The Flame Within MAZE RUNNER FANFIC

Chapter 20

Maybe I was wrong. This kid is might actually be dumb.

Either that, or he's trying to flirt with me by acting dumb.

I mean, that's what all guys do right?

Thomas placed his hand on the vent for support. The vent, which was not too stable, couldn't handle the weight, and dropped to the floor. Thomas' arm fell through the opening, causing him to almost fall. Minho pulled him back, and everyone else pushed themselves away.

"What the hell was that?" Ava screamed. "Could someone fix those stupid vents for once?! One more mistake like that and I'm firing everyone!" she stormed out of the room, leaving the other two behind.

"She didn't even stay to hear your news." said one quietly.

"I know, kind of surprising..."

"Well, what is it?"

"Cash came back and said he knows where some of them are, but he will only help us if we don't-"

Ava Paige swung the doors open, pulling the guard away with her.

"Should we follow her? Maybe she'll lead us to Charlie." Delilah wondered aloud.

"We could try, I guess." Newt sighed, "They probably moved her anyway, after I got out, I mean."

"And where exactly do you think she'd be Mr. I Know Everything?"

"Careful, he's just a baby." Minho whispered.

"Oh, right." She rolled her eyes.  They continued to go through the vents, till Thomas finally decided they could climb out.

There was a small square opening in the middle of a hallway, where they all piled out without anyone noticing. Newt was about to lead the way, but Delilah pushed past him, eager to find Charlie.

They came across a room that Delilah was familiar with.

The posters.

The door.

Everything was coming back.

Delilah looked at the group, who were all messing around. Minho was fixing his hair, Newt was stretching his back, and Thomas was trying to climb the wall.

"You guys, come in here. I'm sure no one would be in here."

The boys followed her into the room. It was abandoned, filled with two beds covered in blankets, vintage posters, a few polaroids hung on the walls. Delilah tried the lights, but they wouldn't turn on. She dug around her backpack for a flashlight, then turned it on.

The first thing she spotted was, in fact, Charlie's old polaroid camera.

"What is this place?" Newt was spinning in circles, trying to think of when he'd seen this room before.

Delilah was doing the same thing, but she remembered every detail.

"Is this Charlie's room?" By the time Newt asked again, she was almost in tears.

"Yes- well it was," she cut herself off before she burst out crying. "It was our room, we lived here for almost 10 years." Delilah had moved to the wall where the girls had hung all the picture they had taken together.

"Should we wait here and see if she comes back? I mean, it would make sense that they put her back in here, right?" Delilah jumped at the sound of Thomas's voice right behind her.

"No, I don't think so. If they put Charlie back in here, they would have turned the power back on." She reasoned.

"What if they left it off as a sort of punishment or something?"  Newt asked hopefully. Delilah could see in his eyes that he was just hoping that they had found Charlie again.

"That's a stupid idea." Minho flicked Newt on the head, started to pick up something from a desk.

Delilah smiled a little, knowing Minho was trying to cheer her up by a tiny sass comment. She looked over at what he was holding, then quickly took it from his hands when she figured out what it was.

"What the heck Del-"

"This- This is..." She quickly shoved what looked like a necklace to Minho in her pocket.

After only a few moments, the room started to light up, a flashing red came from the top corner, signalling something had happened. The overhead speaker came on.

"You have been found, please report to room A-106 or the punishment will be far worse. Again, report to room A-106-"

"Let's go!" Minho screamed.

Delilah shoved her necklace and Charlie's polaroid into her bag, along with a few other things, just before Thomas pulled her out of the room.

*****

"Wait a second." Charlie shook her head. "How-" she turned towards the entrance she had come from, recognizing that that had always been locked before. "No." she ran towards the door, looking inside.

It was dark, so she pulled out her own flashlight and shone it on the hallway in front of her. Her hand was shaking, and the light coming from her was too.

"You're fine Charlie, just stay calm. If you can fight off cranks, you can fight off Cash."

Taking a deep breath, Charlie walked into the hallway, still shaking from her nervousness. Previously, she had sprinted out of the hallway, and now she was going back.

There were in fact the doors that led to better weapons, better food, etc. These rooms had been hidden behind the locked door for years, and Charlie was finally able to get inside.

She opened a door that had been labeled: WEAPONRY

Thankfully, there were no automatic lights, and Charlie could continue searching with her flashlight. She had become more comfortable and stopped shaking. The walls were lined with ammo, shotguns, pistols, and so much more. To be honest, Charlie was in heaven.

After shoving a bunch of pistols, ammo, and anything else she could find in her bag and her belt, Charlie went straight towards the pantry room.

Her backpack was already getting heavy, so she decided to stuff some of the ammo on a storage sash she had found, and also store some of the pistols in their own holders. Using her flashlight once more, Charlie found a stack of water packages, Cheez Its, etc.

With the new technology the world had made before, they were able to keep everything from going rotten or stale by using a special, man created, formula.

She had spent hours in the two rooms, without even knowing.

Charlie grabbed whatever she could fit into her bag, and went straight out the door. She stood, proud of her discovery, then continued towards the larger room she knew as homebase.

Before she made it to the doorway, she felt a small breeze behind her, causing Charlie to spin around. Immediately, she pulled out the gun, pressed the person in front of her onto a wall, holding them at gunpoint.

"What the hell do you want from me and why did you bring me here?"

    Her heart was beating faster, now. Charlie could feel the man's chest move faster also. "Charlie, it's- it's just me. It's Cash."

    "I know." she gritted her teeth, looking into his eyes. "Now answer my question or I'll pull the trigger."

    "What the hell, Charlie!?" he pushed Charlie away, forcing her to stumble backwards.