Chapter three...this one is gonna have a LOT and is going to be one of the longest chapters yet. Get ready! Also, the way my cranks work are a little different from the movie, so if you are a huge fan of the books/movies and think I'm getting the cranks wrong...trust me...these are purposely different.
CHAPTER THREE - The True Meanings
Lincoln's group, which consisted of him, Lynn, Stella, Sam, Nick, Matias, Kaitlin and Sage, kept following the guard inside the factory.
The guard was leading the kids in some sort of a long, brightly lit hall with branching rooms.
Lynn spoke.
"Where the hell are we going?" Lynn asked.
The guard responded.
"We'll transport you to the city after we clear the blockade." The guard said.
Lynn got irritated.
"That wasn't an answer." Lynn said.
The group stopped at some sort of branching area. One space lead to some sort of hospital room and another hallway which steeped downwards.
The hallway in front of them lead to more branching spaces.
Suddenly, Jay emerged from the hospital area from the door.
The group was immediately confused. How did he even get there that fast, and why was he there?
Jay immediately made contact with the group.
"Ah! Perfect." Jay said while approaching them. "I was hoping you kids would be here by now."
"What the hell do you want?" Lynn asked.
Jay rubbed the back of his neck.
"So...unfortunately, as you may know, there is quite a large delay on the main road to the city so my men are clearing it out at the moment. You kids will be transferred by tomorrow, don't worry." Jay said.
"Tomorrow?" Sam asked.
"I guess it happened to be a lucky situation tonight. The leader of the city has a very strict quarantine policy. All new members need to be thoroughly examined for any signs of infection, sickness or the flare virus. Obviously I think you guys are clean. You probably would've tore my throat out by now if you weren't...but we still need to be cautious...and I don't want to get fired." Jay joked.
"Uh...okay? How long does testing take?" Sage asked.
"Around an hour or two. Depends what circumstances occur during testing." Jay answered.
The group took note.
Jay clapped his hands once. "Now if I may please see Sage first..." Jay asked.
Sage looked at Jay.
Sage sighed.
Suddenly, a younger looking guard who seemed to be in his very early 20's walked up behind Jay.
The guard had a different outfit from the rest. He wore a camo outfit instead.
"Hey Jay...Trevett just rang on the radio. He wants a word with you. Mavys is currently speaking with him at the moment." The young guard said.
Jay nodded.
The young guard began to shake.
"What's wrong?" Jay whispered.
"It's...just...I...Trevett is..." The guard stuttered.
Jay put his hands around his shoulder.
"Don't worry, Parker. You're with me now. The Shark isn't a problem anymore. Trevett and Mavys will deal with each other." Jay said.
Parker nodded in understandment.
Jay faced the kids.
"Go take the girl with the aqua hair to Doctor Jenson for testing while I go deal with this." Jay said.
Parker nodded slowly and walked over towards Sage.
Parker made a gesture with his hand towards Sage, telling her to follow him.
Sage nodded.
Sage looked at Jay and noticed something in his pocket.
Sage didn't trust these guys.
Jay turned around.
"Oh! One more thing!" Jay said.
Jay approached Parker.
Jay began to speak with Parker.
Sage looked around to see if any of the guards were looking.
Luckily for her, the guards had their focus on Jay.
Sage quickly snatched the object from Jay.
Luckily, Jay hadn't noticed.
Everyone in the group saw this but didn't say anything...obviously.
The group didn't see what the object she grabbed was though.
Jay faced Sage.
"Just follow Parker." Jay said.
Parker went in front of Sage.
"Come on." Parker said.
Sage nodded and followed Parker.
Jay faced the group.
"The rest of you will follow James towards your temporary rooms. Don't worry, your time will come, and that blockade will be gone." Jay said.
Lincoln had a weird unsettling feeling when Jay said their time will come.
Jay walked down towards the other hall to go deal with...whatever that was.
Luke, Aazay, Lori and Luna were still in their rooms.
Luke couldn't even think that being THAT bored was possible.
Aazay was sitting down on his bed.
Luna was humming.
Lori was looking outside the door.
"Guys...I swear to god i'm about to eat one of you just to keep me entertained." Luke said, sounding absolutely tired.
Aazay and Luna looked over at Luke.
"Eat him first." Luna said without any emotion.
Aazay stayed quiet.
Luke got up and faced Aazay.
"I'm not going to eat you, obviously. I just want to...swallow you whole." Luke said.
Aazay rolled his eyes.
"Same. Luke. Same." Aazay said.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened.
Luke's eyes widened.
"About fucking time!" Luke said.
But it wasn't Maurice, Jay or any other guard of the stadium that opened it.
It was...Sawyer and Benny.
Everyone in the room was immediately confused.
"GUYS! GET OVER TO CASEY'S ROOM NOW! YOU GUYS GOTTA SEE THIS!" Benny said.
Aazay looked down at Sawyers hand, noticing he had a keycard.
"How the hell did you get that?" Luke said also noticing the keycard.
"Just come on! This is urgent!" Benny said.
Sawyer stood quiet while running back to Casey's room with Benny.
Casey's room was the only one that had a window.
The four quickly got up and exited the room.
On their way out, they noticed that the door to C4 was open.
Aazay and Luke were the first to enter the room from the group.
They noticed everyone from C4, Jordan, Mollie and Luan were already in the room staring outside the window.
Everyone else from C5 were staring outside with the exception of Sawyer, who was standing by the door.
Jordan turned around just in time to see them.
"Guys! Look at this!" Jordan said.
Aazay and the others quickly sprinted over towards the window.
What they saw shocked and shook them.
Down the street was an entire horde of running human figures. Guards were shooting at them.
"What the fuck? The hell are those?!" Luke asked.
Casey faced Luke.
"Cranks. All they want to do is devour you or cause pain. Nothing else." Casey explained.
"What do we do?" Luan asked.
Aazay thought of a plan.
"Alright, since that hotel guy..." Aazay was cut off.
"Who completely butchered your entire name." Luke added.
Aazay looked at Luke.
"Not the time!" Aazay said.
"Since that hotel guy isn't coming for us clearly, we have to just stay here. If things get too bad, we will barricade the stairs!" Aazay said.
Sawyer walked up towards Aazay.
"How the hell did they even get inside?" Cyrus asked.
"Because I did it." Sawyer said.
Everyone was shocked.
"YOU TALK?!" Cyrus said.
"Wait...you did it?" Amaya asked
Sawyer kept a straight face.
"These people aren't who you think they are. I've spent months in this fucking hell hole. I know what they do." Sawyer said.
Luke was boggled.
"Wait. Do what? How did you let them in? Who are they? MONTHS?" Luke asked.
"Every night, I would sneak out to the scorch and head over towards the mall a few miles away from here. Wasn't too hard to accomplish. I would gather cranks and lead them over here." Sawyer said.
The group was astonished on how calmly he said this like it was nothing.
"Wait. Why would you do that?" Nikki asked.
Sawyer sighed.
"BECAUSE, these people who you thought were your saviors, aren't who they say they are." Sawyer said.
Everyone in the room stood silent and stared at the boy. No one knew Sawyer had this fire in him, but the fire inside him was growing stronger, and now there's one outside...
Back at the factory, the group followed James.
The group took a left turn and saw a singular door at the end of the hallway. It looked very similar to the hotel room doors.
The group got closer and eventually arrived at the door.
James faced the group.
"You'll be staying in here for now." James said.
James took out his keycard and used it to open the door.
Once he swiped it, James put his hand on the door handle and began to open the door.
What was inside was a fairly similar room to the hotel rooms.
There were once again multiple bunkbeds, enough for each person...however, the room had concrete walls with a blue pattern at the bottom. The room had a sink and mirror along with multiple lockers at the right side of the entrance.
Small lights lit up the room.
There were also file cabinets at the very edge of the room.
The kids entered the room one by one.
"It's nice..." Nick said.
"It's not supposed to be the five star experience, it's all we got." James said.
James closed the door to the room, leaving the kids inside alone.
"This feels more like a prison cell than the last room." Lynn said.
Sam looked around.
"I mean...it's not THAT bad. At least we still have proper beds..." Sam said.
"And it's better than sleeping in the glade..." Nick said.
Kaitlin shook her head.
"Still feels like a prison though. Glad i'm not the only one who feels that way." Kaitlin said.
Lynn looked at Lincoln and pulled him aside while the rest explored.
Lincoln faced Lynn.
"Lincoln, be honest. Do you trust these people? Because I sure as hell don't." Lynn whispered.
Lincoln answered.
"Of course not. I've had bad vibes with these guys since we got here." Lincoln said.
"Good. Because I have a plan." Lynn said.
Lynn walked away from Lincoln and towards a bunk bed.
Lynn looked underneath it and saw a vent.
"What are you doing?" Nick asked noticing this.
Everyone looked over.
Lincoln approached Lynn.
"I knew it. There was a vent in this exact spot in the hotel room." Lynn said.
Everyone was confused, but Lincoln caught on straight away.
"So?" Nick asked.
"I don't trust these people. Neither does Lincoln. Remember what the doctor said?" Lynn asked.
Everyone was attentive.
"Uh...we're immune?" Nick said.
"No, not that you airhead. The other thing! She mentioned a group...a group called the Unit 8. I think these are those guys!" Lynn said.
Nick shrugged.
"What makes you think that?" Nick asked.
"Think about it! Vigilantes that kidnap and kill kids! They are a massive group? They have multiple stations?! The doctor said all of these things. Have you guys not been paying attention?" Lynn said.
Everyone was silent.
Stella spoke.
"What doctor?" Stella asked.
No one spoke.
"Think about it. They take kids every day, just like Casey and the kid with the hearing aid said. They have a giant city somewhere in this wasteland. They have multiple stations? I think this is one of them. This factory. On the way in, the door said 'Station 3'." Lynn explained.
"But how can we trust anything the doctor said. She locked us in a goddamn maze for 5 years!" Nick protested.
"We can't Nick. At least the doctor seemed to have been on our side, even though I'm still happy she died." Lynn said. "We can't waste any more time! We can't be their next victims or some shit."
Sam looked at Lynn.
"What do you think we should do?" Sam asked.
Lynn faced the vent.
"Me and Lincoln are gonna sneak in the vent. Look around and see what we can find." Lynn said.
"Damn. Straight to the point." Kaitlin thought.
"Lincoln, come on." Lynn said.
Lynn began to crawl inside the vent.
Lincoln faced the group as he crouched down.
"Wait!" Stella said. "I'm coming too."
Lincoln nodded. "If that's what you want. Just be careful." Lincoln said.
Stella nodded.
Lincoln turned towards the vent and began to crawl inside.
Stella joined him.
"They better not get us killed." Kaitlin said.
The three began to crawl in the vent.
The vent was extremely closed in, but was big enough to only touch their knees.
Lynn was in the front, Lincoln in the middle, and Stella in the back.
The three continued.
The vents had a shade of red from the lights inside.
Lincoln looked to his right and saw a spider web.
This gave Lincoln memories of when he was in the pit.
Lynn stopped and looked down at a brightly lit space.
"See anything?" Stella whispered.
Lynn shook her head.
"Just an empty room. Let's keep going." Lynn whispered back.
The three continued to crawl through the red shaded vent.
Luckily, the vents drowned out most of their sounds.
Suddenly, distant voices were heard.
Lynn stopped.
"You hear that?" Lynn whispered.
"Yeah." Lincoln whispered back.
Lynn looked around.
"It sounds like it's coming from over here. Follow me." Lynn whispered.
The two followed Lynn.
Lynn took a right and stopped.
Lynn looked down and what she saw widened her eyes.
"It's Sage!" Lynn whispered.
Lincoln and Stella quickly, but quietly, crawled around Lynn so that they could see.
The three looked down the open space and saw Sage in a hospital bed. There was a shade concealing her.
Doctors were in the back doing...doctor things.
Sage didn't seem to be in bad shape. She just looked at the shades.
Lynn had an idea.
Lynn knocked the vent quietly, trying to get Sage's attention.
Sage looked up and her eyes widened.
Sage didn't say a word so she wouldn't draw attention.
Sage looked at the shades towards the doctors and looked back up the vent, shaking her head at them.
Sage made a gesture, telling them it isn't safe to go down.
Lincoln looked around.
Lincoln made a hand gesture, telling Sage to hold on.
Sage nodded and looked away from the vent, trying not to draw suspicion.
Lincoln hand gestured the other two to follow him.
Lincoln began to crawl forward.
Lynn and Stella followed.
Back at the stadium, chaos was within.
"Okay? Can you get more fucking specific?" Luke asked.
"How?! I don't know their backstories. I just know that the kids they take, never go to the city." Sawyer said.
Everyone in the room looked at each other worryingly.
"Wait...that means..." Luke said.
"No. They'll figure it out. I know they will. They can handle themselves." Aazay said.
"Why didn't you say anything sooner? How come only after our friends were taken?!" Luke asked.
"It wasn't the right time." Sawyer said.
"RIGHT TIME?!" Luke shouted. "SAGE, MATIAS AND EVERYONE ELSE IS IN DANGER RIGHT NOW!"
Mollie stepped in between Sawyer and Luke.
"Okay, you wanna know what isn't the right time? THIS ARGUMENT! So let's not do this." Mollie said.
Sawyer cut in.
"I have a way y'all can get out of here. It'll lead you guys out into the scorch." Sawyer said.
"And then what?" Jordan asked.
"Run towards the nearby mall. There are signs leading to it. I'll meet you guys there after. Just follow the signs." Sawyer said.
"Wait, you're not coming?" Cyrus asked.
"No...I gotta help the others." Sawyer said.
No one expected Sawyer to have this type of heart.
"Don't try to be a hero right now. We need to go. Come on!" Cyrus said.
"I'll be fine." Sawyer said.
"Okay, it's done. Sawyer is staying. Now let's go." Luke said.
Sawyer turned around and walked outside the room.
"Follow me." Sawyer said.
The group looked at each other before following Sawyer.
Sawyer began to head downstairs.
The group began to head downstairs as well.
Sawyer was leading the group as he reached the main lobby.
Suddenly, the doors to the hotel opened.
It was Maurice.
Maurice shut the door in a hurry.
Maurice turned around and saw the kids.
Maurice's eyes widened.
"What are you kids doing out here?!" Maurice said as he approached the group.
Maurice walked up and faced Sawyer.
"You guys shouldn't be-" Suddenly, Maurice was cut off by Sawyer punching him in the gut.
Maurice crouched down and clinched stomach.
Maurice screamed.
"Ah! What the...fu-" Maurice was cut off after Sawyer knocked out Maurice with one final blow to the head.
The group's eyes widened.
Sawyer faced them.
"What? The guy works for these assholes and he's perfectly okay with what they are doing. It's the least he deserves." Sawyer said.
Sawyer leaned down towards Maurice's unconscious body and swiped keys from Maurice's pocket.
Sawyer looked over towards the end of the lobby.
"Come on." Sawyer said.
Sawyer began to run towards a door at the end of the lobby.
The group followed behind.
Amaya looked over and saw a book on the lobby desk.
Curious, since Amaya loves books, Amaya walked over and picked it up.
Amaya read the title in her head.
"The Girl In The Hotel Next To Me? What a lame name...this is what Maurice was into?" Amaya thought.
Sawyer looked at Amaya.
"Amaya! COME ON!" Sawyer shouted.
Amaya threw the book and began to catch up with the group.
Sawyer opened the door with the keys.
Sawyer turned the door knob towards the room.
Inside the room was a file cabinet and some shelves. It looked to be some sort of storage room.
"Get in." Sawyer said.
The group began to enter the room one by one.
"Okay? Now what?" Aazay asked.
Sawyer approached the file cabinet and began to move it out of the way of something.
Sawyer pushed the file cabinet to the side, revealing a hole.
"Woah." Nikki said.
Sawyer faced the group.
"Okay, here's the way out. Just go through this hole and you'll end up outside. There should be a massive billboard in the distance. You'll see it immediately. Just keep going straight on the main road and you'll find the mall. Once you're there, just hang tight and i'll meet you guys there." Sawyer explained. "I gotta go."
Cyrus grabbed Sawyer's hand.
"Dude! You're coming with us." Cyrus argued.
"Just let him go!" Luke said.
"You guys are welcome to join me and help. But i'm not leaving here without the others." Sawyer explained.
The group stood silently.
"Hurry up." Sawyer said.
Amaya looked down at the carpet.
Amaya looked back up at Sawyer and nodded.
"I'll come." Amaya said.
Sawyer looked at her.
"Me too." Nikki said.
Cyrus couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Yeah...I'll help." Casey said.
Sawyer let go of Cyrus's hand.
"Cyrus, you need to stay with them." Sawyer said.
Cyrus REALLY couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"So all of you guys are just going to leave me here with a bunch of randos? You guys are my only friends!" Cyrus said.
Sawyer shook his head.
"Then make new ones. You guys still need to find Stella and the others. Cyrus could come in handy with that." Sawyer said. "Now I have to go."
Sawyer exited the room.
Amaya and Nikki followed.
Casey stopped and looked at Cyrus.
"See you later man..." Casey said.
Casey turned back around and began to follow Sawyer after closing the door to the storage room.
"Alright, come on! Let's go!" Luke said.
Luke began to crawl through the hole and outside.
Once Luke got up, he was immediately hit with sand to the face.
Luke covered his face with his arm.
"Guys! Careful out here. It's very windy!" Luke shouted.
The sounds of crank's screaming drowned out the sound of Luke's shout.
The group began to exit the storage room one by one.
Cyrus was still facing the door.
Jordan noticed this and turned around.
Jordan approached Cyrus.
"Hey, come on, we have to go." Jordan said.
Cyrus faced Jordan.
"But...my friends..." Cyrus said.
"Hey, they're going to meet us at the mall. They'll be fine. If your friend is capable of all of this, I'm sure he'll be fine." Jordan said.
Cyrus looked at her.
"I can be your temporary friend if you want, but we really have to get going."
Cyrus felt a very comfortable feeling around Jordan now that she said this.
Cyrus nodded.
"Yeah, you're right..." Cyrus said.
Jordan smiled.
Cyrus sighed before turning around and crawling outside.
Jordan soon followed.
Aazay looked ahead and saw a massive rectangular object in the distance.
The sky was a very dark blue as sand blew in the air.
"That must be the billboard! Come on!" Aazay said.
Aazay began to run towards the billboard.
The group soon followed.
The Stadium was completely overrun by Cranks. Who in their right mind thinks that anyone is getting out of there alive...
The night got deeper as Aazay continued to lead the others towards Sawyer's landmark.
Lynn, Lincoln and Stella continued to crawl down the vents.
The vents were completely empty of noise with the exception of their crawling sounds.
Lynn looked down at an open space.
"Here." Lynn said to herself.
"Let's go down here." Lynn whispered.
Lynn removed the cover and placed it aside.
"Why down there? You see something?" Stella asked.
"No...just floor...but I know no ones in here. It's too quiet." Lynn said.
Lynn hopped down towards the blue-lit room.
Lincoln and Stella soon followed.
Lincoln, Lynn and Stella looked around.
It was a pretty small space. It had lab coats hanging off the walls. The lights gave the room a blue dim. The end of the room had a door.
The other end looked to lead out towards the factory halls.
Lynn approached the door.
The door automatically slid aside and revealed a large blue dimmed room.
However, what was inside shook the group to the core.
The group entered inside and had their eyes widened.
"What the hell..." Lincoln said.
A pathway led to the end of the room.
However, on both sides of the pathway were metal pillars.
In between those pillars were the bodies of kids and teens.
They were hanging up by some sort of tube.
The kids were unconscious, but still breathing as a device was connected to their nose and mouth.
The group began to walk forward towards the startling scene.
"I knew it..." Lynn said to herself.
For some reason, even though Lynn had seen the worst of things in her time in the maze...this shook her even more than anything.
The group looked at the hanging bodies in shock as they continued to walk forward.
Lincoln looked closer at one of the bodies.
They seem to have had some sort of device strapped to their arm, harvesting something out of them. A blue liquid.
Lincoln and Lynn continued to walk forward.
Suddenly, Lincoln heard Stella gasp.
Lincoln quickly turned around to see her staring at one of the bodies.
Lincoln approached her.
"Just don't look at it." Lincoln said.
"No...it's not that...it's just..." Stella said slowly.
Lincoln looked at the body she was staring at.
It was a brown haired boy with white skin.
"It's...Chad..." Stella said.
Lincoln stood quietly as he heard this sentence.
He didn't know what to say.
"Just...don't look at him..." Lincoln said.
Stella closed her eyes and looked forward.
At the very end of the room was a large glass table with four couches as seats.
It looked like the kids were used as some sort of gallery or decoration for whatever the hell this room was.
Suddenly, a noise came from the entrance to the room.
The door was opening.
Lynn, Lincoln and Stella looked behind them quickly and their eyes widened.
"Hide!" Lynn whispered.
Lynn, Lincoln and Stella quickly ran behind the pillars.
The door opened.
Two figures entered the room.
Lynn peaked over behind a body and saw Jay and a girl who looked to be in her late 20's. She had black hair, a gray sweater, a black over-skirt, blue jeans and blue and white snow boots. She also had earrings.
Jay and the girl began to walk down towards the chairs and table.
Jay sat down at the chair facing away from the bodies. The girl sat at the opposite end of the table.
The group listened to their conversation.
"Trevett is something isn't he?" Jay said.
The girl replied.
"No kidding. The man says he's on the good side, but honestly I think he's starting to lose it." The girl said.
"He's been losing it ever since he became a leader." Jay said.
The group was taking note of everything.
"Now listen, Mavys..." Jay said.
The group now knows the girls name is Mavys.
"We came here to talk about the kids. Let's get to it." Jay said.
The group listened carefully.
"Alright. So obviously you got the kids in hand right now. But you suggested sending the non-immunes to the city...and since the stadium is being completely fucked right now...we're in a tough spot for The Lion." Mavys said.
Lincoln, Lynn and Stella looked at each other with shocked expressions.
"I don't know what's happening back there, but it's a lost cause. Never should've spent so much on making it. Good thing we got the last few immunes out before any of that happened. Those other kids though..." Jay said.
"They aren't the priority. The immunes are. That's what our city needs…as hard as it is to say. Me as The Wolf, I need to make sure you as The Owl aren't defecting out of the plan here. I mean, you're the one who convinced me to do this in the first place." Mavys said.
"No. Of course not." Jay said.
Mavys nodded.
"We need to make sure these kids are harvested by tomorrow. The Lion will quickly get word about the stadium...we need to make sure he still sees us as his prime leaders." Mavys said.
"Of course. That girl, Sage, she is currently going through the beginning phase of harvesting. We'll get the white haired one next. He's the most immune." Jay said.
"The non-immunes will be sent to the city, the immunes will be harvested, and we'll get more respect with The Lion." Mavys said.
"It's not about the respect, Mavys. I care about these kids more than anything. Making sure they're safe is as important to me. The immunes lives will at least go to a good cause. I know we have many problems at the city...residents are getting sick, they are defecting...we as a civilization need to be with each other. Not against each other." Jay said.
"Yeah, but if we get more points with him, or if at least I do, i'd be able to get more help for my little sisters…for the city." Mavys said.
"I get it. Running an entire city by yourself can be a bit overwhelming. The stadium is most likely done for, so once this is all done, I might be able to help. I promise you this plan will work." Jay said. "Doctor Mayva is dead, Wicked is gone. All identified mazes have been cleared, and we are getting closer to the defectors." Jay said.
The group eavesdropping took note of this. Who were these "Defectors.".
"You need to get closer to them, they told us they wanted these kids as BAD as we do. We can't afford any more losses." Mavys said.
"We got a lead to them thanks to our last search party. Theres a few of them hiding by Casborough, that old factory place near San City." Jay said. "Trust me. They are only a step away. We'll find them."
"I know you will." Mavys said.
Jay and Mavys stood up.
"Let's start the preparations. We'll get all of the new arrivals and prepare them for harvesting." Jay said.
Jay and Mavys began to walk down towards the door.
Lincoln stopped peaking.
Lincoln's eyes widened as he looked at both Stella and Lynn.
Lincoln took multiple quick breaths, realizing his friends lives are against the clock.
Lincoln, Lynn and Stella began rushing through the vents back towards their room.
Kaitlin walked around the room, waiting for the three to return.
Nick and Matias sat on the same bed, staring at the vent.
Sam sat on the bunk bed, looking down and waving her legs back and forth.
Suddenly, the vent cover bursted open. Matias and Nick quickly got up.
Kaitlin immediately turned around towards the vent.
Sam hopped down from the bunk bed.
Lincoln got out from the vent quickly.
"Lincoln!" Nick said.
Lincoln looked towards the door.
"We gotta go...we gotta go! We gotta go! We gotta go!" Lincoln said quickly and energetically as he began sprinting towards the doors.
Lynn and Stella emerged from the vent.
The group fast walked towards Lincoln in confusion.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Nick shouted.
"What do you mean we gotta go?" Kaitlin said.
Lincoln rushed towards a bunk bed and began removing the sheets to get the mattress.
"They're coming! Come on! We gotta go! They're coming for us!" Lincoln said quickly.
Jay and Mavys along with four other guards began to make their way towards the room.
Lincoln began to tie the bed sheet around the door handle.
Lynn ran over to help.
Nick and Matias faced Stella.
"Stella, what happened back there?" Nick asked.
Stella stood shocked, unable to respond.
"LINCOLN! Can you just calm down and talk to us!" Kaitlin said frantically.
"It's them!" Lincoln said while tying the bed sheet around the door handle.
"Who's them? Sage?" Nick asked.
"The Owl's Army!" Lincoln said in a frantic.
"DIDN'T WE ALREADY KNOW THIS?" Nick said confusingly.
"Lincoln, can you just calm down and talk to us." Kaitlin said.
"Lincoln, relax!" Sam said.
"Just talk to us man, we're confused!" Nick said.
Lincoln finished tying the bed sheet and faced the group.
"IT'S THE UNIT 8!" Lincoln screamed.
The group stopped talking and stared at Lincoln in shock.
"It's the unit 8! It's always been the unit 8!" Lincoln shouted.
Lincoln began to run towards the bed and grab the mattress.
Mavys and Jay were getting closer. They were right down the hallway from the door.
The two turned a corner and saw the door in sight.
Lynn and Lincoln picked up the mattress and set it against the door, creating a blockade.
"Shit, where do we go?" Sam said.
Lincoln turned around and look towards the vent.
Lincoln began to run towards the vent.
"Alright, come on! In here!" Lincoln said.
The group began to follow him towards the vent.
Jay and Mavys approached the door to the room.
Jay began to walk up towards the door.
Mavys took out her keycard and swiped it against the door.
The door opened.
Jay began to push the door open.
Suddenly, the door stopped opening.
Jay tried to push harder, but the door wouldn't budge. It was blocked by something.
Jay turned around and looked at a guard.
The guard began to rush at the door, banging against it until it opened.
It took him three pushes to finally get it open.
When the door opened, the mattress fell down.
Jay entered the room and kicked the mattress in anger when he realized everyone was gone.
Jay turned around and faced his allies.
"Find them. Don't let them escape. Make sure they are unharmed." Jay said.
Lincoln kicked open a vent grate.
Lincoln ran outside the vent quickly.
What he saw was a long hallway with benches.
Lincoln looked around to make sure it was clear.
Lincoln saw it was and he began to run back towards the vent.
"Come on, Come on, Come on!" Lincoln said, rushing the others out of the vent.
Lynn exited the vent first, followed by Kaitlin, Stella, Matias, Nick and then Sam.
The group collected themselves and looked around.
"Okay! Where do we go next?!" Nick asked.
Lincoln looked down the hall.
"I remember this area. Down here!" Lincoln said.
Lincoln began to run down the steep floor of the hallway.
The group followed Lincoln.
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Nick asked.
"You don't wanna know where we'll be instead." Lincoln replied
The group began to sprint down the hallway.
The group took a right turn.
"This wa-" Lincoln was cut off by seeing something.
The group quickly stopped moving.
Only a couple feet away from them was Parker, the new guard.
Parker jumped back in fear.
Parker breathed and looked at the kids in front of him.
"What are you kids doing out?" Parker asked suspiciously.
Suddenly, an alarm started playing.
The group looked around at the blaring alarms. They know they're gone.
Parker stared at them with intense eyes, slowly backing away.
Jay entered the security room.
Jay looked at James.
"I want this place locked down! Call everyone available!" Jay demanded. "No one leaves until everyone is accounted for!"
James nodded.
Jay approached the monitor watcher.
"Tell me you got eyes on them Sterling." Jay said to the monitor watcher.
The monitors showed guards running down the halls in search of the kids.
"Still looking, still looking." Sterling said.
"Come on, come on, come on." Jay said annoyingly. His patience was running low, knowing his plan was running away.
Sterling looked around until seeing something.
"There!" Sterling said while pointing towards a monitor.
Jay leaned in and looked closer.
The monitor showed Lincoln and his group walking down a hallway with Parker in front of them as some sort of hostage.
Sterling paused the clip, showing a clearer image.
"Who is that?" Sterling asked.
Jay got up.
"Parker, the newbie. They're going after the girl." Jay said.
Jay began to walk quickly towards the door to the security room.
"Get everyone to the med-wing!" Jay said.
"Yes sir!" A guard said.
"I want them alive!" Jay said.
The group began to run down a hallway with Parker as a hostage.
Lincoln had taken Parker's keycard.
Nick was in the front.
Nick turned a corner.
What he saw scared him.
It was a guard. The guard was down the hallway.
"OH SHIT!" Nick screamed.
The rest of the group caught up and saw what Nick was seeing.
"FREEZE!" The guard screamed. "STAY WHERE YOU ARE!"
The guard began to shoot at them.
The group quickly ran away from the corner and back down the end of the short hallway.
"WHY IS HE SHOOTING AT US?" Nick yelled.
Lynn stopped mid-run and faced the direction of the guard.
"Lynn?!" Lincoln said.
Lynn began to run back towards the corner.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Nick screamed.
"LYNN!" Sam screamed.
Lynn turned towards the left wall mid-run and set her foot onto it. She let go and turned around and lifted her other foot up, causing her to twirl mid air like some sort of ninja. Lynn closed her fist as she did the twirl and she landed the punch as soon as the guard turned the corner, knocking him out.
Lynn just knocked out a fully grown adult male.
The rest of the group caught up with her.
"Shit, Lynn..." Sam said in shock.
"Teach me that shit some day." Nick said, impressed.
Kaitlin leaned down and grabbed the guard's gun.
"Okay! LET'S GO!" Kaitlin said while pushing Parker in front of her.
The rest of the group looked away from the body and began to move.
Jay and his goons ran towards the med-wing.
A black haired doctor which had the name tag "Doctor Adam Jenson" was walking towards the medic room door.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, revealing Parker.
"Tyler Parker, are you-" The doctor was cut off after Kaitlin pushed open the door and aimed the gun at the doctors inside.
Kaitlin shoved Parker towards the guards.
They were now in the room where Sage is in.
Dr. Jenson put his hands up and backed away.
Kaitlin aimed the gun and shouted.
"Where is she? WHERE IS SHE?!" Kaitlin shouted.
Doctor Jenson looked over at a curtain, pointing towards it.
Kaitlin looked back towards the group.
Nick kept watch of the door.
Matias, Sam and Stella stood shocked. Lynn and Lincoln stood by.
"Lincoln, Stella, go check!" Kaitlin said.
Lincoln and Stella ran towards the curtain.
Lincoln opened the curtain.
"Get down!" Kaitlin said.
Matias and Lynn began to use material to wrap the doctors and Parker's hands up.
"You're never going to get away with this!" A female doctor yelled.
What revealed was not their immune friend, but rather an empty bed.
Lincoln and Stella stared at the bed.
Lincoln turned around.
"She's not here..." Lincoln said.
Kaitlin looked back.
"Shit...they must've moved her." Kaitlin said.
Lincoln looked up towards the vent opening they used to talk to Sage earlier. He noticed it was open...it wasn't before.
"Where'd she go?!" Kaitlin asked while shoving the gun towards the doctors.
Nick looked outside the door and saw Jay and his soldiers sprinting towards them in the distance.
"Guys! THEY'RE COMING, WHERE DO WE GO?" Nick said while facing the group.
Matias and Lynn looked back.
Sam saw a metal table next to her.
"Nick! MOVE!" Sam said.
Nick moved away from the door.
Sam flipped the table and began pushing it towards the door of the medic room.
The group began to back away from the door in a hurry.
Jay's guards struggled to get the door open due to the table.
Kaitlin aimed the gun towards the door.
"GET BEHIND ME!" Kaitlin shouted.
Lynn backed away and looked at Parker.
She noticed Parker had a grenade strapped on him.
"WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE! WHERE DO WE GO?" Nick shouted.
Lynn grabbed the grenade.
The grenade was cylindrical and gray. It also had blue and it had white text on it that read "WARNING: INSTA GRENADE: Three Seconds Until Explosion: Be Cautious".
Lynn took note of this.
Lynn saw a wall at the end of the room.
Lynn yelled.
"EVERYONE GET AWAY!" Lynn screamed.
The group saw what was in her hand and instantly complied.
The group got far enough from the hit point.
Lynn activated the grenade by pulling its pin.
The room was bigger and Lynn then threw the grenade towards the wall.
Lynn hoped it led to something.
The grenade exploded, leaving a giant hole in the wall.
Everyone flinched, including the doctors.
Lynn began to run towards the hole in the wall.
There was a room on the other side, as she hoped.
"Alright! COME ON! COME ON! LET'S GO!" Lynn shouted.
The group began to run through the perfectly damaged wall outside towards the other-side of the hall.
Once the group had exited the medic room, Kaitlin took charge again.
The group approached a door.
Kaitlin placed her hand on the handle.
"Stay behind me!" Kaitlin said.
Kaitlin pushed open the door.
On the other side was another hallway...and a guard only three feet away from them.
Kaitlin stopped moving.
The guard noticed her and tried aiming his gun at her.
Kaitlin, without any other choice, pulled the trigger.
An electrical shock came out of the gun, it was metallic and it latched onto the guard.
The guard began to get electrocuted.
The guard was on the floor, writhing in pain.
"Oh shit..." Nick said to himself.
Kaitlin looked at the gun in shock.
"Alright! Come on!" Kaitlin said while running forward.
The group began to follow her as they passed the electrocuting guard.
The group turned a corner and began running down the hallway.
Kaitlin pointed towards the gate they used to enter the hallway.
"THERE IT IS! THERE IT IS! COME ON!" Kaitlin shouted.
The group ran as fast as they could down towards the door.
Kaitlin was leading the group with Lincoln next to her.
Lynn was behind Lincoln and Sam was behind Kaitlin.
Nick was behind Sam and Matias was behind Lynn. Stella was in the back.
The group approached the door and stopped by it.
Lincoln took out his keycard and began swiping it against the door.
The door was making an error sound.
"Come on! Come on! No, no, no, no, no!" Lincoln said as the keycard wasn't working.
"Lincoln!" A voice said down the hallway.
Everyone looked over to see Jay and his goons down the hall walking towards them.
Lincoln looked at Kaitlin's gun.
Lincoln grabbed it out of Kaitlin's hands.
Lincoln handed the keycard to Lynn.
Lincoln aimed the gun towards Jay.
"OPEN THIS DOOR, ADSON!" Lincoln said as he began walking closer towards Jay.
"You really don't want me to." Jay said with his hands up.
"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" Lincoln shouted.
"LISTEN TO ME!" Jay said.
Lynn kept trying the keycard, but it wouldn't budge.
"I'm trying to keep you guys safe!" Jay said.
Lincoln and Jay got closer to each other.
"The maze is one thing, but you kids won't last ONE DAY out in the scorch. If the elements don't kill you, the cranks will." Jay said.
Lincoln kept his aim steady.
"Lincoln, you may not know who we are, and I completely understand that...there's no need to run away here. We're all on the same side." Jay said. "I only want what's best for you."
Lincoln stopped.
"I know exactly who you are. You lied to us… You're the Unit 8." Lincoln said.
Jay chuckled and smirked.
Jay put his hands down and stared at Lincoln.
"You're not getting through that door, Lincoln." Jay said with a smirk.
"Nice way to drop the act." Lynn said to herself.
Suddenly, the door made a ringing sound.
The door began to open.
Everyone looked behind them in shock. What could've opened it?
The door revealed a pair of legs and it slowly rose up, revealing who opened the door.
It was Sage.
"Hey guys." Sage said with a smile.
There was an unconscious guard next to her.
Everyone stared at her in shock.
"Come on!" Nick said while running through the door.
The rest joined Nick.
The group turned towards the standoff.
"LINCOLN! COME ON! LET'S GO!" Lynn shouted.
Lincoln turned around to see Jay tackling him to the ground.
Jay knocked the gun out of Lincoln's hands.
"LINCOLN!" Sam shouted.
Jay was on top of Lincoln, trying his best to keep him down.
"SECURE THE REST!" Jay demanded.
Lincoln looked at Jay's pocket.
He saw a radio antenna sticking out.
Lincoln reached for the radio and pulled it out.
Lincoln slammed the radio against Jay's head, causing him to get knocked off of Lincoln.
Jay yelped.
Lincoln got up and started running towards the door.
Jay grabbed the radio and began to chase after Lincoln.
Jay spoke to the radio.
"SHUT THE MAIN VAULT DOOR! SHUT THE MAIN VAULT DOOR!" Jay shouted into the radio quickly.
The door started to rise down.
The group began to rush Lincoln.
"LINCOLN! COME ON! RUN!" Sam shouted.
"HURRY!" Kaitlin shouted.
"LET'S GO! COME ON!" Nick shouted.
"HURRY UP!" Matias shouted.
"LINCOLN!" Lynn shouted.
With only a few inches left from the door completely shutting, Lincoln managed to slide under the door mid-run.
The door shut.
The group grabbed Lincoln and picked him up.
"HOLY SHIT!" Nick screamed, impressed once more.
The group was shocked.
Jay approached the closed door.
Jay looked for his keycard.
He couldn't find it.
"Shit...shit, where is it?! Where the fuck is it?!" Jay said as he frantically searched his body.
Jay looked through the window.
Sage smirked and flipped him off while showing him the keycard she stole from his pocket earlier.
Jay pressed his hand against the glass and shook his head.
"You little shits." Jay said.
The group began to run towards the exit of the factory.
"Sage, come on!" Lincoln said.
Sage turned around and began to follow the rest of the group.
Sage and Lincoln followed the group behind. There was nothing stopping them now.
Luckily, all the guards were in the southern area of the factory, leaving the north area vulnerable, which was where the exit was.
"Come on! Come on!" Lynn said.
The group approached the giant metal door.
The group stopped in their tracks as they approached it.
Lincoln approached the handle to the giant gate.
Lincoln switched the handle downward, causing the door to slowly open.
Sand began to blow in, causing everyone to cover their face.
"Alright, come on, come on!" Lincoln said while running into the scorch.
It was still night and it was barely seeable.
The group followed close behind, leaving the chaos they started, and hopefully, leaving Jay forever.
The rest of the group was in the scorch now, not knowing where it'll take them next.
Longest chapter, and most eventful one so far in the story so far! Hoped you enjoyed it! See you next time in chapter 4.