A5 // The Scorch Trials

Chapter 7

The Gladers ran blindly through the desert, the darkness and the blowing sand making it rather difficult for them to see where they were going. Thankfully for them, they stumbled upon a buried building. The boys all called for Teresa to stop but she crawled inside despite all of their shouts.

The group followed her inside, sliding down a sand dune until their feet met the hard floor. Just like out in the desert, the room was pitch black so none of them could even tell where exactly there were. Despite the darkness, Newt knew exactly where his girl was and checked on her.

"Love, are you alright? You're not cut or anything?" Newt remembered the glass pieces that they had passed on multiple occasions and hoped he hadn't missed her being cut by one of them.

She found his shirt and subconsciously clutched onto it, knowing that the familiar article of clothing—and the boy it was attached to—would make her feel a lot better under the circumstances. "Yeah, I'm alright."

Newt slid his hand around her and made a mental note to make sure that no matter what happens from here on out, he wanted her in touching distance so that he'd always know where she was.

Minho had been smart and grabbed a backpack on the escape from the facility and now he was searching through it for any source of light. He ended up finding a single flashlight and began shining it around the room. They could just make out where they were now, an old mall that had probably been abandoned once the solar flares hit.

"We gotta go. We gotta keep moving," Thomas panicked and gestured for everyone to follow him as he backed away deeper into the mall. Teresa, however, didn't like that idea.

"Thomas, stop!" Everyone froze as her voice echoed off the walls. "Tell me what's going on."

Even though Thomas was dead set on continuing their escape, he stopped and explained what was going on. (Y/N) listened silently as Thomas spoke until something jumped out at her.

"A cure. WICKED thinks we're the solution to finding a cure for the Flare," she spoke quietly, not even really trying to have everyone hear, more towards Newt instead. She remembered something the woman said about them being important, them being their only hope so it was almost necessary the doctors did anything they could to help them, even if it meant (Y/N) needing surgery.

Thomas agreed with her and continued. "So that's why we need to get as far away from here as possible."

The group took in everything he said and unanimously, yet still silently, agreed that running away was their safest plan.

"Okay," Newt sighed heavily, his hand resting now on (Y/N)'s lower back. "So what's the plan?" He was looking directly at Thomas for answers yet he kept his eyes downcast and shook his head. "You do have a plan right?" Once again, Thomas shook his head. This infuriated Newt. "Well we followed you out here Thomas and now you're saying that you have no idea where we're going or what we're doing?"

Thomas stood there embarrassed as Newt ran a hand angrily through his hair. He was beyond angry that Thomas demanded all of them leave but had no idea what they were going to do once they left. As per usual, they put their faith in someone they probably shouldn't have.

"Wait," Aris interjected. "Janson said something about people hiding in the mountains. Some kind of resistance or army." He looked at Newt to agree.

"The Right Arm. If they're really against WICKED, maybe they can help us," Thomas added.

Newt scoffed. "People. In the mountains. Mountain people. That's your plan?"

"It's the only chance we have." Newt was nowhere near close to accepting of this plan, but for the sake of the confused and probably terrified Gladers, his love included, he kept his mouth shut.

"Hey guys! Check this out," Winston called and waited for the Gladers to kneel beside him when he pointed out the footprints leading deeper into the mall. "Someone's been down here."

Concluding that staying there wasn't an option, they raised the cages dividing them with the rest of the mall. The mall was filled with different sized tables, all of them piled to the top with any item you could think of—toys, clothes, tools, pictures, etc.

Peeking out of the dust and junk were flashlights and lanterns they could use to light their way. Newt thanked (Y/N) as she handed a flashlight to him and gently guided her down the path.

"Hey (Y/N)?" The girl heard her name called out and spun around to find Teresa. "I found a pile of clothes."

Before she could walk too far, Newt touched her arm to gain her attention. "Stay close please." Promising him she would, (Y/N) walked towards Teresa and began rummaging through the large pile of clothes. Most of them were either covered in some unknown stain or were useless due to the excessive amount of holes and tears. They eventually found two outfits out of the pile that would keep them covered from the hot sun during the day but warm from the bitter cold at night.

They were unaware of the peeping eyes watching them as they changed behind a curtain. Newt noticed of course and made sure to redirect his friend's eyes away from his love and Teresa.

"What?" Frypan laughed and went back to packing the bag he had found with supplies he felt he would need. Newt finished with his bag and walked up to the girls as soon as he was sure they were finished changing.

"Here," (Y/N) handed him a brown jacket she had found from the pile. He thanked her and slipped it on, not before kissing her head.

Suddenly, all of the lights flicked on in the room, the lamps and the strung up fairy lights giving the room a warm glow. Questioning why there was suddenly power, (Y/N) looked up and asked, "You think that was because of Minho and Thomas?"

"Who else would it be?" Teresa made sure to hide her uncertainty and walked towards a picture frame that had stood out to her.

Newt wrapped his arm around (Y/N) and further agreed with what Teresa said. He had calmed her down a little when out of nowhere, they heard violent screaming coming from somewhere deep in the mall and it was getting louder.