Gladiolus ~ The Maze Runner

3~8: Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body

A/N: sorry this might be a little longer than i planned, but it's a pretty good one so enjoy. ALSO, i'm a broken record but the edits on this bad boy are pretty rough so i might've missed some things

***

I'm running on a handful of pistachios and a dream.

And adrenaline. Lots and lots of adrenaline.

Teresa led Thomas and I through security with ease, and we were inside WICKED headquarters before I could blink. Newt joined us shortly after our entrance and we continued on.

All was well, but I couldn't shake a horrible feeling in my stomach that something is going to go very wrong, very fast.

My worries will have to wait, however, because Teresa takes us down a flight of stairs where we meet Gally on the lower level. I feel like having four guards surrounding Teresa is a little sketchy, but we haven't been questioned by anyone yet, so I count my blessings.

Teresa punches her ID into a scanner on the wall and a door unlocks, opening us up to the main stairwell.

"Hold on, hold on," Gally flips up his mask, stopping in front of the electrical boxes on the wall. "I can get in here."

"Throw me the walkie," Thomas holds his hands out, and Gally tosses it into his open palms. Thomas continues downstairs, scouting the way ahead, while Newt leans over the rail, coughing. I pat his back gently, glancing at Teresa. Worry paints her face.

"I'm okay, I'm okay," Newt mumbles as Gally begins drilling into the boxes. Thomas reappears, calling to Fry over the walkie.

"Frypan, where are you?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm getting there," Fry's voice replies, out of breath. "Tell Minho 'hi' for me."

"Hang in there buddy," Thomas answers, turning the walkie off.

Gally finishes drilling. His fingers run over the wires, and he nods. "This'll work."

"Brenda, what's your status?" Thomas radios.

"Status is I'm working on it," her snarky but worried voice responds.

"Copy," Thomas nods. "Just make sure you're ready on your end."

"Don't worry, you know I'm gonna be there."

I take a deep breath, flipping my mask up to feel a little less claustrophobic. Gally sets the device and shuts the door. "Got it, let's go!"

We continue to hurry along behind Teresa until we hit a walled off passageway.

"Wait for it," she mumbles, as the other four of us have our weapons raised.

A moment passes before the door opens, and a very confused security guard stands in our path.

"Hi there," I greet, taking him out.

We rush the room, shooting down the other soldiers. I wish we didn't have to use WICKED-made weapons because they can only stun targets, but it'll have to do for now.

With the soldiers neutralized, Teresa quickly enters in the codes to unlock the many doors that circle the room. The rest of us get to work, ushering kids out.

"Guys," Gally calls, analyzing the vault door containing the serums. "This might take some time."

I do a headcount of the kids: 28. Just like Teresa promised. But someone's still missing.

"Where the hell is Minho?" I ask, rounding on her.

"I don't know," she replies.

"Then find him," I pointed to the screen in front of her. She obeys, entering her information before searching for Minho's status.