Rae pulled herself off the bags of flour for a bed when she heard the metal doors open. A man with short salt and pepper hair walked through the door, stopping at the entrance. He wore all black: black turtleneck, black pants, black shoes. "You kids doing all right?" he asked. His thin lips barely moved when he spoke and he had a similar accent to Newt's except the man's was a little harsher. Rae and the rest of the surviving Gladers stood up and approached the man.
No one responded to his question, but by all their blank stares, the mysterious man assumed they were as fine as they could be considering what they had gone through. "Sorry about all the fuss. We had ourselves a bit of a swarm."
"Who are you?" Thomas asked, speaking for the group.
"I'm the reason you're all still alive." Rae couldn't tell if this man was the gloating type, but he seemed that way so far. "It's my intention to keep you that way. Now, come with me. We'll get you kids squared away." The man turned and walked out the door as the rest of the Gladers followed him, but Rae stayed put. Newt heard Rae stop, and he turned to face her.
"Hey," he said softly. "You're safe, okay?" Newt knew Rae had a hard time trusting people, even when the people were the ones who saved them, but he needed her to know that nothing was going to hurt her in here. At last, Rae gave in and they caught up to the rest of their friends.
Out the door, Janson took a left, which led the kids to a totally different part of the building. The room the Gladers were in previously was more of a lighter aesthetic with light gray tones. This section was the opposite with darker colored walls and much more noise. They walked past many people working on the structure of the building, welding and screwing the metal bars into place or fixing the broken ones.
The man led them past some workers who were working on the beams above them, tiny sparks from the metal-on-metal collision flying around them, some even landing on their skin. Rae felt a tiny prick on her arm from the glowing sparks; it surprised her but didn't faze her. If anything, the girl liked the contact of the tiny rays of heat on her skin. She didn't know why, she just knew she did.
"You can call me Mr. Janson. I run this place. For us, it is a sanctuary, safe from the horrors of the outside world. You all should think of it as a way station. Kind of a home between homes."
"That means you're taking us home?"
"A home of sorts. Sadly, there wouldn't be much left of wherever you came from. But we do have a place for you. A refuge, outside the Scorch, where WICKED will never find you again. How does that sound?"
Almost too good to be true.
"Why are you helping us?" Rae asked after being silent all this time.
"Let's just say the world out there is in a rather precarious situation. We're all hanging on by a very thin thread. The fact that you kids can survive the Flare virus makes you the best chance of humanity's continued survival. Unfortunately, it also makes you a target, as no doubt by now you've noticed."
They reached another metal door, which Dr. Janson stopped at. "Beyond this door lies the beginning of your new lives." Janson swiped his key card and the door opened to reveal a hallway-- one similar to the first one they saw when they first arrived. It was rather anticlimactic. "First things first... let's do something about that smell."
Janson led the boys one way, while another guard led Rae and Teresa the other. The guard opened a door for them which revealed some type of locker room where showers lined up one of the walls. Teresa didn't waste any time. She stripped her clothes off and immediately stepped into the shower, sighing as the water hit her body. Rae followed in her steps and entered a different cubicle.
When the hot water hit Rae's skin, a blanket of relief washed over her. Compared to the cold showers in the Glade, this one was a blessing. It seemed that everything that happened outside the Maze was the opposite of what happened there. There, it was constant hustling and working, but here, Rae was relaxing. In the past few hours, Rae ate a delicious meal and was currently soaking up the bliss from the shower. Maybe, just maybe, these people were who they said they were. But, then again, trust was earned, not given.
After finishing her shower, Rae put on the new set of clothes that was waiting on the counter. Teresa was waiting, stringing the water from her wet hair. Rae walked out the door only to be surprised by a doctor who was waiting outside. He beckoned the two girls to follow him, which Teresa did with slight hesitation. As Rae walked behind the girl, she wondered if she could ever be as trusting as Teresa was.
The three entered yet another part of the building, the medical wing. The doctor pointed to a cot where Teresa should go, and he continued on walking as Rae followed him to another room.
A doctor motioned Rae to take a seat in a chair after they entered a room. Rae didn't see any of her friends. After sitting down in the chair, the doctor with dark brown eyes took her right arm, but Rae snatched it away after noticing the large needle in his other hand.
"Don't worry. It's just some calcium, folate, vitamins A through K, basically everything you've been deprived of out there. You're safe here," said the doctor. Rae wanted to believe him, but he was holding a needle in his hands.
"Where's Newt?" she asked before the man could insert the needle.
"He's with the others, also getting his supplements," the doctor tried to reassure, but Rae wasn't buying it.
"I want to see him," she demanded once again.
"You will once you take these supplements."
"I want to see him now!"
"You will, Rae, after--"
"No, I want to see him!" Rae yelled, pouncing up from the chair to get to the door, but the doctor pulled her back. Rae thrashed against the man, scratching him, but she suddenly stopped when the door opened and the same middle-aged man who gave them the tour walked in. Rae watched him enter as the doctor pushed her back into the chair.
"Rae, I must say, you are one of the more unique people we have rescued. I was just talking to Frypan, and he said you led everyone out of the maze. Your leadership saved them. And I admire that." Rae knew that Dr. Janson was trying to suck up to her. She knew that it was Thomas who saved them from the maze. She may have started the leadership, but it continued with Thomas. While Janson was talking, the doctor poked the needle into Rae's arm. By the time she figured out what was happening, she was already getting her vitamins. Rae tried pulling the needle out, but the doctor stopped her by putting his hand over the needle.
"Hopefully, this will convince you not to resist, Miss Rae." Janson held up a tablet that showed footage of Newt in a chair with a small needle in him that was connected to a thin clear tube, his eyes closed.
"Why is he sleeping?" Rae asked.
"You ran out of the maze. That takes energy, a lot of it. If you choose to accept this medicine, you can rest too."
Rae couldn't even open her mouth to answer. She felt her body shutting down, starting with her right arm. Before she knew, Rae passed out.
~~~
a/n
sorry this chapter is so shitty.
xoxo meg
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maze through the scorch ~ newt²
Fanfiction[the scorch trials] [book 2 of the survivors trilogy] Just as it seemed they were finally safe, the remaining Gladers have to battle yet another obstacle: the Scorch. Through their journey into the world, Rae and Newt battle for survival as their lo...
