We were walking through the Scorch and the sun was rising. Newt and Minho walked by my side while my father lead the way. My feet dragged through the sand and I was limping through the pain. I noticed as well that Newt had a limp. I chose not to ask anything about it, not wanting to open any old wounds that I didn't have to. The morning humid air was making me sweat and I wiped my brow. Strands of hair stuck to my face and I had already finished one of my waters. This heat, however, was something that I was used to.
We had been walking for a good hour, and the boys had elaborated more about the Maze and how they only escaped because of Thomas. I still couldn't believe that WICKED could do something like that to teenagers. They were killing the very teenagers that could save the world because they are Immune. Well, not all of them were Immune. I also heard about their friend Winston who succumbed to the Flare just like the majority of the world. I couldn't even begin to understand why they would put non Immunes into those Trials, but I couldn't care less. All that mattered was that WICKED put them in there, and that's what pissed me off.
My mind drifted over to Brenda and what she could be doing right now. I didn't know if she was safe and a part of me wished I had gone with her. But I knew that girl, she was more of a sister to me then anything else. She knows what she's doing, and I was going to continue telling myself that until I found her.
As we walked farther, I continued to keep my eye on my father, not knowing what to do. I knew that he knew exactly why I was stealing those supplies, so that also meant he knew I planned to leave without him. I took a deep breath.
"Go talk to him." Newt said and I jumped a little. I guess he noticed me thinking.
"I don't know..."
"Go." Minho instructed, and with a second of hesitation, I walked faster to catch up with Jorge.
Once I was by his side, he didn't even look at me. We walked in silence for a minute and I turned to the boys behind us. Newt mouthed the words, 'talk to him!' and once again I took a breath. I turned to face forward again, but before I could speak, Jorge started.
"After your mother," he began and I felt a shiver run down my spine at the mention of her. "I thought we were supposed to trust each other. We are all we have left."
"I know, but I tried Dad. I've tried to tell you but you didn't listen." I told him and we were silent for a second. "Mom is the reason I wanted to leave so badly." After saying this, my dad turned to me and looked deeply into my eyes.
"Were you planning to leave without saying goodbye?" He asked but I sighed.
"I was debating whether to even go, but when WICKED arrived I realized that I couldn't go without you." I told him, taking a deep breath. "I remembered that we both lost her and that being alone is way scarier then being with you because you make me feel safe." The two of us fell silent.
"I'm sorry (Y/n)." Was all he said. "I should have listened to you."
"I'm sorry too. I should have been more open with you."
"Then we agree to forgive each other?" Jorge asked and I smiled, hugging him as we walked.
"Of course." I told him and then released the man, feeling a lot better then I did before. Then I looked back to the ruined city we were nearing. "You think he'll help us?" I asked but Jorge scoffed.
"No. But I think you and I can change his mind." He said and I smiled. "We are a very persuasive family, wouldn't you say?"
"Yes we are."
Minho was at my side again, obviously making sure I could still walk properly. He didn't want me to know but he was worried, I could see it in his face. Luckily, the burning pain in my leg had been relieved slightly and I wasn't wincing every time I limped across the terrain.
We walked through the broken streets of a broken civilization. I couldn't remember the last time I had been here, but I know it didn't look this bad when I was. There were people glaring from every direction, tents made from old fabrics, dogs barking, and music muffled by distance. We had to find the source of the music, which wasn't hard.
It wasn't long until we found a giant white building with a huge red tarp that read ZONE A hanging from the roof. Before we were noticed, Jorge turned to all of us.
"Pair up. There are four different entries to the building, one on each side. I'll take the back, one pair will take the right, another left, and third straight through the front." He instructed and we all nodded.
Before anyone could pick pairs, I stepped up, knowing he wasn't going to.
"I'll take the walking-talking ego." I said and Minho turned to me with an expression of fake hurt.
"What did you call me?" He asked and I smirked.
"The fact that you immediately knew I was talking about you makes it all the more true." I commented and Minho opened his mouth, but quickly closed it cause he knew it was true. I looked over to Newt, who had the slightest little smile on his face.
"We'll take the front." Minho offered and the others nodded.
"I'll take Aris." Teresa said, leaving Fry and Newt together.
"We find Brenda and Thomas and I'll take care of Marcus, but (Y/n), if you see him, don't hesitate, just take him." Jorge said and I nodded. I was the only other person who knew what he looked like so I had to keep my eye out. "Alright, let's go." Jorge said, about to walk off but then stopped, turning quickly to face us all again. "And be careful, do the wrong thing and your dead."
"That's nice." Minho said flatly and I shrugged in return, walking over to the front of the building while the others all went down the sides.
There were very drunk people in front of the building under the shade. I thought I was going to hurl when I glanced over and saw two people who were sloppily making out. Minho cringed at it too, I noticed, but both of us chose to ignore it.
Once we got to the front doors, which were two tarps, I stopped Minho. He looked at me strangely but I could feel the nerves building up in my stomach. If I thought the place was a mess when I left it, who knows how bad it was now. I turned to Minho, giving him a serious look, but I wasn't sure if he knew what serious meant.
"Okay, whatever you do, don't leave my side." I told him, and I wasn't sure if that suggestion was for him or me. "It's not exactly going to be pleasant in there."
"How bad could it be?" He asked but I sighed, slowly turning and walking through the tarps.
The moment I entered, the smell hit me like a bullet and made me nauseous. It was like a mix of drugs, sweat, liquor, and death. There was barely any light, just some candles and sketchy lamps here and there. The place was filled to the brim with people who were obviously infected with the Flare. I took another deep breath.
"Oh." Was all Minho could muster and I nodded. I could feel myself shaking. I hated this, I hated this party and the amount of Cranks everywhere. It made my skin crawl. I hated this.
Suddenly, I felt something slide into my hand, and when I looked down I saw it was Minho. He intertwined his and my fingers so that he had a good grip on my hand. I looked up again to meet his eyes and I felt butterflies in my stomach.
"You uh- you said to stick together so this should help." He said and I felt myself smile slightly.
"Okay." I said taking a deep breath, then, we walked forward. Our steps were in sync as we pushed through the dense crowd of people.
Some glared and some laughed in my face as if there was something funny. A big man got up really close to me and I jumped back a little as he looked me up and down hungrily. I tightened my grip on Minho's hand which quickly grabbed his attention. The boy then let go of my hand and snaked his arm around my waist. I could feel the pink run into my face, I just hoped he didn't notice.
As we continued through the party, I looked around frantically for Brenda but I couldn't see her anywhere. As both me and Minho were looking around, I noticed that some people were glaring at me and him as if we didn't belong. We didn't, but we had to look like we did. And so, I ripped off my jacket and messed up my hair. Minho looked at me confused.
"I'm going to make this really clear, my hair does not get touched." The boy said sternly and I laughed.
"Trust me." I said before I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and began dancing with him.
"What's happening?" Minho asked. "I am very confused."
"Just look like your having a good time." I told him and he registered it before he danced along with me. We laughed and pretended as if we had no care in the world.
"Are you enjoying this?" Minho whispered in my ear and I laughed, not being able to stop myself from smiling. His breath ticked the side of my neck as we continued to dance like no one was watching. I knew one thing for sure, and that was no one thought that we didn't belong anymore. My cheeks felt hot from the major blushing going on as Minho held me close to him.
"Are you?" I asked in return, getting up real close to his face. The boy looked into my eyes deeply, this weird overwhelming urge to kiss him washing over my entire body. It must have been the drugs being smoked in the room, right? However, when Minho's smile washed away, turning more serious, and he began leaning his lips close to my own, I didn't stop him.
Unfortunately, as this happened, some one had found themselves walking in between us. When I turned to grab Minho's extended hand for me, it was too late. It was as if the crowd was eating me whole as I was pushed deeper into party by the drunk people.
"(Y/n)!" I heard Minho's voice shout over the blasting music.
"MINHO!" I shouted but I was too far away at this point. I had lost sight of the boy and began panicking. I could protect myself, I knew I could, it just wouldn't hurt to have him fighting by my side if it came to that.
There were people everywhere I turned and I found myself trapped between two dancing women. They both had black veins creeping up their necks, the obvious sign of the Flare. I knew I had to get away.
I forced my way, barging through the crowd and getting some dirty looks here and there. I looked around frantically, hoping I could find someone I knew so that I wasn't alone in this mess. How my dad was able to do it was beyond me.
"MINHO!" I shouted. "NEWT! DAD!" I cried but to no avail. No one was coming.
As I walked around, trying to find Brenda or Thomas or Marcus, I felt something slip into my hand. I looked down to see that it was a handgun. It was dirty and beaten and there was a specific marking on the barrel. It was the initials 'J.H' engraved permanently, and I knew exactly what gun this was.
I felt my hands tremble and my breaths becoming heavier and rapid. I had to get this out of my hands, I had to do something with it. I looked around for the person who handed me the gun but with all these people surrounding me, it was hard to tell. Not only was I lost and scared, I was also beginning to feel the walls close in on me. I didn't know what to do.
"Look who it is." A familiar slurred voice shouted over the music and people. I turned only to find a middle aged man with blonde hair and a purple suit leaning against the wall with a drink in his hands. He took a swig of the liquid and smiled widely at me, but I could only focus on the dark circles under his eyes. It wasn't makeup and I was sure of that.
"Marcus." I said flatly, unhappy that I found him before my father. This man was the least of my problems and he was a total ass who made me feel uncomfortable when I was younger.
"You should go in the Crank circle." The man said, exercising the L in circle. "You and I both know your a good shot." He said and I could feel my grip on the gun tighten to the point that my knuckles turned white.
"Where did you get this." I asked but he just laughed which got me mad. "WHERE DID YOU GET THE GUN MARCUS!" I screamed in his face, wanting to strangle him even more when he made a fake surprised face.
"Oh, wait..." he said, as he acted like he had some kind of epiphany. "Is that the... oh, no, I am so sorry."
I felt the anger rise up inside of me as he made a pouty face. I had no idea how but Marcus knew exactly why I don't shoot or hold guns. He knew exactly why and he handed me the exact gun that started it all.
"Honestly," he continued, which wasn't smart. "I think you enjoyed it, didn't you. You didn't even hesitate when you pulled the trigger." He said and I could feel the tears of both anger and sadness well up in my eyes. I prayed that someone, anyone, would come and stop me for what came next, but no one did.
"You liked it, DIDN'T YOU?!" He shouted in my ear and I screamed in frustration, swiftly taking out my knife and slamming it down into the man's shoulder.
Marcus yelped in pain as I forced him onto the ground. I watched as he began crying from the pain I had caused him.
"Is this what happened? Huh? Do you enjoy this?" The man cackled and I couldn't tell whether he was laughing or crying. While he was showing mixed emotions, I only felt one, absolute anger.
Without control, I twisted the knife so that his whole body recoiled in pain. He squirmed and cried out but no one came to help him. No one cared anyway, they were all either too past the gone to care or so drunk that they didn't even realize what was happening.
"Please, please don't!" He begged. "What would your mother say?!" He asked and that made all the boiling anger burn over.
I ripped the knife out of his shoulder and raised it high over him so that I could give him a nasty blow. I wasn't going to kill him, I just wanted him to feel pain. Before I could bring the knife down however, someone grabbed my arm with one hand and wrapped their other arm around my torso.
They held me back as I desperately tried to escape their grasp.
"I'll kill him!" I screamed. "I'll kill him!"
"(Y/n), stop!" He shouted but I continued to keep going.
"I'll kill him! I'll kill him! I'll kill him!" I continued to shout over and over until the shouts turned into sobs. Sobs of a pain that had been pushed down for years. A pain that I was going to continue to push down.
"Shhh, it's okay, shhhhh." The man cooed and I looked up to see my father standing there. "Come on, we found the others. Let's take Marcus and get out of here."
I nodded and when my father finally felt it was okay, he released me. I still held my knife, which was doused in blood, in my hand. I looked down to see that my shirt was smeared with blood.
My father grabbed Marcus, who was in no condition to fight back, and lead him out of the party.
"Let's have a little chat hermano."