THE SCORCH TRIALS

'No, think about this. How are you showing any strength by killing me? I'm way outnumbered and you have all these weapons. How does that prove who's stronger?'

'Then what does it have to do with?' a girl from the back called out.

Thomas paused, choosing his words carefully. 'I think it's a test to see if you'll think for yourself, change plans, make rational decisions. And the more of us there are, the better odds we have of making it to the safe haven. Killing me makes no sense, does no one any good. You’ve proven any power you needed to by capturing me. Show them you won't blindly take it all the way.'

He stopped, relaxed back against the tree. He couldn't think of anything else. It was up to them now. He'd given it his best shot.

'Interesting stuff,' Sonya said. 'Sounds a lot like something a person who's desperate not to die would say.'

Thomas shrugged. 'I really feel like it's the truth. I think that if you kill me, you'll have failed the real test WICKED is throwing at you.'

'Yeah, I bet you think that,' Harriet said. She stood up. 'Look, to be honest, we've been thinking the same types of things. But we wanted to see what you had to say. Sun should be down soon, and I'm sure Teresa will be back any minute. We'll talk about it when she gets here.'

Thomas spoke up quickly, worried that Teresa wouldn't be swayed.

'No! I mean, she's the one who seems the most gung ho about killing me.' He said this even though deep down he hoped he didn't mean it. As badly as she'd treated him, surely she wasn't serious about taking it all the way to murder. 'I think you guys should make the decision.'

'Calm down,' Harriet said, a half-smile on her face. 'If we decide not to kill you, there's nothing she can freaking do about it. But if we . . .' She stopped, a strange look flashing across her face. Was she worried she'd said too much? 'We'll figure it out.'

Thomas tried not to show his relief. He might have appealed to their pride a little bit, but he tried not to let his hopes get too high.

Thomas watched as the girls gathered their belongings and packed them into backpacks— Where'd they get those? he wondered—readying for the night's journey, to wherever that might be. Murmurs and whispers of conversation floated through the air as people kept glancing his way, obviously discussing what he'd said.

The darkness grew deeper and deeper, and Teresa finally appeared from the direction they'd come in earlier that day. She noticed right away that something was different, probably by the way everyone kept looking between her and Thomas.

'What?' she asked, the same hard look on her face she'd worn since the day before.

It was Harriet who answered. 'We need to talk.'

Teresa looked confused, but went to the far side of the recess in the cliff with the rest of the group. Furious whispers immediately filled the air, but Thomas couldn't make out a word anybody said. His stomach clenched in anticipation of the verdict.

From where he stood he could see that the conversation had started to get passionate, and Teresa looked as riled up as anyone. He watched her expression intensify as she tried to make some point. It seemed like it was her against the rest of them, which made Thomas very nervous.

Finally, just as nightfall was almost complete, Teresa turned, stomped from the group of girls, and started walking away from the camp, heading north. She had her spear slung over one shoulder, a backpack over the other. Thomas watched her go until she disappeared between the narrow walls of the Pass.

He glanced back at the group, many of whom looked relieved, and Harriet came walking over. Without saying a word, she knelt down and untied the rope securing him to the tree.

'Well?' Thomas finally asked. 'Did you guys decide anything?' Harriet didn't answer until she'd completely freed him; then she sat back, on her heels and looked at him, her dark eyes reflecting the faint light of the stars and moon. 'It's your lucky day. We decided not to kill your puny butt after all. It can't be a coincidence that we've all been thinking the same things deep down.'

Thomas didn't feel the expected rush of relief. In that moment he realized that he'd known that was what they would decide all along.

'But I tell you what,' Harriet said as she stood up, holding a hand out to help him do the same. 'Teresa does not like you. I'd watch my back around her if I were you.'

Thomas let Harriet pull him up, confusion and hurt warring for dominance inside him.

Teresa really did want him dead.

CHAPTER 49

Thomas was quiet as he ate with Group B and prepared to leave. Soon they started making their way through the dark pass of the mountains, heading for the safe haven that was supposed to wait on the other side. It felt odd to suddenly be friendly with these people after what they'd done to him, but they acted like nothing unusual had ever happened. They treated him like, well, like one of the girls.

But he did keep his distance a little, hanging toward the back, wondering if he could fully trust their change of heart about him. What was he supposed to do? Even if Harriet and the others let him leave, should he try to find his own group, Minho and Newt and everyone else? He desperately wanted to be with his friends and Brenda again. But he knew time was running out, and he had no food or water to make it on his own. He had to hope they'd find their own way to the safe haven.

So he kept walking, staying close to Group B but not too close.

A couple of hours went by, nothing but tall cliffs of stone and the crunching of dirt and rock under his feet to keep him company. It felt good to move again, to stretch his legs and muscles. The deadline was fast approaching, though. And who knew what obstacle might spring up next? Or had the girls planned something else for him? He thought a lot about the dreams he'd been having, but still couldn't put enough together to truly understand what was going on.

Harriet drifted back until the two of them were walking side by side.

'Sorry we dragged you through the desert in a bag,' she said. He couldn't see her face in the dimming light very well, but he imagined a smirk there.

'Oh, no problem, it felt good to take a load off for a while.' Thomas knew he had to play the part, show some humor. He couldn't trust the girls completely yet, but he had no other options.

She laughed, a sound that put him at ease a bit. 'Yeah, well, the man from WICKED gave us very specific instructions about you. But it was Teresa who got all obsessed about it. Almost like killing you was her idea.'

This dug at Thomas, but he finally had a chance to learn some things and he wasn't going to let that go. 'Did the guy have a white suit and kind of look like a rat turned human?'

'Yeah,' she said without hesitating. 'Same guy who talked to your group?'

Thomas nodded. 'What were the . . . specific instructions he gave you?'

'Well, most of our trip has been through underground tunnels. That's why you didn't see us in the desert. The first thing we were supposed to do was that weird thing where you and Teresa spoke in that building on the south side of the city. Remember?'

Thomas's stomach fell. She'd been with her group at that point? 'Uh, yeah, I remember.'

'Well, you've probably figured it out, but all of that was an act. Kind of a prepper to give you some false security. She even told us they somehow . . . controlled her long enough to make her kiss you. Is that true?'

Thomas stopped walking, bent down and put his hands on his knees. Something had sucked the breath right out of him. That was it. He'd officially and completely lost any trace of doubt. Teresa had turned against him. Or maybe she had never really been on his side.

'I know this sucks,' Harriet said softly. 'It seems like you used to feel really close to her.'