The Trigger (A Newt fanfiction)

Chapter 11

Maya POV

When I wake up, my legs and arms are tingling with numbness. My eyes are closed shut, and I groan, unable to move. It feels as if someone placed me into an oven. The pain is excruciating. I hear movement beside me, and then I can distinguish voices.

"Maya?" someone asks. I barely feel someone nudge me.

I try to open my eyes. A headache shoots through my head, as if protesting against doing anything, but after a bit of trying, my brain finally obeys. My eyes open slowly, and I'm immediately greeted by brightness. My hand flies to my face, trying to cover the harsh light from blinding me.

"She's up!" I hear someone else yell. I think it's Sonya.

People help me sit up, and my body screams with agony. "Geez! We thought you died!" a girl says. Definitely Lucy.

After my eyes are a bit adjusted to the harsh brightness, I remove my hand from my face. At first, my vision is blurry, but then I can finally make out my surroundings. ALL of us are sitting in the middle of a desert.

"So this is what that Janson dude meant by phase two, huh?" I ask, my throat burning.

"Yeah, aka, guy from WICKED," Sonya responds. "We found out when he took the rest of the group out into this place he calls the Scorch."

My throat begged for water. "Does anyone have water?"

Harriet grabs a bag that's sitting behind her. She pulls out a water bottle and hands it to me. "They gave us these packs full of some supplies, but nowhere near enough to last more than a few days."

I chug the water, when Harriet slaps it away from me. "Slow down. You'll throw it all up."

I nod, but the cool sensation running down my throat was too good to take little amounts. I slow down anyway, and can feel energy trickling back inside me.

Harriet then hands me a pack of nuts. "Eat these, you need protein."

I nod and grab the bag. In exchange, I hand her the water bottle.

She shakes it around, a very little amount of water sloshing around, and frowns.

"Sorry," I say. "I couldn't help myself. How long was I unresponsive?"

"For a while," Lucy says. "We were afraid you were dead or something. We were about to leave you."

"Good thing you didn't. Or else I really would have been dead," I say, then a thought occurs to me. "Where's Newt?" I ask frantically.

Sonya shrugs. "We don't know. All we know is that after you guys tried to escape, they gathered the rest of us up. Then they threw us out here along with the packs. No word about Newt."

"We have to find him," I say. "What if they're going to hurt him? After all, we know it's WICKED now."

Harriet shakes her head. "Take a look around, Maya. The place is nowhere in sight. It's like their headquarters disappeared or something."

I turn around and take a look, and she's right. All that exists now are desert dunes.

"So what's the point of all of this?" I ask.

"Well, they did promise something in return," Sonya says. "They said after we finished our trek, there would be a safe haven. Said they had a cure and that we were all infected with the Flare."