REDEMPTION.
[ chapter six ]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

AFTER GETTING TEASED BY THE GROUP, Thomas ventured out to go track down Teresa while she was walking home from the Lab. There was no doubt that she would sprint after him the second she saw his face, and the thought of seeing her call his name as if she had done no wrong made Evelyn angry. Therefore, Gally had managed to convince her to stay back with the rest of the group.

Gally pushes a hooded Teresa down into a seat opposite everyone in an abandoned Cathedral. Thomas slips down onto a chair beside a table, glancing over his shoulder at Evelyn, who's stood behind him with her arms crossed and her fingernails digging into her biceps. She doesn't bother meeting his gaze.

Newt yanks the hood off the girl, and she gasps quietly, her head whipping a round the room at the occupants. They linger on Evelyn for a small moment, noticing her strengthened arm muscles and her hardened glare. Then Teresa sees Gally.

"G-gally?" She stammers in surprise.

"Here's how this is gonna go," Gally states, leaning on the table, "We're gonna ask you some questions. . . and you're gonna tell us exactly what we need to know. We'll start of simple. Where's Minho?" He straightens up, dragging a chair over.

She looks over at Thomas, "You guys don't seriously think—"

Gally slams the chair down in front of her, cutting her words short as he slides down into the seat, crossing his arms, "Don't look at him. Why are you looking at him? Look at me. He's not gonna help you."

Sighing, she glances for a second back over at Thomas, then at Eve, who meets her gaze and tilts her head with a clenched jaw, causing Teresa's eyes to snap back to Gally.

"Now, we know you have Minho in the building," Gally snarls, "Where?"

"He's with the others in holding," She informs him, "Sublevel three."

"How many others?" Newt questions.

"Twenty eight," She answers slowly.

Brenda hums, placing her playing cars down in front of Jorge, "I can make that work."

"No," Teresa shakes her head defiantly, "No, you guys don't understand. The whole level's restricted. You can't get in without a thumbprint ID."

Thomas nods, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, "That's why you're gonna come with us."

Evelyn purses her lips, shrugging, "Or, we don't necessarily need all of her, do we?" She uncrosses her arms, bringing her knife out and revealing it, "I could easily and happily take just her finger."

Thomas looks over at her, "Eve—"

Gally rises up, returning the chair to it's previous spot, "What, Thomas? I think it's a good plan? You squeamish or something? I guarantee she's done a lot worse to Minho."

Thomas shakes his head, standing up quickly and gently pushing Gally back, "That's not the plan. Back off."

"It won't make a difference," Teresa says quietly, "Do whatever you want to me. You still won't get through the front door? The sensors will pick you up—"

"We know," Thomas cuts her short, "We're tagged. Property of WCKD." He steps closer, holding up a scalpel in front of her, "You're gonna help us with that too."

༒

Thomas sits down in front of Teresa, while she reveals the back of his neck and washes her scalpel.

"Just relax," She says.

He hums, "Just get it over with."

He balls his hand into a fist when he feels the small medical knife dig into his skin. He rolls his jaw, eyes looking around the room for Eve. He finally spots her sat by a table alone, carving something into the wood below with her knife. He watches her as she bites her lip in concentration, and brushes her hair behind her ear. She's the only one who hasn't had her tag removed yet, and he can tell she isn't looking forward to being within such close proximity with Teresa.

Newt walks over to her, placing a soft hand on her back and she looks over at him quickly as he passes her some WCKD uniform to get changed into while she waits.

"How's Evelyn?" Teresa asks, breaking Thomas from his trance and his eyes fall to the stone slab floor again, "Last time I saw her she had just got shot, and still wasn't full strength after—"

"Janson beat the shit out of her?" Thomas snarls, "Yeah. That fucking monster is your co-worker now."

Teresa sighs gently, knowing Evelyn's experience at the compound will always be a sensitive topic for Thomas. She notices Brenda out of the corner of her eyes and her eyebrows furrow, "She's looking good. Healthy. How have you been getting her serum?"

Thomas' eyebrows cinch together, "What are you talking about?"

"Brenda," She states, "I didn't think she'd still be alive. When was her last treatment?"

"At the Right Arm," He says, "The last time we saw you."

She stops her movements in surprise, "But that was months ago," She flicks her wrist, pulling the tag out and he shoots away from her, his hand flying to his bleeding neck. She shakes her head, "Thomas, that's not possible. She should have turned by now. There's no way she could possible still—"

"Alright, that's enough," He shoots up, walking away and making his way over to Evelyn.

She follows after him quickly, "What? You don't believe me?"

He whirls around, his jaw clenched, "Do you expect me to? You made your choice."

Evelyn nudges her shoulder against Teresa as she makes her way over to the chair Thomas was previously sat in. It cuts the tension slightly, and Evelyn stares over at the pair in boredom, "Hurry up."

Teresa licks her lips, slipping back down into the seat behind Evelyn after sending Thomas a small glance.

Teresa swishes the scalpel in some water, removing Thomas' blood before pressing the metal against Evelyn's neck. The dark haired girl doesn't even flinch, and she stares ahead at the stone floor.

"How's Minho?" She asks, surprisingly being the first one to break the silence.

Dabbing a new clean cloth against her bleeding neck, Teresa mutters, "Fine."

"Bullshit. Could you at least try to be honest?" Eve spits, "Minho hates WCKD. He won't be doing anything willingly. Now, I know first hand what happens if you don't comply to Janson. So, let me ask you again, Teresa, how's Minho?"

Teresa flicks her eyes over to Thomas, who's watching the pair from his seat while he loads a gun.

"Evelyn, you really don't want to know," She whispers gently.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Evelyn feels the tweezers latch onto the tag and pull it from her neck and she's quick to stand up and walk away without another word, not even bothering to hold the cloth against her bleeding neck.

Thomas rises up, grabbing her forearm as she walks past, causing her to stop. He turns her around, their gazes meeting, "You okay?"

Evelyn bites her lip, preventing it from quivering, "I'm gonna fucking kill her when this is all over. How could she do this to him— fuck."

Thomas shakes his head gently, raising both of his hands to cup her cheek and pressing a kiss to her forehead while she stares blankly at his face, "Eve, we're gonna get him. And he's gonna be fine. He'll be back here, with us, taking the piss out of you by tomorrow."

She rolls her eyes, gently dropping her head and his hands to fall to his side while she grabs a gun front the table, checking the clip before sliding it into the holster attacked to the WCKD uniform covering her body.

"If it helps, you look fucking gorgeous in that outfit," He smirks.

She glares at him before looking down at her knife, which she slides into her waistband like usual, "I have to say, you do look annoyingly handsome as well."

He laughs quietly, shaking his head as the both of them make their way over to Teresa, who's being held still by Gally at the exit of the Cathedral.

"You ready?" Thomas asks Evelyn, "There's gonna be a shit load of people you hate in that building, Eve. We—"

"Have to stay hidden," She hums, pulling her helmet over her head, and hiding her face from his view as she picks up a WCKD owned gun, "I know, I know."

_______________________

bruh this book is gonna end up being only like ten chaps 💀
imma have to do something to change that lmao