TO SAVE THE WORLD (Maze Runner fanfic)

Chapter Seven

Thomas was the first to wake and after a few quiet moments to himself he decided to wake the others. "Okay, we should get moving." He told them.

"Let's pack it up." Minho added, not quite meeting Loralie's eyes as he addressed the group.

"Aris, come on." Said Thomas. "Fry, Winston. Let's go."

"What the hell happened to this place?" Newt asked in disbelief as they made their way towards a city in ruin.

"I don't know." Thomas answered.

"It doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time." Minho stated.

"I hope the whole world's not like this." Frypan said with a disappointed sigh.

Loralie stopped in her tracks and strained her ears. There was a faint whizzing sound that was similar to that of a helicopter and it was getting closer and closer to them. 

''Hang on, stop." She called out to the group. "Do you hear that?" Everyone looked around and Thomas was the first to notice a black type of machinery in the air zooming towards them. 

"Get down! Everybody, hide! Hide! Hide! Get in here. In here, in here!" Multiple people screamed at each other as they ducked under various cars and shaded spots.

"They're never gonna stop looking for us, are they?" asked Minho and no one braved an answer.

Loralie could sense Minho's fear and before he lost it again she pretended to grab his hand like she needed support but really supported him. She gave his hand a tiny squeeze and he looked ever so grateful.

"I still haven't gotten over you dragging me away when we could've helped him." Loralie said after a long period of silence between the pair. "But I figure that if you guys, who've known him way longer, can manage then so will I."

"It's not that we don't care." Says a voice from behind her, one of the guy's whom she had not formally met yet. "I didn't want to leave him, but we didn't really have a choice. He ran in the horde of monsters before anyone was aware of what he said prior."

Loralie didn't know how to respond to that so she just gritted her teeth and trekked on.

"A little further, guys." Thomas urged. "Those mountains, that's gotta be it. That's where we're going."

"That's a long way off." Groaned Frypan.

"Then we better get moving." Minho said decidedly.

The ground threatened to pull them deep beneath it as they made their way through the course and scalding hot grains of sand that got everywhere. Mother nature herself seemed to grow increasingly harder to wade through the further they went and the wind blew their supplies every which way and threw sand to their eyes, which made it hard to see where they were going. The temperature had to be at least in the hundred and many in the group had peeling skin and blisters.

"We gotta find shelter" Thomas croaked out, which was heard by few because of the increasing wind speeds.

"Looks like a tornado is coming." Loralie said worriedly, trying not to panic, and Minho squeezed her hand to calm her nerves. She stares at their hands in surprise, having completely forgotten that they were still connected, hours after she had taken his hand in hers. She was surprised but not at all displeased.

Interestingly enough, the gentle squeeze of Minho's hand was enough to wash away all her worries, for the time being.

After a couple miles later the storm dies down and the group pauses to rest next to an old broken down car and two dusty walls that lean against each other providing a small amount of shade.

"It's like they are getting further and further away." Frypan exclaims, pointing towards the mountains in the distance.

"I was thinking the same thing, Fry. The same thing." Loralie adds, rubbing her sore legs.

Everyone and their shoes are covered in sand, rocks and a thick layer of grime.

"I would kill for a shower." Minho says to no one in particular.

Loralie watches Teresa and Thomas who were standing just out of earshot and who seemed to be having a very heated argument.

Newt was sitting next to Loralie and was also watching the pair exchange words.

"So what's the deal with them?" Loralie asks the blonde boy. "They are dating right?"

"It's complicated." Was all Newt said in response.

"They don't seem to like each other very much..." Loralie says, trailing off when she notices a particular sort of longing in his eyes.

The emotion was gone in a flash, so quickly Loralie thought she must have imagined it, and was instead replaced with a cold sort of stare into the distance.

"It's none of our business." The man said in a tone that made it clear there would be no further discussion of this matter.

"Thomas, how's it looking?" Minho calls out to them. 

"It's a little further." Thomas yells back.

"Well, that's not very convincing." Newt says, turning to face the others and they gather their supplies and press onward, finally stopping hours later when the dark of night emerges and they happen across an overturned cargo ship.

Aris starts a fire from some materials they were able to scavenge from the broken shipping containers and their backpacks and everyone gathers around it for warmth.

"I never thought I'd say it... I miss the Glade." says Frypan with a laugh and a hint of sadness etched into his forehead.

"Under different circumstances this would be a beautiful night to sing a campfire song." Loralie accidentally thinks out loud which causes a couple people to glance in her direction.

Minho, who was sitting nearby watching her, stands up and pulls her towards him and they begin to spin, sway and swirl, dancing to a silent beat.

There are hoots and hollers and suddenly everyone is joining in. Everyone is smiling and goofing around and for a quick moment many felt a refreshing wave of pure joy wash over them and they tied this memory to their hearts promising not to let it go for a good long while.

A couple short hours later, each member of the group has stumbled off to find a place to lay their head for the night, body aching with the day's ordeals.

Despite having unimaginably sore bones and muscles, Loralie found it hard to catch sleep. When she finally did, she awoke only a few minutes later from a horrific nightmare. The only one who seemed to hear her terrified gasp was Minho and he studied the silent tears that rolled down her face  as though they were precious glittering diamonds adorning a marvelous gold statue. He was utterly encapsulated by her remarkable beauty even in the dead of night.

He slid his sleeping bag closer to hers so he could reach out and hold her head in his hands. Loralie's heart was pounding fervently but she leaned ever closer to the wondrous figure of the man before her. Soon after they both fell into a restful and nightmare less sleep.