The people in black pushed and shoved and dragged Jina through the maze. She was too consumed with grief and disbelief to know where she was. Until they were standing at the Ledge in section four. Jina had checked this area so many times, convinced there was always something more but she never understood this area. The place she was mulled by the Griever.

"What? This is just a drop off... What are we doing here?"

"There's a lot you don't know kid. Watch." One guy said. He pointed and Jina watched as someone jumped from the ledge and winked out of existence. Like the chunk of wall she had thrown before the Griever ripped her apart.

"What-?" Jina sputtered.

"Your maze is full of holograms and tricks to keep you here." He said. Another guy with greasy hair leapt off the cliff and disappeared. They shoved Flossie forward. "Go kid. We don't have time!"

Flossie looked at Jina and then she was shoved, and she had to jump. Aris was shoved forwards. And then Jina was shoved to the edge of the cliff. Her toes hung over the edge and she took a wild breath held it and leapt off the cliff. Her feet hit something solid, she cried out as pain shot through her ankle. She almost fell backwards when a hand reached out and yanked her forwards. One of the masked men. She stumbled and Aris grabbed her, taking some of Jina's weight.

Then someone else was behind her. The leader, apparently. And they were running again. Aris had to slow down, Jina's ankle was bad again.

"Where's everyone else?" Flossie called to the guys leading them.

"They got out before us! Just keep going! WICKED is gonna be on our asses right away! Move!"

Jina was shoved forwards. She reached for Flossie's hand and the three of them ran together, squished between men in black and guns. The corridor was dark, their feet slapped the ground echoing off the wall. The smell made Jina feel sick; motor oil, rotting meat, and rusty machine parts. Jina gasped as her foot stepped in something that made a wet squelching sound.

"This is a Griever tunnel!"

"How do ya think they got them nasty things in the Maze?" Someone from the front yelled.

"Their way in...was our way out!" Jina gasped again in realization. "You finchen' finchface!" Jina scolded herself. "You were the finchiest finchface that ever lived! How could you possibly miss that?" Jina had been so close. If the Griever hadn't been sent to keep her quiet, she would have figured out the way out almost three months ago.

The door at the end swung open and they were ushered down a hall. It was brighter and dryer and warmer. The cement ground had yellow painted arrows. There were bare pipes and wires, florescent lights flickered. The masked men corralled the three of them down the hall and through a door that had a bright green EXIT sign over the door.

"Seriously?" Flossie cried, throwing a hand towards the sign.

"Irony. Am I right?" The man behind them said, there might have been a small chuckle in his voice.

The door was flung wide open, revealing stairs. Lots of stairs. Aris, Flossie and Jina ran up flight after flight of stairs. Jina was a mapper, she ran all day everyday...but stairs were awful. Her lungs burnt, her legs were shacking and she was sucking air. Every step was agony, shooting pain up her leg. After what felt like the millionth set of stairs another door was flung wide.

Jina yelped and threw her hands up. A bright burning light blinded Jina. There was a terriblly cold wind that ripped at her clothing. She was only in cargo pants and a t shirt and it was freezing out here. Jina had to blink a few times. She stumbled, trying to see. Someone grabbed her arm and yanked her back to her feet. "Come on! Let's go let's go!" Jina was shoved forwards. Something white and cold was falling from the sky.

"Snow?" She questioned.

"Ya, you're in Alaska. Come on!"

There was a big black thing waiting for them, it was humming and vibrating, shaking the ground.

"What-?"

"It's called a Berg. Now MOVE!"

Flossie and Aris were already being shoved on board. Jina looked back behind her. There was a huge building rising up behind them. A grey, black and steel, monster of a building with giant turrets and everything was wrapped in barbed wire. It was menacing and something from nightmares. How could they have been inside that building for the last how many years inside the maze? Jina's brain was having a hard time processing that.

"Wait!" She cried scrambling to a stop. "The others? Where are the other girls?"

"Get on, and we'll explain!" The man barked. He grabbed her again and just about tossed her into the belly of the flying thing called a Berg.

The door slid shut and the engine roared to life. Jina felt the thing lift into the air. Aris and Flossie had already sunk to the ground, leaning on the wall. Jina was so overwhelmed and confused. So many things happened all in a short expanse of time. She was having a hard time processing everything.

A Griever tried to kill her. She has a concussion. Again. She stung herself. She had some memories come back; though nothing made sense. Someone blew their maze apart and forced WICKED to let all the Grievers into the Glenn, killing many of her sisters. Beth shot Rachael. Jina shot Beth. They were dragged away. Escaped through the Griever hole, freeing them from WICKED's grasp. And now they were in a giant metal flying thing.

Her brain hurt and she sunk down beside Aris.

"Where are you taking us?" Aris demanded. "And where are the others?"

The guy who seemed to be in charge pulled his mask and helmet off. He had short cut red hair and a face full of freckles.

"Name's David. And we're talking you to a safe place...as for the others? I'm only now getting reports saying WICKED infiltrated the rescue attempt. Most of the girls got out."

There was silence for a moment.

"You're saying..." Aris started, narrowing his eyes. "That WICKED snuck into your group? And you guys had no clue who they were there?"

Now that Aris said that, Jina's suspicion rose.

"Exactly what I'm saying. We'll do our best to track them down. There is also another group, a rebel group called the Right Arm, they like to disrupt anything and everything. Infiltrate and snatch kids away. But don't you worry. Right now...you three can relax. It's a long ride. We're going far away from this place. From now on...everything's going to change."

Jina glanced at Aris. I don't buy it. Something is up.

Yeah... something doesn't feel right. But what can we do?

I dunno...I really don't...and...Aris we just left Rachel.

Jina felt her chest tighten and the burning tears were back. Aris reached over and took hold of her still bloody hand. Flossie scotched closer as well. And the three of them stayed huddled together in the corner.

At some point, the swaying of the flying machine got to be too much for Jina's stomach. Her stomach twisted and turned. She could feel it drop and then it rose and then dropped again.

"I'm...going to be sick." She gaged.

Someone quickly passed a bucket over and Jina threw up. Once she was done and she leaned her head back with a groan, someone passed a bottle of meds and a water bottle over.

"Helps with motion sickness. Not everyone is a flyer..."

Jina took it. Closing her eyes her head slowly flopped onto Aris's shoulder. Jina's body was so sore and exhausted, she could hardly keep her eyes open. The three of them huddled together and slowly one by one all dozed off to the humming of the Berg.

< • >

Jina slowly came around. Her eyes fluttered open. They were still in the Berg. A few of their armed escorts were dozing off in the other corners, it was quiet, a hushed whispered conversation from the cockpit, which Jina could see from her position and the hum of the engine was the only sound. This Berg wasn't very big. But it still blew Jina's mind that it could get off the ground and stay in the air without crashing

No one seemed to take notice of the three beat, bruised and bloody kids huddled in the corner. It seemed darker in the Berg now. There were a few lights that had been flicked on. She slowly slipped out from Aris's head on her shoulder and stood on sore shaking legs. She stepped over to a small port window and looked out. The outside was dark. The sky was inky blue with bright stars. They never had a sky or stars like that in the Glenn. She stared wided eyed at them. They were so big and vast and beautiful. And real.

"We were inside the whole finchen' time!" She whispered.

The realization sent a shiver down her spine. Even with memories, she didn't know that. Her memories made no scenes. Her memories gave her a few pieces; like a few minor clues to the Maze puzzle, she had worked for the Designers... She had been best friends with Rachel and Aris, and two other faceless and nameless kids. Holding hands with someone, hugs and gentle words whispered. She had worked closely with them and under a Doctor named Leavitt. She had stolen information. A few other random memories, water, needles, and medical Labs. A cold operating room, pain coursing through her body like shock waves. Stabbing these....awful creatures with a lethal injection. But nothing about the maze being inside and fake, nothing about the Griever hole in section four. She had words to a code that the maze walls made- Tommy had been right, (Jina had been right.) - a computer to shut down Grievers- but no idea where the computer was located.

She ripped her wide eyes from the bright twinkling stars and tried to focus on the world outside as it flashed by. It now looked dead and lifeless. Except for the bright twinkling stars.

She heard footsteps and turned. "Where are we?" She asked quietly, not wanting to wake the others.

"We're getting close to the scorch." The woman answered peering out the window she had dark stringy hair, her eyes were dark and full of a heaviness that Jina understood.

Jina just blinked, she had no idea what the scorch was.

"It's like the desert." The woman answered.

Again Jina just blinked, not understanding.

The lady with long greasy hair sighed. "Come on, might as well explain it once and not three separate times." She gestured to Aris and Flossie who were clearly awake and getting up off the ground.

"Come on, sit down and I'll tell you children a story." She smiled sarcastically at them.

Jina's signature cold expression took over. Over the months of being in the Glenn, seeing the awful things the Designers did, the blood and guts, the annoying Blondies, the long exhausting days of running, she had perfected her stone cold blank stare. Sonya teased it was not just a face she made, it was now just her natural face; her RBF. She would her cheeks sometimes and whisper "fix your face Ji."

Aris and Flossie came over and each of them sat down on some crates while the woman leaned against the wall, arms folded over her bullet proof vest.

"Okay, what's going on?" Jina asked.

The woman looked over at her. Her stringy black hair clung to her face. Dark eyes full of sorrow suddenly, she looked away for a moment "That's a very long story." The woman's voice came out much kinder than a moment ago. Jina slowly exhaled.

"Please," Aris said. "Tell us something."

Aris sat hunched forwards, he looked like a shell of his former self. He was still stained with Rachel's blood. Flossie sat with her arms wrapped around herself, trying to ward off the cold and unease. They both looked beaten down and grim, bloodied, bruised and ripped clothing. They looked as bad as Jina felt.

The woman looked between the three. The three of them looked at the woman expectantly. The woman then let out a sigh.

"It'll take a while before you get your memories back, if ever...I'm no scientist, got no idea what they did to you, or how they did it."

Jina felt Aris shift. Jina's worry spiked, she didn't want them to know about her memories and the Griever poison.

"Who are they? Flossie asked, "you said wicked a lot. Are those the same letters that were stamped all over our supplies?"

"Does wicked stand for something?" Jina asked.

"It started with the sun flares," the woman said, her gaze growing distant, looking over their heads. Completely ignoring the girls questions.

"What-" Jina began, but Aris shushed her, "Just let the woman talk, Ji!"

The woman almost seemed in a trance as she spoke, never taking her eyes off an indistinct spot in the distance.

"The sun flares couldn't have been predicted. Sun flares are normal, but these were unprecedented, massive, spiking higher and higher-and once they were noticed, it was only minutes before their heat slammed into Earth. First our satellites were burned out, and thousands died instantly, millions within days, countless miles became wastelands. Then came the sickness." She paused, took a breath. "As the ecosystem fell apart, it became impossible to control the sickness. The jungles were gone, lakes dried up. Whole groups of people- dead. Then came the worst disease of all. People call it the Flare now. It's a horrible, horrible thing. Only the richest can be treated, no one can be cured."

Horror grew in Jina's already bruised and battered heart. She sat and listened as the woman continued, her eyes growing bigger with more of how horrible the world was.

"As for you, you three and your group of girls...you're just a few of millions orphaned. They tested thousands, and chose you for the big one. The ultimate test. Everything you lived through was calculated and thought through. Catalysts to study your reactions, your brain waves, your thoughts. All in an attempt to find those capable of helping us find a way to beat the Flare."

"You're...saying...were immune to this...disease?" Flossie asked with a frown. She tugged at a curl, thinking.

The woman nodded. "You were raised and have been studied for a purpose. Everyone is hoping to find a cure for the Flare."

Jina prickles at that. She was raised to be studied. She was raised to be a science experiment. She has been viewed as a test subject, a rate in a maze. She wasn't viewed as a human. Jina's jaw was clamped so tight her teeth hurt.

"What's the Flare?" Flossie asked.

The woman shuddered, getting that vacant lost look on her face.

"Most of the physical effects are caused by something else. But the contact spot starts to itch and then as it spreads, from there into the brain, dark veins show up. As it spreads, the first thing is the delusions, then animal instincts begin to overpower the human ones, anger, fear, hunger, your irrational, tired... It slowly shuts your brain down, and then the fever starts and the black goop slowly chokes you as you lose your mind. Finally it consumes you. Destroys your humanity. You're not a person any more. You're a monster. A crank. It is an awful thing. Better to die than catch it."

The woman broke her gaze into nothingness and focused on the three teens in front of her. "We won't let them do this to children."

"That's why we rescued you and are taking you somewhere safe."

Jina jumped when she heard another voice, a man beside her. Jina turned her head she was so engrossed in the story and information she didn't hear David walk up beside her. He was watching them all intently.

"Don't worry kids. You're safe now."

"Safe from who?" Jina asked. "You kept saying something about wicked. Who or what is wicked?"

The two adults eyed her up.

"You had supplies sent, did you not?" David asked.

Jina and Flossie nodded.

"And there was something stamped on them." David said, he was watching them intently, like he was waiting for the answer to click. Jina frowned, trying to figure it out.

"Ya letters. W-I-C-K-E-D." Flossie said slowly.

"And you...did you run around that maze?" The woman asked. The woman pointed to Jina.

Jina gave her a hard look. Which didn't seem to phase the woman. "Didn't you see those plaques on the walls?"

"World in catastrophe killzone experiment department. It's an acronym. Wicked. I get it." Jina said and wanted to smack herself.

"Right. They are the leading organization or government right now. Doing everything they can to find a cure to help save the world of a disease that affects more then 75% of the population."

"But don't worry. We're taking you guys somewhere safe." David said again with a sharp nod. "Everything is going to change."

"So you said." Aris said.

He nodded again, looking at Jina and Aris. "Well. We will be there in 5 minutes."

The woman and David turned and walked to the cockpit. Jina, Aris and Flossie sat reeling from the information they had just been given.

"That's a lot." Flossie finally whispered.

"Something... doesn't seem right. Something feels really... off." Aris hissed.

"What do you mean?" Flossie asked, her eyes becoming wide. "They busted us out..."

"Where are the other girls? How can THAT many wicked workers take over 30 girls without these guys knowing?"

"Maybe some girls will be wherever they're taking us?"

"Don't get your hopes up Floss. Keep your eyes open and mouth closed. I don't like it."

"Nothing in your recent memories?" Flossie asked.

Jina shook her head. "This is all brand new. And I'd like to keep that quiet for now..."

"That's so fetch." Flossie agreed gravelly.

Jina felt the Berg slowly descending. They had arrived.

< • >