Notes: I got inspired by the TST still posted by Kat McNamara on Twitter and wanted to write a short story based on Harriet and Sonya's reactions to seeing Aris again. The setting is mostly in the movie verse (from what I've seen in stills and clips – the film has not been released in the US yet) with some elements from the books and events I made up. There are references to "The True Maze" comic from The Scorch Trials prequel of comics. The characters Maria, Julia, and Gale (name from Florence Nightingale) are the counterparts of Minho, Frypan, and Jeff that I created. Cross posted to tumblr.
"I can't. Believe. I'm actually – cough! Saying this, but…I miss the ice," Harriet wheezed when she reached the top of a sand dune. She squinted as she looked out over the horizon and looked around for Bergs or any suspicious people following them. After a few minutes, she glanced over her shoulder and gave the all clear, alerting the group that it was safe.
Sonya scrambled up the dune, closing her eyes as the wind picked up and began to blow the sand around. The rest of the group struggled to get up the dune, coughing as sand and dust got in their lungs and eyes. Harriet eyed the dilapidated remains of a city and began checking the exterior for a way around. Something in her gut told her that they would be better off going around the city to find what they were looking for.
"I'll second that Stick," Maria murmured under her bandanna, which she was using to cover her mouth. "Although we weren't gonna make it much longer in that wasteland if WCKD had their way." She watched as Harriet scoped out the area and crossed her arms over her chest. "Now what?"
"I think we need to go around the city," Harriet answered as she began to trace a path behind the fallen skyscrapers.
"Harri, that's gonna take longer!"
"Stick, are you losing your mind here?"
"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" Maria roared as she whirled around. "Last I checked, Harri and Sony ran this freaking group so unless you guys got a better plan, then shut it!"
Harriet shot Maria a look that was a mix of gratitude and annoyance before looking over at Sonya. "Thoughts Sony?" she prompted.
Sonya strained her eyes to see the path Harriet was trying to point out. She nodded and mumbled that the city could be dangerous, especially if WCKD personnel were lurking in the alleys looking for people like them.
A dark skinned girl stepped up and leaned close to Harriet. "I get your logic, but I'm concerned about our supplies," she warned in a low voice. "Some of these Sticks are guzzling their water and eventually we're gonna be dehydrated."
"How are we set for food Gale?" Sonya asked.
"Better than water, that's for sure," Gale concluded. "I could always suggest we eat some of the fruit and veggies first – they have water in them so it should slow down the thirsty ones."
"I'm putting you in charge of that," Harriet sighed before motioning to the group. "Let's go – sooner we start moving, the further we get away from WCKD. I know I don't wanna get stuck with whatever was in those needles they were carrying."
"I stole some pots – I can make some stew," Julia announced when they stopped to set up camp.
"Good, when do you think it will be ready?" Harriet asked as she set her pack down.
"20-30 minutes, give or take."
"Okay, just do it," Harriet sighed as she tugged her bandanna down. She plopped down on the sand and sighed, closing her eyes as a light cool breeze hit her face.
Maria helped light the fire for the stew and watched as Julia dropped veggies in the pot before adding a can of stock to the pot.
"Stole that too?" she asked.
Julia shot her a wry smile and Maria shook her head. "Gotta hand it to you Jules – I swear you must have some kind of sense that knows where a pantry is."
"Wasn't rocket science," Julia shrugged as she stirred the ingredients. "Just watched the WCKD Sticks, saw where they went to get food, and decided it would be smart to stock up in case something went wrong." She turned her head to cough some dust out of her lungs and Maria stared at the fire.
"Hey, do you think Rachel's going to be okay?" Maria asked after a moment of silence.
Sonya looked up from unrolling her blanket and bit her lip. Harriet avoided her eyes and Julia pressed her lips together as she stirred.
"I'm…worried…about her, to be honest," Sonya said after a long pause. "I know WCKD put her in a wheelchair once we got acquainted at their base but after they saw her trying to help us escape…"
Julia shook her head and kept her eyes on the pot. "I hate to think about this, but they probably are testing her for their cure or worse. Even though we wanted her to come, it woulda been hard trying to get her around."
Harriet fidgeted with her gloves and forced herself to keep a brave face. She hated that the Greenbean didn't come with them – everyone had been screaming at her to hurry up and wheel it before the door closed, but in true Rachel fashion, she stayed behind, using a stolen gun to threaten the WCKD personnel that were closing in on them.
"We can't beat ourselves up over this," Gale spoke up. "Look, I know it sucks that Rachel acted as the sacrificial lamb –"
"We don't know that she's dead, Stick!" Maria snapped as she scowled at the Med-Jane.
Gale ignored the outburst and continued, "It sucks that she didn't follow us, but we all know this is what she would have done – put us before herself. Thanks to her, we found out that these guys weren't safe and they were going to probably kill us too."
Sonya nodded and she fiddled with her bandanna. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them, resting her chin on top.
"I wonder if she did it because of Aris," Julia murmured. "I hadn't seen him since we were rescued and she was kind of panicky about his whereabouts. No one would tell us where he was."
"I hate to say it, but if they didn't kill Rachel, then Aris probably took the fall for her," Gale sighed as she tucked a strand of short hair behind her ear.
Harriet straightened up at that comment and frowned. "What makes you so sure that Aris is dead?"
"Gale, I'd just stop talking before you make things worse," Maria warned as she cast a nasty look at her.
"I'm with Harri and Ria on this," Sonya agreed. "Yeah he was kind of timid but we were like him when we came up in The Box. Besides, he was the one who figured out that we were in a Maze."
Gale opened her mouth to reply, but thought better of it, closing it when she received a handful of critical looks in her direction. She moved away from the fire as she muttered something under her breath and Julia tapped the spoon on the edge of the pot, announcing that the stew was done.
"Do you think Aris could have made it out?" Sonya pondered as they stepped around the buried remains of a bus.
Maria nodded as she squinted to keep the dust out of her eyes. "He's pretty observant – though I'm worried if they put him with Group A."
"Didn't Rachel say that we were gonna have to kill some guy from their group?" Gale asked as she joined them.
Sonya nodded grimly as she recalled the last few moments before they escaped the facility.
"So, what did Rat Man want?" Harriet asked when Rachel returned.
Rachel turned her chair around and she tried to swallow a huge lump in her throat. Sonya rested a hand on her shoulder and told her to take her time. They waited patiently until Rachel composed herself and told them everything. While she was undergoing surgery for her broken legs, the WCKD doctors injected her with something – she didn't know what was in the syringe, but she dreamed about brief flashes back to her days as a WCKD scientist. She heard them talking about Aris as she drifted in and out of consciousness, one of them saying that he was being moved – moved to another group for study. After she came to, Rat Man, or Jansen, as he called himself, told her that Aris was a possible candidate for the cure. This made her angry and she asked to be offered up instead, which was denied.
"Rachel, I find it…admirable that you wish to protect your former colleague," Jansen told her. "But given the circumstances with your injury, your body is significantly weaker than his, which makes it risky for us to use you as a potential cure donor."
"There has to be another way," she insisted. "But it can't be anyone from Group B."
Jansen leaned back in his chair and he bit his lip. "Would you and your fellow Subjects –"
"Icers," Rachel corrected him.
He paused, tilting his head at her correction with an amused look. "It's a shame you don't seem to remember your life before the Maze as well as we had hoped. …What about someone from another group?" he offered.
"…What are you getting at?" she asked with a wary look.
Jansen folded his hands and rested them on the table in front of him. "You're aware of the fact that there was another experiment being run at the same time as Group B's. There is an individual like you in their group that would be a potential candidate for the cure: Thomas."
Rachel shook her head and pushed her wheelchair back from the table. "I'm done," she said before wheeling herself towards the door.
"If not him, then I would consider using Aris, that is, if Group A hasn't found cause to harm him in any way," Jansen added before she left in a hurry.
It had been a blur after Rachel returned – she urged the Icers to start stocking up supplies and getting ready to break out of the facility.
"They won't stop – they're gonna do anything to find that cure and if Aris hasn't already been used, who's to say you guys wouldn't be next," she warned. She looked out the window on their door and noticed that Jansen and some of the WCKD security were headed down their wing. She became frantic and yelled that the group needed to make their escape tonight. Everyone began packing whatever belongings they had into their backpacks and coats before getting dressed and crawling out through an air vent.
The group then ran for the exit, using the card key Rachel swiped from one of the techs after her surgery. Maria had helped to carry her to the doors before Jansen caught up with them. As the group fumbled with the card reader, Rachel revealed a gun hidden in her coat and aimed at Jansen, threatening to shoot all of them if they took another step. Jansen tried talking them down but Rachel kept it aimed on the personnel as the rest of the group stepped over to the other side of the door once it opened. The last thing they saw was Rachel firing shots at the WCKD personnel as the door sealed shut.
"She wouldn't want us to kill the guy though, unless he actually hurt Aris," Sonya recalled as they walked. "Said his name was Thomas, I think."
Harriet shrugged as she scanned the area ahead, pausing when she heard a low rumble. She looked up at the sky and narrowed her eyes. "Sticks, let's pick it up – something tells me that we're gonna be stuck in a storm if we don't –" She cut off as she saw lightning flash across the sky. "Move. Now!" She took off across the sand, kicking up small clouds as she ran.
Sonya followed after her, trying to catch up while yelling for the others to follow them. "Don't stop!" she yelled at them. "Need to get out of the open!"
"What about the city?" Gale yelled as she caught up to Sonya.
"It's too risky – we need to stick together!" Sonya answered before looking to the front for Harriet. She had lost sight of the older girl and began looking around. "Harri, where are you?"
Maria and the rest of the group caught up to her, the former tapping Sonya's shoulder. "The lightning's getting closer – we need to keep moving or else we're gonna get zapped."
"THERE! Harriet's right there!" Julia pointed out as she spotted Harriet waving them over by a broken down charter bus, several feet away.
"STICKS!" Harriet yelled. "Take cover over here – we're going to have to try to wait it out!"
"How the hell did she –" Maria started to say before shaking her head. "Whatever, let's move!"
Sonya took off, running as fast as she could to reach Harriet's location. She shrieked as a lightning bolt nearly missed her feet and she dashed to the left, trying to avoid others. Behind her there were screams as Icers either dodged or were hit by lightning as they made their way to the shell of the bus.
"Close call," Harriet said once Sonya arrived. "Get inside and hurry!"
Sonya nodded as she tried to catch her breath, staggering towards the closest seat and sinking into it. Her lungs felt like they were on fire from all that running and she fumbled with her water bottle, taking a shaky sip from it. As she drank, she saw Julia stumble up the stairs, breathing raggedly.
"Ria?" Sonya asked as she capped her bottle.
"With Gale," Julia panted. "A bolt hit that Stick outta the blue and her body was convulsing like crazy. She's breathing but I think she's gonna be gone soon."
"No…" Sonya said as she sprang to her feet. Not her, please not her!
Julia stopped her and Sonya screamed at her let go. The other girl snapped at her to shut up and gripped her shoulders. "Gale's gonna die, not Ria! Your precious little sarcasm queen's gonna live! But we're in trouble if we lose a Med-Jane!"
Sonya relaxed her shoulders and ran a hand across her face. "What, what about –"
"I'd say we have about a half to maybe a little less than that of the original group remaining," Julia replied as she began leading Sonya down the stairs. "Lots of Sticks were struck left and right and couldn't make it outta the way."
Harriet returned to the bus and pushed a dreadlock out of her face. "You need to stay in here – storm's not over."
"Where are the others?" Sonya asked.
"Behind me," Maria replied as she approached the bus. "C'mon Sticks, get inside and make it quick." She stepped to the side as the other girls boarded the bus and Sonya returned to her seat.
Julia plopped down into the row across from Sonya and Harriet lowered herself into the driver's seat. Maria trudged up the stairs and wheezed, coughing as she reached the top of the steps. Sonya moved to the window seat and prompted the other girl to sit.
"It's…done," Maria murmured with a lifeless look. She leaned her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes. "Gale was a stupid know-it-all who wouldn't flinch at blood or gore but we appreciated her for patching us up, cuts and major accidents alike. Maybe she was too rational for her own good, but maybe we needed that in a time like this. Sticks, hopefully we can make it there in one piece for her and the others we lost."
"I'm sure she'd be applauding that beautiful speech right now," Julia replied with a faint smile.
Harriet slow-clapped and Sonya rested a hand on Maria's shoulder. "She doesn't have to run anymore," Sonya said.
Maria nodded and slowly opened her eyes as she addressed Harriet. "Now what?"
Harriet sighed as she looked out the window of the bus, wincing as a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky.
"Take shifts," Harriet replied. "Hope this clears real soon."
"Where's this Right Arm supposed to be?" Julia asked as the city grew distant behind them.
Harriet shrugged and mumbled that she was just speculating that they had to be operating somewhere outside the city but not too far.
"Caught sight of a map on some monitor they had up at the WCKD base," Harriet admitted as she looked over her shoulder. "Not sure where it is relative to us, but some WCKD Stick was saying they spotted some of those people northeast of the city ruins."
"Great, we're almost there!" Maria replied as she finished her apple. She spit the seeds out and stuffed them into her pocket, earning confused looks from Harriet and Julia. She threw her hands up and rolled her eyes. "Look, I dunno when we're gonna get a chance to sit around and garden like we used to, but it can't hurt to keep some of those seeds around, right? Food's not gonna magically appear outta thin air unless we plant or do something. Besides, I don't wanna leave breadcrumbs for WCKD to find us."
"Good idea," Sonya said. "Better we start with something than nothing, right?"
"I guess," Harriet murmured as she shook her head. She saw something dart to the left in the distance and she reached for her gun.
"What did you –"
"Shut up!" Harriet hissed as she turned to the left, gun raised high.
Sonya followed suit, staying in front of the group with her own gun raised. Some of the others drew their weapons and others huddled close, casting wary looks around as they scanned the area.
Meanwhile, Harriet crept towards a rock where she had seen the movement. "Whoever you are, come out now," she warned. "We're armed and wouldn't hesitate to shoot a Stick like you."
The figure emerged from the boulder with her arms raised and she walked calmly towards Harriet.
"Who are you? Are you with WCKD?" Harriet asked, gun still raised.
The woman shook her head and locked eyes with Harriet. "No, I'm working against them," she replied. "I'm unarmed – there's no need for weapons at this moment."
"Who are you working with?" Harriet demanded.
"I can understand your suspicion," the woman said. "My name is Mary Cooper and I'm with The Right Arm."
"You escaped?! How?" someone asked.
Julia eyed the members of The Right Arm suspiciously as one volunteer handed her a plate with some kind of bean and sausage chili with a slice of cornbread on the side. She poked at the food with her fork before Harriet answered the other's question.
"We didn't do it on our own," Harriet admitted as she pushed around some beans on her plate. "It was thanks to a member of our group who sacrificed herself to help us escape."
Mary nodded and rested a hand on Harriet's shoulder. "She sounds like a brave individual. I'm sure she was a close friend to all of you."
"Food's decent," Sonya mumbled as she wiped her mouth. "Ria, you trust these guys?"
Maria studied the other members of The Right Arm, watching as they served food to the remaining Icers and patched up a few that were badly injured. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Julia try the food and start picking it apart about how they could have seasoned it in this way or cut the sausage differently.
"I'm still not sure about them but I'd say they seem better than those WCKD Sticks we dealt with," Maria replied as she finished her plate. She took a sip from her water bottle and sighed. "So we found the group Harriet was looking for – now what do we do?"
"I'm worried about them trying to storm WCKD," Sonya said in a low voice. "Or that's what I thought I heard one of them saying. Doesn't seem like they have the numbers – I mean they have a fair amount of volunteers but really, WCKD seemed to have more people."
"They've got us now," Harriet replied as she joined them. "In exchange for protection and shelter, Mary said if we chose to fight against WCKD, she would let us stick around."
Maria studied her and frowned when she noticed something shift in Harriet's expression. "There's more to this – I can tell."
Harriet sighed as she pushed some dreads out of her face. She looked around the base and murmured, "She wants us to look for that Thomas kid – said something about him being important."
Sonya dropped her fork at that and Julia jerked her head up.
"I don't think she wants us to kill him – she just wants us to find him and bring him to her," Harriet explained.
"Why do I get the feeling that this doesn't sound right?" Maria grumbled as she threw her plate down. "What the Hell is so special about this Stick that WCKD and these Right Arm guys want him?"
"I think my question for them is, how do they know that this Stick's still alive?" Julia asked. "For all we know, he could still be stuck at WCKD's base."
"According to Mary, someone said they overheard that WCKD issued a breach notification – said subjects escaped their base and they're wanted back," Harriet said. "No names given – just letters and numbers like A2, A7…Rachel said we were called Group B so it's gotta be that other group that has the Thomas Stick in it."
"We got a plan?" Sonya asked as she peered out at the city ruins through her binoculars. "Anyone know what this Thomas guy looks like?"
"Not a clue," Harriet responded. "Just that he'll be traveling with other Sticks in a group trying to get as far away from WCKD like we did."
"So are we going to be all friendly or ambush?" Maria asked as she jerked her head in Harriet's direction.
"Sticks, I got something!" Julia said as she nudged Maria. She pointed her binoculars towards the left corner of the city and the others turned their attention in the same direction.
Harriet squinted as she saw a worn group of teenage boys stumbling towards them. Their numbers were very low – only a handful of them, which would make it easier to take them, should they try to fight.
"Why's there two Stick girls and an old man with them?" Maria asked. "I'm worried this isn't the group."
"Can't be too sure," Harriet murmured. "Might as well check it out now." She grabbed her gun and motioned for the others to follow behind her.
"Stay low for now – Jules tell me when they're close," Harriet ordered in a low voice.
Sonya moved next to Harriet, her gun close by. She wiggled her bandanna up higher to cover her nose and watched as Julia kept an eye on them.
"I'd go…now!" Julia hissed.
Harriet sprung up from her hiding place and raised her gun high. The rest of the Icers followed suit and surrounded the smaller group, weapons aimed.
"Which one of you is Thomas?" Harriet asked as she scanned the group's faces.
"Who wants to know, Shuckface?" a tall Asian shot back.
Sonya turned her gun on him and growled at him to shut up. The boy sneered at her before the blonde beside him, nudged him and told him to slim it, or whatever.
"Gonna ask this one more time, which of you is Thomas?" Harriet repeated.
Some of the boys exchanged quick looks at each other and one of them started to open his mouth, until a shorter one pushed to the front, hands raised.
"Harriet, Sonya, it's me – Aris," he said as he met their eyes. "Please, don't shoot – we're just trying to escape WCKD like you Sticks."
"No way," Julia murmured as she lowered her weapon. "And we thought you might be dead."
Sonya threw the Asian boy a final glare before lowering her gun and walking over to Aris. Her eyes widened when she saw it was the blue-eyed, freckled Stick and she rested a hand on his arm.
"Holy…Aris, it is you!" she murmured with a faint smile.
Harriet had lowered her gun and stored it in her pack before patting Aris on the shoulder.
"I never thought I'd be happy to see you again Stick," Harriet said with a smile. "Where the Hell were you?"
"They moved me with them, Group A," Aris explained as he nodded over at the group. "We broke out after we found the labs – Harri I saw some of the Sticks from our group hanging from some machine. They were being used to create a cure – we got out of there as fast as we could." He stepped closer and gave both of them hugs, relieved to see familiar faces again.
"Where's Rachel?" he asked as he pulled away from Harriet.
Harriet hung her head and Sonya's smile faded. The latter began fiddling with her gloves and she murmured, "Aris, we don't know if she's alive or dead. She fought off the WCKD Sticks when we were trying to escape – she wouldn't come with us no matter how many times we yelled at her. …I'm sorry."
Aris moved away from them and he bit his lip, trying to hold back tears. Sonya took him off to the side to comfort him while the older man stepped up and addressed Harriet.
"All right hermana, the reunion's been really touching but what do you want with Thomas?" he asked.
Another boy stepped forward and gently pushed past the older man. "I'm Thomas," he replied. "We're looking for The Right Arm."
The girls looked at each other and Harriet squared her shoulders as she met Thomas's eyes. "You're coming with us – someone's looking for you and they told us to bring you to them."
"Hold on there's no way that –"
"Min, it's okay," Thomas said to the Asian boy.
"Listen Shanks, if Tommy goes, we're all going," the blonde spoke up. "Whatever important news needs to be said, we wanna hear it too."
"Fine, let them come," Sonya replied as she glanced back at the group. "For all we know, they might be important too."
"Oh no way are we gonna –"
A girl with short dark hair smacked the Asian boy hard on the shoulder. "Shut up you – we're outnumbered if you couldn't already tell."
"I can take these girls," Minho growled. He tried to lunge at one of the Icers but found himself being restrained by the blonde and a dark skinned boy.
"Guys, it's okay" Thomas said as he looked back at his group. He turned back towards Harriet. "Who is looking for me?"
"Funny you said you're looking for The Right Arm," Harriet said as she tilted her head, "cause that's who we're taking you to."