He screams like he's being skinned alive. He screams like Grievers are tearing him limb from limb. The sound is unrecognizable, barely human.
Thomas, ever the hero, drops my hand and dashes towards the noise. The screaming cuts off, muffled and then silent, but I can hear something. It sounds like a body thrashing and thumping against the ground.
Then that sound, too, fades, and there's only a faint rolling sound.
I'm so scared. I can't see, and I can't run, and I'm pounding with adrenaline.
But I force myself forward, following Thomas towards the commotion. The other boys are shouting, trying to figure out what happened. Maybe it's not the Gladers. Maybe everyone but me has died in this horrible dark place.
"There's something over here," Newt calls. "It's like... a bowling ball or something. Round, and smooth..."
"He- he's dead," Thomas says, sounding seriously disturbed.
"Are you sure?" Minho's voice. At least those three are alive.
"Yeah," Thomas answers. "He... he doesn't have a head."
"What?" Newt seems irritated, as if he doesn't believe Thomas.
I do, though. I've seen stranger things in WICKED's world. I find the corpse, my hands coming across Thomas's kneeling figure. He jumps slightly at first, but seems to know it's me.
I follow the torso of the body on the ground upwards, and I can tell that he's right. The head is missing.
I feel where it should be, but the only thing my fingers touch is the burnt stump of where the neck connected into the shoulders. Burnt. Why was it burnt?
"We need to go," Minho says, his voice slightly strained. "Run!" Thomas and I grab our water bags and each other's hand, and take off running after the leader.
May we survive.
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Admit Defeat (TMR fic 2)
FanfictionThe more Ash remembers, the more she pushes people away. Having friends is dangerous. Being close to Newt? Unfathomably risky. She has to choose between those she cares about, or staying safe from WICKED's manipulation. As We Watch the World Burn b...
