IRIS HAD GONE PRACTICALLY NONVERBAL AFTER THE NEXT ROUND. Being put through the simulation again made her want to turn the gun on herself. She often wished that it would all end and all of the pain would stop. There was no one for her to stay alive for, really. Minho was close to going to sleep and not waking up. And she was pretty sure that their friends were either dead or gone.

She was led down the hall and into a room where she was sat down at a table. She simply stared at the glass in front of her with dead eyes while someone sat down across from her. She did not have the energy to look up, and her vision was blurry already. But as soon as they started talking, she knew who it was.

"Iris. Can you hear me? It's Teresa," the girl said, and when she did not get an answer, she just began explaining, "There's a little girl here. Her name is Shai Lun. She's been infected for three weeks now. But, Iris, you're going to save her. You and Minho. And you can save so many others. Everything we're doing here, it's working." Her words almost gave Iris a little bit of hope and a sense of purpose. "Do you understand? That's why this is so important. I just wanted you to know."

"Teresa," she called, just as the girl had stood up to leave.

The brunette spun around at the sound, shocked that she had actually spoken. The blonde had still not looked up at her, but she moved to stand beside her, kneeling down so that she could try and get herself in the girl's line of vision. "Iris? Iris?"

Once she saw the blob that was Teresa, Iris lunged for her, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her up against the wall. It was the most energy that she had exhibited in a week, and it was all driven by pure hatred.

"You're a traitor! We trusted you!" she shrieked as guards flooded in, pulling her off of the girl. She did not even try to resist, knowing that she could do more damage by guilting the girl than physically harming her. "You traitor! You killed them all!"

"Teresa, they need you in the med lab. It sounds serious," someone said, glancing back and forth between the two girls. Teresa eyed Iris in fear as she quickly stumbled out of the room, the blonde girl's shouts and accusations muted once the door closed behind her.

While all of that was happening, in a room a few doors down, Jem was sat across from Minho, having a similar conversation. However, in this situation, Minho was responding to him and being strangely calm. He just answered everything with an eye roll or scoff or glare.

Once Jem finished with his little speech, he bit his lip, wondering if he should even say what he was about to. He informed Minho, "I didn't mean to hurt her, you know?"

"Then, stop it," Minho told him simply and almost immediately. That was all he had to do if he really truly cared for them. Sure, not all would be forgiven, but it would be a hell of a start. "Get us out. You can come with us. Just don't let them keep torturing us."

Jem opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly shut it and just nodded. It seemed simple enough, but it would be incredibly difficult. After seeing what they did to Iris in the simulation, he was having some serious doubts about the morals of the organization he was working for.

《 ✢ 》

"MINHO, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH LONGER I CAN TAKE IT." Iris had been sedated after attacking Teresa and brought back to her room, and she woke to Minho sitting in her bed with her, curled up in the corner. They were both freaked out, and they needed to be close to each other, to remind them that they were still people.

"No, no, no. You gotta fight, Iris," he told her, shaking his head. They had talked about dying before, but this time bothered him for some reason, like he knew something that she didn't. "Push through for me. Our friends are coming. You have to believe, I."

She sighed, not having the energy to fight with him. "Okay, okay."

Downstairs, Jem was walking down the hallway when he saw Teresa followed by two guards. It was strange because the men were remaining relatively close to her, appearing like bodyguards or something. When he made eye contact with the girl, he could tell that something was off by the way that she looked at him.

As they rounded a corner, Jem quickly followed them, forgetting about whatever the hell he was supposed to have been doing. As he turned the corner, he found himself in an empty hallway. He looked around confused when all of a sudden, he was shoved up against the wall.

His eyes widened when he saw Thomas staring back at him in a guard's uniform and his helmet off. Newt was standing behind him with a gun pointed right at Jem's head. "Woah, woah, woah. Everyone calm down for a second."

"Thomas!" Teresa scolded, but the boy did not budge.

"I'm guessing this is a rescue mission?" Jem questioned, and he was answered by Thomas' arm pressing into his throat. "Relax, man. I want them out too. I can help you."

Thomas scoffed, and he looked like he was about to laugh. Newt rolled his eyes as well, letting Jem know that neither of them believed him. The one pinning him to the wall asked, "You really expect us to believe that?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm sick and freaking tired of this place. They treat me like crap, and they do even worse to Minho and Iris. I want to get her out. You have to believe me," Jem begged. Ever since his talk with Minho a couple of hours before, he had been planning. Newt tapped his friend on the shoulder, and Thomas released him. "Do we have a deal?"

"No! No! No!" Iris screamed, pleading with whoever was rolling her down the hallway to stop. It had only been a few hours since her last simulation session, and they were putting her back in. It had never been that soon. Something must have been happening, and she needed to get the hell out of there before they put her under again.

Minho was being rolled next to her, but he was half-asleep while it was happening. Once they reached their destination, the two parted ways, and they were pushed into separate rooms. Iris coughed and wheezed, and she was pretty much sobbing at that point. She hoped that she died that time, that she never had to experience it ever again.

"No," she breathed out one last time, but then she was under.

She felt herself beginning to enter the simulation when she heard something in the distance, someone calling her name. And then her eyes opened, and she saw Minho standing above her and shouting at her. She could barely hear him, but she felt him pull her up.

She stumbled slightly, but she regained her balance after a moment. She looked around in a daze, noticing the doctors and scientists unconscious on the floor. She was convinced that this was a simulation, but she wouldn't have considered that if it actually was. She never remembered about the simulations when she was in them.

The two of them ran down the hallway when they spotted a man pointing his gun at someone or something around the corner. He began saying something, but he didn't get to finish as Minho went flying into him, slamming his knee into his side and knocking him into the wall.

"What the hell are you—" Iris started, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw what the man had been aiming at, or rather who.

Thomas and Newt.

She breathed out a chuckle at the sight of them because she thought that she would never see them again. The four of them stood there in shock for a second, but then Newt dove toward the girl, embracing her tightly while Thomas did the same with Minho. Iris muttered into the blonde boy's neck, "I thought I'd never see you again."

"We're here," he replied with a grin, patting her on the back before releasing her. She then turned to Thomas, who had just let go of Minho, and hugged him as well.

Their moment was interrupted swiftly when they heard someone shout, "I got him! I got him! Over here." They looked up to see a man standing and beckoning his fellow guards over to where they were.

"Go! This way! Come on!" Thomas told them frantically, and they all followed him as he sprinted down the hall. They ran into a room, and Thomas slammed the door closed behind them. "In here, in here. Newt, come on."

"Oh, shit," Iris muttered as she looked up and realized that they were in a room with no other doors. The only thing leading anywhere else was a wall of windows. With them being about twenty stories up, that wasn't an option.

Thomas wasted no time in grabbing a chair and throwing it through the window. All of their eyes widened when they realized what he wanted him to do, standing in front of the hole and looking down to see that there was a fountain below them. Minho decided to think on the bright side. "Okay, it's doable. Just need a little running start. Almost through."

"You sure about this?" Newt questioned, raising his eyebrows at the boy beside him.

Thomas shook his head, which really wasn't what you wanted to see form someone who just suggested that they jumped out of a window from a height that would flatten them. "Not really."

"Nice pep talk," Iris concluded, wincing when she stepped on a pile of glass. She also came to the realization that neither she nor Minho had any shoes on, which was going to make things increasingly more difficult for them.

Newt nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we're all bloody inspired." They all looked back when they heard the guards banging on the doors, and they winced when it began to open.

They had to go soon. Just as Janson burst in the door, the three of them backed up a few steps, got a running start, and then jumped.

Iris was silent as she fell through the air, her arms flailing as she did so. It felt like she was falling forever, but then she finally landed in the freezing water. She was submerged completely, which was a good thing because she barely touched the bottom of the pool. She shot back to the surface, coughing because the impact knocked the air out of her lungs.

She slowly pulled herself out of the water alongside the other boys. Her feet were bleeding, and she was exhausted. Just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, she heard, "You two, don't move."

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Thomas breathed out, and there were four guards coming toward them with guns in their hands. Iris' heart dropped because there was no way she just jumped out of a window just to be caught again.

"Take it easy. Uh-uh-uh! Don't even think about it," ordered one of them as they all pointed their guns at the four. "Get on your knees with your hands in the air."

However, as soon as he said that, he turned and shot all three of the other guards, causing them to tumble to the ground, unconscious. All four of the soaking wet individuals were confused out of their minds until the man pulled off his mask. Then, only two of them were still baffled.

"Gally?"

Iris was shocked. She had pulled Jem off of Gally's dying body. There was no way that he could've made it. They left him alone back in that trashed lab. There was no one there that could've saved him. How was he there?

"Iris, Minho," he greeted before glancing up at the window they broke when they jumped out of it, ignoring the shocked looks on their faces. "You guys are nuts."

"I'll explain later," Thomas informed the two next to him who could not move because they were so shocked. The blonde girl began moving slowly toward the boy, and Gally looked a bit scared that she was going to smack him across the face.

But she hugged him instead. He had done some awful things, but he had been her friend before all of that. She had known him for as long as she could remember, and she was devastated as well when he died. He stood there in surprise for a second before hugging her back.

"Where's Jem?"