" BAD BLOOD " T. SCORCH TRIALS²

ten.

[CHAPTER TEN]
ambushed

~

None of the Gladers argued with the plan. In fact, they all seemed eager to sidetrack to the building once more food and supplies was mentioned. Minho still didn't seem to happy that his idea was overruled, though despite him being titled at the Leader, he knew he couldn't argue with twenty boys.

The sheet provided little to no protection from the blistering sun that shone down on Eleanor's shoulders, and sweat dripped from every part of her body. She was incredibly uncomfortable; the sweat caused her clothes to stick to her body, the sheet hung awkwardly around her in a feeble attempt to protect her from the harsh rays of the sun, and sand blew into her face and caused her eyes to water. No one said a word as they followed Minho through the vast wasteland that was their earth, and they all had a similar look of miserableness on their faces. Eleanor stayed near the back of the group, Rick walking closely beside her. Her lungs burned from the amount of sand that she had inhaled, and her eyes squinted against the blinding brightness.

It seemed like lifetimes before the building in which Eleanor had spotted grew even remotely close. As they neared it, however, the girl realized that it was actually a lot bigger than they thought. Tilting sideways with several broken windows and large holes in the walls, it seemed to be the remnants of an old business building. An eerie atmosphere hung around the ruins like a dark storm cloud, and Eleanor found herself growing nervous as they approached it.

No one knew what was waiting for them inside the building. Dozens of Cranks could have been hiding in the shadows, patiently waiting for some poor lost souls to wander inside so they can attack them. This made Eleanor shudder just by thinking of it, her heart pounding against her chest as Minho called them to a stop just outside of the building.

"All right. Everyone spread out, but don't wander too far away from each other," the Runner ordered them as he turned around to face the group of Gladers. "Grab as much of what you think we might need as you can. I don't want to spend more than twenty minutes in here- we don't know what could be inside."

With that, the Gladers dispersed and filed into the dark building. Eleanor was thankful for the shelter from the sun provided by the towering walls, but the sudden darkness that engulfed her made her feel uneasy. She found a flashlight laying on the floor not too far from the entrance, picking it up and silently hoping that it still worked. She clicked the button, and a sense of relief washed over her as a dim light shone from the top.

All around her, boys were finding their own flashlights, talking amongst themselves as they searched the ruins of the building for any supplies. Eleanor wandered away from them, shining her flashlight on her surroundings whilst searching for anything useful.