Slowly, Elodie begins to stir awake in the scratchy plastic-like sheets. Her stomach growled with hunger as she hadn't had a fulfilling meal, that wasn't oatmeal with an off aftertaste or stale bread. Though she had hours of sleep, she still felt drowsy.
She peered over at her roommate who was still fast asleep, she slowly got up and sat by the edge of her bed.
Then, she followed the strict 'getting ready' routine that never changed from facility to facility. She made her way to the small metal dresser and grabbed a new dark shirt and cargo pants, which was identical to the one she had been wearing for the last 48 hours.
In the small cubicle that was supposed to be the girls' shared bathroom, Elodie turned the faucet on and let the cold water wash over her, the prickly cold water didn't erase the uncomfortable drowsiness but slightly stimulated her senses.
After drying herself with a thin towel that still left her soaking wet, she hopped into her exciting new clothes and returned to the main room to find Narissa awake and staring at the ceiling.
"Morning." Elodie greeted, sitting back down on her bed to put on her slippers.
"Hey." Narissa answered simply, rubbing her eyes and yawning.
"When do you reckon we'll get some food?" Elodie asked, she was starving.
"Hope its soon, I haven't had any in agggges." Her roommate replied, slowly mustering the energy to sit up.
A knock on the door startled the girls, a guard stood in the frame of the opened door.
"Meal time, get up." The manly voice said, the girls looked at each other and promptly followed his instructions.
Without a word, they were escorted by the guard through the plain, brightly-lit hallways. Elodie noticed the lack of windows, she hadn't been able to tell the time or look out over the city since the night before. After the labyrinth of walls, they reached a larger area where other kids sat at metal tables and chairs. Elodie inferred that it was the dining hall, though the spotless, white surfaces made it seem like more of a laboratory.
Elodie scanned around the room for any of her friends, but it was to no prevail: Minho, Luke, Sonya or Aris weren't in sight.
Narissa and herself grabbed a bowl of the stale cereal and a glass of water and sat at the end of one the benches.
The cereal was dry in Elodie's mouth, she washed it down with her water but it didn't relieve the cardboard taste.
"So are you feeling better than how you seemed last night?" Narissa doesn't look up from her meal.
"Yeah, I guess. Sorry about that by the way."
"All good." Narissa smiled at her, Elodie noticed her piercings and wondered how she hid them from the strict guards. "So what was your maze like?"
"I mean it was basically equal boys and girls. My brother and I were first and we thought it was just us and we almost killed each other, couldn't stand being alone. Then Alex arrived, us three ran the place for the rest of the time till we were invaded." Elodie's heart was sliced open again as she remembered Alex, how she was left at that first place in the scorch all those months ago.
"I was the first too, except I was only alone for a bit before the first guy came in, then the next, then about thirty more." Narissa sighed, "I had to take care and fend for myself, the guys never would include me and when they did they did.. unspeakable things , it's like I was in a maze by myself."
"Wow, I couldn't imagine." Elodie could see the anguish in her emotion and gave her a half-smile, "You made it out."
"Every day from when I made it out of that horrible hellhole, is a day I'm grateful for." She breathes in and musters a smile back to Elodie.
"Lets go back shall we."
The girls get up and place their trays on the cleaning bench, leaving the cafeteria with the others who were walking back to the common area, a circular room where an abundance of doors to the different dorms were. It was the first time Elodie had seen it as it seemed to only be opened during the day. They found their room number and sat inside their rooms, opposite beds. Elodie laid down again.
"The other kids are saying you were one of the kids that travelled through the scorch right? Before WCKD snatched ya." Narissa asked, "Whats it like, I've been holed up by WCKD for ages and I've only heard awful stories about the place and the zombie-things? Cranks?"
"I swear I can still feel the sand everywhere and the cranks, they're horrifying, nightmare material." Elodie shuddered with the thought of them, "I hope I never encounter one again."
"I'd just beat the living shit out of them, don't give it time to think." Elodie chuckled at Narissa's courage-talking, she admired it.
"You know, there was a girl i knew that was in the same type of maze, she's completely different to you though." Elodie kept her gaze to the ceiling as she thought of Teresa, rage filled her heart.
"Maybe the guys in her maze weren't disgusting pigs." Narissa snorted a bit, "Must've liked her or something."
"The guys in her maze... were really nice." Elodie's mind wandered back to Newt and the others, her heart now aching for them, "I met them."
"Oh yeah?" Narissa gave Elodie a cheeky side-eye.
"Hey! we all travelled through the scorch together." Memories came flooding back to her, "We all got close."
"I bet..." She rolled her eyes playfully.
"The girl, Teresa, she's here. I think..." Elodie turned her attention back to Teresa, "She gave up the safe haven and betrayed us. She's probably like WCKD exploiting us and using us."
"Damn, I don't think I wanna bump into her."
"I sure as hell want to, the things I'd say..." She had a tone of revenge, a product of her anger. "If it wasn't for her I'd be with Newt and my brother..."
"Who's Newt?" Narissa asked, turning to Elodie.
"He's this guy." Elodie felt heat rising to her cheeks, like she used to get when talking to him "Blonde, kinda dorky but a kind heart, we got pretty close. I miss him a lot, almost more than Luke. I think I knew him before the whole maze shenanigans, but I can't quite remember..."
"Girl, you're in love!" She giggled in response, Elodie's face was as red as it could get and she turned to her new friend and smiled.
"I think I am too."
****
awwww, how cute! I love Narissa's character, she'll get more into the storyline as the plot thickens
hope yall enjoyed
- Ivy xxxx
YOU ARE READING
momentary → the death cure (sequel)
Fanfiction[book 2 || sequel to fragmentary] she caught glimpses of him in her daydream, they only appeared for a few seconds but the image of his blonde, scruffy hair and awkwardly small but tall gait were enough to keep her going, provide a sense of comfort...
