Subject Terminated // The Scorch Trials [1]

THREE.

[CHAPTER THREE];

"Baby I'm thinking it over
What if the way we started made it something cursed from the start."
- Waiting Game, BANKS

Mataya's dreams began to frighten her into oblivion. She no longer wanted to rest her head and close her blue eyes away from the messed up world they suffered in. The constant flashbacks she received when she shut her eyes made her wake up with a startle, sweat running down her dirty body as her chest heaved up and down at such a rapid pace she thought she would pass out instantly.

Everytime she woke up, Mataya prayed that the people she had cared so deeply for would be alright. They would be out of the maze, alive and well -- fighting for their lives. The lives that WICKED had taken away from them so effortlessly. We were born to be experiments in this dysfunctional world, we were born to serve one purpose and one purpose only, to change the world and to save mankind. But Mataya didn't believe that meant being shoved into a game like lab rats, she felt that to change the world, they needed to take a stand against the World in Catastrophe: Killzone Department for themselves, and take them down.

Mataya groaned as her head began to pound in a slightly bearable pain, it happened often nowadays and she was beginning to wonder if she was destined for doom. Bringing her fingertips to her forehead, she rubbed her temples softly as her eyes tried desperately to stay open. She was beyond exhausted from the 3 days of zero sleep.

Over the past few days, Mataya had been able to slowly get to know the people that gathered around in this abandoned warehouse. Most of them were criminal refugees, but Mataya didn't mind. She had shown an instant liking to Brenda as they worked together to keep the others safe and well. Jorge had taken on a fatherly figure towards the girl in hopes that she would stay with them instead of travelling back out into the Scorch where the cranks can attack.

Mataya let out another groan of pain as her wound began to burn intensely. She was slowly breaking and she wasn't ready for that. Mataya had to keep going, she needed to stay strong like Brenda and every other woman that lived her. She needed to be brave, for her brother who was ripped away from her like the teddy bear Ava Paige refused to let her bring from home.

"You need some sleep Mat, you need to be rested and well." Brenda's voice was enough to snap Mataya out of a daze.

Her eyes held large bags, and they were black -- like she had been in a fight. She ran her lips over her cracked lips in effort that they would instantly be smooth once again. They began to sting and she pressed them together tightly as she got up from her makeshift hammock she had put together the day Jorge let her down from her hanging torture.

"I'm fine Brenda." Mataya was irritated at the comment, the others began to complain about Mat's screaming late in the night, which resulted in her just screwing sleep all over and staying up throughout the night on a look out.

Not like they needed it.

"Like breathing, sleep is a fundamental human requirement Mat." Brenda continued, sitting on the ripped up mattress beside the brunette.

Brenda leaned back against a large cement pillar and began to pick at her nails as she waited patiently for Mataya to obey orders. Yeah right.

"You know," Brenda sat up and looked the girl straight in the eyes, "They say you can last three times as long without food as one could without sleep."

Mataya rolled her blue eyes, "That was tested on rats dumbass." She leaned back into her hammock, her hands behind her greasy hair as she let her eyes trail above of the grey ceiling. "I had a lot of spare time in WICKED you know. Growing up there with Ava, I was basically surrounded by doctors. I'm a lot smarter than you think....and fine without sleep."