“Actually, yeah.” She pulled up the sleeve of her left arm, exposing her bicep. Small letters were written across the skin in thin black ink.
“What’s that?” he asked, leaning in for a better look.
“Read it yourself.”
The letters were messy, but he could make them out when he got close enough.
WICKED is good
Thomas’s heart beat faster. “I’ve seen that word—wicked.” He searched his mind for what the phrase could possibly mean. “On the little creatures that live here. The beetle blades.”
“What are those?” she asked.
“Just little lizardlike machines that spy on us for the Creators—the people who sent us here.”
Teresa considered that for a moment, looking off into space. Then she focused on her arm. “I can’t remember why I wrote this,” she said as she wet her thumb and started rubbing off the words. “But don’t let me forget—it has to mean something.”
The three words ran through Thomas’s mind over and over. “When did you write it?”
“When I woke up. They had a pen and notepad next to the bed. In the commotion I wrote it down.”
Thomas was baffled by this girl—first the connection he’d felt to her from the very beginning, then the mind-speaking, now this. “Everything about you is weird. You know that, right?”
“Judging by your little hiding spot, I’d say you’re not so normal yourself. Like living in the woods, do ya?”
Thomas tried to scowl, then smiled. He felt pathetic, and embarrassed about hiding. “Well, you look familiar to me and you claim we’re friends. Guess I’ll trust you.”
He held out his hand for another shake, and she took it, holding on for a long time. A chill swept through Thomas that was surprisingly pleasant.
“All I want is to get back home,” she said, finally letting go of his hand. “Just like the rest of you.”
Thomas’s heart sank as he snapped back to reality and remembered how grim the world had become. “Yeah, well, things pretty much suck right about now. The sun disappeared and the sky’s gone gray, they didn’t send us the weekly supplies—looks like things are going to end one way or another.”
But before Teresa could answer, Newt was running out of the woods. “How in the …,” he said as he pulled up in front of them. Alby and a few others were right behind him. Newt looked at Teresa. “How’d you get here? Med-jack said you were there one second and buggin’ gone the next.”
Teresa stood up, surprising Thomas with her confidence. “Guess he forgot to tell the little part about me kicking him in the groin and climbing out the window.”
Thomas almost laughed as Newt turned to an older boy standing nearby, whose face had turned bright red.
“Congrats, Jeff,” Newt said. “You’re officially the first guy here to get your butt beat by a girl.”
Teresa didn’t stop. “Keep talking like that and you’ll be next.”
Newt turned back to face them, but his face showed anything but fear. He stood, silently, just staring at them. Thomas stared back, wondering what was going through the older boy’s head.
Alby stepped up. “I’m sick of this.” He pointed at Thomas’s chest, almost tapping it. “I wanna know who you are, who this shank girl is, and how you guys know each other.”
Thomas almost wilted. “Alby, I swear—”
“She came straight to you after waking up, shuck-face!”
Anger surged inside Thomas—and worry that Alby would go off like Ben had. “So what? I know her, she knows me—or at least, we used to. That doesn’t mean anything! I can’t remember anything. Neither can she.”
Alby looked at Teresa. “What did you do?”
Thomas, confused by the question, glanced at Teresa to see if she knew what he meant. But she didn’t reply.
“What did you do!” Alby screamed. “First the sky, now this.”
“I triggered something,” she replied in a calm voice. “Not on purpose, I swear it. The Ending. I don’t know what it means.”
“What’s wrong, Newt?” Thomas asked, not wanting to talk to Alby directly. “What happened?”
But Alby grabbed him by the shirt. “What happened? I’ll tell ya what happened, shank. Too busy makin’ lovey eyes to bother lookin’ around? To bother noticing what freaking time it is!”
Thomas looked at his watch, realizing with horror what he’d missed, knowing what Alby was about to say before he said it.
“The walls, you shuck. The Doors. They didn’t close tonight.”
CHAPTER 37
Thomas was speechless. Everything would be different now. No sun, no supplies, no protection from the Grievers. Teresa had been right from the beginning—everything had changed. Thomas felt as if his breath had solidified, lodged itself in his throat.
Alby pointed at the girl. “I want her locked up. Now. Billy! Jackson! Put her in the Slammer, and ignore every word that comes out of her shuck mouth.”
Teresa didn’t react, but Thomas did enough for the both of them. “What’re you talking about? Alby, you can’t—” He stopped when Alby’s fiery eyes shot such a look of anger at him he felt his heart stutter. “But … how could you possibly blame her for the walls not closing?”
Newt stepped up, lightly placed a hand on Alby’s chest and pushed him back. “How could we not, Tommy? She bloody admitted it herself.”
Thomas turned to look at Teresa, paled at the sadness in her blue eyes. It felt like something had reached through his chest and squeezed his heart.