Marooned | Maze Runner | Minho

40. 𝒮𝑜 𝒲𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑒𝓉 𝒜𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃.

Sunlight hit the glass shards that were spewed over the ground, turning them glowing shades of yellows and oranges. Viya paced around the store as she ate a bowl of oatmeal silently. She had been living in the gas station for three days, and she had grown accustomed to the lifestyle. There was a better variety of food, and she had missed being alone. She had attempted to clean up a bit, but the store seemed to get dirtier the more she cleaned.

She could see reminiscence of a city in the distance, the rickety buildings were hardly noticeable as they blended in with the blandness of the desert. She could see bits of a highway peeking up through the sand and could only assume that the gas station was a waystation before the city.

She couldn't help but wonder if she'd find people in the city, maybe she could find a new group to join and start fresh. She knew she'd have to get going soon, her supplies wouldn't last forever and she would want to keep moving before WCKD gained some sense and started really looking for her.
Viya set her bowl down on the checkout counter, she'd clean it later. She pushed the door open into the back room. She had decided to organize her supplies so she could figure out when she'd have to move on. The backroom was darker than the rest of the store, the front had windows on every side that allowed light to pile into the room, but the backroom only had two small windows that were mostly covered with caked on sand. She had found an old flashlight, but the batteries were dead, so instead she had to wait for her eyes to adjust to the dimness, and only then she could start working.

She started with the shelf that had the least amount of stuff on it, she'd work herself up to the big stuff. She opened the cardboard boxes flaps and began to dig through. The whistling of the wind was the only sound that could be heard, and for a moment Viya was at peace. She didn't know why she liked to be alone, it just felt right. When she was alone she was able to think clearly and stay calm, if she made a mistake it was only her fault, no one else's. One thing she didn't think she'd ever get used to was how chatty the gladers were, it was like they couldn't go five minutes without having meaningless conversation with one another. It annoyed Viya quite a lot, it was like they physically couldn't shut up.

Viya pushed the box aside, it had only been filled with expired energy drinks. She opened another box and was about to start sorting through it when she heard a noise.

Someone was in the front.

It was quiet, something she wouldn't have caught if it wasn't deathly silent, but there was no mistaking it. The sounds started off as just footsteps crunching on the broken glass, but as Viya crept towards the door, she could hear hushed voices discussing something. She knew she'd never be able to figure out what they were saying, but she also didn't want to hide in the backroom and wait for them to find her.

Viya grabbed the first thing she could find, a long, bent, metal pipe. She silently opened the door and darted behind the checkout counter. She gripped her weapon tightly as she tried to push her body under the table.

"How exactly are we going to find the others?" A girl asked,

"I'm still working that part out, but we won't get nowhere if we don't have some food." A male responded.

"Fair enough..."

"Why don't you kids pick out two cans each and grab some water if you can find any."

"Sounds good," A new voice responded.

Viya prayed silently that they'd find the supplies that they wanted and would leave. Her gut didn't have to warn her about the danger these strangers could possess, she knew that in an apocalyptic world that mercy wasn't a common thing.

"Where are we going to go after this, Jorge?" A familiar voice asked.

Viya's heart stopped, she'd recognize that voice anywhere.