In my Blood

CHAPTER 16 - The Swipe

Thomas pulls back the curtain, and there they are. Newt, Minho, Frypan. My friends. The doctors are on the floor, their hands bound together with cloths and sheets. The door is barricaded, and behind the glass I can see soldiers running towards us with guns.

I move slowly towards the boys, legs shaking. They all turn to face me, and Newt's face melts into pure relief. He strides towards me and I throw my arms around him, not wanting to ever let go. The weight of my body is upheld by his strong arms, wrapped around my shoulders, head on top of mine. I let my legs buckle as he holds me up.

"Shuck, you're so thin, (y/n)..." he breathes as he gently holds me. My cheekbones are hollow, rib cage predominantly sticking out beneath my white top. I know he can feel the weakness in my body. "What did they do to you?"

I ignore his question as I pull away, and Frypan gives me a quick hug as well, telling me he's glad to see me. I smile seeing his face, eyes soft and warm. Minho's holding a gun, facing the door, clearly a bit... preoccupied for any reuniting celebration. Newt still shoots me worried glances, but I try to ignore it.

"Where's Winston?" I ask Newt, finding my voice again.

"He's with Aris," he replies , pulling me back from the door.

"Aris?" I say with my brows furrowed.

"Get back!" Minho yells, shoving us all further into the room from the door. A second later, we see the soldiers' faces through the glass, and they all pound of the door. The barricade holds them back for a bit, before the door breaks open a tiny bit. The gap grows larger as they break it down more violently.

"We gotta get out of here!" Fry screams. I don't know what's going on, but I know to trust the boys.

"The glass window!" I exclaim loudly above the noise, running behind the curtain and facing the large window. Thomas and Newt follow behind me, nodding. Thomas grabs a stool beside the bed, Newt pulling me back from the window. Thomas repeatedly hits the window, again and again, until the glass cracks like a spiderweb. One more hit – and the glass shatters everywhere.

"Go go go!" Thomas yells. I grab the sheets from the bed and put it over the window ledge to cover the glass before hoisting myself up and through the window, into the corridor on the other side. I can feel the strength gradually returning to my body as I'm active; I don't know how long I was asleep for, but it couldn't have been good for me. I don't know what I was attached to with that tube... but I get the feeling that it wasn't giving me any nutrients, but rather the other way around...

The rest of the boys jump over the window as well, Minho throwing the gun to Thomas. We run along for a bit before reaching a door, and open it to find a soldier on the other side. Without even processing it, Thomas fires the gun as if by instinct. A bolt of electricity bursts out from the end of the gun, latching onto the soldier as he falls to the ground, body spasming with electricity. Thomas looks down at the gun in disbelief, before running forward again. I freeze, looking at the man on the floor, body alive with bright blue bolts. Newt grabs my hand and we run forward, past the soldier, following behind the others.

My bare feet slap against the cold floor, and I'm suddenly very aware of the shooting pains growing in my leg, but I ignore it. We approach another door, only this one has a scanning decide on the side of it. Thomas pulls of out card from his pocket, swiping it into the device. A red light appears as he does so.

"No, come on, come on," he urges, putting the card in again and again.

"Thomas!" a voice echoes. Janson.

I spin around. Janson leads a large group of soldiers, all with those electric guns and shields, moving towards us. Thomas passes the card to Minho and points the gun towards Janson.

"Open this door, Janson!" Thomas commands angrily, walking towards the menacing-looking man.

"You really don't want me to," Janson replies, putting his hands up yet smirking.

"OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!" Thomas shouts.

"Listen to me! I'm trying to save your life! The Maze is one thing, but you kids wouldn't last one day out in the Scorch," he laughs maliciously. "If the elements don't kill you, the Cranks will. You have to believe me, for your own sakes! I just want what's best for you all!"

Cranks?

"Yeah, and let me guess," Thomas answers, "WICKED is good?"

"WICKED is good...?" I repeat in a whisper. Newt looks to me questioningly, before turning away to help Minho with the card.

"You're not getting through that door," Janson insists, sneering. Suddenly, the screen of the scanning device fills with green light as the door heaves itself open. And standing on the other side is Winston, with a smaller, brown-haired boy I don't recognise, and a girl with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. I wonder who they are?

"Hey guys," the boy says. His voice is higher pitched, he must be about fifteen, sixteen.

"Come on," Fry urges, rushing through the door. I follow him, grabbing Newt's hand and pulling him through as well.

"Thomas!" Newt shouts, "come on, let's go!"

I hear the gun shoot again, but don't hear it make contact with anyone else. He must've missed. Now I hear Thomas' feet against the floor, running closer along the corridor towards the door.

And then the door begins to close.