little immune {the scorch trials} (request)

˜"*°• 15 •°*"˜

Thomas was back in the Glade. He could feel the sun shining on his skin, the roughness of the greenish-yellow grass he laid on. He had been staring up at the sky, then rolled over to his side, shifting his gaze to the enormous ivy-covered stone walls that surrounded the field. The sight brought his mind back to the time when he used to run those corridors of the immense labyrinth while searching for an escape. But thinking of leaving the Maze only reminded him of the untimely deaths of Chuck, Alby, Zart, and many other Gladers, even Gally, whose lives were taken too soon. Thomas could still feel the warmth of the blood leaking through the bullet wound on Chuck's dying chest after he'd been shot; for the guilt that accompanied the memory was too much to bear ...

"Tommy?"

Thomas shot up, waking from his dream-nightmare-memory thing. It took him a moment to recognize his location: the small, sandy artificial cave the Gladers had settled in to rest until morning. They had to have faith that hoping and praying might be enough to keep the Cranks and WICKED at bay, which wasn't really much, but they needed to rest before setting off again.

"Tommy?" said the voice again.

It took a moment before Thomas finally registered the little girl sitting beside him, gently trying to shake him awake.

"Hey, Y/n," he mumbled. "What is it?"

Y/n's brow was scrunched up, her eyes alight with panic. She raised a shaky finger to the sky, which was when Thomas registered a rumbling sound, like thunder. Except it wasn't thunder. He glanced upward with dread, following the girl's gaze.

He cursed and threw himself back down on the ground, taking Y/n with him. Above them flew a Berg, one of WICKED's large ships that was likely being used to track the escapees. The other Gladers—who had still been sleeping before—were starting to regain consciousness (probably due to the unignorable roaring of the ship). Thankfully, they seemed to catch on to the situation and remained still and silent where they were.

They sat there for quite along time—though it was hard to tell exactly how long—until the Berg had long faded into the distance and could not be seen nor heard. Still, they remained sheltered for quite a bit longer, just out of caution. You could never be too careful.

Eventually, Thomas decided it was about time they got moving. The Gladers gathered up the supplies they had scavenged earlier and set off across the sand dunes.

Now that it was daytime and they could actually see where they were going, the setting was impossible for the Gladers to ignore. They were on the verge of trekking through the reck of a huge city—crumbling buildings overrun with rubble and sand. So. Much. Sand. The sun was scorching hot; Thomas could already feel it burning his skin as though he'd pressed his face a little too close to a burner.

"What the hell happened to this place?" Frypan asked. "Were the sun flares really that bad?" 

Newt shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm pretty sure we've just arrived in bloody hell. Always thought you'd end up here, Minho, but not me."

"Good that," Minho replied, rolling his eyes. "Ugh, my eyeballs shucking hurt. It's too bright. Does anyone have—wait, what did people call those things again? Sun goggles? Or was it sunglasses? Yeah, that sounds right? Did anyone happen to grab sunglasses during our mall raid?"

"Why would we have grabbed sunglasses?" scoffed Frypan. "I can't even picture what they look like."

"They're just dark glasses, you—"

"Guys, please," Newt interrupted sternly, holding his hands out to calm them. Newt had a way of keeping peace, a skill that came in very handy back in the Glade. No one would ever dare pick fights with him. "Let's just take it easy, alright?"

Thomas was grateful for him. Newt was the first person he'd actually trusted in the Glade, and for a while, the only person who seemed truly genuine. Of course, there'd also been Chuck, but Thomas tried not to think too hard about that.

They walked on for a little while longer until they finally reached the edge of the city. The view from the top of a sand dune revealed a range of rocky mountains in the distance.

"There." Thomas pointed at them. "Those mountains, that's gotta be it." He grabbed Y/n's hand to keep her steady as they began their descent down the sandbank.

However, they'd only taken one step when Winston collapsed onto the ground, motionless.