Through The WICKED Scorch | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

52. An old friend

The next morning, when the sun was already a good way up in the sky, we reached the headquarters of the Right Arm. We had all slept for a while, even Vince had asked Jorge to relieve him driving.
At some point I had woken up and looked out of the window when I caught sight of something I had never seen before. It appeared behind a flat hill, the rising sun was reflected in it and it seemed endless - the ocean.
Completely overwhelmed, I had shaken Newt's shoulder, then Fry Pan's. The two of them had lain curled up next to me and hadn't been excited that I woke them up so roughly.
"Boys, you've got to see this! It's just amazing!"
That was when they had seen it, too. The anger at my rude awakening had immediately been blown away and we had literally fought over the best spot at the window. The others hadn't seemed very overwhelmed. I could imagine that Jorge and Brenda had been to the seaside before and it wasn't the first time Vince and Harriet had been here either. Thomas had been asleep and when he woke up, he too had looked out of the window, impressed, after Fry Pan had pointed out the view to him.
The rest of the way we had driven along the coast. All the time I had been looking out of the window until Vince had announced that we were almost there. He instructed Jorge to slow down and guided him along narrow paths between the dunes.
"Is there a reason why your headquarters are by the sea?" Brenda asked as we parked and Jorge turned off the engine.
"We are in the process of making the big ship there seaworthy."
Vince pointed to a huge ship that had no doubt been used for cruises in the past and was now moored in the bay in front of the camp.
"When the time comes, we'll pack up and take all the kids we could and still can rescue to the Safe Haven. That's the plan. In a couple of months we should be done."
"Wow," Fry Pan groaned in fascination.
He was right. Not only was the ship impressive, but the camp was huge. From the looks of it, they were using some halls that had probably once belonged to a shipyard or a company. Large and smaller tents were set up everywhere. Hammocks served as beds and there seemed to be electricity, too.
A bit like the glade.
Numerous people were on their feet, going about some task or other. Some seemed to be Vince's and Jorge's age, most were more like our age. I wondered how many of them had come from a maze or other WICKED facility like we had.
We got out and followed Vince across the camp. Just then a boy came up to us and grinned.
"Vince, Harriet! You're back! We were worried when the others came back and told us that WICKED had attacked you. But you made it! And you brought more of us with you!"
"Hello, Heath. Would you be so kind as to show our new arrivals where they can sleep?" Vince asked, patting the boy on the shoulder.
Then he nodded at us and headed off in the direction we had just come from, Harriet right behind him.
The boy eyed us until his gaze lingered on me.
"Hi, Anna!" he grinned.
Confused, I looked at him. He knew me. But how?
"How...?" I began.
"We were friends! Back then, at WICKED. I was the one who used to fight with Gally, remember?"
I looked at him strained until the twinge in my head came again.
"Heath! Oh God, what do you look like?!" I pushed out between two coughing fits.
Minho patted me on the back with his fist. Heath had a black eye, a blue chin and a big bandage around his nose in the middle of his face. I was horrified and looked reproachfully at Gally. He just shrugged his shoulders and laughed. Heath laughed too and winked at me.
"It would be boring without Gally, wouldn't it, Anna?"
Slowly, I nodded. "Yes, I think I remember..."
"Thomas, I know you, too! And Toby, is that you?"
Curious, he looked at Fry Pan. He just looked back in confusion.
"We don't call him that anymore. His name is Fry Pan now," I explained, more unconsciously than anything else.
Fry Pan looked at me in surprise. "You knew that was my name? Why didn't you say anything?"
But Heath interrupted him, "Hey, I know you, too! Newt, right? Are you guys still together? Did you remember each other in the maze? Wow!"
Silently we looked at him. He didn't seem to notice that we wanted nothing more than to finally wash and then rest. Instead, he kept talking.
"What about Gally? And Minho and Ben were in your maze, too! And Nick and Alby... and all the others. What happened to them? They moved me back then, to a small sub facility, and the Right Arm freed us. Thanks to you, Thomas."
He beamed at Thomas.
"Okay, Heath, we'll be happy to tell you everything we know, but first would you mind showing us where our quarters are and where we can wash up? Tonight we can talk if you like," Thomas voiced what I had been thinking all along.
"Sure, of course! Come on!"
Still full of euphoria, he ran off and we followed.
Jorge pushed himself between Fry Pan and me as we walked and whispered, "Has he always been this hyper?"
I shrugged. "Not that I can remember."
"Maybe that's how you become when you live here. That would be something nice," Fry Pan observed.
I had to laugh at the thought of an always good-humoured Jorge.
Heath led us to a small tent where six hammocks were hanging.
"You're lucky, there are always six of us in tents. So you don't have to split up."
He made a sweeping motion with his arms.
"Here you go, this is your new kingdom. Not necessarily comfortable, but as Vince always says, 'We're still alive, it's our greatest gift'."
I smiled gratefully at him.
"Thank you, Heath. Now would you show us to the washing area?"
"Washing area? You won't believe this, but we actually have showers here. And even hot water. We're almost as cool as WICKED. Follow me!"
Again he ran off and we followed him. Now he was leading us towards one of the big buildings. The people who were busily doing some task around us looked up from their work and eyed us. There were whispers here and there and people pointed at us. Apparently it had already leaked out that we had been the informants.