Stardust - Thomas - Maze Runner

Chapter 17 - Climb

They had no idea where to go, but, at the moment, all they really needed was to get rid of the three masked men following them down the alley while avoiding being shot down. Up until that point, they were doing a fine job of it, but, once they reached the end of the alley, they realized they might be in trouble now.

"Shit..." Thomas mumbled, looking around himself as he tried to come up with a new idea now that there was a huge brick wall stopping them from going any further.

"You two! Stop!" One of the men yelled and Thomas was quick to turn around to face him while pulling Selena to stand behind him. "Don't move!"

Thomas didn't listen, of course and, the more he thought about the situation they were in, the more he realized it felt quite the same as the night he spent in the maze, trying to survive the Grievers while running around uncharted territory. He hated even thinking about that day, but, at the moment, it was the only thing he could think about and, when he remembered how he had managed to survive a night in the maze, an idea popped up in his mind. As per usual, it wasn't a great idea, but it was the best he had at the moment, so it was going to have to do.

"Don't move!" Another man said, but Thomas just shook his head, taking a second to look over his shoulder at Selena as he smirked.

"We're moving." He said, and the next thing he knew, he was rushing away with Selena, climbing up on the rubble of what Thomas could only assume once was a building to their right. Thomas urged Selena forward, for the first time letting go of her hand to climb behind her as a way of keeping his eye on her at all times. "Climb up! Go!"

Selena didn't argue and, as much as she wasn't sure what exactly Thomas was even planning in the first place, she also knew they didn't have much of a choice. So she climbed up, wincing everytime a bullet flew a bit too close to her, but never looking back.

"Keep going, Selly, you're good!" Thomas called from behind her, using one of his feet to tip a rather big piece of concrete off as it rolled down, almost knocking down one of the rebels. "Just go!"

"Stop!" The men behind them called. "Stop now!"

They didn't. Instead, Selena and Thomas just kept on climbing, reaching the top of the pile of rubble way faster than the rebels considering the two of them had been pretty much running and jumping and climbing and rolling to save their lives for almost a whole year now. As soon as they reached the top, however, they stopped.

"What now, Tom?" Selena asked, looking around herself as she realized they had nowhere to go from there now. "What do we do?"

And Thomas wished he had an answer for her, but, as he stood there beside Selena at the top of the rubble, he realized this was an even stupider idea than he had predicted. They could climb down from the other side and, maybe, if they were lucky, they'd be able to outwit the other two guards that already gathered there, waiting for them. But that was a very long shot and, even if they did manage to climb down without being shot by any of the guards, it was no guarantee they'd ever escape. So, really, they were trapped and, for the first time in a while, Thomas realized he didn't actually know what to do.

"I... Shit, Selly, I..."

"Stop!" One of the rebels called, his gun pointed at Thomas and Selena as he finally managed to catch up with them and stand at the top of the rubble as well. "You're trapped now, kids, so just stop running."

Neither Thomas nor Selena said anything, but the girl did move to stand closer to Thomas, her hand shooting out to grab his again as a way of silently reaffirming that she was there for him, whatever may happen next.

"Come with us." Another one of the rebels said, now that the three of them had caught up with Thomas and Selena. "Stop fighting and just come with us."

"You'll take us to WCKD." Thomas argued and one of the man almost choked in his laughter behind his mask.