Dynasty // The Scorch Trials [Book 2]

EIGHT

I followed closely behind Thomas and Minho as we travelled down the dark path created by two opposing fences. Flowers, cards and stuffed animals were tied to the wires of the fence. A stuffed tiger caught my eye and  I stopped. I crouched down and took its paw between my fingers. "Why are you here?" 

Minho found a generator standing a few feet away. "This looks promising," I heard him say before he went to work, trying to get the power to go back on.  

Thomas had his eyes trained on something behind the fence but I didn't get the chance to pay attention to it as Minho flipped a switch. A rattling sound emerged and lights illuminated the once pitch dark room. 

Lamps flickered on and in the distance, a TV lit up. I turned back to Thomas with a broad grin, only to scream, "Thomas, look out!" I grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the fence where a woman had thrown herself at him. Thankfully, the fence was there to stop her from actually reaching us. 

The woman looked insane. Her hair was all tangled up, a black liquid poured from her nose and mouth, and she only had black holes for her eyes. I backed away as far as possible and Thomas held his arm in front of me as we stared at the woman in shock. She was screaming words and phrases that I couldn't understand as she clawed at us through the wires of the fence. 

Behind us, a gurgling sound arose and my heart sunk. A man who held the same expression in his eyes as the woman had came limping toward us. My stomach turned and I had to fight not to throw up. Minho grabbed a crowbar from the floor and bashed the man on the head. He fell to the floor and squirmed around, his limbs in unhealthy angles.  

Thomas yanked me to the side and we dashed away as more people started to come out. We ran through the doors again and while Thomas and I fought to keep it closed, Minho struggled to shove a steel filing cabinet in front of the doors. 

More and more people started to come out, making inhuman noises. "Run," Thomas muttered. "Run!"

We sprinted through the building, running up the escalators that weren't moving so basically they were just stairs and I spotted the others in the distance. "Run!" I screamed and Newt's head shot up at the sound of my voice. His eyes grew at the sight of the dozen people - if you can even call them that - and he ushered the rest of the group to start running. 

I tried to keep up with everyone but I started to feel lightheaded again. We raced up another set of escalators and I did my ultimate best not to trip. We were forced to stop as another man approached us at a fast rate, yet Aris was quick to grab a metal pipe from the floor to knock down the man. 

The man crashed to the floor but I wasn't quick to jump aside. His hand closed around my ankle and dragged me with him. My shoulder hit the floor and I let out a pained yelp. "Leah!" Multiple people screamed but only Newt acted, kicking the man's arm away from me before he heaved me off the floor. The man falling to the floor caused the group to be split up. Thomas and Teresa were forced to run up the escalators while I stayed with the other boys. 

"Go around it!" Thomas shouted at us while he kicked a man crawling up to him down the escalators. I nodded weakly before going with the others, praying for Thomas to be safe. 

 We reunited with them on the next floor and I felt beyond relieved as Thomas wove his fingers through the spaces between mine. We sprinted through the corridors. "We have to find a way out!" Minho shouted. 

I let out a scream as a body collided with mine. One of the people living here had thrown himself through a window and plunged himself into me, taking me to the floor with him. 

"Leah!" Thomas exclaimed. "That's my girlfriend, you shank!" he bellowed before he aggressively kicked the person off of me and out of the window on the other side. He helped me off the floor and didn't let go again as we took off again. I had to fight to stay awake. I barely saw anything as the black spots started to come back. 

We raced through the corridors and ended up in a dark, cramped hallway. The people chasing our group, who were still producing inhuman sounds and shrieks, piled up behind us. We had to stop to enter a side door and I nearly passed out. 

I hated feeling this weak. I used to be one of the fastest and strongest people in the Glade and now I was the weakest and slowest. It was not that I hated being pregnant, because I loved it, being able to carry around an actual human being that was half me and half Thomas, but the side effects such as the constant fatigue, morning sickness, and the terrible endurance were horrible and bothered not only me but also the rest of the group. 

"This way." Thomas grabbed my arm and pulled me through the side door, only to find three more doors that were locked. He started throwing his body against one of the doors to get it to open. 

"I'll hold them back!" Winston shouted over the loud noises that everyone was producing and he cocked a gun, stepping toward the group of savages approaching us at an alarming rate and managed to shoot a few. Almost everyone was throwing themselves at the door to get it to open, even Teresa, but once Frypan joined, the door was open in no time. 

I made sure everyone got through before I followed, Winston moved to close the door but was grabbed by the ankle and almost dragged back through the doors. I was quick to grab his hand and the others soon helped. Winston cried for help and we had to use all of our strength to pull him back. 

Due to the fuss, the bottom of Winston's shirt slipped up and one of the attackers ripped his skin open. Winston let out a pained cry as blood started to ooze from the wounds. I grabbed his hand and dragged him away. "Go!" Thomas shouted as he and Minho worked on closing the door. 

I heaved Winston's arm around my neck and Newt grabbed the other before we rushed away from the doors. Minho and Thomas soon followed. 

We hid a partially collapsed piece of concrete and waited until the people left. Their tormented gurgles and growls drove me crazy as I rested my head in the crook of Thomas's neck as his arms were around me protectively. I felt my mind going numb and prayed for the moment to be over.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.