WHAT HAD SHE DONE? Newt collapsed on top of Thomas, and the boy's eyes widened in horror when he saw his blonde friend's limp body on top of him. He slowly pushed him off, moving to stand beside Iris as the gun fell from her hands. Both of them just stared down at the body of their friend, and Iris couldn't even recognize him. Newt was always so happy and full of life.

And now...

They stood there for what felt like an eternity before Thomas did something. He crouched down and began unlacing Newt's boots. Iris watched in confusion as he removed the shoes and just handed them to her. She felt sick to her stomach, realizing that he was giving her something to cover her bare feet.

She took them from him and slowly reached down, putting them on her feet as she breathed in shaky breaths. She became suddenly aware of the tears streaming down her face, and it felt like her ribs were crushing her lungs.

Newt, one of the first people she could remember meeting. Newt, the boy she patched up and stayed with for weeks after he jumped off the wall. Newt, the one that had taken her side in countless arguments. Newt, one of her best friends. Newt, her family, was dead.

She was snapped out of her trance when she heard footsteps, and she looked up to see Brenda standing in front of them, staring down at Newt in horror. If the circumstances were different, Iris would have hugged her. Instead, she just shared a look of grievance with her.

Thomas reached down and picked up the gun that Iris had dropped. For a moment, he stood, contemplating, and then he turned around and began walking back into the city. The blonde girl stayed for just a second, knowing where he was going and following him.

As she caught up with the man on the mission, he stopped and shook his head at her. "No, Iris. Go back. I don't need anyone else dying."

"Thomas, Jem's still in there," she reminded him, her eyes pleading with him to understand. "Newt told me that he helped you guys. Even if it was to save his own ass... I need to at least see him one last time. I don't care if it kills me."

He nodded. "Let's go," he said after a short pause, and they were running. She hadn't gotten the chance to get very close with Thomas, but she knew he would understand. He was in a similar situation with Teresa, so he was in no place to judge.

When they got back to the WCKD building, they walked together. The goal was to find Ava and use her to get to Jem. Whatever happened after that, they didn't really care. They finally came across the woman, standing in the hallway and staring out at the burning city. She turned when she heard them, and she did not seem phased in the slightest at the sight of a gun pointed at her head.

"Is it true?" Thomas asked, his voice breaking. He was exhausted and distraught, and the fact that he could've saved his friend was killing him almost as much as it was killing Iris for taking his life. "Newt. Could I have saved him?"

"You can save us all," Ava replied.

Thomas winced, but he lowered the gun and let the gun drop to the ground. It was a price of pay to let his friends live freely without WCKD chasing them. He nodded as Ava got closer to him, pleading, "Just leave the others alone. Let Iris see Jem, and leave them alone." Iris reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder, letting him know that he had someone, even though there were about half a dozen people he would rather be with.

"I promise. I will—" the woman started, but she was cut off by the sound of a gunshot. Iris's eyes widened when she saw the blood begin to spread across Ava's stomach, and it was seconds before she collapsed to the ground.

Janson was standing behind her, gun in hand, and the smoke from the shot was still in the air. That wasn't what drew the girl's focus, though. It was who was standing behind him. She didn't even think about everything that had just happened. As soon as she saw Jem, she was moving toward him. He met her halfway and immediately embraced her.

It felt like coming up for air. She hadn't felt his touch in months, and it felt amazing. It was all she needed before she died. They pulled away, and he tucked some hair behind her ear before muttering, "Don't fight it."

"What?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows. She was now confused, and it was mixing with how grateful she was to see him. His head was still in her hands, but she was examining his face to try and guess what he was talking about.

He just shook his head, and he looked like he was about to cry. "I love you. I'm sorry. He'll kill you if I don't."

"Don't what?" she asked, still so confused and now very concerned. When he didn't answer, she repeated, "Jem, don't what?"

And then she felt something in her neck, and everything went black.

《 ✢ 》

WHEN IRIS STIRRED, SHE WAS IN A LAB OF SOME SORT. She felt that her arms were restrained, and she also felt someone's hand on her own. She slowly opened her eyes to see Jem sitting next to her, and her hearing slowly returned. She heard Janson's awful voice, rambling on about something or other.

"...gonna take special care of you. We'll keep you alive. And in return, you will give life to the rest of us. The ones we choose to save, anyway. Of course, there's not gonna be enough for everyone. Hard choices are gonna have to be made. In time, the Flare virus will burn itself out. The only question is, who will be the ones left standing? And thanks to you, to this, we finally get to choose. A future of our own making."

Teresa handed him something that she had been working on, and he lifted his sleeve up. Iris' eyes widened when she saw the black veins on his arm, and she realized that he must be holding the Cure. He was about to inject it when Teresa came up behind him and slammed something over his head.

He fell to the ground, and Jem immediately jumped into action, untying Iris' restraints while Teresa worked on Thomas. It only took a moment for Janson to be on his feet, and he grabbed the brunette by the hair and slammed her head into the table.

She fell to the ground, and Jem ran to her aid. Thomas and Iris undid their other hands and dove toward Janson. Iris climbed on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, choking him. In response, he ran backward into the wall of glass, and they both went crashing to the ground. Thomas jumped on top of him and just began punching, and Janson used his gun to slam across his head.

"How are we getting our asses kicked by one guy right now?" Iris breathed out.

Now, they were all on the ground, and as the four teenagers stood up, there was an explosion, knocking Janson back and giving them enough time to get to the end of the hallway as he began shooting them.

"We need to get out of here," Teresa pointed out once they barricaded themselves in a room. However, she stopped herself when she saw Thomas standing, facing away from her and holding his stomach. "What's wrong?"

He slowly turned around, and his shirt was soaked in blood. More was gushing out of a wound in his stomach, telling them that he had been shot. Jem just muttered, "Shit."

"Thomas? Thomas!" Iris called, and both she and Teresa moved toward him as he began to collapse. Both grabbed one arm and dragged him over to lean up against a cart. Iris' Medjack instincts kicked in, searching for a towel of something she could use to try and stop the bleeding. "Find something." Teresa handed her a cloth as she lifted his shirt, and she held it to the wound. "Just put pressure on it."

Thomas just panted out, "You gotta go. You guys gotta go."

"No. Not without you," Teresa insisted. Then, they heard the door open, and Jem grabbed Iris' arm, pulling her behind a pillar in the room. He honestly couldn't give a crap what happened to Teresa or Thomas as long as she made it out. He held his hand to her mouth, keeping her quiet as she whimpered.

"I admit, Teresa, Jem, you had me fooled. I thought we were friends. Maybe it's just in your nature to betray the people closest to you," Janson said. Jem grabbed a beaker and tossed it to the other side of the room. As soon as it smashed against the wall, the man shot that way. "Come on. Let's not prolong this. We both know there's no way outta here. Let's not make this any more painful than it needs to be. Thomas. Teresa. Jem. Iris."

Teresa tried to crawl across an aisle, but Janson was ahead of her and stepped in her path. Iris winced, trying to hard not to make a sound. The brunette scrambled back as he followed her with the gun. "I think you have something of mine." She stood up slowly, holding up the Cure when they all knew that he wanted Thomas. "Not that. Where is he? What is it with you two? You think he's so special? He's a lab rat. He was born with a gift. He never had to fight for it, he never earned it. He doesn't deserve it."

He looked around, waiting for someone else to speak up. "What about you, Thomas? What do you have to say? Don't you have enough blood on your hands already? You might not have been able to shoot her. But I can." No one said anything. "Okay. Fine. Have it your way."

"Janson," Thomas called, and Iris looked up to see him throw a piece of metal at Janson's head.

The man ducked just in time, and it hit the glass wall behind him that was keeping two Cranks from them. Iris could only assume that they had been experimenting on them. Janson scoffed, "Missed, you little shit."

"Did I?" Thomas asked, and everyone paused when they heard cracking glass. The Cranks that had been clawing at the window the entire time had finally managed to get through after Thomas gave them the first crack.

At the sight, Jem flew to his feet, dragging Iris with him. Thomas and Teresa were right behind them as the creatures dove on top of Janson. Jem helped Teresa carry Thomas as Iris grabbed the gun and led the way, ready for any more surprises. "Oh, shit. Come on. We need to go."

They ran to the only place they could — the roof.

The entire building was on fire, and it looked like it was minutes away from crashing in on them. Iris was already hot, but this made it ten times worse. They continued to drag him forward, but there was nowhere to go. He collapsed suddenly, and Iris was panicking as she had flashbacks to Newt.

Teresa and Thomas hit the ground, and Jem and Iris backed up, letting them have their moment because there was quite literally nothing else they could do. Instead, the two of them just held each other, knowing that no matter what, they were together. She didn't have to say it, but she forgave him for everything a long time ago. If she was going to die, she was glad it was with him.

But then, there was yelling.

"Thomas! Iris!" they heard, and they all looked up to see the Berg hovering there, the hatch open and everyone screaming at them. Jem was the first to react, pushing Iris forward and toward the ship. As soon as she reached the edge of the roof, she jumped, and Minho and Gally grabbed her arms, pulling her onto the surface.

As soon as she was on, she looked back to see that Jem had gone back to help Teresa carry Thomas. Her eyes widened, shaking her head in denial as the structure began to fall. They had to move quickly. They reached the edge, but Thomas couldn't jump and they couldn't reach him. Iris shouted back to Jorge, "You gotta get closer!" Finally, some guy that she didn't know was able to grab his hand as Teresa and Jem threw him, and they tugged him on.

Jem was on in seconds, and Iris breathed out a sigh of relief as soon as she saw he was safe. Now, Teresa was the only one left. They reached out to her, but behind her, a building came crashing down on the one that she was on. The impact knocked her to the ground, and the roof was crumbling behind her.

She slowly climbed to her feet, and Iris rolled over when she realized what was happening, burying her head in Jem's chest. The last thing she heard was Thomas scream, "No!"