Glader Girl

13

Narrator- The Gladers began exploring, having noticed people had lived here. They grabbed extra clothes and anything important they might need, throwing it all into bags. Minho and Thomas split from the group, hoping for signs of life and a way to turn on the power. When everyone else was packed and ready to go, they all waited for their friends to return. Then the lights turned on, and the group glanced around, hearing screams. They saw Thomas and Minho running towards them, yelling at their friends to run. Then they noticed they were being chased, and booked it, trying to stay together as much as possible. They all ran for what felt like hours, until they finally found a door, but it was locked or stuck. Fry, Thomas, and Minho tried their hardest to open it, scarcely making it in time before they were caught. Winston ended up getting grabbed, but saved by the others, and they ran until they found shelter.

The group stayed quiet, turning off their flashlights, huddled together, as they listened to the horrible screeches of the monsters that had once been people. After some time, the Gladers fell asleep. The next morning, when they were sure it was safe, they began their journey. They glanced about at the large, ruined city, wondering what had happened praying the entire world wasn't the same way. Then Thomas had them stop and listen for something. As the sound got closer, Thomas told everyone to hide. They glanced up at the sky, seeing three aircrafts slowly making their way, looking for them. As they continued their journey, climbing steep hills of rubble and sand, they finally saw mountains in the distance, their destination. Then Winston collapsed. His friends knew he could no longer walk, so they all fashioned a kind of stretcher to pull him in, occasionally carrying him themselves whenever they went up or down hills.

After some time, a storm began, harsh winds blowing hot sand everywhere. They pushed on, trying to find shelter. By the time they found it, the storm began to cease, slowly. Everyone collapsed, getting sand out of their shoes or hair, hydrating as much as they could without wasting water. Thomas went out by himself to see the distance from them and the mountains. Teresa joined him, commenting that they seemed to be getting further away. Then she and Thomas talked about her reoccurring memories, that Wicked had done something to her. And then she suggested they all go back.

Thomas- "The hell do you mean go back? After everything they did to us?" Teresa tried to explain herself, but she wasn't making any sense. "Everything was fine until you..." she began but stopped. I was getting nervous and slightly angry now. "Teresa, what aren't you telling me?" "Yeah, Teresa," Julia said, walking up behind us, a dark look on her face as she rolled up her sleeves, looking ready to fight. "What aren't you telling us?" she hissed in Teresa's face. Teresa looked terrified of her, but it was different from usual; she started shaking slightly and looked her up and down like she'd never seen Julia before. I went to step forward and pull Julia away, but then we heard a gunshot and the guys yelling. The three of us ran back, and we saw Winston, struggling to breathe. They told us he just woke up and grabbed the gun. I went to check on him, but he retched and collapsed. It reminded me of Ben before they banished him. No, not another one, I begged silently.

"It's spreading," Winston croaked, lifting his shirt. Julia whimpered next to me, and I almost threw up seeing the ugly black veins and misshapen skin. He begged us to kill him, begging us to make sure he didn't become one of those monsters from last night. Then Newt, of all people, slowly took the gun. Julia placed a hand on his chest, looking at him like she was in pain. He removed her hand, then knelt next to Winston and handed him the gun. The two said their goodbyes, and then everyone else did the same, until it was just me and Julia. Julia knelt down and Winston managed a pained smiled. "So long, Princess," he whispered. She kissed his head, then walked away, crying silently, and running after Newt. I walked away, joining the others, and we all seemed to drag ourselves away. Then we heard the gun, and we stopped a moment. I noticed there was a large gap in front of Aris, as if no one wanted to fill the space Winston once occupied. And we walked on.