The Scorch Trials Rewrite

Part 10

I stopped, sitting on the ground once we exited into an alleyway. My foot was throbbing. Thomas and Brenda walked back to me with concerned looks on their faces. "You alright?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah, I-I just... I just need a moment."

"Are you bleeding?" Thomas pointed to my leg, his brows furrowed. Leave it up to him to notice something like that. "Here, let me check it out." I wanted to say no, but he knelt in front of me and his strong hands rolled up my pant leg. He stared at the bite mark so clear on my skin and the gash from glass right below it.

It was harder seeing it than it was before. Now it was real whereas before it was just a memory. It was real now, and it only threw my deteriorating future back into my face. I sniffled, choking back tears at the sight of it. Thomas didn't move or do anything, so Brenda pushed him out of the way, digging through her bag. She ripped a bandage wrap in half and began wrapping it around my leg.

"Y/N..." Thomas said, now standing and staring down at me with wells of water in his eyes.

"I know. I know, okay, just... It's fine. I know what I have to do." I thanked Brenda, wiping away the few tears that dropped as she finished wrapping my leg and pulled my pants back down over it.

"Let's just go find Marcus," she said, walking away.

I blinked away tears as I stood and gave Thomas a small smile. "It'll be okay. You'll be okay," I told him as a tear dropped onto his cheek, then I followed Brenda down the alley. Thomas would do fine without me. He had everyone else, he had Teresa.

We exited into a street that was lined with people bartering and selling. It seemed we'd entered another small city, though everyone looked homeless. Brenda told us to try and blend in which I didn't think was too hard. We were both pretty busted up after the week we'd had. I passed people who were cooking, walking with their children, sewing. Thomas jogged up beside me, folding our fingers together, and I swallowed back a lump in my throat. His touch only reminded me that soon I'd never feel it again.

The area we walked into was filled with even more people, except they were dressed a lot more scandalously than everyone else. The colors were brighter, the makeup was visible from across the yard, and the music thumbed loudly. It felt like I'd stepped straight into a brothel.

I noticed the way the men looked at me, a hunger in their eyes. They didn't know they were staring at a dead girl. I also noticed the looks Thomas got, which definitely made jealousy pang in my chest.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" I asked Brenda.

"You here for the party?" the woman behind us asked. She was one who'd been looking at Thomas like she'd love to have her way with him, and she still was. I stepped closer to him, narrowing my eyes at her. "Don't worry, pretty. I like 'em both." She touched my cheek gently, gazing at me with eyes that proved salacious thoughts ran in her head, and I flinched away from her touch as Thomas pulled me back slightly.

"Uh, no," Brenda said, not really sure how to respond to her. "We're looking for Marcus. This is his place, isn't it?"

"This is my place," a man said. The woman pushed us with sultry hands towards him, moving to stand behind us. Thomas' arm stiffened, pulling me closer to his body. I wasn't sure if it was fear that motivated him or jealousy, but the rational part of me said it was just the fear.

"Are you Marcus?" he asked.

The man who had puffy cheeks, red hair, and a stupidly extravagant suit said, "No, I'm Nicholas. Marcus doesn't live here anymore."