Michelle 15

"Are we seriously going in there?" Joan asks. Shuck, her voice is so annoying. "We barely have anything to protect us."

I mean, she does have a pick axe. That is certainly something. She's been complaining about how heavy it is for like thirty minutes. Honestly, I'd rather we have nothing to protect us than listen to her whine again.

The building we've been assigned to is three stories high. It will be the third we've searched in the grueling heat. My hair is sticking to my neck with sweat. Though my jacket is covering my arms, my face is tingling from the hot sun.

"Quit complaining," Hilde groans, staring the building down.

"If I knew you never shut the stuck up, I wouldn't have suggested you run," Flore rolls her eyes. It's the first thing I've heard her say since we started looking for Ella. Every other comment has been whispered to Joan or to Hilde.

Joan huffs. "You're just mad because I ran the section better than you."

"You both ran it like a load," Hilde tightens her grip on her knife. I honestly can't tell how she puts up with those two. She took out some Cranks with her hatchet in a flash a ways back. Rather than hang out with these slintheads, Hilde would be better suited to Rose. "Can we just go?"

"Do you have a problem with me?" Flore demands, turning towards Joan.

I get the feeling they intend to continue with their dumb fight. This is not what I signed up for. I never thought I would want to be with the boys, but anything is better than watching this.

"Yeah, I do," Joan walks over, until her chest is practically against Flore's.

I take this as my cue to leave. The two girls start yelling at each other, with Hilde trying to separate them. I didn't think either of them had it in them to fight, since Joan is a whiner and Flore is constantly kissing up to Hilde. If I thought their fight would be interesting, I would stick around and watch it.

I duck around the building, turning a corner. This search for Ella is useless. She has either been eaten or doesn't want to be found. Teresa is all pissed with me for voting against her, but whatever. Honestly, I don't know what my plan is. It's not a great idea to just go off on my own. Not only do I lack food and water, but Teresa would be angry enough to hunt me down.

I am surprised Teresa kept voting against Ella. She set up a crazy target for herself. I'd like to know the dirt that Ella has on her. It's got to be good.

I walk around the corner and stop.

Gally is in front of me, staring straight forward. His chest heaves up and down unevenly, underneath his torn shirt. His face is red, both from the healing scrapes along his temple and from the blood pumping harshly through him. His eyes, blood shot and blackened, scan me, but never meet my eyes.

Gally sways with the wind.

He runs away. My feet move before my brain has time to register that he is here, and he is moving. He is heaving, coughing as he runs forward. It's retched and harsh. He ducks through the alley, knocking over garbage cans and boxes as I run towards him.

It takes much more energy to leap over them then I thought it would. I don't think I've drank anything in hours. I'm dizzy. My foot clips the metal, echoing through the skinny alley. He turns left, so I follow him further down. He is stuck in the corner of an alleyway.

He turns around, staring at me. "You shouldn't be here," he charges closer to me. His fists grab me by the collar of my jacket, before throwing me backwards. "What are you doing here?"

I try to take a step forward towards him but stop. I brush the red hair which clings to my face out of my eyes. Even moving it away, I still can't see him clearly.

"I thought they were going to let me escape," his voice is but a harsh whisper. He leans in against me, pressing his body against mine. He leans me into a wall, towering above me. His breath is stale. "You need to leave."

"What?" He is holding me in place, so I really can't.

Gally shakes his head back and forth. It twitches to the side, over and over. His grip on my waist tightens, and his eyes lock on to me. For a moment, I see a glance of clarity in them. Maybe it only lasts for a second, but it is enough for my heart to race.

"They are going to use me to get to you," he tells me, his hands continue to shake against my waist. "I don't know what their game plan is, but they are shucking toying with us. I know it."

"I can't believe you are alive," I still can't. They shot him, after Thomas beat the klunk out of him. I tried to ignore it because I couldn't bare to lose him for a third time. He is here, in between my fingers, and he is alive.

Gally kisses me. My lips are on his, and his are on mine, and I feel him. For the first time in a very long time, I hold Gally. The boy who needed me, because the whole world was burning down around us. His lips are harsh, and they shake too, but they press harder in to me regardless. I try to meet his force, to feel as he does, but I'm tired.

"I love you," he pulls away, resting his forehead on mine. "I don't shucking get why, or how, but I know it. And you've got to leave, before something bad happens. I know that's their plan. It's shucking WICKED."

He let's go of me and begins walking away. I pull off the wall and grab his arm, but he shoves me off of him. I land in the sand below us. His eyes are dark as they stare me down.

Gally runs away, turning down the alley. I pull myself up and run, ducking the corner, but he is gone from my sight. Around the corner the alley splits into three different directions, and I can't spot him down any of them.

I turn around, looking for the way out. Honestly, I've got no idea how I got here, nor how much time there is left until we reconvene.

I slowly make my way out, stepping over the garbage cans. I think this is the direction I came. This is one of the many reasons why I am happy I avoided the Maze, even if I lost Gally to it.

I've got no idea when we are supposed to reconvene, but I've got to try and make my way back. The girls are at least a distraction from Gally.

There is a heavy rumbling and it sounds like thunder. My eyes shoot up, thankful to see no clouds in the sky. Loud like a wave of gunshots, the sound continues and the Earth shakes I duck through the alleyways, getting closer and closer to the sound.

I turn around the corner. A building is caving in. The roof has caved in, and the rubble on the ground falls at Group A's feet.

Klunk, they are here. I turn back, pressing my back against the wall behind me. I can hear Minho calling out, too close to be trapped in the collapse.

"Thomas!" He screams.

"They probably made it to the Underground," a voice I don't know offers. It is scratchier than the rest. "There are hundreds of tunnels down below. Brenda will know how to get back above ground."

Klunk. Thomas is underground.

I turn back, running towards the building I slept in last night. The sand shifts beneath my feet, and the sun is beating down on my face. There is a crowd gathered outside. The girls are waiting.

I get there, and Teresa bursts through the crowd to meet me.

"What happened," she wraps an arm around my neck, pulling me in closer to her. Her black hair falls in my eyes, her forehead pressed against mine. She isn't asking a question.

I'm panting. It wasn't a quick jog. "The building. It collapsed. Group A was outside. Thomas is in the tunnels below the surface... Group A is above."

Teresa nods, pulling away from me. She turns around, staring out into the crowd. I try to catch my breath, trying my best to ignore her weird behaviour.

"Still no Sonya," Harriet remarks, stepping in closer to Teresa. "No Dawn either."

I pull myself upright. Leo is hanging next to Harriet. She doesn't look up at me, and I'm thankful. I don't imagine that she could read my face, but I'd rather not risk it.

"You think they were killed?" Marie asks, looking around.

I shake my head. Unless Sonya is a klunk fighter, they wouldn't be taken. If Dawn can take Dawn a Griever, she can take a measly Crank.

"Let's check where she last was first, before we come to any conclusions," Harriet offers, gesturing towards the building just farther off.

The pack turns to stare at the large building. Despite the storm last night, I recognize the building. I move in closer to Teresa. "That's where Group A was last night."

"Stuck," Harriet mutters. She looks over at the building and then back at me.

"They're gone now," I tell her. "I didn't see the girls with them."

"Might as well go look," Harriet offers. She pushes through the crowd without another word. Teresa crosses her arms, but eventually follows me. She is the first to climb up into the three-story building, and the rest of us push our ways in through the door.

I'm on her heels, pulling out my hammer and scanning the place. Ella sits on the ground, holding Sonya's head delicately. When we enter, Ella continues to hide beneath her massive black curls. I wonder if she even notices we are here.

Sonya's eyes are barely open; I wonder if she can even see us. Her mouth is gagged, her jaw is swollen purple, and her arms are tied up around her. Ella didn't even think to shucking help the girl.

Harriet kneels, quickly cutting through the ropes. She then, gently, lifts Sonya's head and undoes the bandana from behind. Sonya's eyes move from Ella's face over to Harriet. The leader helps the faint girl sit upright. Sonya holds on to her jaw and massages it with her hands. She takes the bandana from Harriet, wrapping it back around her head.

"What happened?" Leo asks, kneeling. She slowly helps Sonya stand to her feet. Sonya teeters a bit but manages to hold herself upright. Her sway is worse than Gally's.

"Group A," Sonya tells us, letting Harriet take to the other side. She turns her head around, a gesture a bit too large for someone so dizzy. "Where's Dawn?"

Sonya let Dawn escape. She may be is a good liar, but I can tell she is putting on an act. I know Dawn. If she's gone, she left willingly.

"Isn't she here?" Leo asks, looking around.

"They must've taken her," Sonya says. "It was an ambush. They saw us outside, I guess, or something. They tied us up and knocked me out.

"Why did they take her and leave you?" Teresa asks. "Wouldn't they want to hold you hostage.

"Probably because I was bloody unconscious, if you hadn't noticed," Sonya's voice is dull, but I can hear the bitterness to her tone. This she isn't faking. They actually punched her out. "It's a little bit hard to drag around an unconscious body in this heat."

Leo walks Teresa out of the building. We don't even bother to look for Dawn. She's long gone. We continue to walk through the streets, all of us herding around her. Not that I can blame them. For most of the girls, this is the closest they can get to understanding Group A for themselves. Not one bit of me believes any of Sonya's story, but it is convincing enough.

It's probably only going to cause the boys more trouble in the long run. It'll be easier to kill Thomas now.

Sonya glances at me, adjusting her jaw once more. "Right before I was knocked out, the stick who did it told me to say hello to you for him. The shorter Asian guy."

A bunch of girls glare at me. Of course he did. Shucking Doug.