Flower in Ruins Chapter 1
Preface
The boy waited with bated breath as he stared at the old monitor.
It was cracked around the edges and grime covered the screen.
One, two, three seconds he waited before shining his flashlight around the office in exasperation.
The room had aged by centuries since the last time he was here.
It reeked of moss and mold that had grown over the once beautiful building.
Giving a defeated sigh, he turned and began walking out the door.
Crackle.
Crackle.
Pop.
Whir…
"Welcome to Wicked's record data base.
Please enter the password."
The boy stood frozen for a few seconds before he raced over to the computer and typed in the password that he knew by heart.
Maneuvering his way through the online data base he clicked on a folder and then sat back as the screen became choppy before becoming clear.
"File 304 Codename Forever. The lost files. Please standby."
The boy held his breath before letting out a sigh of relief when the video recording began to play.
"Now entering Project Flower in the Ruins."
End of Preface
It was a sunny day in Paradise as Thomas and the other Gladers waited for the box to come up with the daily supplies.
It had been a month since they had escaped from the disease ridden world and had put an end to the trials.
As soon as the Glader's arrived in Paradise they noticed that it was set up almost exactly like the Glade except bigger.
There was a larger building that they ended up calling the Homestead, a shower facility, a kitchen and outdoor eating area, a Med jack building, a Slammer and the Box that sat in the middle of the field.
Except there were some major differences to the Glade that they had left behind.
There was no farm and no place to hold the supplies except the Homestead which made the place overcrowded and uncomfortable.
All of the buildings were practically in shambles and many of the Builders that had fixed things in the maze were dead after the final battle.
Only Gally and a few inexperienced male Immunes were left to take on the project to bring the entire place up to livable standards.
The area was heavily wooded and contained a mixture of good and bad weather.
Today it was sunny for the morning but Thomas reckoned that it'd rain sometime in the afternoon.
It was just after lunch when the supplies alarm went off.
So that's how Thomas, Minho, Gally and Newt found themselves waiting impatiently for the Box to complete its long, painstakingly slow journey.
The Gladers stood in silence as they listened to the creaking and metal squealing of the Box.
Newt tapped his foot anxiously against the metal edge of the Box before turning to Thomas who was standing alone on the edge of the group with his arms crossed tightly over his toned chest.
"Box is almost here, Tommy. What do you think they'll send us this time?"
The blonde quipped as he tried to give a smile to his best friend of three years.
Thomas merely shrugged and quickly glanced at the Box before positioning himself so it wasn't in his sight line.
"Probably the same things they've been sending us. Food. Water. Crappy tools. It's always the fucking same."
He murmured as Newt's smile faltered for a nanosecond.
Newt sighed and turned back to the Box feeling utterly defeated.
Thomas's entire personality had changed ever since Teresa had died in the final battle with Wicked.
His grief had made him cold and uncaring towards life in general.
Newt and the other Gladers wondered daily if he'd ever be able to move on from the grief and sadness that were buried deep within his soul.
Bang!
Newt jumped and practically fell over as the Box came to a stop.
Gally and Minho snickered while Thomas merely looked on with a small hint of concern.
When he established that Newt was unharmed he stalked up to the edge of the Box and took his place with the others to open the metal crate.
The boys heaved the heavy metal gates open before moving closer to unload the supplies.
But no supplies had come today.
There were gasps all around as they peered down into the crate and saw that a small girl with long blonde hair and delicate features lay at the very bottom.
The girl looked to be unconscious as they assessed her immediate condition.
Newt was just about to jump down into the Box but froze when they all heard loud footsteps disappearing off into the distance.
Gally ran a hand through his curly blonde hair and kicked the dirt angrily as they watched Thomas's retreating figure veer off and disappear into the woods.
"Fuck…it's begun again…"
Newt and Minho exchanged an uneasy look.
"Bloody hell. Here we go again…"
Newt muttered in disbelief before jumping into the Box to attend to yet another mysterious twist in the Glader's lives.
