Lost to the Scorch

Chapter 15: Minho

"What.... how... " Thomas stammered from his chair, but Minho didn't really care. He wasn't exactly focused on anything other than Thao right now. That is, until footsteps sounded down the stairs again, softer now.

"Minho?" Audrey's voice came from right outside the door, before she pushed it open to find them.
"You were suppose to tell me when you'd found them." She scowled, before lowering the Sword she had and rushing over to where Newt was.

"What happened?" Minho asked again, turning away from the other two and focusing on Thao as he let her out. 

"How'd you find us?" She asked back, bringing her injured hand to her chest the second her hands were free.

"We just found you. We weren't about to let these shuck-faces do anything to you. Frypan spotted you guys and we waited til after the party. Every Crank in here is either passed out or too high to care we're here."

"Oh, man." Thomas groaned as soon as he stood up, once Audrey had set him free. "Anybody got some aspirin?"

Nearly everyone laughed, except Brenda. Wonder what happened there?

"Okay, c'mon. We have to get up to the others as fast as we can." Thao pushed herself off chair, cradling her hand. She took a shaky breath and held out her good hand.

"Knife." She demanded. Minho handed her one, eyeing her wearily.

"You gonna be okay shank?"

"Let's just go." They started making their way to the door, when they heard a clatter behind them. They spun around, weapons raised, only to find the noise had come from Newt. His chair had been knocked over, and he was laying on his side, clutching his leg.

"What happened to you guys?" Minho asked, flabbergasted. He ran to Newt's side, Thomas hot on his tail. They pulled the boy to his feet.

"We- I'll tell ya Shanks once we get out of here." Newt snapped. Together they made their way out of the room and up the stairs. When they got to the room upstairs, Minho was hit with the strong smell of vomit.

"Thomas!"

"Newt! Thao!"

"You Shanks are alive!" The Gladers smiled from their posts around the prisoners. Audrey led them out onto the street, and Minho let go of Newt, so that he could balance against the wall. The rest of the Gladers filed out of the crack, leaving their prisoners behind.

"All right you lot. We need to head out again, we've fallen behind." Minho explained, taking his leader role. Don't care what those shuck signs say, I'm the leader. "We need to make a run for it. There's only about a mile left, these Cranks aren't so hard to fight off after all. So let's----"

"Hey!"

The shout came from way behind them, loud and screechy, filled with more than a hint of lunacy. And they Crank had a gun, pointed straight at Thomas, who was conveniently the last person on the stair case. Before Minho had a chance to move, the guy fired, an explosion that rocked the alley with a thunderous boom.

Thomas spun around and fell smack on his face, and the Crank with the gun kept shooting. Minho was back over by Thomas seconds later, tackling the Crank to the ground and started beating the living crap out of him.

"He shot me." Thomas said, and Minho only stopped once he was sure the Crank was out cold, possibly even dead. Newt and Audrey were leaning over him, Audrey pressing down on the wound with someone's shirt.

"I can get that sucker out of him." Jorge said, looking over at Minho. "But I need a fire."

"We can't do this here." Audrey mumbled, looking back down at Thomas with a forced smile. "You're going to be fine, okay?"

"Let's get out of this shuck city." Minho agreed, nodding over at Jorge before scanning the crowd for Thao. That Crank had shot more than once, and he hadn't remembered to seek her out before beating the guy up. But she was there, at the head of the group, waiting for everyone to get ready to go.

"Let's carry him." Frypan suggested, walking over to him with Minho, Clint, and Jeff. Together they lifted the boy. Minho remembered Newt, and quickly turned back to see him leaning on Thao, hopping along behind them. Minho saw Audrey look back as well, looking as if she wanted to go help, but he knew she hand to keep the pressure on the wound.