Left Behind -Gally-

Chapter 39

"Hey," a voice shouted, startling Emma awake. Blinking a few times, she sat up. It was Thomas who had yelled, but it was unclear why. They were under a ledge, and the memories of the previous evening returned in flashes.

Emma remained still for a moment, still waking up. Thomas stood up, scanning the area. He was looking for any threats but didn't see any. Newt stared at him, "are they gone?"

"Yeah," he confirmed. "I think we're safe. At least, for now." That wasn't comforting. "We should keep moving. Pack it up." Emma stood up. Her body ached from all the recent physical activity. "Aris, come on." The new addition to their group was still asleep. He slowly started to wake up. "Winston, Fry, we need to go." They had to keep moving.

Winston groaned as he tried to sit up. The previous night he had been injured by the creatures that chased them. "Hey, come on, man." Fry extended a hand from him to take.

Emma grabbed her bag, watching as Teresa did the same. The two girls made eye contact. This time, neither offered the other a comforting smile. "Let's go," Thomas said as he began climbing the debris.

Together, the group began climbing out of the area they found themselves. The sky was blue, with only a few clouds. The sun was shining down on them, warming her cheeks. She thought back to how the sun felt in the Glade. For some reason, she liked it better then.

Thomas got to the top first but came to a sudden stop. Newt arrived next, followed by Emma. The sight was unlike anything she had ever seen. The buildings were tall, hundreds of feet high, but they were falling apart. Fragments were missing, windows were broken, and corrosion had begun to take over. There were deserted cars covered in sand. It wasn't like the Glade, which was full of greenery. There were no trees here, only sand.

The Glade seemed like a lifetime ago, but it wasn't. It was days ago. A few days ago, Gally was still alive.

They were together, happy but scared of what was happening. She would never have guessed this would be the outcome. Part of her wished she had never left the Glade at all.

They ambled down a broken bridge and onto what was once a street. A heavy silence settled within the group as they surveyed the area to understand what they were seeing. "What is this place," Frypan questioned as if any of them knew.

"I don't know," Newt responded. "But I don't think anyone's been here in a long time."

"I hope the whole world isn't like this," Aris muttered.

Something told her it was. "Hey, woah. Everyone stop," Thomas instructed. The group did as told, turning to look at him. "Do you hear that?" Emma listened closely. She did hear something now that Thomas had pointed it out. It was like a faint humming sound, and it was getting louder.

A looked of realization flashed across Thomas's face. "Get down! Everyone, hide!" The group frantically searched for a place to hide. Emma saw the ledge at the same time Thomas did. "There, go!" Emma ducked under the ridge with the others. "Go, go, go!" She dropped to her knees, ensuring her body was hidden from view. The others crowded under the cement chunk.

Above them, an aircraft soared through the air. "Oh, shit." The hovercraft was accompanied by two helicopters. They flew between the buildings, dividing as if they were searching for something. Emma quickly realized that something was them. WICKED was looking for them

"They will never stop searching for us, will they?" The question came from Minho. It seemed that WICKED would always want them. The aircraft vanished from sight. Thomas was the first one to venture out of the makeshift hideout. The rest followed quickly behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma was exhausted.

The group had no idea where they were going. All they knew was that the Right Arm was in the mountains. Finding them was not easy. It was challenging. They climbed endless piles of rocks, only to go back down the other side. They wandered around cars, under broken structures, and through the sand.