My Fanfic Bootcamp Entries

Round 5 - Frozen Hearts

         I was deafened by the ear-splitting howls of the wind and by now, every inch of my body shook furiously. Long gone was the feeling of having toes and fingers. My lips quivered and my hand slowly went up in front of my face as another strong gust of wind hit my body chilling me deep to the bones. 

         I remember fondly the few days of heaven on Earth that we were blessed with before everything went bad again. A quiet snicker left my blue frozen lips as I recalled how nearly 3 months ago, back under the scorching sun and between the never-ending sand dunes, only in our wishful dreams such weather existed.  I find it ironic how after despising the sun for so long, we have come to miss its presence and the warmth that came with it.

       I hugged my thick jacket tighter to my body and firmly clung the straps of my backpack, now filled with enough supplies to get us through the next few days. With half-closed eyes, I was blindly walking in the direction of our temporary shelter. Fear of getting lost quickly grew with every small step I took until finally, I spotted the familiar metal doors of the entrance to our home since we lost Winston.

       As my mind processed the fact both warmth and familiar faces were near, I could feel the ice on my heart melt and my pace quickened. Once I reached the doors, I hurriedly slid them open and stepped inside.

      After having it slapped violently by the freezing wind, slowly regaining feelings in my face made me smile softly. 

       "Thomas!"

     I turned around only to be met with the terrified face of Teresa. Worry brewed in my stomach as she appeared out of breath with her eyes wide open.

      "What happened?" I gulped.

      Instead of replying, she grabbed my hand and pulled me all the way to the living room where all of our friends stood. It was only after she gestured towards the group that I realized they were surrounding someone.

      Trying to get a better view, I attempted to make my way through the group but a pair of familiar blue eyes made me stop. My mouth hit the floor as I realized who was tied to a chair in the center.

     "Gally?" I exclaimed with a voice laced in shock, " How are you alive?"

     "Thomas. I-" He breathed out, "I'm so sorry."

     My heart clenched at the thought of Chuck. In a harsher tone, I repeated, "How are you still alive?"

      "After you left, a group found me. I was still breathing and they managed to save me. I've been with them this whole time. " He answered and looked down, " Look, I know you probably hate my guts but you have to know, I-"

      "Of course we hate you, Gally. I think keeping you chained to that chair is enough proof." Minho interrupted him harshly.

       " How did you find us? Where's your group now?" I inquired, frowning.

     " When this sudden winter started, everything went down hill. Supplies were scarcer than ever until suddenly, it was each man for himself. As for how I found you, it was pure coincidence." He replied.

   " You expect us to believe that?" Newt asked.

    " I swear I'm telling the truth. Those past few weeks were hell. I don't even know how this winter started in the first place!" He exclaimed, practically begging us to believe him with his eyes.

    Seeing how worked up he was, I believed he was absolutely clueless. I decided to tell him the story of another one of Wicked's failed experiments. 

    .      .     .      .      .      .

       I  swallowed the last drops of water from my bottle. My clothes were stuck to my skin from the sweat and my feet throbbed with pain but I kept going. As I took in everyone else's appearance, they weren't faring any better than I was.

      It has been a whole day since Winston shot himself and  we haven't stopped walking up and down those sand dunes since. When I suggested a break, no one argued. As fast as we found a suitable place to rest, I flopped down onto the warm soft ground. 

      My head rested against some rocks and my eyes closed shut. However, my moment was shortly lived as a loud bang rose us to our feet.  Frantically looking around, I saw something fly in the sky.

      "Oh my god...Is that a rocket?" Teresa asked in shock.

     It left a river of black smoke as it flew higher and higher until it got lost amongst the fluffy clouds.

     After a night's sleep filled with dreams of the mysterious rocket, we decided to keep moving. We shared our opinions and beliefs on our way, all intrigued and confused. It was the next day when the first cool breeze fanned our faces. After what felt like centuries later, we could finally breath again.

      A grin accompanied me throughout the whole day. We found the strength to keep going and continue our journey in those cool breezes we had so lovingly longed for all this time. With high spirits and optimism, our strides grew in power and speed till we reached a city.

      The gloomy mood of the city's people dampened our enthusiasm. A few hours of walking around the destroyed city was enough to burst our bubble. The people here, they looked hopeless as if their souls have been drained from them.

        I couldn't take the confusion any longer. We split up to look for answers and met up in an abandoned house just before the sun went down.

        "It's worse than we thought!" Minho said.

        "It's Wicked." Newt nodded in agreement, "It turns out the maze wasn't their only experiment." 

         " A scientist tried to stop the flare in their own way." Minho started, " That thing we saw the other day. The scientist created this weird machine that could block the sun's bad light waves from entering the atmosphere." 

         "So? This is good news." Teresa said with a smile.

     " No, it's not. This scientist tried to make a second Ozone layer or something and failed miserably. I don't know what happened exactly but on the way, the machine broke down." Newt elaborated. " The machine now blocks way more than it should and each day it gets worse."

     " Each day it'll only get colder and colder until the whole planet is stuck in an eternal winter." I concluded. 

    " Good news though, Wicked is officially too busy trying to fix their mistake. There's no way they'll catch up to us now." Minho added. 

     .      .        .        .        .     . 

     " And since that day we only have one mission." Gally listened intently, waiting for me to proceed. " Survive and don't let your heart freeze along with the weather."