TST: Searching In The Scorch :Sequel to The Maze In Her Heart: ✔ (UNDER EDITING)

Chapter Thirty: The End.. for now.

"What are they doing here?" The man with the gun shouted. It took everybody a slow moment to realize he was talking about Jorge, Lola, Eliza and Murphy. When nobody answered right away, the man's gun made a clicking sound. "I'm not playing! There are no cranks allowed on this plane!"

"But we're all cranks here!" Somebody shouted. The man with the gun hesitated but didn't take his eyes off of Jorge. Teddy, in his arms, twitched, his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

"Please let him get the boy to safety! He's hurt!" I pushed the man out of the way. I knew it was beyond dangerous but I also knew he wasn't going to shoot anybody. Jorge shot me a thoughtful look and ran to a flat surface, setting Teddy on the surface and starting to peel off his bloody shirt.

The man wheeled to face me, his hands shaking, causing the gun to make small metal noises. I stand deadly still, staring him dead on. Finally, he speaks. "It was only said that the people from Groups A, and B were allowed to board this plane.
    "So you have to choose somebody to get off. We can't have four cranks on here."
    "Oh for Gods sake, we're all cranks here! Just let them stay!"
    "I can't, I can't, It's against the rules, WICKED will not allow it!"
    Everybody starts to argue. I glance around as everybody yells over each other to Murphy and Eliza. They're only children. They don't deserve to be exposed to such violence yet. They're terrified, watching the scene with wide eyes, their forms shaking in fear and exhaustion. But when I look at Lola and Jorge, I see two people who helped save everybody's lives, Lola with the underground and Jorge with above ground.
    I rush forward and slam my hands into the man's chest. He flies backwards against the wall and I pin him there, looking him right in the eyes. The cool metal of the gun presses into my forehead.
    Everyone is quiet, but I can see Newt and Minho from the corner of my eye, ready to pounce.
    "These people have been through hell and back. They have done everything that everyone else has had to do in this plane, including crossing the Scorch. They never complained once, they fought and killed with us, and they helped heal our injured. They didn't ask for anything in return except for a spot on this plane for a cure that not only I promised, but everyone else in this plane did."
    The man stares back but I can tell I'm getting through to him.
    "Look. There are children on this plane. Are you really that willing to throw one of them off of the plane and to the ground below?"
    Eliza squeaks and digs her head into Murphy's waist. The man shakily lowers his gun.
    "If they're not going, then you are." His hands grip my arms and I'm suddenly wheeled around. The helicopter door swung open and my body was held only from the rough grip of this man out into the dark sky. For a fleeting, fearless moment, I felt the wind and sand rip through my hair and I looked down at the tiny bodies litering the Scorch. I can see the city, the mountains, the small camps the Gladers made along the way to cross the Scorch.
    For a fleeting, fearless moment, I knew that if this was how I was going to go, then this would be the best way, saving four people's lives.
    His grip loosened and I felt myself slip, not only from my body, but from the scene. I felt myself get removed from my body, the swooping sensation of the wind blowing through your my hair and fingers. The stars never seemed so close.
    Then I'm ripped back into the plane and Newt is holding a gun to the man's head. "Don't you bloody touch her again!" He takes a step forward and the man scrambles back. He braces himself in the doorway, the wind rippling through his clothes. Hands are holding me back, pinning me down, smoothing my hair back, but my eyes are watching Newt. Nobody else seems to be paying attention.
    "I-I wasn't thinking! I'm sorry!" The man
    Newt turns to look at me, and what I see in his eyes isn't Newt. A glint of madness dashes across his face, before he turns to the man. With his cheeks flushed with anger and his hair ruffled and caked with dust, Newt hikes his leg up, then slams it square into the man's chest.
    With a choked scream, the man flies out of the doorway, and with a final oomph, falls right off of the helicopter and down to the ground below. My entire body feels numb.
    Newt takes a step back, and drops the gun. It lands with a clatter. Everybody looks over and quiets down. He looks up, his face distraught and filled with horror. He looks out the helicopter door and then at his hands, then right at me.
    "Newt... What happened?" Thomas says catiously. Newt keeps looking at his hands, which were faded red with blood.
    "Marie?" Minnie asks. I look over and meet her eyes. Her eyebrows and bunched together in a tight, pinched frown.
    Neither Newt or I answer.
    "Alright! Somebody better tell us what's going on right now!" A voice shouts. Everybody turns to look at Ethan. He is chewing on his nail then straightens up when he notices everyone is watching him.
    "Where did you come from, shank?" Minho demands.
    Ethan frowns, looking quite offended.
    "I've been here all along."
    "Then how come that man with the gun didn't notice you?" Harriet also turns on Ethan.
    The man blushes. "I'm not used to this much attention. How're you, m'lady?" He takes Harriet's hand and plants a kiss on it. Sonya, in the corner, blushes angrily. Harriet rips her hand away and it forms into a fist.
    "Answer me!"
    "Okay, okay! The answer is: I don't know! Maybe he didn't count all his chickens as they came in, or maybe I look like one of your dead friends. Or maybe he just wanted to spare me because of my charmingly good looks."
    Now everybody is glaring at him.
    "As much as I hate to admit it, his logic has a point." Lola says. Ethan bows his head as if thanking her.
    "Are Teddy and Liam okay?" George nods over at Roxie, who was working on the two men. His arm was wrapped lazily around Lamar's shoulders.
    "They're fine, I think Teddy is waking up." One of Roxie's hands were applying pressure to Teddy's wound, the other smoothing back Liam's hair. Right now, he was whimpering every time that Roxie touched him.
    "Stop it!" Lola suddenly says, rushing over. She smacks Roxie's hand and she jerks it away, her face a mixture of anger and indignation. Lola puts a hand on Liam's arm but he still doesn't relax.
    "It's okay Liam, she won't hurt you anymore.."
    "Anymore?" Roxie nearly shouts. "You know I was doing what I was supposed to! Even if that meant I had to hurt him, I would have not only killed him if I didn't do my job, but also kill Marie! And maybe even Aris! I know for a fact that you wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for my group!"
    Lola wheels around and the two girls stand, looking deadly. Lola's hand twitched as it formed a fist.
    "Lo..." Eliza squeaks again, clutching Murphy's shirt in her tiny hands.
    "Wouldn't be alive right now? You're so dependent on Liam that you can't detatch yourself from his side for a second to even realize what's going on around you!"
    "You think you're so smart, you think Liam loves you but if you want to know the truth, you're nothing and you know it, you surround yourself around people who love and adore you, and anyone who doesn't fall under that quota is automatically shamed-"
    "Not true!"
    "- You want to know who Liam really loves? Let's see who he's known longer and we'll put this to the test. I may have been gone doing my job but at least I was doing something productive while you tried to flirt your way through the group! Who has more history? Me, the daughter of Ava Page, or you, a nobody crank who just got her (akash) saved by a girl who can barely stand on her two feet because she's so exhausted by your irreleva-"
    Lola pounces on Roxie and the two girls fall. Everybody breaks into chaos and tries to break them up. The fight ended with George with his foot on Lola's chest and Minho holding back Roxie, whose nose was bloody and cheeks red with anger.
    My entire body tingles with returning senses as I try to take in all that has happened in the past few minutes. I was dangled from a helicopter, Newt kicked a man to his death down below, Ethan was forgotten, and Lola and Roxie had gotten into a fight. What was next?
    Teddy stirs and lifts his heavy head. He glances around the helicopter and looks up at me. Right up at me. His eyes are still young and glazed with the youthful hope of a child. His face is crusted with dry blood. "Where's Leo?" He croaks out.
    The entire group falls entirely silent for the second time that day. Teddy doesn't say anything else, a single tear just rolls down his cheek and he lays back down, looking at the celing blankly.
    Aris is the first one to speak after the silence, and the last as well.
    "What's next?"