The Death Cure Rewrite

Part 12

I gasped, my eyes snapping open to a dark room. It was very small, closer to the size of a closet, and the only light came from underneath the door. I was tied to a chair, my hands tied behind my back and my ankles to the legs of the chair. There was a gag around my mouth, keeping me from doing anything but mumbling. It didn't stop me from trying.

"Thomas?" I said, blinking quickly to try and adjust my eyes to the darkness. I didn't hear any response, nor did I hear any breathing. I felt as alone as I looked. Using my tongue and odd mouth movements, I tried to force the fabric onto my chin. It worked after a minute, the fabric sitting tight under my lip. "Thomas!" I yelled. "Hello? Is anyone there?! HELLO!!"

There were no footsteps, no murmurs, which I found odd considering this building was bustling at one point. I didn't know how long I'd been out for or what happened to Thomas and it was making me panic. There wasn't even a window in this room for me to see outside.

The ropes of flexible plastic braided together thickly bit into my skin when I strained, but I still tried. I stretched my fingers to see if I could feel some kind of knot, but it was too high up for me to get to, so I tried for my feet. Unfortunately, my boots made for a clunky foot, so I couldn't pull my foot through. The chair wasn't wooden, so I couldn't bust it. Which meant I was trapped here. If Janson had already left with Thomas, that meant I was most likely one of the few people left in this building. I was going to die here.

I hung my head, giving myself a moment to bite back the wetness forming. I wouldn't cry. I would not cry. I would find a way out of this.

"Okay, Y/N. What would you normally do if you were tied up?" The answer was simple. Find a way to get free from the binds. I looked around with my adjusted eyes. There was nothing but wall all around me. I craned my head back, stilling when I noticed the pipe running along the back wall. It was steaming and dripping water so hot that it practically evaporated itself before even hitting the floor.

My heart beat faster with anticipated fear as I inched my chair back little by little. The heat came off the pipe in waves and my hands trembled as I reached them out as far as I could. I tried to pull my hands apart, making the rope taut enough to keep the searing metal away from my skin, but the second I touched the cord to the metal, it burned me. I hissed, shying away on instinct.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through a small hole made by my lips a couple times to prepare myself. I just had to do it. No thinking.

I slammed my wrists to the metal, hoping the heat would melt through the plastic, but it was hotter than anything I'd ever touched before. My hands shook in pain as I cried out, but I couldn't pull away no matter how much I wanted to. It would only hurt worse trying to melt it off later.

But I got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore. Not only was the pipe burning me, but the plastic was melting onto my skin. I jerked away from the pipe, my whole body trembling and sweating profusely as I squeezed out pained tears.

"Y/N?!" I heard, and my heard popped up, wondering if I'd just heard what I wanted to hear. "Y/N, are you in here?" Thomas' voice got louder, his footsteps and another pair entering the room.

"She's in there," Teresa said. The door was ripped open, revealing Thomas' black silhouette surrounded by light. I looked down, squinting from the bright light.

"Oh, my god. You're alive." Thomas ran in, pressing kisses to my face as he pushed my hair back. He didn't care that it was wet with sweat and tears.

"Tommy?" I breathed weakly, still partly believing that this was my imagination.

"I'm here. I'm gunna get you out, okay?"