Hi guys!

Just wanna say thank you to my beta-reader candyappleredd for checking this chapter.
Hope you enjoy it

R&R

Love ya all

Runners :****

Chapter 22

Minho lay there, not moving an inch. The boys were by his side in an instant, but Julia stayed away. With every passing second, she could feel her hope fading faster.

"C'mon Minho!" Thomas yelled.

I never told him about Nicole! He'll never know… Julia's thoughts ran through her head. She wondered if she made the right choice. After all, he deserved to know, but would Nicole want him to know?

And then, a miracle happened. She heard a faint whisper, and she quickly turned around. Julia couldn't see much in the dark, but she heard a faint voice. Then, she saw a cheering figure. He was okay! Minho was fine.

"What happened?" She heard him ask.

"You were struck by lightning," Thomas exhaled.

She walked up to them, and when she was next to them, she felt an arm wrap around her waist. It was Newt. Julia leaned into him with a smile.

"Minho…" She whispered.

He glanced at her with a tired, honest smile. "C'mon, you seriously though you've seen the last of me?"

When she chuckled he continued, "I'm tougher than that."

"Pfft, of course you are." She rolled her eyes at him playfully. "You're the mighty shank, after all."

He only smirked in return.

Thomas and Aris both reached out a hand to help pull Minho up.

"Guys, let's look for the switch to turn the lights on," Thomas told them, and they started walking all over the place with their flashlights.

"What's that smell?" Teresa was the first to move.

Newt held onto Julia's hand as they searched for the switch. A beam of light from her flashlight swept over a figure. Thinking she must have imagined it, Julia turned her light that way again, and a high pitched scream escaped her lips as the figure howled, chained up like a feral dog.

Suddenly, from every side of the room, they could hear similar howling. Newt pulled Julia back with him to their friends, where they stood there in a small group surrounded by Cranks, unable to think clearly of their next move. Julia's energy faded away, and she felt as she would either faint, puke, or maybe even both. Her world was spinning as the Cranks kept jumping, trying to free themselves. Out of nowhere, they heard a whistle, and the lights were turned on.

"I see you met our guard dogs." It was a girl's voice. If Julia were in here right mind, she might have actually defended those people. It wasn't their fault they were sick, and they did not deserve to be used as 'guard dogs.' Instead, she tried to calm her breathing and keep herself steady. She was glad for the embrace of Newt's that helped her stand on her weakened legs.

The girl started walking up to them through the crowd of Cranks, and they all tried in vain to reach, grab, scratch or bite her.

"You guys look like shit," She told them when she was only a few feet away. Her eyes traveled from Thomas to every single one of them. When they stopped on Julia she practically laughed. "Especially you."

Newt's grip tightened on Julia's waist and she felt him move forward. She stopped him by putting a hand on his chest.

It's not worth it, she thought as her eyes searched his. Thankfully, he understood and made no further move.

The girl chuckled at them, but something in her eyes, though unclear, showed them she wasn't as tough. Maybe it was that she looked at them a second too long or that her eyes seemed to have softened.

"C'mon," she said after a while as she started walking away from them and to the door. When none of them moved, she smiled with mock politeness. Raising her eyebrows, she continued, "Unless you wanna stay here with them…" And as much as they didn't want to, they knew they had to follow her.

She led them through many corridors until they seemed to have reached the main hall. There were some people there warming themselves up by many small fireplaces.

"You alright, love?" Newt asked Julia. They had kept their distance from the group. In the light, Newt could see how pale Julia had become. He wondered if it was because of fear, but he wasn't sure if that would be better or worse. She was severely dehydrated and had been in a coma while WICKED experimented on her.

"Yeah." She squeezed his hand lightly, and he wondered if it was for good luck or just as a simple gesture meant to calm him down.

"Keep up," They heard the girl call from the front of the group. "Jorge wants to meet you."

"Who's Jorge?" Thomas asked as the question entered all of their minds as well. They walked up the stairs and some people started following them. One of them sent a dreadful smile to Julia, and Newt just lightly pushed her forward with him, sending the guys a warning glare.

"No one has come out of the Scorch in a really long time. You've just got him curious," The girl said, mostly ignoring Thomas's question. "And me too," She added quickly.

"I have a bad feeling about this place," Newt whispered, and Julia felt as if he had just read her thoughts.

Eventually, they made it. A room the girl lead them to was quite big and extremely messy. The furniture was run-down and the windows were dirty to the point where it was impossible to see out of them.

"Jorge." The girl called out, and Julia noticed a man sitting at a desk. He was listening to a radio, or at least he was trying to. "They're here." She pointed at the group, but she didn't turn to face them. Instead, she crashed on a couch as Jorge shushed her.

"Dammit," He murmured, clicking a few buttons before he stood up to face them. "Do you ever have a feeling that the whole world's against ya?" He asked enigmatically as he sized them up.

His eyes stopped on Julia and his expression turned from bored to genuinely shocked. "I guess you do." He whispered almost theatrically before he commanded, "Bring her over." He pointed at her, frowning. One of his men grabbed Julia by the arm and pushed her forward, ripping her out of Newt's grasp.

"Let her go!" Newt yelled and moved forward, but he was grabbed by a different man who effectively held him in place.

The rest of the group was also held tight with other men.

Julia didn't have any energy left to fight at this point, so she let the man drag her to Jorge like a rag doll. She was pushed onto a chair as Jorge yelled at Newt, "Calm down, lover-boy!" He moved to a small table, poured water into a crystal glass, and offered it to Julia. She looked at him dumbly, and he rolled his eyes. After he'd taken a sip he gave her the glass again. "See? It's not poison, hermana."

She slowly took a sip, but not before she glanced at Newt with a troubled expression. He was still pissed, but he tried to look calm for her. She didn't buy his act.

"I have three questions for you," he said, turning to the rest of them. Meanwhile, he signaled something to the girl, and she stood up from the couch and left the room. "One: where did you come from?"

Why do you need to know? Julia thought to herself, narrowing her eyes.

"Two: where are you going? Three: how can I profit?" When everyone stayed silent he spoke up again. "Don't all answer at once." Annoyed by the lack of response, Jorge turned to check on Julia and told her, "C'mon, drink up."

"We're heading for the mountains," Thomas started explaining. "We're looking for Right Arm."

Great, Thomas, you forgot to tell them we've just escaped from WICKED, Julia thought bitterly as she took another sip, finishing the water. Jorge almost immediately gave her a refill while his men laughed at Thomas' answer.

"You're looking for ghosts, you mean," He chuckled, but the slight frown on his face didn't escape Julia. "Question number two…" He started, when the girl came back with an unrecognizable device in her hand. "Where did you come from?"

She threw Jorge the device. Catching it, he swiftly used his other hand to grab Julia's head and slam it on the table. She dropped her glass and it shattered emphatically, its pieces littering the floor.

Crying out in pain and shock, she tried to blink the stars from her eyes. She could hear Newt trying to break free with the rest of the gang but fighting proved to be useless. Jorge brought the machine to Julia's neck, slowly scanning it. As he studied the device and her neck, he took glasses out of a pocket of his jacket.

"Holy shit," he said after he read the result. "Check the rest of them, Brenda." He gave the device away and looked at Julia.

She couldn't hide the pain he caused her as a tear rolled down her face.

"How are you still alive?" He asked in disbelief.

"What do you bloody mean by that?" Newt asked, trying to hide his fear. He was aware of Julia's poor condition, but the statement let him acknowledge that maybe it was even worse than he thought.

Meanwhile, Thomas was also pushed down and Brenda scanned his neck.

"You were right," she announced.

"What do you mean?" Thomas squirmed.

"Sorry, hermano…" Jorge replied after taking a closer look at the result. "Looks like you're tugged." He paused dramatically before adding: "You came from WICKED. Which means… you're very valuable." He smirked. "Take 'em away. The girl stays here."

Julia rose from where she was sitting with a yelp. "No!" She screamed and Jorge took a gun out of his jeans waistband, aiming it at her head.

"Julia, it's okay," Newt told her, and she wondered how he managed to keep his voice steady when his eyes held so much worry. "It's gonna be just fine, love." And somehow she believed the warm tone of his voice.

"Listen to lover-boy, sweetheart." Julia cringed at Jorge's nickname but nodded before the dizziness got to her head again. "I said take them away," Jorge repeated his request.

Newt held Julia's gaze until they pushed him out of the room. She collapsed onto the chair as soon as he disappeared and asked with an unsteady voice. "What're you gonna do to me?" She was beyond terrified, but somehow, she knew Newt wouldn't leave and reassure her that it would be alright if it was going to be miserable.

Jorge ignored her completely; instead, he turned to Brenda and whispered something in her ear that Julia couldn't make out.

Brenda gave him a confused look. "Just do it!" He yelled slightly. When she was gone he turned to Julia and unexpectedly answered her question. "You don't know what they did to you?" He got closer and Julia wriggled in her chair. "I guess you haven't had a look in a mirror in a while, either?"

He grabbed the device again and Julia shrieked slightly, moving away from him.

"Whoa, wait." Jorge raised his hands as a sign of surrender. "I'm sorry I was an ass." What… I mean that's a start, but…

"But I gotta keep an act in front of those boys if I want to get you out." She couldn't understand what he was implying, but she didn't say anything. "Just take a look." Jorge scanned her neck again, this time he made sure to be extra gentle. "See?" He showed her the result.

She read all the information, and suddenly, she couldn't breathe. "But… this means I…"

"Don't worry, Brenda will bring some blood and I'll make a quick transfusion." He put a hand on her arm reassuringly. "You'll be fine. I'm just surprised you made it so far."

"Yeah, me too." She admitted. She looked at the results again. WICKED was drawing blood out of her body every five days when the minimal time interval was two months. They must have injected some miraculous medicine in her to keep her alive.

"What are you talking about?" A voice startled them. Brenda stood behind them with three bags filled with red liquid. Blood.

"Pack everything you think is necessary," Jorge told her, practically ripping out the bags out of her hands.

"What are you talking about?" She asked incredulously.

"We're leaving." He moved to Julia to start the transfusion. "Oh, and give her as much candy as you can find."

"That was some great plan, Thomas!" Minho complained as he hung upside-down. "Let's see what the man has to say! It can't be bad, right? It's not like we've been tricked before! Yeah, let's see a stranger and hear him out! Nothing can go wrong when Thomas has a plan! How is it working out for you, by the way?"

"Slim it, Minho." Thomas exhaled, but inside he knew Minho was right. He glanced over at Newt, but his friend was too deep in his thoughts to even notice. He had a trouble, worried and miserable expression. Thomas wanted to give him some reassurance. He wanted to calm him, tell him Julia was going to be just fine.

Talk about irony… Thomas thought. He didn't trust Julia, but seeing Newt like this…

Why didn't he exactly like Julia again? He started thinking about it. So yeah, no one even mentioned her before she was found and suddenly she was the love of Newt's life? He made a note in his mind to talk to Newt about her later.

Still, she was the one who sent Newt to him, when he needed a shoulder to cry on. She calmed Newt down when he was angry, and, as much as Thomas hated to admit it, Newt seemed truly happy when he was with Julia. What Thomas had thought was Newt's happiness turned out to be pure politeness, but with her, he was almost glowing.

Let's hope I didn't kill her then.

"Maybe I can reach the rope?" He tried to do so but his muscles were too weak to accomplish it.

"Having fun I see?" Before any of them could reply, Newt lashed out at the upcoming Jorge.

"Where is she?"

"Calm down, lover-boy, I come in peace," he chuckled. "In fact, you should thank me. If it weren't for me she would be dead in two days, tops." Newt looked slightly puzzled and terrified at the same time. "She'll be alright," Jorge reassured him, turning to the rest of them.

"So… enjoying the view?" He asked, smirking

"The hell do you want?!" Thomas roared.

"That is the question…" Jorge chuckled. "My men… want to sell you back to WICKED. They think small; I don't. And I have a feeling you don't, either." He kept his glance focused on Thomas when Minho spoke up.

"Is blood getting to my brain or the shank just ain't making any sense?"

"Tell me what you know about Right Arm."

"And here I thought they were just ghosts…" Newt answered for Thomas.

"Oh boy," Jorge chuckled, "I guess we're lucky I happen to believe in those then. Tell me all you know, and maybe we'll make a deal out of it…"