My head was throbbing when I woke up, the metal smell of blood immediately filling my nose. I winced at the slightest move I made as my eyes opened slowly. Well, at least I was alive.
I knew I had to get up and didn't want to hesitate too long, so just grabbed my stuff right away and took a quick look on my side.
It looked horrible. I lost lots of blood and it even looked like the wound got bigger, yet it didn't stop me from getting on my feet. I did have to hold onto the tree to do that, but I succeeded and started walking very slowly.
Every step hurt, every movement ached, and my legs burned. I wanted to get back home and sleep in my bed which was much more comfortable than the ground, but when I inspected my area, I didn't recognize a thing.
I came to the realization I ran very far with the creature chasing me. Far enough for me to not remember the way back.
I sighed and just wandered around, looking for signs of life and animals to hunt on. Food was a need, after all. And then I heard voices, causing me to grab my arrow and bow not a second later.
I stepped behind a tree and heard at least four voices talking, and multiple footsteps scrunching on branches. And then, I jumped forward and shot my arrow.
Someone screamed as I hid again, not knowing if I hit the people, who were most likely Cranks.
"What the shuck!"
"Whose out there?"
I furrowed my eyebrows deeply. The voices did not belong to Cranks. They weren't raspy or slugged, but young.. and male, though.
I was having a hard time considering if I should reveal myself or not. It would be hard to kill four or maybe more people, I didn't know them, I was hurt, and maybe they also had weapons to kill me.
As I held my breath, I felt my head get lighter and the pain worse. It was doing something to my body that I didn't understand.
"Reveal yourself." Someone ordered. I sighed and eventually obeyed, pointing my arrow right into the group.
I didn't take much time to inspect them but noticed they were all about the same height and probably age. The two in the front were blonde and brown-haired, a dark-skinned boy along with a dark blonde boy in the back, and next to them all a probably Asian boy.
"The shuck?" One of them muttered.
I frowned even deeper and pointed my arrow at the brown-haired boy in the front. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
I knew that if Holt would find out they were close to our area, he would force me to kill them. So I already knew I was supposed to do that, but just didn't yet.
"I asked you something." I pulled the arrow back a little, stretching the wire. The boys started to panic, screaming for me to back up and calm down.
"Who are you?" I repeated.
"Might ask you the same thing." The Asian boy spoke up. My bow and arrow snapped toward him in just a second, yet his gaze stayed cold. Something I didn't really approve of.
I gave all of them a glance. "I suggest you to leave this place."
"I don't think she likes us, guys." One of them whispered.
"Wow, really?"
I let out a grunt in anger at them for not listening and shot the arrow. It sliced right above the blonde's head, getting stuck in a tree after.
"Woah!" The brown-haired one moved in front of the tall blonde more.
The Asian cleared his throat. "Why's she bleeding?"
I couldn't help to look down at myself until I tasted blood in my mouth. Soon the thick liquid painted my lips red. "Leave or I'll shoot."
"You won't-."
I almost shot the Asian's hand off, not bothering to be careful with them. "If you explain who you are and what you're doing here, I'll consider not killing you."
The Asian who I by now inspected a bit better seemed a bit taken aback. He ran a hand through his perfectly styled black hair before putting it on his hip, looking quite confident.
"Why are you wearing lipstick in the Scorch?" One blurted out. Quickly I wiped the red off my mouth and moved my jacket in front of my wound, feeling my legs get weaker every second, but I had to take care of those boys first.
"I think it's blood." The other replied,
"Did y'all know I'm actually a vampire?"
"Who are you?" I raised my voice fully now, sick of them playing with me. They shared glances before the brown-haired started explaining.
"I'm Thomas." He protectively stepped forward, the others hiding behind him as his hands were up in the sky.
I raised my eyebrows and moved the bow even closer. The boy's eyes twitched over my whole face. "Who are you?"
I got ready to shoot, but they screamed again. "Never mind!"
"Can we help you?" Thomas tried carefully, looking at blood stains that trailed down my pants.
"No." I snapped. "Just leave."
"What happened?" The blonde questioned. Immediately I noticed his accent was different from mine. British. I swallowed and moved the arrow to him. "Newt." He added quickly so I hopefully wouldn't shoot. "Name's Newt."
I almost stumbled onto the ground, my legs just giving up. "Woah!" They took a step closer, I took a step back.
"Leave or I'll shoot." I managed to get out again, feeling my breathing get sucked up.
"But what if we can help you?" Thomas replied fast.
"What do you think you're gonna do about this, man?" I shook my head in disbelief. "Look, I'm tired of standing here so you better leave this territory."
"Territory?" The Asian scoffed. "What are you? Part of a wolf pack?"
I bit my lip, irritated by his stupid comments. "And you are?"
"Minho." He said proudly.
I hummed, acting like I wasn't impressed at all.
"Can you tell us what you're doing here? I'll promise we'll leave after if you want us to." Thomas suggested.
I blinked a few times, trying to contain my dizziness. "I live here."
"What?" Some laughed, and others stared attentively. "In the woods?"
"No. In a bunker." I clenched my jaw. "But I got lost and can't find it back. Now leave."
The Asian laughed once again. "How can you lose the way back to your home?"
"At least I have a home." I snapped. His face darkened completely before he gave me an angry glare.
"Are you sure you're doing alright?" The dark-skinned one's face tensed. "You're a bit pale."
"I am... perfectly fine," I said slowly, surprised my voice was so weak. "Leave."
Something was definitely wrong with the wound. My forehead got damped in sweat and my hands, also including my bow, started to shake.
"Alright, that's it." Thomas walked straight forward, not even bothering the bow in my hands. I tried to keep it up or shoot him, but I was weak. Weak enough for Thomas to be able to take the bow out of my hands.
"They'll kill you." I gasped for some more air. "If they see you... they'll-." I didn't even finish my sentence about Holt. Thomas already forced me to sit down against another tree.
"Don't touch me, you pervert." I breathed, feeling my eyes closing.
"Stay awake," Thomas ordered as he moved my jacket to the side. "And cooperate."
"Stay away," I replied as I put my jacket back with my elbow. "And leave."
Thomas let out a chuckle, yet he didn't listen and lifted up my shirt. "Well, that's.." He stared at it with wide eyes. "What happened?"
"I fell out of heaven," I murmured. In the corner of my eye, I noticed some others sitting down too.
"Really?"
"No, what do you think, dumbass? I got attacked." I moaned as the blonde, Newt, ripped off a piece of his shirt.
"By what?" Thomas questioned.
"You ever stop asking questions?" I sighed, trying very hard to keep my eyes open. "I don't know, by the way. Not a Griever, though."
They all stopped right in their tracks, staring at me suspiciously. "How do you know what a Griever is?"
"Nice pets, aren't they?" My eyes closed, but Thomas screamed for me to open them. "What were your names again?"
"Aris." The dark-blonde said.
"Frypan." The boy, whose face already gave off how kind he was, explained.
"Nice name."
"Minho." The Asian repeated as if I would've forgotten his name.
And then something in my mind snapped. Their names... I recognized them. Especially Minho's name made me want to cry like I had done so many times when I was younger.
My eyes opened wide. "Leave," I said, pushing Thomas off me. "You really have to leave. They're gonna know you're here and they will get you all."
The beeping in my mind started to hurt my ears. Four beeps, some high-pitched and some lower. But why four? There were five boys in front of me!
"I'm serious." I panicked. "They know where you are and-."
Thomas interrupted. "They already know where we are. WICKED, right?"
I cried out at the name, but also could've been Newt pressing the piece of shirt on my side harder.
"It's a trial," Thomas explained. "They gave us a week to get through the Scorch. The Safe Haven would be at the end. A safe place."
"There is no safe place, you idiots," I muttered as I slapped Newt's hands away. "Just go."
"And let you die?" The boy named after a frying pan spoke up.
"You don't even know me." I moaned, trying hard not to cry at all the hands touching me and the pain in my side.
Newt frowned and took a closer too at the wound. "Something's in there."
I whimpered slightly at the realization it must be another tooth. "Get it out."
"What? That's gonna-."
"Get it out!" I cut Thomas off. "Here." With all my strength I grabbed an arrow and handed it to Thomas. "Get it out with the arrow."
Thomas' face paled. "I'm not gonna do that."
"Imma throw up," Newt murmured. He got up and took a few steps back, clearly not wanting to do the job.
"Y'all are wimps," I commented. A pair of beautiful dark brown eyes met mine. Minho.
"I'll do it." He said tough as he snapped the arrow out of Thomas' hand. "Shanks."
"Shanks?" I repeated.
"Our slang," Minho explained as he bent down a bit. "We have all kinds of words."
"Like what?"
"Klunk, slinthead, shuck face, jacked.." He summarized quickly, inspecting my wound and moving the arrow a bit. "Shank can be an idiot or friend."
"That's weird as..."
"Shuck." Minho finished my sentence. "Shuck means-."
"Fuck." I blurted out.
He laughed, his eyes disappearing for a second. "Indeed."
For a few seconds, we were silent.
"Just get over with it." I eventually said when Minho still didn't do anything.
"Oh, I already did it." He grinned and held up a silver tooth.
My mouth fell open. "But I didn't feel anything."
"He distracted you by talking," Newt explained from behind.
"Or she was too busy looking at my handsome face," Minho added.
"I'll go with the first option." I felt my cheeks heat up, because both had a point. I wasn't busy looking at Minho's face, but he was quite handsome, to be honest.
"What's your name?" Thomas walked back over to us and gave Minho a proud nod.
I swallowed. "Uhh... Lena."
"That's a nice one." Thomas nodded and took the tooth out of Minho's hands. "The shuck is this?"
"A tooth from some weird monster." I breathed. Minho suddenly bent down again and wrapped an arm around me. "I can easily walk on my own." I protested.
Minho raised his eyebrows and let go of me. I let out a yell and felt my legs give up. Just a second before I hit the ground, Minho caught me again.
"You sure 'bout that?"
"Oh, shut up," I grumbled.