𝗖𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦, thomas (tmr)

Chapter Thirty Four

Clara was the first to wake the next morning.

She found herself huddled on her side, close to where Thomas was still sleeping soundly on his backpack. Shifting into a sitting position, she looked about the group, all calm and quiet in sleep; one of the only moments they could actually relax in.

She shuffled around a bit, trying to wake up her leg that had gone painfully numb after lying on it awkwardly for hours. Her movement caused the boy beside her to wake too.

"Hey, Thomas." She started, her voice coming out a little nervous.

She had realised this was her chance to tell him about the visions she had. She was anxious about it, she wasn't even sure why, but she knew that telling him would make her feel better.

Clara couldn't help but think about how he told her about his visions in the Glade, and it felt like she was returning the favour.

"I need to talk to you about-"

"-Hey!" Thomas' own shout interrupted her, from where his attention had been stolen by a bird pecking at one of their bags.

He got up from his half-lying position to shun it away. Clara shut her open mouth as he then went to immediately wake up the others, not giving her a second thought.

Did he hear me speaking?

She scoffed lightly, feeling hurt, but not wanting to make a big deal of it. Upon seeing Winston's sickly state, she decided it was best to brush it off. They had bigger things to worry about than Thomas ignoring her once.

If only it was only once...

They all started walking pretty soon after that. The sun was blazing on their skin, leading droplets of sweat to run down their temples, their necks, their backs. Back in the Glade, they all would've thought that having the sun shining like this would be a blessing, but it was only the opposite.

Clara had rebandaged Winston's injury just before they set off. Due to the darkness cast in the evening prior, the girl wasn't fully aware of how awful the wound looked until that morning. The scratch marks - inflicted by at least one Crank - seemed close to infection; the deep gash on his stomach red and raw.

They set off across the Scorch, wandering through abandoned and broken towns with crumbling buildings and mountains of rubble stretching what seemed sky high. Clara had to admit, it was pretty incredible to see it all.

Even in this circumstance - where the concrete of the buildings were singed a dark black, and the remains of the steel frame foundations were rusted - she was mesmerised by the remnants of an unknown world they supposedly left behind. What did it look like before? Before the Flare hit? Before they were taken to WCKD?

"What's happened to this place?" Frypan wondered, his eyes floating along the skyline, taking in all of the surroundings.

"It looks like we're the first here in a long time." Newt responded, squinting as he looked up at the sky.

"I hope the rest of the world's not like this." Aris said, although his tone gave away the fact he believed it probably was.

"Man, if it is," Clara shook her head with a bitter laugh. "Then what was the point of leaving the Maze?"

She wasn't expecting a laugh - which was good as she didn't receive one - because she knew first hand that escaping the Maze was so much more difficult than saying it offhandedly.