He had been shot.
Shot. Hurt.
A bullet had torn through his flesh, but Mara didn't see where the bullet had entered his body. Instead, in a rush of anger and fear, Mara gripped her gun harshly, aiming it at the man beyond, the man that had shot Thomas.
However, before she could shoot, a body threw itself upon the man, hitting and kicking.
Minho.
Knowing that the man was being taken care of, Mara rushed forward alongside Newt and a few others as she stuffed the gun back under her waistband, all gathering around Thomas. Now that she was closer, Mara could see the blood pouring from Thomas' arm, just above his armpit, the red substance cascading through his broken flesh.
They had to get him somewhere safe, get him away. Mara had remembered the room they had left was currently home to many Cranks, who could easily come out and join the frenzy. They had to get Thomas away.
"He shot me." Thomas spoke with an atmosphere of shock, as if the situation hadn't sunk in yet.
Mara didn't know how to sooth him, or how to make him feel better. Instead, she just looked down at him, lying across the floor, her hand holding his tightly. She didn't know when they had started to hold hands, but they had, and she didn't know if it was to comfort him or herself. She didn't let go.
"It's okay," was all she could whisper, over and over, even though she couldn't convince herself that she was right.
Her throat was constricting again, something she had experienced before. Why did this have to keep happening? She was going to fight it, she wasn't going to pass out this time. She couldn't leave Thomas, she had to be there for him.
A Glader Mara didn't know the name of peeled his shirt off his sweaty body, thrusting it into Newt's hand, who then pressed it tightly against Thomas' wound. Thomas cried out when the shirt and wound connected, and Mara could see his eyes drifting in and out of consciousness.
"Stay with us Tommy." Mara told him, squeezing his hand a little as she tried to steady her own breaths. He squeezed back weakly.
"I can get that sucker out of him." Jorge raised his voice over the commotion, coming from somewhere behind Mara. "But I'll need a fire."
"We can't do this here." Newt answered, turning his head slightly to look at Jorge, but making sure the shirt was still firmly pressed against Thomas.
"Newt, tie the shirt tightly around his arm." Mara said firmly, surely that would be more secure than holding it there. They could use an extra pair of hands. Newt looked at Mara and nodded silently, doing as she said.
"Let's get out of this shuck city!" Minho yelled, jumping to his feet. Mara had only just noticed that the fight between himself and the man with the gun had ceased, and now Minho was the only one standing. The other lay across the floor still, whether or not he was alive, Mara couldn't tell.
After Newt had tied the shirt securely to Thomas' arm, a few of the Gladers came forward, reaching Thomas' body.
"All right." The boy who had handed Newt his shirt spoke up, at the same time beginning to grip Thomas' body. "Help me carry him."
Mara did what she could, helping a group of boys including Minho, who had joined them, get a solid grip on Thomas' body. Mara counted to three, and then they lifted him towards the sky, trying their best to cause the least amount of pain possible.
Minho decided that he would carry Thomas. "Everyone else needs to watch out for Cranks. Keep Thomas covered." He had demanded, and he was right. They needed to get away, but that didn't mean it was going to be a walk in the park. They still had to get beyond the city first, and that meant walking through the heart of the Cranks.
They began their journey as soon as possible, Jorge at the front of the pack, and a bunch of Gladers, including Mara and Newt, stayed close to Thomas' limp body. He had passed out and all Mara could do was feel good about the fact that he still had a pulse.
Sunlight beat down on their skin as they quickly moved through the city. It had to be around midday, maybe a little later, but Mara couldn't tell, and she didn't really care. She just hoped that the sun would go down sometime soon; it would make the trip to the other side of the city easier.
According to Jorge, they were about three quarters of the way through the city, but now they had to move quickly. The Cranks had converted the silence of the city into a madhouse, and they didn't want the Gladers to leave.
Screams bounced through the air; pure, insane cries belonging to Cranks with no humanity left in their bodies. It rattled Mara to the core, sent a chill of ice through her body, but she knew that they had to keep going. The sooner they got away, the sooner it would be over, and then they could leave the Cranks in the distance, far, far away.
Soon enough, Mara's dread became real, and a group of six or seven Cranks greeted them from behind, jumping out at Aris, who was at the rear of the Glader's group. He squirmed and fought, two nearby boys coming to his rescue and freeing him from the Crank's grasp.
"Run!" Jorge had shouted, and no one hesitated to disagree.
Each of them threw their feet across the concreate floor, pounding and zipping through the air. Hearts racing, minds crumpling with anxiety and determination. Mara could only hope that every Glader still ran behind them, still following.
The Cranks behind shouted and screeched, throwing stones and anything they carried at the group. A large stone hit Mara just above the knee, sending a shock through her leg which made her run falter, but it hadn't completely fazed her. Instead, the boy who had given his shirt to Thomas had grabbed her and stopped her from tripping up.
Mara didn't know how or when, but at some point during the run their group had lost the Cranks. That, or they had gotten bored of chasing them. Despite losing them, the group continued to run. They all just wanted to escape, to leave the city behind like dust.
As they ran, the group turned a corner around a yet another large building, but this time, they didn't find a long concreate pathway. Instead they came across a stretch of desert, and in the distance, mountains rose up above them.
They had made it. Away from the city, away from the Cranks. Something felt as if it had lifted from Mara, some kind of weight. Maybe it was the city, its horror, its awful curse lifting, ceasing to exist.
In the distance, a few miles from where they stood at the edge of the city, something caught Mara's eye. She couldn't quite see what it was, but something stood out there, she thought it was some type of building maybe.
"Up there!" Frypan shouted, pointing at the building Mara had just spotted. "Could be a shelter or something."
"Could be worth checking out." Newt agreed.
"Hey Minho, you still okay to carry Thomas? Or do you want a break?" The boy from earlier was standing beside Minho, offering out his arms. Minho declined his offer, instead gripped harder, carrying Thomas' body over his shoulder.
"We should keep going," Mara announced, not to anyone in particular. She just knew they couldn't waste time, they needed to save Thomas. "We can rest when we get further up, hopefully that building is unoccupied. Jorge, did you say you need a fire?"
Mara turned to Jorge as she spoke, and he nodded.
"Okay, that's the first thing we'll do when we get up there, look for wood." If Thomas needed a fire to survive, then she was going to either find or make one.
Soon enough, they began to walk along the stretch of desert, trying hard to shield themselves from the harsh sun. Mara walked alongside Brenda, a girl she had hardly even spoken to. She only really knew her by name.
"Brenda, right?" Mara asked, mainly to start up a conversation. The girl looked shaken up, yet still tough. She nodded. "My name's Mara. We've never been introduced properly."
"I know you," She said blatantly. "You had fainted when I saw you, just before the Cranks attacked us."
"Yeah." Mara spoke quietly. She wanted to talk to Brenda, to get to know her, but she couldn't really focus on her. "Thomas is gonna be okay." She told the girl, who didn't reply. She didn't know why she'd said it, maybe she wanted reassurance herself. She needed to know that he'd be okay.
They didn't talk after that, instead kept walking, trekking towards the building that seemed to be the same distance away. Mara turned her head back, looking towards the city they had once been in. It was about a mile or so away, and they were leaving it behind for good.
Despite the fleeting anxiety Mara had bottled up for Thomas, there was a good rush that came with leaving that city behind. Leaving the Cranks, leaving Adam behind. She turned back to the mountains. What they held, she didn't know. She just hoped that it was better than what they were leaving behind.
-
A/N
I finished the Fever Code recently and OH MY GOD THAT ENDING. It's made me want to reread the Maze Runner series again with this new information. I loved the whole book though, it was so interesting to see how Thomas and the Gladers lived at WICKED before the trials. After reading it, I've also got a few more ideas surrounding Mara's life before entering the Glade, and it's all going to play a part in this book very soon.
Also, because I've been so rubbish at updating lately, I want to dedicate as many days as possible next month to writing Him. It probably won't be every day, but I'm hoping to get a few chapters (3/4/5 or somewhere around those numbers) a week out at least. My main goal is to finish this book by the end of this year, since we're pretty close anyway.
Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Fever Code!
-Lows