Bruises | The Scorch Trials

chapter 2: suspicious activity

The next morning dawned bright and early. The same familiar sweat and tear streaks painted Jess' face- which she made sure to quickly wipe off before Aris could enter through the vent under her bed.

"Anything new?" Jess asked the head poking through the vent shaft.

Aris took a minute to scramble out if the vent and catch his breath before deigning to give her an answer.

"I showed Thomas the gates last night-"

"You what?" Jess whisper-yelled at him in response.

She couldn't believe that Aris- careful, 'I think that everyone is out to kill me unless your name is Jess' Aris- just showed a stranger their secret.

"How could you be so careless? We don't know anything about this guy, Aris." Jess continued on in a softer voice.

Aris nodded slowly, his actions calculated.
"I just think," he said, "I have this feeling about Thomas. I can't explain it, but I need you to trust me. If you don't, who will?"

For a long moment, there was silence. Jess and Aris stared at each other. Jess took a deep breath. She trusted Aris- she really did. She just didn't trust this Thomas guy just yet.

"You're all I have in this place, Jess"

Jess' head rose slightly at his whispered words. It echoed in her head.

You're all I have in this place.

It was true. She was all he had. He was all she had.

"Okay," she conceded, "okay."

Picking at her food, Jess shifted uncomfortably. Her mood had not lifted much since Aris telling her of his midnight adventure. It made her nervous.

"Hey," Aris said, "what's up?"

Jess didn't lift her head. "Nothing."

Aris frowned- obviously put off by her blatant lying. But before he could comment on it, the loud echoing footsteps of Janson entered the room. Immediately, silence ensued and chatter ceased. Janson paused in the middle of the room. He swept his eyes across the handful of people at each bench, past Jess and Aris. He smirked. And stared to read out a list of names.

Jess had been trying to drown out Janson's droning voice when it happened.
A kind of drowning feeling enveloped her. Her vision tilted and her body tensed uncomfortably when her name came tumbling out of Jansons lips.

And just like that, she was trapped.

Not daring to look at Aris, Jess stood up. She waded through people and towards Janson and the rest of the 'lucky' kids. She would not look at anyone. Would they be clapping? Happy that she would find her way out of here? Or would they be disappointed? That it wasn't them on the way to paradise?

Jess wasn't sure why she was feeling so panicked. She was supposed to be going to paradise.

Maybe all her and Aris' suspicions about this place was all just that- suspicions.

Jess bit her tongue. Hard. She followed Janson out of the canteen and out of the double doors. As soon as the doors close, a plethora of doctors swarmed the girls and boys who had been called.

"Right this way Miss Jess." A young doctor called out to the girl, "We just need to run a few tests before you go to the Safe Haven."

Jess swayed uncertainly for a split second before following the doctor into a conference room with a table and two chairs in the middle. A pit of dread began to form in her stomach.

The doctor gestured towards a chair.

Jess gulped. Suddenly, all she wanted to do was run out of the room and escape. She was almost certain that she did not trust this place and she definitely did not trust the steadily growing menacing look on the doctors face.

"Take a seat." The doctor instructed.

Jess did not take a seat.

She ran. Or, at least, she tried to.

She did not make it far when a ice-cold arm grabbed her own and pushed a syringe into it.

Instantaneously, Jess' vision blurred. The door became fuzzy and unfocused and so her dreams of escape drifted off into black oblivion.