The gladers ran. They ran straight into the wind and sand. The night was dark, and cold. They couldn't see much with the sand blowing everywhere. It got into their eyes, and mouth, it was already inside Alex's boots. They just needed to get away. So they ran. They ran like their lives depended on it. Because it did. Thomas yelled at them to move. He led them up a sand hill. That's when the siren started to wail. The sounds of motors could be heard over the sound of the wind.
"GOTTA KEEP MOVING!" Thomas yelled over the wind.
"THANKS CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!" Alex yelled back, which was a bad idea, she got a mouth full of sand.
Stupid shucking sand!!
They kept going, doing their best to run against the elements. Minho had grabbed onto Alex's hand, she wasn't complaining, it was hard enough to run in the sand, they kept each other from stumbling too much. She also didn't want to lose him. They ran for a while, or more like scrambled for a while. They climbed up a few more sand hills. Thomas yelled for everyone to stop, but Teresa was too far ahead to hear, she kept going. She dropped out of sight.
"TES!" Alex screamed.
She dropped Minho's hand and ran after her. Alex didn't see where she went, it wasn't until she was falling herself did she realize there was a hole in the sand hill… She rolled down the hill, coming to a stop on some cold cement. She moaned and sat up, looking around. It looked like they were in some kind of building. But the sand had piled up so much it felt like they were underground.it had a creepy abandoned feel to it.
Everything was covered in dust and sand. The place was big, two maybe three stories. She could see broken escalators, some stairs. Possibly a broken water fountain. Teresa held out a hand for her to take.
"Thanks. You okay?" Alex asked.
She just shrugged her shoulders, her forehead scrunched. Alex heard yelling and then saw the guys sliding down the sand hill. Minho slid down the hill, like he was snowboarding, and quite gracefully landed in front of Alex and Teresa.
"You girls okay?" They both nodded.
Thomas came tumbling down, and immediately started yelling at them frantically, "COME ON! WE GOTTA KEEP MOVING!"
Fry had slid down "Where are we?"
"We gotta go. Come on!" Thomas urged them, taking a few steps.
"No. Thomas, stop!" Teresa said. Both girls still had no idea what was going on. Alex just knew she woke up, people were chasing them, Janson was evil, and they escaped.
Thomas just shook his head "We gotta keep moving!" He didn't seem to be listening at all.
"THOMAS!" Alex yelled at him, frustrated with him. He finally stopped and turned around.
"Tell us what the shuck is going on." She demanded. Thomas sighed, but walked back to the group.
"It's WICKED." he sighed, "It's WICKED. They lied to us. We never escaped."
"I shucken knew it!" Alex growled. She gave a very angry look at Newt, who had the audacity to look shocked.
"Me and Aris, we found bodies. Too many to count." Thomas muttered, his body gave a shudder.
"What do you mean? Like dead bodies?" Newt asked.
"No, but they weren't alive either. They had them strung up. With tubes coming out of them. They were being drained. There's something inside of us that WICKED wants." Thomas rushed, needing them to understand.
"Something in our blood." Alex muttered, rubbing her temples. It wasn't memories exactly, but she seemed to know what Thomas was talking about. Thomas nodded at her.
"Ya, So we have to get as far away from them as possible." Thomas concluded.
Everyone seemed to agree on that point. No one wanted to be back in WICKED's clutches.
"HOLLY SUCK!" Alex yelped. Making everyone jump.
"What? Alex? What's wrong?!" Minho panicked, grabbing her shoulders. Alex's eyes were wide. She had put the pieces together.
"Minho…Rat Man..Janson...He was the shuck faced shuck who authorized our torture…and sent you to the maze early…and he did horrible experiments on me! Sticking me with needles and pumping me full of poisons and 'trial serums'…That shucking shuck faced mother f-"
"Language Alex!" Newt scolded.
Alex kept swearing under her breath. Minho shook her shoulders gently, "Hey, we're not there anymore. We escaped! You're safe now." She just clenched her jaw and fists.
"Okay. So, what's the plan?" Newt asked, Thomas opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
"You do have a plan, right?" Newt asked again, annoyed. Everyone was looking at Thomas expectantly.
"Yeah. I don't know." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Newt took a few steps towards him, "Well, we followed you out here, Thomas…" he poked his chest, angry, "and now you're saying that you have no idea where we're going...or what we're doing??"
"Newt! Enough! He got us out. Isn't that enough?" Alex stepped in-between Newt and Thomas. Even if he was flying by the seat of his pants Alex would still follow him. He got them out…he got them all out. Without losing anyone.
"Wait! Janson said something about people hiding in the mountains. Some kind of resistance or army!" Aris piped up from the back of the pack.
Who's that kid?
"The Right Arm!" Minho said excitedly, remembering, "The Captain mentioned them too! Shuck, I'm an idiot. He said we needed to go find some building by the mountains…and uhhh can't remember the rest...SHUCK!" smacking himself in th forhead.
Thomas jumped onto the idea, any idea. "The Right Arm. Ya. If they're really against WICKED, maybe they can help us!"
Alex nodded, agreeing. Newt was looking back and forth between Minho and Thomas skeptically. "People. In the mountains. Mountain people. That's your plan?" He folded his arms.
Alex sighed in frustration. She grabbed his hands, and held them tight. She studied his face for a moment. She saw the heartbreak of having to run for their lives again. She saw the loss of hope and promise of peace.
"It's the only chance we have, Newt." She said quietly, "Why don't you believe us? The right arm was the group I was passing information to. Captain Ronin obviously told Minho about them too. And I trust that man. And Tommy heard about them from Ava herself. They are real. It's our best chance! And I would rather a chance then become their shucking guinea pig again!"
Newt deflated.
"Hey, guys. Check this out." Winston called.
The group turned to see him a little ways away crouched on the ground looking at something.
"Minho, give me a light!" He called.
Minho rummaged in his pack quickly and pulled out a flashlight and clicked it on.
"Someone's been down here."
He said crouching beside Winston. They glanced at each other. Thomas and Frypan dug in the pre-packed backpacks and each pulled out a flashlight. The little beams of light flashed around, showing different rooms full of all kinds of stuff, personal belongings and stock from different stores, everything seemed to be old, broken and abandoned.
Looks like a mall…
"Come on. Open up." Thomas grunted, trying to push the closest door open.
"Just thomas the door, Tommy, sure you could squeeze through at this point, look how big that opening is." Alex teased. He just rolled his eyes. Frypan gave her a high five.
"Thanx Fry"
"Anytime Lil' Lady."
"Looks like people lived here." Thomas said once they got the sand stuck door opened.
"Where are they now?" Teresa asked nervously, looking around.
"I don't know, they look long gone...Let's pack some of this stuff up. Anything you think we might need." Alex suggested, finding an empty backpack on a table.
"We'll split up, see what else we can find. Or anyone who can help. Meet back here." Thomas added.
Alex wandered further into the room, after Teresa. Minho turned to go with Thomas.
"Hey Alex?" He called, and she turned at her name.
"Be safe."
Alex smiled. "Use your shuck brain. Come back to me, Love."
They both drew an X.
"Hey, Tes, they have some clothes here.." Alex called quietly. Teresa came over and started digging through the box. She was quiet and her eyes looked haunted. Alex straightened and placed her hand gently on her friend's shoulder, making her jump.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you…Are you sure you're okay? You seem…off." Alex searched her friend's face. Teresa rubbed the back of her neck. She looked away.
"Alex...they did something to me. I don't know what. But..I'm scared. I don't feel like me. Like I am me ..but it feels like there's someone else living in the back of my head."
Alex's eyes went wide. She didn't say anything.
"Oh Tes! I'm sorry!"
Teresa turned her back on Alex and moved her hair. "They did something"
There on the back of her neck was a little barcode tattoo with words underneath that said:
Property of WICKED. Subject A1-
The Betrayer.
"Tes…did you know about the tattoo?" Alex whispered. Teresa spun around her eyes wide and mouth open.
"What? What…tattoo?" She choked out, her hand flew to her neck, trying to feel it. Alex's stomach twisted with nervousness, she reached a hand to the back of her own neck.
"When did I get that? What is it?" She asked.
"Uhh it says property of Wicked subject A1- the Betrayer. That sounds promising, doesn't it?"
However Alex's insides felt like they dropped out. Her mouth went dry.
"Tes? Do…do I have one..?"
Teresa stepped up and turned her around, lifting Alex's hair. Teresa stood still, and didn't say anything.
"...Tes..?"
"Ya ..you have one too. It says:
Property of Wicked. Subject A0
The Defiant
Herculean Trial subject 1
"The shuck does that mean?" Alex asked, turning to face Teresa. Both looked confused and lost for words.
"If it's WICKED…who knows what goes through their heads." Teresa answered.
"Very true. But whatever they did to us, we have each other. And we have the boys. They might be a bunch of Shuck faces…but we're family. Ya?"
Teresa nodded, and pulled Alex into a hug. The girls clung to each other for a moment.
"Thank you!"
"Come on, we better get scrounging." Alex whispered and turned to the box again. She pulled out a pair of pants that would fit Teresa, she was still wearing the hospital pants and shirt. They also found her a jacket and scarf.
Alex still had on her black jeans, and grey top and black combat boots. But it was cold, so cold at night. She found an army jacket that fit ok and a black bandana and gloves.
"Hey Tes, what size are your feet? There are some shoes here." Teresa walked over and started digging around. Alex turned and started going through the other boxes and dresser drawers. She found another backpack and tossed it to Teresa. She stuffed an extra shirt inside the one she found earlier.
Alex decided to venture into the next room. There she found a box of flashlights and a few batteries. Only one flashlight actually worked. She found a few water bottles and a big container of fresh water. She filled the little ones up as best she could. There were also some new clean bandages. She found another knife which she strapped to her thigh. She found a few stale granola bars, which she shoved in the backpack. She shouldered her bag and went to find the others. She rounded the corner and bumped into something. Or someone.
She screamed. A hand clamped over her mouth.
"shhhh!"
Newt. It was just Newt.
"Shucks sake man! Trying to give me a bloody heart attack?" She scolded.
"Sorry." He stood awkwardly in front of Alex.
"Umm What's up?" He asked, rubbing his neck.
"The sky." She sassed. She put her hand on her hips, "Newt, spit it out."
He sighed "I just want to say..I'm..I'm sorry. You were right. About WICKED and everything. I just really wanted to finally be free. And safe. I guess I was wrong. I won't doubt you again, sis."
Alex pulled him into a hug. "I know Newt. I want to be free too. Soon."
She pulled away with a smile. Lights flicked on, making Alex blink from the sudden brightness. Once her eyes adjusted she noticed Newt's forehead scrunched and his eyes narrowed.
"ALEX THE SHUCK IS ON YOUR NECK?!" He yelled.
Alex just rolled her eyes (her stomach gave a little flip and released a few butterflies when she remembered how those marks got on her neck) She walked back through the door, to the others waiting in the wide open hall.
"No way Alex! You don't get to walk away! Get back here!" Newt followed, nagging her.
She ignored him "where are Tommy and Minho?"
She spun in a slow circle.
She heard a commotion from down the hall, Alex turned to see the 2 boys sprinting around a corner towards them. They were shouting, but their words weren't distinguishable. The group turned and watched them for a second. Minho was screaming and Thomas was waving his arms. Apprehension rose inside Alex.
That's not good.
When she heard IT her face lost its color, and her palms got sweaty. She heard them. They came lurching and stumbling around the corner. And they were chasing the boys. The monsters. The creatures, just like Chris. Just like Ben. Cranks. Her blood froze. Her hands went numb, her breathing stopped.
She felt a hand wrap around her arm, pulling. Her frozen limbs started working when she was spun around and pulled forward. She blinked when she saw Newt pulling her.
"RUN!" he was screaming.
She heard Minho also screaming, "RUN! GO GO GO! MOVE!"
Alex's feet finally decided to work. The screaming was getting louder.
Running. They were running for their lives. Again.
Thomas and Minho caught up to the others.
"THE SHUCK DID YOU GUYS DO?!" Alex yelled at them.
"WHERE DO WE GO?" Frypan yelled.
"UP! Alex yelled, she pointed to the broken escalators.
"Thomas, Minho, what the hell are those things?" Clint yelled.
"I don't know. Just keep going!"
"Those must be the Cranks we were warned about!" Alex yelled back.
"We should have brought some snickers bars!" Alex yelled.
"What? Why? How is that helpful?" Thomas yelled back.
"Maybe they're hungry?" Alex called.
"CUZ THEY AREN'T THEM WHEN THEIR HUNGRY!" Minho hollard.
Even running for their lives, Alex and Minho had to be sarcastic.
The Gladers ran for the broken escalators. Alex stopped and waved them all up. She wasn't going to leave anyone behind. She had already lost too many friends.
"Move! Move!"
Minho grabbed her wrist, pulling her, "COME ON!"
Alex started up the stairs, Thomas right behind her and the decaying humans right behind. She could smell them now. The screaming was loud, sounding like a dying angry animal.
One of the things launched itself at them, from somewhere beside the group. It grabbed onto Alex's ankle taking her down, she crashed into Thomas, making him trip too. They both crashed back down the stairs.
"ALEX!" Minho screamed.
Alex landed on her back, the backpack breaking her fall. The human-like monster screamed at her.
It pounced with imaginable speed. It was snapping its black and rotting teeth, trying to rip her face off. Blood spraying from its mouth. It smelt like rotting meat and flesh.
The creature had no hair, its flesh was rotting in spots, and black veins wrapped around its body. Its hands were bloody claws. Alex had one hand on its chest trying to hold it off. Her other one was reaching for the knife on her thigh. Bile rose in Alex's throat.
Don't shuckin throw up now.
The creature was strong, pushing closer to her. The rotting black and bloody teeth were only a few inches away from her face when her fingers found the handle of the dagger. She wrapped her hand around it, and with a scream of her own, she pulled it free and plugged it into the decaying humans' neck. Blood splattering everywhere. The creature screamed and shuddered.
Thomas shoved it off and grabbed Alex and hulled her to her feet. He pulled her forward, and they ran up the stairs. The pack of cranks right behind them. The rest of the group had made it to the second level, and stopped waiting for them.
"GO! WAITING FOR A SPECIAL INVITATION? MOVE!" Screamed Alex. Her lungs and legs were working overtime.
The creatures were crawling up the stairs and railings and walls, defying gravity. One jumped, and grabbed onto A.J.
Alex spun around, scrambling back towards him. She had pulled her knife out. He screamed when teeth sunk into him, he stumbled backwards. Clint had lunged at him at the same time as Alex. A crank threw itself at Clint, pushing him down. Both boys fell back down the stairs into the horde of cranks.
"NOOO! A.J! CLINT! NOOOO!!" she missed his hand by inches.
"ALLLEEEEEEEX! HELP!" She heard their screams until it was abruptly cut off. Cranks had converged on the boys. All Alex could see was blood.
Alex had no time to properly process their deaths, more bile rose into her mouth. Minho pulled her arm, they had to keep running.
"Where do we go?" Winston yelled.
"Come on, keep moving!" Thomas yelled, running in front, leading the group to the other set of stairs.
"Aris, no!" Someone screamed.
A crank had jumped over the railing and landed in front of the group, screaming at them. Aris had picked up a long piece of metal and ran at it, smashing it in the head. He sent it back over the railing. A group of cranks jumped on it, eating it. Alex's stomach twisted in disgust.
The group made it to the second set of stairs. A few cranks cut off Alex and Teresa from the group.The girls had to run to the broken escalators.
"TES! GIVE ME YOUR HAND! DON'T LET GO!" Alex yelled at the terrified girl. She grabbed Teresa's hand and pulled her, making their way up the broken steps. She saw Minho stop and hesitate, turning in their direction.
"No!" Alex yelled at Minho, "GO AROUND! MEET AT THE TOP!"
Alex had to let go of Teresa's hand and shove her up the stairs in front of her. Alex could feel the crank right behind her. She could smell the rotting flesh. She swung around and slashed her dagger at the cranks face, giving it another gash on its already bloody face. This one was missing an eye, a dark bloody fleshy hole in its rotting face. Her knife slowed it down enough for Alex to kick it in the chest, sending it crashing down the stairs, tripping a few others. Alex kept running up the stairs, shoving Teresa to keep going.
The girls made it to the top of the stairs panting. Alex's heart was beating at such an irregular rhythm she thought it was going to explode.
"Go Tes! GO!" She had to shove her again, and duck as the same crank lunged at her.
THESE THINGS ARE LIKE COCKROACHES! WHY DON'T THEY DIE?!
Alex had to spin on her knees and drove her dagger up into the creature's stomach with a yell of defiance.
I'm not dying tonight. I'm back from being dead, you shucken bloody mother of a Griever! Don't you dare count me out! I didn't escape Rat Man to be eaten for dinner!
She pulled the knife out and stumbled to her feet.
Never stop running!
"Minho, come on!" She grabbed his hand as she ran past, he had turned to help her.
"Come on, come on!" She pulled him.
"Where the hell are we gonna go?" Frypan yelled.
"We gotta find a way out of here!" Thomas yelled.
"NO SHUCK YOU IDIOT!" Alex screamed back, frustrated with his obvious statements.
"THOUGHT WE COULD MAKE A HOME HERE. HAVE SOME COZY TEA PARTIES WITH THE LOVELY NEIGHBORS WHO WANT TO EAT OUR SHUCKING BRAINS!"
"Go! Faster, faster!" Minho yelled from the back of the group.
Alex was looking for an exit, a door, a window, something. A crank flew from above them and tackled Newt to the floor. It's rotten teeth snapping at him.
"Newt! NEWT!" She screamed.
"GUYS! HELP!"
Leo tried. He had taken a swing, but the creature was faster, the crank grabbed him. Leo screamed. He tried to swing at it with his fist. The crank was stronger. And faster.
It flung Leo over the railing. Alex heard him screaming. Until the awful thud of his body breaking on the cement floor below. Alex screamed. She ran towards her brother still fighting with the creature. She jumped forward and kicked the creature, sending it crashing through the glass railing.
"Newt, you good?" Thomas had come running over to help him up.
"Yeah. Thanks, Tommy. And Alex. Thanx."
Newt pulled Alex away. She could see Leo's broken body on the ground, and hadn't moved.
Is that what Matt looked like at the bottom of the casim of the Grievers? Broken. Bloody and splattered. Alone.
Her chest hurt. It was hard to breathe. She choked back a sob.
"Come on, Newt! Alex! We gotta go!" Minho called.
He pulled her away from the smashed railing. Leaving another dead friend behind.
They ran down the hall.
"Anyone see any exits?" Alex yelled.
Thomas took a sharp right turn. Everyone followed. It was a long skinny dead end hall. A few doors here and there. Each one locked and not budging. They were trapped. Alex could hear the undead diseased humans coming closer. Their screaming made Alex's blood feel like ice in her veins. If she was going to die, she was going down fighting.
Better eaten then back in WICKED. What a shuckin wonderful life I live to have eaten alive vs a human guinea pig.
She sheathed her knife, and pulled her bow off her back. She nocked an arrow.
"COME ON! OPEN!" Minho yelled.
Thomas and Minho were slamming the door, trying to open the last door in the hall. It was their only hope. The Cranks had reached the hall. Alex planted her feet. She would protect her boys until she was out of arrows and then fight until her last breath. She stood in between them. She pulled back on the string, and let it go. The arrow hit a creature in the chest. It dropped. She had another one ready to loose when Winston was beside her with a pistol. He nodded at her. She nodded back and they shot at the group of cranks.
"HURRY UP! GET THAT DAMN DOOR OPEN!" Winston yelled.
Frypan was now trying to get it open too. Slamming his large shoulder into it.
"ALEX?" Newt yelled.
Alex yelled in frustration. She shot another arrow and spun towards the door. And with a running start and a surge of adrenaline, she kicked the door. It banged open.
"Just loosened it for you babe." Minho sassed.
"You would be dead meat without me!" She yelled back.
Everyone rushed through. Winston was the last to make it through.
A crank had grabbed onto his backpack. He fell back, and a few more of the bloody hands clawed at him, hoping for a meal. They pulled him back. Alex grabbed his hands, Minho and Thomas grabbed him too and pulled. They played a deadly game of human tug-a-war. Winston cried in pain as the cranks clawed at him, ripping and shredding his skin. Leaving him with huge gaping red wounds covered in blood. The undead decaying human-like creatures screamed, wanting their meal. Alex screamed right back and with another surge of adrenaline she pulled Winston free. Minho and Thomas slammed the door closed.
"GO! GET HIM OUTTA HERE!" Minho yelled at her.
Alex pulled Winston up, and threw his arm around her shoulders. Newt grabbed his other shoulder. They followed Frypan, Teresa, and Aris, Alex and Newt pulling Winston. Minho and Thomas followed.
They found a part of a wall that had fallen, making a little cave. Perfect for hiding.
Everyone huddled inside. Alex laid Winston down, she tried her best to clean and wrap his bloody wounds in the dark. They didn't dare turn in flashlights. Alex had to shove a shirt in Winston's mouth to keep him from screaming.
"I'm sorry Winston! I'm sorry!" She kept repeating quietly. Tears filling her eyes.
When he had finally passed out from pain, and exhaustion, she took the shirt out of his mouth and crawled to the front of the cave. She could hear the screeching and screaming of the creatures, trying to find them. Alex was so uptight and tense, there was no way she was capable of sleeping.
She insisted on taking the first watch. Minho tried to convince her to sleep, but she couldn't. She wouldn't. He eventually gave up, and laid his head in her lap. She ran her hands through his hair. Alex felt him drift off to sleep. Once everyone was asleep, she silently mourned the deaths of three more brothers.
She felt guilty. She didn't know Leo or A.J. well. But Clint… Clint was a friend. She worked with him, she had known him. They had laughed and joked in the MedHut, at bonfires and at lunch tables. And she had watched him get ripped apart. Her heart felt like it couldn't possibly break anymore.