Him || The Scorch Trials

Twenty Three

A third hand grabbed Mara around the waist, pulling her towards its owner. Mara let out a shriek, thrashing her feet at the hand below and trying to swivel around to see who had grabbed her.

She turned her head to face the boy holding her as he stood on the same ledge she did, his eyes laced with terror. Their eyes locked for a few seconds, a moment of understanding passing between the two of them.

"Get up to Jorge." Newt said suddenly, using his force to push Mara's body up towards Jorge's grasp.

Mara jumped at the same time, reaching up to clamp her fingers around Jorge's wrist. Looking down she could see that the hand below her lost its grip, but instead had found a new target.

"Newt!" She screamed, watching as his body squirmed the way hers had not long before. Her second hand outstretched downwards, trying to connect with one of his. "Take my hand!"

He looked up in panic, his eyes landing upon her hand. After a moment he took it, squeezing their flesh together in a fury of stress and terror.

Above, Jorge was trying to pull the two of them up to the surface, but Mara could tell that he was struggling. They weighed too much together, and he wasn't strong enough to lift the two of them in one go. Still, she couldn't let him go. She wasn't going to let him go.

Newt seemed to have noticed too, but his choice differed from Mara's; he let go.

She yelled after him as her body shot upwards, extending the gap between the two of them. Soon after she could feel the coldness of the ground beneath her body, the ruggedness of the stones pressing into her skin.

"You need to get Newt," She spoke out, knowing that Jorge was right beside her.

No reply came.

Mara turned over onto her back, the sun beating down into her eyes violently. She shielded her face with her arm, creating a drop of shade over her chocolate eyes.

After a moment of adjusting to the light, Mara sat up, facing the man who stood hovering over the hole in the floor, his arm reaching inside to what Mara could only think as searching for Newt.

A mess of shaggy blond hair came into view, arms stretching out to the surface. Newt was sweating like a pig, but he wore a mask of confidence as he rose to a stance.

Relief surged through her body as she saw him in safety; he was okay. He wrapped her in his arms, tightly embracing her with the warmth of her body. His face dug into her neck, his lips pressed against the cloth of her top. She held him back with nothing but the happiness of knowing that they had both made it out. Whatever was down there could have killed them, but it hadn't.

"What the hell was that?" Newt whispered, lifting his head and pressing his forehead onto hers. "You're okay, right? Shuck, this place is crawling with bloody lunatics."

"I know," She nodded. "Do you think it was dying? The Crank, I mean. If it was under all of that rubble, there was no chance of it getting out. But then, why wasn't it dead?"

"Some things don't have answers, M. Maybe it was just lucky."

"Can we come up now?" Minho's echoed along the rocks of the rubble with a curious tone. "None of you shanks died, right? I better not have to climb through you're shuckin' blood."

"Yeah, Minho, we're dead." Mara rolled her eyes, breaking from Newt to approach the hole. "If you're comin' up be careful, there's something under the rubble."

"What, like more rubble? Was it a rock that scared you're shuck-ass half to death?"

"No, you shank. There's a hand there. It tried to drag me and Newt down but we got out." She explained. It went quiet for a few seconds, leaving a gap of complete silence.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Minho asked inquisitively. Mara could picture him standing there with his eyebrows frowning and his hands on his hips, his eyes staring into her.

"No, Minho," She replied, trying her best to make her voice sound as honest as possible. "I'm being serious.

There was a mumbling between the boys below them, but Mara couldn't make out what they were saying. After some sort of deliberation, Minho announced that Aris was on his way up, and then everything went quiet again.

Mara stepped away from the hole, awaiting the arrival of Aris. She bumped into Newt as she stood, who had been hovering behind her through their conversation. Quickly, she mumbled her apologies as their eyes locked. He nodded, allowing her to walk away.

Something had taken her eye in the distance. Something she thought was a reflection of her imagination. Someone she could not believe she had seen.

He turned and walked out of view, his brown clump of hair swaying slightly as he disappeared, leaving nothing but the air he had breathed.

"I'll be right back." Mara told the others, her eyes never leaving the spot the boy had been in.

"I don't think that's a good idea, hermano."

"Jorge's right," Newt added. "I think it's better if we stay together. You never know what's around the shuck place."

"I need to pee. Do you really want me to go right shucking here? Is that what you want?" Mara cocked to the side, finally turning her head to face the other two boys behind her. "I'm only gonna go over there."

"Just hurry up." Newt told her, averting her eyes.

So she turned back to the building and began the short trek. She knew she should have told them what she had seen, but she had to know if what she had seen was true.

Her pace slowed down as she neared the corner, caution filling every corner of her body. He had looked so tired, so weak and desperate. What had happened? He was supposed to be dead.

As soon as she turned the corner she stopped. He stood there with a raving look upon his carved face, his green eyes drooling with the visions of his past. His body was convulsing with madness, but it didn't match the lunacy that traced along his plump lips.

"Mara Mara Mara Mara Mara." He tutted, shaking his head over enthusiastically. "You're so wrong. Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong."

He was crazy, and there was only one reason Mara could think of as to why. Still, he was supposed to be dead. Minho had told her that he was dead. So why was he alive?

A smile spread wider across his scarred face, a look that Mara had never seen on him before. It wasn't right. He was supposed to be the Glader that died in the Glade- that's what they'd said.

They'd said Adam was dead, but here he was, alive and full of madness.