Chapter 6

It was the deafening pressure in my head, eyes and neck that shifted me from my dreamscape. An ear-splitting oomph followed by a rush of wind, dust and debris forced against my body.

The deep pulsation of the impact. The earthquake resounded along the road beneath me. Rubble shaking in its quake. A terrible flare of fire, a searing yellow that ballooned between buildings and blinded me for an instant. Noise roared all around me, thunderous, in the air and across the wasted city. My eardrums screamed. All my sense were lost to this fulmination of light and noise, which tore the world in two.

Somehow, I was on the ground. I shielded my face against the heat. My ears rung and my eyes streamed. Gasping, I looked up to see a black thundercloud of smoke, heaping and twisting itself into a column hundreds of feet high. A tower. A long moment, all I could hear was my own heartbeat – but no, it was too slow, and with each pulse, the ground shunted.

A shadow shot overhead followed by short burst of wind and a buzz of noise. Soon enough it was just a small dot in the sky.

Coughs racked my chest. I dug my fingers into the ground and drag myself up. A searing pain ripped through my ribs that resulted in me vomiting on the floor as a result of the debris that I had inhaled from the dust cloud. A burning sensation flared in my throat and stomach, it scrapped at my insides irritating everything within. I coughed again, a chesty cough that hurt my muscles with every fibre in them. This time no vomit came out, but a scratchy dryness had sucked the moisture from me.

I felt every ache gnaw at every fibre in my body, pleading at it to rest and let it heal. I ignored it, for if I had succumbed to the feeling of rest, I would have never have left the cot in the Glade. Pain would have to take a backbench until the moment was right.

I staggered, the weakness in my ankle collapsing from the sudden weight applied to it. I managed to catch myself before I fell to the floor and steady my balance. So the injury hadn't really gone after all, it had been hidden somehow. In spite of the thought, I had to press on and return to others that I had left in the room with the other two Cranks.

I ignored the puckering pain on my arm, the sensation of the one-eyed Daphne's mouth still present from where her teeth tore into my skin. I checked the damage the Crank had done to my arm. An outline of her teeth shone bright red and angry. The wound no longer bled, instead a clear fluid tinged yellow wept from the bite marks down to my elbow. A numb pain throbbed from the area thanks to the adrenaline that pumped through my veins. In a few minutes, it would be at full force again screaming that it was hurt. I pushed the feeling down and returned to the urgency at matter.

I wiped my bloody hands on my trousers, trying as best as I could to dry my palms. It came to no avail as I stained the fabric from a dusty beige to a dark red. At this point, it was just another addition to the growing number of stains that were appearing on my clothes. Each one developing an even worse story behind it.

A movement further down the street caught the corner of my eye. I glanced up and spotted several figures running out from where the steps of stairs descended into darkness. It was a small group of people, about ten or so bodies that huddled together as each one exited. I could hear their voices from here, not the words, but the noises. They sounded stressed, or worried. Either way, I did not want to find out who they were and go through the same thing again.

Just as I turned to run inside to warn the others of company, I spotted the bat that the one-eyed Daphne had thrown aside. It rested in the middle of the road in the direction that the group was, daring me to retrieve it from where it sat. It would be a shame to lose such a weapon that had ended up being useful.

A swift check-up saw that the group had yet to acknowledge my presence. They were to hauled up with whatever problem they had. It was the perfect opportunity to get the bat and whisk away before they even noticed that someone else was near them.

I didn't even count myself in. I rushed forward, skidded on the dirt and bent down to pick up the bat. I was about to turn on my heel and sprint away when I heard my name being called. I fell on my knee and glanced up to see who from the others had called me. I did not see anyone standing in the doorway of the room.

I heard my name again. This time not from the direction that I was looking at, but from behind me. I peeked over my shoulder and saw a figure running towards me. Without hesitation I jumped and backed away, thrusting the bat in front of me ready to fight whoever was coming my way.

Maybe it was the sun, or maybe it was the last of the adrenaline that blocked my memories. But it was the glint of the golden hair that made me realise who it was that was running. The golden hair that I longed to see again. I lowered the bat and let it clatter to the ground.

Was I imagining things? Was this really happening?

I didn't know what emotion to feel. Happiness, elation, sadness, anger, even dread. There was too much going on.

Is that really him?

"Newt," I whispered, too afraid to shout it in case I was wrong.

"Clarke!" the familiar ring of my name from his voice flooded me. It brought the warm feeling back into me.

"Newt!" I called, shouting his name to let him know I had heard him.

I took two steps forward, a strong pull propelled me in the same direction. And I almost broke out in to a run, ready to capture him in my arms and never let go. He had found me, against all odds he had found me. The anger I had felt from him vanished the moment he had called me. I didn't care for that anymore. He was there and he was nearly reunited with me. We would no longer be separated.

I did say almost. Didn't I?

Like all things that happened around me, nothing ever good did. As sound as my foot collided with the floor, small cracks popped. I immediately stopped dead in my tracks. For when I put my other foot down more cracks formed, this time bigger than the first. As suddenly as they appeared, they grew in size. A terrible noise producing from them as they snapped and popped across the road heading straight for Newt.

"Stop!" I yelled to him, waving my arms to get his attention. He skidded as he halted, and his head looked down. He must have noticed what was happening as well. He glanced up, and I shook my head. There was no point risking it. I knew dismay recked across his face as he shuffled back to safety.

Bursts of air pierced parts of the road. A man-hole cover flew from the ground into the sky. It landed fifty or so feet away, rolling its side and it twirled to the ground in a clamour. The air forced the gaps open, allowing parts of the road to erode away into a black hole taking whatever lay on top down with it.

I scrambled back way from the edge that had now formed, catching myself before I slipped into the hole that had formed. After I had two feet planted on solid surface I stood up and looked ahead. What once a junction of road now lay a large gorge of destruction that stood between Newt and I. A hollow depression that had collapsed from the weight of the rain and the explosion. A study of both sides of the hole noted that there was nowhere too cross. Most of the road on either side of the junction as far as I could see had collapsed inward, leaving only the pavement as the edging to it.

Oh what perfect timing it had.

"Stay where you are, I'll find you!" Newt yelled from his side. I could barely make him out, the softness of his face, the brightness of his eyes. I almost jumped for joy knowing that he was alive. Almost. The deep cavern the problem in that scenario. Typical, when there was one small chance of happiness it had to ripped away. The culprit, usually WICKED.

The rest of the Gladers joined him at the side of the hole. A smaller group than what I had known in the Glade. A spotted the black hair of Minho, gripping Newt's shoulder making sure that he didn't jump. Clint, circling in the background without his partner Jeff, and a few others that a had forgotten their names. And that was it. There was no Alby, no Thomas. Not even the little face of Chuck popped up from behind somewhere. Something had happened and my gut feeling told me it was bad.

The Gladers had noted my presence by now. It was hard to tell what their reactions were as of the distance, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what they were thinking. The last time they had seen me was when a Griever was away dragging me deep into the Maze. For all they knew, I was dead. And now, to see me all well and good (in a sense) must have been a shock to the system. Hell, even I was shocked when I woke up.

The fragmentated reunion bought some relief. At least I knew that they were alive. That they had not perished since I last saw them. That they were forcing themselves to survive in this awful place. It brought some little relief. It wasn't enough, and it never would be.

"Clarke, we have to move," Lottie gasped into my ear. I tore my eyes from Newt and looked at her. Her face was flustered, a patch of red forming under her eye. She studied me for a second, then without hesitation grabbed a hold of my arm and dragged me away from the edge with her in urgency.

I dragged my feet in the floor and yanked my hand from her arm. "I'm not going with you."

Lottie huffed. She rolled her eyes and shoved her arms across her chest. "I don't care what you think, you're coming with us. Kick, scream, do whatever. You're coming."

She reached out for me. I backed sharply away. She lowered her hand. From across the gorge I could hear the Gladers shout, their cries hurtling through the wind. That was all they could do from their side, spectate.

"The building is gonna collapse, idiot. If ya want to see them alive, your best bet is with me, us." Lottie reached at her hand again. Her arm outstretched, eyes pleading with me to make the right decision. I stole a glance back to Newt, his arms up in the air like he was trying to grab me and whisk me back into his arms. No matter how much I desired to stay and find a way over, I knew Lottie was right.

A loud groan bellowed from the building beside us as it struggled under the weight. It would collapse at any second, and me wasting away a decision was a stupid idea. I knew what I was supposed to do, I just did not want to accept it.

"Come on then," she said, reading my very thoughts. She turned on her heel and darted off towards a side street hidden behind a pile of old rusty machines. I allowed myself one last look at him. I knew there would be disappointment in his eyes, I didn't need to see that. I kissed the palm of my hand and reached up to the sky, hoping that in some way he would understand what it meant.

I snapped away, tearing away as fast as I could to stop myself from making any more decisions. I would find him again. I knew I would. There was nothing that could stop us now. We both knew that the other was alive. Fighting and surviving for the right of life. And if it may take us a little longer for us to reunite, then so be it. I wouldn't leave this world without him.

We joined the rest, grouped outside of the building and hurried onwards to escape the collapse. We dodged debris that plummeted from the tips of the building. There wasn't much we could do from the dust that fell and stuck to our clothes and skins. The building shook, bulking under the weight that it supported. A terrible groan echoed through the street, and what sounded like large heavy objects colliding with one another, it collapsed underneath itself into the gorge and the buildings beside it. An enormous cloud of dust plumed from the building, enveloping everything that it past with another layer. We ducked behind an overturned metal machine and I pulled my shirt above my face to block the deadly air from my lungs. This time I had learnt.

We waited for the dust to settle, then moved on from our spot further into the city. After a while, we had slowed from a jog to a brisk cautious walk. The collapsed building and Newt a safe distance from us. We travelled until the sky darkened a purplish pink, not a word had been shared between anyone. The only sound coming from us the soft patter of our shoes striking the ground as we walked. The city was silent. Not a scream or a cry could be heard. That didn't mean that we weren't being watched.

Just before the sun disappeared completely for the day, we turned a corner and came into full view of the city edge, maybe another mile further. The buildings ended abruptly, and behind them the mountains rose in their majesty. They were now several times bigger from when I last saw them. Against the colourful sky, they were a dark backdrop. A signal of what we would have to overcome to reach our end destination.

"Should we go the rest of the way?" Maya asked Lottie. Her role as leader had resumed immediately, and we were glad for it. Lottie gazed to the edge, her eyes drifting to the mountains.

"Tempting, but no," she answered. "First off, it's too dangerous running around here at night. Second, even if we made it, there'd be no place for cover out there unless we made it all the way to the mountains. Which I don't think we could do."

As much as we all dreaded spending another night in this wretched city, I agreed with Lottie. Tomorrow was a better day to start the final part of our journey.

"Okay. Where should we go then?" Poe asked her.

"We could try there." I pointed at an opening not far from us hidden behind a large blockade of machines. I registered the unease from everyone, similar thoughts running through my own head. "I doubt the Cranks would go there. It looks like an alleyway."

I scanned the group, hoping that at least they would give it a shot. Lottie nodded her head and agreed with me, adding that there was no reason for them to go down there. Jamie's relaxation of shoulders was enough of an agreement for Lottie. She motioned us to follow her to where I had suggested. She skimmed the skyline and ground, checking for any unwanted audience members. Without warning, she abruptly raced across the street and darted to the entrance of the alleyway. Poe trialled behind her, attempting to keep up with her fast pace.

He had been right. Lottie was rash. She reacted letting her impulses charge her every move. Poe had only followed her as she had no weapon of her own to face any dangers that lurked there. Without any care in the world, she had headed into unknown danger. There was one thing suggesting our next move, there was another thing heading straight there before making a plan. No wonder she needed Group C Clarke to keep her in order.

Poe reappeared from behind the machines and signalled for us to join him. One by one we darted across the street and dove past the machine to our hideout for the night.

I was exhausted when I settled down against the harsh brick wall. Sore and in a lot of pain. The day's adrenaline wearing off. The epicentre of it rested under the sleeve of my shirt. An outline of a mouth was shallower than I had first anticipated. It was bad, but not as bad as I had feared. While the injury hurt, I still had functionality of my arm. None of the muscles or tendons had been severed. My stomach churned with relief. That was one obstacle I was not willing to endure.

In the Glade, when a Griever attacked me, Clint and Jeff had made sure that my wounds were treated probably. If wounds are left unattended than it could fester into a more serious situation. While the attacker was human, infected with a deadly virus that most certainly now was rushing inside of me, I still had to clean it.

It dawned on. The old man in the room had said we were infected with the Flare. I had only half believed him at first. I had even pushed the notion of it to the back of my mind. The idea that these people would put a group of kids through something like this. It was immoral.

Doesn't matter now.

Either way, even if the old man had been lying about the whole thing, I was definitely infected now. There was no question about it. Making me wanting to get to that end goal a little faster.

Maggie, who had been watching me peeling the shirt from my wound, scooted beside me and took my arm into her hand. She was several inches shorter than me, her chin-length black hair straight, her skin tan and her face pretty bordering on the side of plain.

"Looks painful," she said not looking up from her inspection. She prodded the edges of the wound. I yelped in response. She clicked her tongue with the roof of her mouth. "Doesn't go down deep. This might stop any infection."

From her pack, she pulled at a small vial of what must have been anti-infection ointment (a red cross gave me the hint).

"It was in there when I opened the bag." Maggie unscrewed the top of the vial. "There's not a lot but that needs fixing."

Maggie was careful to clean every inch of the wound, applying layers of the smooth oily substance. The ointment hitting the wound sent blazing pain up and down my arm. My eyes watered. My nose ran. I couldn't wipe either of them because Maggie had instructed me to help her secure a cloth around the injury as her hands were slippery. She tightened the ends of the cloth in her hands. I screwed up my face, a hissing sound seeping out from my gritted teeth.

"There." Maggie lightly tapped my arm. "Should stop the effects of your zombification for a bit."

She lifted herself up and walked over to where Maya sat, taking a place beside her.

"If you start craving eyeballs, I will push you off a cliff," Jamie added from across the alleyway. "I won't hesitate."

"Noted," I said with a smile. Jamie didn't waste time with the rest of the conversation, he picked up one of the cans that we had stashed and dove right into it. Food slopping down the edges of his face. Nothing new there.

"That boy would eat the can if it were edible," Lottie said. She had joined me by my side and passed my own can of food to eat. I took it gladly from her, the rumble in my belly sighing with relief. We briefly ate in silence, savouring every last bite as if it would be our last. "This is the worst thing I've ever eating. Worse than Billy's end of month pot surprise."

I silently agreed with her. Frypan's food had been edible at most, sometimes lacking in taste. Compared to the cold slime that we had to half drink, it was so much better. Lottie squeezed her eyes shut, pinched the tip of her nose and gulped the contents of her can down her throat. She made a disgusted look when she had to chew the rest of the food.

"Ew, ew," she said through bites as she forced herself to finish the rest of the food down. I'd reckon that if she had had the choice, Lottie would have spat the food out. Unfortunately, to make it all the way to our destination she would need the food in her system.

I sniggered into my can. For someone who acted so tough, she sure made a fuss over food. I hid my face so that she did not see me. No luck, hiding my face wasn't the problem. The sound of laughter was. She snapped her head to me and scowled, her dark eyes almost trying to show she was angry. I knew she wasn't.

"Hey, you know I hate food like this." She threw the can in my direction. It sailed over my knee and landed with a thud to the side of me.

"Missed." I chortled.

"Whatever." Lottie sunk down in a huff and crossed her arms over her chest. She blew a piece of hair out of her face. With her quiet, I finished off the rest of the food. Minus the dramatic performance that Lottie gave of course.

In the silence, I heard Maya and Maggie speaking in low whispers further down. I couldn't pick up on what they said, but I heard a few pieces of their conversation.

"Do you think the fallen debris killed the Crank of Clarke?"

"I don't know, but I hope it was the debris."

"Did you see the black veins–"

"I'm so happy you're alive," Lottie pronounced, tearing me away from hearing what Maya and Maggie were discussing. "You have no idea what it means to me."

I stared at her. Lottie played with the tips of her raven hair, picking at the frayed ends. She carried on talking. "That was the worst day when you disappeared. Everyone said you were dead. I knew better. I knew you couldn't have died. You weren't right in the head, the minute Georgie said what she said I knew it. You'd always brush her off."

She trailed off at the end as she imagined what happened that day. It must have been bad if no one was willing to finish what they said.

"Anyway," She waved her hand in the air. "You're here now and that's what matters."

I studied her, the moonlight illuminating her face. It was filled with sadness. Lottie noticed me staring from the corner of her eye.

"You made everything better, you really knew what to do. It probably should have been you that led us, not me. You going crazy wasn't your fault. You were never like that. I think they had something to do with it with them mind chips in our heads. It ain't right. Whatever they did to you it ain't right. It's like they erased a whole person."

"Excuse me?" My voice echoed, bouncing from one edge of the wall to the other. Maya and Maggie quietened to hushed tones as they stared at me. I sunk down, trying to hide myself from their stares.

"Wait," Lottie blurted, her hands fussing together as she flustered from what she had said. "I don't mean it in that way. I'm not saying that you now are bad. It's just weird seeing you and it not being you." She groaned and lowered her head into her palm. "I'm making things worse."

I was hurt by what she had said. Imagine being told that the old you was way better, when you didn't even know what the old you was like. They hoped I'd wake up and return to 'normal Clarkie'. I felt like I was never going to live up to their expectations of my former self. To them, I was a shadow of their friend and second-in-command. I was in competition with myself, and I was losing.

"It's fine." I twisted so I faced away from her to hide the real emotion I felt.

"Clarkie, I know you well enough to know that you're lying. I'm sat on the old image of you, which isn't fair on you. You're not that person, and I should accept that. I'm sorry."

"Lottie, it's fine," I reassured her. There was no point adding to the fire for it was already at the point it would explode. "Besides I think I'm starting to feel like the old me again."

"Really?" she exclaimed, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"I feel more confident. Not a nervous wreck that runs from everything."

"Confidence is … I mean was your middle name. You laughed in the face of danger." Lottie laughed to herself. A soft warm chuckle. "You once challenged Andy to a wrestling match knowing full well that you'd lose."

"And?"

"You did. And what a sore loser you were. It was the funniest thing I'd seen. You stormed off in a huff chuntering about him cheating."

"I must have been a right pain." I couldn't help a laugh. That did sound like something I would do. It seemed that backing down from a fight was not in my nature, despite what the outcome. I always had to be on top, the winner. That felt more natural than letting others do the fighting for me.

"You were a right old pain." Her words resonated with me. There would always be a struggle between what I was and what I am.

A few minutes passed. The murmurs of the others filling up the silent space between Lottie and I.

"Poe told me what happened to you," Lottie said after taking a sip of water. I took the cannister of water from her and drank the contents slowly.

"He did?" I questioned with a frown.

"I know, it wasn't his place to tell. You can't stop him from talking," Lottie sighed and looked over to where Poe and Jamie sat. Their heads were close together as they spoke to one another. A smile curled at the corners of Jamie's mouth as Poe must have said something funny to him. "He can be quite a blabber-mouth."

Lottie turned to face me, her dark eyes catching mine. "Sounds like you went through the same thing again with the Gladers."

"I suppose." I nodded. "Seems WICKED made sure there were three of the same experiments going on at once."

"Seems like it. Did you get the goozer attack as well?"

"If you mean them slimy creatures from the Maze, then yes," I supposed. "What happened in Eden after I disappeared?"

Lottie sighed. "That's quite a story to tell, Clarkie. I'll tell you the short version." Lottie described to me the events that unfolded after I had vanished. She explained that Georgie had immediately demanded a vote for the next second-in-command. And by no surprise from me, Georgie had secured my old rank with the encouragement from her cronies. The first thing that Georgie had demanded from Lottie was that Maggie (who had been the Captain of the Medics) be demoted and replaced by Billy in what Georgie stated was a fair representation of leadership in Eden, not just the favourites.

With every word, Lottie's anger swelled. She claimed that Georgie was hellbent on destroying the fragile community that they had established. Tearing the group apart and isolating members of Eden. The reason, to spite Lottie and I for that day in the Maze. Lottie never expanded on that notion. Even she tiptoed over the subject.

"She isolated us, and everything broke down. The group was split down the middle and we were near on war with each other."

I absorbed what Lottie had told me. Maybe the downfall of Eden was my fault.

"In some way, the attack on the base was the best thing to happen. We were close to tearing each other heads off."

Lottie continued with her story. They experienced a broken sky, nightly attacks of the Eden, and friends being killed. It was a sad story to hear. "It took days of convincing the whole of Eden that they had to leave. The damage Georgie had done really did a number on trust. If she hadn't been so selfish, we could have saved more of us. Their deaths are on her shoulder not mine. I will not let her ruin everything out of spite. She doesn't deserve that cure."

She exhaled a sharp breath of air. "Her cronies, well they can join her for all I care."