𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 ★ 𝙏𝙈𝙍

[30] Upside Down

The Gladers found themselves dangling upside down by their feet  in another part of the building. The fall below them was quite far down. Elsie wasn't scared of heights, but she was sure falling that far would not be a nice experience. The Gladers were completely silent as they hung by their feet, the only noise being the creaking noises of the Rope as Elsie swung herself back and forth to entertain herself. "Good Plan, Thomas. Just hear what the man has to say. Really working out for us" Minho said sarcastically, lifting his head to look over at Thomas, who was blocked from his vision as Elsie swung back and forth mindlessly.

"Shut up, Minho" Thomas mumbled. "and Elsie, stop that swinging!" Elsie, did the exact opposite, swinging harder so that she went higher and faster, going "Wheeeeee" like a child on purpose to irritate them, grinning cheekily. "Maybe I can reach the rope" Thomas suggested, grunting as he tried to reach up to the rope, to no avail. the Gladers, all except Elsie, who was having the time of her life swinging upside down, began trying their best to reach up to the ropes that tied them to the ceiling over the abyss. 

"Enjoying the View?" Jorge's Voice rang out, echoing throughout the dark room as he stepped out from within the shadows. Elsie went quiet, staring over at Jorge as her rope continued to swing back and forth, beginning to slow to a stop. "What the hell do you want?" Thomas said, the irritation and annoyance evident in his voice. "That, is the question" Jorge said with a chuckle and a sigh, circling around the Gladers, who stared straight at him. "My Men want to sell you back to WICKED" he informed them, Elsie's eyes widened, a gasp escaping her lips as she thought of all the terrible things that would happen to her, to Newt, to the Gladers. "Life has taught them to think small. Im not like that" Jorge said with a grin. "Something tells me you're not like that either"

"is it the blood rushing to my head or is this shank not making any sense??" Minho said suddenly. "I think he's a shank who makes no sense," Elsie whisper shouted to him, keeping her eyes trained on Jorge as he lifted his cane, pointing it straight at Thomas. "Tell me what you know about the Right arm" he ordered. Newt frowned. "I thought you said they were ghosts?" Newt said in confusion. "I happen to believe in Ghosts" Jorge grinned. "Especially when I hear them chattering on the airwaves"

Elsie watched as Jorge walked toward the mechanical rope system that was keeping them tied up securely to the ceiling and controlled how far down they were hanging. Jorge stood next to it, his hand holding onto the Lever. Elsie's heart rose to her throat as she watched him, worried that he was going to pull the Lever and send them flying down. "You tell me what you know now, and maybe we can make a deal" he said, pointing his cane at Thomas, a menacing look on his face to say that he was very, very serious.

"We don't know much" Thomas said with a shrug of his shoulders as he shook his head. Elsie shrieked as Jorge pushed the lever, causing the Gladers to fall and inch with a sharp jolt, the lot of them yelling in shock and fear. "Okay, Okay! All right!" Thomas yelled, his tone panicky as he held up his hands in Mercy. Jorge cocked his head to the side, waiting for Thomas's reply. "They're hiding in the mountains!" Thomas said. "And they attacked WICKED and they got out a bunch of kids, That's it, that's all we know!" Jorge stepped forward, his mouth opening and closing like that of a goldfish as he was about to speak, only to get cut off. "Yo, Jorge" a voice echoed through the room. Elsie watched as One of Jorge's "Guards" from Earlier emerged from the Shadows, looking from Jorge to the Gladers with a frown on his face. "What's going on?" he asked. 

"Me and My new friends are just getting acquainted" Jorge said with a sickly smile. "We're done now" Thomas's face was flooded with confusion and Panic. "Hey, wait! you're not gonna help us?" Thomas asked. "Don't worry, Hermano" Jorge said, looking to his Guard. "We'll get you back to where you belong. Hang tight!" he called, smiling at them one last time before walking back off into the shadows, leaving the Gladers alone with the Guard, who had a look of confusion plastered on his face.

-

"Okay, are you ready?" Minho whispered, as the Gladers swung back and forth. They had come up with a Plan, and Elsie was in charge of the most crucial part. "I can swing myself!" Elsie whisper shouted, swinging her body back and forth to Gain momentum. she swung forward towards the railing beside the Lever machine, her hand reaching out for the railing, only to miss. she groaned with frustration as she swung back, her body whacking right into Minho's and sending him flying back into Teresa, causing a domino affect as they all began swinging.  "Fine, Maybe I need a little push, just a little one!" Elsie mumbled. 

"Okay, Ready?" Minho asked, just as he began swinging back towards Elsie. The second Minho reached Elsie, his outstretched arms met with her back, shoving her through the air and towards the railing. with a grunt, Elsie reached her arm as far as possible, her hand smacking against the railing as she clawed her fingers into it, now holding onto it. "Yes Elsie!" Thomas whispered.  "come on, Els, Hurry!" Newt called, watching as Elsie lifted her other hand onto the railing, gripping onto it tightly as she twisted her body around, reaching for the Lever. 

The Gladers all yelled at the top of their lungs as Elsie pulled down the Lever, causing them to fall a little. Elsie laughed, landing on the ledge as she held onto the railing, finally upright. She continued laughing, quickly untying the rope from around her foot, setting herself free. Elsie quickly hurried to free Thomas and Teresa, but when she was halfway through untying Teresa, a Large floodlight filled the room through the Glass windows, the loud rumble coming from outside signifying that a Helicopter was outside the building. WICKED had found them.

Elsie's eyes widened as she looked to Thomas for Help. She could hear Mr Janson yelling through a Microphone, ordering Jorge to Return the Gladers to them. "Quick!" Thomas whisper shouted, lifting Elsie up to her feet and rushing to help the other Gladers. Elsie quickly ran over to Newt, grabbing both his arms and lifting him onto the Ledge, managing to lift his weight onto the Ledge. "Thanks Els" Newt said breathlessly, hurriedly untangling the Ropes from around his ankle. Elsie reached forward, hugging him quickly. "Im scared" she whispered. "its okay, don't worry, we'll find a way out" Newt whispered back, patting her back and pulling away, quickly lifting Elsie to her feet. 

"Okay, lets go, lets go!" Thomas urged the Gladers who were now all freed. Elsie quickly ran over to the Chair in the corner, quickly retrieving her shoulder bag before running back over to the Gladers. Before they could even begin to run for their lives, that horrible Guard from Earlier appeared before them grinning sickly at them as held a Gun pointed right at them. "We're not trying to cause any trouble, okay? we just got to get outta here" Thomas said, holding his hands up.

"is that so?" The Guard hissed, baring his rotting teeth in a Grin, lifting a walkie talkie to his ear. "Janson, I got em' for ya, Im bringing em' down" he said into the walkie talkie. "Come on, lets go" he hissed, grabbing Elsie's wrist and yanking her forward as she cried out, staring down at his dirty fingers clenched tightly around her wrist, his fingers digging into her smooth skin. "Let go of me!" Elsie cried, trying to Yank her wrist away from the Man, who only cackled, digging his fingers harder into her skin. "Get off of me, you- you bald bastard!" she shrieked, kicking him hard in the shin. 

this only seemed to anger the man more as he grabbed Elsie, holding her tightly against him as he held the Gun to her head. her eyes widened, a whimper of fear leaving her lips as she felt the cold metal of his gun against her soft cheek. "You come with me now, or I blow this feisty little Madam's brains out" Elsie winced, struggling against the Man's strong grip as her eyes met with Newt's his face falling as he noticed the Genuine terror in Elsie's eyes. "help me" she whispered.
"Get off my fucking Sister!" Newt roared with pure rage as he lunged forward, shoving the man back and causing him to shoot at the ceiling. Newt was prepared to kill that man with his own bare hands for laying a finger on Elsie.

Elsie fell to the ground, crawling out of the way as Newt pushed The tall man into the wall, The Gladers following after him. Elsie watched in horror as The Man arose, now pointing the Gun right at Newt, who had no way to defend himself. "You little Bastard!" The man growled, walking towards Newt with the Gun pointed right at him. 

There was a loud Gunshot and All the Gladers shared the same expression of shock as they thought one of them had been shot. each and every one of the Gladers were completely flabbergasted when they realized that it was the terrible man who had been shot, and the one behind the Gun, was Little Elsie.