Subject of the Flame | Maze Runner [2]

NINE

[ MINHO ]

❧

Minho ran down a long hallway. The closed loading dock door was in sight. After a close encounter with a couple of guards, along with Minho knocking one unconscious and Thomas shooting another, they'd been able to find Teresa. Now they were to meet up with Electra and Group B. Minho hoped beyond anything that Electra was beyond that door.

He shouldn't have let her go. Minho's heart fell into his stomach when Electra ran off by herself. A part of him had wanted to go after her and help her retrieve her knife but he had been frozen where he stood. It was as if Electra's refusal to let him help her had glued him to the floor and no matter how much he wanted to betray her wishes, he knew he couldn't.

As always, Minho did what Electra had wanted him to do. Now, he desperately pleaded that she was somehow behind the closed door waiting for him.

Hope disintegrated from Minho's heart when the Gladers crashed into the loading dock door. Thomas swiped his key card, but each time the lock buzzed before flashing red.

"Shit, come on," he whispered frantically, swiping the card repeatedly. "No, no, no."

"Thomas!" a voice called in the distance, and Minho could easily recognize it before he turned to face the sound. Rat Man.

Rat Man walked down the extended hallway. A cluster of half a dozen men with guns warily followed him, holding up shields to protect themselves. Minho pressed himself against the loading dock door, wishing he could somehow disappear. Where was Electra? The loading dock door was locked. Had she gotten caught? What about Aris and the Group B girls?

Thomas raised the gun he'd nicked off of a guard, walking towards Rat Man. The guards cocked their guns in response and Rat Man raised his arms at his sides. Minho looked away from the scene and tried punching in combinations in the lock. None of them worked.

"Open this door, Janson!" Thomas yelled.

"You really don't want me to," Rat Man replied, a hint of mockery in his voice.

"Open the damn door!"

"Listen to me! I'm trying to save your life." Minho looked up to meet Rat Man's gaze when he spoke. "The Maze is one thing, but you kids wouldn't last one day out in the Scorch. If the elements don't kill you, the Cranks will.

"Thomas, you have to believe me." Rat Man no longer had to yell, as Thomas stood in front of him. "I only want what's best for you."

Thomas' entire body shook, but he remained standing strong. "Yeah, let me guess. WICKED is good?"

Rat Man slowly dropped his hands. The cruel smile forming on his lips was the only confirmation Minho needed to know to prove that Thomas' comment had been correct.

"You're not getting through that door, Thomas."

Minho didn't know what to do, he just pushed his back harder against the door. It wasn't like he could attack them. All of the men had guns and Minho was just one person. He was weaponless and outnumbered.

Thomas pointed his gun directly at Rat Man but didn't try to shoot it. This was it. There weren't any more options. Their backs were literally against a wall. What would WICKED do to them knowing the Gladers tried to escape from their grasp? Minho didn't want to think of the possibilities.

"Hey, Thomas! Need a hand?"

Minho's ears perked up as a familiar voice cut through the hallway. He frantically looked past the cluster of men with adrenaline coursing through his veins.

Electra glared at the WICKED workers, wiggling her knife in her hands. The knife along with the hand holding it were both stained red.

Rat Man spun on his heels, and the men around him weren't sure which direction to face. Half of them had their weapons trained on Thomas while the other half focused on the newcomer.

Rat Man stayed safely behind a shield, "What a little thief."

Electra ignored the comment and carefully approached the group of men, seemingly undaunted by their guns. She kept eye contact with Rat Man himself, and Minho was reminded of how she used to look at the Grievers before she killed them.

Rat Man must've noticed the blood coating Electra's weapon and hand, as he instinctively took a step backwards. "Who did you kill to get that?"

Electra furrowed her eyebrows, before using her spare hand to wipe the blood off her blade, "I haven't killed anyone... yet, at least."

The door buzzed behind Minho before sliding open. Beyond the gate, Aris stood with the Group B girls, waving a device Minho guessed he'd used to open the door somehow.

"Hey, guys," Aris said awkwardly, trying to catch his breath.

Minho was pushed forward into the loading dock, but he twisted his head around to catch a glimpse of Electra. She'd used the door-opening distraction to slip past the guards, her eyes shifting from one man to another and her knife drawn in front of her face.

When Electra got too close to the group of men, one of the guards shot. The electricity just narrowly missed her head, striking the wall behind her. Electra jumped towards Thomas, crashing into him and the two stumbled backwards. Thomas pushed Electra behind him. She spun, her eyes as wide as moons as they caught onto Minho before she raced towards him.

Minho opened his arms and she crashed into them. Electra was shaking, and he wanted to keep holding onto her, but she pulled away and looked off toward Thomas when she heard gunshots.

Thomas shot his gun a few times, missing the men each time or hitting their shields. When he ran out of ammo, he threw his gun before turning and bolting towards the door.

Janson spoke hysterically into a communication device on his wrist, and the loading dock door began closing.

"No!" Newt yelled, and he shifted back and forth on his feet. Minho could tell Newt had to physically restrain himself from running out after Thomas. "Come on, Tommy!"

With every inch the door slid closed, the Gladers became more worried. Aris tried messing with the lock but this time nothing was successful. Teresa yelled out after Thomas, wildly beckoning at him with her arms. Minho felt helpless watching Thomas scramble towards the door.

Thomas dropped into a slide and slipped under the door mere seconds before it closed. Aris smashed the lock, effectively breaking the door. Rat Man and the rest of his guards crashed into the door, and Rat Man angrily looked out the window. Thomas raised the middle finger at him, and Minho faintly heard Electra snickering beside him.

When Rat Man noticed Thomas' gesture, his angry glare was replaced with a smug smile. Minho didn't even have time to feel chills before the entire loading dock was plunged into darkness. A couple of Gladers yelped, along with Group B girls muttering out shocked swears.

Electra gripped Minho's arm as they heard rustling in the distance. Minho tried to blink to get used to the darkness but was only able to see the faint shimmer of metal moving in the distance.

Minho heard gunshots. Light zoomed through the room and Gladers' bodies fell to the floor. Electra went limp beside him, her grip on him pulling him down. He tried to pull her up, but then Minho felt something stab into the back of his neck, and in his peripherals saw lightning surrounding his body, before he completely passed out.

—

A/N: HI EVERYONE I AM BACK!!!! this chapter still needs to be edited LMAO but i just really wanted to get something out bc i haven't updated in SO LONG I AM SORRY!! aaaaaand a lot of the dialogue comes straight from the movie btw!!

we are transitioning from movie to book plot bc i loved the beginning of the scorch trials movie BUT the book is so much better haha so i thought why not include both?

ANYWAYS!! i'm hoping to be updating more regularly! writer's block is just SO BAD rn i hate it!!!!! this chapter isn't even my best work but i just wanted to post SOMETHING yknow yknow?

ok rambling over lolol bye!