!" Minho demanded as the group struggled to climb up a hill. All the boys grabbed sections of the lift making it easier to walk up.

"I got him! I got him!" Thomas stated after securing his hands around Winston's legs. "We gotta find shelter!"

"No shit," Samadhi cursed under her breath receiving a short chuckle from Jessie. Sam smiled shortly patting her on the back as she walked on her own this time.

Jessie spotted Rosie rubbing her eyes, "hey stop rubbing it! You're just making it worse!"

"It hurts!" Rosie replied rather quickly alerting Newt who looked back to see what was hurting her.

"What's wrong?" Newt called out as he helped lift Winston, "you alright?"

Teresa points to a submerged balcony. "Guys over here!"

Jessie grabs a hold of Rosie intertwining their arms together as she guides her to the shelter Teresa found. The guys lay Winston down before plopping down where they stood. She sits her down on a big rock before grabbing her own canteen and opening it.

"Open your eyes." Jessie ordered

Rosie forced her eye open feeling the burning sensation before water reached it and started to flush out the particles. Her pain reduced immensely as the water started to soothe her burning eye.

"Thank you." Rosie replied as the sand was completely out of her eye and only the redness remained. Jessie nodded before taking a deep breath feeling the exhaustion. Mara stands up ready to catch her before Jessie even could realize she was slipping down to the ground.

"Oh, c'mon, Jess," Mara groaned catching her from behind, "you were doing so good."

Rosie watched the interaction play out in front of her. Her heart ached as she knew the reason why Jessie struggled so much. And it was her own fault for letting Jessie cover for her. For letting Jessie take a bullet for her and doing nothing to avenge her.

She replayed that memory over and over again. There were so many ways she could have helped and saved Jess from the trauma she now carried. Just like she blamed herself for the countless of deaths that seemed to plague her like a disease.

Rosie hated herself.

And there was no way to change that anymore.

ROSIE MADE SURE no one was watching her as she did her best to clean up Winston's wound. She replaced the bandages with clean ones that were already getting soaked by his infection. Her hand flew up to his forehead checking for a fever. The boy's forehead was more than warm, "shuck, you're burning up, Winston."

Winston grunted as he stashed his hands inside his pockets searching for something. The boy pulled out a piece of crumbled paper handing it over to Rosie, "here."

"What is this?" Rosie questions uncrumbling the piece of paper in her hands.

"A letter to my mom." Winston admitted before coughing into his arm. Rosie raised her eyebrow in confusion before he explained himself, "I heard your conversation back inside the glade with Vince. Give it to her when you find her."

     The girl was caught off guard as she shook her head, "relax, we'll find her together. There's no need for you to give me this—"

      Clearing his throat Winston cut her off, "just in case, Rosie, please."

      Not wanting to stress him out, Rosie nods. "Okay. I'll just hold on to it."

       Winston closed his eyes letting out a very tired thank you. Rosie let out a sigh as she got up from her knees before noticing the three girls who avoided her. They all knew the fate of the young boy.

Jessie bit her lip as she opened her canteen noticing the emptiness off it. The girl pretended to drink out of it as she didn't want to tell the two girls by her side that she ran out.

"How you feeling?" Mara asked fanning herself as she rubbed her own sweat off her forehead.

"I'm better." Jessie replied tying her hair up again before watching Thomas walk to Teresa who was yards away.

Samadhi fumbled with her pocket knife trying to focus on it and ignore her dehydration. Her canteen was quite full but she didn't drink much in case Jess ran out. Out of the trio, Sam was definitely the most selfless. She'd sacrifice herself if it meant Mara and Jess would be able to escape it all once and for all.

The brunette didn't have much to lose. The only thing that was keeping her alive was the two girls who she promised would help them find a safe place. Samadhi had lost all of her family inside the WICKED walls. Her parents betrayed her at such a young age and her sister was murdered. A boy she loved was also killed after WICKED found out they were planning to escape.

      Mara closed her eyes wondering when this was going to be over. She had a lot of doubt in her mind especially when Teresa gave her a bad feeling. Mara knew not to trust her, hell she didn't trust any of the boys either. She didn't have the trust for them yet reminding her to open her eyes and be aware of her surroundings.

      Rosie sat down in between Newt's legs resting her head on his good leg. "How you holding up, sweet?" Newt asked rubbing her shoulder as he knew she was hiding something from him.

     "I'm okay." The girl replied allowing the boy to continue rubbing her shoulder. "Just tired."

      A little smile curved on Minho's lips as he watched Jessie from a distance. The girl was holding a conversation with Mara. A feeling in the pit of his stomach erupted as Jessie smiled in the conversation. The boy was amazed by her beauty.

       "You could get up and start a conversation, Minho." Rosie interrupted his thoughts as the pair noticed his glances towards her.

      Newt nodded in agreement, "yeah, mate. Just go and talk to her."

      Minho shook his head scoffing at the pair's suggestion. "And embarrass myself? I don't think so. That's for another time."

       Rosie laughed at his hesitance. "She's the nice one out of the three so don't sweat it."

      "Nope! Maybe another time."

       The girl rolled her eyes as she replied, "you know what? Maybe I should call her over here. Hey Jess—"

       Before Minho could even try to protest, the gladers fell down to the floor hearing a gunshot go off. "Winston! What are you doing man?! Give me that!"

      The gladers rushed up on their feet realizing where it came from. Frypan snatched the gun away from Winston's hand. "What the hell are you thinking?!" Minho yelled at the boy as his initial reaction was frightened.

      The girl could hear someone call for Teresa and Thomas, "hey guys come down here!"

      "What's going on Winston?" Newt questioned as he watched his girlfriend walk towards his cousin and kneel down.

      "Hey, Wins, look at me," Rosie demanded trying to get him to look at her, "what's wrong?"

       Thomas rushed to the scene panting as he asked in panic, "what happened?"

      "I, I don't know. He just woke up and grabbed the gun. He tried to—" Frypan was cut off as Winston tried to push Rosie away to reach for the gun in Frypan's hand.

       Thomas walked over to him asking the same questions, "Winston, are you okay?"

       The boy shook his head struggling before throwing up black liquid. The gladers take steps back once they realize what was going on. Rosie was the only one who didn't move an inch. "It's okay. It's okay." The girl muttered not knowing what to do to help him.

      Rosie knew how he felt. She had been through it and was starting to go through it again.

      "It's, it's growing—" Winston tried to pull up his shirt to reveal his infection but Rosie pulled it back down not wanting the rest to see.

      "You're fine, Winston."

      Winston brushed Rosie off shaking his head before pulling up his shirt to reveal his infection. "I'm sorry." He muttered breaking everyone's heart. The group looked at one another knowing what it meant. "I'm not gonna make it."

      Rosie took a notice of the silence taking that to heart as she tried to convince him. "Yes you are. Don't put that in your head, Winston. Okay, we, we'll figure it out. We still have to find our family."

      A few of the gladers glanced at one another knowing about Rosie and Winston's kindred connection. Minho, Newt, and Jess being the only ones that knew.

       Winston shook his head pleading at her; "please, please don't let me turn into one of those. Please."

     "You're not going to, okay? We'll get to the Right Arm and they'll know what to do, okay?" Rosie spoke trying to convince herself that he was going to be okay. They were going to make it out alive together.

     "I need you to let me go, Rosie." he spoke looking over to the only blood related relative he had left. Winston watched the tears stream down from his older cousin's face as she shook her head not wanting to let him go.

"I won't." Rosie replied holding onto him ignoring the wound that had spread through his chest. "I can't."

"Rosie, please." Winston spoke his hand grabbing hers, "I'm not gonna make it and I need you to realize that."

"No! No! No!" Rosie raised her voice, "get up Winston! Please!"

Newt took a few steps forward touching her shoulder, "Rosie—"

Her head turned to the British boy who took a step back once he saw a look, she had never given him before. It was terrifying. It was a mix of anger and sadness. "Shut up! He's my cousin, Newt! He's my family! My only family left!"

Rosie turned back to Winston not caring about the pain she caused Newt with the words she let out. Her eyes widened realizing what was happening as someone's arms were lifting her up from the ground. Minho had tightened his grip on her restricting her from any possible escape. "Let me go! Let me go! He needs me!"

Winston shook his head, "it's okay, Rosie. Really."

Rosie did her best to get out of Minho's grasp yelling at him until she stayed scarily still when she saw what Newt was doing. The boy grabbed the gun out of Frypan's hand.

"Hey, Newt—" Thomas stopped not really knowing what to say as they all watched him walk over to Winston.

"Don't you dare!" Rosie yelled at her boyfriend trying once again to free herself from the grasp Minho had her in, "Newt drop the fucking gun! I swear to god, I'll kill you!"

Newt glanced over at his girlfriend with tears flowing down her face. She was a complete mess. The boy crouched down ignoring the yells and threats Rosie was screaming at him with.

Newt laid the gun on Winston's chest handing it to him. "Thank you." The boy let out in pain. "Go get out of here."

"Goodbye, Winston."

Frypan watched Newt stand up and pass him as the boy looked at him in disbelief. His heart ached for his best friend. Frypan couldn't do anything for Winston. The cook walked over to him sharing a small goodbye as Minho handed Rosie over to the three girls. Minho said his farewells before grabbing his stuff.

Rosie shook her head once again reaching for the gun in Winston's hand before Mara pulled her back. Rosie's hand almost came into contact with Mara's cheek before Mara was able to catch it before it landed on her.

Mara grabbed a hold of Rosie's face to look at her, "it's his decision, Rosie. You'll regret it your whole life if you don't say goodbye."

Mara moved out of the way but still inches away so she could grab Rosie in case she tried to stop Winston. "Please don't do it." Rosie pleaded once more, "we can get through it."

The boy shook his head, "tell my mom, I tried. I really, really tried."

More tears came flooding out of her eyes as she shook her head sobbing, "Winston, please, don't do this to me."

"Thank you for trying. Goodbye Rosalie," Winston breathed out causing Rosie's crying to slow down as she heard him say her full name. No one really knew her full name besides Malakai and Jess. Not even Newt knew it. To her it meant, he had memories of his past and it somewhat calmed her down.

      The same arms from earlier grabbed a hold of her once Jess had called for him. Minho picked her up from the ground as she said it, "goodbye Winston."

       Minho is able to let go of her as they continue walking. He walked away catching up with the rest as Rosie walks slowly with the three girls. Samadhi turns her head as she senses what's coming.

       Everyone was yards away before Samadhi reached over to Rosie as she placed her hands to cover Rosie's ears. Just a few seconds passing everyone stoped walking once a gunshot was heard.

      Samadhi dropped to the ground with Rosie who fell on her knees crying once again. Sam pulled Rosie to her doing her best to comfort her from the pain she was feeling.

       The British boy watched Rosie fall to the ground and his first instinct was to head over to console her. The boy reached to the end of the group kneeling down to comfort his girlfriend.

       His hand reached her shoulder before Rosie stopped crying. She turned towards the boy. His hand still placed delicately on her shoulder before she pushed the boy away. "Don't ever touch me!" Rosie yelled, "I hate you! I hate you!"

Newt took a step back as his heart shattered from the way she looked at him outraged and all of the poisonous words she was saying to him. "Love, I'm sorry—"

"Stop!" She yelled trying to cover her ears once again not wanting to hear his voice again, "I mean it when I say that from every bone and nerve in my body that I hate you and I wish, I really, really wish I never loved you."

Rosie looked up at him once again and her eyes gave it all away. The pain she felt, Newt realized it now as he replied back quietly staring at the ground, "you don't mean that."

      A little chuckle left her lips when she nodded as he shook his head when she replied back to confirm her statement, "Oh, I do."

       "No you don't. Stop saying those things, Rosie. You're in pain and I understand that but don't hurt me in the process too." Newt responded as she continued with venomous words.

       "You did this!" Rosie cried out physically pushing him away as her voice broke mid-sentence, "you did this to me!"

      Newt's arms wrapped themselves around Rosie who cried out for a few seconds in his arms finding comfort in them. Until she realized what she was doing pulling away from him.

        "Let me help you! Let me fix this!" Newt raised his voice getting stressed from the situation with Rosie. "I'm sorry, I really am!"

"You can't fix what you've broken." Rosie put forth as she shrugged him away when he tried grabbing her.

       Newt was about to speak once more before Mara stood in front of him stopping the argument once and for all. "Let it go." She suggested, "she needs time to process and grief."

       "But—"

       Minho touched his shoulder, "come on let's go. You can talk to her later."

        Newt turned to Rosie once more as he didn't see her anymore. Physically he did, but it wasn't the girl he loved. Rosie didn't have that spark anymore. He couldn't see the goodness in her anymore.

       This version of Rosie carried less light in her soul and was overruled by the darkness that started to consume her little by little. Maybe the love between them wasn't as strong as everyone thought it was.