EPIPHANY ✁ newt

3 , into wilder winds

I'm quick to notice the Asian boy now has a gun, as he leads Thomas and the rest of us through the building towards large doors I could only hope lead to the outside world. Thomas skidded to a halt in front of them, and before any of us had the chance to even think about what we may be getting ourselves into, he pulled down on the large lever.

I watched as the doors slip open slowly, shielding my eyes along with the others as dust flared all around us - leading into the foggy night. Not being able to stop myself from taking a look back, I was relieved to see that Janson nor any of the guards had managed to break through the doors on the other side of the building yet.

"Come on! Come on!" Thomas yelled, as the blonde boy quickly put his hand on my shoulder - pushing me along before I could situate myself again. We charged out of the giant doors as one, straight into a sand storm. But none of us could stop running for even a second, as soon the sounds of people yelling behind us became painfully obvious.

I was just about scampering up a sand dune when I caught sight of at least a few dozen lights near the entrance to the WICKED facility. The panic that followed only fueling my adrenaline more, turning out be be an asset more than hindrance.

"We can lose them in the storm, come on!" Thomas yelled again, and I almost screamed at him for speaking so loudly - but I myself could barely hear his words over the gushing winds around us, so logically thinking it was near impossible for his voice to be the reason we got caught again.

After what felt like at least another fifteen minutes of clueless running, Teresa stopped at what looked to be an abandoned building of some sorts - looking in through a broken window. We were a decent distance from the facility - but I didn't feel safe stopping so soon, especially with my current dud arm that had been hanging painfully at my side this whole time.

I had been grazed by... not-the-most-friendly-feeling things before - never a bullet, but I knew enough about wounds to know it wasn't that big of a deal, but that didn't mean it wouldn't take a bit to recover enough for me to use properly. After all, what was the point of carrying a loaded gun around if I couldn't trust myself to use it.

"Wait! Teresa, wait!" Thomas cried, but the girl had already climbed through the broken window, kicking some more shards of glass out of the frame on her way through.

"Come on! Get down here!" The girl yelled back up at us as she run down the sand that had piled up inside the building with her arms spread to keep her balance. Thomas immediately followed her in, and, sighing, I slipped through along with the others, our group re-gathering only seconds later at the bottom of the indoor sand dune, a few losing balance and sliding down the tiny rocks.

The Asian boy pulled out a torch, trying to get a better idea of where we were as he quickly pointed it around - making sure there was no immediate danger in our close vicinity. "Where the hell are we?"

"C-come on, we gotta keep going." Thomas said, starting to move forward once again, but before he could take more than a few steps, Teresa called out - stopping him.

"Thomas! Wait. What's going on?" She demanded, unwilling to move until he replied. I tilted my head, also still very confused at this sudden escape I had somehow found myself part of.

"It's WICKED..." The boy said breathlessly. "They lied to us, we never got out. Me and Aris, we found bodies. Too many to count."

The Asian boy frowned. "W-What? Do you mean dead body's?"

Thomas shook his head looking down. "No... but they weren't alive either."

My heart sunk at his words. What if one of them had been Alex? Sonya? Harriet? I should have tried to convince the other girls to come along with me when Aris showed up in our ventilation system a few hours ago. Maybe he had been lying when he said he had tried asking them already - for what reason? I had no reason not to trust him. I had no idea why he'd do that. But still... it was a possibility.

I had simply left without even trying to help them - sure, I hadn't known any of them very long before the whole Clearing, but they had been there for me when I arrived in that cage. They had helped me, guided me, taught me how to survive in those walls. And then I had just up and left them not half a day ago without even second guessing it - blindly following the guy who people seemed to think was the 'cause' to all of this.

"They had them... strung up. Tubes coming out of them, they were being drained." Thomas went on, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts long enough for the words he was saying to sink in. Resting my good hand on a pillar to try and steady my breathing enough to keep listening to the conversation, I realised my vision was spinning slightly.

Oh.

That would probably be due to my arm that had been bleeding this whole time. I had thought it would stop by now. but the spot the bullet had hit was still warn with dark liquid. Great! Just great, I thought bitterly. Even if Aris had been trying to do a good thing by helping me escape with the others - I was now posing as a huge hindrance to them and I barely even knew any of their names yet. So much for making a good first impression.

"There's something inside of us that they - WICKED - want. Something in our blood." Thomas said. "We have to get as far away as possible."

Before anyone could go on, the Asian boy help up a hand. "I understand that these are extremely serious situations, and we can get back to them in a second, but... can someone please explain to me who this is and why she's suddenly part of our team?"

Everyone's eyes turned to me. And I tried smiling weakly but it came out as more of a grimace. "Yeah... no I'm honestly just as clueless as you are as to why I'm here. I... I was in the maze. With Aris. But I don't know who you guys are and why he's working with you." I gestured toward Aris. Thomas looked at the boy questioningly.

Aris only shrugged, looking very uncomfortable with all the attention on him. "I-I don't know. I was working with you, Thomas, to try and figure out what was through that door, you guys seemed to have potential that no one else who I saw sent to the facility in our time there did. And... she's a friend. I tried getting the others as well - but no one was willing to join me. I had spoken to Seph enough to hope she'd agree, so I asked her." he answered, shuffling his feet through the sand as he looked down.

Some of the boys surrounding us frowned, but the Asian guy simply nodded. "Alright, well, if this shank is joining us, let's at least get through with introductions. I'm Minho."

I smiled as best as I could, one arm still against the pillar. "I'm Seph- well, Sephora. But Seph's just easier to say. Everyone in the clearing called me that, anyways. Nice to meet you, Minho."

Thomas was next. "Thomas, but I'm pretty sure you already know that." He said with a small smile.

Then Teresa introduced herself properly, I already knew Aris, a dark skinned boy said he was 'Frypan' though I doubted that was his name, and a quiet boy called Winston. That left the blonde boy.

"My name's Newt. Did a lot of people in your maze sound like- speak like you do?" he asked curiously.

I wasn't exactly sure what he meant, until it clicked a few seconds too late. His thick accent had sounded quite familiar, but I hadn't had the time to try and place it until now. I suddenly realised who it reminded me of.

My own voice.

Slowly I shake my head. "No... no not that I can remember. Just me." I said with a nervous laugh.

Minho grinned, "Looks like you found one of your own, Newt."