Aife and Teresa stumbled out of  the trashed lab, Teresa slightly slumped against Aife, her black hair covering her face like a shield before she swiftly brought her hand to brush it away. Aife's face was twisted into a slight grimace at the contact, her arm wrapped around the girl to keep her standing. When they came into the hall, they were met with Thomas curled up on the floor, fresh cuts littered across his face as he panted heavily. Across from him, stood Janson, a gun in his grip. It was pointed at Thomas. No one moved, and Aife could hear a sizzling noise that reached her ears. No one had expected an explosion to hit the building.

Aife lost balance, her body landing on the ground with a thump as the sound of shattering glass reached her ears. Her arms went over her head to protect herself from any flying debris. Sparks now fell from the lights above their heads, Thomas grunted as he stood up, stumbling past Janson's weakened body and over to Aife and Teresa.

"Are you alright?" He whispered hoarsely, Aife quickly nodded her head, gripping on the hand that he had extended to her as she pulled herself up. Teresa pushed herself off the ground, waving for the two to follow her before she reached in her pocket. Aife watched as she led them down the hallway, a small vial now in her grasp. Just before they turned the corner, Aife glanced back, and her eyes widened as she saw Janson now kneeling, his gun aimed toward the trio.

"Thomas!" She shouted, shoving the boy out of the way, along with Teresa. The sound of the weapon reached Aife's ears as it fired, and she couldn't help but momentarily screw her eyes shut. Aife  shoved them till they were behind the closed doors of yet another lab. She could hear the muffled banging on glass, and she whipped her head to her right to find cranks being held captive, ready to be examined. 

"We need to get out of here, quickly." Teresa rushed, brushing a chunk of hair away from her frame.

Aife turned to Thomas, her thin eyebrows drawn together as she noticed his back remained towards her. Her head tilted slightly as she reached forward, placing her hand on her broad shoulder as he slowly turned around.

His chin was dropped into his chest, his breathing growing rapid as he held onto his abdomen. Aife's hazel eyes traveled down, and they widened once she spotted blood printed on his shirt. It stained his hands, and it grew more and more as he pulled his palm away to catch a glance at it.

"Oh, God. . ." Aife muttered.

At that, teresa looked up, her jaw falling slack.

"Thomas?"

Just as she said his name, the boy slumped into Aife's arms as the building shook, a grunt tumbling from his lips as the two fell against a counter. Teresa ran over to the two, crouching down in front of them. Aife's hand traveled to the bottom of his shirt, and she didn't hesitate before peeling it away from his skin, her eyes falling on the blood covered wound.

"What can you do?" Aife asked Teresa without staring at her, the said girl began to rapidly rummage through drawers, her breathing picking up. she pulled out a fistful of gauze, quickly whipping back around to apply pressure.

"Here, here. put pressure on It. hold it!" Thomas was breathing heavily, his pants filling the air as he weakly turned his head toward Aife.

"You gotta go." She lifted her head to meet his eyes, "You guys gotta go," She shook her head in protest, blinking as she darted her tongue out across her lips.

"Don't tell me to leave Thomas, because I won't. . . not without you." Aife denied. there was only a moment of silence before the doors slid open, Janson on the other side with his gun held up, ready to pull the trigger at anything that moves. he slowly strode in, and Aife placed her forehead against Thomas' shoulder, biting her lip before gnawing on the skin. they were trapped.

"Damn it, teresa, you had me fooled." Janson slowly spoke. teresa peaked her head over the table, catching sight of the man who was carefully examining the room, "I thought we were friends."

Teresa turned to Aife, the said girl staring back at her before they exchanged a head nod. Aife caught Thomas' eye, slowly bringing her index finger to her lips, signaling for him to remain silent before she and teresa both went their own way. Aife began to rummage through the drawers, ducking down as far as possible as she heard a gunshot ring out. before Janson could investigate, teresa sprinted across the room, causing the man to whip around before pulling his trigger in her direction as well. glass shattered as the bullet flew through.

"Come on, lets not prolong this. we both know there's no way out of here." Janson grumbled, Aife pressed herself behind a table, hardly releasing any breaths in at attempt to stay quiet.

"Lets not make this any more painful than it needs to be. . . Thomas? Aife?" Janson hummed, Aife could see Thomas' arm laying limply next to him from behind the desk that he was pressed against. and as for teresa, she was preparing to crawl toward Aife when Janson stepped in front of her, causing her to crawl away from him.

with his back being turned, Aife slowly made her way over to Thomas, she could hear teresa attempting to bargain with the rat man before he called out.

"What about you, Thomas?" Aife placed her hand on his shoulder, crouching down infront of him, glancing past janson and seeing the cranks that were stuck behind the glass, "What do you have to say? And you, Aife? the red queen. you were so bloodthirsty. don't you have enough blood on your hands already? you may not have been able to shoot her, but I can." He waited for a few moments, "Okay, fine. have it your way."

The man began to think out loud as he faced teresa once again, "How was someone who was raised in a maze not a basket case?" Teresa knew the question wasn't directed at her, she kept her mouth shut, her eyes wide in fear as she stared down the barrel of the gun.

Before he could pull the trigger, Aife grabbed a microscope off of the table, before standing up, "Who says I'm not?" She gritted her teeth as she launched it in his direction, the man crouching down prior to it bouncing off of the thick glass. Thomas stumbled to pull himself up.

The man stood upright with a smirk, tilting his head, "You missed, you little shit." he threw himself at her, the two of the colliding with the floor. Aife could feel the blade of her knife that she had hidden in her boot scratching against her ankle, and she was quick to reach down and wrap her fingers around the handle.

"Did I?" she breathed, her eyes narrowing. the glass began to crack, the cranks on the other side were now bound to escape. Jansons eyes went wide as he watched the glass break, his jaw falling slack as he stammered.

"Oh, shit." At that, Aife plunched her knife into his abdomen, twisting it before kicking him off of her and into the grasp of the cranks, who were quick to bite into him, ripping his flesh straight off of the bone. she wiped blood covered blade off on her pants, tucking it away before she ran to Thomas' side, allowing him to lean his weight against her. teresa caught up to them and hurriedly led them through the building.

"This way," She pointed. the flashing lights were beginning to give Aife a headache, and just in front of her, sparks flew from the ceiling as a light went out, she stumbled out of the way, Thomas wincing at the sudden movement.

Leading them into a stairwell, they were forced to retreat, as they could see the flames dancing up toward them from the floor beneath. Aife coughed as smoke filled her lungs. Teresa led them up the stairs, and as they stumbled out to the roof, their eyes went wide as they realized they were surrounded by flames with no where to go. Aife wasn't sure what to do, tugging Thomas' weak body to turn around.

"Come on," She released a strangled gasp when flames jumped toward them through the door.

"Oh, god." She heard teresa mutter, weaving her hands through her hair. Thomas' legs gave out, and he lost his footing before falling to the ground. his hands were soaked in blood from his wound, and Aife glanced back at teresa as she awaited for an alternative solution. teresa took a few steps closer, holding out the familiar vial she had held on to. Aife grabbed it, squeezing it as if it would disappear. she didn't want come to terms with the fact that there was no chance of escape, she screwed her eyes shut, her palm moving to Thomas' cheek. he stared up at her, his breathing becoming short and ragged.

Aife didnt think twice before she leaned forward, pressing her lips against his feeling his warm skin against hers. they both pulled away, "I'm sorry, Thomas. i'm gonna get us out of this," She felt her stomach twist as guilt filled her, and she could even believe her own words. why was she feeding him lies?hearing teresa's voice carry, she shot her head up, seeing the bright lights of a berg that flew just above them. Aife's jaw fell slack, her eyes going wide before she grabbed Thomas, helping him to his feet. they made their way toward the edge of the building, watching as the berg opened, giving a perfect opening for them to leap inside. Aife ignored the crashing of the buildings crumbling around her.

Thomas fell to the floor, and Aife cried out as teresa moved to her side, helping her with the boy.

she could see Vincent reach his hand out, and she opened her mouth to shout, "Get closer!"

"Jump!" he shouted back. Aife glanced past the man, seeing her brother reaching his hand out as well. she halted for a moment, before counting down and shoving Thomas forward, watching as they yanked him into the vehicle. they then shouted for her to jump as well, and she took a few steps back, before picking her pace up into a light jog and launching forward. her hand wrapped around Minho's, and the boy pulled her up before she leaned into his chest, her heart thumping wildly.

teresa was the only one left. she stared back at them, leaning back and forth on her feet as Vincent and Brenda held their hands out, beckoning for her to jump. hearing a loud, booming echo come from behind her, she watched as the building to the right off her fell, crashing into the one she stood on. Losing her footing, she turned back around, meeting eyes with Aife, who stared back at her with unreadable expression.

teresa's cheeks were stained with tears, and she gave a small smile, one that barely noticeable to the group. shutting her eyes, she felt the floor collapse beneath her, and her body fell along with the establishment. Aife could feel Minho helping her to her feet, pushing her into her brothers arms. her face smushed against his shoulder, and she didn't realize she was crying until he placed his hand on the back of her head. she wasn't sure why she was shedding tears, because deep down, in some sick and twisted part of her, she didn't want teresa to jump. why? the thought caused her to cry harder, thinking back to Jansons words.

'you were so bloodthirsty.'

hearing axel whisper sweet nothings into her head, she said nothing, wrapping her arms around his torso and hugging him tightly.