I'm back, baby.
Chapter 8
Anna stood in stunned silence with her mouth hanging open as she watched Teresa and her group of friends drag away the burlap sack that contained Thomas.
"Um," Minho said bewilderedly, breaking the silence. "That happened."
"Yeah, it did," Newt responded, sounding annoyed. "Way to be observant."
"Shut up, shuckface."
"Nice comeback," Newt snapped. He opened his mouth to say more, but before he could do so Anna shook herself out of her daze, turning towards the two bickering Gladers.
"Both of you shut up," she interrupted them. "Teresa and her crazy group of shanks just dragged Thomas away in a sack and you two are fighting like little kids."
Newt had the decency to look slightly ashamed, but Minho continued glaring. Anna sighed.
"Look, guys," she addressed the group. "I know we're all really hot and tired and sweaty and miserable and completely in shock from what just happened. But we need to keep going, and we can't make progress if we're gonna argue with each other. You all understand?"
The Gladers murmured their reluctant assent, and Frypan gave a halfhearted "Hear, hear".
Anna continued to lead the Gladers, Jorge, and Brenda through the seemingly endless desert. Minho and Jorge were encompassed in a heated argument regarding who had been the most responsible for rescuing Thomas and Brenda from the Cranks' party. Anna had been listening them snapping back and forth for so long that she thought her head would explode and was seriously considering slitting both their throats.
"It was my shucking idea," Anna finally yelled over their bickering, and both parties snapped their attention over to her.
"Huh?" Minho asked.
"It was my idea," Anna repeated, recovering some of her composure. "We would've just waltzed right out of that city if it weren't for Newt almost dying and me deciding to find a place to get supplies. So, neither of you shanks were the valiant hero—it was me. And Newt, if you think about it." She turned back to face straight ahead, and she saw Frypan mime a mic drop to her left. Suppressing a smirk, Anna turned to Newt.
"That was some bloody speech," he remarked, and she laughed softly.
"I couldn't listen to them anymore," she sighed. "They're both too egocentric for their own good."
"You can say that again."
"Hey, Anna?" A voice came from behind her, and she turned to find Aris jogging to catch up from the back of the group.
"What's up, new kid?"
"Can you see that?"
Anna squinted to see what he was pointing to and sighed morosely as she realized that it was another person.
"Ah, shuck it," she muttered. "Not again."
"Who is it?" Aris asked.
"Well, I dunno, do I?" Anna snapped. "You all act like I'm some sort of all-seeing, all-knowing entity who can just read shapes on the horizon and magically decide exactly what the shuck is gonna happen when, as if I somehow have a better understanding of this than you and aren't just as terrified and hot and thirsty and tired and—"
She felt a hand on her shoulder, pushing her away from Aris's hesitantly retreating figure, and wheeled on her repressor to find that, of course, it was the ever-reliable Newt.
"Sorry," Newt was saying to Aris. "You probably shouldn't talk to her right now."
"No, it's fine," Anna sighed. "I just need some space. Being a leader sucks."
Aris nodded slowly, still looking wary.
"I didn't mean to set you off," he said apologetically.
"It's fine," Anna nodded. "I'm fine. Everything's fine."
"…If you say so."
As the day progressed, the spot on the horizon grew ever-nearer—near enough for Anna to realize that it was a band of people, not just one.
"Alright, shanks, stop walking," she called. "Everyone gather 'round. We're having a meeting."
"What's going on?" one of the Gladers called, and an echo of similar inquiries followed.
"Maybe if you just wait a shucking minute I'll tell you, ya slintheads," Anna sighed. "We all done asking questions? Good." She waited a moment to make sure she had everyone's attention before continuing. "Alright, as you all can probably tell, there's somebody coming. I don't know who they are, or what they want, or why they're here, but what I do know is this: they probably don't have anything good to tell us. So, everyone keep their guard up. We're stopping for the night—" —A chorus of excited murmurs arose— "—in about two hours." The Gladers gave a collective groan. Anna went on. "Until then, though, remember this: that person probably has bad news about lightning or sentient silver goop or something along those lines, and many of us may very well be dead by tomorrow. Thank you."
The group fell silent at the end of her morbid pep talk, and when she turned and began walking away, nobody followed her.
"What the shuck are you waiting for?" she asked, but they didn't move.
"Could we maybe get a less-depressing speech?" somebody called from the crowd. "Like the ones you used to do in the Glade?"
Anna stared at the boy who'd spoken. He was one of the younger Gladers—probably fourteen—and the innocence that still prevailed in his war-beaten face caused tears to well up in Anna's eyes.
"…Alright," she sighed. "Okay." She prepared herself for a moment, wondering how this was going to go. "Guys, I'm scared. Scared of everything that WICKED has thrown at us, and everything they haven't yet. I'm not gonna pretend that I'm not, and I know you all are too. But, when you think about it, when have we not been scared? The Grievers, the Maze itself, Dave's cooking—" The older Gladers gave a small snicker at that, and Anna smiled, spirits fueled by their appreciation of her joke. "All those things were awful, and difficult, and just all around scary, but we got through them. Just like we'll get through this. And whatever that person on the horizon has to say to us, we'll take it in stride, because we're the Gladers, damn it. We can make it through anything, and I hope you guys believe in yourselves as much as I believe in you."
There was a moment of silence following her speech—one in which Anna realized that there were tears streaming down a few faces in the crowd—hers included. The boy who'd initially requested a pep talk was smiling more broadly than Anna had thought possible.
"Thank you, Anna," he said, breaking the silence. "Now let's get going."
"That was some bloody pep talk," Newt said to her a few minutes after they'd continued their trek.
"Yeah," Anna nodded. "I dunno where it came from, honestly. I just hated myself all of a sudden for worrying these guys. Worrying's my job."
"You're good at it," Newt replied, smiling. Anna laughed.
"An expert," she agreed.
Newt glanced back at Minho, who was talking to Jorge again.
"Shuck," he muttered. "They're at it again. I'm gonna go intervene before it gets too nasty."
He kissed Anna's cheek and walked off to go mediate. She walked alone for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet, before she felt a hand on her shoulder and she sighed bitterly.
"Anna," Brenda said, catching up to her. "Can I talk to you a sec?"
"Depends on what you want to talk about," Anna muttered. Brenda smiled.
"Good answer," she nodded approvingly. "Listen, I just wanted to ask you how in the world you do it."
"You have to be more specific," Anna said impatiently. "I'm a busy woman; there are probably four more people lined up behind you to ask me questions."
"What I mean is… how do you lead all these guys? You've got them wrapped around your finger—the blond one dotes on you, the little ones can be tided over by an inspirational speech, and even the big tough guy listens to you. How do you do it?"
"That's a long story," Anna replied. "And not one that I usually would like to tell."
"But you'll tell me," Brenda said.
"And why's that?"
"Because we're the only two girls around here," Brenda pointed out. "We stick together."
"I'm fine being the only girl in my group," Anna said. "It worked for two years. Give me another reason."
"…Alright, you got me," Brenda said, holding her hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. "I'm just curious, is all."
"If you really want to know, there isn't an answer," Anna caved reluctantly. "I was one of the first of my group, and I just took charge. I gave them hope where there was none, and I gained their respect. My word is law."
Brenda nodded, looking impressed.
"You really are something, aren't you, Anna?" she noted.
"And you really are taking a while to notice that I answered your question."
Brenda laughed.
"Okay, I'll leave if you really want me to."
Anna barely had time to wonder if she'd been too harsh before Brenda was gone. Thankfully, nobody else came to talk to her—probably because she wasn't in a very accommodating mood—and before she knew it the two hours had flown by.
"Stop," she yelled. "Break time. Everyone find a spot on the sand; I'll wake you shuckfaces up in the morning."
Anna awoke to the muted, early-morning light of the sun. Squinting, she glanced around at her fellow Gladers to find that all of them were still asleep, despite the sunlight. She noticed that Newt and Minho were sprawled over each other, Newt's head on Minho's arm and Minho's face buried in Newt's hair, and she fought not to laugh. It seemed as if their bromance had really started to take hold once Anna made it plain she needed some space. Not wanting to wake them up, she crossed her legs and sat in silence for a while, relishing the mercifully-cool hours of the morning. After about ten peaceful minutes, she heard a muffled noise from below her and realized that Minho had just woken up to a faceful of Newt's hair.
"Hey, Anna," he said casually once he'd situated himself.
"Hey," she replied. "You and Newt did some good cuddling during the night?"
"Yeah, ya know," Minho shrugged. "I'm his second choice."
"Fair enough."
There was a long moment of silence before Minho hesitantly spoke up.
"Hey, Anna… are you okay?" he asked, and Anna frowned, slightly surprised.
"Since when do you care about that?" she asked. Minho looked unsure of himself, fidgeting slightly.
"I dunno," he admitted. "Since I decided to be a good friend?" Anna didn't reply, and he shrugged, throwing his hands up into the air. "Alright, never mind then, I guess that's what I get for—"
"No, it's okay," Anna sighed. "If you really want to know, I'm kind of stressed out. My job is really, really hard, and the fact that we're probably going to die soon isn't really helping me out. That group of people is coming closer, and I don't know what they're gonna say. So, all in all, no. I'm not okay."
"Well, for what it's worth, I think you're doing a great job," Minho said. "I'm kind of obnoxious most of the time, and I promise I'll try to stop arguing with Jorge."
Anna smiled slightly.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," she reminded him.
"I'll try to keep this one."
"You two having a heart-to-heart?" Newt asked from where he still lay sprawled on the sand.
"Nah, we're good," Minho said, shrugging. "And I have to say, Newt, for a guy who hasn't had a shower in who-knows-how-long, you don't make a bad cuddle buddy."
"Right back at you."
Anna laughed.
"You guys are dorks," she smiled.
"You know it," Minho agreed. Then, after a moment, "We should probably get going now, yeah? It'll get a lot hotter soon."
Anna sighed, though she knew he was right.
"I don't want to," she muttered. "But I guess it's my job to do things I don't want to do so I can set a good example."
"That's exactly why I never wanted your job," Minho nodded as Anna stood up.
"Hey, shuckfaces," Anna shouted, jerking some of the Gladers awake with the sound of her voice. "It's time to go. Up and at 'em, come on."
She passed some of their meager rations throughout the group for breakfast and began trudging towards their seemingly-unattainable goal for the rest of the morning. The speck on the horizon grew closer by the minute, and it became clear to Anna that this band of people was smaller than she'd thought—only a few straggling figures—and she knew that she would find out sooner than later who they were.
"Hey, Anna?" Aris said from behind her, tapping her shoulder. She turned.
"What's up?"
"I know those girls," Aris said, pointing at the figures who were now about half a mile away from them.
"Wait," Anna frowned. "You know them? How?"
"They're from my group. Group B. That's Sandra and Allison and Maddie."
"Okay…" Anna said slowly. "Do you know why they'd be walking around the desert?"
"I have no idea," Aris shrugged. "But they're not bad people."
"Yeah, well, the same might have been said about our girl Teresa before she went nuts and kidnapped our Greenbean." Aris opened his mouth to protest, but Anna shushed him. "Look, nothing against your friends," she said. "But we have to be on our guard. I almost killed you when we met, remember? We can't trust anyone."
"Okay," Aris agreed reluctantly. "Sure."
Anna nodded, satisfied, and squinted against the blinding sun as she watched the Group B girls carefully. Within the next fifteen minutes they were in earshot, and Anna called out to them.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Group B! What the shuck are you doing here?"
The girls stared back at her before the tall blonde one replied.
"We got separated from our group," she called. "Thank God we found you."
Anna and the girls finally met in the middle, and before she could speak Aris had run forwards and wrapped his arms around the brunette, squeezing her tightly.
"Oh, my god, Allison, I missed you," he cried, and Allison smiled weakly, looking dazed. Aris let go and stared at her. "You guys got lost?"
The taller one spoke again.
"Not lost exactly," she corrected him. "Separated. After that girl Teresa took Thomas from you guys, we split off from the group to look for supplies. We told Britt, but I guess she didn't hear us, so when we came out they were gone."
"Sorry, am I missing something?" Anna asked, frowning. "Your group just abandoned you?"
"Yeah," the blonde spokesperson replied, nodding. "They… forgot about us, I guess."
"Shuck, am I glad I was the only girl not put in your group," Anna muttered. "We wouldn't do that."
"It's not their fault," the smallest girl put in. "We shouldn't have wandered."
"Okay, whatever," Anna shrugged. "Now that you're here, do you want some…" she trailed off. "I was going to say 'water', but we don't actually have much."
"It's fine," the girls' leader said, nodding. "Can we stay with your group for now?"
"Yeah, sure," Anna replied. "The more the merrier, I guess. I'm Anna, by the way."
"Sandra," the girl replied. "This is Allison, and that's Maddie."
"Cool. That guy over there is Jorge, and him with the blonde hair is Newt. We're the group's leaders."
Sandra nodded. The Gladers had started to murmur amongst themselves, and the snippets of conversation that Anna heard caused her to realize that they definitely didn't trust these girls. She herself hadn't ruled out the possibility that they could be dangerous, but she knew that they'd be no match against Anna's group, who was bigger and more physically fit than these three half-starved girls.
"Get to the back, you three," Anna instructed. "We're losing time; let's go."
Four hours later, Anna and her group had made little to no progress. They had been walking for so long that Anna felt as if her feet would fall off, and her tongue had dried up to the point where she wondered if it would ever be the same. They were seriously low on supplies, and Anna wasn't sure if they'd make it.
"Stop, guys," she called eventually, having had more than enough. "Lunch break… or whatever you call a lunch break where you don't really have food."
The Gladers lapsed into quiet conversation, and Anna sat with Newt, Minho, Brenda and Jorge, hoping to talk over some sort of plan.
"I'm worried about us," she said. "We're practically out of water, we have no food, and all of us are sunburnt and sweaty and exhausted. We're not gonna make it much longer, so what the shuck should we do?"
Nobody spoke, each member of her small group of advisors shaking their head hopelessly.
"We need to find something," Brenda finally said. "If we go too many days without water, we'll die, so the only solution is to find some water."
"Where the shuck do you plan on finding water?" Minho asked incredulously. "I don't exactly see a river around here."
"There are buildings along the way," Jorge pointed out. "Next one we find, we search. Simple as that."
"What if we don't find one?" Anna asked. "I haven't seen a building for at least seven miles."
"Then we just have to hope, don't we, hermana?" Jorge shrugged.
"If those WICKED shanks can build a bloody brick wall in ten minutes, they can make a building," Newt pointed out. "If they really don't want us to die, they'll do that."
"And if they do?" Anna asked.
"Then we're shucked," Minho said nonchalantly. "Simple as that."
"You're not very helpful," Anna sighed. Then she stood up, deciding that they may as well get a move on. "C'mon everyone, up you get. I hate everything just as much as you do. Let's go."
An hour later, Anna couldn't believe her eyes. Like Newt had predicted, a lone shack of a building had appeared along their path, obviously their next destination.
"That's amazing," Anna whispered to herself. "Shucking amazing."
"What'd I say, muchacha?" Jorge said, smiling knowingly. "There's always hope."
A/N: I should probably explain. It's been over a year since I posted a chapter of this story, and I hope I'll pick back up where I left off without quitting again. I sort of lost interest in it after a while, but I've been getting kind of a lot of support on both this story and the one that comes before it, so I decided to come back. So sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, and I hope you like it. Make sure to leave a review :)