Variables → Group B [AU]

23 → "FOLLOW"

23 → "FOLLOW"

"NO!" ARIS CRIED, racing towards her. Adeline pushed through people, shoving them out of the way. Girls stood frozen in horror, Adeline grabbed Beth by the torso and dragged her off of Rachel. Harriet and Sonya got to Beth, grabbing her by the arms, Beth flailing both arms and legs, thrashing around.

"No no no." Aris cried. "Rachel. You're okay. It's okay."

"Aris —"

"Rachel, no. Don't speak." Adeline ordered, dropping to her knees. Aris gripped her hand, begging for her to stay with them.

"Do something!" Aris screamed at the man, but the man did nothing. Girls crowded around, some helped pin Beth to the ground, some were watching as Rachel fought to stay with them. Rachel's hand was pressed against her chest, blood seeping through the material of her shirt. She was shaking by now, blood trailing out of her mouth and nose, her breathing becoming shorter and shorter. As much as she hated to admit it, they weren't going to be able to save Rachel, and she was losing so much blood. Adeline watched as Aris gripped her hand, muttering out the same word; "Please, please, please."

Weakly, Rachel got her free arm up, placing it to his face, onto his cheek. The hand that was almost entirely caked in blood from her wound. Aris was somewhat shocked of what she was doing, Rachel managing to form the last of the words she was going to say to them. "A ... Aris. T ... Thankyou for being my f ... friend. G ... Goodbye."

"No, Rachel." Aris denied her words. "Because you're going to be okay. I swear —"

"N ... No Aris." she shook her head, tears forming. "I'm n ... not."

Aris couldn't speak, tears streamed down his cheeks in grief. Aris didn't want to accept that she was going to die, but Rachel had. Like in those minutes before she would, she'd accepted it because she knew she couldn't stop it.

"A ... Adeline." Rachel turned to her, her voice now hoarse. "G ... Get them out of here. Get t ... them h ... home."

"I promise." Adeline nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. Rachel weakly smiled, using whatever energy she had left to smile at her friends. Then, her face relaxed, and a wheeze left her mouth. Like someone had shut her entire body down. Rachel stilled. Her eyes remained open, but she was gone. Her hand fell to her sides, leaving a streak of blood on Aris' cheek. Aris still gripped her hand, but after a moment, let go. He staggered to his feet, but couldn't stay upright. He fell to his knees, cried into the palm of his hands. Adeline got to her feet, dropped down beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Aris turned to her, pulled her into an tight embrace. Aris' entire body shook in grief. But, what just happened seemed not to faze the man, who's voice broke them away from their embrace, causing Aris to get to his feet in anger;

"All things happen for a purpose. You must understand this."

Aris leaped at the man, knocked him over. Locked his hands around his throat. Girls raced forward, dragging him back and off of the man. The man got to his feet, dusted himself off and glared directly at Aris, who glared back at him.

"How dare you say such a thing!" Aris screamed. "She's dead and you just stood there!"

"Shut your mouth boy." The man snapped. "There was a time you were willing to do anything we said."

"I have no clue what —"

His sentence was cut short by a sudden series of shouts and commotion outside the entrance through which the man had come. The man panicked, the blood draining from his face as he turned toward the door. Several men and women dressed in jeans and coats burst through the entrance with guns raised, yelling and screaming words over each other. It was impossible to understand what they were saying. Two of them tackled the man to the floor. Then one stepped back and drew up his gun, aimed, and several shots slammed into the man's body.

He was dead.

A man walked up to the group as the others in his group spread out around them, sweeping their guns left and right, shooting at the observation windows, shattering them. Adeline heard screams.

"We don't have time to explain." the man said. "Just follow me and run."

The man made a few motions to his companions, then turned and ran out the big glass doors.

"Go!" one of the rescuers screamed from behind.

Hesitating, they ended up following. Away from the Maze. Away from Rachel's body. They ran down a long hallway, into a dimly lit tunnel. Up a winding flight of stairs. Everything was dark. Down another hallway. Up more stairs. More hallways. On they ran, some of the men and women leading from ahead, some yelling encouragement from behind. They reached another set of glass doors and went through them into a massive downpour of rain. The man didn't stop moving until they reached a huge bus, every girl, including Aris, hurrying into the bus.

"Get on!" the man screamed. "Hurry!"

They did, forming into a tight group behind the door as they entered, one by one. Girls pushing and scrambling their way up the three stairs and into the seats. Adeline got into a seat besides Aris, wet from the rain. Their skin stuck to the leather seats. Adeline's heart beat was fast inside her chest, and Adeline tried to ignore everything that had happened, trying to haunt her. And that's when they saw it; a women with greasy hair, chasing after them. She looked absolutely insane.

"Gonna save us all!" the hideous woman said. "Gonna save us from the Flare! Don't believe a word they tell ya! Gonna save us from the Flare, ya are!"

The man who had lead them out drew his gun, pointing it at the women. "Stay or I'll shoot you!" he yelled at her.

One of the rescuers, a man, sat across from Adeline and Aris; the leader who'd spoken to them earlier climbed onto the bus and took a seat at the wheel, revved up the engine. The bus started driving forward. The driver gunned the engine and without a word, the driver kept his foot on the gas and the bus continued forward, driving off.