Alex turned to face the massive tattooed guard. "Lead the way, Captain Marshmallow." He led her out of the med wing and down a white hallway. He raised an eyebrow.

"Captain Marshmallow?" He asked, giving her a side eye.

Alex shrugged, "Don't know your name, and I think behind that big scary tough warrior exterior, inside you're as soft and gooey as a marshmallow."

He made a gravelly rumble in his throat, and his lip twitched again. Alex liked this guy. A man of little words. And there was just something about him that loosened that tension in her.

"See, you love it." Alex grinned at him.

He led her down another long hall.

"Where are we going?" She asked when they turned again.

"Director Janson wanted a word." He replied, eyes forward, and his hand resting on the gun strapped to his chest.

"So you said. Do you know what he wants?" She pressed.

"No." was all he answered, but he glanced down at her. Was that pity in his eyes?

They stopped in front of another secure door. Captain Marshmallow took out a key card and swiped it, the panel went from red to green. He led her halfway down the hall, this one seemed colder, less welcoming then all the other plain white halls they walked through. He stopped in front of a white door, which looked like all the other white doors they passed to get here. He opened the door and stood aside.

Alex's knot of unease reformed. She glanced at the huge Caption, he gave her a slight nod. Alex cautiously entered the room, all her senses on high alert. There was something very uncomfortable about this situation. Alex took a quick look around the room, inside there was a metal table and 2 chairs. It was uncomfortably familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

She turned around to see the Captain closing the door. Alex turned back to the table, looking around the room. It was dark, only one lonely light bulb hung from the ceiling, which dangled over the table. Alex found it strange that this room was so dark, and everything else in the building was a bright harsh white. One wall was a floor to ceiling mirror. In the corner of the room up at the top, was a small camera, there was a little red glowing light. It reminded her of the beetle blades in the glade. Her suspicion rose, her uncomfortable feeling came soaring back. She narrowed her eyes at the camera and then back at the mirror.

That's not actually a mirror...Who's watching? And why? Why just me..in a weird observation room? Am I being interrogated?

She had backed up into the corner, instinctively protecting her back, she wasn't going to be caught off guard. Her shoulders tensed and her hands formed fists. The knot of tension in her chest was making it hard to breathe. The door clicked open, and in walked Director Janson. Alex spied Captain outside the door, standing at attention.

What's he guarding the door for? Am I a threat? Do they think I'm going to escape..? If I was, I aint leaving my family behind!

"Alexandria, please sit." Janson said, his voice was thin and annoying.

Alex hesitated, then stepped forwards and pulled the chair out, and sat at the edge, with her back straight. Her narrowed eyes never left Janson. She felt on edge the minute she walked into the room, and it skyrocketed when he was close by, she felt goosebumps run up her arms and back.

He gave her a tight smile. "Alexandria." He said as he sat down and laced his long fingers together. His eyes had a weird glint to them, that didn't match his tight smile or his tone of voice.

What game is he playing? And if he is an organisation that wants to help and keep us safe, why do I feel so jittery and uncomfortable around him? Maybe it's just I really don't like rats! He also knows my full name...I've never told anyone my real name, except the guys, in the Glade on day one.

"That's not my name. My name is Alex." She forced herself to talk, it still came out snappy.

"Hmm." His eyes flashed in ammusment, but not a kind ammusment.

Alex knew he would be dangerous. Alex ground her teeth together, and narrowed her eyes.

"I just came from having a quick word with Thomas. I would like to ask you the same question." He paused.

Alex didn't say anything, just continued to look at him with narrowed eyes.

He gave her a tight lipped smile again, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I was just hoping we might get a moment to chat in private, away from the others."

"Ya down about a dozen hallways, 2 card locked doors and in an Interrogation room...that's most definitely away from the others." She snarked.

She always got more mouthy when she was nervous, and this Rat like Man made her extremely uncomfortable and set every nerve in high alert. He grinned at her, but it was a greedy triumphant look, his beady eyes were glinting in the dark light.

"I won't take up too much of your time. I really only have one question." He paused again, his calculating eyes watching her. Alex remained silent and stiff.

"What do you remember about WICKED?"

Alex's eyes flicked to the mirror wall and then to the camera, if it was possible, her unease grew, making her feel sick.

"You're not in trouble. We're just having a conversation." He said, his voice sounded even more thin and whiny.

Alex snorted. "Ya? Then what's with the camera?"

"Oh, that? That's nothing to worry about my dear. We have surveillance everywhere. Just to keep you children safe." He said, his voice changed to a smooth oily one. He waved a dismissive hand like a recording camera of their conversation was unimportant.

Ya, or something else...but what, and why?

"Safe? Safe from what? Have you seen the security just trying to get into your facility?" Alex asked.

Janson continued, ignoring her sarcasm, but she noticed his eyes flash again.

"I'm just trying to understand." He said in a voice that might have been innocent, it rubbed Alex the wrong way. She felt he was anything but innocent. Maybe it was just his rat-like features that she had an instant dislike for him.

"Understand what?" Alex asked curtly.

"Whose side are you on?" He replied, his eyes looked hungry. She thought for a moment.

How much information do I give this guy? Definitely don't trust him. So I tell him nothing personal.

"I remember I was forced to work for WICKED. I remember that they sent me into the maze. I remember watching children, my friends...My family... die bloody gruesome pointless death's in front of me." Alex said, she crossed her arms and clenched her jaw and glared at him.

"I'm on their side." She spat at him.

What she remembered about WICKED and what she witnessed was horrific. She would never ever be a willing participant. She would always be on her boys' side, the side of her family.

"Interesting. You say you worked for WICKED, but they sent you into the maze. Why would they do something like that?" He asked surprised.

No way she was going to tell him she was caught sneaking information out. He may claim to be against WICKED, but she didn't trust him. Not at all.

"I don't know. Maybe you should've asked them before you killed them all." Alex snarked again.

A smirk slid across his face, but unlike Minho's sly crooked sexy one, this one was creepy and slightly evil.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Enjoy the rest of your stay." He waved a hand, like he was dismissing her.

"That's it?" Alex asked, shocked, she thought he would dig for information.

"Yes. You've told me everything I need to know. You and your friends have all been cleared to join the others. Soon you'll all be moving on to greener pastures." He said standing up and opened the door for her.

Alex stepped out into the hall. But stopped and spun around, "Wait. Others?"

Janson just nodded, and turned to the Captain.

"A word."

The Captain followed Janson into the room. He pushed the door, it didn't fully close, it was left open a crack. Alex hesitated then stepped silently to the door leaning in to hear.

"...I was just informed that the chip in her needs replacing. Her doctor didn't immediately inform me, something might be off with him. Keep a close eye on him. We can't have any disobedience from anyone who works closely with her! And we can not have subject A0 go rogue on us. Not again. The Kill Zone patterns are outstanding, but there seems to be moments of brain activity that are off the charts and we can't figure out why. Not without further testing and investigating. If it's a faulty chip it needs replacing before phase two. And if not, then she will proceed with phase two." Jason's voice slipped through the crack in the door.

"Understood." The Captain's voice rumbled.

She heard scraping, Alex leapt away from the door, leaning on the opposite wall. What she heard was making her head spin. It didn't make any sense.

A Chip? Kill Zone patterns? What was phase two? Phase two of what? Who was Janson talking about? Wait....A0... isn't that me? Oh shuck!

The door swung open cutting off her thoughts. Captain Marshmallow stepped back into the hall. He was giving her a look she couldn't read, making Alex frown. Janson gave her a smile of contempt and snapped the door shut. Alex rubbed her sore pounding head.

"This way kid." Captain Marshmallow led her back down the halls.

"This reminds me of the maze, with all the halls...eerily similar." Alex mumbled to herself, shuddering. She glanced at the man beside her, he didn't say anything, his face didn't change.

"Will you tell me your name? Or do you actually like me calling you Captain Marshmallow?" She asked, trying to keep her mind from wandering to the maze hallways and her boys laying dead on them.

He glanced at her "Ronin." He growled.

"Well, Captain Ronin. It's nice to meet you. You know if you talked more you might smile...But that would probably ruin your bad boy image huh?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Has anyone ever told you your mouth is going to get you in trouble?" He asked, but his lips had formed a thin lipped smile.

"Ya, all the time. But where's the fun in that?" She raised another eyebrow at him, and smirked. He just breathed heavily out his nose and rolled his eyes.

"Ya same response from everyone, except Minho... he's the bad influence. He's worse than me sometimes, if you can believe that. Though I'm giving him a good run for his money! Together we're unstoppable!"

She stopped for a breath but he cut her off before she could continue.

"Okay, around this corner through the door is the cafeteria. You will find your group there. But before you go.."

He stopped talking, and looked down the corridor behind him. Alex looked too, out of curiosity.

"What are we looking for?" She whispered loudly to him.

"Come here." He stepped off to the side of the hall. Alex followed out of curiosity.

Captain Ronin leaned down and quietly and urgently whispered, "Keep your eyes and ears open. Not everything is as it appears. Trust your gut soldier."

He straightened up and clapped her on the shoulder. When his hand made contact with her shoulder, intense white hot pain shot through her head like a burning hot fire poker stabbed her brain. She yelled and grabbed her head. The pain worsened her body stiffened, her head snapped up, her eyes glazed over and her body shook violently.

Alex was standing in a group of kids, all around the same age as her, a few looked older and some looked younger. They were standing in a room that looked like a gym. There was a huge man standing in front of the group of kids. Alex was standing beside her sister, her arms crossed, waiting for the instructions to finally finish so she could just get on with it. Heart monitors were handed out and instructed to steap them on.

The kids all lined up, they were to run laps of the huge gym until they couldn't anymore. This was the first time they allowed the girls group and the boys group to join together in training.

"GO! RUN!" Yelled a deep gruff voice.

She took off running, easily staying at the front of the pack, she was easily the best runner in the group of girls. Sonya, her sister was a close second. A boy ran up beside her and expertly matched her speed. Alex glanced at him. He was already looking at her with a crooked smirk. He looked like he was a troublemaker. Alex grinned. Finally someone who was just as much trouble as she was. 

"I didn't know girls could run this fast." He frowned at her, but she could see his eyes trailing up and down her body as he ran beside her.

"Well good thing I'm not a girl." Alex said seriously.

"Hmm. Yes, now that I look closely I can see it. The tell tale signs of an alien among is!" He said nodding, running a little closer, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Oh SHUCK! You can tell that easily! Ya know? These bloody human skin suits are just so uncomfortable these days!" Alex said, cracking a smile.

"Just ain't made like they used to!" He chuckled. "Also...what the heck kinda word is shuck?"

Alex shrugged. "Rat man got mad when I swore. So...I made up my own bloody swear word! Also my brother has this weird thing about swearing." 

Both kids had made another lap, out running most of the group now.

"Nice! Shuck. Shuck..." he said it a few times trying it out. "I shucken like it!" He laughed again with a smirk and high fived Alex. 

They ran in comfortable silence for a while. Alex glanced a few times at the boy. He was tall and athletic, he had sharp Asian features, his eyes looked dark and full of all kinds of mischief. He already had sharp cheekbones and jaw. His hair was jet black and spiked up in the front.

"Like what ya see?" He grinned cheekily at her.

Alex rolled her eyes. The boy chuckled.

"So...bloody? Ya know Newt says that all the time." His face was pulled into a frown.

"Well ya. He's my bloody shuck faced brother, ya shuck Face." Alex emphasized the word bloody, with another roll of the eyes.

"Shuck face?" He cocked an eyebrow her. 

"Ya...remember? Made up my own swear words. Its an endearment. I love him, but can be a...shuck face." Alex shrugged. 

Both kids were only now showing minor strain of running, their breathing was heavier. Alex could see the boy glancing at her. She lifted her head just a little, running a little bit straighter.

"Huh. You're very different from him. You seem...like a feisty mischievous little ball of sunshine. I like it! What's your name? And how old are ya?"

"Alexandria. Call me Alex though. I hate Alexandria. And I'm 11 almost 12. You?"

By this time the two had lapped the group. A few kids were close behind, but they couldn't keep up with these two kids.

"Names Minho and I'm 13, almost 14. It's nice to shucken meet ya Alex, Newt's sister."

"Less talking! More running you two!" A loud voice boomed.

"Captain Marshmallow is cranky today." Alex huffed between breaths.

The boy beside her grinned mischievously.

"Race ya, Sunshine?!"

"Your on Shuck face!"

The two kids put their heads down and sprinted.

Alex ran straight into a weapons room. It was a shiny white metal one, with weapons placed evenly along the walls and tables, each with a label. There was a man in front of her, she couldn't focus on his face, it was all blurred out. But he was quite tall and athletic, a deep commanding voice, a huge tattooed arm held out a something made of brown leather

"Subject A0, this is your belt and holster along with your vest. It's custom made for your smaller size, it also has more than one place for your knives. Once it is fitted and your weapons acquired you are being transferred temporarily, for the week. You have a mission to complete. Understood?" The deep voice said. Alex nodded, strapped it to herself. Quickly backed herself with weapons, stuffing the vest with small throwing knives, she grabbed a bow off the wall and a quiver of arrows.

She stepped out of the weapons room into the training room. It was the size of a stadium. Alex looked around curiously; there were different stations everywhere; there was weapons training, weight training, a running track, survival training and martial arts. She looked around with wide eyes. A man strode up to her. He was tall, athletic, muscles on muscles, and completely bald. One arm was covered in tattoos that crept up his back and neck. He stopped in front of Alex, "You the new soldier I'm training?" Alex nodded, stepping forwards.

The training room faded and she was blinded by the bright harshness of the sun. She blinked and she was standing in the middle of a broken city covered in sand. She was running beside another boy about the same age as her, she had a heavy backpack on, a military gun swinging from her shoulder. Cradled in her arms was a tiny little black puppy. The puppy was looking up at Alex with big intelligent eyes, but she was panting hard.

"Water! WATER! Please!" She begged.

A huge tattooed man turned towards her, his face was blurred, and his voice sounded garbled, but it was loud and deep.

"Where did you get that thing?"

"I found her! She was trapped, and I rescued her-"

"We! We rescued her, thank you!"

"Fine. WE rescued her, better Felix?" She rolled her eyes, the boy nodded. "She is really smart! Can I keep her? Please Cap? I named her Bark! She's quiet, smart and sneaky already! Get it? Bark, cuz she's quiet? I'll train her! I promise she will be an asset to our team! Can you please help me keep her safe and away from...Him? Pleeeeeeease Cap?"

Another step forwards and she was now covered in sweat, huffing, carrying a pack, and a gun, running as fast as she could. A black dog with a black bullet proof vest on her body was keeping pace beside her. Alex could feel the fear.

"FASTER! COME ON ALEX!" The tattooed bald Captain was yelling.

They were running through deserted streets with broken buildings and sand everywhere. Wild animalistic screams were following close behind. The noise made Alex's blood run cold and made the dog growl.

Alex fell through a huge hole in the broken road. She fell. Landing in the weapons room again.

"Always have something you can defend yourself with!" A deep gruff voice said, it was quiet and urgent. A small handled knife was held out to her. Alex picked it up, tossed it up into the air. She caught it, with a mischievous grin and slid it into her boot.

"He doesn't know about that rule, does he?" Alex asked with a sly grin.

"No. And let's keep it that way. Slashing and stabbing our way out is the last option." said the gruff voice.

Alex grinned and looked up at the man, but the room was different. She was standing in a dark room, hiding in the shadows, whispering with the large bald man.

"I have it. We got what we could, a few years worth of information! I need to get it to B."

He nodded, "I'll cover."

"If I'm caught, don't do anything. The others need you here." Alex whispered back.

He looked skeptically at her.

"I'm serious, Captain! From now on I'm 'working alone and I had no help from anyone.' I'll be sent to the maze. They will shoot you on the spot! And I can't be resposible for that! I...I love you, Marshmallow! Please...Cap..Please?  Come on, one last mission; Bark, me and my favorite Captain Ronin!"

Her head came back down. Alex had tears stinging her eyes, her head felt like it was going to split open with the pain. With a cry of pain her knees gave out. Captain Ronin caught her before she hit the floor. He gently sat her down. Alex sat leaning against the wall, her head in her hands, panting hard. The Captain crouched down in front of her, patiently waiting for her breathing to regulate and she could function again.

Her mind was spinning in a million directions. She sat with her head in her hands.

Subject A0 is definitely me. Well I knew I was disobedient..that's why I was in the maze, passing information. But what chip? Janson said I had a chip? It's broken? I'm broken? Does that mean Dr Prior is in danger? What the shuck is phase two? And a kill Zone pattern? Captain...the Captain...

"Captain... Soilder...I was a soilder. I was a WICKED Soldier.. Captain Ronin trained me ..." She muttered to herself, trying to sort her recent memories, the conversation she overheard and what she already knew.

Alex waited until the pain lessened. She blinked a few times trying to figure out where she was. Alex was face to face staring at Captain Ronin. Her eyes wide.

"You...you..it was...you...Captain Ronin!" She stuttered and trailed off.

She could feel the blood leave her face and her hands went cold. Her whole body went cold as ice then instantly hot and sweaty. Her mouth opened a few times, but nothing came out. The Captain eyes softened a little, gave her a small smile and a slightest nod.

"Come on Soilder, up ya get now." He growled, but it was oddly gentle, he was looking at her with concern.

He helped Alex to her feet, holding her arm until she was steady on her feet. Her head was pounding and her vision was still blurry.

Now she knew. Now Alex understood why she felt at ease around this huge giant of a man. She did know him. He was her trainer and Captain, and obviously he grew into someone more, someone she cared about and trusted fully to take full responsibility if they were caught. He obviously meant something significant to her before her memory was wiped.

The Captain had his hand on her shoulder, and gave it a squeeze. "Eyes open, ears open Soldier. Trust your gut." He repeated quietly, turned and left her standing in the hall alone.

*******************************************************************************

What? Captain Marshmallow? What do we think of him?