The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials ~ Newt

PART 3: 12: Nervous

Frypan, Teresa, and Aris brought up the rear, and everyone stood in a clump, watching Jorge, trying to discern what, exactly, he was up to.

"Okay," he announced. He shrugged his giant duffel bag over his shoulders, the contents rattling on his back. "Let's go!" He took off without preamble, heading for the staircase in the far corner of the space. He seemed to hear that no one had followed him, and turned back. He saw their faces, skeptical, their eyes, nervous, and their bodies, exhausted. Jorge seemed to soften just a bit. "Let's go," he said again.

"Where?" Minho called out.

"To the basement," Jorge said like it was supposed to be obvious. "We can't hide here. We'll be seen, and taken like fish in a net."

"Come on," Newt told everyone, and gave people a light shove. "Let's go."

The group listened to Newt, they always had. He didn't speak often, but when he had something to say, everyone stopped.

They followed Jorge down a twisting flight of stairs, all cracked and dangerous-feeling, and Jorge knew right where to put his feet. Anna could follow steps, though. She was a memorizer. She could remember patterns like it was her job. It was what made Minho recruit her for the Runners. It was what allowed her a week of ease in the job before she realized one thing: Anna was scared. Scared of the Maze, scared of being alone, scared of the boys that seemed to follow her day and night. She went to Alby and pulled the menstruation card. He had bitched about it and grumbled, but two days later, Zart had taken her on.

"Right here," Jorge directed. He pointed to a dark corner. "Stay here for a few hours, then we'll move on."

"Move on where?" Aris asked.

Jorge turned to look at the boy. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Aris," he answered, less confidently.

Jorge nodded. "We are going to find the Right Arm, Aris," he said. "I am going to take you to them, you will present me as your guardian, and we'll all live happily ever after. Sounds nice, don't you think?"

"And Brenda?" Anna asked. "What about her?"

"What about Thomas?" Jorge retorted.

"You seemed close to her," Anna said, ignoring Jorge's attempt to turn the conversation on her. "She your daughter?"

"Close enough to it," Jorge said. "But she's smart. She knows what to do. I'm sure she pulled Thomas out of the building and they are now in motion."

"For the Right Arm?" Frypan sounded incredulous. "They'd never make it."

"For Marcus," Jorge sounded exasperated. "For now, assume that I know more than you; because I do."

Hours passed. Anna watched the moonlight draw an arc across the space and eventually start to fade. The group of six - seven, she supposed, if they counted Jorge - napped infrequently and talked even less. She started counting the spiders she saw along the walls, along the cracks in the floor. She was up to twenty-six when she couldn't ignore it any longer.

She shifted onto her knees and gently poked Jorge, who was sleeping with his arms folded, his neck scrunched into his collarbone. "Um, excuse me?" she asked. He didn't move. "Jorge?" she tried again.

This time, he inhaled sharply and his eyes quickly focused on the caramel-haired girl looming over him. "Son of a bitch," he mumbled. He wiped his nose. "What?" he asked Anna.

She suddenly felt mortified. She could feel everyone's curious eyes on her. "I have to pee," she said, wringing her hands awkwardly.

Jorge just stared at her burning face for a minute before he burst out laughing. After so long in silence, the sound started everyone. They jumped from their positions, or Newt from his precious few hours of sleep, and Anna could have thrown herself from the structure then and there. Jorge kept laughing, the sounds starting to disintegrate into gasps and snorts.