ITS BEEN SO LONG! Sorry everyone, but here is the next chapter. For a while each chapter is going to go into a little bit of backstory of a couple of character... I think. Anyways, I hope you all like this and please review. Sorry for mistakes but I really wanted to get this chapter out!
When he first saw her, he honestly thought it was a dream. Her hair whipped around her face like it was a caged animal that had just been freed. Her eyes were covered but he knew that below their confines they were shining. He pictured a soft smile on her face hidden below the tan bandana wrapped around her head.
She was crouching low, blending in quiet well with the sand that riddled the wasteland but he had spotted her. The girl was alone, scanning the group of Gladers carefully. She didn't want to be seen, but he had seen her anyway.
He thought back to his last conversation with her. She had left feeling embarrassed and angry and he had left feeling confused and helpless. All he wanted to do was make her feel safe and accepted but he had come off as patronizing… or at least to her he did.
He knew he had been digging deep into a girl that most could barely scratch the surface of. He knew she was uncomfortable, but more than anything he just wanted to be around her, to see her smile and feel her warmth.
"Newt." Thomas hissed, smacking his hand into Newt's chest. "Look up there."
Newt followed Thomas's finger to the spot where Green had been sitting, but she had moved. She didn't want to be seen, at least, not by Thomas.
"What?" Newt asked plastering his best dumbfounded look.
"Green was just there a second ago. The girl from the Vultures."
"I didn't see her." He lied through his teeth.
"Do you think the Vultures are here?" Thomas asked.
Newt didn't respond. He fiddled with the hem of his shirt nervously.
"I'm going to go say something to Minho. Keep an eye out, ok?"
"Good that," Newt mumbled.
Anger filled Minho.
How dare they? He asked himself.
The Vultures were back.
"What the hell are these mother-shucking shanks doing back here!?" Minho hissed.
Thomas cursed under his breath, "No idea. But I know I saw one of their scouts. What do we do?"
"Thank our bloody stars!" Newt said who was now sitting behind the pair, "Listen Minho, don't freak out. We have the upper hand now. But we need them as a guide." He readjusted his injured leg and looked deadest at Minho.
"So… be nice?" Minho asked.
Newt nodded and looked at Thomas, "You too." He scanned the Gladers, "All of us need to give our bloody respect."
Minho rolled his eyes and offered Newt his hand. He pulled the blonde boy up, and Thomas followed close behind them.
The Vultures were at the bottom of the dune by the time all of the Gladers were up and ready. They had decided to show them selves after Green admitted to probably being spotted.
"Ross and Kit, the leaders of the Vultures. How happy I am to see you." Minho said sardonically.
"The feeling is mutual." Kit retorted.
"Why are you all here?" Thomas asked.
Ross took a deep breath, "We would like to…" he sighed, "team up with you guys."
"Team up? Why would we do that?" Minho asked.
"Oh God, you really aren't making this easy, are you?" Kit asked, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We want to team up with you so that we can take down WICKED. They've messed with us for the last time. We need some justice."
"And revenge!" Tate yelled, "Don't forget about revenge!"
Jay nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, what she said. We know you are feeling angry with us, but—"
"Feeling angry? What, is this the shucking second grade? You lied to us! You are working with WICKED! I mean out of all of the god awful people out there, you chose WICKED!" Minho yelled.
"Be nice." Newt hissed.
Minho took a deep breath and composed him self.
"How about… how about we lead you to the end, no strings attached." Green suggested. Her head was down, but behind her goggles, Newt could swear she was looking at him.
"What?" Ross demanded.
"Really?" Minho snorted.
"I don't see why not," Newt shrugged. The three occurred almost instantaneously.
"I mean, it gives us an excuse to get closer to WICKED and it gives them a guide. It's a win win for both of us."
Several others nodded in agreement.
It's true that we don't need the Gladers Kit thought. One sideways glance at Ross told her he was thinking the same thing.
"We lead you to WICKED, and we can get there with out a lot of suspicion. It isn't the worst idea."
"What about the—" Kit started, but Jay leaped forwards and covered her mouth.
"I'll handle that." Jay whispered.
"I don't know how to get this across to you all, but I literally could not trust you less." Minho stated. "How about one of you leads us."
"Green could do it." Newt suggested.
Ross ignored that. "We aren't doing this as a courtesy, we have things we need to do. This is a polite offer. Come with us and survive, or don't and get lost and die."
"We don't care either way." Kit said, crossing her arms.
Minho looked at Thomas. He looked at Newt. He scanned the faces of the Vultures, people who had been kind to him and his friend and yet worked with his greatest enemy. He saw Otto, the boy who shot his best friend in the leg, but he also saw Cloud, the girl who had gone out of her way to be kind to him.
The leader swallowed hard and looked to the horizon. "Alright, we've got a deal."
Ross smiled victoriously "It was a pleasure doing business with you."
Kit looked to the Vultures. "Help these guys pack up the camp. Ross, Minho and I are going to go talk strategy."
I can't believe what I just did. Minho thought as he followed behind Kit and Ross.
BREAKLINE
I'm just sweating because of the heat, Jet promised her self. I've been trained for this. I'm not nervous. I don't get nervous.
The Vultures are primitive people; their only goal is to survive. They don't have the capacity to figure out that it was me who left the note, she assured her self.
Even still, the thought of being exposed terrified her. All her life, Jet had done what she was told because she knew that was how she could survive. People respected that. But the Vultures did what they had to survive and keep each other alive. A threat to all of them would not roll over well.
The girl continued to pack her possessions carefully. She did not draw attention to her self, negative or positive. She remained passive. She remained silent.
Jet knew how the WICKED workers would react to this change in the trial. Chancellor Paige and the others had been on edge since the mistakes they made with Group B and this would only aggravate them further. If the Vultures kept interfering they wouldn't survive anything much longer.
"Long time no see." A voice snapped behind her.
"It hasn't been that long Jay, only a few hours."
"Well I've learned so much about you it feels like I never even met you. You're a whole new person to me."
Jet whipped around to see the tall blonde girl standing above her.
"What are you talking about?" She asked with a nervous laugh. Jet rose. Her mind ran through some of the things she learned during training.
Stand up straight, be confident, don't show fear no matter what.
But that was a mistake, Jay wasn't the kind of girl that could be messed with.
The blonde smirked and stepped in closer. She was a quiet a bit taller than Jet, her eyes pointed down wards and her mouth was tinged with a smirk.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Jay insisted calmly. A flash of light burst quickly from her hand, and Jet looked down to see a small knife cradled in the Vulture's palm.
"Jay, you're starting to freak me out a little." Jet admitted.
"That's funny, you don't scare me at all."
Jet frowned, "Cut the crap Jay. What's going on?"
Jay lowered her voice, "You're working for WICKED. We know what you've done."
A thousand thoughts ran through Jet's mind.
Deny.
Reverse the words.
Accuse her for something else.
DENY.
"Why would you tell me before you told everybody else?" Jet asked calmly.
Jay bit her lip, "Because… b-because you're my friend. I want to ask so many questions like why? And how? And When? And well, you get the idea. But I know you, I know you don't have to do what you are doing."
Jet's expression changed from emotionless to angry. "You think I can just stop? You don't know anything about the situation I'm in!"
Shocked was an understatement, Jay did not expect that reaction form Jet. Jay was a hothead, it was literally tattooed on her neck, but she'd expected a bit more patience from the WICKED spy.
The only way Jay knew how to react to anger was with anger. "You are in no position to get furious with me! I do know the situation you're in and you don't. If the Gladers find out about you, I won't be able to stop them from ripping into your throat. I'm trying to help you!" Jay fumed.
"Really, you think I need your help?" Jet demanded.
"I think that you are literally seconds from death if you don't listen to me."
Jet closed her mouth.
"You need to stop what you are doing for WICKED and help us. The Gladers don't have to know what you are, if you agree to help us."
The girl with the dirtied brown hair and amber eyes stared at her Vulture counterpart. She was literally astounded about how little Jay understood about her job for WICKED yet she accepted it at the same time.
Jet kept her voice low and steady. "Jay, what I do for WICKED is complicated. No matter how I feel personally, I can't leave. I'm sorry but I have to finish my job. Expose me if you'd like but…" She trailed off.
Jay could see the worry the spy was trying to hide. She could see the memories nearly flashing through her head.
But Jay did understand. She really did.
Memories of poorly cushioned tables with white parchment paper and fluorescent lights that buzzed as she lay alone. She barely got to leave the room or see other kids. They had group tests every so often but there was no introductions or goodbyes. Jay hated it, she balled in her chambers night and day, clenching and unclenching her small fists. But even still, when the WICKED worker came in to give her food or chat with her briefly, she would light up.
She was dependent on them.
They made her dependent on them.
"Jet, I'm not going to argue with you about this. You don't have any other options. Stop communications with WICKED and you'll be ok. At least you'll be with us. And safe."
Jet's eyes wandered to the knife it Jay's hand. She really didn't see any options; she needed to take some time to figure things out.
"Ok. Ok… I'll um… I'll help you all. I'll leave WICKED."
Jay let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding.
"Alright, give me your stuff." She stuck out a hand expectantly.
"What?"
"Your stuff." Jay repeated. She sighed at Jet's clueless expression, "The communication shit you used to talk to WICKED. I'll carry it in my bag and you can carry some of my things."
"I'm no—"
"You don't have a choice."
Jet bit her lip. Once again, Jay was right. "Ok, it's over here." She admitted.
As Jay shoved several communication devices, the map and a list of the Vulture's names into her bag Jet whispered, "Thank you."
"I honestly can't believe what I'm doing." Jay whispered back. She sniffed slightly and Jet realized the tall girl might be tearing up. "I don't make friends well. Even thought we've known each other for such a short time… I feel like… I don't know. It's stupid."
Jet knew what she meant. They both felt like they'd met before.
Because they had.
And it was terrifyingly beautiful.
They just didn't know that they had. Neither could remember.
Her feet scrapped the ground slowly. Jay had learned to the like that sound, sand against rubber soles. She knew she shouldn't wear out her shoes. Her mom had told her that over and over again. But her mom was gone, she'd left weeks ago. Now no one told her to do with her shoes.
She tucked a dirty blonde piece of hair behind her ear and shoved her hands into her pockets. Her thumb stuck out of the small hole.
Jay was wandering through the Scorch. She'd been in the citied area but she got lost. She was in the middle of no where at this point.
Scared. Alone. Six years old.
Crazy, she knew she was going crazy. She could feel it when her skin got hot for no reason. She could hear it when her mouth ran for no reason. She could see it when her hands would shake while she tried to drink water.
Wandering soothed her mind momentarily. So that's what she did.
SCRATCH SCRATCH!
Jay nearly jumped out of her shoes at the sound of a near by human being. She scrambled to the other side of the dune and ducked low.
"Hello?" A voice called. It was young and feminine. Jay recognized that. These two facts calmed her and Jay built up the courage to peak above the dune.
A girl, about her age, with brown hair and amber eyes searched the horizon. She too looked lost and maybe afraid. But she didn't look sick.
Every one of Jay's instincts told her to remain hidden.
"Hello." Jay returned the call.
The girl's head snapped to Jay's spot and her face lit up with relief.
"Oh thank goodness!" She called in her high and childish voice. "I thought everyone else is dead."
A ribbon of thought crossed Jay's mind. She lurched back and covered her face. "Don't come here, I'm sick." She insisted.
"Oh." The girl frowned. "It's ok. I don't get sick."
Jay raised a brow. Very little doubt crossed through her young brain before she trusted the girl.
"Ok!" She cheered, "My name's Jay. Or… that's what my family called me."
"My name's Peyton."
"It's nice to meet you Peyton." Jay replied.
And so it began, Peyton and Jay, Jay and Peyton. They did it all together. Peyton took Jay's mind off her sickness and Jay took Peyton's mind off her homesickness.
The scoured the lands for food when they were hungry and made shadow pupets when they were feeling goofy. It was honestly quite amazing that the to young girls survived together for that week, but they did.
It was early in the morning when they heard the jeeps. They had taken a big liking to a cave with high ceilings and dark walls. Jay's condition was growing more serious and Peyton was growing more nervous everyday.
Peyton saw them first. Three black cars with WICKED written across the sides in white paint. They were heading in this general direction.
"Jay, someone's coming."
Jay moaned in response.
Peyton knew that she had to do something. She'd heard rumors of WICKED, she knew they were bad news… but if anyone could save her friend, it was them. She knew she had to get their attention no matter what happened to her.
She pulled off her neon pink sweatshirt, once plastered in sequence and sparkles, and ran out of the cave, waving it in the air. The driver of the second closest jeep spotted her first. He signaled to the others and in seconds they were heading their way.
"What are you doing?" Jay groaned.
"Nothing." Little Peyton lied.
"No." Jay tried to push herself up but she failed almost instantly. "Pet! Please!" She called, "Don't do anything don't stupid."
Jay's last sentence proved to Jet that her decision was totally worth it.
As the engines died Peyton dug her nails into her palms.
People in suits charged in to the cave. Peyton cracked under the pressure and ducked into a ball. The hazmats lumbered in an radioed ordered to each others. They poked at Jay and surrounded Peyton.
"She needs help!" Peyton called from her ball on the ground. "You need to help her!"
"Don't worry. We'll help." A man said, grabbing Peyton's arm. "But you need to come with us."
"Where are you taking here?!" Peyton yelled as the WICKED workers as they separated the two friends.
"Pet! Pey! Ton! Pet! Jet!" Jay's mind was slipping away from her, but she saw her friend. She called to the girl she'd come to love as she was ripped from her.
"Be safe." Peyton whispered as a single shiny tear slid down her dirtied cheek.
"C'mon kid." The worker ordered softly.
Peyton didn't even protest.
Jay would be safe.
She hoped.
Minho fumbled with a small pile of papers that the Vultures had brought. Maps, scouting zone information, accounts of different places they'd been and more. A single paper slipped from his hands onto the sand. He cursed himself under his breath.
"I know you're nervous, but you don't have to be." Kit said. She, Ross, Minho, Thomas and Newt had been planning for the last 30 minutes.
"Well Kit, I'm afraid that I've just made the worst decision in my life."
Kit sighed, this again.
"Minho, I know you don't trust me. Frankly, I don't trust you. But You are going to get to the safe haven unharmed. I give you my word."
The sounds of rustling paper stopped. Minho exhaled. "Alright. Don't go back on your word."
"I won't, I never do."
In her mind Kit added, And WICKED will fall, with or with out the Gladers.
