Burning Curiosity //Minho

Thomas: Nightmares

Coughing, I waved my hand at the air around us, trying to see the end of the tunnel we had just come through. When I reached my hand out though, I was met with jagged rocks. I think that's when I began to hyperventilate, just a little bit. "Are you done feeling up the wall?" Brenda coughed out. I couldn't exactly see her. I couldn't see anything really but she had to be right next to me in the darkness.

"How do you know I'm touching it?" I asked.

"I can hear your hands scrapping against it. I'm not deaf." She replied. I could hear her rummaging through her backpack before there was a soft click and light illuminated her face. She was holding a flashlight. "Look for one in your backpack. I'm sure I put one in there." I dropped the straps off my shoulders and brought it around in front of me. Sure enough, I found a flashlight buried among the piles of food. I clicked it on and shined it towards the caved in portion of the building.

"We have to get to my friends." I said urgently, turning towards Brenda. She sighed.

"Can't we just continue to the mountains? I'm sure that's where Jorge is taking them. That was the plan." I frowned.

"If they're hurt, we need to go help them. I'm not going to push ahead without them." I told her harshly, marching past her. Brenda shook her head at me as I passed.

"And do you know where you're going?" I paused. I didn't. Damnit. She was going to have to show me.

"We'll go back up to the top but we're wasting our time. They're already in the Underneath we should just push ahead." Brenda muttered, taking the lead. The Underneath? Is that what they called this? "Try not to make too much noise. The Cranks down here are worse than the ones up top." Brenda murmured. I nodded my head slowly as we turned down an adjacent hallway.

It took us maybe twenty minutes for us to get back topside and then another ten to get back to the building. When we entered, Brenda frowned the entire time I tried to look for my friends. Hell I even looked for bodies. But nobody was in there. "This didn't happen naturally." Brenda murmured. "Those Cranks we left behind probably did this."

"Why would they try to kill you and Jorge, I get why they might want to get rid of us, but Jorge was the leader."

"He hasn't been the leader for long and nobody really liked him much anyways." Wow, I wonder why? "Anyways, they probably thought it would be better to get rid of us." Shrugging, Brenda moved back towards the doorway we had come through. I jogged after her. "Your friends aren't here and I doubt any of them died, there are no bodies."

"Couldn't the Cranks have taken them?" Brenda gave me a funny look.

"No point, might as well eat them where they find them. I'm sure your Gladers are fine." Gladers... Had I said that word around her? "We should get back to the Underneath. Eventually, the tunnels all connect with each other. It's the most likely place Jorge took them. It's faster than walking around out here but also a bit more dangerous." She said that also part quietly, as if she didn't want me to hear.

"What do you mean dangerous?" Brenda sighed.

"You'll see." She took my hand and began to pull me in the direction of the tunnels we had just come out of.

"Brenda, if it's dangerous, why would we go there?" I demanded.

"Do you want to find your friends or not?" Brenda demanded, stopping to turn around and give me a hard look. I sighed, giving in to her plan and she nodded determinedly like she knew I would follow her. "Now hurry up, I don't want to be down there when it's dark."