XX

"Crank Palace?"

"What are you trying to do? Kill us?"

"Are you crazy?"

"It's too close to the capitol. WCKD will find us there!"

"Yeah, there's a reason sane people don't go near that place!"

A loud outburst erupted from amongst the few hundred spectators once they'd heard of Brenda's proposed plan.

Brenda, along with Vince and Jorge, were standing in the midst of the large and angry crowd. They were being jostled left and right and a feeling of near suffocation began to engulf them.

Vince gritted his teeth as he held up his hands and raised his voice, "Shut it!"

The noise began to die down as he continued, "Every one of you knows that we cannot, and I repeat, CANNOT, stay here for much longer. The WCKD patrols are getting closer and closer. If we don't move soon, there'll be a time when we will be discovered! But I refuse to stay here and wait for the inevitable to happen! For six long, hard years we've struggled to survive out here, distancing ourselves from the rest of the world and scavenging this wasteland for signs of life. But, never once have we thought about moving back into a society that we have left behind for so long. Well now is our time! We will not let WCKD control us, telling us what we can or cannot do, where we can or cannot go, why we can or cannot return. We will dominate! We will show them that we will not be subdued or crushed. We may be broken, but we will never be beaten!"

At first, only silence met Vince's announcement. Then a ripple of cheers chorused throughout the crowd as they glimpsed a hope that they had never thought they'd see again.

As Brenda gazed upon the happy, smiling faces of her friends, she couldn't help but crack a small smile herself.

It was so enlightening to see everyone so bright and joyful.

"Be! Be!" Chuck's excited squeak reached her ears.

Glancing around, Brenda's gaze fell upon a chubby, roly-poly boy who was pushing his way through the crowd towards her. His fat cheeks were flushed with enthusiasm and his hands were stuffed into the front pockets of his leather carpenter's apron.

"We're going to the big city!" he grinned wolfishly at her.

"Yes, I know, little buddy, I know!" Brenda sighed in contentment as she wrapped her arms around her brother's shoulders and buried her nose into his curly mop of hair. "We're going home."

~~~~

The hopeful glimmer of future prospects within the Flat Trans plains turned out to be nothing but a wistful dream after all.

It was only the next day, as people were eagerly packing their things and taking down their tents, when a crushing tragedy took place.

Vince and Jorge had volunteered to do the mid-day patrol before the campers left, just to double-check that the coast was clear and everything was in position to roll forward smoothly.

Brenda hadn't originally been designated to accompany the pair, but, wishing to revisit her old desert route one last time, she ended up joining them.

Needless to say, Vince, being a stickler for rules, was quite annoyed by the sudden disruption Brenda's presence caused. However, seeing her need for a fond recollection, he reluctantly permitted her to tag along.

They took the only jeep they had and began travelling along the bumpy 12-mile track, keeping a constant look-out for any signs of danger.

The trio had only been driving for about half an hour when Jorge suggested they stop for a quick water break.

Vince and Jorge settled themselves in the shade the jeep cast over the hot sand while Brenda sprawled her lean body across the bonnet of the vehicle.

"Damn, this sounds bad, but I'm kinda gonna miss this place," Brenda murmured as she lifted her water bottle to her lips.

Vince only huffed, but Jorge nodded in understanding. "It's not bad. I feel it too."

Brenda smiled to herself as she handed Jorge the water. "It's where I spent six years of my bloody life. It's gotta have some meaning."

BANG. BANG.

Everyone jumped.

"Uh, what the hell was that?" Jorge demanded.

"T-thunder?" Brenda suggested haltingly.

"Those were clearly gunshots," Vince growled. "And they were coming from the direction of our camp!"

"Maybe they're target practising?" Jorge shrugged as he slowly screwed the lid back onto his water bottle.

"After we've packed away all the targets?" Vince scoffed as he pushed himself to his feet. A flicker of nervous worry passed over his features. "I don't think so."

BBRRIINNGG. BBRRIINNGG.

The phone in Brenda's jacket pocket started to ring. Hastily, she drew it out from within the leather folds and glanced down at it.

It was Harriet.

Brenda exchanged a worried look with Vince and Jorge before swiping her finger across the screen and accepting the call.

She didn't even have time to say anything before Harriet's frantic voice cut through the air. "Brenda, Brenda, are you there? Can you hear me? Something really bad has happened! Brenda?"

"Yes, Harriet, I'm here!" Brenda called out in response. She hurriedly turned the phone on speaker so Vince and Jorge could hear. "What the hell is going on? Was that gunshots we heard?"

"Oh my god," Harriet gasped out tearfully from the other end of the line. "Be, it's WCKD. They've found us! They're attacking the base as we speak. We can't hold them off! You need to come now!"

"God help us all!" Vince yelped as he dashed madly around the jeep towards the driver's door.

As he revved the engine to life, Brenda hopped down off of the car bonnet and exclaimed, "Harriet. Calm down. If our soldiers can't fend them off, you need to conduct an evacuation, just like we practised! Do you think you can do that?"

"Okay, okay. I'll try."

"Get Sonya to help you!" Brenda ordered as she leaped into the jeep after Jorge. "Where's Chuck? Is he okay? Harriet! Harriet? Can you hear me?"

Brenda swallowed hard as she stared down at her phone. Tears stung the back of her eyes when she realised that the call had been disconnected.

Please, please let them be okay. Oh, please, please!

Vince spun the jeep around and pressed down hard on the accelerator, making a beeline straight for camp.

BANG. BANG. BOOM.

Upon hearing the deafening noises, Brenda buried her face in her hands and hunched her shoulders together. A shiver of terror ran down her spine as she felt the cold metal of her pistol digging into the side of her leg.

Vince urged the jeep to go faster, but it could never go fast enough ...

By the time Brenda, Vince and Jorge arrived back at camp, it was too late. There was nothing left of the Right-Arm base. Everything had either been torn to pieces by shrapnel or obliterated by fires. There were massive craters and cracks in the ground where bombs had been set off.

Then, there was the stillness, the haunting stillness. There wasn't a human soul to be seen in the entire vicinity.

Brenda, Vince and Jorge walked slowly through the smoking remnants that cluttered the Scorch sand. Their mouths were wide open and their minds were too shocked to function.

How could they have been so unprepared for such a vicious attack?

Suddenly, a loud whirring of helicopter blades caught their attention.

They all looked up, just in time to see the last of the WCKD troops departing by way of a large, metallic air-borne berg.

As Brenda was staring after the copter, her eyes flickered over the glass panes lining one side of the roaring chopper.

Then, she gasped.

Brenda started running furiously after the copter, knowing it was no use, knowing that it would never stop. When her mouth finally decided to function, a loud scream erupted from between her chapped lips. She ran and she ran and she ran, but it didn't take long for the berg to totally disappear from view.

Huffing, heaving, sobbing, crying, she collapsed to the ground, her tears staining the sand beneath her.

Vince and Jorge, who had rushed after her in alarm, finally caught up to her and dropped to their knees beside her.

"Brenda ..." Jorge began worriedly.

"Chuck," she hiccupped, lifting her face up from the ground to stare at him. "T-they have Chuck! I  - I saw his face at the window!"

Brenda broke down sobbing as she threw herself into her uncle's arms. Jorge tightened his grip around his niece and buried his head in her shoulder as they both cried together, knowing how much they had lost.

Gif: Jorge as he hugs Brenda.

Q: Would you have gone out on patrol with Vince and Jorge or would you have stayed behind in the camp to help pack up?

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