ACT II  SCENE XLIX
THERISTAI

   CASSANDRA WAS scared; there was no use in trying to deny that blatant fact as her heart clenched uncomfortably in her chest. The grinding and squealing of the metal gears that lifted the pods up to the ground were blaring. Combined with the thunderous flurry that surrounded them in a tempest, it felt like judgement day had arrived.

She felt someone's fingers curl gently around her own and she turned to find Minho taking her hand in his. He looked at her, squinting against the yellow sand and grit that swirled around in the gale to rip at their forms. Hair tangled about in a bluster around the girls' heads and jackets rippled all around them. The particles in the air pelted against the metallic surfaces of the pods with such intensity that it made Cassandra's ears grow numb. She tightened her grip on Minho's hand.

"Tom. Cass," Teresa started. "Remember those?"

"Yeah," Thomas replied.

"Think Grievers are inside them?" she asked.

"I don't know," Thomas said. "Grievers had really moist bodies—it'd be hard on them out here."

"Maybe we're meant to...get inside them?" Teresa wondered optimistically. "Maybe they're the safe haven, or they'll transport us somewhere."

"Or there's another monster waiting for us and we'll die," Cassandra told them.

"Thank you, Cass," they said at the same time while rolling their eyes. It made her lips twitch slightly at the side from wry amusement.

"So what do we do?" Minho asked loudly.

"If those things have Grievers in 'em, we best start gettin' ready to fight the shuck buggers," Newt quipped.

"I'm assuming you all saw those pods back in the WICKED chamber too," Harriet said. "They had to be where the Grievers charged up or whatever it was they did."

Cassandra had no idea what they were talking about. A streak of lightning flashed above them in the crackling sky. Her heart started to thud furiously against her sternum, flashes of fire running across her mind. Minho glanced at her in concern as she looked back to him with alarmed eyes. The air started to turn humid and hummed as if residual particles from the coming storm sparked the wind with an electrical current.

"We've only got twenty-five minutes," Thomas informed, checking his watch once more. "We're either gonna be fighting Grievers or we need to get inside those big coffins at the right time. Maybe they're—"

A sudden hiss interrupted him in mid speech and everyone whirled around at the same time. Dark blue light lined one side of each container, expanding slowly as the top lid began to peel upwards. The Gladers and the girls of Group B closed in around each other, forming into a tight circle that felt all too familiar.

Chills erupted on every inch of Cassandra's skin as bursts of images flashed through her mind of their own volition. Blood and screams, metal blades slashing through delicate flesh, the clanging of steel, crimson hands reaching out to her for help, ripping pain piercing through her heart. Cassandra gasped sharply, flinching away as she pressed against Newt's back behind her.

Teresa grabbed her hand worriedly. "Cass, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she responded breathlessly.

The lids dropped heavily to the ground but the scathing wind and rumble overhead drowned out whatever sound it made. Inside, they could see something heavy nestled within its confines but they looked nothing like the horrendous abominations that plagued them within the Maze.

"Maybe...someone should go take a look," Thomas suggested tentatively in her mind.

"Let's go together," Teresa replied readily.

Cassandra frowned. "Are you both crazy?!"

"Cassie!" Minho suddenly called next to her. "You, me, Thomas and Newt! Let's go check it out!"

Cassandra groaned inwardly. Her attention was diverted to the cumulative gasps all around them, and her eyes widened in horror. A deformed arm had dropped out of a pod, stubby uneven fingers wriggling in the air inches above the ground. There were creases and lumps covering its pallid skin, before merging around the area of its elbow where a flawless circular protrusion seemed to grow out from its bones.

It was glowing a vibrant orange, exactly like a malformed bulb.

Then more body parts emerged from the bed of the oblong chambers, a thick foot connected to a bloated leg and another glowing orb attached to its knee. Its body pulled itself upright, a tangled grotesque mass of flesh that was dotted with orange luminous crystals.

"What is that thing?" Minho shouted.

Cassandra shook her head, feeling her jaw slack with mute terror and catching dust particles on her tongue. She coughed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand and looked around as more monsters flopped out onto the ground. They were large and humanoid, at least a couple of feet taller than any one of them. Strewn all across their bare blemished bodies were those disgusting bulbous tumours that glowed resplendent with the same orange light.

"I'm going to be sick," Sonya commented loudly somewhere nearby, her voice filled with revulsion.

The creatures stood, staggering as they tried to find their balance. Some had accidentally shattered a bulb while getting out of the pods. About thirty or so of them surrounded their group in a wide circle. Then, as if in silent accord, they slowly held their arms up with stumpy fingers pointed toward the sky. Lightning flashed down from ominous dark clouds, just as dozens of silver blades erupted from the tips of their fingers, toes and shoulders. Then a low, eerie moan emanated from the depths of their bodies, over the gale and crashes of thunder.

"Maybe Grievers would have been better," Teresa said drily.

Minho turned quickly to survey the crowd of gaping onlookers around them. "There's about one for each of us!" he yelled. "Grab whatever you got for a weapon!"

A long black object was pressed into Cassandra's empty hands and she stared down at the katana in bafflement. She turned and saw Brenda nodding to her from behind. Cassandra gripped the hilt of the sword and slid the blade out of its sheath with a cold hollow ring. The first droplet of rain stained the polished metal, falling over the edge to darken the ground.

At the same time, the bulb monsters started towards them with jerking limbs. Lumbering feet marched forwards, their movements growing sure and swift with each passing step. There was no escape. Streaks of lightning continued to shoot across the slated sky above them with menacing discord. Cassandra tried to ignore the drumming of her heart against her chest as her eyes calculated the field.

Swallowing thickly, she started slightly when Teresa nudged her in the side. The girl gestured towards the monster blundering across the terrain directly in front of her. Cassandra guessed she had chosen her target and turned to look at the one that seemed to have picked her instead.

"I guess that one likes me," she said drily.

"Hm," Teresa agreed with a smile.

"Cassie!" Minho touched her elbow and she turned back to him. She could see the anxiety marking his features, the turbulent storm reflected in his eyes. Her breathing started to quicken, the chorus of moans and claps of thunder almost overpowering the rest of her senses. The monsters were about twenty-five feet away from them now and she steeled herself, feeling her atoms sizzle with a voltaic charge.

Minho squeezed her arm. "Together."

She only had a second to take in the obstinate determination in his eyes before the moans in front of her grew to its zenith. Nodding, she tightened her grip on the hilt of her katana. Minho let go of her to prepare himself and she faced forwards again whilst waiting for his signal.

"Now!" he yelled.

They took off towards the creatures side by side. Teresa was on her heels instantly, followed closely by Newt and Thomas. Cassandra could hear their tumultuous yells mixed with the droning roar of the monsters burst like a static detonation.

Suddenly, all she could see was Alby and Lee being torn apart by Grievers in front of her eyes. Clint and Andy being pitched across the corridor of the Maze like limp dolls. Nick and Ben screaming in her ears to save them. Chuck and Rachel bleeding across the floor, the life draining from their pale faces.

She faltered, sliding to the ground abruptly as she met with the first monster. The tip of her blade glanced off a bulb, drawing a mere scratch across its surface. Cassandra scrambled away across the ground as thin needle-like blades tore through the air. The monster chased after her and she felt a slash of pain erupt from her back.

Her eyes darted around in a panic, tears already brimming over the edges and trailing down her cheeks, arms trembling as she took sharp intakes of air. Except no matter how much she inhaled, it didn't feel like any oxygen was being absorbed into her lungs. The monster was knocked down from the side, landing in a heap on the hard packed dirt. Teresa was fighting it off.

"Cass, you gotta fight!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Cassandra dug her nails into the earth, feeling the grit underneath her skin, as she tried to hold her grasp on reality. A wave of icy paralysis washed over her body as she struggled to keep her breathing even. Her ears rung, but with the echoes of a different battle that seemed to be from another lifetime.

Everything seemed to sway in and out of focus, and then she saw him again. She remembered his dull lifeless eyes staring blankly up at the pale sky, his body spilled out onto the soft grass like an offering. For some reason, she could remember with perfect clarity how he looked like when he was still whole and healthy and alive. The golden flecks in his vibrant green irises, the curve of his nose, his lips quirked into an easy smile—a glimpse of the confident boy that he had once been.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she held on to her memories and she heard his voice as if he were speaking right next to her. Focus, she told herself. She needed to focus and remember. When did it happen? She was back in the Glade again, sliding in and out of consciousness as she laid in her cot.

"Cass, you saved my life once though you won't remember it now. I wish I could tell you everything but they won't let me. I hope we get out of here. I hope I can see my brother again."

Something inside her stilled, as if someone had turned down the knob on the volume to a low whisper. Realisation, like a budding seed, sprung forth from the depths of her chest. The fragmented impressions in her mind starting to mend themselves together. Nick had never been haunting her, he was helping her remember. WICKED took the memories away because the trauma was too much for her to bear.

"Cass!" Teresa screamed nearby.

Cassandra jerked back to her senses, everything flooding back to the forefront of her mind in a glorious frenzy of sounds and sights. The tears stopped, replaced with cognizant sovereignty of her actions. Another monster had started in her direction at having found easy prey. She grasped her katana, swinging out in front of her in a sweeping arc that caught at the creature's leg. There was a torrent of sparks as the bulb on its knee broke, showering her with flecks of heat. They pulsated like living hearts all across the monster's body as if pumping life through non-existent veins.

Then she realised that it was.

Cassandra turned back to her adversary, impatiently pushing hair from her face that stuck to her skin with wild static. She ducked and moved with a burst of dexterity, aiming at every exposed orange orb she could find. With every rupture of a bulb, the monster seemed to lose a bit more of its energy or whatever it was that kept it going.

She felt thin cuts across her skin, a puncture wound on her leg when she had stepped wrongly, but she continued to attack relentlessly. Finally, she could only see one more crystal on the top of its head and she lifted her katana over her shoulders. With a furious cry, she brought it down against the flickering orb and caused it to shatter under the force of her swing. There was a ghastly moan as the monster slumped forwards, dropping heavily at her feet.

Breathing wearily, Cassandra turned around just in time to watch as Minho tripped over a body of a fallen Glader behind him. The monster he was fighting ambled forwards, ready to strike.

"Min!" she yelled, throwing her knife in its direction. It broke a bulb, causing the monster to stumble and giving Minho the opportunity to roll away.

He quickly picked himself up, throwing quick jabs at the remaining orbs on the creature. Just as the last orange crystal shattered, it crumpled to the ground with a hollow groan. Minho turned to her with a look of incredulity.

"My name ain't short enough for you?" he asked.

She felt a laugh starting to bubble from her chest when a roar engulfed her and a sudden burst of heat flung her to the side. The impact she made on the ground jolted her entire body and sent spasms of pain running across her synapses. Her ears started to ring in that painful deafening way as she looked back to find a deep crater in the ground.

Another blast of lightning struck the ground nearby, spitting dirt into the air and scattering it around the bodies laid strewn across the ground. Cassandra whirled around, her frightened eyes scanning the field as more forks of lightning broke through the brume. Minho. Where was Minho? She lurched forwards, pushing herself to a stand and turning around in a full circle. Her head spun, pure rippling panic breaking through the surface of her apprehension.

She screamed involuntarily as another tendril of lightning shot down, directly onto a girl that had just defeated a monster. The rumble across the earth threw Cassandra off her feet once again and her knees hit the ground sharply. She felt someone pick her up, pulling her back to a stand. Cassandra turned to find Sonya's concerned face peering back at her.

"Are you okay?" she asked and Cassandra nodded.

"Minho." She gripped the blonde's arm. "Where is he?"

The girl craned her head and looked around, gentle green eyes searching for a sign of the boy. She gasped when she finally found him, turning Cassandra around and pointing into the distance. He had been helping Newt fend off two other bulb monsters with his knives.

"C'mon, let's help them!" Sonya cried.

Cassandra nodded hastily before taking off at a sprint in their direction. The lightning seemed to subside slightly, replaced with a sudden torrent of rain. The two girls slammed against the monsters, taking one each, as they knocked them down with the force of their momentum. Minho and Newt started at seeing them before wasting no time in smashing the remaining crystals. Another moan of anguish, louder than the deluge and crashing thunder, made her cringe on the surface.

"We can't stand around here!" Sonya shouted.

"What can we do?" Newt yelled back.

"Cass!" Teresa called. "Get into the pods! Hurry!"

Cassandra grabbed Minho's hand and he threw her a confused look as she started to drag him away. Not wanting to waste her breath, she started pointing frantically towards the pods that were about thirty feet away from them. Newt and Sonya exchanged glances before running after her.

They reached the pods just as the next barrage of lightning started to ravage the ground in another volley of searing white heat. The air all around them was alive, charged thickly with electrical particles and tufts of red dirt flying from the ground. Cassandra slipped on a patch of soft earth in her urgency, almost colliding into the side of the pod if Minho hadn't jerked her back.

They crowded around, staring dubiously into the pod's depths where water had pooled at the bottom. Another crash of lightning nearby sent them bustling to get inside, squeezing together into a tight fit. Cassandra and Minho leaned over the edge, grabbing hold of both sides of the lid that was lined with a rubber membrane. They pulled at the same time and the top lifted easily, swinging towards them until they ducked their heads down to allow it to close completely.

The smell inside was acrid and Cassandra scrunched her nose with aversion. Newt's watch lit up opposite her and she could see the shadowy contours of his face. "There's about five minutes left," he told them. A second later, there was an ear-splitting crack as something smashed into the top of the lid.

"Do you think this is it?" Sonya asked breathlessly. "We wait in here 'till the time is up?"

Each of their digital watches lit up as they counted down until the supposed deadline. Minho shook his head slowly, his face lined with a deep frown. "Guessing on our luck, I don't think so," he replied drily.

Another deafening crash struck their pod and a burnt smell permeated as the lightning had seemingly singed a layer off. Minho shifted agitatedly next to her, then she felt his hand grip hers tightly. "Do you hear that?" he asked.

Cassandra stilled herself, unconsciously holding her breath, as she strained her ears against the blitz outside. She didn't have to exert her senses for long as she felt her atoms beginning to vibrate with the thrum of thruster engines and heavy machinery. There was no mistaking the sound that overpowered the torrential downpour hovering above them.

"A Berg...it's a Berg," she whispered before raising her voice. "We need to get out! We need to go now!"

"What?" Newt yelped.

"C'mon! We can't waste time!" Cassandra lifted her arms and started to push against the lid. Minho stood up and threw his shoulder against the top, causing it to swing open onto the other side. Rain cascaded down on them, soaking and chilling them to the bone once more. The Berg flew overhead, slowly landing about fifty feet away from them onto claw-like landing structures. They helped each other out of the pod.

Cassandra looked around as more groups starting to peek out of their own pods as well. She caught Thomas' eye opposite her on the west side of the clearing. In that instant, they both knew what they were supposed to do.

Without further deliberation, they started forwards and ran.