the scorch runner

Chapter 17.

Chapter song: here with me- d4vd

The feeling over the iv being taken from my arm and the machine being turned off was possibly the best feeling ever. I could feel myself immediately smile as my new freckled friend walked into the room, silently waiting for me in the corner,
"Hey Es, how's it going?" I asked standing up one Bowman unhooked me, taking a minute to look at the blue liquid which had been drained from me,
"It's good. I have a surprise for you after lunch" She told me, the warmest smile ever planted on her face,
"Well I can't wait" I told her, looking up at the Doctor who was reading some vitals on the computor, 
"It's all looking great so far Y/n, come back in an hour or so and we'll finish" He told me, giving me the green flag to leave for some food, I was absolutely starving,
"Thanks doc!" I said happily, waving behind me as I walked out, my hand on Esme's shoulder as we began walking to the cafeteria.

The food was simple enough but again, compared to what I had been eating, I was beyond grateful. Me and Esme took our paninis over to a far table in the corner, not bothered by anyone else around us. I could feel a pair of eyes on us as we walked through everyone, sitting down at a small two person table next to a huge window which overlooked the city. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Teresa staring at us, she looked guilty as she watched me talking and laughing; I just tried to ignore her.
"Y/n," Esme said, distracting me from my thoughts, "Tell me about your friends" She continued. It suddenly hit me that before I came, she was completely alone here. She told me her parents had died to the flare which is why she lived here, and she didn't exactly have any friends here, she was completely alone,
"Oh they're the most amazing people you'll ever meet. So there's Minho, he's the one here. Minho is the type of person who would do anything if it meant you would be safe, he's only trapped here because he sacrificed himself so they couldn't take me." Esme looked astonished,
"He really did that, for you?" She asked and I nodded, smiling the more I thought about it,
"Then there's Newt and Thomas. they're the most understanding, caring people I think I know. They always go out of their way to make sure I'm okay and I'm convinced they would tear down cities to make sure I'm happy" I stopped for a second, looking over at the small girl,
"And then there's this incredible person I know." She looked up at me, waiting for me to tell her about the person, "She's ever so pretty and incredible happy and grateful and is easily the bravest person I know. She reminds me a lot of my old best friend who I lost a few years ago and does everything she can to make me happy" I explained, looking down at her,
"Really? What's her name?" The girl looked at me, waiting for my answer,
"It's you, Esme" Esme looked at me, mouth open but completely speechless. Suddenly, she smiled, flinging herself into my arms. She was so small as I wrapped my arms around her, smiling to myself,
"Come on," She said, letting go and pulling me through the cafeteria by my arm, "There's something I gotta show you."

Esme was basically sprinting through the hallways and although it was easy enough to keep up, I almost ran into like 7 different people. She skidded to a halt outside a 'interrogation room' where two guards stood out front,
"You're y/n?" They asked and I nodded, Esme backing me up behind me, "You have five minutes" They opened the door, handing me a small key labelled 'handcuffs'. The door slide open and locked behind me. As I turned around I saw him, handcuffed to the table looking down,
"I told you already, I don't know where they went" Minho spat, not daring to look up. He must've thought I was Janson or something. I laughed at him, making him look up immediately,
"Y/n? You can't be here! You have to go before they find you! I-" He sounded panicked, like he was worried,
"Minho no. I'm here under my circumstances, it's okay" I whispered, making my way over, unlocking the cuffs, freeing his hands.
"You're an idiot for coming here, you know that right" he muttered, laughing at me,
"Shut up and come here" I laughed back, hugging him tightly. I could see Esme watching from behind the glass, smiling proudly. I didn't want to let him go, it was so relieving to feel him, smell him again.
"They're not treating you too badly, right?" I asked, suddenly worried he wasn't getting the same treatment as I was,
"It's manageable" He mumbled, he clearly didn't want to talk about it, and I was fine about that, "I'm surprised you managed to convince the boys to let you come" He said, smiling at me as we sat down at the table,
"Yeah about that... they kinda don't know I'm here" Minho stared at me blankly for a second, shaking his head,
"Every time you do something stupid I think to myself, it can't get worse from here, yet here we are"
"Says the one who got themselves caught for me" I replied back, making the both of us laugh,
"It's good to see you, n/n" He said, softening his gaze as he looked at me,
"It's good to see you too" Minho went to hug me again and I accepted it, smiling into his shoulder,
"We're being watched" Minho whispered into my ear and I turned around to see Esme, looking at us from the side, making me chuckle,
"That's just Esme, she's my friend" I waved to her and she giddily returned it. The door buzzed open and Ava walked in, almost smiling at the sight of the two of us,
"I'm sorry to interrupt but y/n, you're needed for the second set of draining" She told me and I sighed, nodding, turning back to Minho,
"I'll see you soon, okay? I promise" I told him and he nodded, hugging me quickly one last time before I walked out. I could feel him watching me as I left but I couldn't bring myself to turn around, I knew he had it a lot worse than I did, but there was nothing I could do about that.

I knew Esme couldn't hang around whilst they continued to drain my blood but I paused before walking into the room,
"Es!" I shouted after her. The girl stopped, running back to me, "Thank you" I smiled and she returned it, giving me a singular nod before continuing with her jobs. I pushed open the door, greeting Doctor Bowman with a simple hello, laying back on the bed and putting out my arm as he began disinfected it. Although this was only my second day here, I felt like I had been here forever. I didn't mind though, interactions with the ratman were scarce and short and Ava Paige was a lot nicer than I originally thought, this definitely wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I couldn't wait to get out of here and if all goes to plan, tomorrow night Esme and Newt will be cured and the two of us will be joining Minho and the others on a lovely flight to a private island, far from infection and Wicked.

word count: 1240
total word count: 22, 849