Defier - The Scorch Trials (Book 2)

Chapter 1: Panic

Alex woke from a dream. Sitting up with a gasp, covered in sweat and shaking. She had the heebe jeebes. The dream was creepy, full of lurching things that took human form. All of them chasing her through the maze screaming things at her.

"YOU BELONG TO THE MAZE!"

"YOU DID THIS TO US!"

"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE...THERE IS NO ESCAPE"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP ME?"

She was just trying to find Chuck, because Alby had called a gathering. But Chuck, Matt, Jeff, Pedro and Bark were just playing hide and seek with her.

Alex tried to run a hand through her very tangled and dirty hair trying to steady her uneven breathing. She looked around her, they were still sitting on the cold ground of the helicopter. The gladers on this helicopter were still sleeping. She wasn't sure how the other group in the second helicopter was doing, she wished they could all be together. Splitting them up seemed weird, Alex felt uncomfortable with that, they had gone through so much together and now to be split up, gave her an unsettled feeling in her chest.

The Gladers around her were all quietly sleeping, the tight ball of anxiety loosened a little. She looked out the helicopter window. It was dark outside now. She could see the stars. They looked even brighter, maybe because they weren't trapped in a giant stone prison being chased by blood thirsty biomechanical monsters. Alex gazed out the window for a little bit, not really seeing anything, playing with the necklace Minho gave her. She suddenly had a creepy feeling, goosebumps ran over her skin. She felt eyes on her. She turned her head just enough to see who was staring at her. It was the man in black who had helped rescue them. She stiffened.

"Can I help you?" She asked, feeling very defensive, not wanting to wake the others.

Why is he looking at me like that? He got a shuck problem?

He didn't say anything, he looked back at her for a second longer then looked away. Alex watched him for another moment and turned to look back out the window. That unsettled ball of anxiety knotted back up. She shifted so she was closer to Minho, who had his head leaning on the window. His head lolled from side to side, in time with the movement. She was surprised she had fallen asleep. Her mind was so full, so busy her heart too broken but her body betrayed how exhausted it was. She knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, there was a growing anticipation. She watched out the window. She saw a harsh glow and a dark shap of something in the distance.

"Is that where we are going?" She asked the man.

He glanced at her, out the window and nodded. She heard a faint crackle of static. The pilot pulled the radio close to his mouth, speaking into it. He replaced it, and reached back to knock on the windowed door. The man opened it and leaned his head in. Alex tilted her head, and strained her ears to hear what was being said.

"Message from base. There's a swarm. It'll be a rough landing. Change of welcoming plans. There will be a ground squad to meet you."

The man nodded and closed the door. He caught Alex's eye, he narrowed his eyes but looked away.

Something is off with this guy. He doesn't say much.

"You might want to wake your friends. We will be arriving in 5 minutes and we'll have to run for it." He said impassivly. He didn't even bother to look at her, just staring out the window.

Alex sighed.

Of course. More running.

"What are we running from?" She asked, trying to get some information out of him. He didn't say anything, but he did look back at her expressionless and just stared at her. She looked away, but she heard him say quietly with a little shutter "Monsters."