Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty-Three

As soon as they crossed the platform where the helicopter had landed, the teens were faced with the challenge of running/climbing up a large sand dune in the middle of a storm. 

Newt grabbed Claire's hand so he could help her climb, and because part of him was scared to lose her in the storm. 

Thomas looked back and saw that a search party was quickly being organized. Men with flashlights and four-wheelers were coming in their direction. 

"Come on," Thomas said, reaching for Teresa's hand and helping her up the rest of the way. "We'll lose them in the storm." 

The teens ran across the sand, doing their best to move quickly and not lose sight of each other, which was hard to do with sand blowing in their faces. Newt kept a hold on Claire's hand. Then he saw Jack near him and grabbed onto his sweatshirt so that the young boy wouldn't accidentally  wander away from them. 

Soon they had to climb another sand dune. But just as they made it to the top, they could hear the noise of an engine getting closer. 

"Get down!" Newt shouted. He put a protective arm around Claire and Jack, who were still on either side of them and the three of them dropped to the ground on their stomachs. Everyone else followed their example. 

The men were busy searing behind the first sand dune the teens had climbed, assuming that they would't make it further than that. 

"Stay low," Thomas told the others as they began to crawl away. 

The storm felt like it was raging even harder now. Between the darkness and the sand blowing in their faces, it was a miracle no one had gotten lost yet. 

Teresa, not wearing any shoes or boots to weigh her down, was able to power ahead once she got back on her feet down another sand dune. Afraid to lose her friend, Claire pushed herself to catch up and she half ran, half slid down the dune. 

"Teresa, Claire, hang on!" Thomas called. "Stay together!" 

The two girls slowed down as they reached the bottom of the sand hill. They came upon a line of large windows that looked like they belong at the top of a large building. Upon closer inspection they could see that it was indeed a roof of a building that had been partially buried by all the sand. Teresa walked a little further and discovered that one of the windows was broken, with a hole large enough for them to climb through. 

Just then all the boys finally caught up. 

"Come on," Teresa said, charging in, Claire right after her. 

The boys shouted after them, telling them not to go inside. 

"Get down here!" Claire called as she slid down the sand hill that must have formed after all the wind blew in sand from outside. 

Once everyone was inside, Minho pulled out a flashlight from the backpack he got from the facility and turned it on. As he took in their surroundings he noticed that everything looked run down and covered in sand. 

"Where the hell are we?" he asked. 

"We gotta go," Thomas said, urging everyone to follow him down the long hallway in that was in front of them. 

"Thomas, stop!" Teresa said, making Thomas stop in his tracks. 

"Tell me what's going on," she demanded. 

It was then that Thomas realized Teresa had no idea what was going on. She had been taken and put under some kind of inspection before she could hear him voice his suspicions. Then he had woken her up and immediately led her and their friends out here. He didn't really give them a reason why, they had just trusted him.