Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Scorch Trials nor any of the characters from it.
CHAPTER TEN:
Scorch: Travelling Around with Jorge…
Day Four – Part Three – The Scorch Trials
She bent down on her knees as she started to cough, the dust from the fallen building entering her lungs and sucking the moisture out of her body. She noticed others doing the same as they tried to get rid of all the dust from their bodies, while others tried to regain their breath.
She glanced up and noticed the blocked entrance as they now stood outside of the fallen remains, some of the plaster from the walls collapsed onto each other from the explosion. If there had been any windows filled with glass, they would have shattered from the blast. And now they were stuck outside of the only "safe" place they had encountered on their journey and were back out in the Scorch.
"Well, that was shucking unexpected," Minho sighed as he looked around the street, wiping the sweat from his brow from the sudden heat off the sun.
Leo fanned herself off as she stood back up, the sudden change in temperature making her whole body burn as she felt lightheaded. The sun burned her eyes as she covered them. Each Glader were doing similar things as they tried to readjust to the Scorch. It was just like when they had exited the tunnel.
"We have to get moving," Jorge announced, making the Gladers turn to notice that the Crank had his hands on his hips as he stared at the horizon. Whether he was checking the distance or whether they were any Cranks around that were past the Gone, she would never be certain.
"What about Thomas?" Frypan asked as he chucked his thumb back to the broken building.
"What about bird-face?" he asked in return with a raised eyebrow as he held his hand over his eyes to block the sunlight.
"We've got to find him, he might not have made it out alive."
"Be more realistic shanks," Leo said as she folded her arms, walking over to Jorge until she stood only a few steps away. "He couldn't give two shits about Thomas right now. What about Brenda?"
The Crank went silent as he took the time to think over a plan. He was now stuck with six young teenagers who had no idea of the world that lied ahead of them, and it just so happened that Brenda – his partner in crime as he put it – was now missing and had disappeared with one of their friends. And they would be missing for a while. He looked down at her, giving her a smirk in amusement.
"Pretty-boy speaks the truth," he commented before the smirk disappeared, his face becoming serious as he faced the other Gladers. "We'll meet them along the way to the Safe Haven."
"How long will that be?" Newt asked as he looked over at the road ahead of them. "How can you be so sure where it even is?"
"Yeah, even we don't know where it is," Minho responded.
"Trust me hermano, we'll find it if we keep going north."
"You have a plan?" Leo asked once he walked past her, starting to venture through the street, passing most of the tall buildings that happened to be filled with broken glass.
"Of course I have a plan. Just follow me, and keep as quiet as you can. Cranks are everywhere where we're going."
She could hear the eerie silence that followed that sentence as he continued walking, leaving her and the rest of the Gladers standing there.
"Should we follow?" one of the Gladers asked.
Everyone turned towards their "leader" Minho, who shrugged in response. "We've got no other choice. He knows this place better than all of us combined. Our best bet is to stick with this guy."
He then walked quickly until he reached right behind Jorge, the rest of the Gladers giving each other nervous glances before they followed close behind.
The eleven walked down the street of the Scorch, checking every so often for any Cranks that were past the Gone. Jorge had warned that there wouldn't be many out yet so soon after a storm, but there would be inside the buildings were they were soon going to be heading.
He seemed to know the Scorch like the back of his hand, which made Leo wonder how long he'd had to live in this environment. He was obviously either in his late twenties or early thirties, and she gathered that each of the Gladers hadn't lived long before the disease broke out.
Jorge would have to have been here for at least over ten years if all the information that WICKED had given them had been correct.
Leo kept glancing up at the sky every so often, wondering if it was going to suddenly change back to the horrid grey and dark sky right before the storm. But, for the hour they spent walking outside, it remained the bright, orange sky as the blinding, yellow sun shined down on them.
As all of the Gladers had lost their white sheets when the storm started, now they all could feel the true heat of the sun. As Leo wiped the sweat from her forehead as she continued to walk, she felt like her arms were burning as they were a little red. That's what she got for having such pale skin and living under an artificial sun for as long as she remembered.
Her wig became irritating as the sweat started to drip through the wig, making it terrible itchy. It was like a constant mosquito bite, expect the itch didn't go away if you didn't think about it.
Newt walked beside her as all the Gladers remained silent like Jorge had advised them. They were all a little unnerved of the current situation, and the fact that Thomas was now missing and stuck in the Scorch with only Brenda by his side. But she knew that she would probably be more beneficial for him than any of the Gladers could be. Especially with fighting the Cranks.
"Stop," Jorge suddenly commanded, holding his hand up as he kept his eyes to the front. Quickly, the Gladers stopped in their tracks, nervously glancing around for any Cranks. But there weren't any. At least not yet.
"What? What's happening?" Minho whispered, but Jorge shook his head.
"Through here. It's safer. We can just sneak past the Cranks in the darkness as long as we remain silent. Got it?" Jorge ordered.
"How many would be in there?" Leo questioned.
Jorge shrugged as he looked at the building. "Five at the most. But we've got a long way to go. Just follow my lead."
Jorge ducked under the fallen wood that was slumped in front of the opening, entering the darkness as he waved his hand for them to follow through. Minho was the first one to enter the building, taking a deep breath before he did. Newt and Leo were the next two, and Leo had to hold her hand over her mouth so she wouldn't cough from the dust. Newt noticed and patted her on the back as he guided her through the darkness. The only light at the moment was coming from the doorway and it didn't ease her rising heartrate.
She noticed a sudden bright light being shined through the darkness, and only then realised that it came from a torch that Jorge was holding. He slowly walked through the building, which made her believe that there were Cranks inside this building. Once all the Gladers had entered the dusty and old building, Jorge picked up his pace a bit.
She could hear the moaning and screaming sounds coming from the other side of the building, making her body tremble. She and Newt laced their hands together, without even thinking about it once they heard the screaming. It was so blood-curdling and horrific that it made her skin crawl. She knew that with having to be silent, being in the darkness and having Cranks in the Gone surrounding them was enough to send her into a panic attack.
However, with Newt beside her and holding her hand, she was never able to reach that point. He seemed to be able to calm her down without even trying, with just being himself.
They slowly walked through the room of the building, the only light being the hidden torch light from Jorge. He stopped suddenly as he hid behind a couch, turning the torch off so it returned back to darkness. The Gladers quickly hid themselves behind other furniture in the room, huddling together to make sure they wouldn't been seen or found by the Cranks.
Newt held Leo close to his body as he tried to calm her down, knowing how she would be starting to panic at that moment. Minutes had passed before the room became silent, the Cranks screaming stopping suddenly. Jorge slowly turned his torch back on as he shined it across the room, noticing that the Cranks had disappeared and now were outside of the building.
"Told you," Jorge whispered in the darkness as he stood back up, slowly heading across to the staircase that had some steps missing from it. He shined the torch on the steps as he stepped up them, taking his time as he jumped over the missing planks of wood or ones that had holes in them.
Once he'd reached the top, he chucked the torch down to Minho who was the next person in line. Minho turned to the other Gladers for a second before he slowly headed over to the stairs, heading up them with the same process. Minho then chucked it to Newt and Leo, who quickly made their way up the stairs as her heart rate started to go back to normal.
They repeated this process for every Glader until all of them had reached the top of the staircase, each of them looking down the stairway to make sure the Cranks wouldn't be coming back in and following them up.
"Through here is some of our secret stash we kept from the other Cranks," Jorge said as he shined the light through the room, heading over to a cabinet in the corner of the room. He opened it, some of the dust flying into the air and making Minho cough. Jorge handed the torch over to Newt as he shined the light on the shelves, showing the amount of different canned foods. The sight of food, even though it was inside cans, was a glorious sight.
Jorge grabbed hold of all of the cans of food, grabbing hold of some of the Gladers and shoving the food inside their backpacks. Jorge grabbed Leo by her bag strap and put in a can of beans, a can of corn and a can filled with spaghetti.
"Where did you get all this stuff?" Leo asked as she watched him zip up her backpack as the others stared at the cans they had been given in wonder.
"Scavenged them at the start of the Flare. Didn't know how long we'd survive out here," he said as he shut the cupboard, heading back down the stairs and outside the doors. He cursed at the change in lighting as he covered his eyes as he walked down the street, the Gladers quickly following behind. Leo stumbled when the bright light hit her as she felt a little lightheaded from the constant change in lighting.
"What now?" Minho asked as they continued down the street.
"We've got to find shelter. There should be a building around here, hopefully not infested with Cranks. We'll rest for half an hour and then go back to searching for more food."
"W-What happens if we run into a Crank?" Emil squeaked out from behind Frypan, making Leo jump at his sudden voice. He had barely said anything for the past few days that she had almost forgotten that he was there.
"We figure that out once we get there," Jorge replied as he walked down the street, looking for an undestroyed building they could take refuge in for some rest. Most of the buildings surrounding them were either destroyed or the sound of many Cranks sounded from them. Jorge cursed as he looked around the entire area, noticing the increasing amount of Cranks pouring out onto the streets.
"Plan B. We're going underneath."
"Underneath? Like the ground?" Leo asked, which made Jorge shrug.
Jorge burst into one of the buildings as he quickly rushed through, pulling out one of the loose, wooden floorboards. There were Cranks that were starting to notice the large group of people and were becoming more curious.
Luckily, Jorge had revealed the Underneath in time before the Cranks came over to them as he jumped down into the dark tunnel. The rest of the Gladers followed, glad to leave the now Crank infested streets and buildings.
The Underneath was a damp and miserable looking place. The walls and the floor were a dull grey, streaks of water tricking down the sides every now and again. Jorge waved for them to follow as he walked through the tunnel, passing a door every few meters, but Jorge never tried to open them. Leo assumed because of that that he had tried opening those before and knew they were locked.
It was eerily quiet as they walked through the tunnel, the only sound being their footsteps on the ground as they walked through. It had been about thirty minutes as they continued walking through the tunnels.
"Be careful," Jorge whispered to the Gladers. "Cranks can be down here."
The message was passed down through the line as they continued to walk. A scream filled the tunnel, but it seemed to be miles behind them, so Jorge told them not to worry. If they continued at the pace they were going, the Crank wouldn't be able to catch up, especially if it got distracted by someone else. The Crank continued to scream as the sound echoed through the tunnel, making the hair on Leo's neck stand up on edge.
Finally, they reached a change in the tunnel. The tunnel leaped off into three routes: one to the right, one to the left, and the one forward. Jorge peered around the corner of each new section, evaluating the safer path for the Gladers.
There was the sound of at least two Cranks screaming from the left path, so the decision was left between the left or straight ahead.
"Left leads to a house on the other side of town," Jorge said to himself. "Straight ahead leads to more tunnels…" He took another moment to think before he walked down the left path, much rather taking the risk of their being a Crank in the house rather than being stuck walking in the tunnels.
The Gladers followed close behind until Jorge stopped in his tracks as he looked up at the ceiling. He tapped on the wooden boards on the ceiling, testing to see which one was loose. Finally, it found it. The third board to the left loosened as he pushed it up, detaching it from the ground as it fell to the side.
He pushed the two beside it so they had enough room to escape. He lifted himself up into the building, checking it first to make sure there were no Cranks. "Whoever's the bravest can come and check with me," he said as he sat on the wooden boards.
The Gladers all looked at each other, before Leo felt a nudge on her back as she was pushed forward. She turned around and saw the small boy, Emil, with his hand out, a weird expression on his face.
"Pretty-boy, you've been volunteered," he announced as he held his hand out for her. Leo took a deep breath as she calmed herself down before she grabbed hold of his hand, Minho and Newt helping her up as they grabbed her feet. The four pulled her up to the top as she lied down on the wooden floor of the room.
"Wait down here till we're done," Jorge said as he placed the wooden planks back on top of the hole, in case a Crank happened to attack them and end up going through the hole in the floor.
Even though it was daylight, the room was quite dark. Jorge pulled out his torch as he turned it on, pulling out an extra torch from his pocket and chucking it towards her. She gripped it with her shaking hands as she flicked the switch, the extra light shining into the room.
"Check upstairs," Jorge whispered. "I'll check down here."
"Why do I have to check upstairs?" she whispered as she stared at the shabby looking stairs.
"You're a faster runner muchacho," was his reply before he moved over towards the couch.
Leo gulped as she shined the torch light over the stairs, noticing some of the planks of wood with holes in them or just completely missing. She took slow, deep breaths as she took a step on the first stair, slowly making her way up the staircase until she reached the top.
She felt her heart rate increasing as she shined the light around the room, her hands shaking as she walked over to the right of the room. She checked every cupboard, making sure nothing would pop out at her during her investigation. She noticed that some of the cupboards contained some more canned food, which she quickly shoved inside her backpack without a second thought.
She made her way over to the other side of the room, hearing a creaking noise on one of the floorboards. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sound, her body starting to shake as she felt her breaths becoming faster. Her thoughts went racing as she thought of all the things that could have made the noise.
She hoped it was just Jorge on the bottom floor.
She took very slow steps, shining the light over every object in the room. She held onto the couch as she looked down, shining the light on it as she gasped. She covered her mouth with her hand before she could let out a scream as she stumbled backwards. Not noticing the chair behind her, she tripped over it and fell down to the ground, the chair banging on the ground.
"Shit, shit, shit," she cursed under her breath as she tried to back away, knowing her legs were shaking too much for her to be able to stand.
The thing on the couch shot up, staring at her with widened eyes. Once it noticed her, it growled as it jumped off, leaping towards her as anger filled its eyes. It was a Crank. A Crank past the Gone.
It screamed as it lunged for her, jumping on top of her as it tried to claw at her. She screamed out for help as she grabbed hold of the Cranks' clawed hands, trying to keep them away from her face. She noticed on each hand the Crank was missing a finger, and their nose had been cut off.
"Give me my nose! Give it to me!" the Crank screamed as it thrashed around, trying to claw off her nose off her face. She continued to scream as the torch rolled on the ground, leaving her to fight the creature in darkness. She felt a scratch on her cheek where the Crank was trying to get her nose. It sunk its claws into her cheek as she screamed out in pain, tears forming in her eyes.
She heard footsteps running up the stairs, knowing it was Jorge running up to save her. He held something in his hands as he tackled the Crank off of her, tumbling on the ground beside her. As he fought with the Crank, he slid the object he was holding towards her, screaming at her to use it.
She looked down and saw what the object was.
It was a knife. A kitchen knife.
Not hesitating, she grabbed hold of the knife and lunged at the Crank, screaming as she pierced the knife through his back, pushing it through till it came out of his chest. The Crank gave one final scream before it fell down on top of Jorge, dead.
Jorge shoved the dead Crank off of his body as he watched Leo's face as she held the bloodied knife. She wasn't horrified that she had just killed him, because she didn't consider him a human anymore. But the blood on the knife made her feel sick as she tried her best to keep the vomit from coming up.
Her hands were covered in blood, as was the knife, and some trickled down from her cheek and onto her neck, leaving a small trail on her clothes. She fell down to the ground as she sobbed, realising out all the stress and trauma she had just endured.
Jorge took some deep breaths before he stood himself up and headed down the stairs. She could hear him as he took the wooden planks off and told the other Gladers to head up. She remained upstairs as she heard the others all coming up, their footsteps loud as they all walked around the room to investigate.
She could hear people talking, but couldn't make out what they were saying or who was saying them – but she didn't care. She just kept crying as she made her way over to the corner, liking being safe between the walls. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs, but it didn't stop her from continuing to cry. She didn't care if they saw her as a wimp anymore. It didn't seem to matter anymore.
She felt arms wrapping around her, and she instantly moved into them, knowing it was Newt. He noticed the dead Crank in the room and easily realised what had happened. And though he heard the screaming, it was mostly only her he could hear as his blood boiled.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he held onto her tightly, letting her cry into his chest as she let everything out. "I let you go up here…I'm sorry."
She shook her head as she tried to speak, but the words couldn't form as she choked on her sobs. She wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault. Emil had pushed her forward, making her go up here. She couldn't blame Newt for not being able to help. He had been forced to stay in the tunnel.
He rubbed her back to reassure her as he heard the other Gladers settling down to eat some of the canned food and get ready for the night. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before he helped her stand up, wiping her tears as she finally started to calm down. He noticed the cut on her cheek and used his sleeve to wipe the blood off of her face.
Once she had fully calmed down, the two headed down the stairs to join the others, who had become quite comfortable. Some of them sat on the couch while others sat on the floor. Each of them enjoyed the break from the heat and sunlight as they enjoyed their canned food.
Leo pulled out the extra cans she had found on the upper floor and handed them out for people to share. Jorge stood over at the windows, watching to make sure no Cranks noticed them inside the house. Luckily, there were no Cranks out at that moment as they all seemed to be inside the Underneath.
Knowing they wouldn't have to use the tunnel anymore, Jorge had slammed the boards back into place so that no Crank could climb up and attack them during the night.
As they rested and enjoyed their food, night started to fall over the Scorch as they noticed the wind increased from outside. Some scraps fell through the air as they all relaxed into their spots to sleep.
"We leave at first light tomorrow. We'll eat beforehand and then we'll go our separate ways. We'll split up into groups or individuals and search around for any sign of Brenda and bird-face."
Those were Jorge's instructions for tomorrow, and Leo had no energy left to argue. She lied down on the floor as she closed her eyes, her stomach filled with delicious food as she fell into a deep sleep. Thankfully, she had no nightmares that night as she used Newt's arm as a pillow, and he didn't complain either as all of the Gladers fell into one of the best sleeps they'd had in weeks.