" BAD BLOOD " T. SCORCH TRIALS²

nine.

[CHAPTER NINE]
the scorch

~

Winston tumbled to a stop right beside Eleanor, and she stared down at the writhing boy with wide eyes. She was crouched beside him in an instant, just as Thomas reached the bottom of the stairs and bent down beside her. She gazed at the dark-haired boy beside her, mouth open in a silent gape as she looked at him for help.

The white light that shone through the open door allowed Eleanor to see everything that was happening in front of her. Winston's hands were at his face, pulling at the silver liquid. The of molten metal had already melded with the top of his head, consuming the part above his ears. Its edges were slowly creeping down the side of his face like a thick syrup, dripping over his ears and covering his eyebrows.

Winston continued to pull at the dripping metal, screaming at the top of his lungs. His actions seemed to be working, for he was keeping the silver liquid from encasing his entire head. But his screams still filled the air, his legs kicked out helplessly around him, and Eleanor could only sit there, helpless.

"Get it off me!" he yelled, and his eyes met hers for a split second, filled with nothing but terror and pain. Whenever he would pull the liquid up from his head, Eleanor could catch a glimpse of the skin that it had touched. Red and blistered. It wasn't pretty. Winston cried out another series of pleas, though she couldn't make out exactly what he said.

Beside her, Thomas leaped into action. He shoved his pack off of his shoulders and threw the contents on to the ground beside Eleanor; fruits and packages of food tumbled down the stairs before she could stop them. She watched on as Thomas wrapped his hands in the bed sheet for protection before reaching down and gripping the ball encasing Winston's head. With a disturbing sucking sound, the molten metal lifted a couple inches away from his skin, but they then seeped through Thomas's fingers and reattached to the Slicer's skin once more.

"Eleanor, help me!" Thomas cried out, looking at her with panic in his eyes. "I need your help. We need to do this together!"

His words seemed to pull Eleanor from her trance. She nodded once, covering her hands in her own sheet before reaching down and gripping the liquid in her fingers. Heat from the ball seeped through the thin fabric of the bed sheet, and she couldn't imagine what it must have felt like on poor Winston's head.

"On the count of three!" Thomas yelled over the Slicer's traumatized screams. "One! Two! Three!"

Together, he and Eleanor pulled at the stretching silver, yanking upwards away from Winston's head. The Slicer reached up and pushed at the ball, as well, attempting to rip the dripping liquid from his forehead. Then, the entire mass of molten silver detached itself from Winston's head. It was a wobbly, thick, heavy sheet of the stuff, moving around in Thomas's and Eleanor's hands like liquid. The pair didn't hesitate before they flung the object over their heads and down the stairs. Eleanor spun around just in time to see the blob of silver fly through the air. It quickly reformed itself into a sphere, it's surface rippling like water for a moment. It just a few steps away from them, hovering for a second as if it was taking a long look at its victim. Then, it shot away, flying down the stairwell and disappearing into the darkness below.