Chapter song: youth- daughter
I didn't know how long it had been, but when I looked up to see Minho and Newt walking over, I was more than surprised. I refused to meet his eyes, I continued to look down at my feet as he sat besides the bars of the cell I sat in.
"Vince told us who you are" He said, weirdly calm, "Thomas is fuming, everyone's trying to get you out"
"What did he tell you? That I'm a robber? That I'm... dangerous?" I asked, a hint of sarcasm in my voice, still not meeting his eyes,
"Amongst other things yeah, that did come up." Minho sighed. I finally looked up, gazing over the two boys' eyes. Neither of them looked ashamed, or betrayed, just sorrow, filled with sorrow,
"That wasn't them was it?" Newt asked, gesturing to my hand as thick blood trickled down it,
"No.. no that was uh, that was just me" I whispered, not trying to raise my voice in the slightest, "You know, whatever he told you, I'm not always like that"
"Did you not steal all those things from him?" Newt asked, slightly confused. I scoffed slightly, trying my best not to laugh,
"Oh no no I did. I had to though, you know to survive"
"Well, you better have a convincing story because they're threatening to leave you for the cranks" Newt informed me, making me chuckle slightly, confusing the two boys,
"I figured, but not everyone is willing to hear my side of the story so" I shrugged, kicking a loose rock on the floor,
"We are.." Minho told me, crouching down to get on my level, "Tell us everything" I nodded, smiling slightly for a brief second,
"Go get my bag, there's something I wanna show you"
Newt and Minho carefully watched as I took a pretty dry disinfecting wipe from my bag alongside with a bandage, wrapping my knuckle up, alongside with my other hand, just in case,
"I'll start at the beginning" I began as I carefully started to wrap the bandage around my hand, taking my sweet time with it, "I lied to you before Minho... I didn't just get lucky with Wicked. They did come for me, but I escaped. I was at home with my brother when they came for us. My parents were dying and it was the perfect opportunity for them to get us. Eric fought against them though, he gave me time to escape, even if it meant he would be caught. I mean he had more than enough time to run and leave me for good but he didn't, he just had to be the good guy." I explained, sympathy filling the boys' faces. I don't know why, there was nothing to feel sympathetic about, "Stealing was the only way I could've continued surviving." I explained, "I had lost everything and everyone in my group after a storm, I had basically nothing and they had so much spare, there was something telling me: if I took these things, these people would still be fine." The two boys sat there, speechless. I reached into my bag, pulling out three things, a letter, a picture of my brother and a picture of Hailey.
"I was hoping, you might know my brother. I know it's a long shot but, he's the only family I have left" I continued, passing a small portrait photo of Eric to the boys who stared at it for a second,
"Y/n I'm sorry.." Minho muttered. I knew what happened to him the second our eyes met. I wanted to cry but I didn't allow myself, taking a deep breathe, trying to keep myself cool,
"No it's uh.. it's okay. It's... closure, right?" I nodded, taking the photo back.
"Do you know what happened to Hailey?" Newt asked me, making me take another deep breath, I nodded, taking a second before continuing, handing the photo of me and her to Minho, the other he saw the other day,
"That's her.. Hailey. She was my sister, not blood but.. still my sister. After I escaped Wicked, I made my way to a nearby town and met up with her on the way. We ended up living with the group on a convenient store together. I've never been so glad to see her in my entire life; I think I was just glad to see someone I knew. That photo was taken the day before the storm, one of the guys had a polaroid camera and took it for us. I told Hailey she could keep it but uh after she... passed, I took it." I stopped for a second, not really sure what to say next. I didn't want pity or sympathy, but they deserved to know none the less,
"Here, she wrote me a stupid note too, like she knew it was coming. I found it in the debris of the shop the day after the storm" I took the crumpled note from my pocket, handing it to the boys who unfolded it:
"Y/n,
I'm writing this letter in case anything happens to me, I know how stupid that sounds and you're definitely going to tell me to grow up if you find out and I'm still alive, but this place is too unpredictable.
I want you to know that I'm not scared. I know you'll laugh at that but it's true. Even though I always make you go first when we go looking for food and if we see a crank on lookout I'll make you kill it, I mean I'm not scared that anything will happen, and that's because I have you with me. Sure you're a little unempathetic and will call me an idiot at least 3 times a day and you would probably give me to the cranks for a McDonalds meal, but I know you'll protect me if needed, just like Eric protected you when wicked came for you.
I want you to carry on and get to that safe haven, no matter the cost. Not only for me, but for Eric. We'll always be by your side, no matter what.
Follow the rules and I'll see you on the other side,
Hailey <3"
"It's why I'm here. I didn't care for the safe haven, felt like I could live without it but Hailey, she never stopped talking about it: Paradise in hell. It's what she called it. The day I found her body is the day I swore I would find it, no matter the cost" I paused when I could hear shouting coming from the camp, situated no more than 200 metres away from me,
"You two should probably check that out huh" I suggested, looking at the panic on some peoples faces,
"What about you?" Newt asked as the two stood up, ready to run over,
"I'll be fine, just.. maybe chuck me my gun back" I asked. Minho nodded as Newt ran back, kicking my pistol through the bars, allowing it to skid across the floor into my hand. I smiled as I watched the two run off, hiding the pistol out of sight in case anybody came over.
"What do we have here?" I heard someone say from behind me. I had been trying to pick the lock and escape since I heard gun shots ringing out, I didn't exactly want to sit and watch as everyone around me died in a massacre. I looked up to see two men. One tall in formal clothing, greying hair and a sinister look to him, the other looked more like a solider, holding a weird looking gun, the same one who took Eric away, the ratty formal man was the one that originally spoke. The grey man didn't say anything to me, he just held a radio up to his mouth, smiling at me weirdly,
"Dr Paige, I have something you might want to see," He said, pressing down on the button on the side of the radio before turning to the soldier man, "Take her to the others, keep this one alive" He instructed. The soldier nodded, blasting the door open with a single shot, making me jump before grabbing my arm tightly. I shook my shoulder slightly, making him loosen his grip on me slightly, directing me back to the camp.
I kept my head down as they walked me through the camp, everyone lined up as soldiers counted through them. I panicked when I couldn't see Brenda, did they kill her? I shook the feeling, follow the rules; I reminded myself. The soldier pushed me harshly as we got to the front of the lines, shoving me onto the floor to the feet of someone I could only assume was Doctor Paige. I froze for a brief second as I looked next to me, the dead body of the woman I stole from with the man,
"Look who finally showed up" The grey man said, almost laughing at me as he walked past, standing next to the strawberry blonde woman. She crouched down next to me,
"You've been very difficult to find y/n, do you know that?" She told me, tilting her head at me. I wanted to grab my pistol and shoot her in the fucking head. I knew I couldn't, there were too many people with guns watching me, by the time I had even touched my gun I would probably be dead, "You know, when we retrieved Eric's body from the maze, the results were outstanding," She explained as I stood up, brushing the dirt off me, levelling myself so we stood eye to eye,
"Take his name out of your mouth" I hissed, going to punch her but I was too slow. Two soldiers grabbed me by the arms. The 'doctor' flinched back, chuckling slightly before continuing,
"You remind me of him actually. Anyway, by the time we tracked your location to the store, you had already moved on... not that it matters now seeming as your friend led us straight to you" She glanced over at Teresa, who's eyes were glued to the floor. I glanced back at the group, who all looked very betrayed, I can only imagine this is her fault.
"Come on Janson, let's load them up" Paige said and Janson signalled to his soldiers, who began grabbing the kids, starting with Aris and Sonya. I wanted to help but my field of view was blocked by Janson, who stood over me,
"Don't worry, we'll take special care of you."
word count: 1721
total word count: 7627
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the scorch runner
FanfictionY/n L/n is only 18 but lives each day as if it's her last... and that's because by all means it could be. She managed to escape Wicked once, but will she be able to do it again? An organisation built to destroy her generation to find themselves a cu...
