Chapter 11
We had to run through the main area of the warehouse before reaching the huge doors to the outside.
Will quickly swiped the card through the sensor, and the doors started to shift appart with a loud, grinding noise. As soon as they were wide enough for us to get out, we ran.
The Scorch was a bright, dry desert wasteland. The subtle wind whipped up sand in our eyes every couple of minutes.
We saw what looked to be a collapsed and abandoned mall, but avoided it, assuming there were Cranks inside.
We continued through the blinding desert light, until night fell and we decided to rest under a small rocky overhang. Alex got a small fire started, and we huddled around it, because the Scorch was surprisingly cold at night.
We had packed a couple bags with supplies, but we were quickly running out of food and water.
We all curled up on the sand for an uncomfortable night of cold sleep.
Joan was one of the first awake.
When I woke up, I saw her standing on a dune not to far from where our camp was. I got up and jogged over to her.
Her head turned a little as I approached, then she went back to staring at the vast expanse of desert that lay before us.
"What're you thinking about?" I asked her.
She sighed softly.
Then she glanced at me, and I got the memo.
I put a hand on her shoulder.
"She'd probably be very proud of you." I tried to comfort her.
She shrugged off my hand and crossed her arms.
"It still hurts though. Nothing could ever change that." She mumbled bitterly.
I decided it would probably be better to leave her alone, so I turned to go back to camp, when movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.
A rusty, beat up truck was coming towards our camp from the opposite direction.
I started sprinting towards the group, shouting.
"Incoming strangers! Be prepared to fight!" I yelled, waving my arms.
Will and Gabe looked up, confused.
I pointed to the dunes behind them. They stood up to look.
They bent down and grabbed their launchers. Charlie took out hers, and Bits put down her plate of cold sausage and bread to grab the other one.
I looked behind me and saw Joan had also noticed and was limping at a fast, steady pace after me.
I reached the camp before the vehicle did, and by then the whole group was awake.
We stood in a defensive formation, the armed Gladers standing in a protective line in front of the rest of us.
The car rumbled to a stop, then the doors opened and two girls stepped out.
I noticed right away that they were older than us.
One girl with long black hair tied back in a braid looked about four or five years older, her bright green eyes glinting in the sunlight.
The other one looked closer to our age, and had short wavy brown hair. Her eyes were the thing that caught my attention, though. One was brown, but the other was more greenish.
They walked slowly towards our group, holding their hands up to show they were not armed.
Gabe pointed his weapon at them.
"Who are you, and what do you want with us?" He growled.
The girls looked at each other, but didn't respond.
Gabe aimed at the ground and fired. The gunshot echoed across the dunes, and they flinched.
"Answer me!" He yelled at them.
I gently put my hand on his shoulder.
"Chill, slinthead." I said.
He turned his head and glared at me sideways.
One of the girls stepped forwards, the one with black hair. Then I noticed it wasn't black at all but a rich deep brown color.
"My name's Evelyn, and this is Marley. We lead a band of Cranks not yet past the Gone." She said, looking sideways at her partner.
Joan looked at them sharply.
"So you guys are Cranks?" She asked.
They shrugged.
"Don't know yet." Marley responded this time, her mismatched eyes glancing nervously at the weapons.
I walked forwards and put my hands on my hips.
"Answer the second question. What do you want with us?" I was standing right in front of them.
Evelyn sighed.
"We help travelers through the Scorch." She said carefully, her eyes still on the Launchers aimed at them.
I searched her face for a moment, then turned around.
"Lower the weapons, guys. If they were going to attack, they would have done it already." I said, motioning for the to put the guns down.
They all dropped their cautiously, letting them slide to the ground. Gabe was the most hesitant, eyeing the newcomers with narrowed eyes. Then he glanced at me, and he slowly lowered the weapon to the ground.
The girls nodded, the motioned towards their vehicle.
"We can take you to our base. Gather your stuff and hop in." Marley said.
So we headed to go pick up our camp and leave.
We were packing up the last of our stuff when I looked over and noticed a black line on the back of Gabe's neck.
I walked over and poked him on the shoulder.
"What's on your neck?" I asked.
His hand immediately went to rub the back of his neck.
"I dunno, wasn't there before. Can you check what it is?" He said, trying to twist around to see what it was.
I pulled down the collar of his shirt. It was a tattoo, and it said something.
"It says Property of WICKED. Group C, Subject C28. The Roots." I read aloud.
He shifted to look at me.
"What the shuck does that mean?" He asked.
I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw Marley studying the tattoo.
"It means you're tagged." She decided finally.
Gabe looked at me, then shrugged. I turned to finish packing, but he grabbed my shoulder.
"Wait, Cleo, you're marked too." He said, pointing at my neck.
I looked at him.
"Well, what does it say?" I asked him.
He turned my head around to get a better look.
"It says Property of WICKED. Group C, Subject C24. The Survivor." He read to me, his voice taking on a dramatic accent.
I slapped his hand playfully, and he pulled it away, smiling.
I looked over at the others, and could also make out faint lines against their skin. We got up and walked over to them.
I tapped Charlie on the shoulder.
"Hey, slinthead, hold up your hair for me." I commanded.
She looked at me quizzically, but did as I asked.
I read her tattoo to her.
"It says the same as mine, except that you are Subject C18, and it calls you the Backbone." I said.
She looked at me.
"The Backbone? What the bloody shuck's that supposed to mean?" She asked loudly. Across the camp, Joan and Bits looked up.
I waved them over, and on the way they also got Will, too. They jogged over, and we explained to them what we discovered.
Charlie read each of their tattoos.
"Bits is C5, the Heart, Joan is C22, the Flame, and Will is C30, the Mentor." She read in a loud clear voice.
Will smiled.
"Guess we know which shank is in charge." He said cheekily.
After we had packed up out scarce belongings, we all packed into the car and set off into the desert.
It was so empty. There were no people that we saw, only sand and the burnt-out husks of cars and buildings.
Evelyn was in the front seat driving, with Will sitting next to her. Marley sat in the back with the rest of us. Will looked back at us and smiled. I rolled my eyes.
After about three hours of driving, we reached their base. It was what looked like a giant warehouse, almost as big as the one WICKED was hiding in. But this one was in far worse shape.
There was a huge gap in the wall, and Evelyn drove the car right through it.
When we got out, I noticed we were in a smaller room, a garage of sorts. There was a skinny door in the corner that led to the main building's cavernous insides.
It was pitch black at first when we stepped in, then Marley hit a switch on the side of the wall, and the building lit up.
The first thing I noticed is that there were mattresses and sleeping spots spread out everywhere. People were milling about, some sitting together in groups and talking, others laying by themselves on some sleeping bags.
Evelyn led us to a rough circle of scrappy chairs and couches.
She waved her hand at the seats.
"Take a seat, and try not to touch anybody." She said bluntly.
Suddenly a back door burst open and a pack of girls ran in. There were about ten or so, and they all looked as though they'd been rolled in the dirt and stuck in a sand storm.
The lead girl, who had dark skin and hair cut almost to her scalp, jogged over to us. I heard a couple gasps from our group,and turned to see a couple of them staring wide-eyed with shock.
Of course, these girls must be from group B, who were in the other cafeteria, I thought.
Evelyn stood and nodded to the girl and another behind her, who had pale skin and blond-red hair.
"Harriet, Sonya, what'd you find?" She asked.
The girl called Harriet eyed us.
"Looks like less than you did." She stated drily.
She, Sonya, and the others walked towards our group, and were met by hugs from the people in our group who had meet them before.
Me, Charlie, Joan, Gabe, Bits, Will, Alex, and Mark were just standing there awkwardly.
Finally, Harriet and Sonya broke away to meet the rest of us.
Harriet stepped forwards and shook hands with each of us, then Sonya did too.
"Nice to meet you sticks. Those buggin' idiots wouldn't shut up about you." Sonya said, grinning.
I glanced at Joan.
"Sticks?" I asked her.
Sonya shrugged.
"It's slang from our maze." She said flatly.
Then she and Harriet turned and walked back to their group.
But there was something in that girl's eyes that had seemed familiar. The hair, the accent…
I had to cough to hide my gasp of shock. I knew why Sonya seemed familiar.
She was Newt's sister.