32. I'll Do It

"Back it up, Joe!" Sonya shouted as the group walked out of the tunnel.

"We're taking them to base." Harriet informed.

"Wait, so, how did you guys get here?" Aris asked as they walked up to some trucks.

"The right arm got us out."

"Wait, wait." Thomas said running up closer to Harriet. "The Right Arm? Do you know where they are?"

With a slight nod of her head she opened the door to the jeep. "Hop in."

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Play - Youngblood - 5 seconds of summer 

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As the jeeps pulled up and the group got out, they looked to see campsites. People, walking freely. Walking around the campsite, all have escaped the messed up world.

"They've been planning this for a year now." Harriet explained, as they walked towards the "This is for all of us."

"You guys are lucky you found us when you did." Sonya spoke up. "We're moving out at first light. Where's Vince?" she asked a group of boys.

"Somewhere over there." A boy pointed in a direction.

"Who's Vince?" Thomas asked.

"He's the one who decides if you get to stay." Harriet replied as they came to a stop.

"I thought the Right Arm is supposed to be an army?" Minho assumed.

"Yeah, we were." A long haired blonde answered, walking out a hut and towards the group, "This is all that's left of us. Lot of good people died to get us this far. Who are they?"

"They're immunes." Harriet responded, "Caught 'em coming up the mountain."

Hearing a slight groan from behind her, Athena turned her head to see Brenda, with purple lips and struggling to stand.

"Did you check 'em?"

"I know this guy, Aris. I trust him."

"Well, I don't check 'em."

"Hey, boss..." a man started, seeing Brenda struggling to breath.

Before anyone could say anything else, Brenda fell forward and onto the floor, her body shaking. Newt grabbed Athena and moved her behind him.

"Brenda! Brenda!" Jorge said kneeling on the floor beside her.

"What's going on?" Vince asked.

"Brenda! Talk to me!" Jorge pleaded, as he held her in his arms.

Thomas and Athena looked at each other, with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Brenda breathed out.

"What's going on with her?" Vince asked crouching down and grabbing onto Jorge's shoulder.

"I don't know. Brenda, are you all right?"

Thomas looked at Athena, catching on to what he was about to say, shaking her head frantically. "Her leg," Thomas stated, "She hurt it earlier."

Vince grabbed her leg and moved the bandage revealing her Crank bite, the area around it darkened and blacked veins.

"Oh, shit!" Vince cried, standing up and pulling out his gun. "Crank! We got a Crank!" he shouted pointing it at Brenda.

"NO!" Jorge shouted still on the ground holding her.

"Wait, wait!" Athena and Thomas shouted as they stood in front of Brenda.

"Step back!" Vince commanded the pair.

"Listen, okay?" Thomas pleaded, "This just happened, okay? She's not dangerous yet."

"That's not how it works!" Athena whisper shouted at Thomas. As two men dragged Jorge away from Brenda.

"You shouldn't have brought her here."

"We know, okay." Athena replied, calmly trying to diffuse the situation.

"We let Cranks in here now, the safe haven doesn't last a week! Step back!"

Afraid of the escalated situation, Newt and Minho grabbed Athena and pulled her back with the rest of the group.

"I understand, okay?" Thomas countered. "I understand. Just listen, please. Please, okay? I told her you could help. There's got to be something you can do."

"Yeah, there is." Vince panted, "I can put her out of her misery." he said pointing the gun at her once again.

Pushing past Minho and Newt, Athena pulled out her gun again and pointed it at Vince, the men holding Jorge quickly let go of him pointing their guns at her. Jorge scrambling to get to Brenda.

"You shoot her, I shoot you. I don't give a damn who you are, I'll do it." she said, her voice threatening.

As the Gladers began to panic and neither Vince or Athena backed down, "That's enough!" A male voice sounded.

"Put down your guns!" A female voice shouted.

A brunette woman and a golden haired man, ran up to the group, and stood beside Vince.

"She's infected, Doc." Vince said looking at the woman. "There's nothing we can do for her." he said, pointing his gun at her, Athena still holding her towards the man.

"No, but he can." she said looking, at Thomas. "Hello, Thomas."

"What?" Vince expressed.

"You know me?" Thomas asked.

The woman nodded, "Interesting. It makes sense they put you in the maze." she trailed off and bent down to check Brenda.

The unknown man looked at Athena, "Lower your weapon." he stated calmly.

"I will when he does." she firered back.

The unknown man nodded his head towards Vince who lowered his weapon, Athena following in suit. "Feisty as ever, Athena." the man stated.

The group all looked at the man with wide eyes, just like they did with the woman.

"I must admit, Thomas." the woman spoke up again, "I was worried they'd kill you for what they did."

"What I did?"

"The first time we spoke, you said you couldn't take it anymore watching your friends die, one by one. The last time we spoke, you gave me the coordinates of every WCKD compound, trail and lab." she said looking at him proudly, whilst checking Brenda's pulse.

"He was our source." Vince breathed out.

"We couldn't have pulled this off without him. Take her to the tent." the brunette commanded, "Get these guys some warm clothes."

As the group watched Thomas and the woman walk off, the golden haired man turned back to the group, "Do we need to check the rest of you?" he asked.

The group shook their heads no.

Looking round the group, hesitantly he nodded his head slightly, he turned to Athena. "Can I speak with you?"

Before she answered she looked at Newt who nodded his head assuredly, "Yeah, sure."

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Walking into a tent she looked around to see a single bed and a table and chair. "Take a seat." he offered.

Taking a seat on the bed, the man took one on the chair, she turned her head to look at him. "How do you know me?"

"I worked for Wicked. Just like Mary did." he said referring to the woman from earlier.

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I worked on the combat side of Wicked." he summarized, Athena raised an eyebrow at him which caused him to evaluate further. "What my main job was... was-- training you." he said his voice filled with sadness.

"So you're the reason I know how to do everything?" the man nodded.

"Yeah. My name is Finn. I have been trained in combat since the age of 14, I got a job, then when the flare began Wicked recruited me. After a few years of the first job they gave me. They assigned me a new job. Teaching you."

"Teaching me?"

"Everything you know. How to survive in the most terrible of situations. How to defend yourself in a situation no one should be able to escape. How to fight with any weapon or item you could find. Of course your eidetic memory helped with all this. My mission was to turn you into a killing machine."

"Why did they do this? Why me?" Athena looked at the man.

Finn breathed in, "They used you to get rid of people they needed off the radar. Their thoughts were if a child in the middle of a pandemic, came up to you and pleaded for help, no one could say no. But when rumors became more and more recurring about a girl, killing off threats, people became more worried. So, when your mental health started to get to you after a particular one of your friends got sent to the maze, as much as I pleaded them not to, they sent you into the maze."

"You were like a daughter to me. I have known you since you were 6. And there wasn't anything I could do to stop them. So when you got sent in, I was moved up in ranks, took over your job, but after an incident I met Mary, she could see that I hated it there, so when the time was right after Thomas gave her the coordinates, we fled. She became like an older sister."

"So you knew me before the maze?"

"Yes."

"What was I like?"

"Just like you are now. Feisty as ever. Always has a fire lit inside you, always fighting for what's right. Your friends coming before you, in any situation. And I can see the blonde stuck around." he finished with a smirk on his face.

"Newt? You know Newt?"

"Yes" he chuckled, "I know all of them. Not as much as I know you, but I know them. Had to teach all of them basic combat skills, and survivalist skills."

"So we were all together before the maze."

"Mhm, and if I do remember correctly, that chain you're wearing is his." he said pointing to the thin silver chain that peaked out of her t-shirt.

"His?" she said pulling the chain fully out of her t-shirt, the ring falling into the middle.

"The chain, yes. The ring, no. The ring I'm going to guess is from your mother."

"Oh ok." Athena nodded.

"I'll let you go back to your friends now but I would love to speak to you more. It's just been a long time since i've seen a familiar face." he said, his sea green eyes full of empathy.

"Definitely." Athena nodded, as she stood up. "Bye." she waved as she walked out the tent.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A/N - my insperation for Finn is Sam Clafin, btw, to give you an idea.