Pieces of the Sun

Chapter Eleven

When we finally stumbled back into the small makeshift camp, we were the last to arrive.

Newt was pacing back and forth and was the first to see us. "You guys- what the hell!" He started forward but Minho threw up a hand to stop him.

"Don't-" I said, in a hoarse voice. "Don't come any closer."

"What-" Newt stopped, taking in our injured state.

"Encounter so cranks, now did ya?" Jorge said, but his voice lacked the usual jest it contained. I glanced at him. His face was blank but his eyes held sadness. As if he knew what this meant for us.

"Oh blood hell, no." Newt muttered. "Please tell me-"

"I don't know." Minho said first. "I don't really know much about the Flare-"

"About two weeks." Brenda interrupted him.

We all glanced at her.

"About two weeks is the average time it takes for the minor symptoms to begin to show. Discolored veins, chills, nausea, headaches, dizziness." She shrugged as if the whole thing didn't really bother her. "Of course with every person it's different. Some take longer to show, others happen sooner."

I swallowed and glanced back at Newt. His face rippled with pain. "This can't be happening."

"Newt, they could be immune." Thomas came to stand beside him.

"There's a chance, remember what Jensen said?" Teresa walked behind to Thomas.

"Yeah, and there also a chance that they aren't or that he was lying! Because that's all WCKD has ever done to us." Newt spun to face them.

A sour taste filled my mouth and I swallowed. "We need to leave this place. Before we encounter any other cranks."

Minho nodded beside me. Jorge turned and was the first to leave the building through the doors we'd come in. Brenda followed and then Clint, Winston and the others. Then it was just Newt still standing there facing the two of us.

"Were you bitten?" He finally asked.

Minho shifted his weight beside me. "Yeah."

"Ari?" Newt looked at me and I nodded. Minho heaved a sigh. "Well at least if we survive this, we'll have matching scars."

No one laughed.

"Go on, Newt." I said pointing to the door. "We're right behind you."

~~~

I couldn't sleep.

We were in the middle of an open area of the road. No more enclosed spaces so we could see everything around us. The Gladers and Brenda and Jorge were at least 15 feet away from where Minho and I lay. I stared up at the sky, perfectly clear. No clouds in sight and the stars shone brightly like diamonds against black silk.

I shifted in the dirt, pushing closer against Minho for warmth. I laid my head on his chest as he slept soundly. My shoulder burned and I winced.

What if only one of us was immune and the other wasn't? The thought had already crossed my mind but I circled back to it. I couldn't lose him. Just like he couldn't lose me.

What if we were both non-immune? Then what? Had this been WCKD's plan all along? Just let the other group win as we died horrible, slow deaths?

I closed my eyes. WCKD was playing games with us. They had never stopped and I doubted they were would.

So what if we stopped playing by the rules?

My eyes popped open. WCKD had dropped us out here with the expectation that we'd once again succumb to their will. We'd once again play a role in their twisted experiment.

What if we just didn't go to the safe house?

What if we ran, away from this city and into the mountains or the desert- just somewhere far away? Jensen had basically said that if we didn't reach the safe-house before the other group, we would die anyways. And at this rate, I doubted we'd make it in time.

I twisted around to look at the small group of my friends. Could we survive out in the Scorch? My eyes fell on Jorge and Brenda. Shit.
I'd forgotten about them. The whole reason why they were with us was to make it to the damn safe-house. There was a shuffling from their direction. A figure stood up, walking away from the group.

I recognized the limp. I painfully inched away from Minho and climbed to my feet. I followed Newt to the edge of the open space. "Newt."

He turned, eyes falling on me. "Couldn't sleep either?"

I shook my head.

"Yeah, I don't really blame you." He looked back out at the desolate city.

I stood a good distance aways from him. "I had an idea. A crazy, reckless, last- ditch idea."

"At this point I don't really think it matters what we do, Ari. We're already shucked."

I tilted my head to the side. "Hear me out." I told about what I'd thought about doing the opposite of what we'd been told to do.

He stared at me. "That's crazy. What if WCKD just swoops in and picks us all up and we start all over again?"

I shrugged. "I haven't found any evidence of them monitoring us."

Newt shook his head. "Don't you remember the beetle blades? They have such advanced technology that we'd never know what they're doing. As soon as they see us heading in the opposite direction of the safe-house they'll intervene."

I sighed. "I'm tired of play their game, Newt. Of running in circles and being caught in this never-ending web of lies. For all we know there could be no safe house."

Newt stayed quiet for a few seconds. "Where would we go?"

I shrugged and instantly regretted the motion as my shoulder sent another angry wave of heat searing through me. "I don't know. Anywhere. There have to be people around here somewhere. In this city even. If we can find them and get information, then maybe we'll have a better chance of surviving."

I could feel Newt thinking it through. "I suppose. There's just one more problem."

"What?"

"How do we deal with Brenda and Jorge?"

I chewed on my lip. "That's a good question."