The Sinister Scorch (The Girl Glader Part 2)

Chapter 1

Y/N's POV

The bus ride is long; too long. I sit next to Newt, head on his chest, silent tears in my eyes. Everyone has tears in their eyes; Thomas, Frypan, Winston, even Minho and Newt, both of whom I have never see cry. The only thing keeping me from crying and wallowing in grief is the dull pain in my body.

I move my arm slightly, shifting to do so, sending a spasm down my back. I silently whimper and Newt places his arm around my shoulders, rubbing gently in circles.

"It's okay." He whispers softly. "We're okay. We are free and we are safe." His voice cracks slightly.

"Yeah, safe." I mumble, too low for him to hear. We're safe but at what cost? Friends and family lost their lives. I lost four of my closest friends today. I hear soft snoring from beside me and see Minho sleeping. I manage a smile. I still have Minho, Newt and Thomas, even Fry and Winston. Everything will be okay. I think to myself as I slowly let sleep take over me, images of Alby, Chuck, Clint and Jeff haunting my mind.

I wake up to somebody slapping my face and telling me we have to run. Blinking away the blurriness, I don't ask questions, I just run. Well, limp, but going as fast as I can go. Slowly, things come into focus and I see our rescuers shooting at something behind us. I follow the others through a door, ears ringing, ankle throbbing, back searing.

"Thanks." I say to Minho, who is beside me catching his breath.

"No problem. You weren't waking up and we had to get out of there so..." he replies, rubbing the back of his neck. Newt comes up and hugs me.

"Don't ever give me a scare like that again." He grumps. I chuckle. A man who strikingly resembles a rat appears in front of us. He introduces himself as Janson and after we follow him around with him explaining a few things, we come in front of a bathroom.

"Before anything else, we will give you time to freshen up. Take a shower, etc." He gestures to the two openings. "Girls on the left, boys on the right."

"Y-you're splitting us up? No! We-We can't split up! We are a team. A group. A-A family." Newt argues, taking a step in front of me, shielding me from the man's gaze, eyebrows pinched together. I slip my hand in his, not wanting to let go.

"It's just for a shower. As soon as you are done, you will see each other again. I promise." The man explains as if he has encountered this type of situation before.

"B-but-"

"Newt," I say softly. "It's okay. I'll go. You go get nice and clean and I'll see you on the other side, okay?" He nods. "Good, because you really need a shower." I tease. He lets out a soft smile and I let go of his hand, limping into the bathroom the man, Janson, said was for me. Taking one last look at the others, I walk in, feeling more alone than I can ever remember feeling.

Quickly showering, I relish the clean, hot water that flows over my body. I hiss when it touches my wound on my back. Shoot. I think to myself. That's probably really infected. As the water continues to clean my body, I watch the dirt pool into a puddle on the ground before going down the drain. I take the soap and lather it into my hair and over my body. It smells like strawberries and peaches. I smile as I rinse the soap out and wrap a towel around my body, drying my hair off. I walk over to a pile of clothes and quickly, but painfully, slip them on. My mind wanders as I get changed. Back to Alby, Clint and Jeff. Most of all, back to Chuck. Poor, sweet Chuck. He didn't deserve to die. He was too pure and now he's gone. After pulling my pants on, I sit down, pulling my knees to my chest and let out a small sob. I should have done something to protect him. I-I could have stopped Gally. I should have- My thoughts are interrupted by another sob. Tears pour down my cheeks, staining them.

A few moments later, I wipe my tears stained cheeks and stand up, pulling on the shirt set out for me. I pull my hair back into a braid and make my way out of the bathroom. The Rat Man (that's what I'm going to call him) is waiting outside of the door. He stands up when I exit.

"Ah, feeling better?" He asks. I nod.

"Can we go see my friends now?" I ask.

"That's what I promised, isn't it?" I nod and he smiles. He turns and starts to walk down the hallway. "Follow me."

I follow him, limping down the maze-like hallways until we reach a door. Through the window, I can see many children around my age, sitting and laughing with each other. The Rat Man opens the door and I scan the room, hoping to find the Gladers. I spot them across the room and I go to make my way towards them. The Rat Man stops me.

"Is your ankle hurting?" He asks. I look at him, eyebrows pinched. "I saw you limping when we came in and it looks completely swollen." He explains.

"A little." I say quietly. He nods, lips pursed.

"Alright, you may go." I smile widely and limp over to the Gladers.

"Look who the rat dragged in." Minho smirks upon seeing me. I chuckle.

"What took you so long y/n?" Thomas asks.

"She's a girl. Duh!" Minho exclaims and I slap him, sitting down next to him. Newt is sitting across from me. I smile at him and he smiles softly back. His eyes seem to be studying my face, presumably looking for any marks. "They take longer to shower." Minho finishes. We all laugh.

"Who're you?" I ask the dark haired girl sitting next to Thomas. Beside her is another boy, one I've never seen before. She looks kind of familiar...

"I'm Teresa." The girl replies. The boy doesn't respond. "I was in another Maze with Aris here. And some other girls who aren't here right now." I look at Aris.

"Were you the only boy in your Maze?" He nods. "Funny, I was the only girl." I drop my voice to just above a whisper. "And let me tell you, these boys smell horrendous!" I fake a gag, earning a smile from the boy. Minho and Newt fake offense and Thomas slaps my arm playfully.

We all fall into a silence for a few moments before it is interrupted by Newt.

"Y/n, how's your ankle?"

"It still hurts but my back hurts more." I smile. "Don't worry, I'll live."

"Dang it, I was hoping that would get rid of you." He says back, pushing me playfully. We are interrupted by the Rat Man entering the room and yelling some things. He calls out some people's names and leaves the room. He comes back in a few seconds later and makes a beeline for our table. Stopping in front of me, he bends low and whispers,

"If you could come with me please." I look at Newt, fearfully. He returns my look with a similar one.

"W-Where are you taking me?" I ask.

"You can't take her! We only just got her back!" Minho exclaims, seemingly taking the words from Newt's mouth. The other Gladers watch, speechless. The Rat Man takes my arm and gives it a rough yank, making me wince.

"She will be fine. I am taking her to get her injuries looked at." The Rat Man says, yanking my arm again and pulling me from my seat. He keeps dragging me as I try to resist but I can't. He's too strong.

Eventually, we reach a room with a medical bed on it, medical equipment lying everywhere.

"A doctor will be in shortly." He says, walking out the door. He nods at the two guards on either side of the door. A woman with dark hair walks in, carrying a clipboard.

"Y/n, correct?" She says, getting right down to business. I nod curtly. "Good. This is going to hurt so I need you to put your hamds right here." She points to a spot on each of the arm rests and I lay my arms there. In no time at all, there are restraints around my wrists and she puts them around my legs. "I need you to lay still now." She says as I thrash around, trying to get out of the restraint. When I don't cooperate, she sighs. "Guess we'll do this the hard way." She injects something into my neck and my body slowly becomes heavy and I can't move. Darkness slowly starts to cloud my vision as I hear her whisper, "There you go. Don't fight it. Good girl." Then, the darkness takes over and everything goes dark.