monachopsis - maze runner

chapter 27

Chapter 27
The Hangman’s Knot

Sparks struck the rocks where Florence sat as plumes of smoke and fire licked the air. She scrambled off her seat, stumbling down the cliff with the others. Helicopters circled the camp, firing on tents and makeshift buildings, aiming to take down any solid structure the Right Arm had. Hacking on smoke, Florence pulled Newt down by the elbow behind a set of barrels, squinting through the haze to make sure Frypan and Minho had stayed with them.

The destruction was instant and thorough. People fled from the burning structures, dragging scorched sacks of supplies with them only to be shot down by the WCKD mercenaries. They dropped from the choppers and swarmed like vultures to a carcass. “Where’s Thomas?” Minho shouted frantically.

The tent to their left blew up; the ground shook and the kids toppled onto each other. “Hopefully not in there,” Florence muttered. At the center of the carnage, she spotted a pick-up truck armed with a machine gun in the bed. Vince was stationed behind it, firing a shotgun with steady hands. The kids made a break for the truck, circling it. “Vince! How can we help?”

“You need to cover us!” Harriet shouted, pulling ammo from the sack at her feet. The boys nodded, reaching for the guns scattered in the bed of the truck. Florence stared at the last shotgun, her knuckles white on the side of the truck. A hand reached in front of her and snatched it, pushing it into her grip.

“Florence-” Vince started, but she fit the shotgun in the crook of her arm and hooked her finger on the trigger.

“I’ll figure it out!”

“Atta girl.” As she tried to get used to the weight of the weapon, a WCKD merc fired a stun grenade at the truck. She was jerked aside just in time and the round bounced off the truck, sparking on impact.

“At least try to fire a few rounds before you die,” Minho grumbled into her ear. “Alright, Captain?” She turned to glare at him, then froze when she spotted the merc slowly stalking up behind him.

“Duck!” Minho dropped without hesitation, leaving her target open. Florence grit her teeth and fired, landing a shot to the merc’s leg. He stumbled and dropped, lamely raising his weapon before a member of the Right Arm drove a kick to his head, nodded to Florence, and kept moving. Florence nodded back, grimacing at the pain in her shoulder from the recoil. But that was a later problem.

She got a hold of the shotgun fairly quickly, though Minho had to cover for her once or twice. The explosions themselves had stopped. The survivors that crawled from the wreckage were either shot or electrocuted before they had a chance to stand. The smoke burnt Florence’s eyes and singed her nostrils, but she just pulled her shirt up over her nose and kept shooting. There was still no sign of Thomas - or, she realized, Brenda and Jorge - but she knew he could take care of himself. Or at least she hoped he could.

“Vince,” Newt grunted over the gunfire, dodging another grenade. “Hurry up, there’s too many of them!” Florence risked a glance over her shoulder and Vince caught her eye, hurriedly feeding ammo into the machine gun. She readjusted her grip and turned back around, firing at a pair of mercs emerging from the dust.

Florence’s ears were ringing from the gunfire and screams, and she could just barely hear members of the Right Arm frantically shouting orders. The fight was in WCKD’s favor but the Right Arm wasn’t ready to yield just yet, so neither was Florence. Though her limbs ached and nausea was turning her stomach, she kept the shotgun up. She refused to fall back into WCKD’s hands.

The machine gun clicked and Florence braced against the truck, waiting for Vince to fire on the crowd. Then something dropped into the bed of the truck, beeping faintly. The glowing blue device spun in a circle, and Vince managed one loud curse before the grenade went off.