Scorched Vengeance (Maze Runner: Scorch Trials fanfic)

Chapter 1

"All things happen for a purpose. You must understand this." Leo didn't pay attention to what Carol screamed after the woman from WICKED had stopped talking. Everything was blocked out. The only thing he could hear was his breaking heart, how it pounded against his chest. Begging him to do something. Begging him to save her. To save Sandra.

The brunette smiled as her head lulled, her eyes closed. His shirt, pressed against her stomach, was drenched in blood. Sandra was barely breathing. Leo panicked, afraid he had already lost her. He shook her, trying to wake her up.

"Sandra! Sandra, stay with me!" he screamed, shaking her harder, holding her closer. Leo saw her eyes just barely open, her breath hollow. Leo could feel even more tears come to his eyes. He tried to hold them back, but it was impossible. "Sandra!" His hand was sticky with her blood, the red fluid dripping down his arm. His voice broke again, his scream caught in his throat. He could barely breathe.

That's when the doors were broken down. Everyone screamed, staring at the newcomers. Leo was able to glance for a moment, noticing the massive guns they carried. The pistols on their belts. Their scrappy outlook. The woman from WICKED was paler than snow, screaming as two of the men pinned her to the ground. Everyone screamed when one of the men shot her in the back, a kill shot for sure.

Leo could only wish it was him behind that gun. Firing that shot. Getting pay back for that woman's involvement in their misery. His misery. Sandra's harm.

He turned back to Sandra, the men firing on the rest of the Creators. She seemed to be in a daze, half in his world and half in the afterlife. He knew it had to be his grip on her shoulder keeping her there. He was her anchor. As long as he was there, she would make it. Leo kept telling himself that, ignoring the drenched rag that had been a shirt.

"Come with us. No time to explain. We have to get out of here," he heard one of the men shout from miles away. It was only him and Sandra there. Nothing else. No one else. The only sounds were her shallow breath and his pounding heart.

"Hey!" The voice was closer this time, right in Leo's ear. He looked up. One of the men, a stern look on his face, was standing right in front of him. "We have to go!"

Leo was going to disagree when he heard a raspy voice call out, "Protect." He turned back to Sandra. She was trying to move, squinting up at him. His heart leaped.

"She's ok!" The man put a hand on his shoulder.

"She's long gone. Leave her. We have to-"

"No!" Leo interjected, shaking the guy off him. Leave Sandra? Who did this guy think he was? What gave him the right to tell him what to do?

He felt an arm launch up and grab his shoulder. Sandra pulled herself up to his ear, her breath chilling. "Go," she rasped, her body already sinking back into Leo's arms. She still had a chance. They just had to-

"Let's go!" Before he even knew what was happening, Leo was on his feet, arms clasped by two big men. Who were ignoring Sandra's body.

"No! No, we can't leave her! What are you doing!" Leo screamed, trying to fight back. They ran, dragging him away from her. "NO! SANDRA! SANDRA!" He thought he was going to die. His screams tore his lungs apart. His tears burned his eyes. His muscles were ripping to shreds. He swore his heart had stopped beating long ago. Yet he was still there, fighting against the only things keeping him from saving Sandra.

"It should have been me!" he cried, not caring anymore. Nothing mattered. For all he cared, he wished they would bury him alive. He wouldn't be that way for long. Not with this pain. Not with this regret. Not with this emptiness.