Meraya gasped, throwing her body up into a sitting position. Her heart went from barely beating to racing in seconds as the paralytic she'd been given wore off. Her throat burned with thirst, skin clammy with sweat and covered in sand. Sand? Meraya spun around and was met with sand. Sand beneath her, sand in front of her, sand to her left, to the right...everywhere. She scrambled to her feat, heart pounding with fear. Where the hell am I? Meraya licked her dry lips, spitting in disgust as she felt they too were covered in sand. Meraya looked around, spinning in a circle as an ungodly heat bore down on her. She looked up, barely able to open her eyes at the bright sun shining alone in the sky. No clouds, no wind, no nothing, just sand and heat.

Meraya fell to her knees, her chest feeling tight. She gasped for air but it felt like she wasn't getting any. She leaned forward, fists sinking in the sand as she fought to controlled her breathing. Meraya's throat constricted as she shut her eyes as tight as she could. Calm down. Meraya. Calm. Down. She coached herself. Meraya shouted angrily, punching the ground, hissing in pain as soon as she did. Cradling her now injured fist to her chest, Meraya used her left hand to shift the sand. Just beneath the surface was a metal box. Excitement took over as Meraya uncovered the rest of it. The metal box was about two feet long, a foot deep, and six inches wide. When Meraya reached for the lock, it popped open, releasing steam as the cool air from inside met the boiling atmosphere of the desert.

Meraya couldn't believe what she saw. Inside was a utility belt with three full water flasks, two hunting knives, a thermal bag to sleep in at night, and food! Meraya stared dumbfounded at the contents of the box. She looked up to the sky, as if whoever had given her this gift would fly above her so she could thank them. A smile broke out onto her face, as Meraya half laughed, half gasped at her luck. Quickly, she strapped on the utility belt around her waist, letting it rest on her curvy hips. Beneath that were a pair of tinted goggles and a compass. A note sat beneath these two things, big bold lettering contrasting with the crisp white of the page:

They sentenced you to die. We couldn't allow that. You may hold the key to saving

humanity. Here we have given you tools to survive. Head north until you find your

the others. DO NOT STOP.

anonymous

Meraya held the page with shaking hands. Someone in WICKED wanted her dead, that much was clear. But, who were these people that decided to save her, and more importantly, what happened to the other gladers. Thomas and Newt's faces flashed into her mind and her heart filled with pain. She prayed they were okay as she crumpled up the paper and grabbed the compass. Meraya strapped the goggles on, letting them lay on her forehead for now before heading north like the paper said. She couldn't waste any time, not when the fate of the two most important people in her life was so uncertain.

Meraya stood uneasily, the sand shifting beneath her feet. She held the compass up, the needle flying around before settling to her left. Meraya turned slowly, until the needle lined up with the Northern marking on her compass. Looking up, Meraya heaved a sigh as she headed north. She really hoped that note was true or else she'd be wandering the desert until she died. Meraya shoved that thought from her mind and took her first steps north. "This better work," she mumbled softly.

Thomas lay in his bed, eyes lazily drifting closed. It had been three days since they went missing. Three days worrying. Three nights sleepless. Three days starving, waiting for the first shipment of food to arrive. The other gladers were in similar states. The only thing they had was water, and it seemed make the gnawing beast of hunger only stronger with each sip. Thomas reached out once more, Teresa... Meraya...

Again, Thomas was met with emptiness. He couldn't even feel them and that was just utterly terrifying. They could be anywhere by now. His hand drifted lazily to his shoulder. A few days prior, when they'd found Aris, they also found they'd been tattooed in their sleep. A soft grin flickered across his lips. Imagine, a whole tattoo without feeling? WICKED's technology must be pretty advanced. Thomas' hand fell to his side, he still had no idea what his said. Newt knew though, and judging by his face, it wasn't good. Thomas felt his eyes fall closed but couldn't find the energy to open them. Soft snores emitted from his as his body shut down despite the hunger that clawed at his stomach.

Thomas felt his body moving, frowning at whoever was attempting to wake him. He didn't want to wake and deal with the hunger. Groaning, Thomas cracked an eye and met the vibrant red, glistening surface of an apple. His mouth watered as the light flecks of green shown in the light. "Eat it." Minho's voice drifted to Thomas' ears. His eyes snapped up seeing his friend taking large bite from his own apple with a crisp snap of the fruit. Minho shoved the fruit into Thomas' face, insisting he take it. Thomas didn't need anymore convincing. He grabbed the fruit, sinking his teeth into its flesh. He moaned in pleasure as the juice from the apple coated his mouth. He'd never tasted something so delicious in his whole life.

"Where'd you get this?" Thomas asked with a mouth full of chewed apple.
"C'mon, i'll show you." Minho nodded towards the open door. Thomas swallowed his first bite, taking another as he stood. He followed Minho out into the empty room, coming face to face with a large pile of fruits, vegetables, and granola bars. The next thing to grab Thomas' attention was the strange, rat-faced man sitting at a wooden desk. Thomas turned to Minho, with a confused face.

"Showed up with the food. Hasn't spoken at all, just has his shuck face buried in that paper." Minho answered Thomas' silent question. The boys turned to the man who paid them no mind. Thomas frowned, but took Minho's word for it and grabbed more fruit, eating as fast as he could.

"You might wanna slow down. Don't wanna end up like the other. Ate too much and couldn't keep it down," Minho chuckled, slapping Thoms on the back.

Meraya trudged through the blistering heat. She pulled down the goggles to protect her eyes from the bright sun. Every now a breeze would come, doing nothing to cool her hot skin, only kicking up the sand to irritate her eyes. Meraya's throat burned with thirst and her lips were getting dry from the unruly heat. She glanced down at her compass and then up at the direction she was heading. She heaved a sigh, all she saw was sand. Just sand everywhere. It was overwhelming how barren her surroundings were. Is this what happened to the Earth? Meraya really wished she remembered.

Her feet moved one at a time, struggling to keep going. She was so tired. Meraya tucked the compass into her pocket, keeping a straight line as she walked. The sun was beginning to sink in the sky, something she was so grateful for. Meraya wanted to cover as much ground as possible before stopping. She had to, she refused to be out in this horrid expanse of sand for longer than she had to.

The sun sank behind the sandy hills to Meraya's left. She sighed, sinking into the sand herself, and pausing to take a break. She wasn't sure how far she'd come but it felt like miles. She took out her flask of water, taking a swing and capping it. Meraya held the cool water in her mouth before swallowing, soothing the scratching at the back of her throat. She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Thomas?...

Meraya heaved a sigh when no answer came. Her eyes burned with tears as they welled in the corners of her eyes. She took a shaky breath, forcing the tears to stay. She wouldn't cry. She wasn't weak. She had made it through the maze and escaped! But this was different, she was completely alone and it was terrifying. Despite her best efforts, Meraya felt the warm tears drip down her cheeks. Her chest heaved as a sob rocked her body. Burying her face in her arms, Meraya let out everything she'd been holding in all this time. All of the pain, fear, worry, regret, heartache, confusion, and loss that Meraya had buried deep down all came crashing down on her. Meraya screamed, punching the ground beneath her, letting out all of her frustrations. "WHY!" The sobs wracked her body as her fist slammed into the earth over and over again. "GOD WHY US?!" Tiring, Meraya's punches slowed, and her sobs turned into feeble hiccups. She collapsed onto her side, curling up into the fetal position, exhaustion taking over as she fell into a restless sleep.

"You are a part of tests. Years ago, the sun flares scorched the earth, turning most of it into a barren wasteland. A disease then broke out that tears apart a human's mind until they are monsters. You, however are being tested by WICKED, a foundation set up by the remnants of the world's leading governments, to find a cure. You have all been injected with the virus. You must make your way a hundred yards north, through the scorch, where you will find the safe haven. If and when you arrive, you will be taken to WICKED headquarters and there we will find the cure. If you make it, this will be the end of the trials. At six am, the flat trans will open, you will walk through it. It will close at six o'five am. If you do not choose to go through the flat trans then...let's just say you go through the flat trans."The rat-faced man smirked, folding his paper into a neat square and laying it on his lap. Thomas stared, speechless. Whoever this man was, Thomas didn't like him. There was something sneaky about him, like he wasn't telling them the whole truth. Before any glader could shoot off a question, a fog rolled out, hiding the figure of the rat man. When it cleared, the man was gone.

Minho was the first to speak, living up to his markings as the leader. "Guess that means we should pack up. Figure out how to get food and water with us." The gladers got to work, tying up the mountain of food left for them in the bed sheets. There were exactly double the water bottles for every glader present, plus Aris. Once the preparations were done, the gladers sat in the main room. Minho sighed and stood. "Let's get some sleep. We got an early morning." There was general agreement and Thomas found his way into bed. His eyes drifted closed and soon he was dead asleep.