Hope for Us (NEWT) [COMPLETED]

Ch 11 - Perfect Timing

Rebecca pushed Sara along, placing her hand on the girl's back.

If it weren't for her own urgency to get to the Maze, she would've resented the rush with which Rebecca led her.

They hurried until they came across a highly secured door, round and heavy—adequate for its placement in the middle of the Maze. Once they stood before it, Rebecca turned to face Sara.

"Alright. I know we don't have much time, but when you cross this door, you're practically on your own. So run, run more than you've ever ran in your entire life. You'll have to," said Rebecca as she unlocked the door with her touchscreen.

The massive iron door swung open, making them both take a step back.

A vivid memory of her father popped up in Sara's mind. She remembered hearing those words over and over again, wondering just when she would stop being told to run.

Rebecca continued. "I'll track your movements and open the way for you to get to the Glade. That's all I can do for you. I can't give you weapons. But I'll be waiting here on the other side for you. All of you." She had a solemn look on her face, and Sara was pretty sure if she wasn't in such a hurry to go into the Maze, she'd play chicken and tell Rebecca she wasn't strong enough to do it.

"Becca." Sara tugged at her white lab coat sleeve. "Thank you," she whispered. 

Without another word, Rebecca embraced her into the tightest hug Sara could ever remember receiving. The girl hugged her back just as tightly, with a broken heart for still having to leave her there. For not being able to stay with her, knowing the terrible things that Janson could do to her.

Sara suddenly took off the bracelet she'd once made for her mother and tied it around Rebecca's wrist. "Keep this for me, Becca."

"Your mother's bracelet? Sara, I couldn't," said Rebecca, but Sara insisted, preventing the woman from taking it off.

"It's been two years and nothing," she muttered. "I already lost hope of her even being alive."

She could see Rebecca swallow hard, tears forming on her face as she nodded understandably.

"Now go!" Rebecca hurriedly whispered to her, "he needs you now."

❀❀❀

I can't believe it, I'm in the Maze! Sara thought as she contemplated the enormous, gray walls. She looked over at the opening where she had crossed only to see it sealed shut. Sara was now on her own. The thought was strangely exciting, however.

She shouldn't have been excited—she was just... anxious. It looked much more terrifying than she'd imagined, or how she saw it through the cameras back at the lab.

She just needed to focus.

With her letter folded and shoved into one pocket and the tracker in the other one, she ran. She didn't even stop to observe the different passageways opening before her. She didn't know where she was going. All she could do was cling to the fact that Rebecca knew what she was doing.

Soon, she came across a dead end, running her fingers along the rough concrete wall. There was ivy growing along the walls, reaching halfway up. As Sara tried to look where the wall reached the top, her eyes were unable to tell the point where the gray wall became the sky. It looked all the same to her.

Her eyes wandered down the ivy, and some engraved lettering hiding underneath caught her attention. It read:

'Property of WICKED: World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department'