"Hey!" I screamed to the top of my lungs, sprinting back toward the camp. "They're coming! They're coming! It's Wicked! They found us!" The distance to the top of the last hill was so close. I was almost there. Until a rock attacked me.
I tripped over a protruding boulder. The wind was knocked out of me as my body slammed hard against the earth. My head was hit particularly hard, taking a wicked blow against a solid mass of rock.
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-Fairytale by Alexander Rybak-
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Air rushed out of my body. It didn't want to come back. I choked, trying to regain my breathing. My head was dizzy, bitter memories swirling around. I heard my friend's voices echoing in my ears.
"It's a girl."
"Ow! Shuck! You crazy bitch!"
"Gally?" Wheezing, I lifted my head. The source of his voice was nowhere to be found. It was all in my head. I fought with all my might to breathe.
"Nice to meet you, Newt."
"Don't slice me Shebean. Have mercy!"
It was all in my head.
"What's the harm in just flirting with them?"
"I didn't know there was such a thing as good trouble,"
A bomb was released from one of the helicopters.
BOOM
"Sweet dreams Greenie. Don't let the Grievers bite."
Breath trickled back. Life was returned to me. The impact from the explosive hit the right spot, giving me my oxygen.
"No!" I protested. "Please!" My voice was gravelly, scratching my throat when I'd speak.
I know you have this weird obsession with me, but you will never touch Chuck."
Chuck. I can't let them hurt Chuck! My hand shot up, digging itself back into the dirt. I crawled to the top. My skull felt as it would shatter at any second.
"That's a terrible joke."
Blood-curdling screams split the air. A fire roared across the campsite, eating everything in its path.
"I don't want any of that stupid klunk I just want you to stay!"
"I'm coming." My tongue was thick in my mouth, difficult to operate. "I'm coming to help." I panted, standing up with wobbly legs. "Don't worry..."
I was at the top of the hill. People ran around, shrieking in terror. They looked like ants from up here, their lives so minuscule. Helicopters hovered above, opening their hatches to release explosives.
Fires engulfed the wild plains, laying their flames on the barren earth. Guards from Wicked had invaded, spraying electric bullets at anyone fleeing.
I was scared shitless. I thought I might pee myself if I'm being honest. I didn't want to go down into the pandemonium but I had to. I had to save them, my friends. No, scratch that. They were my God Damn family and I couldn't let them die.
My legs ran hard, muscles tightening as I approached the chaos. All I had to find is one person. If I found one of them, I'd find them all. So I ran and ran and ran.
"Y/n!" Someone called out. It was Frypan. He was terrified just like I was, gesturing for me to come to him from across the scorching field.
"Frypan!" I scurried over, miraculously ducking and dodging bullets left and right. There was no fucking way I was going to be shot. Not again.
We reached each other, me running into him with a tight embrace.
"Okay, we gotta go, alright." He unstuck himself from me, clasping right on my hand. Others emerged from behind him. Minho, Newt, Victor, and Chuck huddled around, flames reflecting in their eyes. A slur of noise radiated from every direction, screams, and cries of agony mixing. "We gotta find Thomas. Do you know where-"
"Vince! Harriet!" Minho shouted, pointing the pair out. He raced toward them, we followed, hot on his trail.
"Over here!" Harriet welcomed us, her fingers opening up a box of ammo with flash-like speed. Vince manned a machine gun in the bed of the truck we were sidled against, shooting any moving figure with a Wicked getup on.
"How can we help?!" Yelled Frypan, ducking behind the truck like the rest of us.
"You need to cover us!" Ordered Harriet, she threw another box of ammo next to Vince.
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-Advice by Alex G-
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"Ammo!" He roared, grabbing a fistful of bullets. "Hey! Do you know how to use this thing?!" Vince pushed a gun into Minho's hand who nodded sharply. Each boy was then passed a gun to fight with, even Chuck. "Cover me! This fifty's our only chance!" He reared back to his heavy weaponry, the cords in his neck pulsing.
Chuck held the gun, the weight of it evident in his hand. His fingers trembled as he raised it, gulping as he tried to find a target.
"No!" I snatched the weapon from him, pushing him to the ground. He was stunned, wide eyes looking up at me. "Get under the truck, now!" Making my demand, I followed my own order, helping him under the vehicle.
The dirt rolled against our clothes, dirtying us up. Still, it was better to be dirty than dead. Under the truck we held each other, my hand grasping a fistful of his curls. He shook against me, uncontrollably trembling. The gun felt as it was branding my skin, set in my other palm.
"I'm gonna keep you safe. Just act like you're dead." My breathing was hard, trying to suck up anything sane. "I'm gonna keep you safe." Hot blood from the hit my head survived dribbled down my forehead, into the dirt."I'm gonna keep you safe, okay?"
BOOM
A bomb was thrown at the truck, detonating and electrifying our friends. They collapsed with a groan. Chuck and I remained untouched, keeping the dead act up.
"Y/n, I love you." He whispered, crying as quietly as he could. His arms squeezed my waist. Chuck reached his head up and placed a kiss on my cheek.
"I know Chuck. I love you too." I whimpered my reply, holding him closer. The kiss he gave me made me cry, affirming my certainty that we would die. I returned it, placing one on his mop of curls.
Wicked's guards swarmed the truck. Their dark pant covered legs could be seen from our view. The soldiers pulled our friend's paralyzed bodies away. Carefully, I took the pistol and slipped it into the waistband of my pants. Chuck and I took shallow breaths, trying to keep our bodies looking like corpses.
My eyes were shut, closing off the world. I thought of the glade in its full beauty. When it would have those big piles of fallen leaves to jump into. I remembered how the autumn colors would flurry about as the leaves were sent upwards.
"Hey, what the hell is this?" A deep voice boomed, pulling me back to the present. I kept up the act, attempting to barely breathe at all.
A hand touched my back. It took every bit of myself not to flinch and recoil. The presumed man took hold of the back of my shirt, tearing me away from Chuck. I rolled out in front of the guy. He could see my face. Shit. That's what gave me away.
"Holy shit man." A different male voice chuckled, I could feel them hovering over me. "You found her. You found y/n. You're definitely gettin' a bonus this year!"
"Haha fuck yeah!" My finder was ecstatic, his whooping sounding muffled. It was probably due to his mask. A foot prodded my ribs. "Hey, you think she's alive?"
"She looks asleep."
"Hellooo." The side of my face was lightly patted. I did not fucking break. "Hello? Y/n? Sweetie, come on. Get up already." The man grew tired of my faked unconscious state. He scooped me up from under my arms, trying to get me to stand. I wouldn't help him. My eyes remained closed, pushing all my dead weight onto him. "Come on. The whole show's waitin' for you."
"Jesus Christ, Brian. Here." His friend seized my thighs, aiding him in lifting me. That's when I decided to wake up.
"Ugh!" I slammed my elbow back quicker than a striking cobra. The force hit the man carrying my arms' crotch. He cried out in agony, dropping me.
"Oh fuck!" His partner looked shaken up. All it took was one swift kick to the face to get him off of me.
"Fuck off!" Shouting, I decided to make a break for it. I didn't get too far.
"Woah there." A third man grabbed a clump of my hair, rag dolling me around with it. "You're not going anywhere!"
"Spencer, don't hurt her." The guard labeled Brian strained, writhing from the ground as he held his pathetic nuts. "Be gentle or else your ass is grass man."
"Oh, I'll be gentle alright." Spencer the guard grunted. One of his arms wrapped around my middle, the other pinned my arms back as I squirmed in his clutches.
"Get off of me!" I screamed, kicking my heels into his shins. "Get the fuck off of me!"
"Alright Princess, settle down." He shushed, his glove-covered palm smothering my mouth. I fought against his burly figure as he brought me over to the other captured kids.
"Put me down!" I demanded, wriggling around. He followed my command. I fell in a heap of myself next to some random teenager. The guard's launcher was raised to meet my eyes.
"Keep still unless you wanna be popped with one of these suckers." Spencer nudged the tasing gun against my cheek. "Be good and I'm sure you'll be back to your little palace life in no time at all."
The gun made me wary but not wary enough to shut my big mouth.
"Fuck you!" I spat, seething at the man before me.
"No thanks." He chuckled, jostling the gun against my jaw bone. "I don't mess with princesses like you."
"How many did we get?" Janson's voice sniveled. At first, I thought my ears deceived me. Swiveling my head around, I saw him. There he was in all his glory. Rat Man. The weasel-faced coward.
"All of them." Confirmed a man whose hairline receded him. He was playing around with a little tablet, his fingers twitching around. "Give or take."
"Give or take what?" Janson strode around the teenagers, suited up in a spiffy coat. He was not prepared for the scorch. Instead looked like he belonged in a TJ Max commercial.
"Well, they lost a few."
Other guards began to scan different kids. My friends kneeled in a line together, their necks being bent forward and checked. Chirping noises beeped with every kid, revealing their subject number.
"We already know you." Spencer moved the gun to my lips. The cool metal stung my mouth, my nerves were shot. I wished he'd shut up and leave me alone. "Famous A-14. How could anyone forget y/n?"
"Where's Thomas?" Asked Janson sweatily. His breathing was uncomfortably heavy. I wanted to laugh at how winded he was after dropping in from his first-class helicopter. He didn't lift a fucking finger.
"Right here," Thomas announced, voice ragged. He stalked between the rows of kids, hands up. A guard swiftly disabled him, escorting my friend over to Rat Man.
"Thomas..." Janson welcomed the boy into his arms only to deliver him a hard punch to the stomach. I gasped at the debauchery, the incident leaving me even angrier at this pathetic excuse of a man. "Get him in line."
Thomas was passed over to a guard who slammed him onto the dirt next to our friends. A boy with strawberry hair stood out from the lineup.
Along with Chuck, whose eyes seemed frozen open. He was petrified and I had no control. Shame ripped through my skin, I couldn't look at him. I'd failed him, again.
"I'm sorry." I mouthed to him before my glances darted away from his prone figure. I was a failure, through and through.
"And where pray tell, could y/n be?" Janson asked in a sing-song tone, pressing his hands together. "That is the million-dollar question, isn't it?"
"Right here, Janson!" Spencer hollered, calling everyone's attention to hook onto me. They gawked at y/n, me, like a group of boys daring to peer down a box. "I got her right here!"
"Ah-ha!" Janson hopped over to me, a look of indescribable glee turned upon his face. "There you are, you little viper!"
"Janson..." I said coyly, fluttering my eyelashes. "This little crush you have on us needs to stop. Wouldn't you think this to be a little inappropriate due to your age and how fucking ugly you are!"
"Woah Woah Woah!" Janson laughed the situation off. He spun around to explain the situation to the guards. "I have no idea what she's talking about. She must still be dehydrated from the scorch or something. Silly girl."
"Shit yourself Weasel Face!" Pulling my head back, I was able to spit on him. My jaw remained pulled forward, smirking evilly at him. "Did that upset you? Use your life alert already, old man!" I snarled. The field erupted in 'oooh's'.
"Oddly enough, that's not the vilest thing you've ever done to me." He wiped off my spit with a grimace. "Bring her in!" Janson ordered the tablet man, storming away with flamboyant flair.
A wind picked up in the sky, stirring up clouds of dust. Next came gusts of the breeze as a berg emerged from the inky night sky. The light that shone from it was blinding.
I could only take a few glimpses of the plane every so often. Its buzzing grew louder as the drone-like machine neared, taking its landing in a patch of clear land. Dirt kicked up in our faces, I held my hands up to cover myself, coughing as I did so.
The aircraft's landing hummed till it was openly reclined. Inside was the woman herself, dressed head to toe in white clothing. Ava fucking Paige.
The woman who was responsible for it all. She was the woman behind the curtain creating the whole mirage. Teresa chose her. She pulled the strings. She had control. She decided who lived or died. She killed my friends. She killed Zart. She killed Gally.
Ava wasted no time. Flanked by her arsenal of guards, she strode down the landing onto blood-soaked dirt. Salting the earth behind her, she headed straight for Janson.
"Is this all of them?" She inquired impatiently, glancing around at the youth she'd captured.
"Most of them," Janson confirmed, standing rigidly around his superior. "It'll be enough." Ava gave a curt nod after skimming us.
"Start loading them in." She ordered, her tone icy. Apparently, there was no time for niceties. No, how are you? No, how's your day?
"Yes, ma'am." Janson switched his tone for his guards, booming. "Okay, you heard. Let's go! Get 'em on!"
His guards obeyed without hesitation, jerking kids up and pulling them roughly to the berg. What an evil bitch. That sentiment applied to Janson as well as Ava.
Ava was occupied with Thomas. She'd noticed him first, motioning for him to come to her. He was pushed forward into confronting her. A task I ached to perform.
"Hello, Thomas."All of my problems, all of my unhappiness, all of the fucked up shit I'd seen stemmed from this woman. The lady who was less than a hundred feet away from me. To me, she was the very embodiment of pure evil. She took responsibility for that evil, reaping what she sowed.
"I'm glad you're safe." Ava directed the comment pointedly toward Teresa, who had just decided to show her sneaky little face.
"What the hell?" Frypan was dumbfounded, he trusted so completely. His kindness made him easy to fool. Even easier than I was. "Teresa?"
"Is y/n around?" Turning toward Teresa, Ava did not attempt to make their conversation private. "I'd like to see her."
"Wait, what's going on?" Lilted Newt. Just by his voice, I could see his eyebrow furrowing, which squeezed my heart to a pulp.
"I'll tell you what's going on." I stood up, using my words to lash her. "Teresa's a fucking sell-out is what's going on!" My lips curled up, I scowled with such anger that it frightened even me. "She's a rat. She leaked our location to these freaks."
Teresa opened her mouth earnestly, about to speak when Ava beat her to it.
"Y/n." Her eyes glowed enigmatically when she saw me, saying my name breathlessly. "Y/n, it's been so long." The vile woman carried a hitch in her throat, her pale hand reaching for me. I dodged it disgustedly. She might as well have offered me a bleeding organ.
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-Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums by A Perfect Circle-
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"I'm sorry." Teresa showed no remorse, concentrated on much more pressing matters. Things such as plotting on how to help the people who tortured us. Each ignorant word that fell from her mouth drove me further and further to the edge.
"I had no choice." She said dismally. My fingernails dug half-moon circles into my palms. "This is the only way." Face simmering, I decided that if she uttered one more word I'd... "We have to find a cure."
"You fucking Bitch!" I leaped on top of her, tackling the thin girl to the ground. "Fucking cure my ass!" We rolled together, Teresa trying to straggle away.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
My elbows scratched themselves on the gritty dirt. The only goal was to cause her as much pain as possible.
"You think you can run away from me?!" I shouted brusquely, using the flat of my palm to strike her back.
"Beat her ass y/n! Beat that traitor's shucking ass!" Later, upon reflection, I realized that this encouragement came from Minho. Not that I was surprised.
"Y/n!" Teresa cried out, flailing around. Her fingers tried in vain to help her crawl away.
"Shut up!" I pressed her chest to the ground with black and blue force. "Shut the fuck up!" My hand went to the back of her head, smashing her face down just as you'd punish a dog with its pee.
"Oh my God!"
I flipped her over roughly, thighs still squeezed around her middle, snatching up her chin.
"Look around you!" Jerking her face around, my fingers bruised her skin. "You did this! You did! You let me trust you!" I slapped her hard across the face.
"You betrayed me!" A wail came from my mouth, cracking as I delivered another blow. "You did this to me! You did this to me, Teresa!" Hot tears spilled down from my eyes. I reached for the gun, pulling it from my pants.
"Oh, what the fuck?!"
"Y/n, drop the gun!"
My hand tried to steady the weapon that rattled in my hands.
"Drop it, y/n!"
I took the safety off.
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-I Bet On Losing Dogs by Mitski-
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"This is what you did!" I screamed, waving the pistol in her face. "This is what you did to me!" My fingers were too shaky, the gun slipped from my hand. It fell to the ground. Unused.
I caved over, crawling off of Teresa, sobbing in a soaking wet heap. I was done. I could do more.
"Y/n..." Ava said softly, her hand rubbing my back. I didn't move from her touch. I let her comfort me unable to twitch away. I was choking on my tears. "Shhh..." She shushed, soothing my heaving chest. "It's okay, Baby. Mother's here now."
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Ava's Playlist: Ava// Sour Girl
Available: Spotify
User: Notsoquirkykid
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