Admit Defeat (TMR fic 2)

Chapter 33

(this song has the most Scorch Trials vibes I've ever seen in a music video, and of course fire always makes me think of Ash~) 

The storeroom is nearby, through a locked door and down a set of stairs in a basement.

"We think it used to connect to the tunnels of the city," Brenda rambles as she pulls cans of food and bottles of water off of shelves and hands them to our line of waiting Gladers. "But someone sealed it up. That's the only reason it isn't overrun by the crazies. Not that the rest of us aren't crazy as well," she adds with a wry smile.

"Where did you get this much food?" Thomas asks, staring at the label of the can of greenbeans in his hand. I guzzle half a bottle of water, knowing that I'm still dehydrated from the past days.

"The city used to be a production facility that packed cans, actually," Brenda explains, seemingly happy to find someone interested in her knowledge. "They figured it was a good place to send Cranks. They- we die of killing each other or the Flare instead of starvation this way."

"Cheerful," Frypan mutters, but I can tell he's not very upset as he cradles a can of potato soup reverently.

"Alright, that should be enough," Jorge says from the back of the line, nearest to the stairs. "Let's go."

We start filing up the stairs, Newt helping me carry the cans I was handed. Thomas is still talking to Brenda, so he's still in the basement when the explosion hits. The world blasts into action out of nowhere.

I stagger into Newt, the ground seeming to rock beneath us as the stairway crumbles into dust and rubble. I cough from the dust as I run up the rest of the stairs with the others.

"They knew we were leaving," Jorge growls. "Come on."

"Thomas is still down there!" Minho says, motioning towards the pile of rocks blocking him off from us. "We aren't leaving without him."

"Brenda knows those tunnels better than anyone," Jorge responds. "The Cranks must have set some dynamite against the wall built between the tunnels and the basement. She'll take care of Thomas. We need to get out of here before the Cranks show back up and try to kill us again."

There's no way back into the basement. We have to hope that he's telling the truth and Thomas is safe.

So we run. We follow Jorge through the city, dodging from alley to alley, creeping around buildings and climbing over short walls. It's much easier to move now that our group is smaller, grim as that is. The more of us die, the simpler it is.

Soon we all crash into a building where Jorge says we probably won't be found.

I don't care, though, if we are. On the wall I see a sketched map, and I lose all other trains of thought. A map.