"Mother and daughter dance in the fields, low the hills, where the wildflowers grow. Oh sweet child of mine, let your bonny heart run, they'll be trials long before you've grown" a beautiful, blonde woman sang, stroking a small girl's hair as she lay snuggled in the covers of her bed.
The child could be no more than 6, her hair tied in pigtails, identical in colour to her mothers the sound of her peaceful breathing slowing, as she drifted off to sleep.
The woman smiled as she got up, but tears brimmed in her eyes as she kissed her daughter on the forehead, before slowly walking out.
"I love you Vera", the woman whispered, before quietly shutting the door, leaving the young girl asleep in the bed.
The happy scene then became cloudy, and new figures emerged. It was the girl again, but she was older now, possibly no more than 12.
"Newt catch me!", she squealed as the young girl and boy, who was about the same age, ran through the deserted corridors of what looked to be some kind of lab.
"Careful Vee! What if your dad finds you here?" the boy panicked, still running after her, nervous, but still having fun as they continued running.
"Oh hush silly! My dad would never worry about me, he's far too busy working on his fancy science things", she scoffed with a laugh, refusing to acknowledge the cruel meaning behind her words.
"I guess it's a good thing then your dad won't find us, because then I wouldn't be able to do this!", the boy laughed as he tackled the girl to the crowd, tickling her sides as she squealed.
"Newt stop!", she laughed, both of the children having a grand old time as they played. Their laughter only dying down once they decided to claim their breath, shuffling up to a nearby window, their faces highlighted under the moonlight.
They both sat there for a moment, gasping for breath, two big grins plastered on their faces.
"No matter what happens Newt, you will and forever be my best friend", the girl smiled, holding out her pinky.
The boy pursed his lips, wrapping his own pinky round hers, "to the end of the world and back Vee" he beamed just as the image shifted again, the two children melting into the darkness.
When another scene finally emerged, the girl appeared again, older like before, but possibly no more than a year from the last scene.
"I have high hopes for this maze, these children will the future for us all", a male voice sounded from round the corner, the girl creeping silently in the shadows towards it.
"Indeed, though I do question the morality of these tests. I didn't like what you did to that asian boy the other day, really, was the Griever necessary?" a female voice now sounded from the darkness, as there girl crept closer.
"Desperate times, call for desperate measures Ava, I had no choice", the male responded, as the girl's heart beat rapidly.
"Of course, I just hope you know what you're doing" the female spoke up again, an almost uncomfortable stutter to her.
"Don't I always, trust me, we're doing the right thing", the male confirmed, their faces still not in full view as the young girl listened from outside the dimly lit room, tears falling fast down her cheeks.
As a single tear hit the floor, the scene shifted again, though it wasn't like the others. It was more like flashes.
Photos of the girl, probably about 15 now, her face pinned to every billboard in the city, 'reward $10,000' printed next to her name. Flashes of crowds were mixed in with the photos, some cheering, some spitting down upon her face, as the slide show went on.
It sped up, and soon became a whirlwind of black and white, a hurricane of light, before coming to another scene, this time still of the girl, no older than she was in the last picture, but now on top of a building, the wind blowing through her hair as fire surrounded her and a tall, dark haired boy.
"You don't have to do this!", the girl cried, her face stained with blood. The boy looked equally as scared as her, but it seemed that they were on two different sides.
"Vera don't you see, I don't have a choice!", he shouted back at her, the sounds of helicopters drowned out their voices.
"Everyone has a choice! Aren't you tired of seeing your friends go into that maze every month? You remember Alby and Minho! What about them?! What about Newt?!", she cried, tears falling down her face.
The boy took a few seconds to reply, tears streaming down his own cheeks, "I wish I could, but I can't! You don't understand, they won't let me!" he wept, his whole body shaking, despite the warmth from the flames.
"You can, just as I did! You can end this!", she cried above the noise, as soldiers dropped down from the helicopter surrounding them with guns, most rushing to circle the girl, grabbing her forcefully by her arms.
"I'm sorry Vera!" he shouted as they wrestled her back, trying to pin her down.
"Make them pay!" she shouted her final words to him, struggling against the soldiers as the hoisted her onto a harness, the men now lifting her into the helicopter, and the scene ended.
As soon as it finished, it began again, sirens blaring. It was the girl again. She was in a hospital gown, running through the lab corridors, fighting off every single soldier, man or doctor that approached her.
She was lethal. She was a weapon. Destroying everyone who got in her way, either with her fist, or the taser in her hand.
The door was right there. Her pathway to freedom. She was so close, but as she made a dash for the exit she was knocked down, but she kept crawling. Crawling and scraping.
The girl suddenly cried out in pain as a chair was slammed down upon her ankle, shattering into pieces at the impact.
The image was a blur. Screams of the girl, mixed with the shouts of the doctors. Everyone crowding round her, needles in hand as they stabbed them into her neck. Soldiers were pinning her to the ground, and in her final moment of defiance she looked up at the man in white, watching the scene unfold.
"I WILL NEVER STOP TRYING TO FIGHT YOU!"
She shouted at him, her verdant green eyes ablaze with the promise to never stop fighting, just as everything went black.
There was nothing but darkness now.
Cold. Bleak. Endless darkness.
No girl. No soldiers.
Just black.
Nothing.
YOU ARE READING
Wildfire ~ Newt
Fanfiction"Mother and daughter, dance in the field. 'Low the hills, where the wildflowers grow. O sweet child of mine, let your bonny heart run, there'll be trials, long before you've grown". The maze was only the first trial, the first stage in WCKD's crue...
