ACT III  SCENE LXIII
CYCLOPS

     CASSANDRA WALKED into the cockpit with her head buzzing with static noise. She watched as Teresa marched up to the pilot and unholstered her gun. The barrel found its way to the side of the blue-eyed pilot's head. "Switch off the tracking beacon and connect me to the other Berg now."

"Alright, alright," the man muttered discontentedly as his hands moved over the panels in front of him. A red light in front of the main controls turned dark and the screen in front of them flickered to life. A single bar flashed across the middle as their comms searched for a signal to hail the berg the boys' had narrowly escaped on.

"And you guys call me crazy," Helenus commented with a chuckle as he came up beside Cassandra. His green eyes which had been fogged and unseeing not so long ago were now astute as he watched the screen.

"Do we even know where we're going?" Frypan asked.

"I have an idea," Teresa started. "But you might not like it."

"Let's hear it," Harriet said.

"I'll wait 'til we connect with the others," she told them and turned her gaze back to the screen.

After another short moment of intermission, the screen finally flickered with brief static and they were able to connect with the other Berg. Jorge's face stared back at them through the live transmission and Teresa lowered her gun from their pilot's head. She holstered it back to her belt and crossed her arms.

"Where's Thomas and the others?" she asked demandingly.

"Hold your horses," Jorge remarked, turning his eyes down to the controls in front of him.

The camera panned to a wider angle and they could now see Minho and Newt walking up behind Jorge towards them. Cassandra immediately surged forwards with a wide smile upon seeing them. "Minho! Newt! You guys okay?"

Minho gave her his trademark smirk. "Yeah. I'm glad to see you made it out too."

"Where's Thomas? Is he okay?" Teresa asked anxiously.

"Yeah, he's sleepin' like a wee babe," Newt told her. "Brenda took a shot too. We need to figure out what we're gonna do now."

Cassandra turned to Teresa. "You said you had somewhere in mind?"

The girl took a deep breath and sighed tiredly. "Okay. So there aren't a lot of safe zones that we can go to. Ninety per cent of the quarantine zones are shams but there's one place that I'd like to visit. Denver is the closest to where we are now and we can hide out there for a while to gain our bearings."

"Denver?" Jorge repeated with a raised eyebrow. "You sure about that, muchacha?"

"There's also another reason that I want to go there," she went on, glancing at Cassandra momentarily. "There's a guy named Hans who used to work for WICKED. He's a brilliant doctor who worked closely with the brain implants but he had a disagreement with the management and left. I found out that he's laying low in Denver."

"Hans," Jorge said. "Brenda told me about him. He contacted her over the Netblock right before we left for the Scorch."

"I found the message," Teresa responded. "WICKED can track us with those implants, we need to get them out."

"Shuck," Minho said over the intercom. "You're talking about us, aren't you?"

"You, Newt and Thomas," Teresa confirmed. "Cass and Lenny don't have trackers because their implants are still prototypes. There wasn't enough time to add it in."

"Okay, that's good news, right?" Helenus turned to Cassandra with an arched brow and she merely shrugged in response.

"How far are we from Denver?" she asked.

"A couple hundred miles," the blue-eyed pilot answered.

"We could land somewhere to meet up after we get far enough away from WICKED," Jorge said. "Group up and plan this whole thing out."

Teresa nodded. "I agree. We'll see you in a few hours."

They dispersed from the cockpit once the short video conference ended. Their pilot, who they found was named Steve, told them that he was shadowing Jorge's flight path. Once they made it past a hundred miles away from WICKED's compound, they'd find a clearing to land on.

Cassandra wandered around the interior of the Berg, making her way towards the bathroom to wash her face. A few new bruises lined the area of her cheekbone and her lip had been split. It stung whenever she opened her mouth and she patted the cut with some cold water to soothe it. After a quick shower, Cassandra managed to find an empty cabin and she immediately took the opportunity to lay on the soft sheets. Her body sunk into the mattress as she let out a relieved sigh, burrowing deep beneath the covers.

She had no idea when she had fallen asleep or for how long. The next thing she knew was that she was waking up to the low morning light that filtered in through the small cabin window. It was quiet and peaceful. Cassandra was sorely tempted to go back to sleep but she could hear voices from the other side of the door. If only she could wake up to this every day.

There was a soft knock and the door opened a crack for Sonya to peer through. "Heya, sleepyhead. Time to wakey wakey."

Cassandra let out a soft chuckle. "I'll be right out."

"Okay." Sonya closed the door and her light footsteps started down the corridor outside.

Cassandra sat up and let the covers fall to her waist, eliciting a small shiver from herself as her skin touched the cool air. She dragged herself out of the bed half-heartedly and went to use the bathroom. She then emerged onto the deck where a few Gladers were sitting around a circular couch. Archie waved towards her and patted the empty seat next to him.

"Had a good sleep?" he asked.

She let out a longing groan. "The best I've ever had."

"Reminds me of the good ol' days back in the Glade." He leaned back against the couch with a wistful smile. "Runnin' those miles and headin' back to the Map Room."

The corners of her lips turned upwards slightly. "Yeah."

Helenus walked over and took a seat next to her, his tired eyes glancing at her briefly. He shoved his hands into the pockets of the hoodie he wore and examined his shoes closely. After a moment, he finally asked, "What was Nick like?"

Archie laughed. "He was the best of the best—before he got stung, that is. No one's ever the same after they get stung. But he was our leader from the get-go, ya know. I was one of 'em in the first batch that got sent up to the Maze. Nick got us all organised, got us to work and to look out for each other. We wouldn't have been able to make it this far without him. I know I wouldn't have."

"I'm gonna say it again," Frypan sounded from the other side of the couch as he leaned his head back to look at them. "Nick was a total badass back then."

Helenus smiled in appreciation. "Thanks. I'm glad he had you guys in his life."

Just then, the Berg started to descend low from the sky. Cassandra stood up and went towards one of the observation windows to gaze out at the ground below as it grew closer to meet them. The PA system turned on with a chiming tone and Steve's voice sounded over the speakers, "Hold on to your hats, folks, we're in for a smooth landing."

Cassandra rolled her eyes at him.

She watched through the windows as the Berg touched softly against the green grass in the middle of a field far out in the middle of nowhere. The only patch of life that could be seen for miles around, located close to a small lake that was a few meters north of where they were parked. It was like an oasis in a barren arid landscape that was spared the destruction of the Sun Flares.

Teresa marched onto the deck from the cockpit and looked around the enclosed space for Cassandra. She moved forwards to take the other girl's hand and they made their way in sync towards the hatch doors of the Berg. As the metal ramp slowly went down to reveal the bright field they were on, Cassandra's lips pulled into a large grin when she saw Minho and Newt standing on the ramp of the opposite Berg.

They waved to her. "You look like klunk!" Newt yelled in greeting.

"Back at you, shuck-face!" she hollered back.

Teresa giggled beside her at their friendly banter before they walked down the ramp together to greet the boys in the middle of the clearing. Cassandra wrapped her arms around both Newt and Minho's necks as they grabbed her in a bear hug. They then nodded cordially to Teresa who smiled back in response.

"Thomas' still out like a light," Minho told the girls. "Might take a couple more hours 'til he comes to, the shuck-face."

"It's fine," Teresa said. "We got a head start from WICKED, they won't be able to find us for a while yet."

"I'm countin' on it," he responded as they turned around and headed into Jorge's Berg. But as they walked onto the deck, they found Thomas hobbling out to meet them from the adjacent corridor. His face lit up when he set eyes on them and a wide grin spread across his face.

"Hey, shanks," he greeted them. "You look like klunk, Cass."

"You look worse than klunk," she retorted.

"Yeah, getting hit with electricity does that to you." He then turned his gaze to Teresa. "I'm glad to see you made it out too."

Teresa gave him a small smile before launching herself forwards and throwing her arms around his neck. It caught him slightly off-guard but he instinctively wrapped his arms around her small frame as she sniffled against his shoulder. "Me too, Tom."

There was the sound of shuffling footsteps and everyone turned to look at Brenda who was coming up to meet them. She looked a little worse for wear too, as they all did, but managed a pleasant beam at seeing them. "Hey."

"Great," Jorge's voice boomed from the other side of the deck as he came up from the cockpit. "Now that we're all reunited, let's get down to business."

Thomas nodded. "I'm all ears."

"Teresa suggested we go to Denver to find Hans," Cassandra started for them. "We need to get those implants out of the three of your heads or else WICKED will be able to track us with them."

"Not only that," Teresa added. "But they can still control you if they get close enough."

"How do you know about Hans?" Brenda questioned with a concerned frown.

"I hacked your files," Teresa admitted unapologetically.

"Can't say I'm surprised," the girl muttered back. "But I agree. Seeing Hans and getting those implants out is a good idea."

"Hold on a minute," Minho interjected. "How do we know it's safe for us to go there? For all we know, WICKED could have figured out the same thing and are waiting for us as we speak."

"I deleted the message after I found it." Teresa shrugged. "But we don't have a choice. We need to get those implants out and I can't even do that without any tools."

"And Hans has those tools?" Newt asked dubiously.

"I imagine he would," Brenda said. "He took all his equipment with him, ransacked the entire lab before he left."

"I say we should go," Thomas told them. "If there's even a slight chance that they can track us or control us with these implants then we should get rid of them as soon as possible."

"I'm all in," Cassandra said.

"Well, if Cassie's in then I guess I'm in too," Minho relented easily.

They then turned to Newt. "I'm a Crank," he said unexpectedly. "Doesn't matter what I bloody think."

"We can get you into the city," Brenda said tentatively. "At least long enough to have Hans work on your head. We'll just be really careful to keep you away fr—"

The blonde boy suddenly spun around and punched the wall behind him with a frustrated yell. Everyone pulled back in surprise at his action. "First of all, it doesn't matter if I have the thing in my brain—I'm gonna be past the buggin' Gone before too long anyway! And I don't wanna die knowing I ran around a city of healthy people and infected them."

"There isn't a city on earth that's not infected anymore," Brenda protested.

"Didn't you hear a bloody thing I just said?" Newt turned on her.

"Newt, stop it!" Cassandra exclaimed. "You're going with us and that's that! I'm going to drag you in there kicking and screaming if I have to but I am not leaving you behind!"

A thick silence fell over them after her proclamation and Newt's eyes darkened a fraction. "I'm infected, Cass," he said quietly. "Do you have any idea what that means?"

"Yes. It means that my best friend needs help and I'm going to help him," she said assertively.

He turned towards Minho with a raised eyebrow and the boy held his hands up in response. "Dude, don't look at me."

"You're bloody incorrigible, all of you."

"She can help you," Teresa blurted and everyone looked at her. "That's the other reason why I wanted to see Hans."

"Teresa, what do you mean?" Cassandra questioned.

Blue eyes turned to her solemnly. "I mean, you're the closest thing we have to a cure."

author's note: things are gonna start to take a different turn from here on!