REDEMPTION.
[ chapter nineteen ]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

A GROAN RATTLES THROUGH Evelyn's body as her conscious returns to her fully. Her eyes fly open at the feeling of unfamiliar surroundings and instantly she's sitting up. Her hand subconsciously drops to her abdomen, and she winces at the contact before dropping her gaze to the bandages wrapped around her middle. Tilting her head, she runs her eyes over to her bandaged arm, presumably where she was burnt due to the numb feel of her skin.

She raises her head again, this time taking in the small room around her. She stares up at the wooden walls and the sheet of fabric hung over the door for privacy. Her breath gets caught in her throat as her mind tricks her into believing she's back in the medjack hut in the Glade. Then that agonising thought leads her to remembering the events before her eventual blackout, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut and lower her chin to her chest.

"Eve, I have your fresh bandage," A voice blows through the thin door before they groan, "Why am I even bothering to speak to you? You're literally half dead and unconscious."

She turns to glance over her shoulder at the sound of her best friend and watches as he stumbles awkwardly inside with his back to her. He drops a roll of bandage down onto the small beside table before finally whirling around to look at her. Then he lets out a high pitch scream, causing a weak smile to break across her face.

His hands fly to his face, trying to hide himself from her, "You shank," He takes a deep breath, before meeting her gaze, "How long have you been awake?"

She shrugs, her voice croaky as she speaks, "About two minutes."

Kicking a small stool to beside her bed, Minho takes a seat before leaning back and grabbing the bandages. She watches carefully as he unravels it before gently grabbing her burned arm.

"Awh, look at you, Medjack Minho." She laughs quietly, noticing his concentrated gaze as he focuses on safely unwrapping her injury.

"Shut up," He grumbles, before a smile bursts onto his lips and he raises his eyes to look up at her, "We've missed you." He'd missed her.

Biting down another tease, Evelyn hums lowly before moving her gaze down to her lap as he works on her arm, "Is he. . .?"

Minho sighs. He had seen the question coming from a mile away, but he didn't expect Evelyn to be so gentle with it, "Alive? Yes. Thomas is very much alive. He's still unconscious, but in a hut just like this a few metres away," He explains and she lets out a sigh of relief, before he mutters, "I have no clue how you're even alive, Eve. You were bleeding out for a long time, you should be dead. And I don't know how you've woken up before Thomas, he was better off than you."

"Alright, calm down," She grunts, "If you want me dead, you could just say."

He rolls his eyes, apologising quietly when she winces at the pressure. He finishes the bandaging before slowly standing up, rubbing his hands on his shirt anxiously. He nods his head towards the make-shift door blowing in the wind, "You want to see?"

"Depends," She mumbles, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed as slowly as she can without feeling pain shooting through her body, "Am I gonna like it?"

Minho chuckles, "I think you're gonna love it."

Raising up from the thin mattress, Evelyn takes a deep breath as she tries her hardest to prevent herself from stumbling. Subconsciously, her hand falls to the waistband of her fresh trousers and her head snaps up to Minho when she notices the absence of her knife.

He laughs, holding one hand out in front of him warily, "Chill, chill," He digs his free hand into his back cooker before pulling out her weapon; the same one he gave her in the scorch, "I kept it safe for you," He flips it around in his hand so the handle is facing her as he offers it back.

She smiles gently, taking it from him and sliding it down into her waistband before stepping forward towards the door. Minho moves to the side before reaching over an pulling the curtain back, revealing the outside to her.

She steps over the threshold, coming to stop when her boots hit the grass growing beneath them. She stares out in front of her, eyes flying over the landscape at the hundreds of happy people, and built up huts keeping them protected. Evelyn thinks back to her first time stepping foot onto the grass of the Glade, and remembers how it looked very alike to the scene in front of her.

Minho stands beside her, watching as a single tear rolls down her cheek and a faint smile works it's way onto her face before he quietly says, "We're safe here, Eve. You're safe."

Evelyn turns to him, letting out a laugh of joy, "Holy shit."

"Holy shit indeed," He beams, pointing down the small hill towards the largest tent, and she follows her finger, noticing her brother and close friends chatting amongst themselves, "Come on."

Swallowing thickly, Evelyn follows after him, carefully stepping over growing crops and playing children. She doesn't fail to notice the turning heads and wide eyes as she passes, but for once it doesn't bother her or create a growing anger in her stomach. She's content.

As the two best friends approach, the groups heads turn their way, and immediately they are all bouncing up from their seats and bounding over, Gally leading them. Evelyn comes to a stop, allowing her big brother to wrap his arms around her neck and pull her gently into his body. She laughs into his chest, and he chuckles into her shoulder before they pull away.

Evelyn drops her grip from her brother before turning to Frypan, who's smiling happily at her. She widens her arms, "Hey, Fry," Her voice cracks as he steps forward and encases her in a warm hug. She'd been receiving his hugs since her first day in the Glade, they were by far her favourites.

Then, Brenda and Jorge both greet her with hugs and smiles before Aris, Sonya and Harriet approach with just as much enthusiasm. Evelyn speaks to everyone one of them, while Minho and Gally stand off to the side, watching with wide eyes.

"Look at her, Gally," Minho laughs, watching as Evelyn rubs the top of Aris' head while she teases him, "I've never seen her smile for so long. It's been ten minutes and she hasn't stopped."

Gally nods in agreement, "No dirty looks, or death threats, nothing. I'm not sure if I like it or not."

"Hey, I love it," Minho says enthusiastically, "This means I might be able to actually get away with making fun of her without having her bite my head off."

Turning away from the small group, Evelyn looks over at her brother and best friend as her head tilts. She knows their talking about her, due to the fact that as she makes her way over they fall silent. Rolling her eyes, she mutters, "You two done talking about me?"

Minho clicks his fingers and points at the unamused look on her face, "Ha! There she is."

She smacks his finger down roughly, and shakes her head in an attempt to hide the smirk on her lips. She looks over at her brother, ignoring Minho's cheeky smile, "Which hut is Thomas in?"

Gally points over her shoulder, "The one next to yours."

Without another word, she turns on her heel and begins the walk to her boyfriend's recovery hut. Her friends watch as she leaves and she can feel all of their eyes burning into her back before she disappears into the hut.

Making sure the fabric door is covering the entrance completely, Evelyn slowly rotated to look at the bed, Thomas' body laid under the thin covers with a single hand hanging over the edge. She bites her lip before lowering herself down onto the tiny stool stood beside his bed. Swallowing thickly as she thinks of what to say, she takes his hand gently and begins to fiddle with his fingers.

"I can't believe I'm talking to you when you probably can't hear me. It's quite embarrassing, actually. But I know you would talk to me, so. . ." She mutters, trailing off slightly, "Thomas, we . . . holy fuck, we did it. Spent our whole lives to get to this point, and we did it. I mean, sure we both have bullet wound scars on our stomach, but at least we're alive. In the Glade, Newt always used to say to me if we ever made it out, he just wanted everyone to be happy, and safe. He never cared about himself, especially after his accident. But he would've loved it here," She sniffs, feeling the tears pouring down her cheeks and hitting her lap, "You're gonna fucking love it here too."

Eve moves his hand back onto the bed beside him before slowly standing up and stepping closer to his head. She bends over him, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead before exiting the hut. She pauses outside of the entrance, her hands coming up to her face before running through her hair as she attempts to stop to the tears from rocketing down her skin. But they don't stop, and they may never because all she can think about is the losses that's is taken to get here.

. . .

not proof read

one more fucking chapter left ladsss!!

i'm honestly so pissed that this series is gonna be finished soon