A/N: So this might sound really weird, but I've seen multiple comments of people online on how they know a book/story will be good when the writer's first language is not English.. but why's that, I'm wondering? :)
~
Little me sat in my small, cold room that only had one bed. My cute pillows and stuffed animals I had before were all gone, just like everything I had.
Janson stormed into the room, his face pissed as always. "What the hell do you think you were doing out there, hmm?" He bent down in front of me and grabbed my wrists tightly.
I let out a cry. Tears were already running down my cheeks even before Janson came in. I had failed to do my mission on my own.
"They were so sweet!" I cried out. "A-and they offered me nice things and I-I-."
"What you're supposed to do, is take the kid with you and bring them to the guards who are always waiting outside for you, understood?" Janson squeezed harder. "I don't like it when we have to use our controlling system on you, Lenora."
I sobbed. "Find someone else then."
Janson didn't reply for a few seconds, seeming hesitant. Then his eyes and face softened sweetly.
"But you're the best at this, Len." He lowered his voice. "Without you... we're nothing. We need you in this job."
Young me nodded, not realizing how stupid it was to believe Janson.
"Do you hear more beeps?" He questioned.
I closed my eyes for a second, focusing on the beeps in my ears. "Yes." I stared at the map in my mind and soon told Janson the address.
"Alright." He smiled, a grin hidden behind it. "I'll do some research. In two days we'll do it, okay?"
"Okay."
~
I woke up by some hysterical screams of Thomas that he saw lights in the distance, which was true. Fast, we all got up, looking around and rubbing our eyes for a few seconds. The lights lit up a big building, which was the only thing I could see.
"Shit." Thomas suddenly added, motioning at dark clouds far away from us. I could already hear the thunder. "We gotta hurry!"
Soon we were all running the fastest we could. Especially Minho stood out. I swear he could easily outrun us all and get to the building in three seconds, but instead, he turned around and stopped until we all ran past, including me, and then jogged after us.
Thomas kept encouraging everyone to keep running and shouting things as the lightings strikes got closer. I felt the ground shake by them and heat hitting my back, making me run even faster.
Aris, Frypan, Newt, and I arrived at the doors of the building, some cars and other vehicles surrounding us, but a loud explosion made us, especially me, stop right in our place.
One person, Thomas, fell onto the ground... Minho flew through the air. I let out a yelp, seeing a big spark of lighting hit him.
Without hesitation, though I didn't really know why, I ran back to the boy, not caring to get hit too. "Minho!" I screamed, but he just lay there lifeless. In a panic, I took the boy's arms. Newt soon helped me and somehow we managed to get back to the doors, Thomas too. He was alive and well, at least.
Frypan slammed the door closed, making the room completely dark. A weird, rotten smell I easily recognized filled my nose, but I only cared for Minho, who we lay on the ground.
"Minho." Thomas shook his shoulders.
"Wake up." The others panicked.
I stared at him with wide eyes. It was weird... I never felt such horrible as now when Minho lay there, maybe not alive.
After a while, a groan escaped his mouth.
"Oh, god." I let out a relieved sigh, the others happily following my example.
Minho's eyes opened, searching around the crowd until he met my eyes. "What happened?"
"I think you got struck by lightning," Thomas replied.
Minho fell silent again, his blank face turning into the by now familiar crooked smile. "Aah." He relaxed his body. "Cool."
I couldn't help to laugh. "You scared the shit out of us," I said as I pulled Minho up.
"Did someone mouth to mouth me?" Minho asked. And yes, he was definitely the old one again.
"You wished," Frypan commented.
Newt frowned and put another flashlight on. "What's that sm- AAH!" He almost jumped in Thomas' arms when his flashlight hit a Crank that reached forward to us.
I flinched and out of reaction, my hand took the one of someone next to me, which of course had to be Minho.
For a few seconds, I didn't realize it, but once I did, I pulled back, clearing my throat lightly.
But Minho grabbed it again, gaze cold and not daring to look at me. Our fingers intertwined, and let's just say it was pretty intense.. causing me to blush deeply.
"I see you've met our guard dogs." An unknown, female voice from my right said. Our heads snapped toward the figure. A light went off above her, but I couldn't see her face yet.
"Who's that?" Thomas muttered. And like he always did, he moved in front of us protectively.
She walked toward us as more Cranks appeared, all trying to bite or hit her, but chains tied them back, and after all, she didn't look scared at all.
"You guys look like shit." She commented, her face finally visible to me.
Her dark hair was shorter buzzed than Minho's, her face was definitely pretty, and she looked kind of badass, if I had to be honest.. especially after the way she walked past the Cranks.
"Come on. Follow me." She took some steps back again, but no one followed. "Unless you want to stay here with them."
We ended up following her further into the building, walking up some stairs. Warm lights lit it up and dozens of people walked or sat around, giving us nasty glances. Minho gave them death stares in return, making me feel a way I only remembered feeling like a long time ago, but that was most likely because our hands were still connected.
"Come on, keep up." The girl encouraged. "Jorge wants to meet you."
"Who's Jorge?" Thomas wondered, as always.
"You'll see." She answered casually. "No one's come out of the Scorch in a long time. You've just got him curious. And me, too."
A man with ugly teeth and a weird grin on his face walked behind us, catching some suspicious looks from Newt. "Anyone else starting to get a bad feeling about this place?"
"Let's just hear him out." Thomas decided. "See what he has to say."
"This will be our death," I whispered.
Minho chuckled under his breath. "Thomas likes last-minute plans."
Brenda stopped after we went up the last stairs. "Jorge, they're here."
A man wearing a brown shirt with his back turned toward us, held up his finger. "Quiet." He listened to something on some sort of radio. A breeze came out of it, then it was silent again. "Damn it."
He turned around, revealing darker-colored skin, a grey-brownish beard, and a face that somehow looked kind, but also sly.
"Do you ever get the feeling the whole world's against you?"
"It's recognizable," I whispered.
"Three questions." He started, taking a glass off a table. "Where did you come from? Where are you going? How can I profit?"
No one replied, I mean, my answer would be different from theirs anyways, so it wasn't up to me.
"Don't all answer at once," Jorge added.
Thomas sighed, his voice low. "We're headed for the mountains. Looking for the Right Arm."
A few people around us chuckled.
"You're looking for ghosts, you mean." Jorge paused. "Question number two. Where did you come from?"
"That's our business," Minho said blankly.
Jorge raised his eyebrows and gave Brenda and some others a nod. They didn't hesitate to grab some decided and push our heads onto the table.
"Hey!" Thomas protested as I felt a cold shiver move over my neck. "Get the hell off me!"
"We got a zero, Jorge." The man that scanned me announced.
The corner of Jorge's mouth went up. "How nice?"
I pushed the man off me quickly.
"I'm sorry, hermanos y hermana.." Jorge sighed. "Looks like you're tagged." He pointed at us. "You came from WICKED. Which means... you're very valuable.
~
"Good plan, Thomas," Minho commented when we all hung above a deep abyss, our feet tied together on a rope. "Just see what the man has to say. Really working out for us."
"Shut up, Minho," Thomas grumbled,
I twisted around a bit. "Is right now a bad time to say I'm afraid of heights?"
"Are you serious?" Minho threw his hands in the air. "You.. afraid of heights?" He spat out.
"No, I'm kidding," I said honestly, though hanging there wasn't much comfortable.
"Enjoying the view?" I recognized Jorge's small Spanish accent.
"I think Lee does," Minho replied. "She loves nice views.. especially sunsets, right?"
I let out a groan. "Shut up."
"Make me," Minho smirked right before everyone started arguing about his flirting skills and everything.
"Hey!" Jorge's shout made us silent.
"Looks like he can make us shut up." Minho breathed. I laughed.
"You two.." He said threateningly, but never finished what he was about to say. "My men want to sell you back to WICKED." He then started. "Life has taught them to think small. I'm not like that. Something tells me that you're not either."
Minho groaned. "Is the blood rushing to my head or is this shank not making any sense?"
"Both," I replied.
Jorge ignored us. "Tell me what you know about the Right Arm." He pointed a pole at Thomas.
"I thought you said they were ghosts."
He smiled. "I happen to believe in ghosts. Especially when I hear them chattering on the airwaves. You tell me what you know, and maybe we can make a deal."
"We don't know much," Thomas said as Jorge walked over to a handle. Before anyone could say something else, he pulled it.
The ropes we hung on grew longer, causing us to drop deeper. "Okay! Okay, all right." Thomas yelled. "They're hiding in the mountains." He said. "That's all we know."
"Is this part of your trial?" I whispered to Newt.
"These people? Jorge?" He frowned. "I don't think so."
Jorge nodded slowly. This time his pole moved to me.. so close he moved my chin toward him.
"Hey!" Minho protested, but he couldn't do anything.
"You..." His eyes twinkled. "Subject number zero. A0."
Then he got interrupted by Ugly Teeth walking in. "Yo, Jorge. What's going on?"
Jorge looked at him normally. "Me and my new friends were just getting acquainted. We're done now."
"Hey, wait. You're not gonna help us?" Thomas asked when Jorge was about to walk away.
"Don't worry, hermano." He shook his head, laughing. "We'll get you back to where you belong. Hang tight."