ACT II SCENE XLVII
CERCYON

   THE SUN peeked above the top of the cave just as the alarms on their watches beeped to wake them up. Her entire body felt heavy like lead and it took considerable effort to open her eyelids. They felt like they were glued shut with exhaustion but she was anxiously aware of everything around her at the same time.

She sat up. "Minho...it's time to go."

He groaned faintly. She could feel his muscles contract around her as he tried miserably to wake up as well. The events of the night before felt like a distant nightmare and the only thing she could think about was the other Gladers. They must be freaking out right about now when they found that Minho and her were gone.

"We need to get back," she said, strength returning to her voice. "Newt and the others...they must be awake by now too."

"One more minute," he replied hoarsely with a small sigh.

Her fingers curled over the fabric of his jacket and she buried her face in his chest. She wished they didn't have to go back, that everything would be over now, but it wasn't. Their journey hadn't ended yet and they didn't know what else was in store for them. She knew that must be what he was thinking about too and it sent a wave of anger mixed with hopelessness wash over her.

"Minho? Cass? Where are you guys?!"

She heard Newt's voice calling through the thicket. Cassandra immediately stood up and cast her eyes around the clearing. The dark entrance to the cave stood on their right with an ominous chill. Inside laid Rachel's lifeless body and she inwardly shivered. Minho stirred and blinked awake. He stood up groggily and turned to her, his gaze solidifying with resolve. One minute was up. It was time for them to go.

"Race you?" He smirked.

"Deal."

They tore through the line of trees, feet thudding heavily against the desiccated ground. Cassandra could see the figures of the Gladers through gaps between the brown trunks before breaking out into the pass. Everyone turned towards them with relief and agitation. Newt rushed forwards the moment he laid eyes on them. Beads of sweat lined his face and trickled down the side of his forehead.

"Where the bloody hell have you two been?" he exclaimed. "Almost gave us a shuckin' heart attack! We thought WICKED nabbed the both of ya or somethin'."

"It's a long story, man." Minho panted slightly as he bent down to catch his breath.

"Where did you guys go?" Newt asked persistently, then turned to Cassandra with wide eyes. "What the shuck happened to your neck?!"

"Wha—" Her hand instantly went to her throat, the previous ordeal flashing across her mind.

"We'll explain later," Minho interrupted. "C'mon, we need to get going."

"Oh, my God." Brenda suddenly skidded to a halt as she caught up to the group with Jorge. The girl covered her mouth in shock and horror as her eyes focused on Cassandra's neck as well. "What did they do to you?"

Cassandra felt a burst of anger inside her chest and she stalked forwards. She grabbed Brenda and pinned her against a tree. "You knew...you were in on it," she growled.

"I-I didn't know that would happen!" Brenda cried. "All they told me was to get you to this very spot but I didn't think it would be the same..."

"The same as what?"

"The same as Thomas'."

Cassandra breathed heavily, her lips twisting in a hateful sneer. All the pain she had suffered, the confusion, memory blackouts and almost dying in Minho's arms. A taut string broke apart inside her with a painful lash and she raised a hand to strike the girl but someone caught hold of her arm.

"That's enough!" Jorge said sternly as he pulled her away. "It's not her fault!"

"The both of you work for them!" she shouted angrily.

"Cass, calm down." Newt went forwards to put a hand on her shoulder. "What are you talking about?"

"Remember Aris talkin' about the girl that got killed?" Minho started with an impatient tone. "The one that's supposed to be Thomas' counterpart."

The blonde raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Yeah..."

"Well, she came back from the freaking dead." Minho sighed irritably. "Lured Cassie out to this shuck cave and started goin' all crazy. She slit Cassie's throat, dude. She'd be dead if it weren't for this weird healing gas. It was all a shuckin' set up, another one of their shuck Variables or whatever."

Newt seemed completely speechless, his jaw hanging open after Minho's brief explanation. Cassandra clenched her fists tightly at her side, nails digging crescents into the palm of her hands. Her face was twisted in a portrait of utter revulsion as she glared death down at the WICKED employees in front of her.

"So if Cassie wants to beat 'em up, I'm not gonna stop her," Minho went on. "In fact, I'll even help her."

Brenda shook her head obstinately. "I swear if I had known this would happen..."

"What?" Cassandra snapped bitterly. "You'd let someone else do the dirty work? You people are all the same. It doesn't matter if a few of us die along the way, just as long as you get what you want."

"I never said I agreed with what they do," Brenda started.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Cassandra snorted derisively. "I'm done here. Let's just go to the shucking safe haven and get this over with."

With one last scornful look at them, she turned around and stormed off. Minho followed after her, pausing to grab their stuff before yelling at the others to hurry up. No one dared to protest when the both of them looked like they were about to murder anything within their sights.

The morning dragged on, neither their temper nor the torrid heat relenting even the tiniest fraction. By the time the sun had reached its zenith in the sky at mid afternoon, they had finally arrived at the end of the pass. The canyon they had just traversed stopped abruptly down a high intervening ridge that led down into another dense crop of woods. The pine trees looked sickly and miserable, barely able to sustain themselves from the hidden reservoir underneath.

Minho started to descend the face of the hill first and Cassandra wished that they had some rope. At least there were some plants and gnarled roots that would ease their downward climb somewhat. She sighed heavily before getting down at the edge of the incline and carefully digging her boot into a loose foothold below. Bracing herself, she let her legs bear most of her weight before slowly making her way after Minho.

Archie was the next to follow her down and the rest soon followed suit. She thought Newt was the last to clamber from the edge of the ridge as she squinted upwards, trying to shake the beads of sweat from her eyes. They had passed the mid point and Cassandra felt her arms starting to ache from the strenuous effort.

Suddenly Minho's voice shouted happily from below. "I'm almost there! Hey, Cassie, nice view."

"If I let go right now, I think I could land on you," she replied.

He snickered. "Which part though?"

"The hardest part."

"You're both disgusting!" Archie yelled above her.

She was about to laugh when she heard Jorge shouting from further above, towards the top of their expedition. He didn't sound happy. "There's a bunch of Cranks throwing rocks down at us from the top!"

"Cass, look out!" Archie yelped but it was too late as she watched a rock fall towards her face in slow motion. It smacked her right on the temple and she could literally see constellations exploding in her vision as pain shot through her skull once again.

"Son of a shuck!" she cried out, gasping from the shock of the blow. Her fingers trembled as she continued to cling to the side of the hill. She felt thick warm blood stream out of the wound and down the side of her face.

"Cassie!" Minho called from further below. "Are you okay?!"

"No!" she yelled back before gritting her teeth.

She felt her grip slip and her left bicep burned excruciatingly at finding itself the only support for her entire body. Minho yelled for her to let go and she did, right after thinking that she was definitely going to die this time. She felt her body free falling, a sinking weightless sensation that was both liberating and terrifying.

Then she hit something solid, her back falling heavily into outstretched arms. Minho grunted a little under her weight, knees buckling slightly, before grinning down at her. She opened her one eye to look up at him with immense relief.

"Told you I'd catch you," he said smugly.

"Dude, make way!" Archie called before dropping down five meters from the ground on the balls of his feet right in front of them. "Ah, crap, they're climbing down after us."

Cassandra wiped the blood from her eye to look up with a squint, finding Cranks scrambling over the edge of the top. They kept shoving each other in their haste and insanity, causing a couple of them to plummet to the ground almost a hundred feet below. She could hear the sickening crunch of bone breaking and winced in disgust. Minho finally put her down but she jumped back to him when one of the Cranks managed to push himself upright to snap his decaying teeth at them.

"Shucking hell, just die already," Minho complained as he stepped over to kick it hard in the jaw. It dislocated with another revolting sound and the boy shuddered as the Crank collapsed.

More Gladers joined them on the ground and Frypan started screaming threats out at the Cranks. The deranged were quick climbers, as if having the shadow of death looming over them spurred them to greater displays of human prowess.

"We should...probably run," Newt huffed when he finally made it down with Jorge.

"We were waitin' for ya," Minho said.

"And now that I'm here, we better run," the blonde repeated before making a dash for it into the trees.

Frypan shrugged. "I'm with him."

"I think Newt just misses his Running days," Cassandra muttered light-heartedly as she went after him with Minho right behind her.

They sprinted in a zigzag line through the trees that shrouded them overhead. The air felt cooler on the lower terrain and the canopy provided ample coverage from the sun.

"They're still coming after us!" Frypan shouted and Cassandra looked back. The Cranks were gaining on them with their unrelenting chase. She sniffed, catching the whiff of something heavy and acrid—an all too familiar smell that sent her stomach churning at the vague memories that stirred. Smoke. The Cranks had set the forest on fire.

"Um, don't panic but we're running in a box of matches!" she yelled out.

"What?!" Newt exclaimed, his voice higher than usual.

Loud hoots of laughter and incessant screams followed from behind as the smoke gathered in the air like an oppressive cloud. It irritated their eyes and throats, making running a now arduous task. Then there was a break in the trees in front of them and they broke through the edge of the forest onto the other side of the mountain.