~Scorch~

"Welcome to the Scorch"

The two spoke in unison, their voices muffled by their mummified covered faces.

They split and circled us, looking at us with their dark eyes. "Who are you?" Minho demanded to one of them, the woman spoke "We're cranks"

Thomas frowned "What do you want?" The man spoke "We had to see if you were infected"

Minho frowned as the two met back in front of us again "A man said that we were infected" the two craned their neck "Who are you and how did you get here?"

Thomas, Minho and Newt looked at each other before Minho answered "That's our business" the two shook their heads, "No matter, if you don't already have it, you will if you continue on this journey"

"Just like the other group, the group that's going to kill you" I looked up at Thomas, To be killed by Group B. Does that mean they were here?

"You have to get going, the night isn't as forgiving as you may think it is. Be careful who you befriend, who you avoid, and who you kill."

The woman warned before the two ran away, their coats fluttering in the sandy wind as they disappeared in a cloud of sand.

"Well I feel welcomed" Frypan mused. Winston groaned as Clint and Jeff applied medicine on him. "Maybe they didn't mean the group, maybe they meant me" Thomas pointed to his nape where the tattoo was located.
"Just because she said the other group, it doesn't mean that it's my group that wants to kill you" Aris argued, of course he didn't want his friends to kill anyone.

"Rat Man did say that they left a day earlier than us" Sam inserted in the conversation. He was carrying Winston's bag as he decided to sit beside Aris.

I grabbed my backpack and said "Let's just find what we need, get back our energy and head outside" Minho smiled at me "Couldn't have said it better myself"

I shrugged "What can I say, I'm learning from the best" Newt scoffed "Yeah, the best sarcastic leader we've ever had at that"

"Hey! I'm doing a pretty good job if I say so myself" Minho defended as he and the rest started packing, Thomas shrugged "Newt, i think you meant Narcissistic leader"

Minho rolled his eyes and shrugged "Whatever! You shanks coming or not?" We all grabbed our things, wrapped a blanket around ourselves and left.

Winston could already walk but could barely keep him from toppling over when we gave him back his bag. Another boy sighed and took the load off him.

"Thanks Alec" Winston muttered before the boy nodded and continued walking beside another Asian boy, whom I've never spoken to before.

"That's Alec and Magnus" Newt must have noticed me staring "They're... together. Just so you know" I raised a brow, "Oh!" Newt chuckled and nodded "There were a lot in the Glade. It's perfectly normal"

I nodded in understanding, "... Did you like someone from the Glade?" Newt almost tripped "What kind of question is that?! Of course not!"

"Uh huh..." I giggled as I followed Thomas, Newt trailing behind me.

As soon as we exited the building, the laughter died down. The heat coming from the sun was unbearable and we could barely see anything through all this sand.

"Rat Man said that safe haven is 100 miles North! Meaning, it's right behind the mountain!" Minho suddenly announced.

Fry Pan scoffed "So what? Now you can measure distance with your eyes?" Minho shrugged "You get used to it as a runner, measuring distance is no big deal"

No one else said a word, we walked a good distance when we noticed that the sun was setting. "Should we set up camp?" Clint suggested, Minho shook his head "Not here, let's keep going, we need to get a bit farther before resting"

The night came, but unlike the day, it was cold. I held my blanket close, hoping that the wind wouldn't blow it away. Newt had been by my side the entire trip, we we're right behind Thomas and Minho, who were in the lead.

The buildings that surrounded us looked much creepier than this morning, the night made it feel like there were eyes watching us in every corner.

We froze in our places as soon as we heard a scream. "What the hell was that?" I asked aloud. I noticed how Minho and Newt looked at each other. Minho said "That sounds like... When Alby, Thomas and Lana..."

"Were stung and received the cure" Newt finished his sentence, "Please tell me there isn't another Griever in this hell hole!" Jack groaned.

Newt shook his head "I doubt it, those things would be a rolling slimy ball of sand and wouldn't be able to move as much" Thomas shrugged.

"Well whatever it is, it ain't good" Minho nodded "Good that, now let's move before it gets really dark"

We passed more buildings as the night became darker and darker, our paths only to be illuminated by our flashlights and the shinning moon above. The screaming wouldn't stop, this wasn't like mine at all, well, I think I didn't scream like that.

I heard Newt let out a sigh "If we weren't on the run, this would have been a romantic scenery" I smirked "Oh yeah, creepy buildings, screaming lady and abandoned city sounds like a very romantic scenery"

Newt rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand "But in all honesty, yeah, this would have been romantic"

"I bet it would have been more romantic if you two would just get a room already!" Jack whined, we could hear the others laughing as Newt hushed the boy while we continued walking.

The screaming suddenly came into an abrupt stop. Minho, had stopped as well, I looked ahead and saw a girl with long black hair. Teresa?

"Is that Teresa?" Newt suddenly asked, Minho shrugged "Lets go meet her then" Thomas and I locked eyes before he said "I'll do it, you guys stay here"

Thomas ran towards the girl before Newt and Minho could complain. "Well shuck. I guess we should put up camp in that building I guess" Newt muttered as he pulled me into the empty building.

Minho sighed "Fine. Grab what you can for firewood and let's rest"

We climbed up to the second floor, Winston was being patched up again, Minho, Jack and Newt went to scout the rest of the building while Frypan started calculating our food supplies.

Zart, Logan and Jace were stationed downstairs to wait for Thomas to return.

The rest of the gladers sat by the fire, i noticed Aris, he was listening to the Gladers as they told nostalgic stories from their days in the Glade. I sat beside him, wrapping a blanket around me.

"Hey" I smiled at them. The Gladers greeted me as I sat down, "So... I noticed that I haven't really spoken to you guys"

The Asian boy smiled as me "I'm Magnus and this is Alec" Alec waved "Hey" "Hi" I greeted back. Magnus leaned forward and said.

"I know you only have our second in command in your eyes but I just wanted to say that Alec is mine" he winked. Alec punched his arm "Shut up Magnus!" He hissed.

The boy beside them suddenly said "My name is Stan, this is Mike, Tim and Brandon" three other boys smiled as I greeted them.

"And I'm-" Magnus cut me off "Dont worry, we know who you are, Mrs Newton" he winked. I covered my face with my blanket, I could feel a blush creeping on my face.

"Wha-! Guys!" I frowned, Mike smiled and playfully punched Magnus "Look what happened! You made her blush"

"Hey. Back off Mike!" Alec suddenly glared at the boy. I raised my hands "Calm down Alec" he stared at me before nodding, Magnus wrapping an arm around Alec's waist.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Bran smiled, "We were telling Aris about Alby" Aris spoke "He reminds me of our leader in Group B, Harriet"

"What was it like?" Tim suddenly asked Aris, Aris raised a brow "What was what like?" Tim rolled his eyes and gestured "You know, living with a bunch of girls! Being the only boy in the bunch"

"Oh..." Aris shook his head "It wasn't anything like that. I was only there for less than two weeks, I didn't have any crushes on them either and besides," he smiled sadly and spoke in a whisper "I had Rachel"

I frowned, had, losing his only best friend and possibly his only crush in the Glade must have been hard for him.

As soon as Lana frowned, Aris noticed it immediately and decided to change the topic. He turned to the others and smirked "So, how long have the two love birds been dating hm?"

Lana blushed, she smacked Aris' arm "This is not the time or place to talk about that!" She whined as Sam and the others snickered.

"They've been at it since she got out of the box!" Tim whispered a bit too loud, "We were not!"

"You guys sure are a happy bunch" Jace smiled as he, Thomas, Zart and Logan came up the stairs.

Thomas smiled "Yeah, all I had to do was follow the laughs and ended up back here"

Zart gave her nod then went to find Minho and the others while Logan went to check on Winston. "There you are! Okay so what the shuck happened out there?" Minho suddenly appeared with the others.

Newt immediately sat beside me, facing the fire. "Find anything?" He frowned "Nope, the guys who left the building didn't forget a single bloody thing"

Winston and the others came and we had a gathering. "Seems like it's been forever since our last gathering" Minho muttered. "Okay, Thomas. Tell us what happened."

Thomas nodded and frowned, "It was Teresa" Aris raised a brow "But she's not with you" Thomas sighed "I know"

"She escaped from WICKED's base camp, apparently WICKED is planning something big. She said that they're right on her tail and didn't want us to get caught in the ruckus."

"I told her that we could help but she told me to trust her... she um..." Thomas suddenly blushed "She kissed me and then ran away, I couldn't keep up with her so I decided to head back"

Minho sighed "Teresa's got it rough. Don't worry Thomas, she can handle herself" Thomas nodded, "I hope she's alright" I muttered.

Newt pulled me into an embrace, "Its okay love, like what Minho said, she'll be just fine"

I noticed how Aris had been in deep thought, "You okay?" He looked up, "Huh? Oh sorry... just tired from all the running we did"

Aris stood up as Frypan announced dinner, I couldn't help think that Aris was thinking about Rachel. Newt sighed and placed his arm around my waist "Hey, I'm still here ya know"

He muttered under his breath. I gave him an apologetic smile "Sorry... I just feel bad for him, for everyone." Logan gave us two bowls of soup, immediately noticing the atmosphere, and left to join the others.

He must have told the others since no one else came to bother us the entire talk.

"You know it's not your fault Lana" Newt spoke before shoving a spoon full in his mouth.

I frowned and stared down at the bowl on my lap "I-I just feel like it is. I know I wasn't alone but I can't help feeling responsible to everything that's happened"

"... Alby wouldn't be happy if you said that... " he whispered. He's right, "Alby would tell me to not blame myself" I nodded and gave him a peck on the lips "Thanks Newt"

"Lets finish eating so we can get some shut eye"

I sat on the metal chair as they took blood from me. The tubes in my arms didn't hurt as bad as they looked, but yet the woman in front of me had a frown on her face.

She was looking at the results of the man on the other table. I knew what it meant. He was infected, I looked at my monitor and wondered if I was as well.

Unlike the usual dream waking me up, the Sun's glare beat it to it. I wiped my eyes and looked around, some of the Gladers were up and eating, the others were packing.

I stood up and ate before packing my things. Thankfully the building kept us from the sun, but it didn't last long. "Lets move!" Minho announced as we were set.

The sun was even hotter than the day before. The wind blew sand against our eyes, our blankets threatening to fly out of our grasps. I had to keep it close or else it would go far away.

There were buildings that we passed that seemed like they would be used for offices or hotels. I wondered what city we were in or what country.

We took a detour when we noticed that one of the streets were blocked by barriers and cars. We turned right, away from all the cars, but into a desolate area of the desert.

There was nothing except for the mountains up ahead and the city behind us. We had to keep going. The sun was starting to set again, we didn't know which was longer, the hot days or the cold nights.

I noticed this a few hours ago, but since Frypan didn't say anything, I kept quiet. I slowed down to match his pace "You okay Lana?" His voice was a bit hoarse and tired.

"Yeah. Just need to ask you something" my voice strained, I haven't drunken any water since a couple of hours ago. Frypan nodded "Shoot" I frowned and kept my voice low, but audible for him to hear "How much resources do we really have?"

His eyes widened in surprise, he cleared his throat and sighed "No point lying to you of all people" I smiled "Good choice"

"We'll only have enough until the end of the first week probably. Unless we find something or some place to stock up, that would be really nice"

It was like God heard him and sent a miracle. Thomas told everyone to stop because he had found something awesome underneath the sand.

A mall.

Hello lovelies! Thank you so much for reading this chapter and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

For those who didn't know, Jace, Alex and Magnus are from the book series called: The Mortal Instruments. I'm a really big book fan and I'm super excited for the new tv series!

Next chapter:

"The Mall"

A miracle I tell you. We found clothes, food and other supplies to last the entire trials! The lights came back on, but the sound of something menacing made me wish that I was back in the Glade.