Burning Curiosity //Minho

The Traitor

Everyone was looking at their tattoos. Everyone wanted to know what theirs said but I didn't. I wanted nothing to do with it. I wasn't even sure I had a tattoo. The words the W.I.C.K.E.D soldier had said to me were still ringing in my mind. We've changed some... Protocols. What did that mean? Did I know less about what was going to happen in the Scorch now? Would I not know what was going on or would there only be small changes?

"Don't you want to know what yours says?" A voice asked me. I glanced up at Newt, placing my hand over the back of my neck where the tattoo probably was, if they even gave me one.

"Not really.. If it's as dumb as The Glue then I don't want to know my role in this." Newt smirked, crossing his arms at me. "What? It's true. You said so yourself. What the shuck does The Glue even mean."

"Probably means he's the one that keeps everyone together, keeps everyone sane." Thomas spoke up nearby. He was rubbing the back of his neck carefully, as if he might be able to scratch it off if he touched it too long. He had already heard his chilling fate. To be killed by Group B. A scare tactic. I didn't think the girls would actually kill him but.. Then again, I didn't really know.

I had told Aris his fate, he was The Partner and his letters were different from ours. While everyone from the Glade was from Group A, Aris was the only one from Group B. And everyone's tattoos said, Property of W.I.C.K.E.D nobody liked the sound of that.

"I don't want to know what mine says." I finally admitted. I knew what Teresa's would say, she was the Betrayer. Thomas had admitted there was a sign on the door saying it before they entered our room but it was gone now and in its place was the words about Aris. I just knew that if I had one, it wouldn't be good.

"Can we read it then? We don't have to tell you what it is." Minho spoke up, clipping Newt on the back as he did. Easy for him to say, he was The Leader. I bit my bottom lip cautiously. If he read it, I would want to know what it said and it might look suspicious if I didn't let them read it. Sighing, I turned around and lifted up my hair. A hand came down on my shoulder and the collar of my shirt was pulled down slightly.

"Property of..." Minho paused. I breathed out slowly, nervous. I thought it was Newt who had stepped up to read it.

"Well come on, what's the rest of it?" I asked in anticipation.

"Property of W.I.C.K.E.D, Group A Subject A23." Minho paused again and let go of me. I turned around quickly to gauge his reaction. He was eyeing me carefully.

"Just say it. What am I?"

"Mallory, The Traitor." I swallowed hard and looked at me. Traitor as in, I'm a traitor to W.I.C.K.E.D? Or a traitor to my friends later?

"That doesn't sound... I mean it's not.." I stopped, not knowing what to say. "What does it mean?" Minho didn't answer, just pursed his lips.

"It doesn't mean anything, maybe they're trying to mess with us." Newt finally spoke up, moving towards us.

"They all seem pretty straightforward to me." I murmured. If they weren't suspicious about me before, they definitely were now. At least it would hurt less when I revealed who I was and what I was doing out here with them.

"Regardless of that, we need to figure out what to do from here." Newt squeezed my shoulder before dropping his hand.

"Sounds like there's no way out of here to me." Aris spoke up. "Also, I've been meaning to ask.. What's that smell? I thought that it was just the collective stink of boys at first but.. It's worse than that." Minho, Thomas and Newt shared a look. "It's not good is it."

"Maybe you two should step out here." Minho murmured exiting our room. Aris and I followed, Thomas and Newt on our heels. As we moved down the short hallway, the smell grew stronger. Trying not to gag, I covered my nose and mouth with my hand. Before we even entered the cafeteria, I could see why it smelled so bad. Hanging from the ceiling, ropes tight around there necks were some very familiar faces.

"These are the guys who rescued us." Came Aris's muffled voice. I glanced over at him and saw that he was copying me. His hand was over his mouth and nose and he looked completely horrified by the scene before us.

"They rescued us too." Thomas replied.

"I can't look at this." I said softly, turning tail and leaving the room. I headed down to the boys room, hearing their chatter from up the hall. As I got closer to the door, I dropped my hand from my face. What was W.I.C.K.E.D trying to do? What was that back there? Those people couldn't really be dead.

"Malls." Someone called out, running towards me.

"Clint!" As he got closer he opened his arms and hugged me.

"Hey, long time no see." Pulling back, he smiled broadly. "Just seen the bodies?" I nodded my head slowly. I'm pretty sure the image is seared into my brain. "We've all been talking about it. Nobody knows what to make of it but.. Being a Medjack and all..." I rolled my eyes at him. "There's no ligature marks on their necks."

"What?" I questioned.

"You know, from the ropes. If they've been hanging up there all night long, there would be purple marks around their necks from the rope but there aren't any. Their faces are all red and splotchy and they smell like they're rotting from the inside out but.. No ligature marks." That means.. Just then, the lights shut off. Everyone cried out in panic.

"Stay calm!" I shouted as sirens began to blare.

"Mallory!" Someone shouted.

"In here!" It sounded like Thomas. "What's going on!" I exclaimed, hearing people shuffle into the room through the doorway.

"It's the bloody alarm for the Box!" That was Newt and he was right but there was no Box here. Nobody was supposed to send us supplies or new kids. So why blind us and fill the building with noise?

"Everybody just stay where they are!" Minho commanded. The room was filled with silence, aside from the alarms. Minho was really putting the leader title to good work. When the alarm stopped blaring and the lights kicked back on, we first checked to make sure everyone was accounted for before moving about the building. Everything looked pretty much the same, until we reached the cafeteria.

"Ah shuck." Minho cursed next to me as we stared at the ceiling. The bodies, they were all gone.