The Girl From Group C | A (Newt) Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials Story

The Scorch

Jade's POV
I woke up to Thomas shooing a bird away from our supplies. He checked around to make sure the cranks were gone, then told us to get up. I sat up, groaning in pain. I was able to get all the glass out of my back, but it still hurt to move. Aris helped me up with a -concerned look on his face. I assured him I was fine, even though I really wasn't. Winston was having trouble getting up too. I mean, the poor guy's chest was torn up. Once we had all gotten up, we walked out of our hiding spot and saw the outside world for the first time. There was nothing but destroyed buildings and sand for miles. I braced myself for the journey ahead. We had been walking for a few minutes, till Thomas stopped us.
"Do you hear that?" He asked. We all went silent, so that we could make out the sound he heard. It was burgs. We all ran and hid under the rubble. We were waiting for them to pass when my head suddenly started hurting. I leaned on Aris a bit and squinted my eyes in pain.

"NO! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!"
"It's the only way, darling. Please try to understand."
"NO! PLEASE! DAD!"

"Jade!" I gasped as I opened my eyes. I looked around and everyone was starting to get up. Aris was holding on to my shoulders.
"What's wrong?" He asked, concern lacing his tone.
"I'm fine. Just a little headache." I dismissed. The truth is, I don't even know what's wrong myself. Dad? What did that mean? I don't even remember my father. Aris got up, so I followed. We kept moving forward, sand in our eyes and lungs. Thomas would ask us if we were ok every now and then. We said yes every time, but I don't think any of us really meant it. We had to keep going though, I'd rather my legs fall off from escaping than get caught by WICKED. We eventually made it on to a hill and stopped to figure out where to go next. We saw mountains in the distance, all we had to do was get there. As we started to move again, Winston face planted in to the sand. We all crowded around him, trying to get him up. He was gasping for air, he looked terrible. We knew he couldn't walk on his own, so we made a stretcher for him out of the blankets we had collected earlier. Minho and Frypan carried him as we continued trekking through the sand. It had been hours of relentless winds and heat when we finally decided to take a break. We had found shelter under some sort of mangled piece of building. Thomas was a few yards away, planning where we had to go next, and Teresa had joined him. I sat myself down on a rock. It wasn't very comfortable, but it would do. I was too preoccupied emptying my shoes of sand to see Newt standing in front of me.
"Mind if I sit?" He asked. I looked up at him for a moment, then shook my head no. He took a seat next to me as I put my shoe back on. We sat in silence for a moment, a peaceful silence.
"I never got to really thank you for what you did back at the mall." He said as he turned his head to look at me. I shook my head.
"It's really not a big deal. Anyone in my place would've done it-" I began, but Newt interrupted.
"No they wouldn't have." I looked up at him, surprised at his bluntness.
"You had only met me hours before, yet you would risk your life to save mine." He explained as he made eye contact with me, "So, thank you." I looked at his warm, brown eyes for a moment, then smiled and nodded, accepting his gratitude. He smiled back at me, then got up and walked closer to Thomas and Teresa, not leaving the shelter, though.
"How's it looking?" He asked Thomas.
"Just a little further." Thomas answered. Newt turned back to us.
"That's not very convincing."
Aris had sat down next to me now.
"Hey, you ok?" He asked. I nodded, but didn't look at him.
"Jade, please tell me if there's something wrong." I sighed and put my head down. I should tell him.
"I remembered something." I simply stated.
"What do you mean?" He asked, confused.
"Something from before the maze. Or at least I think it was." I was so confused myself, but maybe Aris could clear things up for me.
"I was screaming at someone. I called them dad." I explained as I squinted my eyes, trying to remember more. Aris hadn't said anything, so I looked up at him. He was in his thoughts.
"Do you remember anything about your dad?" He asked. I shook my head no.
"Absolutely nothing. Which is why this is all so confusing." I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair.
"I don't know, Jade. Maybe you should wait and see if you remember more." He suggested. I nodded, agreeing with him. We sat in silence for a bit, till I saw Winston's eyes flutter open. He started to move towards a rock with our gun on it. He had reached out for it and was able to grab it.
"Winst-" I began, starting to get up, but the next thing I heard was a gun shot. I squeezed my eyes shut and fell back on the ground from the shock. When I opened my eyes, everyone was crowding around Winston. I got up and went over too.
"What happened?!" Teresa asked, panicked.
Frypan explained, "I don't know! He just woke up and grabbed the gun and then he tried to..." He was interrupted by Winston retching, eventually coughing up blood. The blood was darker than normal though. He laid on his back and panted.
"It's growing..." He started as he lifted up his shirt, "...inside me." He finished, fear in his voice. His chest had scratches from the cranks before, but now those were covered by protruding veins and heavy bruising. It was horrifying to look at. We all were silent till he spoke up again, lifting his hand to point at the gun.
"Please don't let me turn in to one of those...things." He pleaded. Frypan held the gun, but didn't give it to Winston. No one moved for a while. I could tell they didn't want to let him kill himself, but we don't know how to cure him. We would all be putting ourselves at risk by keeping him here. Newt walked over to Frypan, taking the gun from him. He knelt down to Winston and handed him the gun.
Winston let out a soft "Thank you." He told us to leave.
"Goodbye, Winston." Newt sincerely said. Everyone said their goodbyes, Thomas being last. As we started walking away, we heard the gun shot echo. I teared up, this is so unfair. Winston didn't deserve to die. How could he have even gotten the flare?
"I thought we were suppose to be immune." Minho said. It was now nighttime and we had stopped to get some rest. Aris was building up the fire as the rest of us sat in silence.
"Not all of us, I guess." Teresa answered.
"If Winston can get infected, we should assume so can the rest of us." Newt cautioned.
"I never thought I'd say it...I miss the Glade." Frypan said, a tear running down his cheek. After that, we all started to sleep. I had laid down next to Aris, but wasn't able to close my eyes. Every time I did, I would just see Winston's pain stricken face. I had managed to close my eyes for more than a few seconds, Winston still remained, but the image soon switched to another boy. My head started pounding again.

"NO!" I screamed. A boy with dirty blonde hair was being dragged away from me. It was blurry, I couldn't see him clearly.
"YOU'RE ALL MONSTERS!" I screamed at guards as they held me back.
"Jade..."

I gasped as I opened my eyes. Luckily, I hadn't woken up anyone, at least I thought I hadn't.
"You ok?" I heard someone whisper to me. I turned my head to see Newt looking at me with deep concern.
"Can't sleep." I simply responded, trying to sound as normal as possible. He thought for a moment.
"Come on. Let's take a walk."
There wasn't anything for miles where we were, so we didn't have to worry about cranks popping up. Newt and I walked side by side in the cool night air. The world was actually nice when the sand wasn't scorching hot and the heat wasn't beating down on you. It wasn't long before my thoughts started to make the nice feeling unpleasant, though. Winston still remained in my head and now these memories were confusing me.
"You seem to have a lot on your mind." Newt commented, tilting his head to look at me.
"It's just Winston." I sighed. He nodded, understanding.
"Why did you give him the gun?" I asked, just out of pure curiosity, not sounding harsh or judgmental. He looked up at the sky as he though. I watched his brown eyes twinkle.
"I didn't want him to suffer. He said himself he didn't want to become one of those things." He explained. I nodded, agreeing with him.
"I'm sorry it had to be you to make that decision." I sympathized. It must've been extremely hard on him.
"I just want everyone to be safe and happy. Eventually, we will all be happy." He said as he turned his head to look at me. I nodded.
"Well, thank you for caring so much." I gave him a soft smile. He nodded, accepting my gratitude. When we made it back to everyone, I laid down again next to Aris and Newt. I was able to fall asleep, finally relaxed because of Newt.