Chapter 28 Chapter 28 Partners

"No!" Thomas said very firmly and decisively. "No?" Jorge asked with a look of surprise on his face. "This city is full of evil lunatics. They are ready to eat you at any time. I gave you a chance to escape from here, and you said no? I'm too young to say no." Small request? I'm not happy at all." "That's not smart at all," Thomas said.He himself didn't know how to maintain a calm face, and he didn't know where his courage came from.But in the dark, he felt that this was the only way to survive beside this lunatic. Jorge leaned forward again, resting his elbows on the table.But this time, instead of clenching his hands together, he clenched them into fists, so tight that his knuckles creaked. "Is your goal in life to make me so angry that I kill you with my own hands?"

"You've seen what he did to you," Thomas shot back. "You know what a guts it takes. If you kill him, you lose his power. He's our best fighter, everything Don't be afraid. Maybe he's crazy, but we need him." Thomas tried to sound realistic.If there was anyone in the world other than Theresa who could be called his true friend, that person was Minho, so he couldn't lose him. "But he pissed me off," Jorge said forcefully, not letting go of his fist. "He made me act like a little girl in front of my people. That's... unacceptable."

Thomas shrugged, acting nonchalant, as if it was a trivial matter. "So he should be punished. Let him be like a little girl too, but killing him won't do any good. The more we have, the better the chance. You live here, the meaning of which doesn't need me Remind me." Finally, finally, Jorge let go of his whitened fist.He breathed a sigh of relief too, Thomas didn't realize that Jorge was still holding his breath. "Well," said the lunatic, "I promise you, but it has nothing to do with your lame rhetoric. I decided to keep him because I just made a decision. There are actually two reasons. One of It's what you should have thought of."

"What?" Thomas didn't mind showing his relaxation at the moment, exhausted from trying to hide his expression.Moreover, now he is also very curious about what Jorge will say. "First of all, you don't know the full details behind this experiment or testing, or what WICKED is putting you through. Perhaps the more people get back to safety, the better the chances of you being cured. Did it ever occur to you that Group B you mentioned might be your contenders? I think it's best for me right now to make sure all eleven of you go back." Thomas nodded without saying anything.He didn't want to risk ruining this victory.Regarding the rat man and the antidote, Jorge still believed him.

"The first reason also contributed to the second," he went on, "and I've made up my mind about it." "What is it?" Thomas asked. "I'm not going to take all the lunatics, come with me, come with us." "Huh? Why? I thought the point of the whole thing was that you guys could help us fight together and escape from this city." Jorge shook his head resolutely, leaning back in the chair at the same time, crossing his arms across his chest in a less than menacing pose. "No, stealth will work far better than combat for our purposes. We've been quietly watching this damn place since we got here, and I think if we'll make good use of what we've seen, get through here— —and get all the food and supplies we need—much more likely. Sneak past these long-crazed lunatics instead of fighting out like a bunch of fake warriors."

"You're such an elusive fellow," Thomas said. "No offense, it just looks like you're clearly trying to be warriors. You know, with all your ugly gear and sharp things." There was a long silence, long enough for Thomas to wonder if he had made a mistake when he said that, and Jorge burst out laughing. "Oh, young man, you're lucky I like you. Not sure why, but it is, otherwise I would have killed you three times." "Can you do that?" Thomas asked. "what?" "Kill a man three times." "I'll figure it out."

"Then I have to try my best to treat you better." Jorge slapped the table and stood up. "Okay, that's it. We need to get you eleven idiots to safety. To do this, I only need to take one person--her name is Brenda, and she is a genius. We need her bright head. If If we do this and nothing can cure us, then I don't need to tell you what will happen?" "Don't lie," Thomas said sarcastically, "I thought we were friends by now." "Hey buddy, we're not friends, we're partners. I'm sending you to WICKED and you're going to give me the antidote. That's the way our deal is, or a lot of people will die."

Thomas stood up too, his chair creaking against the floor. "We've agreed on this a long time ago, haven't we?" "Yes, yes, yes. Now listen, you must stop talking. Escaping from those lunatics is going to be very... skillful." "What's the plan?" Jorge thought for a moment, keeping his eyes on Thomas, and then he said, "Just keep your mouth shut and I'll do the rest." He started moving towards the door leading to the hallway, but stopped suddenly. It stopped, "By the way, I don't think your friend Minho would like this very much."

They walked down the corridor, joining the others.Thomas was starting to feel like he was starving. His stomach cramps had started to spread throughout his body, as if his internal organs and muscles were eating each other. "Okay, listen up, everyone!" Jorge announced when they entered the dilapidated big room again, "This guy with the bird face and I have made a decision." Bird face?Thomas thought. The group of delirious people still stood alert, dangerous weapons clutched in their hands, eyes glaring at the Glader.The Gladers sat at the edge of the room, all with their backs to the wall, and light streamed in through the battered windows and the holes in the roof.

Jorge stopped in the middle of the house, and slowly began to speak to everyone.Thomas thought he looked ridiculous because his behavior was so deliberate. "First of all, we need to feed these people. I know it sounds crazy to give food we've fought so hard to feed a bunch of strangers, but I think we can use them. Divide the pork and beans They, I've had enough of that horse shit anyway." One of the skinny lunatics, a kid with eyes darting from side to side, chuckled. "Second, return to my true colors and be a bold gentleman and saint. I have decided not to kill these idiots who attacked me."

Thomas heard a few groans of disappointment from the crowd, and he wondered how far these people had gone with the Flare.But one of the beautiful girls rolled her eyes and shook her head as if she thought the moaning was idiotic.She was an older girl with unusually clean long hair.Thomas suddenly felt that he wished she was the girl named Brenda that Jorge had mentioned earlier. Jorge pointed at Minho, who Thomas didn't find annoying at all, smiling and waving to the crowd. "Are you happy?" Jorge snorted, "Very good! It means you will accept the news calmly." "What news?" Minho asked eagerly. Thomas glanced at Jorge, wondering how the guy would respond. "We'll feed you stragglers so you don't starve to death with us. Then you'll be punished for attacking me," said the demented man. "Oh, really?" Even if Minho was really scared, he didn't show it at all, "What kind of punishment will it be?" Jorge turned his gaze back to Minho, his expressionless face was covered with frightening strangeness. "You hit me with both of your fists. So we'll cut off a finger from each of your hands."