Him || The Scorch Trials

Six

“Where’s my soppy reunion, Mara?” A smug looking Minho asked as he jogged over to join herself and Newt. Beads of sweat smudged down his skin, tipping onto the sheet he carried.

Mara couldn’t help but laugh, and laugh, and laugh. The other Gladers, who had all gathered around her, probably thought she had gone crazy, and she probably had. She felt good, all she wanted was to stay in the moment and laugh. Before she knew it, others were laughing with her.

But then the laughter was abruptly cut short by another boy’s serious tone. “Mara… you’re bleeding. A lot.”

“Med-Jacks!”

“What do we do? Where’s Thomas?”

“In there shuckface. Where else could he have gone?”

Thousands of words rang through Mara’s head. The laughing and happiness was gone. Mara watched as Clint and one other boy ran forward, taking the first aid kit next to Mara and opening it up. There were only two of them. Mara remembered one boy, Jeff, he had been a Med-Jack. But he was gone. Was he… dead?

In worry, Mara looked around the group she knew, which was much smaller than it had been, she had seen that before. But familiar faces were missing. Alby. Chuck. Adam. Zart. Gally. None of them were there.

“Alby… Chuck and Adam and Zart and-“She couldn’t finish the list. It hadn’t fully hit her yet, not everything had fully processed inside her head. “They can’t be…”

Newt looked at her, his eyes filling up with tears. “They…” He couldn’t finish what he was going to say. He turned away, looking up to the others who all stood with grim faces.

“They’re dead, Mara.” Minho broke the silence. “They didn’t make it.”

“They didn’t make it.” Mara whispered in disbelief, repeating what the boy had told her. “What happened to them? How did they… die?”

Minho shifted in his place, his eyes flickering between Mara and the boys who bandaged her body back together. Before finally speaking, the boy’s mouth opened and shut, unaware of the sounds it was going to produce. ”Adam and Zart got the wrath of the Grievers the night after you went missing. Alby sacrificed himself, got himself killed for the rest of us shanks. Then after what we thought was a bullet through your head, WICKED weren’t quite finished with their shuck surprises. All that time Gally had been with them, and he had a gun. Aimed and fired it at Thomas, but little Chucky saved his life. Died in his arms. And Gally,” The boy paused, unlocking his and Mara’s eyes. “I killed Gally.”

Realisation settled deep inside Mara’s core faster than she could manage. Chuck. Alby. Adam. Zart. Gally. They were all gone, no one would ever see them again. They would never get to go home, to see their family or friends outside the maze, to get their memories back. It wasn’t possible any more. They were all gone. And they were never coming back.

Chuck. He had been a good kid. All he seemed to want was to have a bit of fun, but Mara had known he just wanted to go home. He had a heart of gold and good intentions, he was a little ray of light in a dark area, in the Glade. How could he have died? It was recent, a fresh wound for the group. He had been there when they escaped, Mara had seen him leave the Maze. Chuck had been there, he had been alive.

Alby. He had never been Mara’s favourite, that was no secret, but he deserved more. Alby hadn’t deserved to get stung, despite what Mara had said she still believed he had been a good leader. For some reason, Mara was hit hard with Alby’s death, not as much as Chuck, but it still hurt. Alby was one of the first people Mara had met in the Glade, he had showed her around and given her direction. Sure, he didn’t want to follow the rest of the Gladers into the real world, into the scorch, but he shouldn’t have died there.

Adam. Mara had never understood Adam. He had always been angry, full of hate and venom, but he hadn’t started like that. At first, he took Mara under his wing, helped her to understand the life they lead in the Glade. But then he changed, he snapped and he was only angry.

Zart. He was another Glader to Mara, she had hardly known the boy. All she knew was that he had been the Keeper of the Track-hoes and he’d been on Mara’s side. He had believed in her, and he’d shown that when she was close to banishment and stuck in Gatherings. But Zart was just one of the boys who lost their lives, one of the boys Mara had never gotten the chance to get to know. And now, she never would get the chance.

Gally. What was she supposed to feel for Gally? Was she supposed to be sad about his death? She certainly wasn’t sad for him, not one bit. But a part of her just thought of Gally as a troubled kid, he was just too cocky for everyone, presented himself in a bad way. Then again, he shot Chuck. He deserved everything he got for that. No man should get to live if he takes away another life, especially from a joyous boy like Chuck.

“Mara,” Newt’s voice broke Mara’s thoughts of the boys, snapping her back into the present. Her head tilted upwards to the boy who held her mangled body, which was now encased like a mummy to stop extra blood loss. “That screaming… was that you? It echoed around this place… every second. What did she do to you? What the bloody hell did she do to you?!” The boy spat, his body hardening in anger.

“Newt, it’s okay. I’m okay.”

“I’m going in there.” The boy huffed, his mind already made up without any chance of change. No matter how much wanted to beg him not to, he wouldn’t listen to her. He was just too angry. Something that worried Mara on a bigger scale.

The image of Newt was still imprinted in her mind, the Newt she had seen not long ago. His face, every part of him had been someone else. He hadn’t been the Newt she knew. But if that image was true… his anger seemed to match it. Mara couldn’t let herself think that, Newt couldn’t be a crank. He couldn’t.

Still, the boy stood up, carefully untying himself from Mara. As soon as he was standing, he began to walk over to the building, but before he could do anything, the door was swinging open.

Thomas stumbled out of the doorway and pushed past Newt, tears welling and tipping down his face. The boy seemed lost in thought, trying to make sense of the things going through his head. Boys shot questions at him and Newt had decided to discard his fury to care for his friends, but Thomas answered no one.

Mara stood, throwing the boys who tried to ground her away. She approached the lost boy, grabbing his hand with both of her own. To her surprise, he didn’t shake her off, but instead turned to her.

“We have to go- run, even. Gotta get away as fast as possible.” He told her, then turned to the rest of the group who were filled with confusion and curiosity. Honestly, Mara was glad. All she wanted to do was run. “I’ll explain everything later, but right now we have to run. Our lives are in danger.”

And with that, Thomas released Mara’s hand and sprinted away, towards a place Mara hadn’t noticed before. Far in the distance, a city stood, beckoning to each and every one of them.

She turned back to the Gladers, who watched in complete shock and confusion as he ran into the distance.

“What are you waiting for?” Mara asked, but she didn’t wait for a reply. With her re-found strength, she ran as best she could into the distance, stumbling and tripping, but still running after her friend. 

She could hear her friends behind her, running towards Thomas. Just being there in the moment made her smile, despite everything. They were one, and whatever was thrown at them, they were going to conquer, together.