Dynasty // The Scorch Trials [Book 2]

THIRTEEN

"Well, this sucks," I huffed. 

"Yeah, great plan, Thomas," Minho sarcastically remarked.

The seven of us were hanging upside down, dangling from ropes that were attached to the roof of the building. They had been rather aggressive with us while they put the ropes around our legs. My ankles were burning as the rough material of the rope cut into my skin.

"Just hear what the man has to say, best plan you've had so far," Minho continued his sarcastic rant. 

Thomas sighed. "Shut up, Minho." 

"Maybe I can reach the rope." Minho pulled himself up and tried to reach for the rope around his legs. 

"Enjoying the view?" a voice that caused goosebumps to form spoke up. I had taken a risk with Jorge to trust him that he would help us, yet here we were, dangling upside down from a shucking ceiling. 

"What the hell do you want?" Minho asked, his sarcastic tone from earlier completely vanished and made room for annoyance. 

"That is the question," Jorge said. "My men want to sell you back to Wicked. Life has taught them to think small, but I'm not like that." I narrowed my eyes at the man as his gaze shifted to me. He was bouncing a walking stick on his palm and I felt slightly threatened. "Something tells me you're not like that either." 

"Is the blood rushing to my head or is this Shank not making any sense?" Minho rhetorically asked. Jorge completely neglected him as he turned to me again.

"Tell me what you know about the Right Arm." He pointed his stick at me. If I could back away, I would.

"Put away the stick," Thomas immediately warned Jorge, who only ignored him. 

"I thought you said they were ghosts," Newt butted in. 

"Yes, but I happen to believe in ghosts," Jorge stated. "Especially when I hear them chattering on the airwaves. You tell me what you know." He placed his hand on the lever that controlled the ropes attached to our legs. "And maybe we can make a deal." 

"We don't know much," Thomas muttered. Jorge squinted at him before pulling the lever, causing us to drop about three feet down. "Okay, okay, okay!" Thomas held, as far as possible, his hands up to stop the man. "They're hiding in the mountains. They attacked Wicked and got out a bunch of kids, that's all we know." 

Jorge was about to speak up but was interrupted as one of his men called his name. Thomas turned to me and mouthed, "You okay?" I nodded quickly and sent him a smile, but I knew he could see the fear in my eyes. 

"What's going on?" the man asked. 

"Me and my new friends are just getting to know each other." A shiver ran down my spine at the word friends. "We're done now." Jorge moved to walk away but I stopped him.

"Wait." He turned back. "You're not gonna help us?" I motioned to the ropes around my ankles. 

Jorge smiled sadistically. "Don't worry, cariño, we'll get you back to where you belong." He strutted away with long strides. He didn't forget to call, "Hang tight!" 

The other man glared at us for a few seconds before he also left. I sighed deeply. "We can't go back to Wicked. We have to get out of here," I stated.

"I agree, but how are we going to do that? The only way of getting out of here is if we can untie ourselves," Newt said. 

"Or," I started, my eye falling on the lever Jorge had used. "We can push someone to that lever, they can get us out." I looked around and saw that Teresa was closest to the lever. "Minho, you can push her to the lever."

Minho nodded once and reached out to grab Teresa's jacket. He positioned her so he could push her in the direction of our possible way out of here. He gathered strength before pushing her to the lever. She couldn't reach it, not even nearly. "C'mon, Minho. Push harder," I whisper-yelled.

"I'm trying," Minho whispered back before pushing Teresa again. After three tries, she reached the lever and pulled it. We dropped another four feet and Teresa was able to climb onto the edge to untie her own ropes. Then she helped Thomas to the side and together, they released the rest of us. Thomas took my hand in his as he pulled me from the floor. He unconsciously placed his palm on my stomach and the other rested on my shoulder. 

"Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?" he asked softly. I shook my head.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I assuredly patted his hand on my stomach. He nodded and smiled.

"You'd tell me if anything was wrong, right?" 

"Yes, of course," I lied quickly, offering him a smile to make my lie more believable.

His hand dropped but the other kept holding mine. He turned around but stopped dead in his tracks. One of Jorge's men was facing us. He was holding a gun and the end was facing our way. 

Turns out it wasn't only Thomas's instinct to protect me anymore, it had also become Newt's and Minho's. They pushed me behind them and formed a human wall. Thomas didn't let go of my hand though.

"We're not trying to cause any trouble, okay?" Thomas carefully said. "We just want to get out of here." 

 "Is that so?" The man crookedly grinned. He pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Janson, I got 'em here for you." That name caused me to nearly pass out. "Bring 'em down. Don't shoot us." He lowered the walkie-talkie and stepped toward us. "Okay, let's go." 

None of us dared to move. I could only see the back of his head but I knew what Thomas was thinking and I knew it was going to be utterly stupid. 

"Thomas-"

He thrust forward and jammed the arm of the man upward. A gunshot sounded through the air but luckily, it didn't hit anyone. The other boys managed to push him back but lost control quickly as he raised the gun at us again. 

The man had blood on his teeth as he seethed, "Maybe I should aim it at her instead?!" The end of the gun shifted until it was pointed directly at my chest. 

"No!" at least four voices barked. 

Another gunshot was heard. My breath hitched in my throat but I realized soon that I wasn't hit. It was the man.

He dropped to the floor to reveal the girl who had brought us here. "Let's go!" she called and instantly ran off. I hesitated for a moment as I was shaking from head to toe. Thomas grabbed my shoulders and took me with him as we chased after the girl.