Chapter 4: The Cranks

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RHEA'S POV
We start running for the exit, while WICKED guards shoot at us.

We keep running. When we finally reach that stupid door, Thomas pulls the lever to opens it, and we don't hesitate to run through the door.

"Go go! Maybe we'll lose them in the storm!" Someone shouts.

We do. We keep running in this awful sand. Some sort of sand storm is happening, and my hood whips around my head, my eyes stinging and my calves burning. Thomas leads the way, me next to him and Teresa not far behind.

It's when the lightning starts to strike that shouts rise up. We scatter away from each other, hoping to avoid this crazy lightning. I may have lived in a maze for a better part of my last three years, but I can confidently say that this lightning isn't natural.

"In there!" Teresa shouts, and when I look over for her, I find her jumping into a window of sorts protruding from the ground.

There's no time to scope out the area or be wary of our surroundings. The lightning is deadly, and at one point I saw someone flying through the air, only to be forced to their feet by someone else. I can only hope that it wasn't one of my girls.

We follow Teresa in. The sounds of the storm remain behind us, but now we're in shelter, leaving that storm behind. We're completely surrounded by darkness and someone switches on a torchlight.

"Okay let's get moving," Thomas says anxiously, clearly in a hurry to move on and get as far away from WICKED as possible.

"Thomas, wait!" Teresa shouts, half breathless. Her eyes look slightly crazed. "Wait!"

Everyone turns to face her, but she's looking directly at Thomas.

"I want to know who they are and what is happening," Teresa says, pointing towards us, sounding exasperated.

I look around at the guys, doing a mental count to see if everyone is present, and Harriet decides to speak for us.

"We're from Group B. We're all girls, except Aris, the total opposite of your Maze," She says, crossing her arms at her chest.

Thomas nods slowly, his dark eyes flickering between all of us. "Hey. I'm Thomas."

Spiky raises an eyebrow. "Minho." He says, giving us an acknowledging nod.

"Newt," Blond says, voice tense.

"Frypan," the dark skinned boy introduces.

"Winston," says the last one-the short one with slightly curly hair.

Quill nods. "I'm Quill."

"I'm Harriet."

"Aris."

Sonya nods at them. "I'm Sonya." Then she points at me. "That's Rhea." She hesitates, then adds, "Thanks for helping us get out."

Teresa swallows thickly. "What happened?"

"It's WICKED, Teresa. They lied to us and brought us in. We were never safe," Thomas says in a hushed tone. "They were about to come and bring our bodies to be tested and all."

We're all quiet for a few seconds, letting the reality of our situation settle in. We had run away from the people who had claimed to have saved us from WICKED but actually turned out to be WICKED as well. We had just escaped a sand storm with deadly lightning, and now were having some circle time in a dark underground bunker.

We have no idea where we are, and no idea where we're going. Still, though. Anywhere away from WICKED is good enough for me.

Newt breaks the silence.

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