Breathtaking
Below the six boys and one girl, was certain death. Feet upon feet upon feet underneath their heads, was a hard cement ground that would break every bone in their body if fallen on top of. The worst part (or the best part) being that their heads would hit first, since our main group was being hung up by their ankles, making them have to hang completely upside down. It wasn't much fun having all of their blood rushing to their heads, but it was still better than the rope breaking and promptly falling to their deaths. It was a far way down below them, after all. So far that they could barely see the bottom. Their predicament wasn't a good one, and although the group had been through so many terrifying things, this one took the cake for "Most Anxiety-Inducing." Of course, Minho and Thomas were doing Minho and Thomas things by trying to
"sit up" and reach the rope above them. But, in the end, they just kept burning out their muscles until exhaustion, so their upper-bodies simply fell back down.
Other than Minho somehow surviving a lightning strike, this really wasn't their day.
"Enjoying the view?" To make it worse, Jorge entered the room right after another one of Thomas' and Minho's failures. With his cool-looking cane in hand, the older man had a huge smile on his face. It made everyone more aggravated than they already were.
"Where's Hope?" Newt spat, causing Jorge's smile to deepen.
"She's fine, don't worry; Brenda's looking after her."
Teresa's eyes turned quizzical. "Is that the girl we first met?"
"Sure is, hermana," Jorge replied, his white teeth sparkling in the moonlight. "I do like your girl, though. She's very… protective over you kids. Actually, she and Brenda are "hitting it off" in my office right now. I think they're bonding."
"Tch," Thomas clicked his tongue, "just tell us what you want."
"Heh, that is the question," Jorge beamed as he pointed his cane toward the teenagers. "Bad news, but my men want to sell you back to WICKED. Life has taught them to think small… I'm not like that, and something tells me that you're not either."
"...Is the blood rushing to my head," Minho scoffed, "or is this shank not making any sense?"
"M-Minho!" Chuck growled in a high-pitched tone. "Don't insult the guy that can kill us with a switch of a lever!"
"Yeah," Frypan sighed with his hands dangling above his head, "if anyone's gonna get us killed, it's gonna be you and your terrible people-skills, man."
"Who's side are you on, guys?!" Minho barked.
"Obviously not the dumb side you're currently on," Newt hissed.
"Newt," Minho pointed his glare at the boy, "if we weren't hanging right now, I'd be pulling those Goldilocks-locks right out of your head."
"You can't do that if we're dead," Newt's eyes locked with Minho's, "because of you."
"Guys, please don't start fighting," Aris deadpanned as Minho and Newt started going at it. "I don't think either of you are fight-ready or threatening-enough with your bodies twirling around upside down like that."
"Shut up, Aris!" Minho and Newt snapped simultaneously. "Stay out of-!"
"Alright, niños, can we please stop arguing?!" Jorge finally cut in after he'd gotten over his bewilderment. Truthfully, he hadn't thought that teenagers that had gone through what these teenagers had gone through would act so immature. But you learned something new every day, right? "Thomas, hermano, will you please control your children?"
"Since when were they my children?" Thomas questioned, prompting Jorge to let out the largest sigh of his life.
"Okay, okay… Can you please just tell me what you know about the Right Arm?"
"No," the entire group said at once.
"Are you serious?" Jorge grumbled.
"I thought you said they were ghosts," Newt remarked. "Change your mind?"
"I happen to believe in ghosts," Jorge acknowledged before slowly looking his eyes back at Thomas, "especially when I hear them chattering in the airwaves." Then, Jorge strode over to the lever connected to the teenagers' ropes keeping them alive. "Now, you tell me what you know, and maybe we can make a deal."
"W-We…" Seeing Jorge's hand on that lever made Thomas sutter. "We don't know much, okay?"
…Click!
"WOAH!" When Jorge moved that lever, every single teenager let out a shout or scream. Merely feeling them drop, even if it was only for a second, made them feel more terror than ever before. And now, with the ground an inch closer to their hanging bodies, Thomas had not a single ounce of defiance left.
"Okay, okay! Alright!" Thomas yelled. "Th-They're hiding in the mountains! And they attacked WICKED!"
"They also got a bunch of kids out of my Maze!" Aris added. "I've seen them with my own two eyes! They're real!"
"But that's all we know!" Thomas furthered. "I swear!"
However, right before Jorge could answer, another voice chimed in. "Yo, Jorge! What's goin' on…?"
"Barton!" Jorge replied to the man's obvious accusatory stare with a smile. "Me and my new friends were just getting acquainted… We're done now."
"Hey, wait!" Thomas interjected. "You're not gonna help us?!"
"Don't worry, hermano," Jorge turned around to start walking away, "we'll get you back to where you belong."
"...Hey, Barton," Minho called out to the bald-headed man once Jorge was out of everyone's sight. "How's being uglier-than-the-last-time-I-saw-you going?"
"Pfft!" Practically every single one of the teens laughed at that quip. Even Thomas, Teresa, and Aris, who had been trying to be civilized compared to their other friends, couldn't stop themselves from smiling. But when Barton walked over and switched the lever again, their laughs turned into shouts as they inched closer to the ground below. Still, Minho didn't have any regrets.
"I hope you know that that was totally worth it!" Minho shouted while Barton stomped away. "I don't regret a thing!"
Little did those seven teenagers know, though, how someone much uglier than Barton was about to pay them a visit. And this 'someone' was going to tear their group apart, but also bring two more people into that same group.
Once Jorge had walked off toward Hope's friends, she let out the breath she'd been holding in. Now that a direct link to her past was out of her sight, Hope could slowly feel her heart start beating again. She could feel her body start working the way it was supposed to, while feeling a solace wash over her. Hope knew that Jorge wasn't going to hurt her friends, because the way he'd looked at Brenda was too kind. It was too fatherly. Jorge had someone he wanted to protect: their life and their happiness. Thus, Hope knew that Jorge understood her protection as well. He knew exactly what it was like wanting to protect someone, so Hope had hope that Jorge would do the right thing. No, Jorge wouldn't hurt her friends. He didn't have it in him to do exactly what he didn't want to happen to Brenda.
Yes, everything would be fine.
"And you're coming with us." However, that sentence made Hope's tiny smile drop, and for her multiple questions to swarm back into her head. At that moment, Hope realized that she'd never gotten the chance to ask Jorge questions, since Jorge had bombarded her with his own. She still didn't know what happened between him and WICKED, she still didn't know who Brenda was, and she most certainly didn't know what that sentence meant. But since Jorge had gone to talk to her friends, Hope had only one option. Hesitantly, Hope glanced over at Brenda, and she saw the other girl already staring at her. The sight made Hope gulp, but also find enough confidence to ask her question.
"U-Um… Your name's Brenda, right?"
"Yep," Brenda said. "And your name's Hope."
"Yes… W-Well, it's nice to meet you."
"And it's nice to finally meet you," Brenda sighed. "I always wondered what you'd look like, especially your eyes."
"I-I don't understand…" Hope shook her head. "I heard what you said before, but… Did he…"
"Did Jorge really talk about you?" Brenda inquired, and Hope only nodded in response. This made a sad smile form on her face. "He did."
"And you said it was after… you first met, right?" Hope questioned, turning her full body toward the other girl. "Would it be okay if… I ask why you're here?"
"There's not much to say," Brenda acknowledged before walking over to the couch once more, promptly sitting back down onto it. "We don't agree with WICKED or anything, but we do what we have to do to survive. The outside world's a tough place already, which is why we need to be on WICKED's good side. Good side equals good money. And as you know, people like you are a good profit. Basically, Jorge and I are just… partners in crime."
"I see…" Finally, Hope got her answers. Regardless, there was one more question that needed to be answered. "And… what about what Jorge said to you? About… me."
Brenda stared into Hope's nervous eyes, and she felt a large pit form in her stomach. This girl… This girl with a blue and brown eye had no idea who she was to Jorge, nor did she know how important she truly was. When Brenda had witnessed Hope say all those things about herself (how she was so willing to sacrifice her life for her friends), it was almost too much to bear. Hope had lost all care for herself, and she didn't give a single shit if she died. It made a part of Brenda aggravated that Hope's survival skills were close to zero, but her sadness was so much greater. Whatever Ava Paige had done to her "favorite child", had made Hope into a miserable, lonely, self-sacrificing girl. However, now that Jorge had seen what his rejection - his biggest regret - had done to her, there was no way in hell he'd allow Hope back into WICKED. Moreover, if Hope cared about those boys and one girl, then Jorge would too.
Without a doubt, Brenda knew that this would be her last time sitting on this couch.
"He said that… He said that he hated himself," Brenda ultimately said. "That he hated himself for what he did to you."
Instinctually, Hope took a step back. "W-What…?"
"Why do you look so surprised?"
"Because that's… There's no way…"
"Hey, I know he can come off psychotic at times, but he's not a sociopath. The old man feels emotions just like the rest of us."
"But…"
"But what?"
"I-I'm sorry, I don't understand…" Hope apologized, her eyes filled with sadness. "He should hate me, not himself."
"Why the hell would you say that?"
"He rejected me. He rightfully rejected-"
"I know your story, and I don't hate you." But when Brenda uttered this, Hope's shocked eyes widened, and a tiny gasp left her lips. "I wouldn't reject you, either. If a little girl begged for my help, I would've helped her. It doesn't matter where you came from or who raised you. Everyone still deserved to be saved… You deserved to be saved, Hope. And you still deserve it."
"Don't think you'll ever be saved."
Mara.
Mara's voice sounded through Hope's head, and yet…
It didn't hurt as bad.
"D-Do you…" Hope took a deep, shaky breath in and out. "Do you truly mean that?"
"You should have seen her, Brenda," Jorge had once told the younger girl. "That look in her eyes… It wasn't like the other children. I rejected a little girl… that had been through so much pain." Upon hearing Hope's sad words, hearing Jorge's voice in her head, and seeing Hope on the verge of tears as well, Brenda stood back up from the couch. Click, click, click… Her boots clicked against the wooden floor as she walked toward Hope, a blank yet sympathetic look within her dark brown eyes. Then, once she was standing in front of the shaking girl, Brenda did something that she'd waited years to do: she opened up her arms and pulled Hope into a hug. Of course, the unknowing Hope froze when touched in such an unfamiliar manner, but Brenda didn't care. She merely held the poor girl tighter; the poor girl that flinched when receiving a hug.
"I don't know the full story of what Ava did to you, but… she's wrong," Brenda whispered into Hope's ear. "You are worth saving, and it's okay that you have been saved. You deserve to be free, okay? You deserve it."
"They'll hate you."
As Brenda held her, Mara's voice whispered.
But, again, it didn't hurt as much.
It didn't make Hope feel gross or selfish.
It made her feel… confused.
Why didn't Brenda hate her?
Mara said that if someone knew about her past, then…
They'd hate her.
But Brenda said she didn't.
Brenda said that… she 'deserved' to be saved.
Once upon a time, a total stranger had rejected Hope.
And now, a total stranger was accepting her.
They knew who Hope was.
They knew what she was.
Yet…
Yet they…
They… didn't…
Thump!
A part of Hope that had been stabbed by Mara, came back alive.
And it was caused by the "anomaly" of someone… not hating her.
"S-Say it again," Hope whimpered out. "If you can, c-could you please-"
"I don't hate you," Brenda stated. "I don't hate you, Hope. I don't hate you."
But right when Hope's arms were about to return the hug-
"It's time to pause your girly-time, muchachas!" Jorge re-entered the scene, causing Brenda to instantly step away from Hope. The man himself barely looked at the two, though, and walked straight over to his radio. Or… radios. "It's time to go! Pack up your things!"
"Pack up… what things?" In the middle of her sentence, Brenda had felt something wet touch her hand. And once she'd looked down, the girl saw Hugo wagging his tail while almost smiling up at her. Despite how tense Jorge seemed, Brenda couldn't stop herself from smiling back. "I like you too, boy."
"Woof!" Hugo barked joyfully.
"By the way," Brenda turned back to Hope, "what's its name?"
"H-Hugo," Hope replied, not fully over what had just happened. "His name is Hugo."
Brenda turned her smile back down at the dog. "Cute name."
"Woof, woof!"
"I know. My name's pretty sweet, too."
"Brenda!" Jorge snapped as he actually snapped some of the radios' wires apart. "This isn't the time. I need you to get ready to leave and then go untie those kids. We're going to find the Right Arm."
"Wait…" Brenda blinked in surprise. "We're seriously leaving?"
"We now have our reason, don't we?" Jorge queired while pointing his eyes toward Hope. "So let's get going."
Brenda raised an eyebrow. "You're sure you wanna leave everything behind?"
"We have no future here, Brenda," Jorge told the girl. "And you know as well as I do that this was bound to happen."
"Hey, I was just making sure," Brenda said and then looked back at Hope. "Now, you follow me."
"G-Got it," Hope said right back, prompting Brenda's smile to deepen.
"Glad to have you on board, Hope."
Snap! All of a sudden, a deep-sounding switch was snapped and a bright light followed. The loud sound of a helicopter came right after, while the white light shot through the building's windows. Hope knew exactly what those helicopter sounds meant, because she had heard them once before on her journey. WICKED had found them. Somehow, they had found her and her friends, so escaping was going to be so much harder now. Though, what scared Hope the most wasn't the fact that WICKED was there, or the question as to how they were going to escape. Instead, what terrified Hope the most… was the voice she suddenly heard coming from the helicopters.
"Good evening!" Only Janson would say such a nonchalant thing. "This is the World in Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department! We have your compound completely surrounded! You find yourselves, through no fault of your own, in possession of WICKED property!"
"Barton…" Jorge hissed under his breath. "That little-"
"Return them to us unharmed, and we'll consider this a simple misunderstanding!" Janson continued. "Or you can resist, and every last one of you will die! It won't be long before the Flare wipes out the rest of us! The hope of a cure lies in your hands! The choice is yours!"
"...Go get the kids," Jorge said in a stern tone. "I'm gonna play my favorite song."
"Y-You're favorite wha-"
"It doesn't matter," Brenda stated before Hope could finish her question. "Just follow me, okay? Let's go!"
Hope nodded. "Right… Hugo, come!"
Therefore, it was the two girls' plus one dog's turn to run out of the room, leaving Jorge to stand alone while having one of the most excited smiles on his face.
In some stroke of luck, the seven teenagers found their ways out of the ropes hanging them upside down. And when both of their feet finally touched the wonderful ground again, they hurried to help another person. Hence, it didn't take long for the group to untie each other: before they even knew it, all six of them were free and not upside down. But knowing that Jorge or another thug could enter the room at any time, the teenagers knew they needed to find Hope and Hugo fast. Moreover, the sudden entrance of WICKED didn't help, so "fast" needed to be faster. There was no way they'd allow Jorge to give Hope up. If she wasn't going, then they weren't either. However, the moment that the teens were about to run out of the room - Click! - a gun was clicked.
"H-Hey…" With his friends standing behind or beside him, Thomas deliberately put up his hands in front of Barton. The older man had entered the room just as the group was about to escape, and he was the one holding the gun. "We're not trying to cause any trouble, okay? W-We just gotta get out of here."
"Is that so?" Barton smiled and then placed a walkie-talkie next to his mouth. "Janson, I got 'em for ya. I'm bringing 'em down. Don't shoot us." Barton started inching closer to the group. "C'mon. Let's go… I said, let's go!"
Yeah, there was no way Thomas would agree to that. Therefore, almost on instinct, the boy grabbed the gun and moved it upward right before Barton could shoot him. BAM! The gun went off, causing the scary noise to boom through the large room. Thomas then head-butted the guy, but sadly, that only made him lose focus long enough for Barton to get the upper hand. The older man immediately pointed the gun straight back toward Thomas, his expression now enraged. "You little bastard!"
…BAM! The gun went off again, but when Thomas placed his hand against his stomach, he felt no blood or pain whatsoever. His friends did the same: they looked Thomas over, yet found no signs of an injury. The group was in so much shock that none of them noticed who was standing behind Barton's body now lying on the ground. Or, well, until a certain girl spoke up.
"Oh my gosh!" Hope shouted, her mouth agape as she ran up to stand beside Brenda. "Talk about timing! A-Are you guys okay?!"
"Are we okay?!" Chuck walked right past the dead body and straight to Hope. "Hope, are you okay?! They didn't do anything to you, did they?!"
"Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm perfectly fine, Chuck," Hope said with a warm smile. Then that smile turned excited. "Plus, Brenda's really cool! Jorge too! They're gonna help us get out of here!"
Thomas' eyes widened. "Th-They are?"
"Hey, if Hope trusts them, then so do I," Minho said. "And we don't really have another choice, so lead the way."
"Alright." Brenda shrugged as she started backing away. "Just don't get lost!"
The group comprised of nine teens and one dog now ran through the compound, each of them following behind Brenda. And since the girl knew her way around the place, it didn't take long for them to find themselves right back in the room they'd first seen Jorge in. Within a bag, the man had packed all the essentials (guns), and after seeing Brenda enter, he ushered the group over to a corner of the room. But when he pushed open two large windows, Frypan couldn't stop himself from scoffing. "Oh, you've gotta be kiddin' me."
"A… zipline," Hope huffed as well. It was dark outside, the drop was far, the length of the zipline was far, and it did not look fun. Not at all. "Great."
"This is Plan B!" Jorge stated while he readied the ropes everyone would hold onto. "Now, I hate to break it to you, but the dog might have to stay behind! I don't know how he'll be able to-!"
"NO…!" Every single teenager, including Brenda, snapped upon hearing that sentence.
"I'd rather die!" Frypan shouted.
"I'd rather get caught by WICKED!" Chuck added.
"If Hugo doesn't go, I don't go," Newt remarked.
"Same." Aris nodded. "I'm staying right here."
"We can't leave him, Jorge," Thomas said seriously. "It's not an option."
"And Hugo's…" Hope looked down at her dog. "I can't live without him."
"So I'll carry him," Minho ultimately declared. "I'll carry him across."
"You're gonna have to hold the zipline with one hand and the dog in the other," Jorge acknowledged. "All the way across. It's gonna be harder than you think."
"Pfft, please," Minho shickered. "Watch me."
"If you say so, hermano." Jorge managed to smile in spite of Minho's confidence, but that smile was short-lived in spite of Jorge jumping off the ledge. "Follow me!"
"Heh," Chuck chuckled, "I like him."
After that, each of the teenagers had their turns. Minho held Hugo with one arm, wrapped his hand around the zipline's rope, and then flew across; Hope went next, then Chuck, then Aris, then Newt, then Frypan (he couldn't do it until Thomas physically pushed him off). Finally, only Brenda, Teresa, and Thomas were left on the other side. But right before Teresa was about to push off, Brenda unexpectedly ran off. And Thomas being Thomas couldn't leave her behind, so while Teresa was riding the zipline, Thomas ran off to find Brenda. However, instead of actually being able to use the zipline themselves, the two found themselves face-to-face with WICKED soldiers. The soldiers didn't give the two the chance to run back to the zipline, either, so they'd have to figure out another way to escape.
A/N: Friendly reminder that I don't own 'Maze Runner' nor any of its characters. I only own Hope. :+)