The women and children who were not cut out to fight were asked to hide in their cabins with their lights off. Alex didn't question this and hid in the bedroom with Millie the first chance she got. She closed the curtains and the shutters before fumbling in the dark to lie next to the boy.
"Get some sleep Millie," she said, enveloping him in a hug. She felt his head shift to look at her.
"What if the Right Arm comes? I want to be awake when they come." He didn't even dare remove his glasses. The last thing he wanted was to be forced to run blind.
Alex paused. She couldn't lie to him anymore. Everyone knew it could happen. While they hid for safety, people outside were arming up for battle, preparing for their arrival at that very moment. Even the elderly, graying Bill decided he wanted to fight.
"Actually, you have a point," she replied. "But we also need to be badass strong for when they do come. I need you to be able to run fast when that happens. Alright?" The eight-year old considered her explanation before nodding in agreement. "Fine."
"Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when...if I have to."
"Promise?"
"Yeah."
She watched him like a hawk until the fidgety boy become more still. She listened to his soft snores and even breathing. As the night grew deep, she felt her own eyelids getting heavy.
'C'mon guys. Please come back to us,' she thought, snuggling closer against Millie's thick locks to escape the pangs of worry in her guts. And just as sleep claimed her, her thoughts became more raw and more honest than she ever dared to admit when she was wide awake.
'Min, come back to me.'
She was surprised to see him sitting on her bed. When he saw her, he bolted up to his feet. His face remained stoic and unreadable. She closed the bedroom door behind her but made no move to go near him. Ever since the tank test a month ago, they haven't spoken a word to each other. The first few days after that disaster she made attempts to talk to him, to explain her side of the story to him. Her determination always faltered every time she saw the look of disgust and loathing that he gave her. For Minho, she was the operator that set the tests in motion for him. She called the shots for the tortures. Naturally, he blamed her for it. Four weeks in and she was still struggling to live with the fact that she had lost her bestfriend before the Trials even started.
A full minute passed and neither of them uttered a single word. Finally Minho walked over to her. Alex stepped back until her back was against the door, unsure of what he was about to do.
"D'you really think I'm going to beat you?" he asked before pulling her into a tight hug. She couldn't stop the sob that ripped out of her throat as she hugged him back just as tightly.
"I'm so sorry," she cried. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to fail. I didn't want to them to think you're not good enough."
"It's not your fault," he mumbled through the crown of her head. "I was just too pissed to admit it. So, I'm the stupid one." It was his own way of apologizing.
"Still," she shook her head against his chest. "I never wanted to do it. Sorry. I'm sorry."
"They would've come after you if you refused to do it. Don't be silly."
They went over to her single bed and sat on it in silence for the longest time. They didn't have to say anything. Both were just glad to be with each other. It was the longest time that they have gone through without speaking a word to each other and it clearly took its toll on the both of them. Minho briefly wondered that if not talking to Alex for a month made him that miserable, then how in the world was he going to survive the Trials which they said was to run for years? He pushed the saddening thoughts away and looked over to the dark-haired girl beside him. She looked back at him, eyebrows furrowed questioningly.
"What is it?" she asked.
"They're gonna do it again."
It took her a while to reply. A part of her hoped she heard him wrong. But if her ears failed her, her eyes didn't. Minho looked scared. "You're kidding me."
He smiled wryly at her. "Not this time, Alex. It's true. The tank test crunched killzones so badly that they produced the patterns that they needed for the preliminary studies. And they want more of it."
"Well I'm not doing it," she replied. "Julia can stick it up her ugly ass I'm not participating in it ever again!" Whether it was Minho or another one of the kids, she didn't think her conscience would let her live with the guilt if she did it for the second time.
"Actually I was hoping you would." He turned to look at her without a hint of mischief in his eyes. Alex was shocked. "What?"
"I told them you have to be the one to administer it to me or else I'll start pulling my brains out of my nose before they knew what hit them. I want you there alright?"
She looked down at her sweaty hands and squeezed them together. A part of her had the nerve to want to make light of situation by telling Minho he was being a clingy baby as always. A bigger part of her was more concerned of one problem.
"Are you gonna stop talking to me again after that?" she asked anxiously.
"No, I'll be thanking you. For reminding me that none of it is real." He untangled her hands and gave the right one a quick squeeze. "Please."
Alex nodded. And as she did a heavy weight settled on her shoulders. "This isn't stopping anytime soon, is it?" WICKED will continue to milk everything out and tear them apart until there was nothing left in all of them.
"You know those kids who lost it? D'you remember them?" he asked.
Alex remembered them all too well. They were the ones who broke under the weight of the experiments, the ones who had been through so much that by the time the scientists were done with them all that was left were drooling shells of the children they once were. Doctors were quick to chalk them off as insane.
"I don't wanna end up like them." When Alex didn't answer, Minho turned to glare at her. "Did you hear me?"
"You won't. I won't let you." She nudged her shoulder against his. "I promise."
"Wake up."
Alex gasped as she regained her consciousness. She felt disoriented as he eyes adjusted in the dark. Her body was awake but her mind was still stuck in the dream. It wasn't just a dream. This time, she was certain that it had happened before. It was a memory.
"I thought you were crying," Millie whispered.
She rubbed her eyes. Funny enough, they felt moist. "I'm alright Mills," she replied, voice still hoarse from sleep. "Why are you awake?"
"I just woke up. Now I can't go back to sleep because...I'm scared," the young boy admitted. "I don't want them to take me."
She cupped his round cheeks with one hand and focused on the silhouette of his face. "You know I won't let that happen."
"You swear?"
"On my life." She felt a skinny arm wrap around her waist and she let him hug her. She knew Millie was terrified. The boy was smart enough to know that his blood status made him a target for the Right Arm. The best she could do for him was to act like she wasn't afraid as well and that she knew what she was doing.
"How do you think Minho and Thomas are doing right now?" Millie asked out of the blue. Alex was taken aback and couldn't come up with a lie. She stayed quiet.
"They're really cool guys," he added. "I don't want them hurt."
"Neither do I," she murmured.
There was a long stretch of comfortable silence which was broken by a chorus of explosions which came from outside the cabin. Gunshots.
"It's them!" Millie shrieked. The girl quickly clamped his mouth shut. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, making everything feel sharper. The explosions sounded too close. It could only have come from the west fence which was yards away from them.
"Follow me," she whispered and grabbed the boy's hand. Outside, Leo and the guards were shouting orders and preparing to fight back. One of the guards went around the cabins, barking orders to stay inside and keep still.
"Let's go," Alex said, pulling Millie outside the door.
"But they said-"
"Come on!" she exclaimed just as another series of shots echoed through the night. She dared to take a peek behind the entrance wall and saw the bullet holes in the fences. They were closing in.
"Millie, run. We have to go."
Through the darkness of the night, they ran and made their way towards the apothecary. She planned on keeping him on its underground store room which was hidden under a trap door. And as she dragged the sole carrier of the Cure in that part of the world, she felt the weight of the conversation that she had with Cole earlier that night.
"Millie. You and I both know he's one of the reasons why they're coming here. Keep him safe for as long as you possibly can." Cole looked away before he continued. "And if you no longer can, make sure they don't take him alive."
Her jaw slacked in shock. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying the Cure only works if the blood sample is taken from a live donor. If the Right Arm gets a hold of him, then it's game over for all of us, including him. They'll bleed him dry and keep him just alive enough to make sure the antibodies don't spoil. Given the chance don't you think it's more humane to just put him down?"
"Cole please stop it!" she exclaimed. "You're scaring me."
"No, I'm telling you. We need to stop them from taking the boy alive at all costs. I can't let that happen. Neither should you. For his sake."
She gazed at his cold blue eyes. She hated the way he sounded then. He sounded so cruel. And yet she couldn't agree more.
Author's Notes: Don't want to be a spoiler but some of the parts here were the reason that I had mini heart attacks and bouts of deja vu while watching The Scorch Trials. The draft for the Alex/Cole convo was done around 2 weeks before the release of the movie (It was written as a continuation of the Sonya freakout bit but I cut it at the last minute for story purposes). And then the Alex/Minho convo was done a few days after that (didn't know where to stick it at that time so I left it as a draft). There was a part there when Minho and Thomas were talking in the movie and when I heard it, I choked on my 7Up. But part of it was in the trailer so I was like...maybe that was where I got the idea from? I dunno. Just felt creepy is all.