A New Road ➢ Thomas Brodie Sangster

Man Hunt

"Okay, the rules are simple. We give you ten minutes to hide and then we come looking for you. It is only if we tag you that you are out. When you're out, we bring you to the base, which is going to be the hotel lobby. If you're out, a teammate can get you back in if they come to base and tag you. The only way the game will be over is if all of you are at the base and are out. Got that?" explains Dylan.

All of us nod.

Dylan smiles, "Great. Now the three of us," he says while gesturing to those dressed in yellow," will wait in the room until the 10 minutes are up. Nothing is off limits except you can't go outside of the hotel or run into a bathroom to hide."

After all of the explaining, Will, Thomas and I head to the elevator and hit the button that'll take us to the 5th floor, so only two floors down.

"Right. We need to make a plan." says Will.

"Umm.. If anything happens and you're discovered, make a break for the stairs." says Thomas with his hands on his hips, eyebrows furrowed, and his lips pursed in a straight line. In that moment, I just could not stop thinking about how cute he looked, but I snapped back. Nothing's going to happen. He didn't even bring up the date again! Focus on the task at hand, I thought.

"Do you two have your phones?" I ask and the two boys nod. "I'll start a group message and we text in there and only there. We have to know if someone gets out or if they need a distraction."

The elevator jolts to a stop and the doors open.

"Do you think we should get off or keep riding the elevator?" I ask looking back and forth between Thomas and Will.

"I think we should all split up. Have better chances. I'll get off here and the two of you find some place unsuspecting to hide. So not the pool room or work out room." says Will as he steps through the door.

Silence fills the elevator as Thomas jabs his thumb onto the button that says 3.

Thomas keeps his eyes trained on his feet and clears his throat. "So umm.. How's the uh- How's the weather?"

I can't help but laugh. "We're being chased by two crazy people and one mildly sane person and you're asking me about the weather?" I say as I pull my hair into a pony tail.

"Right. A stupid question," he says as his face turns red. "I'm sorry I haven't called about the date thing," he blurts out.

I feel my throat tighten. "It's- it's fine." I say, but it really isn't. I kind of wanted something to happen.

"No really I am. Things have just been busy with publicity for the Maze Runner and- No that's not acceptable. I can't make an excuse." he half says and half mutters to himself.

"I do want to go on one though, to get to know you a bit better. Without everyone else around," he says while scratching the back of his neck. He looks uncomfortable but I can't tell if its because he's nervous or feels pity for me.

The elevator beeps letting us know we are on the third floor and I step out. I turn around and hold the doors from closing shut behind me. "Why don't we talk about it over dinner?"

His eyes seem to brighten and a slight grin forms on his lips. He looks surprised, in a good way, "Uhh.. Yeah. That would be lovely."

I smile and remove my hand, letting the doors close.

~~~~~

I run down the flight of stairs as fast as I can and hear footsteps behind me coming closer.

"You can't run from me, Bryce!" yells Dylan. "I'm gonna get you!"

I push open the exit door and race across the hall to the elevators. I hope it's on this floor. Just as I'm about to reach I feel a pair of hands grab my arms.

"Got ya!" screams Dylan as he whoops and hollers on his victory. "C'mon, time to take you to base, Ms. Bryce." he says as he holds my elbow and guides me to the elevators.

He makes me sit in one of the lobby chairs and stands in front of the waiting area like a guard.

I take out my phone to text Thomas and Will.

Me: SOS🚨. I've been caught.

Thomas: Bloody hell, Jade. The game is NOT to get caught. 😂

Will: 😂😂😂wow. Anyone guarding?

Me: Yup. Dylan is. He caught me on the 4th floor trying to reach the elevators.

I sit there for about 5 minutes before I hear a yell.

"COME AND GET ME O'BRIEN!" yells Will from the top of the stairs on the 2nd floor.

Dylan, of course, runs to the stairs to get Will, who hops into the elevator while Thomas runs across the lobby and tags me back in.

We run and run and push open the doors to a conference room and hide under one of the circular tables. It's a little cramped with the two of us stuck under there. Also Thomas' height was not an advantage at the moment.

We sit there in silence for 19 minutes, I kept checking my phone because the minutes felt like hours.

My phone lights up and it's a text from Ki saying "we surrender".

Thomas and I climb our from under the table and once he's up he holds out his hands to pull me up as well.

We walk out of the conference room and into the lobby only to be tackled by Grace and Dylan. I see Will sitting in the same chair I was previously and his phone in Ki's hands.

"You should never believe your enemy!" laughs Ki. "We won!"

The taggers all hug and cheer in victory while Thomas and I join Will.

"They caught me on the lift. I walked right in and as soon as the doors closed I realized they were in there with me." he says as he buries his face in his hands to laugh.

"How about a celebration dinner?" asks Dylan.

"Actually, Jade and I already have dinner plans." says Thomas as he grabs my elbow and directs me towards the revolving doors of the hotel entrance.