When the van pulled to a stop and Jorge shut off the engine, silence enveloped my world. The only thing I heard was the rush of pumping blood inside my head. I squeezed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing. My heart was racing and I realized I was shaking. No one moved and no one said anything for a couple of minutes. Bucky kept his hand on my back. It was silent except for the sound of everyone breathing, until Jorge broke the silence.

"They're out there, surrounding us, waiting for us to get out."

I forced myself to sit up and look around. Outside the broken windows, it was totally dark.

"Who's waiting?" I asked.

"The last remaining Right Arm members who stayed. I told them to expect three trucks." Bucky said quietly.

"Would suck if we got shot after all that." Thomas said dryly.

"Dude. Don't fucken jinx it man!" I rolled my eyes. But I agreed.

"Stay here. They'll recognize me." Bucky said. He slowly opened the door.

He closed it and there were muffled voices. Brenda looked at Jorge, asking a silent question. Jorge looked a little haggard from the crank encounter, but his eyes were steady. "No need to worry."

"Who said I'm worried?" Brenda rolled her eyes.

There was a knock on the door.

"That's our cue. Slow and steady." Jorge said.

They all opened the door, I slid out the back drivers side. As soon as I was out, Jorge threw an arm out, convently over my stomach. It helped confirm that he knew.

There was a loud click sounded and the place was instantly flooded with bright white light. I threw my hands up and squeezed my eyes shut, then, shielding myself, squinted to see what was going on. A huge spotlight mounted on a tripod was pointed directly at them.

I could just make out the silhouettes of two figures on either side of it. Scanning the rest of the room, I saw that there were at least a dozen other people, all holding various types of guns just as Bucky had said there would be.

"Sargent Barns, is that you?" a man called out, his voice echoing against concrete walls. It was impossible to tell which person had spoken.

"Hands up! Freeze! Don't move!" Someone else yelled.

"Soilder! Stand down!" Buck roared, stepping closer. A few more guns cocked.

"Don't move!" There were sounds of guns cocking.

"Enough!" Roared Bucky. "It's Sargent James Bucky Barns, your Red Alpha Leader, now stand down you bunch of morons."

"Sargent Barns?"

"Yes! It's me. We're on the same size!"

"What happened to the truck? And who are these people? Tell me you didn't bring infected in here."

"You don't tell me what to do Soilder." Bucky snarled stepping forwards again with no fear, he stomped over to the spotlight and the two standing beside it.

"You know exactly who these people are. Now what did you do with the other two trucks?"

"They're moved further in and the occupants are in a holding room."

"Soilder!" Bucky barked. "Turn off the damn spot light and turn the regular lights on, you complete fool!"

There was a bunch of shuffling and the spotlight turned off just as big florescent lights above them turned on. I groaned and rubbed my burning eyes with the heels of my hand.

"Gally and Winston were with the other two trucks you idiot! Now go get them!"

A few of the men and women jumped and scurried off. A few tense minutes later they came back leading a very angry group of Gladers. I shoved passed Jorge and raced to Winston and threw my arms around his neck. And then threw myself at Sonya, Newt and Tessa. And then Jason, Gally, Aris, Ryan, Frypan.

"What happened?" Winston asked, shoving back through and pulling me back into a tight hug. I allowed one deep shaking breath. And exhaled. And then pushed him off. "Get a grip ya shank."

"They did something to the truck. We drove right into a trap! They completely destroyed the truck, but we're okay." Jorge explained.

"You still haven't explained why you locked them up." Bucky growled.

"Locking people up when they come for help and state clearly who they are is very WICKED." I snarled glaring at them.

"We're all on the same side."

"Are we?" I snarled.

"Easy little wolf." Bucky said laying a hand on my shoulder. He looked back at the other men and women, "Where's Hans?"

"I'm right here."

An older man with frizzy grey hair came flying down the stairs. He pushed through the haggard men and women who stood around the Wearhouse garage. Jessie eyed them all suspiciously, they all looked like they had seen a lot of shit. Most of them had some kind of bandage around some kind of bloody wound. They were all stone faced and suspicious of us.

Hans shooed them all away. "Relax Max. Put your guns down. You know Sargent Barns and you thick skulled morons know Jorge! His and Vince and Mary started this whole resistance. You know very well who this young lady is," Hand indicated to me. "And you know Winston and Gally! Now relax, dammit!" Hans berated the group. Guns lowered and they gave us all sheepish looks.

"Sorry, things are a little tense right now. Everything is changing. And not for the better. Infection rates seem to be up 300%. And we can only make an actual serum so fast."

"So, why are you here?" Max asked.

"A few reasons." I said before anyone else.

Max glared at me. I glared right back. I took another step closer. "Try me! I'm here to extract someone, the rest of the kids WICKED still have, take out WICKED, and kill Janson." 

"So you need to get through those walls."

I narrowed my eyes and nodded.

"The cranks have over run the area..."

"Clearly." I snapped.

"I can help with that." Then suddenly he grinned and turned towards the stares.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" I growled. Folding my arms.

"He shrugged, suit yourself. But I can get you through those walls. Away from the cranks."

Jorge and Bucky both nodded. Gally grabbed his bag and followed him almost immediately. The rest of us followed, I growled but followed, hefting my backpack onto my shoulders. Hans followed, as well, and fell into step with Bucky and Jorge. They caught each other up as we all followed Max.

He brought us down a dark hallway, And down some creaky metal stairs into some kind of basement, he turned a light on and down another dingy hall. He paused at a door taking his time to unlock it and threw the door open.

"Slim it nice and cool Shank." Gally said rolling his eyes. "You're so dramatic." Gally shoved passed him into the room. Gally flicked the light on and walked to the middle of the room. Everyone piled into the room.

"What's this?"

"May I present...a hole." Gally said dryly.

"A hole. It's a bloody hole in the cement floor." Newt said flatly, blinking a few times.

"Well that was anticlimactic." I muttered. 

"That's what she said." Brenda muttered back. 

I snorted and chocked, I was choking and coughing now. Sonya and Jason were close enough to hear and we all laughed. Newt glared at us. But we couldn't get ourselves together now. I saw Thomas trying hard not to laugh, he had his lips pressed together. 

"Okay," I nodded in respect to her, "That was good." 

"That's what she said." Sonya muttered back, sending us all into another fit of giggles. 

"Ahhh, but not just any whole." Winston said stepping up and waving his hands dramatically to show case the whole.

"That's what she said!" I choaked between giggles. The four of us were laughing so hard we all had tears running down our faces. Newt and now Jorge and Bucky were sighing and rolling their eyes. A few others were giggling along with us. Winston included. He tried to keep going his face still trying to break into a laugh. 

"This whole goes down into the train tunnels and then into the downtown main section of the city. Easier to get in then storming through the crank infested parts of the city."

I raised an eyebrow.

"What do ya think we did for a year? Can't have shanks laying around not contributing to the intricate workings of the headquarters, now can we?" Winston grinned at me.

"So, what do we do?" Jason asked, frowning at the hole. 

The giggles died down and the mood shifted again. The room fell into a tense silence until Jorge broke the silence. "A few go down and see what's what and then we plan." Jorge said folding his arms.

"Gally and I will lead a small group." Buck said.

"I'm going." Thomas said immediately.

"I'll stay and help Hans, we need to pay everything up and I need to get in touch with Vince. Jessie, I'd like you to stay with me and help."

"No. Absa-fucking-lutely not! I'm going with them."

"Jessie."

"Jorge!" She mocked him. "I'm the best fighter on in this group besides Bucky. No offense Tess and Aris."

"None taken." Teresa said, "it's true."

"I don't think-"

"Clearly you don't! Not gonna happen, Jorge."

"Listen here young lady!"

"Fuck off. I'm 21. I have a fiancé, and I can all ya'lls asses. Peace out losers."

Before anyone could stop me, I spun away and started down the ladder. I paused and looked back. Letting go of the ladder rung I pointed at Winston.

"Not you Winnie. Or Sonya...or Newt. Jason? Tessa? Actually Thomas, Gally, Fry, Ryan...you're cool too. And Brenda...you're alright I guess." I drew a heart as best I could with one hand, and mouthed an "I love you all."

Winston and Sonya snorted with laughter, and then couldn't control their giggles and let them out. Jorge looked like he was going to blow a gasket, he breathed heavily through his nose, while his jaw clenched. I saw him grab Bucky and whisper something. Bucky just waved him off. I continued down the ladder and jumped off the last few rings. Landing with a small splash. Thomas, Newt, Gally and Bucky followed.

There was only one way to go so without saying anything else I turned and followed the tunnel. I didn't bother taking a flashlight out. I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets and walked. I heard hurried footsteps and then uneven ones fell into step with me. Newt didn't say anything for a while.

"Jess, Love-"

"I'm fine Newt." I interrupted him.

"Yes clearly." His scoff was accompanied with a roll of his eyes.

"Newt...please. Just drop it. I...I just need him back, okay?" I said quietly, raking my hand through my hair. It had been over a year since I chopped it in the way station. It was long again. Now that I think about it, it's definitely a lot thicker and healthier in the last few weeks...now I know why. Thanks baby. I need a better name... Green bean...baby bean? Nah. That's dumb. Baby shank? I snorted, and made myself giggle.  Chuck had asked me one time if Minho and I were practicing and f were gonna have real baby shanks running around. I giggled again at the memory, but it also made my heart drop. I wouldn't be able to tell him what a real baby shank looks like. I bit my lip, keeping it from quivering. Newt gave me a weird look from the corner of his eye. 

He thankfully didn't say anything. But I felt his continued glances. I kept my head down for the most part and didn't participate in the quiet conversation. My sweaty and shaking hands were clenched in fists in my jacket pocket. I picked my head up and looked around instead. The walls were old and brick, water dropped down the walls in spots and made puddles on the old cement floor. 

"It reminds me of the Underneath, hey Thomas?" I suddenly said.

I glanced at him over my shoulder. He shuddered. "Don't remind me."

"Wait... I've heard stories about the Underneath! You guys were in there? What happened?" Gally questioned.

"Oh it was a fun time. Hey, Thomas?" I smirked back at him.

"It was not." He said flatly, "not even a little bit."

"Oh please." I waved a hand dismissively. And I told them what happened as we kept walking. It passed the time.

"Dang Jess." Gally was staring hard at me, like he'd never seen me before. "I knew you could fight, but ...damn!"

"Good job Jelly Bean." Bucky smirked.

"I knew you two would appreciate it." I smirked back.

"Well, we're almost there." Bucky said. "Okay before we get there. It goes to a train tunnel."

"Okay...you told us that." I rolled my eyes.

Just then there was a loud screech and the tunnel started to vibrate.

"An active train tunnel." Gally yelled over over the noise of the train. 

I raised an eyebrow. Turning back to the light at the end of the tunnel, we slowly crept closer. We all huddled at the end of the tunnel, and a train came whipping past the tunnel. It was so fast it made my hair whip around. The train past our hiding hole. I stuck my head out and looked around. The train tunnel had two sets of tracks, it was relatively bright. A few meters down there was another small metal ladder up to another maintenance tunnel. I sat back and looked at Bucky and Gally. 

"So the tricky thing...the train comes every 2 minutes. So we have exactly two minutes to get down, run and back up the next ladder." 

This got a whole lot harder. My stomach heaved, like baby agreed. 

"Well, easy peasy. What could possibly go wrong?" I snarked and rolled my eyes.