Bruises | The Scorch Trials

Chapter 12

Jess' pov

I waste no time scrambling after my brother and Brenda, with the gladers right behind me. We all skid to a stop when Jorge comes barrelling through the creaky wooden door. He kicks the planks off of the door to reveal a zip line that looks about as steady as cooked noodles.

"You've got to be kidding." Frypan whispers with wide eyes.

"Plan B, hermano. You kids wanna get to the Right Arm? I'll take you there, but you're gonna owe me." Jorge explains.

I sneak a glance at Theo. He wears a blank face and almost seems relaxed about the whole ordeal.

Suddenly, Jorge is running out onto the zip line. "Follow me!" His voice rings out after him- the only reminder that he was there in the first place.

Minho immediately yanks down another plank to hold onto and leaps out after Jorge.

I sigh -resigned to the fact that I actually have to do this. Newt and Frypan gesture for me to go.

And I do.

Wind whistles past my face and whips my hair behind me. I smell wet wood from the broken down buildings surrounding me. I let out a shriek of joy as the zip line picks up speed. It sways slightly- enough to force my eyes down to the endless abyss beneath me. One slip and I would surely smack into a gruesome demise. But I try not to dwell on it.

"Jess JUMP!" I hear Aris yell.

And being the stupid human I am-

I do exactly that.

For a moment, everything becomes suspended. My short life flashes before me and I squeeze my eyes close in an attempt to make my death more manageable. But the pain never comes. I can faintly make out someone screaming. Maybe it's me?

Slowly but surely, I peek my eyes open to slits.

"Am I dead?" I whisper.

A soft chuckle vibrates from my side. I flinch- not expecting a person so close to me. I look up. Sure enough, a boy gazes down at me.

But not just any boy.

Newt.

My gaze flickers around to where I almost fell to where I am clinging onto Newt's torso.

Almost immediately, I blush and mumble an apology. I detangle myself from him and glare at Aris who is having a hard time not bursting into laughter. I lightly smack his arm as Theo comes shooting down the zip line. He -unlike me- looks almost graceful as he lands, his expression as blank as always in the short time I had known him.

Then he says something that turn my blood cold:

"Where's Thomas and Brenda?"