7. Good Ol' Bertha

Before I knew it, we were all crammed into a car. But this want any old car, this was Bertha. She was a 1985 Chevy Suburban. She had long horns tied to her front and she was Marcus's only thing left from the old world. Sure, her windows where foggy from cigarettes and the sour bread smell of moonshine filled the long cab, but she was beautiful.

I, of course, was sat between Newt and Brenda. Newt had declined the chance to sit up front and slide into the seat next to me.

The tension between me and Brenda was palpable. I was mad at her for running of and putting herself in danger, and she was mad at me for God knows what. That is how we seemed to be quite often.

I still hadn't told her about George yet, and I decided to not tell her anytime soon. I loved her, but her obsession with George was beyond normal. I think she was stuck in the old days when it was here and us twins.

Now that he was gone, nothing seemed normal. If she found out that George was gone, she would be crushed.

I was chewing on the inside of my cheek, deep in thought, when I felt someone touch me. I looked down to see Newts hand placed over mine. He wrapped his long fingers over my hand and squeezed gently before letting go and looking back out the window.

He seemed to sense my stress and gave me a soft smile.

I saw Brenda from the corner of my eye. She was giving me a sly look, but once I looked to her and glared, she looked back out the window.

Teresa, Minho, and Aris were all crammed into the back. Minho was sleeping now, with his head against the window.

Thomas was up front between Frypan and Jorge, making small talk with Jorge about he Right Arm.

In this moment, everything seemed pretty alright. Not quite perfect, but only because the feud between Brenda and I.

I was slowly relaxing, drifting closer and closer to sleep. I could feel my head nodded slightly as Bertha hit a pothole. Newt pushed his shoulder up, and my head came to rest on it. I froze, not knowing if it was an accident and scared that if I moved he would realize and brush me away.

I could hear Brenda speaking to Newt lightly, but sleep overcame me before I could catch what they were saying.

Newts P.O.V.

Her mouth parted as she drifted to sleep. I couldn't help but smile.

I sucked in a breath thinking about all the horrid things that would've happened to her today if I didn't protect her.

I had only met her, but my will to protect her stronger than anything I felt before.

Maybe it was because she was just a girl, or maybe it was because she was absolutely so innocent. She acted as if she had never seen the world before. Acted like she didn't know how horrible it was.

I cherish her innocence. I wanted her to stay innocent and perfect, because this world was anything but innocent and perfect.

I would've never expected to feel this way for a girl. I always thought that the maze and my life running from WCKD would take too much of my time, but here I was fancying her.

"What's your deal?" Brenda asked. She was eyeing me down like a mother would.

"Nothing," I whispered with a chuckle.

Brenda sighed and seemed to be pondering her reply. "If you know what is good for her, you will keep it that way. She has gone through so much, heartbreak isn't something she needs as well."

I clinched my jaw and looked down to the sleeping girl. "Nothing will happen to her."

With nimble fingers I tucked a strand of hair that had fallen over her eyes back behind her ear.

Brenda reached over to take her from my shoulder protectively, but I stopped her.

"Just let her sleep," I insisted. "She needs sleep."•••●●•••

Damn protective Brenda!!

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