Down in their hideout, Edward was slowly beginning to wake up. He grunted. "Ow, my head," 

"Take it easy Eddie," Chuck said. 

"Ah, Chuck, you're okay," Edward was relieved. He sat up straight and was met with the relieved smiles of Teresa and Aris. "Thanks, guys,"

"We wouldn't leave you behind," Teresa smiled warmly.

Edward smiled back.

"You feeling okay?" Aris asked.

"Fine. My head just really aches and my body feels like I can't move it a lot," he groaned. "Where are we?"

"We're sort of..." Aris peered around a bit. "Underground,"

"'Underground'?" Edward repeated. "Wait, Thomas. Where's Thomas?" 

Teresa and Aris shared nervous glances. 

"Where's my brother?!"

"We don't know," Aris said. "We couldn't see him and everyone else after the lightning struck between us. The storm got worse and we had to take shelter. We saw the hatch up that ladder and we climbed down,"

"Well then let's get out of here," he said.

Chuck started climbing up to the hatch. He tried to push it. "Uh, guys. We got a problem. It's stuck. I'm afraid we're stuck down here,"

"What?!" Instantly Edward stood up and he climbed uptown to join him. he tried to push it but true to Chuck's words, the door wouldn't budge. "Dang it!" he cursed, bashing his hand against the hatch door. 

"I'm sorry Edward," Aris apologised.

Edward slid down the ladder and Chuck joined him, hugging him to comfort him. 

"What do we do now?" Chuck asked.

The three older teens didn't have any ideas. Edward took a torch from Aris and he scanned the tunnels on either side. They were dark and dusty. "Looks like our best chance is to follow those tunnels,"

"But we don't even know what's through there," Aris argued.

"We don't have a choice," Teresa supported Edward. "It's our only chance,"

"I hope we find the others soon," Edward prayed. He was scared for Thomas. He hoped he was alright. He was the only face he remembered before the lightning struck between them. Reluctantly they walked slowly through the tunnels, Edward led the way. Chuck was behind them, then Teresa and finally Aris. Edward kept his torch high up to laminate the way. Aris took slow glances backwards to make sure nothing was behind them. 

            .........................................................................................................

The boys followed Jorge into his compound. Numbers of men were sitting everywhere. They looked cranky. Thomas felt discomfortable. Though he couldn't see too clearly, their aggravating nature seemed to make him unsettled. Newt helped him up some stairs into an office. 

Jorge and Brenda turned to him. "Sit,"

Newt slowly guided Thomas to sit down. 

"Let's see," Jorge sat down and observed him. "Meer. Shouldn't be too hard to fix," he pulled out a box.

"What are you going to do?" Newt demanded.

"I'm just going to wrap some bandages around his eyes. Then once I remove them, his sight should start returning to normal," Jorge pulled out bandages from his box. "Close your eyes very tightly," 

Thomas scrunched them. The boys watched closely as Jorge wrapped them around his face so they covered his eyes. They waited for a long while whilst keeping a strong firm eye on Jorge at all times. He then instructed Thomas to keep his eyes shut whilst he removed the bandages. Thomas's eyes remained closed but not as tightly. 

"Open them slowly," Jorge instructed.

Thomas opened them slowly. He saw a clear visible image of Jorge in front of him. He then turned and saw a relieved Newt smiling too. He turned to Jorge. "Thanks,"

Jorge suddenly clicked his fingers. Instantly two men grabbed Newt and pulled him away from Thomas.

"Hey, what are you?" Thomas tried to move and help his friend but he was shoved down in his seat. Brenda came over and pressed his neck down.

"Get off him!" Newt shouted.

The others tried to come over and help them but they were strained. 

"Relax. I'm not gonna hurt him," Brenda's device scanned the tattoo on Thomas's neck. The screen described him as Subject A2, his original name being Stephen and the title - The Junior Scientist. 

"Just as I suspected," Jorge said amusedly. "Let go Brenda," 

Brenda and the men let go of Thomas and he instantly rushed over to Newt and the other boys. 

"You're property of WICKED," he eyed Thomas carefully. 

"He isn't anyone's property," Newt snapped defensively.  

"The tags say otherwise," he said. He clicked his fingers again. Instantly the men all left. Thomas heard the door locking behind them. "If Thomas here belongs to WICKED, then you all do too. I'm quite surprised to see such a large number of boys out here in the Scorch all alone. It must have taken you all a long journey to make it this far,"

"What do you want?" Minho demanded. 

"Here's the thing. My men want to sell you guys back to WICKED, but this is what I think. You guys are our ticket,"

"Ticket to what?" Thomas asked.

"Those people you're looking for...I strongly think they are taking kids to the Safe Haven, a place that is safe from Cranks, the Sun and WICKED. And above all, they have resources which can save. You see we aren't immune to the Flare which is consuming our planet. We haven't been infected but we will be if we get infected by a Crank,"

The news unsettled the boys. 

"So I'm proposing a deal. You agree to let us come with you, I can provide safe passage and help you guys get to wherever you need to go. There's more danger out there than just those Cranks and you've just experienced,"

The boys were unsure. Minho however was not going to agree. "No way are we trusting you. And if you and this girl can get infected, you can infect us,"

"You will call Brenda by her name," Jorge warned. 

 "We've lost enough boys as it is,"

"I healed Thomas's eyes didn't I?" he challenged.

"And now you're blackmailing us by threatening to return us to WICKED,"

"I would be careful what words you'd use next,"

Minho kept his mouth shut. 

"So what do you say, Thomas?" Jorge offered, speaking directly to him because he seemed like he was the leader of the boys. Thomas was unsure. 

"We are not doing it," Minho hissed in his ear. "You can't be serious," 

"It doesn't seem like you have much of a choice," Jorge said carefully. Though he didn't sound like he was seething, his tone made Thomas unsettled like back in that awful room in front of Janson. 

Thomas wanted to refuse but once again his mind bounced back to his brother. He remembered how scared he was that Edward and the others were still out there with no idea where they were. "If you help us find my brother and friends, we'll let you come with us,"

"Thomas, what are you doing?" Minho hissed.

"Deal," Jorge approved.

"Tommy, are you serious?" Newt berated.

"We need to find Edward and the others. And we can't do this by ourselves," Thomas argued. "You would do the same for your sibling," 

"It seems we are settled then," Jorge finished the conversation. 

                 .............................................................................................................................

Edward and his group had stalked through the tunnels. Every time they came to a split in the corridors, they chose to go forward but still, they failed to find a hatch that could take them back up to the surface.

Every minute, Edward worried for his brother. 

"It's like a maze down here," Chuck said. "Only darker and underground,"

"They seem to go on for miles," Aris complained. As they observed their surroundings, they saw scattered items and supplies. "Looks like we're not the only ways who came across these tunnels,"

"The solar storms must have forced everyone underground," Edward observed. "I just hope the others are safe,"

"Don't worry Ed. We'll find them," Teresa promised. 

"I hope that WICKED helicopters aren't approaching this place,"

"They would dare to cross the desert plains," As she spoke, the sound of spinning helicopter blades echoed above their heads. Though the concrete ceilings above their heads were thick, they didn't block out the loud noises from above. 

"Oh no," Edward breathed. "WICKED's here. And the others are still up there,"

"There's nothing we can do for them," Teresa sadly said. "We're stuck down here until we find a way out," 

A scared Chuck hugged Edward and he rubbed his back in comfort. 

"Our best chance is to keep looking for a way out," Aris tried to sound motivating but his efforts were ineffective. 

            .....................................................................................................................................

The Gladers and Jorge and Brenda heard the choppers outside. 

"Oh no," Thomas breathed. "It's WICKED,"

"Don't worry. I've got this under control," Jorge assured.

"How do we know you didn't call them here?" Minho challenged.

"If I had, they'd be arriving later. Now come on. No time for questions," he started packing revolvers in his coat pockets. "Follow us," 

He and Brenda pushed the door open but the boys were reluctant to follow.

An angry Jorge turned to them. "Are you coming or not? Don't you want to find your friends?"

The boys turned to Thomas, to his leadership. With his brother on his mind, he followed after the non-immunes and the others trailed behind him. As they rushed across the metal bridges of the second level, they saw numbers of soldiers in black, masked and armed with electric guns. Numbers of non-immunes down below were stunned, struck down. 

"Come on," Jorge urged. They made it across to a platform where a large open window awaited with a zip-line attached to the top. Attached to the wire were long hoisters made of rags. "One at a time. Come on," 

"You sure this will hold?" Thomas asked.

"Course it will," Jorge said. "Now come on,"

"What about the men down there?" Newt demanded.

"Got it covered," Jorge held up a remote. "One press. And boom! Now go! We don't have time for this!"

"You'd better keep your word!" Thomas warned.

"As if I wouldn't. Now off you go!"

"You go first Thomas," Newt urged. "WICKED wants you for your memories,"

"But..."

"Just go,"

Thomas huffed and grabbed the first rag hoister to swing across on. He looked outside the window and saw only a twenty feet drop down and it would mean landing in a large pile of stone debris. He looked ahead and saw the end of the zip-line. He could do it. With a great leap of faith he jumped. Feeling the air in his face and the helicopter blades spinning, he kept a firm hold onto the hoister. He felt his feet slam against the stone platform under the end of the zip-line and he stumbled onto his knees, panting. 

He stood up and looked back across. "I'm across!"

Newt was the next one. Thomas eyed him as he zip-lined across to him. He stood at the end to catch him in case he had an uneasy landing like him. Newt reached the end and as he lost his balance landing, Thomas caught him on his feet and helped him up. As Newt looked into his eyes, for a moment it seemed like it was just them in their moment. 

But the shouts of Jorge on the far end to move back made them move back. Minho came across next. Then Frypan. All fifteen boys reached them. Finally, Jorge and Brenda reached the end. Just as Brenda reached them, they felt the blaze of a light shining down on them. 

Half-blinking, Thomas saw that one of the chopper's searchlights had reached them. "Anytime now Jorge!"

Jorge pressed the button and they heard a massive boom! The warehouse exploded, crumbling to bits. The choppers were disturbed by the ignition that the group of men and boys save one girl felt the light pull away from them.  

"Come on! Let's go!" Jorge shouted.

Quickly the boys followed him and Brenda down some abandoned stairs to the bottom floor but Thomas could hear the choppers closing in above them. "They're coming!" 

"Over there!" Brenda rushed over to a panel on the floor. "Help me lift this!"

"What is that?" Minho demanded.

"That'll take us to the tunnels underground. That's probably where your brother is Thomas,"

Thomas was full of hope. Brenda opened it and descended the ladder. All of a sudden, they heard the banging of bullets and a rock shower rained upon them from the ceiling. 

"Incoming!" Thomas sheltered Newt from some falling pebbles, getting bad bruises. 

"Everyone! Get into the tunnel!" Jorge ordered. But before he could join the girl, some large rocks crashed in front of him burying the entrance and trapping Brenda inside. "Brenda!" he cried, crawling over. "Brenda!"

Thomas pulled him away. "We've got to go! We can't pull them away in time!"

"I won't leave her behind!"

Thomas slapped him in the face. "We don't have time for arguments! Either we go now or get captured!"

Jorge tried to move away again but Thomas kept a strong grip on his coat collar. "Fine," he spat. He pushed Thomas away into Newt's protective arms. More rock started falling above them. 

"Everybody run!" Newt shouted. 

"This way!" Thomas pulled Newt by the hand and everyone followed after them out into the open. 

"Up those hills!" Jorge ordered, pointing towards the mountains ahead of them, the ones the boys saw earlier before the lightning storm. "Behind the boulders!" He ushered them to hide at the foot of the mountains. They hid and pressed their bodies together to keep still and quiet. Once again Thomas and Newt were right next to each other. They gave each other nervous glances before keeping silent like everyone else. 

They felt the dust flowing over their heads as the choppers closed in on them. They could feel the blazes of light from their search lamps searching for them. They kept very quiet. For five long minutes, they did nothing but hold their breaths as their heart rates accelerated. The buzzing of the choppers then grew quiet as they retreated further away into the Scorch. Jorge looked over and saw them disappear. "Clear. Time to head towards the Crank cities,"

"Woah. Woah. We are not going to any Crank City," Thomas opposed. "You said you were gonna help us find our friends,"

"And we don't want to get infected," Newt said. 

"There are crazy people yes. But not crazy enough to be called Cranks,"

"Then why'd you call them that?"

"Because one day they will. Doesn't mean we'll get infected,'

"But what about my brother?" Thomas opposed.

"Brenda got trapped in the tunnels built during the Solar Storms. She may yet find your brother and whoever's missing from your party and if she does, she'll take them to where we're heading," 

The boys did nothing but glare at him.

"I'm getting tired of this treatment. I saved your life and I healed your friend's eyes. Give me some credit. Now hop to it," he started hiking up the mountain. "I suggest you get yourselves going if you don't wanna have to do this during the daytime,"

Thomas eyed him carefully; he still felt he couldn't really trust him. But what choice did he have really? He was the first boy to follow after him. He looked back and he saw a faithful Newt behind him. He smiled a bit. Then Minho came next. And Frypan. The same order of boys from the zip-line paced after him and followed their guide. 

That's another chapter done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Get ready for Brenda meeting Edward and boy wait till you all see Teresa's reaction. See you all soon.