𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 ★ 𝙏𝙈𝙍

[29] Jorge

Elsie left the cluster of boys chatting together, walking over to Teresa and standing beside her. "Are you alright Tess?" Elsie asked with a frown. Teresa's face was scrunched up as if she had smelt something awful. The second the foul smell reached Elsie's nostrils, she grimaced. "What's that smell?" Teresa asked. Elsie shrugged her shoulders, lifting her hand to cover her mouth and nostrils, her speech muffled by her hand. "No idea, but it reeks!" she gagged. Teresa Clicked on her Torch and immediately regretted it. The two girls screamed at the top of their Lungs as a Crank lurched forward at them, reaching for them.

The Boys immediately turned their attention toward the Crank and the screaming girls who had backed away quickly. the Gladers were relieved to see that the Crank was chained, and unable to get to them. Elsie stared at the Crank with her eyes wide, uneased as it growled and coughed at her, shaking all over the place wildly. The relief didn't last long as Another Crank lurched at them from behind, causing another wave of screams and yells. Newt immediately yanked Elsie to his side, clicking on his Torch and yelling in shock as another Crank appeared at their side. They were cornered by Cranks on Chains. The Question was, why were they chained up in the first place?

Elsie's jaw dropped even more as the lights from all the torches combined revealed that they were inside a large warehouse filled with Cranks, Cranks that were chained up for some bizarre reason. Elsie covered her ears with her hands, not enjoying the loud ruckus of the shrieks and croaks of the Cranks in the room combined. "I don't like this!" Elsie announced, kicking at a Crank who's hand was crawling towards her foot. 

"I see you've met our Guard dogs"

The Gladers all turned in surprise as they spotted a Teenage girl stood in the doorway a few feet away from them. she clicked on the light, walking into the warehouse and right past the Cranks reaching out to her as she approached them. "Who is that?" Frypan whispered as the Gladers all grouped together. The Girl stepped right up in front of the Group, looking from Glader to Glader. she looked around their age, with a really cool Pixie cut that Elsie quite liked. "You guys look like shit" she said 'kindly' smiling at the Gladers as she observed them. "Come on. Follow me" she said, turning on her heels.

"Cool!!" Elsie exclaimed, following after the girl. she didn't even walk three steps before Newt Grabbed her by the collar of her T-shirt, pulling her back. Elsie rolled her eyes and groaned, crossing her arms. The Girl turned around to face the Gladers when she noticed they weren't following her, and were still stood staring at her in shock. she raised her eyebrows. "Unless you want to stay here with them?" she suggested. Thomas Paused for a Minute, thinking. The Gladers waited expectedly for his answer. Moments later, Thomas gave a Terse nod. 

Elsie grinned, skipping forward to join the Girl. "I like your hair! its so cool!" Elsie said to the Girl as they walked past the Cranks together, the group of Gladers following hesitantly behind them. "Thanks" The older girl said with a Grin, beckoning for the Gladers to follow her up the stairs.

The Gladers were in absolute awe once they reached the second floor of the large building. Up above the Crank warehouse, was a large inhabited Camp. All around them were survivors with accommodations built out of spare and scrap materials, survivors sitting around fires and chatting together. "Come on, Keep up" The girl called over her shoulder at the Gladers who were looking around their surroundings. "Jorge wants to see you" she added.

"Who's Jorge??" Thomas asked the girl, running up the stairs to join Elsie and the Mystery girl. Elsie's excited chattering was cut off as Thomas quickly caught up with them. "You'll see" the mystery girl said simply, looking over her shoulder at him and smiling. as they walked towards wherever this Jorge was, they passed many survivors who all stared and ogled the Gladers.
"No one's come out of the scorch in a long time," The Girl said. "You've just got him curious. and me too"

The Gladers soon noticed the group of inhabitants following after them. Newt turned to look at them with a frown, lowering his voice as he spoke to the Gladers. "Stay close to me, Els" He said, taking ahold of her wrist and pulling her closer so that she wasn't walking side by side with the Mystery girl and rambling on excitedly anymore. "Is anyone else starting to get a bad feeling about this place?" Newt muttered. "I think its Cool!" Elsie said with a Grin, causing Newt to sigh.

"Let's just hear him out, hear what he has to say" Thomas said as The Mystery girl lead them up a smaller, separate set of stairs that seemed to lead to an office. The group of Gladers soon reached the Very top of the warehouse, where there was a large private loft area Elsie assumed was Jorge's own little residence. "Jorge, they're here!" The Mystery Girl called as she skipped over to a Man sat at a workbench with his back turned on the Gladers. he was sat beside some sort of radio, trying to tune it. he quickly shushed the girl, fiddling with the multiple turns and dials on the radio. 

it seemed whatever he was doing was starting to work as Elsie could hear Vague conversations being shared over the line, but Jorge just couldn't seem to get the Tuning right, causing it to be very difficult to hear over the static noise. "Damn it!" he hissed as he lost Contact, the station turning back to pure static. his hand slammed down on the table as he stood up, turning around to face the Gladers. Jorge was revealed to be a tall man with a beard. he placed his hands on his waist and observed the Gladers, looking rather frustrated.

"do you ever get the feeling the whole world is against you?" he asked the Gladers suddenly, catching them by surprise. Jorge got no response as the Gladers looked at each other. "Three questions." he said as he walked over to a table, picking up a jug of water and pouring himself a glass. "Where did you come from, where are you going, how can I profit?" he asked them. there was a loud silence as Jorge stared at the Gladers expectantly, downing his glass of water. "Don't all answer at once" he said sarcastically, raising his hands. 

"We're headed for the Mountains" Thomas finally spoke up, his voice quiet. "Looking for the Right Arm." There was a chorus of laughter from the group of Men who had followed the Gladers upstairs and were now scattered around the room like bodyguards. "You're looking for ghosts, you mean" Jorge said, lifting his glass to his lips. The Gladers all stood in silence. Elsie was absolutely gutted. what did he mean, ghosts? The entire reason why the Gladers escaped was too find the right arm and live peacefully! 

"Question number two!" Jorge said, walking over to the Gladers and standing infront of them. "Where did you come from?" he asked, enunciating on each word as if the Gladers were slow. Thomas looked over at Minho, who stared straight at Jorge. "That's our business" Minho said. Jorge hummed, raising an eyebrow and shrugging. 

not a moment Later, the bodyguards immediately grabbed ahold of each Glader. Elsie let out a shriek as she was ripped away from Newt's side and held back. Thomas was held to the ground, his head pushed down to give them access to his neck. Elsie watched in confusion as the Mystery girl ran forward with a bizarre scanner contraption in her hand, holding it over the back of Thomas's neck and watching as it scanned, the orange light of the scanner revealing a bizarre tattoo on the back of his neck. "Shut up you big baby" The Girl shushed Thomas, who yelled and shouted as she used the scanner.

The Girl stepped away, a look of surprise as her eyes met with Jorge. "You were right" she said to Jorge. The bodyguards let the Gladers go, Thomas sat there on his knees, his eyes wide. Newt quickly lurched forward and grabbed ahold of Elsie, pulling her to his side and wrapping a protective arm around her, shooting a death glare at the bulky man who had grabbed ahold of Elsie.

Jorge slipped a pair of reading glasses out of his pocket, quickly placing them on the crook of his nose and staring down at the scanner The Girl had passed over to him. "Right about what?? What is she talking about?" Thomas asked with a frown, standing up and joining the Gladers as they grouped together once more.

"Im sorry Hermano," Jorge said with a chuckle. "Looks like you're tagged" The Gladers all shared the same expression of Confusion. "You came from WICKED...which means, you are very valuable"