• Trial Two: The Scorch •
||𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃|| Blake is cracking like the stone walls she had escaped from. Each lie, betrayal, challenge, and death pushes her into a deeper hole of emptiness. Blake and the Gladers thought they escaped from the madnes...
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13. Winston's body fell like a flopped fish. A strange memory surged in her mind at the sight, one of her as a small child. Back then, she had dragged a fish stick through a puddle of ketchup. They had been soggy from the humidity of the microwave which before she ate it; allowed her to slap them against her plastic plate. The scene she was witnessing now wasn't too different—Winston similar to her wiggly fish sticks, banged against the stairs below her feet, clawing at the monster like ball digging into the flesh of his face.
Her body was frozen as she watched him tumble down step after step before coming to a stop. Everyone around her seemed to suck the air around them in; going completely silent, listening and watching as Winston screamed and wrangled at the ball. She had pushed her way down enough to see the scene fully. Like melted metal, the metallic ball seeped and melded on the top of his head and forehead, consuming the skin part above the ears. Like seeping blood, the metal oozed down his face slicking over his eyebrows.
Blake felt Minho grab her shoulder as he too peered over the many bodies to see the horror that was transpiring. It was Thomas who took action first, Toby close on his heels to eagerly help the boy. She recalled Toby mentioning he had been some type of healer. It must be in his nature to help others, since Thomas and him gripped onto Winston who was tugging and pushing to keep the sliver goo away from his own eyes. The scrap and pound of Winston's boots made the scene even more chilling.
"Get it off me!" Winston screeched, his voice so strangled that it made Thomas look like he was going to throw up.
Blake cringed imagining the pain.
Occasionally, they would manage to push the goop away, blisters of pulsing red only pounded under. It had looked like Winston had danced too close to a fire and the flames had given him a deathly kiss. Whatever the ball was doing it wasn't pretty.
While Toby tried to hold Winston down, Thomas threw his pack off which dumped the content of fruits and such sorts down the stairs. He took the bedsheet and wrapped it around his hands for protection, then braced himself and went for it. As Winston swiped at Toby and his face, Thomas grabbed for the sides that had just gone over the boy's ears. Then with a great power, Thomas squeezed and yanked.
Blake flinched, as the ball slipped from Thomas's hands and slapped back onto Winston's ear. All Blake heard was an agonizing scream.
"We have to do it together!" Thomas yelled at Winston and Toby. "Listen to me, Winston! We have to do it together! Try to get a grip on it and lift it off your head!"
While Toby nodded, Winston just shook and wrangled with painful screams. She was surprised neither of them hadn't fallen down the stairs by now.
