Sacrifice

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Oh shit!" Newt exclaimed. Smoke was coming out of the building, soon the whole place would be consumed by flames. 

"Move!" Jorge ordered the group. 

They raced down the stairs and soon found themselves outside. 

"What about Thomas?" Minho asked. 

"No time," Jorge answered. "But he's with Brenda, they'll be alright." 

Something told Claire that Jorge was only saying this to reassure himself instead of them. 

They ran to the edge of the field. Thankfully, everyone was too distracted by the building going up in flames to notice them. 

"Here, here," Jorge said, leading them to a bush and started moving some hedges around. 

"What are you doing?" Minho questioned. 

Instead of answering, Jorge revealed a metal trap door. "Help me open this." 

Aris and Claire held the bush open while Frypan helped open the door. 

"Everyone in," Newt instructed once the door was open. 

************* 

The teens found themselves in total darkness until Jorge turned on a flashlight. 

"Alright, this way." 

"What about Thomas?" Minho asked, refusing to move. 

"Listen, hermano," Jorge snapped. "There isn't much we can do for your friend right now. Brenda's smart, she would have figured a way out by now. Our best chance of finding them is to find Marcus." 

"Who's Marcus?" Newt asked. 

"An old friend, he has connections to the Right Arm. I've told Brenda about him, she'll know to meet us there." 

Deciding this was their best chance if they wanted to find Thomas, the teens followed Jorge down the dark tunnel. Soon Jorge stopped them right by a little nook. Hidden in one of the back corners were three backpacks Jorge took out. He handed one to Newt, Minho and Frypan. 

"This should be enough for a couple days," Jorge said. 

"Where are we going exactly?" Newt asked. 

"There's a town a couple miles from here," Jorge answered. "It's where Marcus is. These tunnels should bring us close to town, and keep us hidden from WCKD." 

So far it sounded like a solid plan. 

"Oh, and before I forget," Jorge said, digging through his bag. "Which one of you likes to read?" 

"That's mine," Claire said, seeing the small book in Jorge's hand. Jorge's men had taken all their stuff, she didn't expect to see the book again. 

"I'm glad someone around here has taste," Jorge commented, handing the book over to Claire. "Someone wanted to use it as fire kindle, so I punched him in the face." 

Claire looked up in surprise. 

"Always had an appreciation for the arts when I was younger," Jorge continued. "It's a shame really, when the sun scorched the earth no one's had time to paint, or read, or do anything fun as a matter of fact." 

Claire wondered if she ever painted or learned any kind of artistic skill. Before sending her into the Maze, did WCKD ever let her do anything fun? 

The boys who had backpacks found flashlights. Newt let Claire store her book in his, and then they were off. 

*************