The Scorch Trials Rewrite

Part 7

We walked till sundown, no one really saying anything, then we camped out inside of another rundown building. This was significantly larger, and we built a fire inside to keep us warm. I stared at it, my knees drawn to my chest, as Aris put the last of the firewood in.

"I thought we were supposed to be immune," Minho said, toying with a knife in his hands.

"Not all of us," Teresa said, pausing before she mumbled, "I guess." Thomas, from beside me, looked at her for a moment with a look I'd never seen him give her. Almost like annoyance. What happened during their conversation earlier?

"If Winston can get infected, we should assume so can the rest of us," Newt said. That was a scary thought, that one of us could be left behind like Winston to kill themselves. He made the right call, but I hated that he had to make it in the first place.

"I never thought I'd say it, but I miss the Glade," Fry said, a tear falling down his cheek.

I excused myself, quickly walking out of the building. I felt like I was suffocating in there even though there was plenty of air. The night was actually chilly, a strong turn from the blazing sun. I walked until I was far enough away from the others then sat down in the sand to watch the mountains. I pulled my knife out, setting it beside me just in case. I doubted there were any cranks this far out, but one could never be too safe.

The names of everyone I'd met on this journey crossed my mind, like my own list. It was actually a depressing thought, but they deserved to be remembered, even the not so nice ones. Fry's words repeated through my head like a catchy song, and I couldn't help but feel like it was because of me.

Seemingly no time had passed when a voice said, "Hey." I grabbed my knife and pointed it at the person on my right, even though I knew it couldn't possibly be a crank. Thomas put his hands up quickly. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

I stabbed the knife into the dirt in front of me. "It's fine."

"Are you okay?" I shrugged, not giving him a verbal response. He sighed and sat down next to me, so close that his arm touched me. I could almost feel the heat of his body so close to mine. "What's going through your head?"

I continued to stare out at the mountains, the starry backdrop creating a beautifully chilling sight in front of me. "Everyone. All those people we knew, all those we left behind. And the 7 of us here right now. There's only 7 of us left. Everyone else is probably dead. We did that, it's our fault. We fucked with the Maze and ruined their lives. We should never have gone in there."

"You're right," he said. "Hey, look at me." I reluctantly turned my eyes to his, and he was close enough that I could feel his breath on my face. "We're gunna fix this."

"How?"

"I don't know yet. We'll figure it out. You and me, we're a team. We always figure it out." 

I nodded lightly in response, wanting to believe him. I wanted to believe there was something more, something to strive for, something that makes all these deaths worth it. 

Thomas eyed my lips for a long second, but he backed away, looking down at his hand. "Uhh, you know, I talked to Teresa earlier."

I contemplated not answering, but the need to know what they discussed overpowered my jealousy. "About what?"

"She said they did something to her. She remembers everything. The day you and I came in to Wicked."

"We went in together?"

"Yeah, I guess so. She said we were doing good." Thomas looked out over the expanse, his mouth set in a frown. "She wants us to go back."

"Do you want to go back?"