~Daniel~
"Well this is fun," I said as the numb feeling crept slowly from my ankles to my knees. "I love hanging out with you guys. Especially over a hole of darkness where we can't see the bottom, could be our new pad."
"Would you shut up," Molly groaned a few feet away.
"Sorry," I replied.
Aris grumbled something on the other side of me.
"Good plan thomas," Minho stated. "Just hear what the man has to say. Really working out for us."
"It's not Thomas's fault," My sister replied from the other side of the circle. I heard her sob quietly. Newt reached out for her. I stared up at the mechanism we were hanging from. Just a bunch of cords attached to an anchor in the ceiling. These people clearly made a practice of hanging their prisoners out to dry. I wiggled my body so I spun around to face her. My ankles burned where the rope cut into them. I could see drips of blood running down my leg where my jeans had rolled up.
"Oh shut up Minho," Our leader said quietly. "Maybe I can reach the rope." He tried to grab the cord. I did the same. My muscles stung. I breathed through my teeth and surrendered to my hanging position.
"Enjoying the view?" Jorge emerged from the shadows.
"The heck do you want?" Thomas asked.
"That is the question," He motioned with his hand. "My men want to sell you back to W.C.K.D. Life has taught them to think small. I'm not like that. Something tells me you're not like that either."
"Is the blood rushing to my head? Or is this shank not making any sense?" Minho said fuzzily.
Jorge pointed at Thomas with the rod in his hand, "Tell me what you know about the right arm."
"You said they were Ghosts," My brother-in-law answered.
"I happen to believe in Ghosts," The man replied matter-of-factly. "Especially when I hear them chattering on the airwaves."
"So they're real," My twin sister said, more to herself. Jorge walked over and put his hand on a lever. Uh oh.
"You tell me what you know. And then maybe we can make a deal."
I looked over at zoe was almost limp. "Come on Thomas," I whispered.
"We don't know much," Thomas said. Jorge pressed the lever. We all jolted down a few feet.
"Just tell him!" I yelled.
"Okay okay alright. They're hiding in the mountains. They attacked WCKD and got out a bunch of kids. That's it," Thomas explained.
"Hey Jorge," A man walked up. "What's going on?"
"Me and my new friends were just getting acquainted," He replied.
"Yeah hermanos," I said. My head was throbbing.
"We're done now."
"Hey wait wha- You're not gonna help us?" Thomas asked in panic.
"Don't worry Hermano. We'll get you back to where you belong," Jorge walked away. "Hang tight."
"I'll hang him," I whispered.
"Okay I have an idea," Molly said. "Thomas, try and pushed Teresa over to Minho."
"What?" Teresa asked.
"Just trust me," Molly said.
"Fine," Teresa agreed.
"Okay then Minho tries to swing teresa forward to grab the lever. Maybe we can lower ourselves down there," She looked up, or rather down, at the hole below us.
"We don't even know what's down there," Aris said. "What if it's those cranks."
"We've got to take the chance," Frypan said. Thomas swung over to Teresa. She grabbed his arms so he could push her to Minho. Minho grabbed the back of Teresa's jacket and pushed her forward. Teresa swung and tried to grab the rail around the lever but missed.
"Crud," Thomas breathed. Thomas and Minho tried it a second time. Third time.
"Come on Minho push her harder!" Newt said. He was still staring at his wife who had gone still.
"Zoe?" I asked. No reply. "Zoe!"
Frypan said, "She's breathing."
"Three, two, one!" Minho shoved Teresa forward. She grabbed the railing.
"Yes!" Thomas exclaimed. "Teresa hurry!"
Teresa cranked the lever down. We all dropped down. She sat on the edge of the hold and began undoing her ropes. When she was done hers she undid mine. I fell onto the hard floor and waited for the blood to drain from my head.
Then I rushed to undo Zoe. I took her limp body into my arms, "Hey zo."
She groaned, "Dan."
"Right here," I kissed her cheek. "I'm going to get Newt."
She sat against the wall and nodded. Newt lept onto the edge, wobbled, and then ran to my sister.
"Hey baby," Newt sighed with relief as he pulled my sister into his arms. "Are you okay?"
Zoe hugged him and nodded, "I'm fine. Just dizzy."
I knelt down beside them, "How's the baby?"
Zoe put a hand on her stomach, "Fine. I think. Haven't felt anything weird."
"Oh thank goodness," Newt smiled.
"Good evening! This is the World Catastrophe Killzone Department! We have your compound completely surrounded!" A voice echoed.
"Oh shucks," I said. Ratman.
"Newt," Zoe said. He helped her up, "Hey come on. We're going to be okay."
"If you find yourselves in possession of WCKD property return them too us," The voice continued. "We'll consider this a simple misunderstanding. If you resist, every last one of you will die!" Janson said over the speaker. "It won't be long until the flare wipes out the rest of us. The hope, the cure, is in your hands. It's your choice."
The four of us worked on freeing the rest of our friends. We all ran around the hole towards an opening.
"Let's go," Thomas ushered us forward. A man cocked a gun. We all froze.
"We're not trying to cause any trouble. We just want to get out of here," Thomas held his hands up.
"Is that so?" The man who had been with Jorge earlier asked. He pulled out a radio. "Janson I got 'em for you. I'm bringing them down."
Oh crap.
"Come on. Lets go," he pointed the gun at us. I stepped in front of my sister, "No."
"What did you say kid?"
"I said No," I replied. The man was shoved by Thomas. A shot went off. I looked at our leader. He was fine. The man crumpled to the ground. Behind him stood the girl who led us into the place.
"Okay, come on," She said and beckoned us to follow her. We ran after her.
A very odd type of music began.
"What the heck?" Zoe asked.
I laughed.
Jorge met us at the top of the stairs, "Brenda hurry! We gotta go." He pushed open to door in the wall. The skeleton of the next building sat across a large gorge.
"That's not a way out, that's suicide!" Molly exclaimed.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me," Frypan said.
"You kids wanna get to the right arm? I'll lead you to them but you to trust me." He slid down the cables over the gorge on a fabric sling.
"Alright! Let's go. Come on!" Brenda said and grabbed another sling.
"Go go go!" Thomas said and pushed us forward one after the other. I grabbed onto the slider and left out the window. The wind made my eyes sting as I slid down the narrow cable to the building below.
At the bottom Jorge caught me and shoved me towards a wall. Minho came next, then Frypan, then Aris, then Molly followed by Newt, then Zoe, and Teresa. I caught my sister and then Teresa, "Where's Thomas and Brenda?"
Teresa looked back across the gorge, "he said he'd come right after me."
Gunshots echoed.
"We gotta keep moving," Minho said. An explosion in the other building lit up the sky with an orange glow.
Jorge pulled a flashlight out of his pocket, "They'll meet us there."
"Meet us where?" My twin questioned. "Where exactly are you taking us?"
"To find the one man who can help us," Jorge replied as he walked through a crumbling doorway. "Trust me hermanos."
"Why should we?" Molly asked. "You nearly sold us out to WCKD. How do we know you're not leading us back to them."
"You don't. But I assure you girl, I want what you do. Freedom, and for WCKD to get off my tail and leave me alone. What does that say?"
"Fine," Newt said. "We will go with you but if there's one sign of you betraying us we'll leave and hand you over."
"You have my word," Jorge nodded. "Come on. It's a long, hard trek."