ENTER THE SCORCH

The Final Battle

You spy the boys sat down a few metres away. You make your way to them and plonk down beside Thomas. He snakes an arm around your waist, pulling you closer to him. You notice that Newt isn't there; it's just Gally and Jorge with Thomas. You peer around the camp and see him chatting to Sonya. A warm feeling fills your stomach.

You rest your head on Thomas's shoulder and see the sun beginning to set. You hear a rumbling and tilt your head up. There's nothing to be seen. However, the noise is getting louder and now Thomas has heard it. The two of you stand up, searching the sky. You head over to talk to Sonya to see if she knows what's going on. Her and Newt look just as confused as you feel.

She goes over to a tent and walks inside, leaving you and Newt alone. You raise your eyebrows and give him a slight nudge. He puts his hands in his pockets and looks away.

Just then, Harriet runs to you. She has just come down from the clifftop and looks breathless.

She bends over, her hands on her knees. "It's... WICKED. They've... Brought... A berg."

You try to take in the information. How had WICKED found you again? You grab Newt's arm and run, leaving Harriet behind you. You reach Thomas and say hurriedly: "It's WICKED. They're coming."

He looks scared; he hasn't looked like this since Chuck died. You wrap your arms around his neck and whisper in his ear: "No matter what happens, I want you to know that I love you."

"I love you too (Y/N)."

You let go and turn to face Gally and Jorge. "We need to go and help the others. Come on!" You say the last words whilst sprinting towards one of the tents.

You fling open the entrance and see Sonya picking up various weapons. At the sight of you she chucks a rifle your way. "You know how to use that, right?"

You nod your head and she smirks. She gives similar weapons to the boys and walks out of the tent, gun in hand. The rest of you follow her and step outside.

The WICKED berg has landed, several guards are shooting at people. Sonya crouches low and guides your group over to a truck. She climbs into the back and starts firing, as do you. The whole scene is chaos. Gunshots whip through the air; you're not even sure who's shooting who. Suddenly, the tent you were in earlier with Brenda and Minho catches on fire.

That's when it hits you.

Where were Brenda and Minho?

You stop firing and shake Thomas's arm. "Brenda! Minho! They were in there!" The two of you race out of the truck and over to the blazing inferno that used to be a tent.

A WICKED guard stops you in your track and raises his launcher. You squeeze your eyes shut and hear a gunshot. However, when you open your eyes you aren't hurt and neither is Thomas.

You see the guard fall to the ground and Brenda stand behind him, a smirk on her face. Minho grabs you and Thomas from behind, pulling you into a tight hug.

You make your way back to the truck when you hear a shot being fired. Your head snaps around and you see Minho writhing around on the floor; something silver is sticking out of his chest. Brenda is by your side, screaming. WICKED have scooped him up and scarpered away, firing bullets in your direction.

Thomas pulls you and Brenda behind a tent. Brenda is sobbing and you feel empty on the inside. You look around and see that all of your friends are on their knees in uniform lines. And in front of them all, she stands there.

Teresa.

You storm over to Teresa. You don't care about the guards, about dying. Not anymore. WICKED have taken too many of your friends.

You grip the weapon tighter in your hand and walk up behind Teresa. You drive the butt of the gun into the back of her head and she falls to the floor.

You're surprised that no one has stopped you. That not one of WICKED's stupid employes has shot you.

You point the gun at her, your arms shaking with anger. A look of terror creeps onto her face.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't! YOU'VE KILLED MY FRIENDS! SO WHY SHOULDN'T I KILL YOU?"

Tears are running down your cheeks. You're about to pull the trigger when Jorge steps out from the lines. He pulls a rectangular device out of his pocket and chucks it at the guards. It explodes, sending them all to the floor. Teresa stands up and scarpers away to the berg in the chaos. The door swings closed, but not until you catch a glimpse of the lifeless Minho being supported by none other than Janson.

Rage fills your whole body as you look around, seeing dead bodies everywhere. The scene is so familiar to that of Marcus's house that it makes you think of Frypan.

All of a sudden, you collapse to the ground. You can't take it anymore: all the suffering, all the hurt.

Sobs rack your whole body as the first traces of dawn dance on the skyline. Thomas runs over to you and kneels beside you. He holds you in his arms and you cry into his chest.

You just can't take it anymore.

***

You wake to the sound of movement. You're not sure when you fell asleep but you're lying on the cold, hard floor.

People are milling about, picking up peices of debris. The dead now have sheets draped over them and have been moved into one of the tents.
You rub your eyes and sit up. Brenda is sat on the floor beside you, staring at a random spot on the ground. You give her a comforting look and she pulls you into a tight hug, sobbing. "I miss him so much! Why did they have to take him?"

You rub her back and silent tears roll down your cheeks. You miss Minho and he's only been gone a few hours.
Jorge comes up behind Brenda and she releases you from the hug. She crys into his chest, not bothering to hide her emotion.

You stand up and decide to start helping. You spy Thomas sat on a singular log and make your way over to him.

Suddenly he stands up, taking you by surprise. Everyone stops what they're doing and looks at him.

"That's it." He says. "WICKED have taken too many of my friends. I can't sit here and do nothing! We've got to go after them!"

The woman who you talked to yesterday (you found out her name is Mary) says in reply: "You're kidding, right? Did you see how many of us WICKED wiped out last night?"

"Then I go by myself. I'm gonna go to WICKED and I'm gonna kill Ava Paige. Then all of this ends. So either you're with me, or you're not."

You stand by Thomas's side and grab his hand. "I'm with you."

Mary lets out a sigh in disbelief.

"You make a pretty good point kid. So what do we do?"