Half of the group was out of breath, and the other half was struggling to follow Minho and Leen to the next floor. Just as they reunited with those they had lost on the floor below, Leen threw herself at Bea, who gave her a quick hug before grabbing her hand and resuming the running.
William didn't know where they were going anymore. He doubted anyone did. What they were doing at the moment wasn't escaping, it was just evading the Cranks. A quick way to get themselves trapped in a corner.
"Where the hell are we going?" asked a boy from Group A.
"Thomas!" Chuck tried to call the boy's attention, but it was to no avail.
Purposely falling behind, William ran beside Mae, eyeing the Cranks that were after them. She did the same. Perhaps, if they distracted the Cranks, the others would have a fair chance at getting out.
"We gotta find a way out of here!" Frypan shouted as he ran beside Minho in the lead.
"Go!" Shouted Thomas, who was right in front of Newt, whose leg wasn't making running any easier.
It all happened in a second. Right before Mae's and William's eyes, a Crank jumped through a glass on their right, and onto Newt, pinning the boy to the ground. Mae couldn't stop in time, but William did.
His heart sank, and his mind clouded with worries as he saw Newt trying to fight the Crank. It was futile; the creature was stronger than he was. William's mouth fell agape, his eyes watering, as if his entire body had given up on ever saving Newt.
"Guys, help!" Newt shouted, snapping William out of the fear that had taken over him.
"Newt!" William rushed to the boy, his hand gripping his knife.
Not having enough time to plan, William stabbed the Crank, which roared in pain. Its eyes were off Newt for half a second. Just enough time to grab William's neck and shove him against the glass where it had come from.
The damage to his back was bad, but his neck and arms were the most severe. His vision was blurry, and the pain wasn't any easier to deal with. His neck and arms felt unusually warm. To the point, he could feel something running down his neck to his back. He didn't check, but there wasn't much other option. It had to be blood.
"William!"
"Liam!"
Aris kneeled down next to him, the blurry figure focusing as the white dots disappeared from William's sight. "I'll take the glass off. Give me a second."
"Don't move!" Mae ordered, crouching down on the opposite side to take care of his arm injuries, while Aris took the pieces of glass off his neck and jacket.
William tried to shake them off, pointing at Newt while mumbling the boy's name. He didn't want help when the boy was still being attacked. Or so he thought, since his sight didn't let him see past Mae's face too well. Thankfully, Thomas had also reacted in time and was helping Newt get up after pushing the wounded Crank off with his foot, which made it break the glass under a handrail and fall to the bottom floor.
"Newt, you good?" Thomas questioned.
"Yeah. Thanks, Tommy," Newt answered, though when he saw William, his fear shifted to worry. "Liam!"
Minho, at the realisation of why Newt was so worried, went to help William up, but was beaten to it by Aris and Mae. Overall, William stubbornly wanted to believe he was fine. His blurry vision was stabilising, and he still could walk and run. The only problem he acknowledged, though forced himself to ignore, for the time being, was the stinging pain coming from the injured areas.
"I'm good. I'm good." He got up, taking the last piece of glass out of his left arm's bandage.
"Come on, let's go!" Minho shouted, pulling them forward to catch Newt and Thomas, who were right in front of them.
Just after catching up with the others, Minho sprinted to be on the lead once again. Staying by a door to the side, he urged everyone to rush and get inside. Only after Mae had passed by him did he go inside as well.
"Guys, where are we going?" Newt questioned, running beside William and Aris as they continued glancing behind them.
"OK, run! Go! Go!" shouted Teresa and Chuck, who ran side by side.
Thomas tried to open all the doors in their way, but they were locked. The Cranks were getting nearer, and the options were decreasing with every door they found closed. In no time, they reached a dead end, making everyone look back at the Cranks, running in their direction.
"They're coming!" Henry yelled, glancing at his group as if waiting for one of them, mostly Mae, to come up with a solution.
"Get us out of here, Thomas!" Teresa shouted, while Thomas tried to push the last door they could try, open.
"Leen, give some throwing knives to William! Buy us time!" Mae ordered, her eyes travelling everywhere to find a way out to save her team from fighting without masks.
Thomas went to the last door in their path, kicking it once before realising something. He looked at everyone, hope finally sparkling in his eyes between the mix of desperation and fear.
"This one!" He shouted.
"I'll hold them back!" Winston informed, positioning himself between William and Leen to take out a gun and shoot at the Cranks. "Get that door open!"
William and Leen took down a few Cranks, but, for every one they hit, another five appeared out of the corner. Few knives were left, and, after that, only Winston would be left protecting them. And guns didn't have infinite bullets, neither did they have another magazine for it.
The others tried, shoving their entire weights on the door to make the lock break, but it was of no use. However, giving the others a second to stand out, Frypan shouted at everyone to get out of the way and used his entire body to push it open.
"Come on, it's open!" Minho shouted.
Not hiding the knives yet, Leen retreated immediately behind Thomas, while Aris pulled William along with him. The only one left was Winston, who was right behind them, until a Crank yanked him back, barely giving him any time to hang onto the door like a lifeline.
They all turned around in synchronisation. Minho and Thomas pushed the door to keep the other Cranks from coming flooding onto them, while Newt, Aris, and Frypan tried to pull Winston out of the Crank's grasp.
With a throwing knife in his hand, William stabbed the hands of all the Cranks digging their nails into Winston's stomach, and got them to let go. Frypan hauled Winston over his shoulders, while Thomas and Minho closed the door, yelling at everyone to get a head start.
Unsure to leave the two boys behind, William had to be once again forced to run by grabbing his hand. Newt didn't allow himself to relax for a second until they reached Frypan alongside Aris, who kept close to them at all times.
No one stopped even as they reached the outside. Mae and Teresa, keeping Chuck between them, searched for shelter. They climbed down a destroyed area until they found a hiding place far under some broken concrete, where they plumped down close to one another.
Everyone turned off their lights, hearing the Cranks continue to grunt and scream while searching for them. They could hear each other's ragged breaths, and feel their arms brushing against the other, but no one dared to move.
Worry and anticipation did nothing but keep everyone on edge. Group S, who were divided into different sections of the shelter, kept a close grip on their weapons, ready for whatever surprise attack could come their way.
Without thinking much of it, William scooted closer to the only person close to him that he fully trusted; Newt. His weaponless hand accidentally landed on the boy's. Before he could move it, or take it off, Newt held their hands closer together, as if trying to reassure himself.
It took hours for the Cranks to go back to their hiding spots; their grunts and inhumane screams were no longer audible.
Some boys began to doze off. The exhaustion mixed with the intense running wasn't helping their situation. One by one, everyone started to fall asleep. Some with their heads on their backpacks, others on top of each other.
"You OK?" Newt whispered to William.
Few people were left awake. The majority being part of Group S. Apart from them, only Thomas, Minho, and Newt had demonstrated to fight exhaustion long enough not to give in and fall asleep.
"Yeah," William whispered back. "Just tired. My neck hurts, and I think my arms are bleeding."
"Just sleep, you've already got your arms bandaged, right? It'll be fine." Newt squeezed his hand reassuringly. "They're gone. You can relax."
William nodded, resting his head back against the concrete wall, feeling Newt copy him after a couple of minutes. Soon, everyone's breaths became paused and rhythmical. Even Minho and Thomas, who had fought the most to keep awake, had inevitably fallen asleep.
"Hey, William, are you awake?" Mae said in a low tone, making William open his eyes and nod. "Good, I'll go check on the rest. We need to make plans. Now. We can't continue like this."
It took a minute for William to get Newt to let go of his hand. Although, as he accomplished to do that, his additional worry was the people sleeping around him. He had to be careful not to step on anyone as he tried to get out of the shelter, where Rowan and Flor were already waiting.
"How are you doing?" he asked.
"Well, we didn't get shoved by a Crank into a glass, so, you know, fine," Rowan muttered. "Just another normal day."
"Except we don't have masks, so it's easier to get infected," added Flor.
Trying to repress a yawn, Henry walked up to them, closely followed by George. They stood with their arms folded and asked the same question as William in synchronisation, which made the group stifle a laugh.
"We're alright," repeated Rowan. "William?"
"Neck hurts. Arms and hands are probably bleeding. But I'm breathing, so I'm fine," he replied, watching Mae come back to them with Leen and Bea.
She eyed the large group, but soon her eyes were back on her own group. Placing her index finger in front of her lips, she pointed with her free hand over the ruins. They knew no Cranks were up there, but for Mae to suggest that despite the potential threats, whatever they were going to discuss couldn't be overheard at any cost.
The moonlight guided them to the top, where they sat all together by a fallen pillar. Two guarded each side, especially those who were looking in the direction of the group, William and Flor. From the top, they could see if any Cranks approached them, and, due to the fallen pillar, they could slide down at any moment.
"Before anything," said Mae. "Do you all still have the tracking devices on you?"
Everyone except William began looking around in their trousers' pockets, some finding the little square device, others nothing. Confused, William looked around, seeing as only George, Bea, and Flor had managed to keep a hold of the device.
"When did you get that?" he asked.
"After you got taken," answered George, rubbing his hands on his trousers. "Janson pulled us aside after Thomas got in a fight with the guard. He slid the things in our pockets and told us to hurry."
"Alright." Mae scratched the back of her head, her braid loosening. "I say we leave them here. If we're found out by Janson, we'll say that we lost them during the chase."
Not many were convinced by the explanation. However, no one dared to go against their leader's orders, and the few who still had the devices with them let them fall to the ground.
"OK, now, William, Newt, and Winston got attacked," Mae began, setting the seriousness of the real discussion right away. "We can't let this happen again. I know Thomas is supposed to be in charge of this, but we need a plan."
"We have a darn plan," argued Henry. "Go to the mountains with them, and find the Right Arm."
"That's about as vague as Thomas's plan to escape the Sanctuary, and we all know how that went." Mae locked eyes with everyone.
"It worked in the end," Rowan said, smirking at Mae as she received a judging look from their leader.
"Seven kids have died tonight, Rowan. Seven. That's why we can't half-ass things," Mae reasoned.
No one had counted the deaths, and it showed. They all stared at their feet, letting the number sink into their minds. Seven boys, teenagers, had died because they hadn't been careful enough.
A bothersome sting appeared at the back of William's neck, making him repress the urge to press his bloodied hand to it. It wasn't painful anymore, instead; it was slightly irritating. He clenched the end of his sleeves as he pressed them against his lips.
"Obviously, we depend on Thomas finding the Right Arm," continued Mae. "We need to find them. Now, we need to change how we move around the Scorch."
"You mean, like a pack-type of formation?" Flor asked, getting Mae to look at her.
"Exactly. Look, if we tell those guys about this, they'll get stubborn and reject it. I've been with Minho and Thomas long enough to realise that. So we have to make the formation organically, by talking to some and forcing them to speed up or slow down." Mae rested her hands on her legs, her eyes travelling around the group.
"Alright, so what do we do?" George questioned, a hand over his knife just in case he needed to react quickly.
"The injured go first, to mark the pace of the group." Mae then glanced at William.
"So I get Newt and Winston to go with me at the front," he said, making sure his idea was correct.
No longer caring about attracting possible lurking Cranks with the noise, Mae got up to pace around. She loosened her side braid to tie it in a ponytail, which, apparently, let her concentrate on the strategy better.
"Chuck, too. He moves slowly and is considerably younger than most of us, so he'll do good with you three—"
Everyone fell silent as a pair of footsteps approached them through the ruins. William got up first, gripping his throwing knife while trying to find the Crank. It turned out it was not a Crank, but Newt, who was limping his way through the ruins to them.
"It's just Newt," he informed the rest, who proceeded to hide their weapons to not scare the approaching boy. "Hey, what are you doing up?"
"Could ask you the same buggin' thing," Newt said as he made it to the top of the pillar. "What are you all doing here? Even if you couldn't sleep, you should have stayed with us. It's dangerous out here."
"We were about to go down," replied Mae, walking over to William's side. "We just needed some air. It's been a long night."
"It'll be a long day, too. Go get some sleep." Newt pointed towards the shelter at the bottom of the pillar, which made everyone glance from Mae to him.
The two locked eyes in utter silence. However, as Newt's eyes travelled to William, who was pressing his sleeve gently against his neck, Mae's eyes widened. She placed her hands on her hips and nodded reluctantly.
"Alright, let's go to sleep, then."
Group S followed after her until only William and Newt were left behind. William motioned for Newt to go first down the pillar, but the boy didn't move. Their eyes were stuck to one another, sending flashes of light to William's mind.
The floor seemingly wobbled under his feet, making his knees weak. The stinging pain shot up to his head, like a storm had begun inside his skull. A hand pressed against his temple, making blood slowly drip from his forehead to his cheek.
"Liam, hey—"
Newt's voice echoed in his mind, not letting him make sense of a single word. Even if he knew that Newt had a hand on his shoulder, and another over his own hand, the touch felt distant.
His eyes closed for a second, and William lost it to whatever was haunting his mind.
He was in a vast room full of kids all around. His body was completely detached from his mind. It almost resembled a dream — a lucid dream, in any case — , but he knew it was another memory. One of those he had wanted so hard not to have.
"Li, stop spacing out," Newt's reprimanding tone made his body turn around. They stared at each other for a second, analysing each other's features like it was their first time seeing each other. Or perhaps the last. "I know you're worried about Sonya, but —"
"About Sonya?" He said, almost baffled at Newt's suggestion. "Newt, you'll be going too. Siggy. Minho. Alby. Chuck! You're all going! I'm as worried about you and her as I am about anyone else. You guys could die!"
"So could you!" Newt argued. "Don't you think I count the bloody days until you come back from your missions? Don't you think I worry when they punish you by making you all stay longer? Twenty-eight people, Li. That's how many buggin' people your group has lost in seven years! I don't want to lose you too."
"But I'll lose you if you go to the maze!" His younger self pointed out, his sight interrupted by upcoming tears. "I'll lose you, and I'll lose Sonya, just like I've lost my brother. I can't cope with that, Newt, you know me."
"And that's exactly why I know you'll make it through." Newt stepped closer, taking his hand with his. "Li, I don't like it either. It's cruel, the tests, the games . . . But we don't have a choice."
"I'd rather go crazy together than live without you." He held Newt's stare. "You promised, Newt. You said we would get married. And you know they don't care if any of you die, the bloody trials would continue. It's meant to be like that! And you're telling me to just go back? Kill some Cranks and forget about how you and Sonya won't even remember that you're siblings? How you won't even know who I am? Accept that you'll be risking your lives? For a cure that we might not even get?"
"Li, please. I . . ." Newt began, "I want to have a future with you, alright? And I need yo—us to be healthy. We need the cure. I can't watch you turn into one of those buggin' things."
"Don't look. You know perfectly well that if I became a Crank, the last thing I'd want is for you to see me change." He got closer, a hand over Newt's cheek, but the voices were too faint to make them out anymore.
A rush of warmth blocked the coldness. It was almost like William was being engulfed in it. Even his forehead, which once had been attacked by the soft breeze, was now protected by a familiar tenderness pressed against it.
Without opening his eyes, William could tell it wasn't the first time he had experienced it. His only wish was that it wouldn't be his last. As he clung onto the unknown person's jacket, he buried his head on a firm, yet soft surface, in an unconscious search for comfort.
The slight pressure around his torso incremented, drawing him closer to the source of warmth as he fell asleep.