The Scorch Trials Rewrite

Part 10

"So you know where we can find him?" Brenda asked.

"Sure, sure. He's over in Zone B."

The woman circled around us, sliding her fingers along Thomas' shoulders. "What's Zone B?" I asked.

"It's where they burn the bodies," she whispered close to Thomas' ear. I looked over to Brenda to see she had a look I hadn't seen on her before. Panic.

I squeezed Thomas' hand, my nonverbal way of telling him something was wrong. He squeezed back before releasing my hand and stepping closer to them. "Okay, look, has anyone else been by here looking for him? Group of kids around our age?"

"You know, uh..." Nicholas rubbed his forehead lightly. "I think they might be inside."

"Of the party?" I asked cynically. It's not like them to go inside of a party when we have stuff to do.

He nodded and reached into his coat pocket. "Here. Drink this, teacup." He held it out to me, a smile on his face. The liquid in the bottle was light green like absinthe.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The price of admission." His smile didn't look very friendly, and I didn't trust him at all. The way his eyelids fell made it look like he was drunk or high off something. When I didn't take the bottle, he tensed and yelled, "Drink it!" Out of fear, I took the bottle and drank a sip. It tasted bitter and sour and I hated it, but Nicholas smiled at me. "Keep going." His finger touched the bottom, tilting it up to force more into my mouth.

When my mouth was full, I backed away from it and handed it back to him with a frown. I felt scared and uncomfortable here. It took a lot for me to swallow it since it burned like fire, but I forced it down, and Nicholas chuckled at my reaction as I choked.

"Your turn," he said to Thomas. The woman clung onto his shoulder as he drank it, tilting the bottle the same way Nicholas did me, albeit she was more sexual about it. She took the bottle from him when she felt he'd had enough and handed it to Brenda. She wasted no time in choking it down, so Nicholas chuckled and walked around behind us.

We squeezed closer together, all of us feeling a little violated here, and Nicholas popped his head between me and Brenda. "Alright. You three enjoy the party." He shoved us inside past three sets of curtains.

It sure looked like a brothel inside. There were girls in bras and underwear slinking around everywhere and dancing. Nearly everyone else wore fashionable clothing, a drastic difference from what we'd seen walking into the city. It was like these people forgot about where we were.

"Maybe we should split up," Brenda said. "See if we can find the others."

"Uh-huh," I mumbled absent-mindedly, taking in the sight of everyone as my head began to feel light. People were so different here. One girl even had hair made of fire.

Brenda put her hands on our shoulders, looking us in the eyes seriously. Her eyes were green like glowsticks and she had little fairies sitting on her shoulders. "Don't drink anything else."

"Hey, Thomas," I said as she walked away. "Did you see the fairies?"

"No, where?"

"Nevermind. It's hot. God, it's so hot." I stripped off my jacket as I stepped into the dance floor where lights of all colors and sizes filled the room. There was a disco ball on the ceiling made of water. Thomas took off his jacket as well as he followed me.

There was a room to the left where a crank wearing a leash was clawing for people. A man with a backpack made of bear teased it, holding a gun into the air. I was pretty sure they were fighting, but the crank lost when the man shot him between the eyes. I thought it was pretty unfair fight.