Burning; TST ➵ Thomas

F O U R T E E N

Thomas groaned as he felt a small bump. He opened his eyes and adjusted to the brightness. The Gladers, Jorge and Brenda surrounded him. Their questions overlapped each other.

But he wasn't the only one strung tightly to a canvas litter. He looked to his side to see Amelia, who too had seemed to have just woken up. She rubbed her eyes, yawning.

"Jesus, what happened?" she asked. "Also, a little help here?"

As Minho and a couple of others worked on untying them, Thomas had a disturbing thought.

The people from WICKED had shown up to save him pretty quickly. From what they said, it was something that definitely wasn't planned but they did it anyway. This meant that they had to be watching their every move and swoop in to save them whenever they wished. But they hadn't until now. They hadn't saved any Glader until he got shot.

And the man. What he had said. It still stuck to Thomas.

"She's only doing it just to protect him. She's the flame that guides them, he's the candle wax that keeps her alive."

The Flame. It reminded him of the "name" that WICKED at given them. He recalled seeing it on the piece of paper on the door to her's and Teresa's bedroom. Was the man's statement related to it? It had to. Otherwise, she wouldn't have the nickname like the other Gladers to had... died.

His thoughts were overwhelming. It was too much to think about.

Once they were free, Thomas stood up and stretched. Neither of the teens bothered to answer the group's burning questions.

"Seriously, though. Anyone gonna tell me what the hell happened?" Amelia looked at her friends. Her brow was raised, arms folded on her chest.

"Ask him." Jorge nodded to Thomas who was staring down at a bulge of a bandage underneath the sleeve of his left shirt. "He was with you ever since we split. He should know the most."

Amelia jerked her head towards him. The two made eye contact. She wasn't just looking at him, she was glaring. She had a pissed off look on her face. The brunette sent him a dirty look before she shook her head.

"Any shelter nearby? We're gonna get baked." The day was hot - brutally hot. It was basically scorching.

Minho led the group to a shabby hut. It was made out of dry wood that looked as if it might crumble to pure dust at any time. The space was enough to cover everyone, though.

Since, apparently, Amelia didn't remember a single thing that happened after they were 'kidnapped', Thomas felt as though the world was on his shoulders. He promised the group a million times that he would explain the situation after they had settled.

During the trek, Amelia stood near him but it was also a good distance away. Thomas had enough of her ignoring his existence. So he walked closer to her.

She didn't move away. She just continued to follow Minho. It was like she never noticed that he was standing next to her. Her blue eyes refused to meet his brown ones. He wanted to know why.

"Hey," he piped up. Amelia stayed silent. Her arms were crossed as they continued to walk. "Did I do something to make you mad at me? Was it because I dragged you into the party?"