'Till Death Do Us Part

Chapter Twenty Six - Breathless.

Riley awoke to scuffling sounds - people whispering, shuffling around the room. The pain had faded, but she still felt stiff and raw, a dull ache spreading through her body. Her head pounded, but she felt more or less okay. The memories she had seen were lodged permanently in her mind - the morbid state of the world outside. She could understand why Alby didn't want to go back - she wasn't all that sure she wanted to go back herself.

But it was the only way. Many of them would die, but some would survive. And it was all about survival. They had to get out or die trying; she knew she couldn't stand rotting away in that stupid maze a second longer. She wanted out, no matter how horrible things might have gotten in the world outside. But, she knew one thing for certain; the game was on. And now there was no going back. She let out a groan as she rolled over, blinking in the dim light. Jeff was by her side in seconds - but the room was empty aside for him and Minho, who was perched on a chair by the bed. For a second, Riley felt a little downhearted that Newt wasn't there, but quickly pushed the feeling aside.

"How ya feeling, shank?" Minho asked, straightening his sloppy posture to look directly at her.

"Terrible." Riley said, staring at the ceiling.

"Thought as much. Jeff, give us a second, would ya?" Minho said - but it was more of an order than an actual question. Jeff nodded and walked out of the room, carefully shutting the door behind him. "Okay, Riley. Talk."

Riley struggled to sit upright, rubbing the back of her neck slowly. "About?" She said, as innocently as possible.

Minho glared at her. "Why did you do that, Riley? Were you trying to get yourself killed?! You about gave me a shucking heart attack!"

Riley blinked. "It was so I could remember, Minho. I wasn't trying to get killed - I just needed to get stung. And now, I have all the knowledge we need to get the shuck outta here." She said, tapping her head for emphasis.

Minho leaned forward. "What did you see?"

"Get Newt up here. I don't like saying things twice." Riley said, raising her eyebrows at her big brother.

Minho started to protest, then stopped. "Fine. Whatever. I'll be right back." He sighed, slamming the door behind him as he jogged out.

Riley rubbed her temple, feeling a headache begining to form. The dull ache spreading through her reminded her of the pain - which, of course, led back to the warnings the mysterious voice had given her. The one she loved? She could remember that old quote about following your heart, but, how was she supposed to do that when her heart was in a million peices? The vision she'd had about Axel, where she had kissed him - she'd felt something. She had definately felt something. But it was the same with Newt; the world was always brighter when he was around.

She groaned. "Maybe I should just get a cat." She muttered to no one in particular. At that moment, the door was thrown open and Newt walked in, followed by Minho. Newt walked straight over to her and hugged her so tight she was afraid her ribs would snap. Minho made and disgusted noise and put his hands over his eyes.

"You're a shuck idiot, you know that, right?" Newt said, pulling away and sitting on the bed beside her.

Riley nodded. "Yeah. I get that one a lot."

"Seriously, I swear, if you ever do something like that again-" Newt faltered, shaking his head. "Jesus, Riley, I thought you were dead."

Riley paused. "Yeah, I've been hearing that quite often recently, too."

"Enough with the love eyes. Tell us what you saw, Riley." Minho urged.

Riley didn't know where to start. She had seen so many horrible things - things she didn't even want to talk about. Things she knew she could never talk about - things like her parents, her little sister, Axel; things that were private to her. "The world outside is in a state of disaster. Complete and utter carnage." She began, speaking carefully, like she was treading on eggshells. "There were these things called the sun flares. They burnt the earth. Killed most of the population, destroyed almost everything. It was - it was horrible. And then there was this virus. These things called cran-"