THE FIVE OF THEM DUCKED BEHIND A FENCE AS HELICOPTERS AND BERGS SEARCHED THE CITY. Iris and Minho were both still barefoot, but that was the least of their concerns at that moment. She was now armed because they have her a gun. Gally was next to Thomas and Newt, and they were across from Iris and Minho. The short-haired boy glanced up at the vehicles above them and sighed, "Well, they're definitely pissed."

"How far are the tunnels?" Thomas asked with raised eyebrows.

Gally looked around for any signs about where they were. He knew the city pretty well, but not as well as someone living there would know it. He made a guess. "Uh, maybe 12 blocks from here. We can make it."

"How've you been?" Iris asked the boy. She had really missed him, and she was still in shock that he was alive. She couldn't wait to be reunited with everyone. Her, Frypan, Thomas, Newt, Gally, and Minho. Sure, they were missing a couple of people, but they had each other to get through that pain.

"Terrible. It's good to see you though," he answered.

Minho finally asking about the huge elephant in the room that no one had really told them anything about. Newt looked awful. He was clearly in pain, but they didn't know why. They had heard Gally tell Thomas something about a serum and Newt, but they were not totally sure what was happening. "What's going on with Newt?"

Iris frowned when she saw Thomas' face drop after the question. "He, uh, was bitten. He's gonna be okay, though. We got him the serum, and we're gonna find a cure."

Well, shit. She was not going to lose Newt hours after she got back to him. She refused. They would all be back together and safe. However, she couldn't ignore the nagging voice in the back of her head that told her that they had left someone behind.

"Yeah, he'll pull through," Minho agreed with a nod. Newt was strong, stronger than a lot of people. He was going to make it. If anyone could survive that, he could.

Gally raised his eyebrows at the girl across from him, hoping that they were ready to move because they needed to go soon if they were going to make it out of the city. "Iris, you guys ready?"

"Why you helping us, Gally?" the Runner boy asked after the girl nodded. They got up into a crouching position since they were going to have to stay low. "I put a spear through your chest."

"Yeah. Nobody's perfect, man," he responded, patting the boy on the shoulder before running with the rest of them following him. "Tunnels are right up ahead," he informed them once they ran a couple of blocks. All of a sudden an entire truck of WICKED soldiers stopped in the middle of the road they needed to cross. "Shit! Hey! Stay low! Stay low! Shit! Damn it!"

"What are they waiting for?" Minho asked, and they were all curious. Why would they just stop in the middle of the road during a time like this?

Then, all of a sudden, a loud boom echoed throughout the city, and they were blinded by a huge explosion about a hundred yards away from them. Thomas slid closer to Newt and tried to cover him as Gally and Minho did the same to Iris. "Get down, get down! Stay down! Stay down!"

"We gotta go. We gotta go. Come on. Let's move, let's move," Gally ordered, and they ran until they reached a spot where they were hoping they would be safe.

They sat down, and Thomas pulled out his walkie. "Brenda, are you there?"

"Thomas, I'm here," she answered after a moment, and he breathed out a sigh of relief knowing that she and everyone else was okay.

The boy sighed, glancing at the three people around him before telling her, "We're not gonna make it. Just take the others. Get everybody out while you still can."

"No. I'm not leaving you," she insisted, being stubborn. Iris was pretty sure that Brenda did not really give a crap about the rest of them. She really just cared about Thomas and Jorge. "Okay? So forget it."

"Even though you should?" he questioned, and there was a moment of silence between them.

The next time the radio buzzed, letting them know that she was about to talk, there was a soft whirring along with her voice, confusing them. "Thomas, don't worry. I'm coming to you."

"What are you talking about?" he asked, since none of them had any clue what was happening. She better not be coming back into the freaking city that was being blown up just to save them.

The whirring got even louder, and they could barely hear her over the sound of it. It sounded awfully like a Berg, and Iris wondered if that was how she was planning to get to them. "Our ride's here! Just look for us near the tunnels."

"Okay, let's go," Gally told them once he checked that the coast was clear. They were running across the street as buildings caught on fire all around them, and they all stayed together in hopes of being a smaller target. They were not sure it was doing anything, but it made them feel like it was less likely that they were going to be separated. "We're almost there."

"You guys go without me," Thomas announced after a moment, and they all turned to see that he had stopped walking. He looked like he was preparing to run the other way.

Minho shot him a look of disbelief and wondered if he had heard his friend right over the sound of the explosions because there was no way that he would say that he was not coming with them, right? There was absolutely no reason for that other than to be difficult. "What?"

"You better be joking right now," Iris added. She could not believe he just said that because it was the stupidest thing ever. That made no sense in any world.

He just sighed and shot them an apologetic look as he started to back up. "I have to do something. You guys go and tell Brenda to come find me. I know a way to save Newt."

"I'll stay with you. You might need help carrying him," Iris informed him, gesturing to Newt because he wasn't looking the best. His eyes were turning back, and so were his veins. There was dark blood pouring out of his mouth. Whatever happened, he needed a Cure now, and Iris was willing to do anything to do that. Before Minho could protest, she told him, "You guys go get Brenda. We'll find you."

"If you die, I'm gonna kill you," he told her, and she just smiled before hugging him tightly and quickly. Gally nodded at her, and the two of them ran off in the direction of where Brenda was supposed to be.

The two that were left turned back to the blonde boy. Iris began sticking her hand under his armpit in an attempt to pull him up. "We gotta move, now. Let's get you up, come on.

"No. No, Iris," he responded, shaking his head. His voice was broken, and it hurt her physically to see him like that and know that she was hurting him. But they needed to get up and move.

She insisted, "No, Newt. We really gotta go."

"Look, you gotta take this. We gotta get you up, now," Thomas agreed, doing the same thing as her and trying to pull him up. They were going to need some assistance from Newt. He had to get up and help them carry him.

But her began clawing at his neck. Iris thought he was trying to hurt himself, but he was yanking his necklace off. His voice went dark as he shouted. "No, just take it!" There was a pause, and Iris glanced between the two boys looking at each other, both pleading with the other one. "Please. Please, Tommy. Please. Iris, please! Someone."

"All right. All right," Thomas agreed, accepting the necklace and putting it into his pocket, and then they continued their efforts of getting him up. "I need you to give me everything you got. It's just us three, right now. Let's go. You ready? Come on, ready? Here we go. One, two, three."

"Come on, Newt," Iris muttered the entire time. She took one of Newt's arms, and Thomas took the other. They were out in the open. There were people running and bullets flying past them. Soon, and with a lot of effort, they made it to a train station.

But his weight and struggling was too much. He collapsed on both of them, and they tripped as he fell. "No, no, no, no!" Iris grunted as she grabbed his feet. Thomas grabbed his arms, but he was limp. The only signs of life being his moans of pain. They tried so hard to carr him, but they were fighting a losing battle.

"Thomas? Can you hear me?" a voice echoed throughout the city. Both of their heads shot up when Teresa started speaking. "I need you to listen to me. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to come back. Thomas, you can save Newt." Thomas stood up and looked up at the WCKD building while Iris stayed back with Newt, trying to get him to wake up. "There's still time for him. There's a reason Brenda isn't sick anymore. It's your blood. Do you understand? She isn't sick because you cured her. She doesn't have to be the only one. All you have to do is come back. And this will all finally be over. Please. Just come back to me. I know you'll do the right..."

"Ah!" he heard all of a sudden, and he whipped around to see Newt on top of Iris, hands on her throat as she struggled to breathe. Her arms were pushing at him, trying to get him off but also trying to not hurt him. She was getting dizzy, and she knew she didn't have long until she was out.

"Newt?" Thomas called, and the boy whipped around, releasing Iris before lunging at Thomas. "Newt, it's me. It's me!" As the boy ran at him, he pushed him away, causing him to tumble to the ground.

He coughed up some blood on his hands and knees before looking up at the boy while Iris spluttered on the ground, trying to regain her strength. "Tommy, kill me!"

"Newt, I'm here," Thomas said again, but it only took about five seconds for Newt to be on top of him again. They were murmuring to each other, out of breath as Iris climbed to her feet. Her eyes widened when she saw Newt put a gun to his own head, and she went flying into them, kicking it out of his hand.

Thomas took the distraction to knock him off, but Newt just pulled a knife out of his sock and slashed at him. He got back on top of Thomas and tried to slam it into his heart. Thomas was using all of his strength to hold him back, and Iris knew what she needed to do.

She slowly extracted the gun that Gally had given her, and with shaky hands, she pointed it at Newt. Thomas began to scream because the knife had reached his chest, and tears filled her eyes. She closed her eyes and held her breath.

And then she fired.