Stardust - Thomas - Maze Runner

Chapter 11 - Children

As soon as they were far from the train rails and as close to the Right Arm compound as they could without raising too many suspicions, Jorge flew the berg down, slowly putting the wagon back on the ground and landing the berg nearby. Just as the wagon was safely secure on the ground, all of the kids rushed to gather around it, almost too excited to get inside.

"Alright, everyone. A step back!" Vince called out, grabbing a handsaw and starting to work on making a small opening for the kids.

Around him, all of them waited. From beside her, Selena could tell Thomas was nervous. Of course, Thomas was always nervous, but this time... With Minho so close to him and a plan that he basically came up with on his own, he was practically exploding by now. Newt and Frypan were stressed out too of course and Selena herself was almost feeling like she was about to combust, but, when Harriet rushed up to her and wrapped her hand around Selena's, she decided she needed to be strong. If not for herself, then for Harriet and possibly for Aris and Sonya as well, who would, hopefully, be inside the wagon they had gone through so much for.

"Do you think this is it?" Harriet asked and, although a question like that could mean a lot of things, Selena was pretty sure there was only one thing in Harriet's mind at the moment - would Sonya be inside that wagon?

"I don't know..." Selena admitted in a whisper, squeezing Harriet's hand in hers as she kept her eyes on Vince and the door he was about to open for them in the wagon. "But I surely hope so."

Harriet turned to Selena then and smiled gently, causing the red headed to return the gesture, leaning her head against her friend's shoulder as she let out a heavy breath. It wasn't something out of relief just yet either. It couldn't be. Sure she survived a pretty insane rescue mission, but if Sonya and Aris weren't inside the wagon, all of this would've been for nothing. Besides, if they weren't there, what would that mean? Would they still be held by WCKD? Would they be dead already? Selena wasn't sure and she didn't know which of the options she found the most disturbing, but one thing she did know... She couldn't feel any type of relief yet and she couldn't relax. Because if Aris and Sonya weren't inside that wagon as expected, she was pretty sure she would find a way to infiltrate WCKD by herself.

"Okay, kiddos..." Vince announced, turning off his handsaw and stepping back as soon as he managed to open a door in the wagon. "There you go."

Vince was quick to take a step back as soon as he was done with his job and Selena figured he had been pretty smart in doing so because he wasn't even done talking when Thomas, Selena and the rest of their friends practically pushed him out of the way to step inside the wagon instead. Thomas and Newt went in first. Always a gentleman, Frypan allowed Selena and Harriet to climb inside before him and, almost as soon as Selena stepped inside, she felt like running out again.

The energy inside the wagon was dark and heavy. And of course it would be, considering the kids inside were being transported as nothing more than commodities with their hands chained up together and locked to the ceiling. Still, Selena pushed on, walking further and further down the wagon as she looked around the almost thirty kids inside. Some of them she recognized and she was glad to see a few of the girls from back at the Sposh returned safely to them - or as safely as they could possibly be after spending almost six months with WCKD. She nodded and smiled at them as she passed by, resting a hand over their shoulders and whispering reassuring words to them as they all smiled back at her. Some of the kids Selena didn't know. Probably kids from other groups, possibly ones that never left their mazes or didn't find the Right Arm before WCKD got hold of them again. Still, she nodded at them as well, telling them they were safe now and all of this would be over soon. They all thanked her and, as much as Selena was glad they had managed to save so many, her heart was still clenching in her chest as she looked around, looking for the two familiar faces she wanted to see the most.