Subject Terminated // The Scorch Trials [1]

Bonus Chapter; SANITY

WHEN THE DARKNESS COMES,
Shelby Merry

The sound of wood crackling in the flickering flames enveloped around her. The chilly air nipping at her cheeks as the burning heat from the dancing flames warmed her toes. Crackled and rough hands tugged at her jacket, and she pulled it tighter across her slightly bare chest as she let her eyes flutter shut, eyelashes tickling the delicate skin as she did so. 

The darkness of the night was illuminated by the flames flickering in the wind and she felt a sense of home. She felt a sense of clarity as nature brought her back to reality. A sense of comfort and a moment of happiness as she just let it all sink in. 

A moment of clarity before the storm. 

"Mataya?" The thick, sleepy voice of Thomas called out in the night air and she leaned her head against her shoulder before turning a bit to glance back at him with a small smile that didn't entirely reach her eyes. 

His hair was tousled and her heart skipped a beat at how utterly adorable he looked in the moment of clarity and happiness. He was what made her heart skip two beats instead of one. He was the source of limelight in the darkest of hours. 

He was what kept her from burning like a fire. 

"Hi." She whispered softly, her chin rested against her arm as she glanced back at the fire. The flames flickering and dancing and being so carefree in the night around her. 

The sky above her was littered with burning stars and the hopefully bright moon and it was breathtaking. Seeing the night sky for the first time, surrounded by people who loved and cared for her. Seeing it in the middle of nowhere. 

"What are you doing?" He asked, stepping out from the tarp that had become a shelter from the cold night air. That became a sense of home until they could find one to become a safe haven. A place to have no worries. 

Mataya sighed, her back leaning against the box of weapons that had been untouched from the chaos and she shut her eyes, her head lolling back against the coldness of it and smiling. 

A genuine smile. One that hadn't been on her lips for a long while and it felt so good to feel a sense of happiness in a moment of horror. Because no matter where she went, there was a part of hope still present and that's what she clung onto. There was a person who she loved with her every step of the way, fighting the same battles, the same terror, the same torture. 

But he still cared and loved her. Just like her with him. 

"Isn't it beautiful?" She asked, finally opening her eyes to the world again. 

And it took her breath away, all over again. 

Thomas plopped down beside her, his hand placing on her knee as he looked up at the bright sky and nodded. Mataya continued to look up at it with big bright eyes as Thomas averted his gaze from the view of the night sky to her. 

His everything. 

The person he would die for just so she could live life to the fullest. 

And he smiled, taking in every crook and cranny and flaw that was on her body. But it didn't matter because he loved her and he would love her until his last breath. He would love her until his last moment on this horror filled earth. 

"I think you are a lot more beautiful than the night sky, Mataya." He whispered, his head placed on his knee as he continued to watch her. 

Mataya's eyes crinkled and she smiled, a small laugh pushing past her lips. Her cheeks burned and she turned to him with a shake of her head, "That was so cheesy."