Chapter 34 Chapter Thirty-Four Sweet Words in the Truck

The next thirty seconds were very, very scary for Thomas. The lunatic struggled, convulsed, choked, and spat blood.Life slowly flowed from this man, the crazy light in his eyes slowly disappeared, and the tense muscles slowly relaxed, and he remained motionless. Finally, the man infected with the Flame died.Thomas took two steps back, his whole body like a tightly coiled mass of rusty metal wire.He gasped for breath, trying to calm down the constant nausea in his chest. He just killed someone.He took the life of a man, and the insides felt full of poison. "We're leaving," Brenda said, standing up. "There's no way they haven't heard those voices. Come on."

Thomas couldn't believe how quickly she pulled away from what they had just done like she was okay.But on the other hand, they have no choice.There was an echo in the hallway, like a coyote leaping the Grand Canyon, which meant that other Crazies were coming. Thomas forced himself to his feet, pressing down on the guilt that seemed to be clamoring to eat him. "Okay, but never again." What started as a silver ball that corrodes the head, and now it's a fight in the dark with a lunatic. "What do you mean?" He had had enough of the long black tunnels, it seemed like a lifetime. "I want the day, and I don't care what it costs. I want the day, and I want it now."

Brenda didn't argue, she led him through a few twists and turns.Soon they discovered a long iron staircase leading to the sky outside, and the disturbing noise of the Crazy Man echoed in the distance.Laughter, shouting, giggling, and occasionally a scream or two. It took a lot of effort to move the round manhole cover, but it came off in the end.They climbed out and found themselves standing in the gray twilight, surrounded by tall buildings.I saw dilapidated windows, rubbish strewn all over the street, and a few dead bodies lying on the ground.The air smelled of dust and decay, and the weather was hot.

But no matter what, no one is alive, not a single one.Thomas suddenly woke up, thinking that his friends might be among the dead bodies, but that was not the case.The scattered bodies were older men and women, long since decomposed.Brenda turned around slowly and determined her position. "Okay, if you go down the street, there should be a mountain." She pointed, but because the building had already blocked the setting sun, she couldn't see what was there. "Are you sure?" Thomas asked. "Yes, let's go." Thomas stared wide-eyed as they walked down the long, lonely street, scrutinizing every broken window, every path, every cracked door, hoping to see Minho and the Gladers I hope I don't see any lunatics.

They walked until dark, avoiding anyone along the way.They did hear the occasional scream in the distance, or the occasional sound of something slamming into the building.At one point in the street a few blocks away, Thomas saw a group of people trotting past, but they didn't seem to notice him and Brenda. Just before the sun had fully set, they turned a corner.The edge of the city came into view, about a mile away.The building came to an abrupt end here, while the mountains behind it stood up very solemnly.Thomas had glimpsed these hills a few days earlier, and they now appeared to be many times larger than he had guessed at the time, and they were dry and rocky.In this part of the world, the snow-covered beauty he vaguely remembered was no longer there.

"Should we keep going?" Thomas asked. Brenda is busy looking for a hiding place. "I want to, but I can't. First of all, it's too dangerous to run around here at night. Second, even if we can escape the danger, there is no place to hide in front of us unless we go all the way into the mountains. This, I think. impossible." Even though Thomas was terrified of spending another night in the harsh city, he agreed, but deep down worries about the other Gladers were consuming him.He whispered back, "Okay. So where do we go next?" "follow me." They ended up settling down on a side road facing a big brick wall, and at first Thomas thought it was a terrible idea to sleep in a place with only one exit.But Brenda had persuaded him differently—there was no reason for a demented person to go down a dead-end lane.In addition, she also pointed out that there were several large rusted trucks that could hide in there.

They ended up in what appeared to be a van that was battered to the point of uselessness, with tattered but soft seats and a large cab.Thomas sat at the wheel, reclining the seat as far back as possible.Surprisingly, once settled in, he felt quite comfortable.Brenda sat a few feet to his right, settling down.Outside, it was completely dark, and the distant, restless voices of the lunatics came from the broken windows. Thomas was exhausted, achy, miserable, and the blood had dried on his clothes.Earlier, he'd washed his hands, scrubbing vigorously until Brenda yelled at him to stop wasting their water.But the blood of the lunatic had stained his fingers, his palms... it was hard for him to accept.His heart weighed down every time he thought about it, but he couldn't deny the horrific fact that even if he hadn't had the Flare before—and it was highly unlikely that the Rat Man was lying—he would definitely have it by now. .Now, sitting in the dark, with his head on the van door, his past actions played out in his mind.

"I killed that guy," he whispered. "Yes, that's right," Brenda responded, her voice soft. "Otherwise, he'd kill us." He wanted to take her word for it, the guy had been driven out of his mind by the Flare.Anyway, he would probably die anyway, not to mention that he would do everything possible to hurt them and try to kill them.But guilt still tormented him, slowly sinking into his bones.It was not easy for him to accept the reality of killing someone. "I know," he finally reacted, "but it was very...evil. So cruel. Wish I had other ways to deal with it."

"Well, sorry you had to do it that way." "What if I see his savage face every night when I fall asleep? What if he's in my dreams?" He suddenly felt intense anger at Brenda for making him stun the madman's head. —but when he thought of their desperate situation at the time, he knew that he was being unreasonable. Brenda sat turned to face him, the moonlight enough for him to see her dark eyes and dirty but beautiful face.Maybe not, maybe he was a jerk, but looking at her made him miss Teresa even more. Brenda reached out and took Thomas's hand, squeezing it.He let her go, but didn't hold back.

"Thomas?" She called his name even though he was looking at her. "Ok?" "You have to know that you didn't just save your own skin, you also saved mine. I don't think it's possible for me to defeat the lunatic." Thomas nodded and said nothing. That was not the only reason he felt hurt inside. All his friends were gone.From what he knew so far, they should be dead.Chuck must be dead, and Teresa couldn't find him either.He himself was only halfway to a safe haven, sleeping in a van with a girl who would eventually go insane, stuck in a city full of bloodthirsty lunatics.

"Do you sleep with your eyes open?" she asked him. Thomas tried to smile. "No, just wondering how bad life can be." "My life is terrible too, extremely miserable, but I'm so happy to be with you." The words were so simple and sweet that Thomas forced himself to close his eyes.All the pain in his heart turned into something born of Brenda, almost like feeling for Chuck.He hated the people who caused her pain, hated the disease that caused it, and he wanted it all to be normal. He finally looked at her again and said, "I'm happy too, it's worse being alone." "They killed my dad." Thomas looked up, surprised by the sudden change in the conversation. "what?" Brenda nodded slowly. "WICKED. He was trying to stop them from taking me, and he was screaming like a madman at those guys, I think he used a wooden rolling pin," she chuckled, "and they shot him in the head ’” Tears welled up in her eyes, glistening in the faint moonlight. "real?" "Yes, I saw it happen. Seeing him before he was on the floor and the life was gone." "Oh my God." Thomas didn't know what to say. "I'm... sorry. I saw my best friend in the world get assassinated and he died in my arms." He paused ,"where is your mom?" "She didn't live very long either." She didn't elaborate, and Thomas didn't press, and he didn't really want to know. "I'm terrified of going crazy," she said after a long silence. "I've always had the feeling that I'm going crazy. A lot of things look weird and sound weird. In depression, I start thinking Meaningful stuff. Sometimes the air around me feels like... freezes. I don't know what that means, but it's scary. I'm definitely starting to go crazy, and the Flare is eating my normal thinking." Thomas didn't dare to look directly at the expression in her eyes, and turned to look at the ground. "Don't give up just yet, we'll get to safe havens and find a cure." "False hope," she said, "but it's better than no hope." She squeezed his hand, and this time Thomas shook it back. Then, miraculously, they fell asleep.