REDEMPTION.
[ chapter three ]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

WITH HER HAND ENCASED IN THOMAS' Evelyn pushes through the wandering crowd outside the walls. Just like the abandoned place where the group found Marcus, the outskirts of the main city are dirty and overcrowded and you can't look one way without someone staring right back at you.

"This place has really gone through hell," Jorge calls, barging past a civilian so he's able to walk beside Thomas.

"We just gotta stay together," Thomas squeezes Eve's hand tighter as a man bumps harshly into his shoulder while passing.

She knows this place is making him anxious. The fact that Minho is over the other side of the wall, this amount of real living humans so bunched together and the fact he has no actual weapons on him to protect anyone is building up in his already overworked mind.

"We are the voice of the voiceless!" A voice booms over a speaker, causing the group to come to a stand still and turn around.

"They hide behind their walls thinking they can keep the cure for themselves. . ." A vehicle rolls closer, parting the crowd while men sit on top the car, shouting through the microphone. Other man hang off the side, masks covering their faces and their guns held in the air, ". . .while they watch the rest of us either and rot!"

Evelyn drags Thomas away from the road, allowing the car to pass while the man's voice continues to boom over the roaring crowd. She narrows her eyes at the vehicle, not enjoying how the occupants stare down at the group.

"But there are more of us than there are of them!" He yells, the crowd cheering, "And I say . . . we rise up and take back what is ours! Let's bring back victory."

Evelyn slips her hand out of Thomas', wandering back into the road as her eyes follow the main car. Overhead, droids litter the sky and she squints up at them, cursing lowly.

The crowd carries the group further up the road, swerving under collapsed buildings and over rocks in the way. Ahead is the main door of the walls, blockades preventing anyone from getting too close.

From behind Evelyn, Thomas shouts, "That's it! That's our way in!"

The surrounding crowd shouts and cheers in protest loudly, but Evelyn ignores them, squeezing through and shoving people out of her way. Thomas keeps his eye on her body, peering over the audience's heads to keep track of her as she heads towards the front of the crowd.

"Thomas!" Jorge yells, "This is not what we're looking for. All these people trying to find their way in, you think you're gonna find something they can't?"

"Came this far," Thomas replies, "I'm not turning back now. Eve, Eve!" He calls, pushing a few people to the side to reach her once more, his hand skimming her lower back.

She clenches her jaw once she manages to get to the very front of the crowd, a stone block pressed against her legs. The crowd surrounding her throw stones, cups, clothes and anything they can scavenge at the walls. But, the walls are so far away that it makes no difference.

"This doesn't feel right," Jorge rushes.

Evelyn stares forward at the WCKD sign printed on the walls, and from beside her Thomas glances at her, practically feeling the anger drip from her body.

"Hey, guys, we gotta go now!" Newt grabs Evelyn's wrist, dragging her backwards, "Look!" He points back at the men from earlier in masks with guns pushing through the crowd directly towards them.

Evelyn pulls her knife from her waist band, curling her fist around the handle, but a loud noise causes her to turn assay from the crowd and back towards the walls. She shoves her knife back into her pocket in a hurry.

At the very top of the walls, several rocket launchers eject and immediately the crowd start to scatter back. A second later, the crowd rumbles beneath Evelyn when a rocket smashes against the floor on the bridge near the doors.

Thomas grabs her, turning on his heel and dragging her into a run. She begins to sprint, attempting to ignore the civilians cries of pain and shouts as several people get thrown into the air and killed. She slides around a corner and under a slightly collapsed doorway, the rest of the group directly on her heels.

Suddenly, her body slams into someone's and the collar of her jacket is grabbed harshly. She lets out a loud yell, her legs kicking as the man lowers his arms to her waist, pulling her towards a van. She watches as Fry and Newt get dragged into a separate one and she lets out a cry.

"EVE! EVELYN!" Thomas rounds the corner, his eyes widening in fear as he watches her scream insults and kick her legs frantically.

"Get your fucking hands off me!" She shouts, managing to kick the man in the nuts, but just before he doubles over in pain, he throws her into the back of the van sliding against the metal floor with a thud.

"EVE!" She hears Thomas shout.

She smashes her fist against the side of the van as it starts to move, "THOMAS!"

Roughly, she's shoved back against the doors, staring at the two men who worked together to get her in the van. She glares through her eyelashes at them, her chest pumping up and down.

Slowly, one of the men step closer and she takes the opportunity to slide her leg out and kick it against his knee, sending him sideways and smacking his temple against the wall of the van, knocking him out immediately. She's up instantly, rushing towards the other man and kicking the gun from his hands before he has time to react.

Throwing his mask off him, she slides her knife out of her pocket holding the blade against his neck, "Who the fuck are you?"

Before he has time to reply, the back doors of the van are being thrown open and she's whirling around, shoving the man's body in front of hers while her blade continues to hover over his neck. The guy who opened the van, steps back in a hurry, raising his gun.

"Step out of the van," He calls.

She grinds her jaw, slowly moving forward with the man dragging in front of her. She steps down, eyes quickly flicking across the room to see Jorge and Brenda hugging while Thomas rushes forward slightly, coming to a stop when he notices the blade pressed against the man's neck.

The rest of the armed men around the room are quick to raise their guns in her direction and she smirks, "If you're planning on shooting me, you have to shoot him first." She motions down to the man pressed against her chest.

"Let him go," Someone calls.

Thomas steps forward further, his eyes anxiously looking around at the amount of guns aimed directly at her, "Eve, let him go."

She stares at him, rolling her jaw before shoving the man forward, raising her arms in defence. Once the masked men around the room lower their guns, she slides her knife back into her waistband.

"Is he dead?" A man asks, motioning to the limp guard laying in the van.

She shakes her head, "No, but he should be. I should've killed him for touching me like that." She snarls.

"Everyone relax. Relax!" A voice calls, circling around, "We're all on the same side here."

Thomas tilts his head, "What do you mean same side? Who the hell are you?"

Pausing for a moment, the man stares at the group in front of him, eyes flicking over the teenagers while he slowly raises a hand away from his gun, throwing off his mask.

That's when everything stops for the dark haired girl stood before him. She stares at him, no emotion visible on her face as the anger seeps from her body.

The man stood in front of her is someone she believed was gone. He was gone the moment he decided to stay in the Glade that day, and he was gone the day she planted a knife in his chest. That was months ago. Months she had spent blaming herself and not allowing herself to be happy because she believed she had ended her own brother's life. Yet, here he stands in front of her and the rest of the remaining Gladers, with his usual soft smile and his blue eyes staring directly back into hers.

Evelyn feels like she's going to faint. She swallows thickly, her eyes blinking rapidly to stop to the tears from falling, "Gall?" She croaks out.

Fury now rips through Thomas body as he glances over at her for a split second before his fist has connected with Gally's cheek and the boy has fallen to the floor with a grunt, Thomas pouncing on top of him.

As Newt rushes forward to stop Thomas, Evelyn just stares at her brother. Her jaw slowly clenches and her nostrils flare as she watches him call out for everyone to relax, but she can't hear his words. Everything around her is silent, and the only thing she can focus on his face. The same face that fell when he dropped dead at her feet because of her own doing. The same face that had haunted her nightmares for months on end.

Newt drops down to Thomas' side after noticing Evelyn's daze, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, stop. Stop."

Thomas rolls his jaw, "He killed Chuck."

"Yeah, I know. I remember. I was there too. Alright?" Newt sighs, his eyes flicking over to Evelyn, "But so was Eve. Think about her, okay? Just calm down. Come on. Thomas, think about Eve."

Huffing, Thomas jumps back up, shaking Newt's grip off him and his gaze flashes to Evelyn for a moment but he can't bare to meet her eyes while she watches as Gally raises up once more.

He massages his jaw, "Kind of had that coming. Anybody else? Fry? Newt?" He pauses, "Evelyn?"

She grinds her jaw, but remains silent.

"Do you know this guy?" Jorge asks Fry quietly.

Fry hums, "He was an old friend."

"How?" Newt asks, stammering slightly, "How is this possible? We watched you die."

"No, you left me to die," Gally retorts.

Evelyn's eyes narrow, and if she wasn't in such a shock, then she would shout and yell at him in anger, completely baffled that he would even suggest that she willingly abandoned him there.

"And if we hadn't found you when we did, you'd be dead right now," He continues, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Minho," Newt states, "WCKD has him here. We're looking for a way in."

Gally's eyes flick over to Eve, but quickly move away once he recognises her familiar glare, "I— I can help with that." He turns slightly, "Follow me."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Thomas snaps.

"Suit yourself," He shrugs, "But I can get you through those walls."

Surprising everyone, Evelyn is the first to walk forward, her fists clenching by her sides. A soft smile breaks onto Gally's face, but it's met with an emotionless expression.

Thomas' eyebrows furrow and he steps after her, catching her wrist, "What are you doing, Eve?"

She stares at him, "I'm not asking you to come. But if this means we can get Minho back, then I'm doing it."

His mouth drops open and he licks his lips anxiously before nodding back at Newt, causing the rest of the group to follow after Gally through the rundown building. The other men surrounding finally break away in separate directions, though that doesn't stop their eyes from following Evelyn, their grips tightening on their guns when she passes.

"After the maze, I got picked up by a group and headed to the city," Gally begins to explain, "They realised I was immune, patched me up. . . and they brought me here to Lawrence. This group's been at war with WCKD ever since they took control of the city. But WCKD can't hide behind those walls forever. Day's gonna come, and they're gonna pay for what they've done." He comes to a stop, turning to face the group, "Listen, uh, he doesn't get a lot of visitors. So let me do the talking, alright?" He looks directly at Thomas, and if Evelyn was her usual self she would've laughed, "And try not to stare."

Following behind Gally, the group jog down the stairs into a cosy room, books littering shelves and tables and yellow lamps illuminate the room. In the back corner, a man is bent over by a few plants and a guard stands close, inspecting the teenager's closer as they hear.

"Gally," The bent over man says, "Glad to see you made it back," He straightens up while an IV drip hangs onto his skin, "Jasper told me what happened."

"It was a slaughter," Gally sighs, "There's nothing we can do against those guns."

"No. . ." The man hums, "but they can only poke the hornet's nest for so long before they get stung," He brings up a flower, sniffing it and that's when Evelyn realises; he doesn't have a nose, "Now, who are they people? Why are they here?"

Thomas steps forward, "We need to get into WCKD. Gally said you can get us through the walls."

Lawrence looks over, "Gally should never make promises that he can't keep. Besides, that wall is only half your problem."'He grabs his IV drip stand and begins to make his way over with his other hand clutching a walking stick, "Getting inside WCKD is impossible."

"There might be a way now," Gally states, "But it doesn't work without Thomas."

Evelyn's eyebrows furrow slightly and she glances over at Thomas, who's staring back down at her with the exact same confused expression.

"Is that so?" Lawrence tilts his head, limping forward, "Do you know what I am, Thomas?" The sunlight illuminated his previously hidden face, revealing the purple veins and holes littering one side of his face. He hovers his mouth just over Thomas' ear, "I am a businessman," He pulls back, "Which means that I don't take unnecessary risks. Why should I trust you?"

"Cause I can help you," Thomas answers quietly, "You see, if you can get me through those walls. . . I can get you what you need."

Lawrence narrows his eyes, "What is it that you think I need?"

"Time," Thomas says simply, "Every last drop."

He scoffs, turning to look over at Gally for a split second before directing his attention to Thomas once more, "Is that what I need?"

Evelyn glares over at the man, her body slipping in front of her boyfriend's, "WCKD has something we both want."

Slowly, Lawrence flicks his gaze down to her, a smirk on his lips, "You must be Evelyn, the girl who just knocked out one of my men."

She hums, "If I get thrown in a van by strangers with guns and masks on, the strangers should expect some kind of fight."

He chuckles lowly at her words, "I'll tell you what. Three can go for now. The rest stay down here with me." He looks back over at Thomas as Evelyn steps away, "Juts a little insurance to make sure you find your way back. We have a deal?" He sticks his hand out, waiting patiently for a few moments before Thomas finally takes it, shaking it firmly.

He smirks menacingly, "Gally, show them the way."

_____________________

WORD COUNT: 2606