The W.C.K.D Soldier - The Death Cure Book 2

Chapter 6 ~ The Red Zone

I fall backwards as a bang echoes throughout the room. Pain blossoms in my chest as blood starts to pour out of the wound, making me lightheaded and dizzy. My eyes slowly start to close, the last image I see being Thomas standing over me.

"Thomas, I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

I wake up with a start, shooting up in bed as tears run down my cheeks. I stumble out of my bed and into the bathroom where I splash water over my face to calm myself down, my breathing heavy and irregular from the traumatic nightmare.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before slowly exhaling. My hands are shaking slightly as I walk back into the room and check the time. 4.30 am. I should get ready for training.

Pushing my thoughts from the nightmare to the back of my mind, I quickly and quietly get changed into my black cargo pants, my favorite grey t-shirt with the pen mark and pull on my combat boots.

Tessy is still asleep as I slip a hair tie onto my wrist before leaving the room. I walk down the long corridor towards the elevator, the hall mostly quiet apart from one or two other guards that walk past me and back towards the bunks after a presumably long night shift.

Exiting the elevator on the 8th floor, I pass the dining hall and enter into one of the training rooms. It's empty so I guess I'm a bit early.

Deciding to warm up, I wrap my hands with some white cloth before moving over to the punching bags.

I increase my strength with every hit, the bag swinging slightly from the force that I let out my anger towards WICKED with.

I lose track of time as the sound of my fists hitting the bag echoes throughout the large room and before long a silent tear makes its way down my cheek.

"You okay Cass?" A sudden hand on my shoulder startles me out of my thoughts, I quickly wipe away the tear before turning around to see Ethan standing there, Lucas a few feet behind him. Both of them look at me with sympathy and concern filling their eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I ignore the way my voice cracks slightly as I walk over to the side of the room and grab a water bottle from the mini fridge, guzzling a quarter of it down in a few seconds before taking a seat on the bench, not looking up as Ethan and Lucas sit down on either side of me.

"Cass..." Lucas mutters as he carefully grasps my wrapped hand to show bits of red that have bled through the white fabric around my knuckles.

"I didn't realize I was hitting it that hard," I mumble as I wince at the slight stinging pain.

"You should go get that cleaned up at the medical bay before we start training," Lucas suggests. I nod slowly and stand up, Ethan following suit.

"I can walk you there," he suggests. I roll my eyes.

"I'm sure I'll be fine walking down the hall by myself," I reply.

Lucas lets out a small laugh and pats Ethan on the back, telling him something I don't catch. Turning on my heel, I walk out of the room and down the corridor towards the medical bay that has been cleverly placed near the training rooms incase of any injuries.

Upon entering the brightly lit room, I groan at seeing Tessy standing by one of the tables. Maybe she won't notice me...

I try to sneak past her but as if she sensed my presence, she whips around to face me.

"Cassie, what are you doing here?" She questions with a smile before noticing the bloody white cloth around my hands.

"Oh, come here." She leads me over to one of the beds and gestures for me to sit down while she grabs a metal tray stacked with fresh bandages and alcohol wipes.