We go up flight after flight of stairs, and eventually break out into sunlight. I'm disoriented, but I run for the vehicle without trying to focus on our surroundings. We need to get out of here.
The bus is old and dilapidated. We file on in record time, filling the cracked leather seats with exhausted, grimey Gladers. Our rescuers load in after us, and I end up sitting between Newt and one of the armed men.
He looks drawn and tired.
"Who are you?" I ask. I don't really want to talk, if I'm being honest, but I need to know something about the world we're in. Around us the sky is a dull blue, and the earth is dry and broken. The van bumps over rocks.
There are a few people nearby, staring at us with haunted, terrifying eyes, but for the most part the road we take is deserted. I can see trees in the distance, but we take the emptiest path away from the large building the Maze was in.
"We're here to help you," he answers. "We're a rebel group working against WICKED. That's the program you were in."
Program feels like the wrong word, but I ignore it. "Why are you helping us?"
"WICKED is using you for experimentation. We want to partner with you. There's a disease in the world. It's called the Flare. It's destroying life as we know it. With the...training WICKED gave you, you can cross the desert and find the cure rumored to be in the mountains."
"Sounds fun," I say, leaning back and staring out the window again. I just hope that we didn't go from the frying pan into the fire.
I pull my matches from my pocket and casually light one. It burns out after a few moments, and I sigh.
"Hey, Ash?" Newt asks, and I glance up at him. "I... need to think for a bit. Do you mind letting me be alone?" His voice is soft, as if he feels bad for asking.
I give him a tired grin. "Of course not. I'll go talk to the others. See ya, blondie."
"Don't call me that," he whines as I get up in the jostling bus, and I laugh.
YOU ARE READING
Good Grief (TMR fic)
FanfictionThey had never had someone like Ash. They had never had a pyromaniac. They had never had someone with a mind that understood the Maze. They had never had someone who could get them out. As We Watch the World Burn book one, The Maze Runner [book]...
