Subject A250: The Flame (COMPLETED)

Thirty-Two: Storytime

"Trace?"

Thomas' voice came through from the back of the group, and only then did Trace realise how much she'd missed it. "Tomato?" she asked. He came pushing through, followed by Aris and Terriblesa.

"About time you shanks showed up," Minho snarked. "What? You two decide not to kill him after all? Was it all a big misunderstanding?"

Trace really admired Minho's use of sarcasm. It was a real art.

"No," Thomas said. "It's a long story, but they're on our side. Trust me."

Trace snorted.

"I thought as much," Minho replied with a roll of his eyes. "I'd love to hear it, but we only have enough time for one story today, and Trace was here first."

Thomas nodded. "I thought you were dead," he said to Trace.

Trace shook her head. "Not dead. Just adventuring."

"What happened?" Newt muttered to her. He shuffled a little closer.

Trace sighed and reached her hand up to run it through her hair. It got stuck and she considered pretending she intended to keep it there. Instead, she reached up with her other hand and untangled it from the matted mess that it was. Minho looked on in minor disgust.

"Sit down," she directed those who were still standing. "It's storytime."

There was a lot of shuffling and manoeuvring of equipment. Someone yelled 'ow' and one girl fell directly on top of another. Eventually, though, they all found a seat.

"I waited," Trace began, trying to collect her thoughts as she spoke. "After the girls went through the Flat Trans, I waited. Within minutes, Ratman appeared."

"She calls him Ratman too," Thomas whispered, elbowing Minho. Newt shushed him.

"He turned up just as he did with the rest of the group there. I sassed him out, he cried a bit-"

"Probably not true," Newt added.

"Very true," Trace continued. "And then he told me to do the Scorch Trials and I was all like 'no way, Mr Rodent', and he was like 'then die' and I was like 'okay I'll do it, don't get your knickers in a twist'."

"How much of that actually happened?" Emilia asked- oh hey, Emilia- with a sly grin on her face.

"I would estimate about 87%," Trace replied. "Possibly more. Anyway, so I made some cool weapons out of ceiling tiles and bed slats because you guys took all the best stuff when you ran away so selfishly..."

"We didn't run away!" Charlene scoffed. "We wanted you to come with us."

"Yeah, well, anyway, I went through the Flat Trans and ended up in the dark. I found a wall, walked a lot, heard your voices," she said, directing that last part at Group A. "But you weren't there; it was an illusion or something."

"Strange," Harriet pondered.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Trace rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I found my way outside and fought a naked man-"

"You fought a naked man?"

"Yes, Nut. I fought a naked man. He fought me first so it was his fault."

"What happened to him?"

"He died of nudity."

"Of nudity?"

"No, he died of death. I killed him. He was a Crank with no eyes and he tried to kill me. Can we stop talking about naked men now?"

Newt nodded and waved his hand dismissively. Trace continued.

"Then I headed towards the mountains. I came up with two hit songs on the way, so if anyone's interested you can ask me about that later..."