Dynasty // The Scorch Trials [Book 2]

ELEVEN

Night had fallen, meaning I could finally go to sleep again. Everyone had been awfully quiet after what happened to Winston. We had barely exchanged any words, only speaking when necessary.

We had found shelter again and since it had gotten cold, we made a bonfire. I stared deeply into the bright flames as my head was resting on Thomas's shoulder. He was fiddling with something in his hands. 

Finally, Minho spoke the dreaded words that everyone wanted to say. "I thought we were supposed to be immune." 

"Not all of us," Teresa stated and when everyone looked at her, she mumbled a quick, "I guess." 

"If Winston could get infected, we should assume so could the rest of us," Newt said and he glanced at me. 

Silence returned. My eyes stayed trained on the moving flares of fire in front of me. 

"I never thought I'd say this, but I miss the Glade," Frypan spoke up. My gaze dropped. 

"Me too," I muttered before getting up and finding a semi-comfortable place to sleep. Thomas soon followed me and as I curled up in the sand, his hand snuck under my shirt and found my stomach. His thumb started rubbing the exposed skin until he fell asleep.

The next morning, I was woken up gently as opposed to aggressively like the past few mornings. It had only been two days since we escaped from the Wicked facility but to be honest, I missed the care they had offered us. 

My feet dragged through the sand, kicking a small pebble ahead of me to distract my mind. Newt walked up to me. 

"You should tell him about the bite," he hushedly said as he nodded at Thomas, who was walking a few feet in front of us. I shook my head. 

"I don't want to worry him any more than he already does," I said. 

Newt sighed. "You know lying is something he hates, right?" 

"I know," I muttered softly, looking down. 

The journey continued. We were starting to run out of food, only having a few cans of food left. The water was gone. We either drank it or it had been evaporated by the sun. The hot rays of the scorching sun above us made us sweat but we couldn't take our jackets off because the sun would burn our skin instantly. 

There were seven people left. Me, Newt, Minho, Thomas, Aris, Frypan, and Teresa. Only six people made it so far out of the forty boys in our Glade. 

That night, we couldn't find shelter. We were forced to sleep under the stars. I tried to keep myself warm as much as possible by nuzzling against Thomas, but it didn't help much. I wrapped my jacket tightly around my body but the shivering did not stop. I didn't sleep much that night. 

At a certain point, Thomas grunted and shifted. I heard him let out a breath. Then he started shaking my arm. "I'm already awake," I groaned and sat up. "What?" I irritatedly said. The lack of sleep was starting to affect my behaviour and since my emotions were already a mess due to the pregnancy, I didn't even bother to be nice. 

He stumbled to his feet and started waking everyone up. Then I saw his discovery. Lights.

At the foot of the mountain, a bunch of lights was illuminating their surroundings. 

I pushed myself off the ground and heaved my backpack on my shoulders. "Look at those lights," Thomas pointed out the lights near the mountains. 

"We made it," Newt stated, but his comment was followed by a loud noise.

Thunder. 

The skies above us were now cloaked by dark clouds where occasional lightning bolts appeared. The rumbling of the thunder was clearly audible and I was surprised no one had heard it. 

A lightning bolt struck the ground, leaving a large explosion to erupt. "We have to go," I mumbled softly. "We gotta go! Run!" I shouted, this time louder. I forced my legs to run and fought to ignore the fatigue flowing through my body. 

The only thing that kept me running was the adrenaline and extreme fear of getting fried by one of those lightning bolts. I didn't try to look back at the others. I knew that they were right behind me because Minho and Thomas ran ahead of me. 

As we got closer, the lights grew to become buildings. Multiple buildings towered over us as we approached them at a fast pace. I focused on placing one foot in front of the other in order to keep moving. We had to get inside before anyone was going to get hurt. 

Thomas slowed down to take my hand, helping me run with him and making sure I didn't fall behind. The gesture was small, but it was enough to take my mind off the fact that I was running out of air quickly. 

As we were almost near the doors of the building, a lightning bolt struck only mere feet away from us. I was thrown off my feet, so were Thomas and Minho. I slowly sat up, processing the previous seconds and it wasn't until later that I discovered I couldn't hear anything except a high pitched beep. 

I hazily looked around and spotted Thomas. He was okay. 

A few feet to the left, I saw Minho. Only he was not okay. Smoke trailed from his body and he wasn't moving. 

I screamed his name, even if I couldn't hear it. I stumbled to my feet, Thomas doing the same. I felt Minho's pulse, only to find out it was not there. I started shaking his arms and repeatedly called out his name. 

Newt pushed me aside so he and the others picked Minho off of the floor. I got to my feet and slowly, my hearing came back. I heard people screaming for me to go inside. I only wanted Minho to be okay. 

"Leah, think about the baby! Get inside!" Thomas' words brought back my conscience and I sprinted inside. Frypan held open the door as Newt and Aris carried Minho inside. As soon as everyone was inside, Frypan slammed the door shut. 

Inside, it was completely dark. I could barely see anything. Newt and Aris placed Minho on the ground and soon enough, a flashlight illuminated his body. He still wasn't responding to anything we tried. 

"C'mon, Minho," I groaned as I shook his shoulders. My hands slowly retracted. This was not happening. I did not just lose another one of my best friends. 

I sat back and salty tears blurred my vision. A gasp caused my heart to nearly jump out of my ribcage.

He was alive.