She's fallen asleep on Teresa's shoulder, despite the noise of the helicopter blades that whirred overhead, and she wasn't the only Glader to do similarly. The soldiers that had rescued them wake the kids upon their arrival— they're somewhere out in the middle of the desert, and it's far past sunset.
The half-moon leaves much to be desired in terms of visibility, but there are flood lights pointing along a path to make up for it. The soldiers hurriedly usher them along that path, toward a large building with open bay doors.
One of the men calls out a warning, and gunfire starts up behind the kids as they run. As soon as the Gladers have made it through into the building, the doors begin to close between them and the soldiers, who are still firing into the night.
It's surprisingly cold inside, and Ash fights a shiver. A couple more adults lead the kids into some kind of side room, where there are tables and chairs— and food. Real, warm food.
Something the kids hadn't had in nearly two days, since the last time Frypan had cooked. Before the Griever attack.
They don't waste much time, quickly digging in and enjoying themselves— even Ash, who knows the truth of their new location. She's riding the high of adrenaline, from the escape, from the knowledge she'd managed to save both Chuck and Gally.
About an hour after the kids finish eating, they're lounging around between the benches and a beat-up old couch against a pillar, talking quietly amongst themselves about what might be going on. Ash keeps her knowledge to herself, knowing her friends wouldn't believe her, and that they'll figure out the truth themselves soon enough.
The door to the room swings open, revealing a slender man with salt-and-pepper hair and matching scruff, flanked by two soldiers and a woman in scrubs. He introduces himself as Janson— which Ash already knew— and tells the kids to follow him.
He leads them back through the main bay they'd entered in through before, up a metal spiral staircase, and across a catwalk. They go through a door requiring keycard access, and immediately cross from industrial vibes to high-tech modern vibes, similar to that of the corridor surrounding the Maze and the control room with the 'dead' bodies.
The new hallway tees off at the end, and the woman in scrubs requests that Ash and Teresa follow her, while Janson and the soldiers take the boys in the other direction.
All the Gladers— even Ash— get nervous, but Janson assures them it's just where the showers are, and that they'll be reunited soon enough. Ash remembers the process, and can't deny how much she's looking forward to a proper hot shower and clean clothes.
The showers back in the Glade had been... lacking, to say the least. Not to mention the privacy concerns.
"Oh, wow," Teresa breathes as they enter the women's bathroom.
The tiles are tan, with darkened grout. Shower stalls line one wall, toilet stalls another, and open sinks the third. The middle has benches, covered in toiletries, towels, and stacks of clean clothes in various sizes.
"I haven't had a real shower in almost two years," Ash admits. "I always rushed because I was terrified one of the boys would walk in... even though Newt or Alby would always stand guard outside. I'm really looking forward to this— I'm gonna take my sweet time."
Teresa laughs with her.
She hurries forward to grab some shampoo and soap, and a towel and washcloth. Before stripping, she hangs the towel right outside her stall, and closes the curtain. The nurse had told them to put their old clothes in the trash to be burned— all sorts of contamination risks, apparently— so Ash just dumps them outside her stall for now.
The water comes out hot nearly right away, at an amazing pressure, and Ash lets it run over her for a long moment, her eyes closed in bliss.
"This is pretty nice," Teresa agrees from the next stall over. Ash can hear her water running, too, and grins to herself.
Finally, she starts the meticulous process of scrubbing every scrap of dirt and Griever slime from her body, starting at her scalp and working her way down. She does her best to exfoliate every inch of her skin, wanting to be rid of every molecule of the Glade.
Maybe a bit too much of her hair comes out in the shower, no doubt clogging the drain by the time she's done— but that's the price she pays for infrequent bathing in an apocalyptic world.
Once Ash feels she's adequately free of the Glade's presence on her body, that she's managed to squeeze every ounce of enjoyment she can from what may be her last shower like it, she shuts the water off and takes the towel from the hook just outside.
Teresa's already done, picking through the stack of clean clothes with her own towel wrapped around her. Ash follows her lead, but grabs a second towel before going for the clothes, using it to scrunch her curls dry.
Finally, she feels confident that she won't just soak her new shirt, and starts to search for something that will fit. She starts with underwear and a bra— the sports type, just like every one she'd been given via the Box— then moves on to the shirts and sweatpants. Ash ends with socks and a pair of lace-up boots similar to the ones she'd worn in the Glade, but more comfortable.
Teresa takes longer to find fitting clothes, and Ash waits patiently for her.
"Who do you think these people are, exactly?" Teresa asks quietly, slipping into a pair of pants like Ash's.
The other girl shrugs, carefully concealing any trace of uncharacteristic knowledge. "No idea," she says. "I don't think I trust Janson much, though... he kinda reminds me of a rat."
"I was thinking the same thing— well, the rat part, anyway," Teresa giggles. "I hadn't really considered whether or not I trust him..."
Ash just shrugs again, looking toward the door.
"You okay?"
"I will be," she murmurs. "I just... I hate what WCKD's done to us. I've watched too many friends die— or almost die— in the last few months. There was one that..." Ash trails off, not wanting to talk about George, and finds herself having to wipe away a tear.
"Did you... like him?" Teresa asks, snapping Ash from grief into surprise.
"W— no!" she giggles awkwardly. "No, he was— I just felt like I could've saved him. He was one of my first friends in the Glade. He didn't deserve what happened to him. It was... awful, to say the least."
Someone knocks on the bathroom door, and the woman from earlier calls out to them. Heading out to meet her, the girls leave their conversation behind in the bathroom. The woman leads them to an infirmary, where some of the boys are already getting checked over and having tests done.
Newt's getting an injection at one station; Minho is jogging on a treadmill, tracking meters strapped to his chest; Gally and Frypan are both getting blood drawn. The former of those two looks up as the girls pass by, making eye contact with Ash.
She's gotta admit, Gally is hot— he's always been, but now she feels like she can really see it. He looks as clean as she is, and his hair actually looks soft. In the brief moment she has a chance to see him, she thinks he might even have more freckles than she does, now that his face is clean from dirt.
The nurse has Ash go into a private exam room alone, and has Teresa go into the one nextdoor— she closes both doors behind the girls.
Pursing her lips together, she tries not to blush at the thoughts going through her head from her brief sight of Gally. This is not the right time for that, she tells herself, hopping up onto the exam table to wait. But she'd been able to see his forearm, flexed as the nurse had taken his blood, shirt sleeve rolled up for access.
What am I, some kind of Victorian girl? she asks herself, snorting quietly. Oh no, I saw his forearm! What's next, flashing him my ankles?
She's shaken from her thoughts rather harshly as the door opens again, and a female doctor enters the room, looking stern.
"Our files indicate you were in the Maze for a little less than two years," she says, and Ash nods quietly. "And you were the only female in your group, until Teresa came along?" Another nod, and the doctor instructs Ash to put on a special robe, which she hands to the girl, and be otherwise naked by the time she (the doctor) returns.
Ash stares after the doctor in silence as she leaves, then sighs and slowly starts to remove her brand new clothes. She folds them and puts them in the chair right next to the door, quickly wrapping herself up in the robe and sitting back on the table.
Shivering from the chill in the room, she tries not to think about all her (remaining) friends being right in the other room— of Gally being on the other side of that door.
A few more minutes pass before the doctor comes back, knocking and waiting for Ash's permission before entering. Ash swallows nervously, eyeing the plastic tool laying on the counter, on the far side of the exam room.
"What is this about?" she asks quietly. She has a feeling, based on her freshman health class, but she hopes she's wrong.
"It's procedure," the doctor says indifferently. "You spent so much time surrounded by boys your age, we want to double check that everything down there is still healthy, at least."
Ash's eyes widen, as a deep blush overtakes her entire face. "W-what do you mean?"
"We want to make sure none of the boys took sexual advantage of you," the doctor deadpans. "Alternatively, if relations were consensual with any of them, we want to make sure you're still healthy. A lot can happen down there, especially when a teenage boy is involved."
"I— I never— it wasn't like that with anyone," she protests weakly. "Out of all of them, only one ever even tried to— and he got stopped before anything could happen. And— and I've never done—"
"Like I said, it's procedure. We're just being cautious," the doctor says, finally softening a bit. She gently pats Ash's bare knee. "I'm sorry that almost happened to you, sweetheart. Is he among the boys that came in with you?"
Ash shakes her head. "I think he died when the Grievers attacked— um, they were big monsters that guarded the Maze," she explains quietly, though she's not sure why. WCKD staff probably know enough about their own experiment centers and various creations.
"And what about the boys who stopped him?"
"It was just one," she says quietly. "And he's sitting out there."
The doctor talks Ash through the process of the pelvic exam— which is weird and quite uncomfortable— and a breast exam. That one is a little less physically uncomfortable, but no less weird. The entire thing takes only about ten minutes, and then the doctor leaves to allow Ash to get dressed once more.
After a few more less-invasive exams and tests— including bloodwork, a regular physical exam, and an injection like Newt's— Ash is led by herself to a cafeteria with dozens of other 'former' test subjects.
She spies Newt, Minho, and Frypan sitting with a few unfamiliar boys, all eating their dinner off what look like school trays. Gally and Chuck join them after a minute, and Ash finds herself skipping the dinner line to do so as well.
"If I never have to do that again, it'll be too soon," she mutters, sitting between Newt and Minho. She lays her forehead directly on the table, feeling the cool metal.
"You guys know her?" one of the unfamiliar boys asks, sounding surprised.
"She was in our group," Frypan tells them. "Only girl for years, until the very last week."
"Lucky," another of the strange boys groans.
"Oh believe me, no one got lucky," Ash scoffs, though it quickly turns into a snicker as she picks her head back up. "At least, not with me, anyway!"
The boys from the other Maze laugh, and so do the Gladers. On either side of her, Newt and Minho look up toward the door. Ash follows their gaze, seeing Thomas. The boys go to bring him over and explain, but Ash stays put. She eyes the food on Gally's tray curiously.
"Is it any good?" she asks, and he shrugs.
"Better than Fry's, at least," he says, though it's obvious he doesn't mean it. No one meant their negative comments about Frypan's cooking. Ever.
Ash glances over to the line for food, seeing it's actually gone down, and gets up just as her friends return. Newt gives her a concerned look, but she just jabs her thumb in the direction of the line and he understands.
Just as she gets to the front of the line, Janson comes into the room with half a dozen armed men at his side. He gets everyone's attention to talk about a farm up north, supposedly a safe haven from WCKD. He claims that the helicopter has room for a few more kids to go tonight, and begins calling out names from a list on his clipboard.
Thankfully, no one from Ash's group.
Most of the kids left behind grumble, and Janson assures them that everyone will have their chance to go. Finally, he leaves, escorting the kids with his men.
Ash makes her way back to the table with her tray, and eats in silence as her friends continue their conversation with the boys from the other Maze. Winston joins them at some point, but Teresa does not.
Even when they've all finished eating, the Gladers continue to sit around and talk as they wait to be told where to go next. Ash zones out, staring at her now-empty tray as she wonders about sleeping arrangements. Newt nudges her elbow with his own, glancing at her once again with concern in his eyes.
"You good, Ash?" he asks, and the other Gladers fall quiet as they wait for her answer, too. She bites her lip, chewing on a flap of chapped skin.
"Do you think they'll separate me from you guys, like Teresa?" she finally asks. "Like... even just to sleep?"
Gally frowns, his face almost slipping into its signature scowl, but Thomas is the first to speak. "We won't let 'em," he promises her. "And we're gonna get Teresa back, I'm sure."
Ash nods slowly, and her gaze finds a boy sitting by himself, on the other side of the cafeteria. He's still picking at his food, and he has the hood of his jacket pulled over his head like he doesn't want to be noticed.
Aris.
"I hope we get to go to bed soon," she admits. "I'm freaking exhausted. Y'all have no idea what I went through in that exam room."
"The thing you never want to do again?" Newt asks, and she nods again.
"I'm traumatized," she says with a smirk, though she's only half joking.
"What did they do?" Chuck asks curiously, and Ash just shakes her head.
"Oh, um... " she blushes, unprepared and uncomfortable to actually explain. "It's— let's just say they have to make sure no one managed to, um, succeed where Josh failed... whenever they get a girl who was in a Maze with boys."
It's the first time she's spoken his name since the incident, and everyone who had been present at the time knows what she means. Gally's scowl is in full effect now, and his jaw shifts and clenches at the reminder.
Chuck clearly doesn't get it, but he doesn't bother asking— he knows no one will explain it to him. He remembers Josh, and knows the kid was very much a loner. Chuck remembers how most of the senior Gladers avoided him especially, and how Josh had avoided Gally in particular like the plague. He figures Josh had done something bad, and leaves it at that.
Ash glances over to Gally, who isn't even paying attention. His fist is clenched, knuckles nearly as white as the table they're resting on as he glares down. Under the table, she nudges her foot against his to try to get his attention, but he ignores her.
Finally, finally, a guard comes over to escort them to their bunks for the night. The Gladers are among the last groups to be taken to bed, and they're all immensely grateful to go. The room has the same aesthetic as the rest of the building, and Frypan moves to take a top bunk. Before he can even start climbing the ladder, however, Minho vaults up onto the bed, smirking.
"Too slow," he teases, and Frypan grumbles as he reluctantly takes the bottom bed instead. Winston takes the lower bunk across from him. Jeff and Tim take a pair of bunks along the same wall as Winston, and Eddie and Jack are across from them.
As soon as the door is closed and locked behind them— with Ash safely in the room with her friends— Thomas asks about Teresa. Newt shrugs.
"If there's one thing I know about that girl," he says, "it's that she can take care of herself." Thomas looks at him, still not convinced to relax. Newt rolls his eyes, beginning to climb a ladder. "Don't worry about it!"
Thomas slowly sits on the edge of the bunk below. Chuck goes to the one above Winston, excitedly poking his head over the edge to smile at the others. Gally takes the top bunk across from Thomas and Newt, glancing at Ash as he climbs his own ladder, but she climbs into a lower bunk near the back of the room instead, snuggling up under the blanket. She's out within moments of her head hitting the pillow.
