Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Under the Red Warning Light

Thomas had to trust Newt, he had to do it for his friend, but curiosity burned inside.Even so, he knew they had no time to waste, they had to get everyone out of this WICKED headquarters building.He could have talked more with Newt inside the Berg if they could get to the hangar and convince Jorge to help them. Newt came out of the armory, carrying a box of ammo by himself, Minho following him, and then Brenda, who was also carrying a launcher and several pockets stuffed with pistols. "Let's go find our friends," Thomas said.Then he walked back the way he had come, and the others followed him one by one.

They searched for nearly an hour, but their friend seemed to have disappeared without a trace.The Ratmen and guards they left behind were gone, and the restaurant, all the dormitories, bathrooms, and meeting rooms were also empty, not a single person or a lunatic could be seen.Thomas was terrified. He was afraid that something terrible had happened and they would have to face dire consequences. After a last hasty search of every nook and cranny of the building, one thing occurred to him. "Can you walk around while I'm locked up in the White House?" he asked. "Are you sure we haven't missed any places?"

"As far as I know, there shouldn't be any," Minho replied, "but I'd be surprised if there wasn't a secret room." Thomas agreed with him, but felt that he couldn't afford to spend any more time searching, and that the only option was to keep going. Thomas nodded. "Okay, let's take a detour to the hangar and look for them as we go." After they walked for a long time, Minho suddenly stood still, and he pointed to his ear.They couldn't see very well, for the only dim light in the hall was the siren lights. Thomas stopped with the others, trying to breathe slowly to listen, and he heard it quickly.There was a low, shivering groan coming from a few feet away from one of the few windows in the hall—a window in a large room.From where Thomas was standing, the room was dark and he couldn't see anything.The glass of the window was shattered from the inside, and pieces of glass were scattered all over the place.

The groan sounded again. Minho put a finger on his lips, and slowly and carefully placed the other two transmitters.Thomas and Brenda followed suit while Newt put his ammo box on the ground.The four of them gripped their weapons tightly, letting Minho lead the group, and quietly crawled towards the direction of the noise, which sounded a bit like a person desperately trying to wake up from a nightmare.Thomas worried more with every step he took, fearing he didn't know what he might find. Minho stopped, leaning his back against the wall, next to the window.The door to the room was on the other side of the window, and the door was closed.

"Get ready," Minho whispered, "start." He aimed the launcher at the dark house while Thomas moved to his left, Brenda to his right, both armed, Newt guarding behind them. Thomas' finger moved back and forth on the trigger, ready to fire at any moment, but there was no movement.He looked at the situation in the room and was very confused.I couldn't see anything under the red warning light, but it looked like the entire floor was covered in a mound of dirt, and something was slowly moving there.He adjusted the angle of view slowly, only to see the shape of the body, the black clothes, and the rope.

"They're guards!" Brenda said, and there was a dead silence in her voice. There was a masked gasp from the room, and Thomas finally saw the faces, several of them.Their mouths were gagged and their eyes were wide open in horror.The guards were bound hands and feet, and they were lying side by side, covering the entire room.Some are immobile, but most are still struggling to get free.Thomas realized he was staring at them, wondering what the hell was going on. "So they were all here." Minho finally said a word. Newt leaned over to look. "At least it's not like last time, hanging from the ceiling and sticking out its tongue."

Thomas wholeheartedly agreed, and whether it was true or not, he remembered the sight all too well. "We'll have to question them to find out what happened," Brenda said, walking toward the door. Without thinking, Thomas grabbed her and said, "Don't go." "What do you mean? Don't let me ask? Why not? They'll tell us the whole story!" She wrenched her arm free, but waited to see what else he had to say. "It may be a trap, or the person who did this is likely to come back soon, we have to stay away from this place." "Yeah," Minho said, "no need to argue. I don't care who's running around here, whether it's a lunatic, a rebel, or a gorilla, these guards aren't our concern right now .”

Brenda shrugged. "Okay, I just think we can get some information." She paused, then pointed to the front and said, "The hangar is over there." Thomas and a few others packed up their weapons and ammunition and ran from hall to hall while vigilantly looking for anyone who might bring down the guards.Finally, Brenda stopped at another gate.A door was ajar, and a breeze blew through her hair. Minho and Newt consciously stood by the door alone, the launcher ready to fire at any time.Brenda held the doorknob, the pistol pointed at the crack of the door.It was quiet and silent inside.

Thomas gripped the launcher tightly, the butt of the gun against his shoulder, the muzzle pointing forward. "Open the door," he said, his heart beating faster. Brenda swung the door open and Thomas rushed in.He swiped left and right with the gun in his hand, walking in circles. The sprawling hangar looks like it was built for three jumbo ships, but there are only two ships in the loading bay.They loomed like frogs, covered in charred metal and frayed edges, as if they had carried soldiers through hundreds of hard-fought battles.Apart from a few cargo boxes and what looked like a mechanical yard, the rest of the hangar was nothing more than an empty space.

Thomas continued walking, searching the hangar, while the other three spread out around him without moving. "Hey!" Minho yelled, "Come here. Someone's..." He didn't finish, but stopped beside a large box, and aimed his gun at something behind it. Thomas was the first to run to Minho, and was very surprised to find a man lying on the other side of the wooden box, out of sight, moaning and rubbing his head.There was no visible blood coming from his dark hair, but from the way he struggled to his feet, Thomas could tell he was badly hurt. "Be careful, friend," Minho reminded him, "Relax, don't rush, take your time, or you'll be burnt into bacon before you come to your senses."

The man raised his elbows, and when he dropped his hands from his face, Brenda screamed and rushed to wrap him in her arms. It turned out to be Jorge, and Thomas was relieved: they had finally found the pilot, who was slightly injured, but mostly fine. Brenda didn't seem to think so. She searched for wounds on Jorge and asked, "What happened? How did you get hurt? Who drove the Borg? Where did everyone go?" Jorge groaned again and pushed her away gently. "Don't worry, little girl, my head looks like I've been stepped on by a dancing lunatic. Give me a second and I'll get my sanity back." Brenda let him go and sat down, flushed and anxious.Thomas had a thousand questions, but knew very well what it was like to be hit on the head.Watching Jorge slowly return to normal, he remembered how much he had been afraid of this guy, fear even.He'll never forget Jorge and Minho's fight in the abandoned house in the Scorched Earth.But like Brenda, Jorge eventually found himself on the same side as the Gladiators. Jorge tried desperately to open his eyes, closed them, opened them several times, and then began to speak: "I don't know how they did it, but they took over a building, threw off the guards, and put Borg The spaceship was stolen and flew away with another pilot. I was stupid to tell them to wait and figure out what happened. Well, my head paid for it." "Who are you talking about?" Brenda asked him. "Who are you talking about? Who left?" For some reason, Jorge looked up at Thomas and replied, "That Teresa girl, she and the other subjects. Well, bro, everyone is gone except you."