Teresa's POV:
"This is an alert. Curfew is now in effect. Anyone caught in violation of curfew will be subject to immediate deportation."
I hear someone following me so I chase them into an empty space.
The figure turns their head.
"Anna?" I ask, seeing her face.
"Hey, Teresa." she responds, casually.
"You shouldn't be here. If Janson finds out you're here..." I start, knowing she doesn't want to get captured again.
"I'm not staying. It's just, uh... I had to see you." she explains.
I blush. Maybe she still cares about me too.
I look her over, making sure she's okay. And that's when I see it.
"Y-your neck" I whisper out, seeing exposed veins.
She quickly covers it with her hair.
Damn it, this wouldn't have happened if she just stayed here with me.
"I do have to ask you something, though" she asks. I nod, cautiously, still worried for her.
"Do you regret it? What you did to us?" she asks.
I think for a minute on how to explain it nicely without lying.
"Sometimes... But I did what I thought was right." I say, hoping she'll understand.
"I'd do it again." I finish, knowing it's true.
She smiles at me.
"Good."
And then A bag is placed over my head.
Annabelle's POV:
They remove the bag.
"Gally?" she says sounding surprised.
I forgot that she was there when that incident happened. I forgot that she was on our side before. It seems so long ago.
"Here's how this is gonna go. We're gonna ask you some questions, and you're gonna tell us exactly what we need to know." Gally says, intimidatingly.
"We'll start off simple. Belle found Minho. Is he still there? Did they move him?" he asks.
"You guys don't seriously think.." she looks over at me, probably thinking I'd help her out.
"Don't look at her. Why are you looking at her? Look at me." Gally says, stepping in front of me.
"She's not gonna help you. Now, did they move him? he continues asking.
She tries looking at me but I stare at Gally, blankly.
She sighs and nods. "Sub-level three."
"How many others?"
"28"
"I can make that work." Brenda says. Finally, we're getting somewhere.
"No. No, you guys don't understand. The whole level's restricted. You can't get in without a thumbprint ID." she quickly speaks.
"That's why you're gonna come with us. Well, I don't know. We don't necessarily need her." he looks to me, trying to get a reaction or something.
I look back, confusedly.
What the hell is he doing? Of course we need her. Was he not listening?
"Right? Not all of her." now he's just egging me on.
He grabs a knife and goes over to her. "We just need her finger"
I immediately pull him back, taking the knife. "Gally, back off." I say through my teeth.
He smirks at me. "What, are you squeamish?"
"I guarantee you she's done a lot worse to Minho, and to her" he points over to Sonya, who's at my side.
"That's not the plan. Back off." I say, keeping my cool.
But just because I don't want her finger cut off doesn't mean I like her.
"It won't make a difference. Do whatever you want to me. You still won't get through the front door. The sensors will pick you up the—"
"We know." I say, rudely.
"We're tagged." I say, moving my hair out of the way of my neck, showing her the cursed mark that her 'good' organization had tagged us with, like cattle, highlighted be my more exposed veins in that area. "Property of WICKED" I whisper.
"You're gonna help us with that, too." I say, smirking, handing her the knife.
Her eyes widen.
Time skip.
"This is gonna sting." she tells me.
"Let's just get it over with." I say, blankly.
She moves my hair out of the way and cuts into my neck, while I try my best to not hiss in pain.
I can feel her hot breath on my neck.
I smirk. "I don't think you want to be breathing that in."
"I'm immune, remember?" she reminds me.
Way to rub it in.
"So was Winston. Remember him?" I ask, wincing slightly from the pain.
She brushes it off.
"That was from a scratch. It's not currently airborne, and I'm operating on you. I need to get close to do it well." she reasons, with her mouth seeming a centimeter away from my neck.
Well this is a lot closer than how she operated on the others.
I hear loud cough from across the room, and my eyes follow the sound to see Sonya glaring at Teresa.
She gets slightly further away from me, but not my much.
"So what happened, Anna?" she asks me, referring to how I contracted the flare.
She really thinks that the perfect time for conversation is when there's a knife in my neck.
I see Newt overhear, from the chair he's sitting on.
"She doesn't like being called that" he says. And then he gets up and walks over to the others.
"So what happened? I just want an explanation"
"It's not yours to hear" I retort.
"But if you really want to know, I got it from someone who only got it because of your betrayal" I say angrily.
I feel her pull the knife out, and then I immediately get up and walk away from her, not looking back at her.
Time skip.
Teresa's POV:
"Thomas, that's not possible. Brenda should have turned by now. There's no way she could possibly still—"
"All right, that's enough." he says, annoyed and angry.
"You don't believe me?" I ask.
"Do you really expect me to? You made your choice." he says, bitterly.
Why doesn't anyone see that I'm just trying to do what's best for the world?
Annabelle's POV:
"Everything okay over here?" I ask, sensing Tommy's anger.
"Yeah. Yeah, we're done." says Thomas, walking off.
I start walking away too, when I sense what Teresa's trying to do.
I turn my head back, quietly, to see that her arm is reaching down towards the knife, even though everyone's tags have been removed.
I come up behind her and grab her hand before she can reach the knife.
"Nice try" I say, before bringing her over to Gally.
I walk over to Sonya, who's sitting alone, probably thinking.
She hands me a drink.
"You were in love with her, weren't you?"
"I don't know." I respond, truthfully.
"Just be careful. You sort of have this problem where you see the best in people who don't deserve it. You can't save everyone, Belle."
"I can try."