XX

They had no choice but to move forward.

Brenda, Newt, Thomas and Chuck trudged on for a good three hours, trying to get as far away from the Palace as possible. Eventually, the sun's heat became so intense, the group could no longer carry on. Chuck had a head-ache and Newt's leg was almost three times its normal size.

Thomas and Brenda, who had been carefully supporting him, laid Newt down in the shade of a little thorn bush and huddled next to him, covering the lower half of their faces with their scarves.

As they sat there, alone and forlorn, Brenda remembered that she was carrying an emergency survival pack; that had been given to her in preparation for her departure to the Paradise. Feeling around in the first aid pouch, which was attached to her belt, she pulled out a penicillin tablet for Chuck to take for his headache. He downed it with what was left in her small water bottle.

So, here they were in the middle of a wild, hot and unforgiving wasteland with no water, no food, and no shelter.

Pulling her knees up to her chest, Brenda sighed, knowing that it wasn't a very good situation to be in at all.

Thomas, who was sitting nearby, checked Newt's swollen leg and uttered worriedly, "It doesn't look very good, Be."

Brenda shuffled over to him and pulled back Newt's pants-leg so she could examine the injury. A hiss of pain escaped his lips as she did so.

"I'm sorry," Brenda murmured as she bent down to get a closer look. "Man. What did you do?"

Newt shook his head in confusion. "I dunno. I just felt something snap and then the pain came."

"Do you think he broke something?" Thomas questioned anxiously.

"No-o," Brenda frowned as she gently probed the swollen, bruised area around Newt's ankle. "There's no sign of any broken bones although he may have fractured something or even pulled his tendon. That's probably why it's so inflamed."

"Teresa's bullet did that?"  Chuck raised his eyebrows in wonderment.

Brenda shook her head as she glanced up into the deep chocolate brown eyes of Newt. "The bullet only grazed his skin. It looks like this leg was already weakened from some sort of former injury." Inclining her head towards him, she spoke softly, "You're lucky you didn't break anything, Newt. This is pretty nasty."

Newt swallowed as he shifted his head to inspect the damage. "Shucking bad leg," he muttered under his breath.

Brenda furrowed her brow in confusion. What had happened to Newt and why was he trying to evade the subject?

"Well ... now what?" Thomas inquire as he scanned their surroundings. "What's our plan? Sit here and roast to death?"

Brenda shot him a warning glare before jerking her thumb towards Chuck's anxious face. "Of course not, dumbass. We don't have a lot of supplies though so it'll be wiser to travel during the night when it's not so hot. From experience, I know that you use up a lot of your body energy trying to stay cool in the face of those scorching sun-rays and that's energy you can't afford to lose. Besides, the ground's stinking hot in the middle of the day and there's nowhere cool to stay during breaks."

"Thanks for that very inspiring piece of information," Thomas rolled his eyes. "What's the good news?"

Straightening up, Brenda looked this way and that until her sharp, eagle eyes spotted something in the distance. "Look!" she exclaimed, pointing towards a large knoll that rose up to meet the sky, flamed with streaks of red and orange. "There's a few dead trees over there. If we can carry Newt to the shade then hopefully he'll be well enough to travel tonight. We can strap his leg with some bandages that I have in my first aid kit."

Thomas nodded. "Sounds good. But we better hurry, I already feel like a piece of burnt toast."

Suppressing a guffaw at Thomas' statement, Brenda bent down and offered Newt a helping hand as she encouraged, "Hang in there."

Thomas and Chuck assisted Brenda and they half-carried, half-supported Newt for the remainder of their walk.

As they all collapsed, exhausted, at the base of the withered, white-bark trees, Brenda leaned her head back against the nearest trunk and heaved a deep sigh.

"I'm thirsty!" Chuck piped up in a high-pitched whine. "I keep getting sand in my mouth and it's all dried out."

Brenda exhaled shakily as she closed her eyes. "Wait until the sun sets, then I'll get you some water, little bud."

"Jeepers," Thomas shook his head as he gazed around. "Well, I guess it's time to face reality. That shucking Maze was only the beginning of our problems ..."

Even though she didn't want to sound pessimistic, Brenda couldn't have agreed more.

~~~~

They all dozed on and off for the next hour or two but it was hard to completely settle down. Their stomachs were all growling with hunger, their throats were cracked and parched and Chuck's headache was getting worse.

By the time the sun finally went down at about 8 o'clock that evening, Brenda had ran out of pills to give him. As dusk settled over the land, she roused herself, deciding to go out on a scavenger hunt. Leaving Thomas to guard the base with one of her best knives, Brenda set off, putting her skills and knowledge of the desert to good use.

Ten minutes later and Brenda had located a certain prickly pear cactus that was edible for humans. Taking out a knife from the row she had stuck in her belt, Brenda jabbed the sharpened blade into the thick hard skin of the plant. A few more chops and slices and she'd split the cactus in half, revealing the red juicy flesh on the inside.

Brenda hacked out a few bites for herself to chew on as she peeled off the thorn-covered skin of the plant. Careful to keep the delicacy safe from intruding ants and sand flurries, Brenda wrapped them up in her scarf and slipped them into the pouch hanging from her belt before continuing.

After finding a few mesquite shrubs, Brenda picked off as many of the ripe pods as she could, knowing they'd be an excellent source of protein. They could also be boiled down into a thickened tea that would most likely help with Chuck's headache.

Half an hour later and she was back at the base with the goods which were consumed by the boys with great gusto. Brenda was pretty nervous about starting a fire, especially as it was getting dark, but in order to make the tea Newt and Chuck needed, they had to take that risk.

Thomas got it started with some flint from Brenda's emergency pack and she quickly got about making the tea in a small billy can. As soon as the liquid had finished boiling down, Thomas stamped out the small fire and Brenda passed the can to Chuck and Newt.

As the boys prepared to leave, Brenda glanced up at the star-speckled sky and shivered. She knew that WCKD would be searching for them with a vengeance. If they were found, it would be the end ... for all of them.

"Alright, let's keep moving," Brenda ordered as she wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve. "We have no more time to waste."

Slinging one of Newt's arms around her neck, Brenda motioned for Thomas to do the same.

"I'm feeling much better than before," Newt spoke up. "I-I think I'll be able to walk by myself..."

"Nope," Brenda shook her head. "Your leg's still swollen, Newt. You could have a relapse."

"But I'm going to tire you guys out!" Newt protested.

"Wait, I have an idea," Chuck called out. "Thomas, grab both of Brenda's hands and hold your arms out so Newt can sit on them."

As Brenda and Thomas agreed to the plan and got into position, Newt tried to ward them off.  "No, no ... you don't have to do that. I can walk by myself. I'm alright. I promise."

Brenda and Thomas didn't listen though and lifted him up before continuing on their way.

And so began the seemingly endless cycle.

An hour or so before dawn broke, they would look for a suitable place to stay during the heat of day. Then, one or two of them would go out and search for food while the others set up their base, giving them all just enough time to settle in before the sun popped up over the horizon.

During the day, the group would huddle together, their knees tucked up to their chests and their scarves over their faces. Then night-time would fall and Brenda and Thomas would stagger across the cold, hard earth carrying Newt while Chuck trotted alongside them.

The city of Scorch seemed so far away!

As dusk crept steadily across the desert, prompting the sleepy travellers to get up to their third night of desert walking, something unexpected occurred.

Everyone was nestled in a small cleft of rocks shielding them from a strong wind that was starting to blow in from the east. Brenda, who had been worried about the possibilities of a sandstorm, hadn't been able to get much sleep. So, rousing herself from her stupor, she got up and climbed to the top of the rock pile just in time to watch the sun slip behind a bank of darkening clouds.

As she stood there, taking in her surroundings, she heard a movement behind her. She turned around to see Thomas scrambling up the steep incline to join her.

He sleepily rubbed at his weary, blood-shot eyes as he stumbled over. "Really, Be?" he murmured groggily. "Why are you up so damn early?"

Brenda chuckled as she leaned over to wipe a streak of sand off Thomas' cheek. "I couldn't sleep. I think we might be in for a sand-storm."

"Are you serious?" he groaned. "Great. Just great. This is exactly what we need right now!"

"I think the wisest decision is to stay in the cave," Brenda told him. "We don't wanna get caught out in the middle of the Scorch when the storm hits. We could be suffocated to death by the blowing sand."

Thomas nodded in agreement before, suddenly, freezing stock-still. "Be, look over there!" he gasped, pointing in a north-westerly direction. "Is that what I think it is?"

Brenda's eyes followed his line of sight and her breath caught in her throat.

Lights. She saw lights!

"Geez, Tommy. It's the ... "

"... city of Scorch!" they finished together excitedly.

Brenda and Thomas stared at each other for a mere millisecond before the loud whistle of the growing wind destroyed the moment.

"We can still make it before the storm hits!" Thomas shouted as he dove for the edge of the cliff. "C'mon, Be, we can do it!"

"You better hope so," Brenda muttered as she started after him. "You better bloody hope so."

Gif: Brenda and the others as they walk across the Scorch.

Q: If you were stuck in the desert with no food and no water, what would be the first thing you would do?

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