They Don't Own Me

Chapter 42

Michelle smiled at them.

"She seemed special. I'm sorry you lost her." The three nodded, lowering their heads to hide their pain. "Hey, all of you, look at me. This is normal. This pain, sadness, heartbreak, anger? It's all normal. It means you're human. The fact that the three of you were able to just talk about her to me shows a lot. Talking about her is healthy. It helps you grow. You can't forget her, and you never will, so remember her for what she was. Believe me, it's hard, but it does help the pain."

Minho couldn't help but chuckle.

"That sounds like something Ivy would say," he said.

"Except she would probably swear at us at some point telling us to stop being shanks," Frypan replied, causing the three to laugh.

Michelle smiled, happy that she was able to get the boys to relax a little. She leaned back on her hands and chose to look at the sky, admiring the colors that had been painted there by the setting sun. Little blue seemed to melt into purple that changed into dark pink, red, orange, and golden yellow. Clouds were also scattered across the sky. The whole thing seemed like a piece of art.

As the sky slowly changed and faded into darker shades, Michelle couldn't help but notice a sudden flicker of light in the distance. Her eyes honed in on that one spot, trying to figure out what had caught her attention. It took her several moments to find out what she was seeing but suddenly, over the noises of the camp, she heard a familiar sound. Her eyes suddenly grew wide in panic.

"Michelle?" Frypan said. "You all right?"

"Get up," she ordered, getting to her feet.

"What? Why?" Newt asked.

"Get up, now!" she said. "We need to move!"

"Why? Talk to us, Michelle," Minho said, rising to his feet but not moving.

"Because we're not safe here anymore! They've found us and we need to leave now unless we want to get killed! Look!"

She pointed at the oncoming helicopters, which were now close enough that the boys were able to see what they were. Newt swore as the three scrambled to their feet, following after Michelle to the camp. The four ran as fast they could toward the camp, trying to find shelter. Just as they ducked behind by a large boulder, an explosion went off. People started screaming in panic and running around.

"We need to find Vince," Michelle said to the boys beside her.

"Where's Thomas?" Minho shouted in reply.

Minho's question went unanswered when they suddenly heard Vince shouting at Harriet for more ammo. The group ran to them, ducking behind the truck that Vince was currently standing on.

"How can we help?" they asked over the sound of gun fire.

"You need to cover us," Harriet replied.

Vince fired several more shots at the WCKD troopers before handing the gun off to Minho.

"Do you know how to use this thing?" he asked the boy. Minho nodded and readied the gun. "Cover me! This fifty is our only chance!"

Newt, Frypan, and Michelle each grabbed their own guns and began firing at the WCKD men. Firing shot after shot, WCKD agents went down, yelling in pain before falling still on the ground. Michelle kept her eyes open, darting around to look for other agents that could come close to them. She spotted one hiding behind a stack of crates. Just as he rose to shoot at Newt, she fired her gun, killing him.

"Vince, hurry up!" she shouted.

"There's too many of them!" Newt added.

Just as Vince finished strapping in the ammo for the large gun, a grenade was thrown at them, landing in the bed of the truck that Vince stood in. A moment after it went off, bursts of electricity went off, shocking the group. Michelle tried to remain standing, firing her gun at least once more before collapsing to the ground.