A/N: Well hello my lovelies! I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story and I love getting reviews and hearing your questions and opinions! Anyway without further ado, let get on with...

THE SCORCH TRIALS

Chapter 1

The rumblings of the helicopter cause me to wake up from a dreamless sleep. Beside me Newt is still sleeping soundly, obviously so tired that the small amount of turbulence wasn't enough to rouse him. I smile down at his calm but worn face leaning on my shoulder; he's obviously slipped down whilst sleeping, I'm sure I was on his shoulder when I fell asleep. Pushing a small piece of hair up to prevent it falling in his eyes I look around the rest the helicopter. Winston and Frypan are over one side consoling Jak whose red eyes seem to have finally stopped crying. Minho, Teresa and Thomas are all sleeping in the left over space. It's quite cramped, I realise, now I've had time to breathe. My chest constrains slightly at the realisation of the enclosed space. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I lean back taking a look at our final passenger. The military man, who 'rescued' us from WICKED. His grey eyes bore straight ahead not looking at any of us. Narrowing my eyes, I glare at the man until his gaze turns to mine.

'Where are we going?' I say firmly wanting some answers. The others that are awake look at me.

'Somewhere safe.' He repeats. It's the same thing he has said when anyone has asked that question.

'You've said that already.' I state, fed up with his bullshit.

'Coz' that's where we're going.' He says back, with a monotonous tone.

'But that doesn't tell us anything. We've just seen a video, that basically says nowhere is safe and the world has gone to shit and now you're saying the complete opposite.' I glare heatedly at the man. I don't like him.

'The video you saw must have been WICKED owned. They're the bad guys. Bad guys lie.' The man's tone has turned almost mocking now.

'Yes,' I said finally. 'I suppose they do.' Leaning back again, I close my eyes to try and soothe the headache that has been building this whole journey. Something is not right about this. WICKED's all dead, and the 'goodies' just so happen to swoop in just when we were about to leave? Bit of a coincidence. I need to be on high alert with this lot, I decide. A hand suddenly finds its way into my own, squeezing it gently. I smirk as I crack open an eye to see Newt playing with my fingers.

'Good sleep?' I ask teasingly.

'I suppose,' he grins back. 'As well as possible after just being rescued from a bloody nightmare and pushed into a helicopter.'

I chuckle. 'Oh that good!' Laughing I watch as he draws patterns on my blood stained hands. I sigh quietly.

'He was brave.' Newt whispers quietly.

I smile. 'I still don't know how you do that.'

'I told you, I know you better than you know yourself.'

'He was braver than any of us. He took a bullet for us. For all of us. Gally didn't know where he was aiming. Could have hit anyone. Chuck made sure it was him.' I sigh, looking at Jak's tear stained face and at Thomas' sleeping form.

'He was a good kid.' Newt whispers, 'Part of me thinks he could be someplace better now.' I look up in confusion. 'If this place is what you think it is, and I know what you think it is, we may be in a whole world of shit. Chuck's better where he is.' I nod curling into Newt's side once more. His arm brushes round my waist to rest on my hip, but halfway through this motion his fingers brush the gun hilt poking out the back of my trousers. He looks down at me.

'Just in case.' I clarify, as he nods.

'Alright everybody, were here!' The pilot shouts from the cockpit. I pear out of the window to see a building below us. It looks small from up here but I can tell that it is massive. More of a compound than anything else. Getting closer my eyes are drawn to the armed presence that stand outside. Are they there for us? Or for something worse? The man opposite me is also looking out the window with a concerned look.

'Did you see em',' he said to the co-pilot.

'Yeah,' he replied. 'A swarm coming from the west.'

'Shit,' the man grunts. 'Were gonna have to move the kids in fast. Set us down as close as possible.'

'Sure thing.' The co-pilot agrees, relaying this request to the pilot.

The man looks at us. 'Wake up your friends, we're gonna need to move fast.' Instantly I crawl over to Minho.
Shaking his shoulder, I say, 'Minho! Wake up. We're here.' Blearily he opens his eyes.

'What's going on?' He grumbles.

'We're here. Somethings going on. They say we have to move fast.' I repeat the information I had heard from the men up front.

'A swarm?' He whispers. 'Of what?'

'I dunno, but whatever it is, they don't sound too thrilled about it.' Thinking back to the men with guns on the ground, I say, 'They're armed to the back teeth.'

Minho furrows his eyebrows, 'What?' I roll my eyes at his confusion.

'Lots of guns!' I simplify. His calm demeanour changes instantly to one of alertness.

'Kira!' Newt yells from behind me. The noise in here has gotten so loud, because of the landing, we're having to shout to hear ourselves. I look at him. On the floor beside him, Thomas is still sleeping! 'He won't wake up!'

A loud bang indicated our landing on the sand. The man opens the door shouting, 'Follow me!' I push Frypan, Winston and Jak out first, scooting over to Thomas to wake him. Teresa, Minho and Newt look at me.

'I got him!' I shout. 'Go!' They listen to me and crawl out the helicopter. 'Thomas!' I shout shaking his shoulders. 'Thomas!' No response. 'Okay,' I mutter under my breath, tuning my head to see the man still shouting at me to leave. 'Desperate times.' Pulling my hand back, I bring it down against Thomas' cheek. 'Thomas!' I shout. Jerking awake, he shoots up nearly head-butting me.

'Finally! We gotta go! Come on!' I scream, yanking his hand pulling him out of the helicopter onto the desert.

'Let's go! Let's go! We gotta go!' The man is shouting. Another person with a cloth over their face grabs Thomas to help him down.

'You all right? You all right?' He shouts at Thomas, as he bumbles around trying to catch his footing. Another man is pulling me away from the helicopter towards the huge steel doors which cover the entrance to the building. The building itself, is the biggest thing I have ever seen. Made of metal, it looms above us creating a dark shadow, which it lit by two huge spotlight beams from either side of the door. Several other lights create a pathway through the sand towards the entrance. I have never seen anything like it!

'Thomas! Come on!' I shout struggling against the man's grasp.

'Wait, wait, wait!' Thomas' shouts from behind me, make me whip round to see what's going on. Thomas is legging it back to the helicopter to get something. I can't see what it is from this distance.

'Where are you going?' The man escorting Thomas shouts.

'We don't have time!' The guy next to me screams, gripping my arm tighter and tighter.

'I'M COMING!' I roar back at him, trying to get him off me.

'Cranks! We got Cranks!' A shout from behind me alerts me to the snarling noise coming from over one of the dunes.

'Gotta move! Not safe out here, kid!' Several people are running towards us with guns.

'Got a swarm to the flank!' Shouts of panic and orders fill the air around us, but they have turned dull. Like I've got my hands over my ears. I look down at my hands, noticing they are no longer stained with blood. A smooth, calm voice fills my ears, saying my name over and over, blocking out all the other panic. Looking around I suddenly realise I'm not in the desert anymore. I'm in a dark room.

'Kira.' The voice repeats my name again, but this time it seems more substantial, less like an echo and more like…

'Kira!' Spinning round, I see Dr Paige. 'Pay attention.'

'Sorry ma'am.' The words fall from my lips, but I'm not saying them. It's like something else has taken over my body.

'Try again,' She says calmly.

My body turns without me telling it too and picks up a gun in front of me. I hadn't even know it was there. What is going on? A light flicks on at the other end of the room. A small target is placed at the end. I take a deep breath before lining up the shot. The crack of the shot makes me jump, and yet my body doesn't move. It just fires again, before readjusting and firing once more. Pressing a button by the side of me the target begins to move forward so I can see it properly. Before my eyes it changes from a small round target with a bullseye, to an outline of a human. As it gets closer I can see 3 holes in the paper. Two in the chest, and one in the head.

'Perfect,' Dr Paige says beside me, putting her hand on my shoulder. I want to throw her hand off, but my body just stays there, staring at the headshot. 'Next time, we'll see how you do with a live subject.' Live? Subject? She is teaching me to hurt people. To kill people. 'No!' I shout, 'No I won't do it. I won't hurt people.' No-one can hear me. Using all my might, I spin round my head to look at Dr Paige, but it's not her anymore. It's a man, with cloth round his face? A rush of sounds suddenly explodes in my ears.

'Go, kid! Go, go!'

'Set a perimeter! Hold them back on the right side!' I'm running. I'm not in the range anymore. I'm back in the desert, running towards the huge building. What was that? Was that a memory?

'Come on, kids, let's go!' A hand on my shoulder pulls me from my thoughts. Thomas looks at me with concern.

'Are you alright?' he shouts over the noise. Not even knowing where to start, I just shake my head.

'Let's go! Move it! Come on! Keep moving! Keep moving! Tell him to take off! We're clear!' Finally making it to the doors, we get pushed inside as the doors close behind us. Turning around I watch as huge bars work their way across the door locking it. The sound of gunfire are now dulled as the noise of a claxon overtakes. Turning again, I take in the huge expanse in front of me. Hundreds of people moving about, not even concerned by the ground of dirty teenagers stood in silence before them. A group of soldiers make their way towards us.

'Come with us please.' One of them says. Looking up at them, I work my way to the front.

'What's happening out there? What were they?' I ask. Newt's hand works its way into mine.

'Cranks.' He replies simply.

'What are cranks?' Thomas asks from behind me.

'People infected with the flare.' He explains with a sigh. 'Now will you please come with me? We need to get you somewhere safe whilst we deal with them.' He walks off quickly leaving us to follow, blind as to where we were going. He leads us to a door off one of the main corridors. 'Stay here til we come and get you.' Pushing us inside, he closes the door.


'Hey!' Thomas yells banging on the door. I feel around for something to turn on the lights. Feeling a small switch on the wall, I push it hoping it is nothing bad. After a moment the ceiling hums and lights turn on. Spinning around to see what it is the room, I stop. Apart from Thomas banging on the door, the rest of us are silent.

'Thomas,' I whisper. He turns to look at me, finally catching sight of what we are seeing.

Food.

A huge table filled with all kinds of food, is lain before us. Chicken, Potatoes, Fruits of all kinds, Vegetables, Breads, Rice, Water. Any food I could have imagined, is set out on this table. I've never seen so much food in my life. I might cry with happiness right now. Looking over to Frypan, I giggle at the growing smile on his face. The noise catches his attention. He looks back and his smile grows wider. I nod and we all run towards the table, grabbing whatever we can get our hands on, stuffing it into our mouths. I'd like to say I am savouring the flavours, but to be honest the food is going down my throat so fast to make room for more, I just know that together, it tastes good! I look over to Newt, who is smiling and laughing with Winston, to Frypan who is doing the same as me and forcing as much food down as possible, to Thomas, who is eating rice with his bare hands to Teresa, who's eyes shine with mischief. I stare her down, knowing what she is going to do. Grabbing a handful of the rice in the bowl next to me I prepare myself.

'Teresa,' I say. 'Bring it.' She laughs at this a pelts some rice straight at my face. Ducking I throw my handful back at her, laughing at the look of surprise on her face at my fast reaction. The rest of the boys see what is happening at join in. In a matter of seconds we have a full on food fight happening. Rice is being thrown left and right, grapes are being catapulted at people faces, and we are all laughing hysterically at Frypan getting hit with a squishy fruit and it splatting all over him.

Moving over to one of the walls, I sit down leaning against some boxes. Newt come over to join me.

'You okay?' He says. 'Tommy said that somethings going on with you.' I raise an eyebrow. 'That when you were running in from the helicopter, you're face went blank. He said you were still moving but it was like you weren't there. Then you were just, back, but you looked a bit…off.' I nod.

'I think I remembered something. Something from before.' I say, trying to work out how to explain what I had seen.

'Like what?' He asks, tilting his head slightly to look at me better.

'My training. From before I came in the maze. I'd seen a bit before. They tested my stamina, my intelligence, and then taught me how to survive. How to build a fire, and how to grow plants, that kind of thing. I'd thought that was all they taught me. But then I saw this.' I say pulling the gun from my waistband. 'I knew how to use it. How to check for bullets, how to turn the safety on and off.' I touched the safety gently. 'That's part of why I picked it up. To see what I knew. `

'So what, they taught you how to use it?' Newt says confused.

'Sort of. This is how we come to what I remembered as we came in. The gunshots must have triggered something.' I sigh, looking at the gun in my lap. 'They weren't just teaching me how to use it. They were teaching me how to kill. Two to the chest, one to the head. Perfect shot every time. I was good too. Never missed.'

'Why would they teach you how to do that? We didn't have guns in the maze?' I shrug.

'I dunno. I'm asking myself that same question.'

'Where did you get that?' Thomas walks over to me, but stops when he sees the gun in my hand.

'Back at WICKED. Took it off, some soldier.' I confess, seeing the others walk towards us as well.

'Why?' Frypan asks.

'Seemed like a good idea at the time.' I shrug.

'You know to use it?' Minho asks. I nod, not wanted to explain further. 'Might be a good idea to keep it on you then. Who knows what's gonna happen?' He then walks over to a table close by and lies down on it.

'It's just a precaution.' I say trying to reassure the others.

'Okay,' Thomas says, sitting down opposite Newt and I. Teresa nods and comes and sits on my other side. Winston and Frypan look at each other, shrug and settle themselves around us. I look over to Jak.

'Are you okay with me having this?' I ask getting up and walking over to him.

'A gun, shot Chuck,' is all he says.

'I promise I'm a good shot. And I'll use it if necessary.' I take his hands, looking up at him. His young face is smeared with dirt and sweat. He sighs.

'I trust you.' He says, letting go of my hands and sitting by Winston. I smile and sit back down. Leaning against Newt, I look at the group. Catching Tommy's eye, I smile a bit.

'Why are we here, do you think?' Thomas says to me.

'I dunno. Maybe they are the good guys, and they're just here to help.' I don't want to worry the others with my suspicions.

'You really believe that?' He asks furrowing his brows.

'I don't know.'

A door clanging alerts us to the entrance of a new face. Straightening up we walk over to him.

'You kids doing all right? Sorry about all the fuss. We had ourselves a bit of a swarm.'

'Who are you?' I say bluntly, not buying his nicey, nicey act.

'I'm the reason you're all still alive. It's my intention to keep you that way. Now, come with me. We'll get you kids squared away.' Turning sharply, he walked away. Locking eyes with Thomas, I raise an eyebrow. He shrugs in response. Leading the way, I leave the small room and follow the man. He leads us through an industrial area. Workmen are dotted all over the place, repairing the building by the looks of it. Sparks are flying everywhere, making me slightly on edge.

'You can call me Mr. Janson. I run this place. For us it is a sanctuary, safe from the horrors of the outside world. You all should think of it as a way station. Kind of a home between homes. Watch yourselves.' Mr Janson nods towards a man on a ladder by the side of us, making sparks fly down onto the floor.

'That mean you're taking us home?' Thomas asks hopefully. I think back to the memory of my home. The small bedroom, the open plan downstairs. I wonder if I'll ever see it again or whether it has been taken over by ruin.

'A home of sorts. Sadly, there wouldn't be much left of wherever you came from.' Thought so. 'But we do have a place for you. A refuge, outside the Scorch, where WICKED will never find you again. How does that sound?'

'How far does it go?' I ask Mr Janson.

'How far does what go?' He stops and looks at me.

'The Scorch. You said this haven is outside of it. But we must have travelled for miles to get here and all I saw was sand.'

'The world is a very big place, young lady. Not all of it ruined. Some places remain completely unscathed, and it's one of these places that the haven is.' I smile gently at the thought of somewhere free of all this. Mr Janson notices my smile, and carries on walking.

'Why are you helping us?' Minho questions.

'Let's just say the world out there is in a rather precarious situation. We're all hanging on by a very thin thread. The fact that you kids can survive the Flare virus... makes you the best chance of humanity's continued survival. Unfortunately, it also makes you a target, as no doubt by now you've noticed. Beyond this door lies the beginning of your new lives. First things first...let's do something about that smell.' Rude.


I take it back. This is amazing. Standing under a stream of hot water, letting it wash away all the dirt, and sweat and blood from my body, I instantly feel relaxed. Talking of blood, my arm is now dripping blood all over my clean body. I'll deal with that when I get out. Teresa and I were given a separate section of the shower block than the boys but I can still hear them. The sounds of joy and laughter fill the block and it makes me relax all the more.

'All right!' Winston calls.

'Oh, man! Feels great!' Minho agrees.

'Frypan, how you feel over there?' Winston calls back. Hearing their relaxed cheers make me giggle.

'How you doing Teresa?' I ask. She's in the block next to mine.

'This feels so good.' She says back. 'Who knew you could miss washing so much.' I laugh.

'Tell me about it.' I poke my head out of the curtain, making sure I'm covered. 'You have the soap?'

She pokes her head out too. 'Yeah it's here. And you have to try this. It's for you hair.' She passes me a tub of soap and a small bottle.

'What does it do?' I ask peering at it.

'I think its conditioner.' She grins at me. Conditioner? I haven't thought about conditioner in such a long time I almost forgot what it was. I grin back. Popping back into my cubicle, I quickly wash myself and my hair, and then pop open the conditioner. It doesn't smell of much, just clean. I squeeze a bit onto my hand and put down the bottle. Running it through my hair, I feel all the knots, and all the tangles just fall away. Leaving it for a minute, I think about my gun. Hidden away, under a bench. The guards wanted to take our clothes and give us fresh ones, so before I gave it up I hid the gun and the 2 clips under a bench. Peeking out of the shower, I check to see if they are still there. The dark shapes under the bench fil me with reassurance. Pulling back, I wash the conditioner out and turn off the shower. Wrapping my towel around me, I walk out to see Teresa just walking into a changing cubicle. I smirk, flipping my hair a little bit which results in a small giggle from her. On the bench lies my pack; I had refused to be parted with it. Reaching in I grab my other shirt from the glade and tie it round my arm. Picking up the clothes I was given, I walk into my own cubicle and change. Having only had two outfits for the last 4 years, putting on new clothes feels weird. Luckily it all fits. A short sleeved top and some combat trousers, with some combat boots. All in all, pretty standard. Walking out, I comb through my hair with my fingers. It hasn't felt like this in years. Kneeling down on the floor I pick up the gun and stuff it in my pack. Once I get a jacket, I can put it back in my trousers. It's a bit obvious otherwise. After sticking the clips in a pocket on my leg, I sit down waiting for Teresa to come out. A couple of minutes later the pair of us leave the shower block clean and refreshed.

The boys and Mr Janson and waiting outside.

'Finally!' Minho calls, getting up from his place on the floor. 'You guys took ages.'

'We're girls,' is all I say in response. Smirking I turn to Mr Janson. 'What now?'


Mr Janson leads us to what looks like a medical room. Doctors in white lab coats flit around. A man in a coat comes up to us. He smiles warmly and says, 'Don't worry, we just want to do a few tests. Check everything is okay.' Turning to Janson he says, 'Who first?' Turning to me he says, 'I'm sure this young lady has questions for me so she should probably go first. Plus her arm is still bleeding.' Dropping my gaze back down to my arm, the blood has now soaked through the shirt and it starting to drip.

'Go where?' I ask anxiously. I will not be separated from the others.

The doctor smiles. 'Just to here.' He says pointing at a chair. 'I need to take some blood.' I look nervously at the others and walk over. After a few minutes the others are taken to different areas as well. Minho and Frypan are on treadmills. I'm not quite sure why. I can't see Winston or Jak but I know they are in the section next to me. Newt is opposite me having some sort of injection…

'Wait, what is that?' Newt asks as the man goes to inject something into him.

'Just a little cocktail. Calcium, folate, vitamins A through Z. Pretty much everything you've been deprived of out there. Try to relax.' Nervously he looks over at me, and I give him a small smile. A pinch in my arm brings me back to the doctor standing next to me.

'What are you doing,' I ask. He has a needle that look different to the one Newt had injected.

'Your arm.' He points to my arm, now free of the shirt tie. The skin around the outside of the gash was red and raw. 'How did you do it?' He asks curiously.

'Bullet.' I state. The stinging of my arm, kinda faded into the background after Chuck.

'Ouch.' He stated. 'Must hurt.'

'Stings a bit.' I laugh slightly.

'This will numb the area so I can put in a few stiches.' He holds up the syringe. I nod, and he sticks it in. Soon enough the area is numb enough for him to start stitching up. Once he's done, he puts a gauze and plaster over the top. 'Just in case.' He laughs. I smirk back. I like this guy, he's got a sense of humour, which is more than you can say about others in here.

After giving me the shot that Newt had, testing my stamina and checking my height and weight, a soldier came to get me.

'Kira?' he asks. I look up at his brooding figure.

'It wasn't me.' I say instantly. The doctor chuckles before stopping at the soldiers glance. I smirk slightly.

'Mr Janson wants to see you.'

'Away from here.' I ask. I don't know about this. I don't want to be separated from the others.

'Just somewhere a bit quieter.' He assures me.

'And then you'll bring me back here?' He nods.

'Mr Janson needs to speak to the others too, he just thought you would want to be first.' I nod at this.

'Okay,' I say standing up and following the man.

'Where you going?' Newts asks as I walk by.

'Gonna talk to the boss man.' I smirk. Newt rolls his eyes, but grabs my hand.

'Be careful.' He whispers.

'Always am.' I laugh, squeeze his hand and follow the soldier.

anything goes my way: I glad your enjoying it! Here ya go!

BookNerd011504: This review made me giggle! I'm glad your loving it. I'm loving writing it! I promise i wont keep you waiting!

Rainfall04: I have read the books, but i wanted to use the movie plots because they are slightly easier to follow, especially for people that haven't read the books. In my story I wanted to flesh out the story to make the bonds between everyone slightly stronger. In my mind you can't have a bond where you would do anything for each other and risk you life for each other, like the Gladers do, after having only known each other 5 minutes. I made searching for Ben's pack take a month so that Thomas had time to bond with the Gladers and Kira before all of the drama of escaping started to happen. I hadn't actually realised i had put 3 months as i actually meant 1 month, I'll go change that now! After finding Ben's pack, Ably being stung, being stuck out in the maze overnight and the subsequent journey out there again, Thomas would have been the Greenie for about a month. I hope that clears up the confusion about the timeline. I am glad your liking it though!

Hope you liked the start of the Scorch Trials. All i would say is prepare for the new chapters to be fewer but longer than they were in the first book.

Thanks for reading!

Have a lovely week,

Zoe xx