Betrayed | the maze runner, Newt

chapter 2

And she fell asleep.

Sand. Sand everywhere. The burning sun in the blue sky, no cloud to be seen. It was hot, so, so hot.

It took some time to realize she was laying on her back in the sand. The girl shifted to her elbows and scanned her surroundings.

The vision of nothing but sand everywhere until the horizon sent her a warning feeling. She glanced up to the sky to see not one sun, but two. No, three. Seven, ten, thirty. She started sweating and turned her head down again. She felt several drops run down her face.

Was this the Scorch?

A scream sounded.

She jumped up and spun, but nothing was behind her. She turned back and opened her mouth in attempt to scream. But nothing came out.

In front of her stood a person. Ripped clothes, old skin, no eyes, no nose. Dried blood covered the dirty wounds on his face and neck.

Zara screamed again, but also that time, she couldn't get out a single sound. Her face had taken over horror, panic filled her, and her heart pounded in her chest. She ran away but stuck on the same place. She didn't move forward, no matter how hard she ran.

''Goddamnit wake up. Wake up!'' She thought.

A weird feeling spread her body. She looked down and took in the sight of her melting hands. Her hands were melting. So were her feet. And her legs.

Horror overtook her. She whipped around her and went in full panic state. More corpse looking creatures appeared near her and started stumbling towards her. Some didn't even stumble but actually ran. Zara could almost feel her throat getting ripped as her mouth was wide open in attempt to scream. Á growl sounded. She turned around just when a zombie jumped on her.

Her eyes shot open.

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Zara knocked on the door of her father's office. Two days had passed, and she'd just finished online class. Now the cook had told her to go bring Janson a piece of the cake he baked. Zara herself couldn't have a piece. Her father only allowed her to eat healthy food. That went together with the fact she had to do a workout every day in the gym a few doors further.

When no one answered, Zara pushed the door open and walked into the room. Her father was sitting behind his desk, video calling with someone as he looked her dead in the eyes.

''Get  out, Zara. I'm at work.'' He sneered.

Zara gave him a mocking face. ''I'm only here to bring you cake, dumbass.''

''Is that your daughter?'' A woman voice sounded through the laptop.

Zara frowned in surprise.

Janson sighed and leaned back in his chair. ''Yes, she is.''

''Let her in, Janson. I want to meet her.''

Janson reluctantly beckoned Zara, who walked over to his desk and scanned the laptop screen. An older woman with yellow looking hair and exaggerated red lips smiled at her.

''Hello darling. Nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Ava Paige, your fathers' boss.''

Zara snorted. ''He has a boss? Well, he's very proud of your company then.''

Janson nudged as a -shut up-

But the woman on the screen laughed. ''That's good to hear. What is your name?''

''Zara.''

Ava Paige nodded, that fake smile never leaving her face. Janson just stayed quiet and listened to the conversation between his boss and his daughter.

''So, has Janson told you about our goal already?'' Dr. Paige asked.

Zara nodded. ''Finding a Cure for the Flare.''

The woman nodded praising. ''Yes, exactly. And what do you think about it?''

''Well, I'm not allowed to leave this building because of that virus so the faster you find the Cure the faster I can actually go outside for once.''

She gave her father a side eye as a hint. He only rolled his eyes.

Ava Paige laughed. ''I understand, Sweetheart. We're doing the best we can.''

Zara nodded. Her father took his opportunity to break their moment.

''Yeah, Zara, I'd really appreciate if you'd leave my office and go entertain yourself.''

Zara stood up as soon as he finished his sentence. She walked to the door and turned around. ''Of course. I'm my own entertainment. Just like I've been since the day I was born because some man doesn't know what being a father contents.''

She walked out and closed the door, probably leaving him and his fake boss speechless.

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This afternoon Zara found herself in the little garden in the building. She'd brought her laptop and was scouring the internet for information about the Flare and the rest of the world. That's how she figured out that more than half of the world population was eradicated. It was a strange thing to think about, that one virus had caused all this. But when you reminded yourself that the virus turned normal people into brainless zombies, it got somehow a little understandable.

The dream Zara'd had a few days ago was still haunting her. The Scorch was nothing like she thought it was in her dream. It didn't make sense and it was much scarier than she'd figured. Zara gazed out her window since the day she could remember, and from what she'd seen, the Scorch didn't seem so bad.

But thanks to the dream, her longing to go outside did get a little less.

An article about Dr. Paige caught Zara's eye and she opened it. It was a quite old article, from almost three years ago. Zara scanned the words.

-But W.C.K.E.D will prevent that from happening, led by Dr. Ava Paige.-

Zara raised an eyebrow. If they started three years ago, is it taking a worrying amount of time to find that Cure. Zara clicked away the article and closed her laptop. It was almost six pm, so dinner was about to be ready.

When she entered the kitchen after bringing her stuff back to her room, her father was already sitting at the table. He didn't look up neither said something. Zara sat down on her chair.

After the cook had served their food and they both started eating, Zara looked up.

''What's WCKED?''

Her father glanced up. ''We.''

Zara frowned. ''Are we wicked?''

''No, we're not wicked, we're WCKED.''

''What's the difference?''

''The meaning and the capital letters.''

''That makes no sense at all. Who invented that name?''

''Ava Paige.''

Silence.

''I respectfully find her not good at creating names.''

word count: 1737

(A/N: sorry for low amount of words.)