Watching the Scorch trials while writing this! :) The cranks still kind of scare me lol.
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~Zoe~
The door opened.
"Hey guys!" I whispered sharply. Everyone around me groaned and sat up.
Minho and Molly stood beside Newt and I. A man with silver hair, pale skin, and cold eyes stood in the doorway. His nose was narrow and pointed slightly. He reminded me of a rat chuck caught back in the glade.
"You kids doing alright?" He asked with a quick smile. "Sorry about all the fuss. We had ourselves a bit of a swarm."
"Who are you?" Thomas asked.
"I'm the reason you are all still alive. It's my intention to keep you that way."
"Where are we?" I asked. "And what is going on?"
The silver-haired man's gaze shifted to me, "I'm aware you all have a lot of questions. You will get your answers in time. Come with me. Let's get you kids squared away."
We followed the man through the compound. He spoke as we walked.
"You can call me Mr. Janson. I run this place," He pointed at the place around us. "For us it is a sanctuary. Safe from the horrors of the outside world. You all should think of it as a way station."
My twin leaned over and whispered, "Honestly the maze was prettier than this."
"Kind of a home between homes," Janson said as he led us around a corner. "Watch yourselves."
A cluster of sparks fell from above. I sidestepped to avoid them.
"That means you're taking us home?" Thomas asked.
A spark of hope kindled inside me.
"A home of sorts. Sadly there wouldn't be much left of wherever you came from. But we do have a place for you. A refuge outside the scorch where W.C.K.D will never find you again. How does that sound?"
We all looked at each other before Minho quizzed, "Why are you helping us?"
Mr. Janson replied, "The world out there is in a rather precarious situation. We are all hanging on by a very thin thread. The fact that you kids can survive the flare virus makes you the best chance of humanities survival."
I did not like the sound of that last part. I saw a large door ahead.
"Unfortunately, it also makes you a target. As no doubt by now you've noticed."
"Some of us spent three years trapped in a maze by some psychos," Molly spoke up. "Think we noticed."
Janson cocked an eyebrow. He pulled a card out of his pants pocket, "Beyond this door lies the beginning of your new life." Janson slipped the card through a scanner on the side. A green light blinked on with a beeping noise. The door opened to reveal a very long hallway. Daniel and I looked at each other as if trying to figure out if this was legit or not.
"First things first. Let's do something about that smell."
Janson led us down the hall to another door. On the other side a room where a couple people in medical scrubs. Two doors were in one wall near the back. The people took our backpacks we had with us still from the maze. They tossed them into a bin.
"What are you doing? Daniel asked when a man took his.
"You won't need these anymore," The guy smiled.
A woman walked up to me. She was tall with dark skin and curly hair pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head.
"Come with me please," She beckoned me to follow her.
"Where are you taking her?" Newt asked, pulling me close to him.
"Just to get her cleaned up and checked over. She'll be fine," The nurse smiled.Newt looked upset, "She stays with me."
"Newt," I touched his cheek. "It's okay. They're just helping us." I kissed him, "I'll see you soon."
The woman led Me, Molly, and Teresa through the door on the right.
"My name is Dr. Crane, I'll be escorting you through the admission process," She walked backward. Teresa was taken away by another doctor.
"Where are they taking her?" I asked as my eyes trailed after the girl.
Dr.Crane looked at her clipboard, "To the same place I'm taking you. Don't worry. It is perfectly safe."
Two sliding doors opened automatically to reveal a room with six doors on each side. A long bench sat in the middle of the room.
"Please," She beckoned to two open doors. "I'll see you on the other side."
I walked cautiously through the doorway. Dr.Crane closed the door behind me. I jumped a little at the loud click. The room I was in was tiny. Barely bigger than one of the stalls back in the glade. On one side was a mirror that covered the entire left wall. On the right wall was a window. It was metal. A plaque beside it read: "Please place all articles of clothing inside."
I looked around, no cameras. I took off my hoodie and slipped it inside the window. It fell through the bottom and disappeared. I took off the rest of my clothing and watched as the last pieces I had of the glade disappeared. The mirror caught my reflection when I walked by towards the other door. I backed up. The girl in the mirror stared back at me with brown eyes. I was thinner than I had been when I came to the maze. Two meals a day and hard work will do that to you. My hair fell to my shoulders having grown a couple inches. My stomach is what caught my attention. It had grown slightly. I felt bloated more than anything. I turned sideways to see a very slight roundness had formed. Not noticeable just yet.
I stepped away from the mirror and walked over to the other door. On the other side was a shower. In the far wall was another door. A panel sat on the wall with one green button and one red button next to the shower. I pressed the green button which turned on the water. Steam filled the room.
Whoever these people were provided soap. I used a generous amount of shampoo to wash all the sweat and dirt out of my hair. Small cloths sat on a shelf indented in the wall so I poured more soap on one and scrubbed myself until my skin was pink. The sweet aroma calmed my nerves as the warm water poured down on me. The shower was probably the best thing I had felt in months.
A doctor met me once I walked out the door. She smiled, "Zoe?"
I was very confused as to how she knew my name but replied, "Yes?"
"Come this way please," The shorter woman asked. She was shorter than me with curly blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.
We walked through more doors. Good grief this place has too many doors! I thought to myself. Minho was running on a treadmill with wires connected to his body. Molly sat on a chair with her arm wrapped in a black band. A nurse was looking at something on a screen beside her. I saw Newt sitting on a bed with a man injecting something into his arm. He looked at me when I walked by. Newt tried to stand but the doctor pushed him down gently, "You'll see her shortly."
The woman doctor led me to a bed beside the room Newt was in. I smiled at Newt when I saw him carefully watching what the woman did.
"I'm Dr. Hayes," She said and pulled the curtains closed. I couldn't see Newt anymore. "I'm just going to take a few tests and then you can go back with your friends," She sat down on a wheely stool. The computer screen reflected on the metal cabinet behind it. I could see a picture of me in the reflection. What?
The doctor stuck a needle into my arm and took out some blood, "Let me know if this hurts."
I nodded. She squirted my blood into a glass tube and put it on a tray. Then she injected me with an orange liquid.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Oh just a few things to help you get healthier. Vitamins A-z. Pretty much everything you've been lacking."
I stopped her, "Is it safe for?" I looked down at my stomach. "Children?"
She smiled, "Yes it's safe for the baby. It'll help it as well."
I let her put it in me. She put the needle back on her tray and motioned to the pillow, "Lay down."
I did as she asked. She rolled my shirt up, "Let's see the little one shall we?"
Dr. Hayes rubbed some cold gel on my stomach and gently prodded it with a device. She turned the screen to show me an ultrasound, "Everything looks great."
I watched as the little blob moved. I laughed.
"Active little one," The doctor said as she clicked something on the screen. A piece of paper printed off the printer in the corner. She passed it to me, "here."
"Thank you!" I smiled and stared at the photos.
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