❝You are all still here because of an uncanny will to survive.❞
Solving the Maze was meant to be the end. No more tests. No more puzzles. They thought that by escaping the Maze that they'd been stuck in for two years, they could go back to their old...
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21 → "DISCOMFORT"
THOMAS FELL FLAT on his face, smacking his nose on the ground. The gun fired again, a clear warning that the Crank would shoot someone else. Minho stepped forward, knocking the Crank over, punching him several times in the face, beating the living crap out of him. The Crank dropped the gun in the process of Minho knocking him to the ground, skidding towards Adeline's direction. Reaching down, she hesitantly picked it up. Thomas rolled onto his back, hand clasped where he'd been shot. There was small hole in his shirt and blood poured from the wound right near his armpit. Newt was at his side, looking down at Thomas with worried eyes.
"He shot me." Although it was one of the most stupidest things Thomas had ever said, nobody bothered to make a sarcastic remark — not even Minho, who had stopped beating the living crap out of the Crank. Aris handed a shirt to Newt, who pressed it tightly against Thomas' wound.
"I can get that sucker out of him." Jorge said. "But I'll need a fire."
"We can't do this here." Newt replied.
"Let's get out of this shuck city." Minho snapped.
"All right. Help me carry him." Jorge ordered. Hands grabbed Thomas from underneath, grasping his legs. A group of Glader's hoisted him up right as Thomas passed out.
—
The Gladers got out of the city right as twilight approached. Thomas had both awoken from unconsciousness and fell unconscious at least three or four times. Trying to get out of the city without running into Cranks was difficult. They'd encountered another group of Cranks once along the way. Once they were just outside of the city, they'd stopped. Settling Thomas down, Jorge and Brenda started a fire. Gladers settled down, and once there was enough flame, Jorge pointed the tip of a knife into the burning fire, making the tip of the knife glow red. Brenda held Thomas' hand, which made the others curious.
Guess they had enough time to cozy up to one another.
"You better hold him down. Legs and arms." Jorge ordered. Minho and Newt held down his arms and legs, Jorge slowly pressing the knife to the wound on Thomas' shoulder.
"This is gonna hurt somethin' awful." Brenda said. Right as she said it, Adeline noticed that Thomas was conscious again. Kneeling down, Adeline watched Thomas' face for any signs of fear as Jorge pressed the tip of the knife on to his wound. There was a hiss as the burning metal of the knife made contact with Thomas' flesh, and with that Thomas fell straight back into unconsciousness. Once Jorge released the knife from his wound, what was left was ugly. A large gash of charred flesh and an infected shoulder greeted them. Adeline's stomach churned at the sight. Jorge had managed to remove the bullet from his shoulder. The bullet was rusty and covered in blood. There was no doubt that it would have caused an infection Thomas' shoulder. Right as Adeline got back to her feet, she felt a slight discomfort in her shoulder down to halfway of her arm. Clenching her jaw, the pain dulled to a slight throb before it stopped completely.
