Alex woke up with a huge gasp. Her lungs burnt. It was as if she had been holding her breath for ages and had just inhaled oxygen after nearly passing out. She looked at her surroundings and felt cold dread like an ice cube sliding down her stomach. Ivy-covered walls towered over her from all directions. Dull, yellow sunlight filtered through them, illuminating dust particles in the air.

"Not again," she mumbled. "Anywhere but here."

She forced to steady her shaking knees as she stood up from the limestone floor. Up ahead, a loud boom emerged from deeper inside the labyrinth, reverberating down the ancient-looking walls. It was followed by a crack on the floor, which spewed sharp bits or rock and limestone in its wake. Alex could only stare as the crack ran the entire length of the corridor she was in, whizzing past the spot just a few feet from where she stood.

Then the unthinkable happened. She nearly lost her balance as the ground she stood on shifted back violently. By the time she managed to look up again, there was already a steep canyon in front of her. A figure on the other side caught her eye. It was a boy. He had dark hair and a blue button-down blouse. He was crouched down as if bracing himself for something. When he looked up, she found herself getting a lot more confused.

"Minho!" she exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing?!"

It was only when he shifted his position did she realize what he was going to do. The slinthead was going to jump.

"Don't do it!" she begged. The ravine was too wide. He wasn't going to make it. Her blood turned to ice as she watched him jump in an arch over the emptiness between them. Before she could utter his name once again, he had slammed on the edge of the surface that she stood on. She jumped and put half of her body weight on one of his arms before he could slip any further.

"Take my hand!" she reached out just in time as Minho's right hand reached for her. With the all the strength she could muster, she helped him ease off the edge and onto solid ground.

"Don't worry. I got you," she promised. He had barely climbed on to safety when he let out a pained grunt, jerking forward as though he had just been shoved roughly.

A terrified scream ripped from her throat at what she saw next. There, jutting out of his chest was a metal stinger with the diameter of her fist. It punched a hole on the spot where his heart ought to be. The two exchanged terrified looks.

"Stay with me," she whispered shakily. "Please, stay with me." The stinger pulled back and like a hook, it ripped him out of her grasp. She was frozen on the spot, unable to do anything except scream his name as she watched him fall face down into the endless abyss.

"Minho! MINHO!"

"Alex, wake up."

She let out another scream before she managed to pry her eyes open. Cole had her by the arms, holding her up in a sitting position from where she passed out on the floor not an hour earlier. Bill was right behind him, holding a candle over them. Millie clung onto Cole's back.

"It was just a dream," he said soothingly. He was worried at the look of pure terror on the girl's face. Her cheeks glistened with tears and she could not stop hyperventilating.

"Come here." He enveloped her in a hug. She had a death grip on the fabric of his shirt as she continued to sob her heart out.

"Hey. You were screaming Minho's name like he was being butchered in front of you. What was that all about?"

"I couldn't save him... I wasn't fast enough..." she managed to say in between hiccups.

"What in the world are you talking about?" He was patting her on the back as he spoke to calm her down. "He looked fine the last time I saw him. He's there, next door. Probably snoring or shagging that hottie Sonya." Bill nudged him at the back.

It took her a few more minutes to gather most of her composure. She slowly pushed away from Cole and rubbed her face dry. "Sorry," she croaked.

"What were you dreaming about?" Millie asked curiously.

"A maze. It was moving and stuff." Millie and Cole exchanged confused looks. Alex could only shrug. It was so ridiculous and disturbing that it wouldn't have made any sense if she tried to explain it further. Hell, it didn't make any sense to her.

"Where are you going?" She had pushed herself off the floor and was wobbling on her way to the front door. Bill caught her wrist. "Alex-"

"Just want to get some fresh air Bill. I'm sort of humiliated at the moment." His hand shifted from her wrist to cup her cheek.

"We're here if you need us kiddo. Alright?"

She nodded in reply. "And sorry I got drunk."

The humid early morning air hit her face as she pulled the front door open. It did nothing to stop the tightening of her chest. Still, she was determined to find a place where she could be alone. She was had to or else she would never get over that jarring nightmare. She began to walk aimlessly, avoiding the few people who were already awake and walking down the village's footpaths.

'Was it a memory?' She shook her had at the thought. It couldn't be. That blow looked too fatal. And in the unlikely even that he did go through such an ordeal, that metal stinger would have surely left a mark. He wouldn't be running the way he still did.

She reached the fallen log at the hill behind the apothecary and sat on its rough surface. She couldn't stop tugging at her collar to fan herself. The humidity was stifling.

"Get a grip, will you?" she mumbled to herself. She made the mistake of closing her eyes. The instant she did, the image of the dying boy flashed in front of her. Because it was her dream, she knew the exact moment that his heart stopped. It was a moment that pierced through her. She could see his lifeless eyes once again, prompting a fresh batch of hot tears out of her.

She continued to sob silently in her own bubble of misery. She felt silly mourning over someone who was still alive. It was ridiculous but that embarrassing part wasn't the most bothersome. What ate at her was the gut-wrenching anguish that consumed her when she thought Minho had died. The Scorch had familiarized her quite well with the concept of death. She had seen friends and neighbors drop like flies either from the heat of the sun or from the Flare virus. It was never a pleasant experience but it was nowhere near as painful as seeing that shuckface die. She thought she would go crazy right then and there, like she had lost her immunity to the virus and succumbed to its effects in under one minute.

He didn't matter anymore, did he? So why did his death felt like the death of her too?

Movement from behind her caught her attention. She glanced back in alarm.

"You're up early. Damn, you really are a heavyweight." Thomas stood behind her with his hands raised by his head defensively. She quickly dried her face with her shirt as the taller boy took a seat next to her. She hid behind her curtain of black hair, feeling self-conscious.

"Don't you have work to do in an hour?" she asked. She sounded scratchy.

"There's no need to hide your face, shank," Thomas replied. "I've had moments when I looked shittier than you after a nightmare." She threw him a surprised glance so he added, "After all we've been through, bad dreams are a guaranteed given." His smile never quite reached his eyes. The brown orbs blatantly betrayed him by looking so sad. She thought there was something familiar about that look.

"I guess you can say that again."

There was a long pause where the two of them did nothing but stare at the sleepy village in front of them, both lost in their own thoughts. It was Thomas who broke the spell first.

"What was it all about?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I tell you."

He knew he probably would but decided to drop it. "Hey listen..." He shifted in his seat to face her. "I never really had the chance to apologize for the hell I've put you through. You and Minho both. I uh... I've seen the price that you paid for surviving our shucked experiments. To put in a nutshell, I've ruined everyone's lives and I'm still trying to live with that fact. Sorry doesn't even scratch the fucking surface but-"

"Doesn't matter," she cut in. This shut Thomas up. He expected her to lash out and try to claw his face off at the very least. She seemed to have read his mind and shrugged. "You did what you had to do under the circumstances. Someone had to kick the bucket. You had to decide which death was worth it. So if there's anyone whom WICKED fucked up the most, it's you."

"That does not make me feel better. At all," he replied glumly. They both chuckled at this.

"Can I tell you something though? Just between you and me." Green eyes bored into Thomas. He had no choice but to nod.

"I realized this just now. I'm glad your plan worked. You kept Minho alive. And for some reason that my mushed brain couldn't remember just yet you're always going to be my hero for doing that."

Thomas smiled bashfully at this, feeling ten times lighter all of a sudden. "Are you kidding me?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah well, I had to keep my end of the bargain right? After that grand exit of yours."

"Must have been a tough end to keep up."

He made a face at this. "Nah. Not really. He did most of the surviving himself. Sometimes I swear they infused Minho with cockroach genes sometime during the experiment. He's that difficult to kill."

Alex had to agree. And from what she knew about the almond-eyed boy, he would most likely take that statement as a compliment.

Author's Notes: I still cannot imagine how Min walked out of that lightning strike. Shouldn't he be hospitalized for that? He shrugged it off like it's just a little scratch. What the...

REVIEWS ARE WELCOME! I know I've been crap at updating lately. Consider this my peace offering. Peace!