The W.I.C.K.E.D Girl

30

The blinding light that poured from the ceiling disturbed my sleep, to the point where I woke up. Opening my eyes, I realised my pillow was gently moving, up and down. I lifted my head. 

I yelped. My head had been resting on Newt's chest, who startled awake as soon as the sharp sound evaded me. 

"Good morning to you, too," he mumbled, his voice hoarse from sleep. 

Unable to resist, I pressed my lips to his cheek before standing. Around us, the girls and boys from the two Groups were fast asleep. I stretched. 

"How long have we been asleep?" I asked. 

"A few hours, I suppose," Newt replied, and a smile stretched across his face. "Did I tell you that you drool in your sleep?" 

"Oh, come on," I retorted, embarrassed. "You snore."

"Don't worry, I don't mind," Newt said, smirking now. "I like you drooling over me."

I cackled. "I almost don't recognize you anymore."

Emmett yawned from the other side of the hallway. He sat up, and looked around. He relaxed visibly once he spotted us. We nodded to each other in acknowledgement. 

It wasn't long before everyone was awake, and the uncertainty of our future hung in the air. 

Chuck voiced what everybody thought. "So, what now?"

"We should split," Nat said, and our heads whipped towards her. "Don't look at me like that. I've nothing against you, but if everything that's happened to you, happened to us, too, isn't splitting the logical thing to do?"

"She's right," Emmett said, begrudgingly.

We stood in silence for a couple of moments. Emmett and I shook hands, after which he and Newt did the same, and so on, until all of us had said our goodbyes.

"Good luck out there," I said. "And perhaps we'll meet again."

Emmett smiled faintly. "I have a vague feeling that we will."

We parted ways, each of our Groups setting off in opposite directions. We made our way through the W.I.C.K.E.D headquarters, and I realised that we'd traded one maze for another as countless hours passed and we didn't succeed in finding any exits or clues. I could sense the boys' morale dropping with each opened door that revealed nothing but an empty room, each like the previous. 

"Can we stop?" Chuck asked, his cheeks red from the effort of keeping up with us, all former Runners.

"Sure," I said, ashamed. "However long you want, Chuck."

Chuck sat on a desk chair, took a sip of water. "How much longer?"

"What?" Newt asked, turning to him.

"How much longer do we have to keep searching and running and fending off for ourselves? I'm tired. I want to go back."

I knelt in front of him, caressed his shoulder. "I know you do, because, sometimes, I do too. But there's no way we can go back. I know the Glade was home, but we were being watched the whole time, treated like mere experiments. I know this doesn't seem better, but it is. Trust me."

Chuck sighed. "Fine. It's not like we have another choice."

We kept going, though Chuck had gotten us all thinking. Were the labs a maze of their own, too? Were we watched even now? Was there even a way out?

A hollow scream echoed through the corridors. 

"What was that?" I asked, my voice cracking. 

"We shouldn't go," Thomas said. "What if it's a trap?"

The person the scream belonged to called out for help, their voice muffled by the distance. Another terrifying shriek followed.

"What if it's someone from Group B?" Minho argued. "We can't just leave them!"

I was running before the boys could register that I'd left, letting the occasional scream guide me through the connected rooms. The boys were hot on my trail, our hurried steps sounding through the lab. The wails were getting closer now, and I rushed past an overturned desk. 

We arrived to an empty room. 

We barely had the time to look at each other before the door, door that had been wide open before our arrival, slammed shut.