Work Text
The city fell about a week ago. A few cranks can still be found milling about the ruins, but as far as we can tell, we five are the only people still alive. Well, technically four. The boy Cara found is still in a sort of coma. He has a faint pulse and is still breathing a little. He'd been branded, one of W.C.K.D's subjects. Natalia was able to remove any implants left. As soon as she did, all traces of the Flare disappeared. Hose W.C.K.D.
The knife wound wasn't too bad. Sent A5 into shock, barely missing his heart. We're calling A5 because that's what his brand labels him. We'll have to get his name once/if he wakes up. Nat and Cara were able to remove our own implants three days ago. Awinita should be getting back from a supply run. I got back before her and haven't heard anything over the radio so she should be fine. Speak of the devil, here she comes now.
Jay put down the notebook and pen he found on his supply run today. A string of whistles rang through the air, piercing the quiet of the hideout. Cara returned the whistle from her lookout point. The group of four had made camp in a destroyed light rail train left on the tracks. Some cars had tilted to one side or had, somehow, been completely flipped, but it was home. As Cara climbed back in through the hole in the roof, Natalia moved from her spot in the front train car to open the one door the youngest had managed to hot wire. A young girl stepped through pulling off the goggles and scarf covering her face. Her jacket and pants were covered in bits of dust, and some sticks poked out of her hair. Setting her bag down, she collapsed onto some of the train seats that had been made into a bed.
“I hate Cranks.” She said in between breaths.
“How bad was it?” Cara asked, digging through the bag.
“I looked in the main medical building of W.C.K.D. Janson’s body is still there. I’m going to have nightmares for weeks.” Awi shuttered. “Found some needles and a mostly intact IV drip bag. No stand though.”
Cara pulled said item out of the bag. It was good enough for her. She moved to the back of the train car and behind a curtain, Jay had jerry-rigged. Awi sat up and dumped out the rest of the bag. It was random parts, some clothes, weapons, and bits of food. “Not much out there. Most of the stores were raided when the fires started. Killed a couple of rodents though.”
The small group of four had been living off what they could. The majority of the water and any type of food that made a decent soup or broth went to A5. They’d made do with little before this whole mess, they’d do so again. Cara came back out from behind the curtain. “As far as I can tell, he’s doing alright. Can’t tell much without access to medical tech, but he’s still alive. The IV should help speed up the healing process just a little.”
Jay nodded and turned to check in on the youngest of them all. Natalia was sorting through the parts. Tossing parts into the many piles she’d had scattered through the car. Jay, Cara, and Awinita had no idea how she found what she needed, but whenever asked about it, the girl would always answer the same. “It’s not just a mess, it’s an organized mess.” The older ones never saw the ‘organization’ bit. Natalia had been working on getting the train up and running again. Upgrading the wheels to allow them to go off the track hadn’t been too hard. It took all four of them to do the first two cars (the main car, and the one they were living in). Grease and oil were smeared all over her clothes, and face, while her hair stuck out a little from working the wires. “Anything good in there?”
“Possibly. The engine is a jerk. I hope whoever designed this thing died a gruesome death. It makes no sense, but I think I figured out the important stuff.” Natalia inspected some rusty jumper cables, before nodding and jumping up and disappearing back to the main car. Awinita laid back down again, mumbling about sore muscles while Jay climbed through the roof for his turn on watch. The city had been… peaceful? Since the surviving W.C.K.D subjects and the rebels destroyed it. A massive rainstorm hit two days after it all, and the plants started to take over the city. Rebels still wandered into the city, but they didn’t last long before the cranks found them. Altogether, life wasn’t too-
“SON OF AN ONION BISCUIT!” a loud pop could be heard, and all the lights in the train -that Natalia had worked so hard to get running- went out. Jay poked his head back into the train. Awi had jumped up and Cara had whipped out her knife. Natalia opened the door to the main train car, black smoke following her out. Wiping soot off her face, Natalia grumbled about the engineer behind the engine and something about committing murder.
“Everything okay in there?” Awinita asked.
“Obviously not. A fuse blew. Looked like it was the power circulator to the other cars, so we should be fine though.” Natalia left the door open, letting the last of the smoke escape. Jay laughed before going back up. Ten years ago when the world first got scorched, the four had found each other. Five years ago when the Maze Trials began, the small family had avoided W.C.K.D’s clutches. Parts of the world had started to rebuild, the parts that hadn’t fallen under W.C.K.D. That was where they were headed. Hopefully, they could make it north to Canada.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Newt started waking up, he didn’t know where he was. Looking around the small, curtained-off room didn’t reveal anything useful either. There was an IV drip bag hanging from a hook in the ceiling down to his arm. His arm. There was no trace of the Flare! Was he dead? But then, why would he need an IV? Why was the Flare gone? Was he cured? So many questions ran through his brain. Newt’s head was pounding. He sat up with a groan and halted when he realized the knife in his chest was missing. His shirt and jacket had also been taken off, replaced by a white bandage wrapping around his chest. Sounds from a drill and other tools echoed from somewhere nearby. Footsteps made their way closer, all his noises probably alerting whoever it was. A girl about a year younger than him with red hair and brown eyes pushed aside the curtain. She smiled. “Oh! You’re awake.”
She dropped her smile when it dawned on her. “Oh, frig! You’re awake!”
Newt looked at her confused before she hurriedly took out the IV and rushed back to where she came from. “Natalia! Where the frig did you put the radio?!”
“Why? They haven’t called in everything’s fine, Cara.” A girl called back.
“A5’s awake! They need to get back here!”
“SON OF A-” the girl didn’t finish as a loud fizz as if from a soda can rang through the area followed by a pop. Deciding to exit the curtained-off room, Newt stood up and moved the curtain. He was in an abandoned light-rail train car. The car was a mess and black smoke could be seen coming from a door. Coming out from the smoke a girl three years younger than him with black hair and green eyes was wiping off soot from her face. As soon as she laid eyes on him, she froze before freaking out as well and joining the redhead in the search for the radio. “Holy heck he’s awake!”
“Who are you?” Newt asked. But the girls didn’t answer him. The redhead produced the radio from a pile of clothes holding it above her head with a triumphant yell. The radio crackled to life and a boy's voice came on.
“Cara, Nat, everything okay?”
“He’s awake! I was helping Nat with some fuses-”
“That blew up on me again!” the younger, Natalia interrupted.
“And when I went to check on him, he was awake!”
“All right, calm down. I and Awinita will be back soon.”
“See ya later, Jay,” Cara said, before setting the radio aside. Rushing around the train car once again, the two tossed him a new shirt, along with his jacket not giving him enough time to put them on before shoving an expired granola bar into his hands.
“It’s not much but yeah,” Cara said, before sitting down and fidgeting with her fingers. She turned to Natalia who was in the same situation with a nervous laugh. “How is it that we had a procedure for when he woke up, but as soon as he does, we start freaking out because the procedure involved all of us being here?”
“No idea, Cara.”
Newt looked back and forth between the two. “Who are you people, and what am I doing here? I’m supposed to be dead.”
“Well, you’re not dead, obviously, we found and healed you, and we’re waiting for the others,” Cara answered.
“How do I know you don’t work for W.C.K.D?”
“Dude, I’m a self-taught mechanic, age 15, living inside an abandoned train car. Do I look like I work for W.C.K.D?” Natalia raised her eyebrow. The sass in her voice reminded Newt of Minho. They’d probably get along well. Or absolutely hate each other. Newt was about to answer but got cut off by a string of whistles from outside. Cara climbed through a hole in the roof the ex-runner hadn’t noticed and returned the whistle. Cara climbed back down while Natalia opened one of the train car doors. A boy and yet another girl climbed in, pulling off the goggles and scarves covering their faces. They were covered in dust and dropped the bags they were carrying with supplies in them. The boy patted Newt’s shoulder before sitting down next to him. “Glad you’re awake A5. You’ve been out for two weeks. Didn’t think you’d be up this early.”
“My name’s Newt, and who the bloody heck are you people? I'm supposed to have the flare and be dead!”
“I’m Jay. This is Awinita.” the boy motioned to the third girl. “I assume you already met Cara and Natalia.”
“Yeah, they were freaking out,” Newt mumbled, starting to pull on his shirt. Cara quickly stopped him and disappeared behind the curtain before coming back with scissors.
“The knife you were stabbed with barely missed your heart, sending you into a state of shock. Your body then sent you into a coma to deal with the stress of it all.” Cara explained as she cut off the bandages. The only remnant of the knife was a scar in the middle of his chest. “Why don’t I have the Flare anymore?”
“W.C.K.D a jerk. I removed any implants they’d left in you. As as soon as I did, all traces disappeared.”
“Those bloody shanks,” Newt growled. Natalia laughed, nodding her head in agreement. “How do I know you four aren’t Cranks?”
“We’re immune. W.C.K.D kept trying to come after us. We never stayed in one place long enough.” Awinita assured him. Newt relaxed a little at this statement, putting his shirt and jacket back on. Suddenly, he remembered the other Gladers. “Where are my friends? Are they okay?!”
“They’re fine as far as we know. They escaped the city in a stolen berg.” Jay shrugged. Newt nodded and slouched down. “What are you guys still doing in the city anyway? I thought the rebels destroyed it.”
The four laughed. Jay calmed down first and answered. “They destroyed a lot. As far as we know, we five are the only people left. We’ve run into a few cranks a couple of times, but there aren’t many. Any rebels who didn’t get killed in the initial attack either got attacked by cranks, or we had to kill to defend ourselves.”
Newt nodded. “Are you guys just going to live like this?”
“Oh heck no!” Awinita said. “As soon as Nat gets the engine up and running-”
“Which I would be able to do if the fuses didn’t keep blowing on me and the designers weren’t idiots.” said girl mumbled.
“We’re going to try and head up north to Canada. The closest country who doesn’t associate with W.C.K.D, and the closest one working on rebuilding.”
Newt nodded before opening the granola bar. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was ‘till now. Now that he was alive, finding and joining the Gladers should be his top priority, but he also wanted to see what the world was like. Yes, it’d only been two weeks, but experience had shown him just how quickly things could change. “Could I come with you?”
“Of course!” All four declared at once. Newt laughed at their eagerness.
“How good are you at working with crappy engines?” Natalia asked, suddenly serious.
“Not too bad?” Newt remembered Jorge and Vince teaching him a little bit whenever the jeeps gave out.
Natalia grabbed his arm and pulled him into the front train car. “Sweet! You’re mine now.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Another two weeks had passed, and the train engine was up and running! More supply runs had them stocked up to last a while. It was in two weeks that everything went wrong. Newt and Natalia were running some last-minute checks on the engine when the warning whistle was heard. Looking up through the hole in the roof, the two saw Jay, Cara, and Awinita dashing their way across the ruins, jumping over and dodging obstacles as a horde of cranks followed them. “Bloody heck! Get us started.”
Natalia wasted no time in ducking back into the train car. Newt pulled reached down and grabbed a shotgun, picking off the cranks one by one while the other three reached the door. Once the three were back inside, Natalia started up the engine and they were off. Cara joined him in the sunroof, while Awinita and Jay aimed their guns out the windows. “I thought you said there were only a few cranks! What in the bloody heck did you do?!”
“We were looking in a W.C.K.D building. Jay slipped, something made a loud noise, and then we’re booking our way back here.”
“Why do you guys keep reminding me of the Gladers?” Newt laughed, not taking his eyes off the scope of his gun.
“I going to hope that’s a good thing.” Cara laughed in return, yelling over the wind. “Who’s who?”
“Natalia has Minho’s sass. I can see them either hating each other or annoying everybody together.” Newt said, taking down two more. “You have Gally’s boldness, and Awinita has Frypan’s humor.”
“What about Jay?” Cara asked as they put their guns down. They’d left the city limits, the horde of cranks now far behind them. All that surrounded them now was sand, desert, and tiny specks of green on the horizon. Ducking back down into the train car, they sat down on some seats that had been cleared once the ‘organized mess’ became more ‘mess’ and less ‘organized’. Newt thought for a minute. “Based on what I’ve seen and what just happened, sounds like Thomas.”
Hitting him hard, Newt realized just how missed he missed the greenie who decided to question everything about the maze and found the way out. Runner and ex-runner had gotten close. Newt also remembered how he begged and pleaded for Thomas to kill him, before accidentally stabbing himself. Suddenly, Newt felt guilty. Thomas thought he had killed his best friend, and here he was alive. Cara noticed his change in attitude. “You good?”
“Yeah, kind of. Just thinking about Thomas. We used to be close. I just hope he’s okay.” Newt shrugged.
“If we survived, I’m sure he’s fine. He’s with the Right Arm and at that safe haven they kept chattering about on the radio.” Cara assured him. “Thomas is doing just fine.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Thomas was not doing just fine. He still laid awake at night, not wanting to fall asleep and be plagued by nightmares. Two years since the Last City had fallen, three years since they’d had to try and rescue Minho, and four years since they escaped the maze. People were lost, loved ones were killed, and friends went missing. Thomas would never forgive himself for letting Newt die. They were supposed to get through this together. Instead of the Ivy Trio, it was now the Ivy Duo. Minho seemed to have gotten over the younger boy’s death, but he could still be found by himself every night, talking to himself as if Newt was right there next to him. The scorch looked the same. Why were they back here, just he, Minho, and Jorge, Thomas didn’t want to admit it was real. Vince had been keeping tabs on the radio and a transmission from surviving W.C.K.D workers had come over. One week, and they had no idea where they were supposed to be going. Heading to the Last City seemed like a safe bet. A week had passed since they first arrived on the coast of the mainland.
“It looks so different.” Minho interrupted the Runner’s thoughts. They stood on the same ledge as the first time they laid eyes on the city. It was now a mess of ruined and burned buildings, plants taking over. Jorge handed them his binoculars. “It still has cranks thought.”
The boys looked through and indeed saw the creatures roaming around. Thomas handed them back to the older man. “Well, what do-”
Several engines could be heard coming around the bend in the road. Five vans appeared and parked a few yards away. Several people got out, they all looked the same, guns held in front of them.
“Look at what we have here.” the leader said, taking a few steps closer. “Looks to me like Thomas, Minho, and Jorge. Three of most wanted people in the scorch.”
“Who are you?” Thomas demanded.
“It doesn’t matter. Once W.C.K.D gives us our money, you’ll have bigger problems to worry about.” the gang got closer, as the trio took steps back, looking for an escape. A gunshot rang out from a ledge not far above them. “Hold it, Ryan!”
A girl with short red hair, brown eyes, and a scarf covering her face jumped down, landing between the two groups. Ryan laughed. “Well, if it isn’t the infamous Oak. Where’s the rest of your gang, little girl?”
“I found this one sneaking around the back!” one of Ryan’s people came from the vans, pushing a boy with his hands in the air toward Oak. His messy blond hair matched the color of the scarf covering his face. Ryan smiled. “That’s two. Where might the others be?”
Two more shots rang out from different ledges as two of Ryan’s men fell dead. Everybody looked up, but saw nothing. Ryan looked back at Oak and the boy. The girl let out a small laugh. “That money is ours, Ryan. you know better than to try us.”
“And what would you do if we did?”
“Spruce here was planting bombs in the back of all your vans.” the group in front of them paled. “If you try and fight us, Red and Pine will set them off. And you can say goodbye to all the goods you’ve gathered.”
Ryan seemed to be debating. Minho, Thomas, and Jorge took this chance to back up more, but the masked boy spun around and held them at gunpoint. Ryan finally decided the trio wasn’t worth the risk. “Fine! But we’ll meet again, and that money will be ours.”
Oak rolled her eyes but watched as the gang went back to their vans. As they started driving off, Oak pulled out a communicator. “Light ‘em up.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Four shots were heard, each followed by an explosion. Jorge, Thomas, and Minho just watched as the fire consumed Ryan and his gang. Spruce took the jeeps key’s from Jorge and motioned for them to get in the back. Oak climbed in with them, taking a gun Spruce handed her. The three kept an eye on her while Spruce got in the driver's seat, and continued around the next bend in the road. Another jeep with who Thomas assumed were the snipers, given the guns lying in the back of the jeep. Drove up beside them from a hidden path up to the ledges. Both had scarves covering their faces, the driver with brown hair, the other with black.
“We clear?” the other driver asked.
“All good, Red!” Oak called over the engine roar. The two other girls breathed a sigh of relief and all three pulled their masks down. On the younger side, Thomas, Minho, and Jorge wondered what they were going to do with them.
“Don’t worry, we’re not handing you off to W.C.K.D,” Oak assured them. “The scorch hasn’t changed much since you guys left, but it’s still dangerous. You’ll be safe with us.”
“Who are you people?” Jorge asked.
“You already know three of our names, the other one is Pine.” the second girl in the other jeep raised her hand in greeting.
“Are those your real names?” Minho asked. The girls turned to Spruce, and so did the boys. The driver just gave a simple nod. Oak smiled. “If Spruce trusts you, we trust you. My real name is Cara, Red’s is Awinita, and Pine is Natalia.”
“What about Spruce?”
“Isaac.” the boy called back, a British accent seeping in that made Thomas shake back more intruding memories.
“Can we trust you?” the runner asked.
“Yep. We’ve been trying to take down W.C.K.D in secret once we heard they were back. We should be five. Beech, or rather Jay, got taken in one of our latest operations.” Oak said sadly. “We’ve been trying to find a way to get him back.”
Driving in silence was the collective decision for the next two hours. When they arrived at the group’s campsite- a small hidden cave made by fallen buildings- Minho, Thomas, and Jorge were sat in a corner and given some jerky to eat while the four looked over a makeshift map of the area. Isaac had yet to move his scarf down, Thomas noted, though the boy kept adjusting it when the cloth slipped. Awinita and Natalia dumped out two bags of supplies they’d produced and started sorting through them. A small fire sat in the middle of the cave providing light. Lamps made up for what the flames didn’t reach. Sunset arrived, while Natalia and Isaac grabbed some things, and headed out to the jeeps. Awinita and Cara came over and sat with the three, eating their own bits of jerky.
“How many people survived when you escaped the city?” Awinita asked.
“A lot. As many kids as we could save and whoever was left of the Right Arm.” Jorge said.
“What’s the Safe Haven like?”
“It’s an island with an amazing view. No cranks, no W.C.K.D, just you, family, and friends.” Minho said with a small smile.
“Could we go back with you?” Cara asked. “Once we have Jay back and we’re done dealing with W.C.K.D?”
“Definitely,” Thomas said. “The more, the merrier.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“SON OF A- “Bloody heck!” EVERYBODY DUCK!” the five turned to the mouth of the cave where Natalia and Isaac jumped behind a rock. Cara and Awinita dropped to the floor, hands over their heads, pulling the survivors down with them as they stood there in confusion. A loud pop was heard followed by a fizz. Looking up, and outside, the jeep Awinita and Natalia had been driving stood there with its hood open and a small fire on part of the engine, black smoke billowing into the air. Isaac looked at the girl next to him. “I told you not to mess with those wires, Nat.”
“They looked damaged!” Nat defended herself, jumping up to put out the fire with her scarf. “How was I supposed to know they’d start a fire.”
“You’ve been a mechanic for seven years, and this is the third jeep we’ve worked with. You should know by now what not to mess with!”
“Hose you!” Awinita laughed while the two bickered. Cara just shook her head with a disappointed sigh. “Awi, I miss your father.”
“You’re her mom?” Thomas asked.
“No, but she might as well be,” Awinita laughed. “We’re like a mini family. Jay and Cara are the parents. Isaac is like the older brother, obedient but messes around. I’m the somewhat chill middle child, and Nat’s the chaotic baby.”
“I’m going to go help them.” Jorge laughed before joining the two at the jeep. Minho and Thomas took a look at the map while Cara and Awinita took care of some stuff around the cave. Places on the map had been marked with red X’s, some of which they recognized. The maze, the facility after the maze, the Right Arm hideout, and the last city were all marked. Other mazes and the nearby facilities had been marked as well. Next to each X was the date they’d been crossed off. Jay’s name was written next to one crossed off about two months ago. Cara came over and looked at them. “All the ones marked are ones we’ve blown to high heaven. There’s no restoring anything they built.”
“You blew up all those mazes?” Minho was surprised. He didn’t know about the others, but theirs was huge.
“Yep. Took a while, had to make sure we didn’t run out of bombs.” Cara shrugged and pointed to the one with Jay’s name next to it. “We went back here the day after he was taken. After checking that he wasn’t there, we also blew it up.”
“You have no idea where he might be held?” Thomas asked.
“We got a rather short radio message from him. The only thing we heard before the message got cut were some coordinates.” Awinita explained as she joined them. A circle was placed on what should have been Salt Lake City, Utah. “We think they’ve set up headquarters there.”
“Why there of all places?” Minho asked.
“Who knows.” Cara shrugged. Jorge came back in as it started getting darker. “We fixed the jeep. They’re still out there talking about something.”
Cara nodded and Awinita pulled out more jerky and a few canisters of water. Passing them out, they settled down in silence. The sun had fully set by now, with Isaac and Natalia returning inside. The girls roped Minho and Jorge into playing a game they called Mao using an old card deck they had. Isaac and Thomas just sat and watched them. Isaac would laugh whenever chaos ensued over a card. So much of the boy reminded Thomas of Newt. His voice, his accent, his mannerisms. Thomas just wished Isaac would remove the scarf so he could see his face. “You remind me of someone a lot.”
Thomas didn’t even realize he said it until Isaac looked at him. “Who?”
“An old friend of mine. His name was Newt.”
“Strange name. What was he like?” Isaac tilted his head.
“He was an amazing guy. Practically me and Minho’s brother. He had a gorgeous smile that only me and Min could bring out with our ridiculousness.”
Thomas could tell the boy was smiling under his mask. “I can see me and him getting along. What happened?”
“He got the Flare,” Thomas said solemnly, staring into the fire. “We were all supposed to be immune, but he wasn’t. Newt started going crazy and begged him to kill him, just as we were about to escape.”
Both boys fell quiet before Thomas continued. “I didn’t want to. I fought him off and tried to stop him from doing it himself. Newt accidentally stabbed himself with a knife.”
“I’m so sorry you lost your friend. I’m sure he was a great guy.” Isaac put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Jorge decided to drag the two boys into the game at this point as well. Thomas looked very confused as he was dealt five cards. “How do you play this game?”
“That’s the point” Isaac laughed. “You’re not supposed to know.”
Little did Thomas know that sentence applied to more than just the game.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Driving nonstop from the remains of San Fransico to the desolate state of Utah was not the sightseeing trip it used to be. Cranks and people out for the reward got in their way but were quickly dealt with. Getting closer to Salt Lake City, a large building building loomed over them, casting its shadow across the desert. Pieces of the building and the missing golden figure atop its middle spire still did not take away from its utter beauty and the peace of mind it seemed to bring the group. Cara and Jorge pulled up alongside the ruins of the temple. Awinita, Cara, and Natalia all hopped out, walking over to a large piece of stone. ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD, THE HOUSE OF THE LORD’ was inscribed, with no hints of fading or damage. The three girls kneeled down in front of the piece, folded their arms, and bowed their heads in a silent prayer.
“What are they doing?” Thomas asked. “What is this place?”
“This used to be a temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or the LDS church,” Isaac explained, keeping an eye on the girls and their surroundings, fixing his mask. “Jay, Cara, Awinita, and Natalia have never been religious, but praying gives them peace of mind.”
Standing up, Awinita muttered something about the ‘Judgment Day’ and how she thought it should’ve come years ago. Getting back in the vans, the ride was silent, until Jorge asked a question. “If it’s been two years, why haven’t you hermanos moved to a country that’s started to rebuild?”
“We were supposed to be in Canada,” Natalia called over the engines. “They weren’t accepting any more refugees, they’d reached their limit.”
“Mexico was off the table because they wholeheartedly supported W.C.K.D, so who knows what would’ve happened to us if we went there” Awinita added. Driving a little deeper into the city, one building stuck out like a sore thumb. It was large, blue, and black, and the only building for miles that was completely intact and looked untouched. “Really went for subtle there didn’t they.”
Hoping out of the jeeps, Cara passed out the guns and handed Natalia and Isaac a bag of explosives. “Natalia, Isaac, set these charges. Minho, you’re with me. We’re finding Jay. Thomas, and Awinita, get into the control room. Delete any and all files, information, anything you find that could be used to rebuild.”
Everyone nodded, and the mission began.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Jay had been stuck in this place for two months. Experiments were run on him: strength, stamina, and whether or not he was immune (which he was). These are just the typical experiments W.C.K.D had done on everybody else. No implants had been given to him yet, but he could tell it was only a matter of time. Food wasn’t bad, though he only got one meal a day. He was the only ‘test subject’ in the entire facility. Cooperation is the key to survival right now. Give them what they wanted, and it would all be over soon. The coordinates he hoped the others received two days ago should bring them here. Just a matter of time. This day began like any other. He was marched down the halls to the various testing rooms. Red lights started flashing as alarms blared, suddenly Jay was turned around and forced back to his room. Stealing a gun instead, the boy managed to knock out the rest of the guards and make his way toward the exit. Looking behind him, he crashed into two people. Instantly recognizing, one he jumped up and hugged her tight. “Oh my gosh! Cara! Who is this guy?”
“His name’s Minho. He was one of the old subjects. Now come on, this building is freaking huge and we only have ten minutes before Spruce and Nat set off the charges.
***
Awinita busted into the control room. She’d used a lot of her bullets just getting up to the floor. Thomas dashed in and started working. The girl kept an eye on the door while searching the guards' bodies for more bullets. “We got to go Thomas!”
“I know, I know.” Quick tapping of screens and keys could faintly be made out over the alarms and Awinita’s gun. Thomas finished up and the two booked it down the hall. On the way, they ran into the other three. Jay and Awinita shared a quick hug before the sound of W.C.K.D guards coming down the hall reached their ears. Gunfire was exchanged as the group made their way to the exit. As they exited, Jorge and Natalia were standing in the jeeps firing at any W.C.K.D guards or cranks (that had appeared out of nowhere) that came their way. Isaac was seen hiding behind a rock, trying to get the charge to set off. “NEWT!”
A loud boom drowned out Natalia’s voice as the whole group looked behind them. The building had exploded, and Isaac had been hit by the shock wave. He was thrown to the side and knocked out. Minho and Thomas quickly dashed after the boy, wondering why the girl had called him Newt. Newt was dead. When they reached him, the runners froze. The scarf had slipped down, and the boy was indeed their old British friend. Quickly glancing up at each other, a silent promise to ask about it later, they picked him up and dashed back to the jeeps. The engines revved up, and sped off back to San Fransico, leaving W.C.K.D behind, and making for the coast.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
When Newt woke up, he was very disoriented. He had a headache and groaned. A small, wooden, one-room house was his shelter, and the bed he was lying on was actually quite comfortable. Cara opened the door and greeted him with a smile. “You’ve been out for two days. Thomas and Minho keep on questioning us about why we didn’t tell them.”
Newt sat up and looked at the floor. He didn’t
want
to hide his identity from his friends, but the runners thought he was dead! Imagine how well that conversation would go down. ‘Oh hey! It’s me, the friend you thought you killed. Except I’m alive and have been joyriding around the desert for two years.’ Yeah no. Cara handed him a plate of food, before leaving the brit to his thoughts. Newt set the plate on the bedside table and sat silently before the runners entered the hut. Minho sat on the bed next to Newt, while Thomas sat in a chair. Silence still filled the air before Minho asked the first question. “How are you alive?”
“When the others found me, they took me in. Natalia was able to remove any implants left in me. When she did, all traces of the Flare disappeared.” Newt explained, “The knife barely missed my heart, according to Cara, and I was put in a self-induced coma.”
“Why didn’t you come find us, or tell us who you were when you rescued us?” Thomas asked, not looking at the boy. Newt sighed. “I didn’t know if you guys were still at the Safe Haven, and I didn’t know how to contact you. After Canada didn’t work out, we heard W.C.K.D was rebuilding.”
“As for when we rescued you, I didn’t know how well you would take it, and there never really was a good time to tell. Everything happened so quickly.”
The three boys once again sat in silence, before Thomas moved to Newt’s other side. A tight hug around the middle boy ensued, and though Minho would deny it for the rest of his days, a few tears were shed. When given a tour of the island, Newt couldn’t help but notice that Jay, Cara, Awinita, and Natalia kept to the beach, hanging out around a speed boat. Going over and giving them all hugs, he asked what they were doing.
“There’s still some W.C.K.D places we need to take care of,” Jay said. “We need to take care of those before we settle down.”
“I want to go with you, but…” Newt looked back at his friends who stood a while back watching them. He gave them a smile and turned back. When he did, he was met with a swift smack upside the head.
“Of course, you’re staying here! They’re your family!” Natalia shook out her hand, asking herself my she hit him so hard. Newt laughed, rubbing the spot where he was hit.
“If we need help, we’ll call. We’ll see you at some point in the future.” Awinita assured him. Heartfelt goodbyes were exchanged before the four pushed off, turned in the boat engine, and set off back toward the mainland.
“All right guys,” Jay called out. “Let’s finish the U.S., then onto Mexico!”
“Yeah!!”