Greenie Girl (ThomasxReaderxNewt)

THE SCORCH: DAY 6 PT 1

I dreaded going back into the scorch today. The heat and the sun were exhausting.

We'd started out early after a quick breakfast, but the heat had immediately sapped any moisture from my body.

There had been some extra fabric at the last Right Arm outpost in the city, so atleast we were able to cover up pretty good.

I also already had a slight headache because Thomas was true to his word about practicing communicating more.

I'd woken up to him talking. Usually, I looked forward to taking to him, but not when he woke me up before dawn by talking inside my head.

It didn't help that I'd been dreaming about Newt. We were back in the Glade, before all the bad stuff started happening.

A pang of longing hit me for the Glade. Even though I hadn't been there long, it was the only place I could remember as a home.

I'd wanted to tell Newt about it, but first of all, it might be weird to say I was dreaming about him. And second, talking to Thomas had made me forget.

Maybe I'll tell him later, I thought.

We stopped for lunch, and Thomas popped back in my head for another round of telepathy practice.

They were about halfway to the mountains, he'd said. We were probably only a quarter of the way there.

I told Sonya and Newt, but they seemed certain we'd make it halfway today.

And we did, just not how we thought we would.

We'd packed up lunch, and all of the sudden it seemed, there were clouds. Then lightning. All around us.

"Everybody run!" Newt yelled. There was nothing else we could do. Nothing but desert surrounded us, so there was no place to hide from the stabbing bolts of lightning.

A metallic taste was on my tongue and my body seemed on edge.

"Zigzag!" Sonya yelled. I didn't know if it would actually help, but I did it anyways.

One hit the ground so close to my back that my knees gave out. Fry was beside me and dragged me up.

It felt like we ran and zigzagged forever. I wasn't sure when it would stop.

There was a scream behind me to my left. One of the girls. More screams followed, and I slowed to a stop and looked.

I gagged. She'd been struck by lightning. Her skin was burnt to a crisp.

Sonya was on the ground next to her. Beth, basically her second in command, dragged her up screaming that we had to go.

We were going to have to leave her here. Sonya was in shock, but she managed to keep running.

After a while, the strikes were less frequent, then they stopped.

It was getting dark. Newt motioned for us all to stop.

I think we were all still in shock. We didn't remember much, but we knew that lightning like that was new, because of the sun flares.

John and them had warned us, told us to zigzag, but what else could we have done?

I finally stopped panting and looked up. Newt was pointing to something. It looked like a mound of rocks at first, but there was a door.

Some people cried out, thankful we would have shelter tonight. We started making our way over to the building.

The closer we got, the newer it looked. What was a new building doing out in the middle of the desert?

Newt and I had jogged over ahead of everyone. Then I saw the door. WICKED was written across it. My stomach dropped.

I looked at Newt, and his mouth was a tight line.

But, maybe they had just set something up her and no one was here. I tried to think of all the reasons it might be okay, because I really didn't want to sleep in the desert tonight, where lightning could kill us at any second.

I said as much to Newt as the others gathered around.

Or, I thought, it was a trap. They knew what we were planning so they had just decided to kill us instead.

All of a sudden, a figure appeared in front of us. It was RatMan. He must be using the same kind of projection thing as before the Scorch.

"Welcome, you've nearly made it through the scorch!"

No one responded to smiled. He just put his hands together.

"Well, now that you've made it this far, it's time for a check in, don't you think?"

My heart was pounding. Maybe they didn't know, but if they even suspected us now, who knows what they'd do?

People behind me called out, and I turned around to see guards surrounding us. But, where had they come from?

Ratman opened the door to the building, and I realized that it wasn't a projection this time. Somehow, they'd been able to appear out of nowhere.

We had no choice but to enter the building. It was bigger than it looked, with a few rooms off the main area.

"We've been monitoring you," Ratman started and my heart dropped, "from above, tracking your movements."

Okay, that means they hadn't been watching that closely. So they probably hadn't heard any of our conversations.

"You see. Your group has a very important role to play," he sounded entertained, which only made me more nervous.

"And, I'll remind you only one group can make it to the Safe Haven, and since the others are gaining on you, we thought you might need a little more motivation to beat your friends."

He motioned to one of the guards. "We have also been able to monitor your health, as we did in the Maze Trials. As we've said, not all of you are immune."

Oh shit, did he know who of us had been exposed?

"Beth, Mary.." he listed another girl, "and Newt." No, no he couldn't be infected.

"We don't believe that you have been infected yet, but it is likely too early to tell. But, you are not immune to the Flare. You very well could have been exposed in the city."

Newt was looking down at the floor. The other girls seemed to be in shock. I was in shock, and paranoid. I tried to think of every encounter we had with cranks. How close had Newt been? Did it spread through the air?

"Now that you've been given the proper motivation..." Ratman continued, I was trying to catch Newt's glance, "it's time for phase two of the Scorch Trials."