WICKED property || Maze Runner (Janson Fanfiction)

Chapter IV

||

5 days without food was torturous for Esmeralda. She sat in her room, no break from the melancholy boredom that ensured. She gazed at the wall opposite her bed, lost in thought. She had lots of thoughts. All of which as unanswered as the next. Why didn't the others know it was WICKED? Was she in some kind of trial right now? She never knew with WICKED. They took any chance to observe and analyse. What if she was in a trial? What if all this was planned out, like they knew she was going to fight back or to see if she did fight back?
It was all too confusing to think about. She had other thoughts too, like where the other immunes get taken, or where she was gonna get taken. Thoughts like, who was Dr Paige? Why was she, and Janson, interested in her? She had no answers.

The hunger kicked in at the end of day 2. The painful hunger wasn't until day 3. She had a digital clock in her room, at least. She wasn't going completely insane, not while she had a sense of time. The thirst was worse though. Her mouth was dry, as were her lips. She almost wanted to shout out at the CCTV camera in the corner of her room, saying 'Okay, good punishment. I've had enough now!' but refrained from doing so. She slept quite alot in the space of 5 days, probably because she had nothing better to do. No source of entertainment. No one to talk to. Nothing to do. Just sitting on her bed, occasionally on the floor, thinking.

Day 3 was excruciating. She felt dizzy, thirty. Hungry. Her stomach hurt, almost as if she was punched in the gut. A painful reminder of her hunger. She felt like just passing out. Giving up. Begging them to just give her some food. But, she kept resilient. If this was a trial, she wasn't going to play into their hands. They probably expected her to give into the hunger and thirst, but she wasn't going to. She constantly wetted her lips with her tongue, feeling the dry, scratchy dead skin. She ached for water. For food. They couldn't keep her in there for much longer, could they?
She felt as if God had answered her prayers when the door opened. She stayed seated on her bed, too weak to bother moving. Unfortunately, it wasn't a rescue party. A gaurd walked in and placed a glass of water on the floor infront of the door before leaving again, slamming the door shut. No food though. She gulped the water down, savouring every last drop until it was empty.
She didn't have any more water for the next 2 days. She hasn't had any food either. Day 5 dragged by, every muscle in her body ached. Crying out for food.

The door opened again, but she didn't get her hopes up. They were probably giving her more water, maybe a bit of food so she didn't starve to death. But, Janson walked into the room. She felt pleased to see him, surely her punishment was over. Or just beginning...
"Congratulations. You're not dead." Janson smirked as he said this, as if it was a genuine achievement.
"I feel like just lying on the floor and dying..." Esmeralda muttered in response. She was just lying on her bed, feeling weak. Janson chuckled and walked over to her bed, kneeling down to be at eye level with her.
"That what happens when you go around stabbing doctors with scalpels." He smirked again. That stupid smirk, she thought, drove her insane.
"Yeah, well..." She didn't finish the thought, just hoping he was gonna pull a plate of food out of his jacket. Extremely unrealistic. Janson continued smiling as he gently grabbed a strand of hair hanging loosely in front of her face. She didn't object, too weak and hungry to care. He twirled it around his finger, talking as he does so. "I suppose we have to let you out of this room. Feed you. You've already lost like... 4 pounds." He eyed her body. He was right, the lack of food and water had made her lose alot of weight. Her body was fragile, needing food and water.

Esmeralda didn't respond, feeling tired and drowsy. Janson tucked the strand of hair behind her ear before standing back up.
"Come on, let's get you fed." He held a hand out, offering to help her up. Reluctantly, she grabbed his hand and allowed him to pull her up. She almost lost her balance but he grabbed hold of her waist and steadied her.
"I hope you've learnt your lesson. I was being very light on the punishment." Janson started walking, basically dragging Esmeralda along behind him.
"Excuse me?" She muttered, surprised at the audacity to say that was a light punishment. She felt as if she could just pass out.
"Most subjects who attack WICKED officials get 2 weeks with little food and water. We don't completely deprive them, or they'd be dead after the first week." Janson said it matter-of-factly as if she should be grateful for the 5 day punishment. She admitted it was better then 2 weeks, though.
"But you just completely deprived me." Esmeralda was still annoyed at his audacity.
"Hey, we gave you one glass of water. That was my idea, by the way. The scientists wanted to see how you'd hold up with no water." He continued leading her through the facility, holding her hand still, with his other hand on her back in order to guide her.

Eventually, they reached the canteen. It was empty, since it wasn't lunchtime yet. Janson sat her down at one of the tables before going to get her some food. He returned a couple of minutes later, holding a plate of... Something. He placed it in front of her, and she looked down at with a disgusted look. It was green, and gooey. Like some kind of concoction from an evil scientist. She could tell it was some type of soup, though.
"Are you going to eat it?" Janson pushed the plate a little closer to her, almost as if he was teasing her. He knew full well it looked gross.

"Erm... I'm not gonna get food poisoning from it.. Am I?" Esmeralda continued to stare down at it, her belly rumbling. She was hungry. So hungry. But she wasn't about to eat this... Whatever it was, without checking it was safe.
"I don't know. You might." He was just messing with her at this point, "Eat up, Esmeralda. Or... You could go back to that room and I could extend the punishment to two weeks?"
That was enough to make her start eating. She picked up her spoon and took the first mouthful. It was surprisingly okay. She started eating it quickly, attacking her food vigorously. She was so hungry, and at the moment this food tasted like heaven on a plate.

Janson watched her devour the food with a little smirk on his face. She really was hungry. He rolled his eyes when she finished the food after about 2 minutes, asking for seconds.
"I know you're starved, Esmeralda, but you gotta leave some for the other subjects." Janson said casually, admiring the empty plate.
"Yeah, well, they haven't been locked in a room for five days with no food, have they?" She rolled her eyes back at him, noticing some of her strength returning. Janson smiled and took her plate back to the kitchen. He returned holding a glass of water, that she gulped down in seconds.
After that, Janson took her out of the canteen. They walked down the corridor in silence for awhile, Esmeralda wondering where they were going. She had a million questions she wanted to ask Janson, but didn't know if now was the right time. She decided to ask one of the questions that was really bugging her though.

"Janson, can I ask a question?" She stopped walking, and so did he. He turned to face her, looking curious.
"Sure." He said in response.
"Erm... A few nights ago, when I was in the medical ward, I had a really strange dream," She paused, not sure how to word it, "It felt real... Like, it was really vivid and I felt lots of emotions from it... I was just wondering if, I don't know, maybe it was real? Like one of my memories or something?"
Janson nodded slowly, seeming to think about it. He eventually smiled, "Yes, it was. The doctors injected you with something, if you remember. It will return your memories, but slowly."
Esmeralda frowned, she had expected as much but... She didn't want that memory to be true. Her little brother, Marco... Sick, infected...
Janson noticed her worried expression and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "Might I ask what you remembered?"
Esmeralda sighed, "My little brother... He was sick... Infected, I think."
Janson frowned, understanding the pain of losing someone close to the Flare. He patted her shoulder and smiled reassuringly, "That's why we're trying to find a cure, Esmeralda. To prevent anyone else from going through the pain you felt. To stop others from getting sick."
She nodded, but she still wasn't sure.

They continued walking, not saying much else. Eventually, they reached a elevator and Janson pressed the button for the top floor.
"Where are we going?" She asked curiously.
Janson just smirked in response, not answering her question. They reached the top floor and he led her down the corridor, passing multiple different labs. Eventually they came to a door, and stopped outside it. Esmeralda read the words on the door, her stomach twisting into knots again. It read:
'Office of Director Ava Paige'
She was about to meet Dr Paige. Ava Paige. She had no idea who she was, but she was obviously important. She was the Director of WICKED.
Janson opened the door and signalled for Esmeralda to go through first. She did, hesitantly, stepping into the large office. Dr Paige, a middle aged, blonde woman, sat at her desk. She smiled at Esmeralda, motioning for her to sit at the seat opposite her desk.
"Sit down, dear. We have much to talk about. I must say, I'm pretty impressed." Dr Paige said, smiling gently.
Esmeralda did sit down. Maybe she was finally going to learn why she was so interesting?

||