Eight : Cloven
Minho POV
I stood in the doorway of the garage, Newt and Thomas behind me. With the large metal door wide open to the elements, the sheer scale of winter had claimed the small space. Ice had formed on every surface, snow had blown in and covered most of the floor, and our breath hung in the air in large clouds. The sun would rise in an hour but its faint glow was already on the horizon. I moved towards the hummer, my feet crunching on snow and ice.
"I claim shotgun." Newt said from behind me. I opened the frozen door of the vehicle and got into the driver's seat. Thomas was moving around to the back as I attempted to start the engine. Turning over a couple times, it finally sputtered alive.
"Get the heat on." Thomas shuddered from the back seat. The fabric seat was sucking all the warmth from my body. I turned all the AC knobs over to heat but icey air blasted out.
"Shucking thing needs to warm up." I muttered and closed the door. Newt sat next to me shivering and I could hear Thomas' teeth chattering. "The outside temp says -12…"
"Do we even know where we're going?" Newt glanced back at Thomas, who stared back blankly. "Anyone?"
"I was just going to follow the signs." I reached back and grabbed the seat belt. No one said anything to that. "Are we sure we have everything?"
"As much as we can find." Thomas grunted from the back seat.
"All right, let's go."
…
I kept our speed around 30 as the ill maintained road was nothing but ice and snow. The forest went on forever all around us, the road cutting a small path through it all. About an hour had passed and the sun was finally beginning to rise. Its light sparkled off the frosted trees and snow banks.
The heat had finally started working properly and inside the car was nice and comfortable. Newt was asleep and leaning against the window, one of our many blankets in his lap. His fluffy hood was pulled over his head. Thomas was laid out across both back seats, his own blanket nearly blocking him from view.
I still wanted to run. Wanted to turn off the road leading to Fairbanks and disappear. But then what would happen to the gladers? What would happen to us? I focused on the road again, movement on the left catching my eye. A couple of large animals were trotting in the trees up ahead.
"Moose." Newt said and I looked over at him in surprise. He was watching the same animals. "Be careful, they like to-"
"Shit!" I cursed and stomped on the brake as both animals swerved out onto the road. One leaped right over the hood, but the second crunched against the grill. The shock of the impact threw me into the steering wheel. The moose rolled over the hood and smashed into the windshield, thousands of cracks spider webbing out. I cranked the wheel to the left and the massive animal fell away from us. But the wheels had lost traction on the ice and we were sliding sideways towards the trees. The tires dropped off the edge of the road and dug into the snow bank. We were suddenly tipping, rolling over completely, once, twice, almost three times. The windshield and windows shattered, crunching metal filled my ears. The car finally tipped onto his roof, coming to a stop upside down.
My shoulder burned where the seat belt was cutting into it. I couldn't see anything but white and a mess of broken plastic, shattered glass, and warped metal. Someone was yelling but I couldn't make out the words or who they were. Dizziness threatened to overcome me and I felt around for my seat belt release button. I finally found it and released it. I dropped onto the roof of the car on my back, grunting with the effort. Desperate to orientate myself, I reached out for the door handle. Searing pain radiated up from my left knee and I gasped in shock. The door was suddenly yanked open and I tumbled out of the car. Snow and icy air stole my breath as I lay there. Hands were pulling me away from the car, dragging me through the snow. I moaned in pain, my arms gripping my injured knee, squeezing my eyes shut.
Someone was still yelling and I forced myself to open my eyes. The hummer was upside down and leaning against a huge tree. Smoke billowed from its mangled hood, the snow was gouged away, leaving dark ruts of earth. Every window, even the windshield, was smashed out and glass glittered in the snow everywhere. I blinked again and finally recognized Newt pulling on one of the crumpled passenger doors. His movements were frantic, and I realized he was the one yelling.
"Tommy!" His voice was panicked and desperate as he heaved on the door. It finally gave way and Newt scrambled back in the snow. Thomas had kicked the door open the rest of the way and was crawling out. Newt reached in and took his arm, pulling him out quickly. I closed my eyes again from another wave of agony from my knee. I had either dislocated it or broken it I was sure.
"Minho!" I opened my eyes to see Newt standing over me. Blood dripped down his face and into his right eye, an angry red gash across his forehead. "Can you stand?" I shook my head, but Thomas appeared next to him.
"Come on, we need to get away from the car." He said quickly. He took one of my arms and Newt took the other. Panting from the effort, they pulled me another 30 feet through the snow. They finally had to stop and leaned me against a tree. I held my knee, but the pain seemed to be dissipating. Cold from the ground and snow were seeping in, numbing my hands and feet.
"Hey, listen to me," Thomas knelt in front of me. He looked more or less fine, just a few scratches from the glass and bruises. "What's wrong?"
"My knee." I grunted and he immediately began feeling around the joint. Even though his touch was gentle, it still hurt.
"You dislocated it." He sighed and glanced up at Newt, who was standing close by. Frowning, he crouched down next to Thomas and carefully moved his hands over my knee.
"We can reset it, but he won't walk well." He said softly. "It'll be quick."
"He needs a splint."
"Get one of the blankets from the car." Newt looked up at me. "Ready?" Thomas had jogged back to the still smoking car. I hesitated, but nodded. "Take a deep breath."
Tommy POV
Minho yelled out in pain behind me and I knew Newt had reset his knee. I was halfway in the hummer digging through the mess of items in the cab. Glass covered everything and the seats were out of place, blocking access to many parts of the interior. But I yanked a blanket free and backed out of the car on my hands and knees. I jogged back to the others.
"Here." I panted and handed Newt the blanket. He carefully began wrapping Minho's leg, tying it off tightly.
"You're bleeding." Minho gestured towards Newt.
"It's fine." He said curtly but I saw several bright red drops fall and stain the white snow. I reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, turning him around. A gash across his forehead was dripping blood into his eye. He reached up and wiped it away with the back of his hand, which was already covered in blood.
"Stay here." I said gently and began walking back to the wreckage. My initial fear of the car exploding or catching fire had passed. Now I wanted to try and salvage as many supplies as we could. Like the tent, blankets, and food. But first I needed to make sure we were physically okay.
I carefully dabbed blood away from the nasty cut on Newt's forehead with gauze. It had dripped down and gotten into his eye and stained his cheek. The first aid kit in the hummer had meager supplies, but it was better than nothing. Newt winced, eyelashes fluttering as I worked.
"We're lucky," I breathed and looked over at Minho. He sat against the tree, one hand massaging his knee. "It could have been worse."
"Worse?" Minho stared at me. "We're stuck in the middle of the forest, in the dead of winter, and we just lost half our supplies."
"I mean as far as injuries go."
"The moose is worse off." Newt looked up at me, his right eye bloodshot.
"We'll be fine." I tossed the bloody gauze aside and pulled out some small sticker stitches. Gently, I set them over the cut, then leaned back to check over my handiwork. It would have to do. Newt stood and moved in front of Minho.
"Let's see how that knee holds up." He reached out and Minho took his hand. Grunting with the effort, he slowly stood, leaning onto his good leg and Newt for support.
"It reminds me of…" Minho started but trailed off, holding Newt's gaze for a few seconds. Newt nodded, understanding. I clenched my jaw, suddenly remembering Newt's broken leg in the maze. It was a memory that felt like I was betraying them with. Minho took a few tentative steps forward and grimaced with every one. It was a setback. But we could only keep moving forward. As much as WICKED wanted to watch us get through this phase 1.5 alone and unhindered, I knew they wouldn't let us die. They would come and collect us if, when, we couldn't go any further.