Echoes ~ (Book Two of The Elite Series)

Chapter 6

Wind and sand mercilessly whipped the gladers faces as they struggled on through the storm, working to put as much distance between them and the WCKD compound as possible.

At one point they had had to hide behind a large hill of sand, praying they wouldn't be found, as guards from the compound combed the area for the escaped gladers.

Newt stayed near Frypan and Emma, trying to help shield her as best he could.
She still showed no signs of waking up, as far as Newt could tell in the dark, but he knew she was still alive.

Which was good, but.......

Both boys worked to keep their balance on the uneven ground beneath their feet as they all continued on.
Frypan held the body of his friend close, cradling her head and praying that he didn't lose his balance and drop Emma by accident.

The others all tried to keep a sort of loosely closed circle around the three, also doing what they could to help protect their unconscious friend from harsh sandpaper-like wind as they ran.

As they continued climbing down the sand dune, a fuzzy outline came into being, a large piece of buried debris that seemed reflective in the dim light.

"Teresa, hang on. Stay together!"

In spite of Thomas's warning, Teresa slid down the sand, curiously investigating an opening in the debris, which at closer inspection now seemed to be what was left of some kind of building.

"I think we lost them!" Was that Winston?
It was hard to tell who was who, over the sound of the storm.

"Keep going, guys. Let's go!"

"Watch out!" Frypan shouted in alarm as Newt nearly fell backwards, and steadied himself just in time.

"Where are we even going?!" Minho yelled to Thomas, who didn't answer, most likely because he didn't have one to give.

Soon enough Teresa disappeared inside the darkened entrance in the structure, and despite Thomas's initial cries for her to wait, he ended up ushering the rest of them to follow her down into the shadows.

Sliding down the sand after Thomas and Teresa, Fry did his best to remain upright, which worked well until the last few steps.
Tripping, he fell sideways into Newt which nearly sent all three of them tumbling down the steep slope for a few very heart pounding seconds.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

Minho, Thomas and Winston instantly came forwards, helping them back up.

"Thanks guys." Newt's voice was low, all his attention now on Emma.
Carefully, Frypan set her down in Newt's arms.

Looking Emma over as he brushed sand off her face and out of her hair, Newt observed that there were no injuries that he could see.
And that is what concerned him the most.
At least, with an external injury he could've done something, but with this......all Newt could really do was wait, and worry.

"Is she going to be okay?" Jack peered around the others, asking the question that was on all of their minds.

"Of course she will, its Emma. She always comes through," Winston assured them, while keeping to himself what he and Aris had seen.

"She's alive, just....sedated. All we need to do is just wait for her to wake up." The other girl Aris and Winston had rescued spoke, reminding all of them of her presence.

"Wait a minute, who are you?" Frypan looked at her, puzzled.
The girl glanced down, not answering. Only chewing the side of her lip a little, but she gave no answer.
It was Winston who came to her rescue.