Brenda had guided the others safely through the tunnel but still, they remained trapped between walls of stone. 

Teresa was not happy. "I knew we shouldn't have come this way!"

Edward huffed. "Teresa, will you just lighten up?"

She was appalled at his reaction. "'Lighten up'? We're trusting her and she's led us astray!"

"She's only trying to help us," defended Chuck. 

"Thank you kid," Brenda answered gratefully. "At least he and Edward and that Aris kid see what my intentions are,"

Teresa growled. 

"Why don't we just stop for a moment and rest and calm down?" Aris suggested.

"I think that's a good idea," agreed Edward.

"Okay. But we can't stay long," Brenda led them over to flat space and all except her sat down to relax their limbs. The boys glared at Teresa. 

"What?" she snapped.

"Teresa...will you please try to understand that Brenda is just trying to help us?" Edward tried to be as gentle as he could but Teresa remained hot-tempered much to his annoyance; it was almost like she was jealous. 

"How do we know she's not just using us for her intentions?"

"Come on. That's a bit harsh," Aris tried to be gentle but his words were irritating Teresa. 

"Guys please can we not fight?" begged Chuck. 

"Chuck's right. We're all just tired. It's been a long day. And a good rest is what we need," Edward said. 

"Fine. While you three sit and relax, I'm going to scout ahead," Teresa shot up and before they could stop her, she stalked off.

"Teresa wait!" Edward shouted. "We have to stick together!"

But Teresa ignored him and disappeared around the corner. He huffed in anger. But he calmed his mind and closed his eyes. He tried to talk to Teresa in his mind but it was cut off on the other side, on purpose. Teresa did not want to talk to him. He sighed. He turned back to his friends. "Was it something I said?"

"Don't say that Eddie," Chuck comforted.

"That's just her acting up," Aris said. "Just give her some time to cool off,"

"What's her problem anyway?" Brenda said irritably, still standing against the wall. "Anger issues? Trust issues?"

Edward stood up and walked over to her. "She's just must worn out from all this walking. We all are. Don't let her get to you. I'm sorry that..."

"No. It's fine," Brenda interjected. "I'm used to this treatment. And I've dealt with worse. Thank you by the way,"

"For what?"

"For sticking up for me,"

"It was nothing. We owe you that. You're taking us to our friends so we might as try to get along,"

Brenda chuckled a bit. 

"What happened to your parents?" Edward asked.

Brenda hung her head down and pursed her lips. "My mum died because of the Flare. WICKED wanted me and my brother. They tried to take us but my dad wouldn't let them. They then shot him and they took us to one of their camps," 

"I'm so sorry," apologised Edward. 

"What about you Ed?"

"I don't remember much,"

"Oh right. Your memories were taken away,"

"I do remember some things. I remember my mother and how she used to hold me and my brother. And my real name isn't Edward. It's Daniel,"

"It's hard for WICKED to take away your real identity," Brenda said. "It's like they expect you to forget everything about your old life,"

"What happened to your brother? Is he not with Jorge?"

Brenda sighed sadly. "I don't where he is. WICKED wanted him for their experiments. They took him away," a tear fell down her cheek. "They didn't even let me say goodbye," she sniffled. 

Edward immediately regretted asking that question. "I'm so sorry. I can't imagine if I was taken from my brother,"

Brenda shed a tear of happiness. "You guys are so lucky that you got stuck together," 

 "Don't give up. He could still be alive. Maybe the Right Arm might have rescued him," Edward tried to keep her spirits high but it was having little success. 

"I admire how you try to remain strong Ed but there are times when you can't keep people's spirits motivated all the time," Brenda said regrettably. 

"It doesn't hurt to try. What's his name?"

Brenda smiled a little with wet eyes. "George,"

The moment she said 'George', Edward instantly felt the weight of guilt crashing down on his shoulders again. All the positive energy inside him cracked like thin useless glass and he felt all the words that he had spoken to Brenda crushing his mind as if to hurt him on purpose. 

Brenda noticed how unsettled he was feeling. "You know him?"

Edward couldn't speak. He couldn't tell her that her brother was dead and buried in the Glade where he had seen his grave and learnt how his creations killed him. He kept silent but he felt the pressure of Brenda's eyes burning his vision. Before he could even speak a single word, the screams of Teresa rung their eardrums. 

They turned and saw Teresa sprinting towards them down the dark tunnel. Aris and Chuck stood up too. 

"Cranks!" she shouted. "Cranks!" 

"Ranks?" Edward misheard.

"No! Cranks!" Chuck screamed. 

Edward was alarmed to see numbers of Cranks right behind Teresa. They were savage and hungry for human flesh. "Everyone run!"

They sprinted down the passageway. Chuck wasn't as fast so Edward kept a firm grip on his hand keeping him at the pace. The Cranks gained at them at a tremendous speed. They tried to gain speed but lack of food slowed them and so did tiredness. 

Edward felt like he would collapse at any moment. Running underground with no edible necessities was nothing like running in a maze. Just when he felt he was going to collapse and die from stampeding savage Cranks, he saw hope ahead. "Look ahead light!"

Ahead of them, they saw powerful streams of light stretching out into the tunnel, lighting up the way as if to draw them to its safety. 

"Come on! We can 

"Woah! Woah!" Edward quickly grabbed Brenda and pulled her back before she could fall. She clasped onto her arm afraid of letting go. She looked into her rescuer's eyes. "Thank you," she breathed, still freaked out from nearly falling.

"You're welcome," he answered looking at her. He let go feeling unexpectantly awkward. 

Teresa nearby looked at them with a hard stare. Edward didn't notice but Brenda did and just glared back. They looked out and they saw above the dried-out ravine of rocky debris, they could see two buildings fallen against one another. 

Teresa turned around and saw the Cranks. "They're still coming!" 

The screams of anger drew closer as the Cranks were becoming colour-visible in the light that was stretching in. 

"What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?" Chuck panicked.

Aris peered around. Then he saw a solution. "Up there! Hurry!" 

They followed him up on some stone rubble that led up towards a collapsed building right between a  canyon. It was quite a climb but they had to be careful which rocks to climb up. Edward looked behind and saw some Cranks toppling over the edge but the others saw them and roared and pursed. "Quickly! Quickly!" 

He stayed at the back so he could help Chuck climb up in front of him. Brenda was once again at the front much to Teresa's chagrin. They climbed up the rocks but the Cranks were quite fast climbers. They made it to the bottom of the tilted building and squeezed through a tight space between some massive bounders. They climbed up avoiding the giant glass panels, cracked and fragile, prone to break if anything fell on them. 

Chuck struggled to climb up a steep slab of rock; he slipped. 

"Chuck!" Edward caught him by the hand. "I've got you!"

Teresa looked down at them. "Guys behind you!"

Two Cranks were closing up at the two boys far behind everyone else. 

Brenda saw an old fridge. "Duck guys!"

Edward looked up and saw her kick a bridge. Quickly he hugged Chuck and he ducked his head. The fridge rumbled over them and crashed into the Cranks saving them. The monsters crashed through a window pane. But more Cranks kept coming. 

"Edward!" Teresa cried, reaching down her hand. 

"Chuck! I'm gonna push you up okay?" Edward did his best to sound motivating. 

Chuck nodded.

He climbed up a bit and Edward pushed him up from behind and he grabbed Aris and Teresa's outstretched hands. They pulled him then they reached down and heaved Edward up. Brenda led them up levels of cranky stairs with broken rails. Edward peered down and saw the Cranks leap up level by level. 

"Are you kidding me?" he cursed.

"That is so unpredictable," Aris screamed out. Suddenly a Crank landed right next to him on the rail. It bit but he fell back. Quickly Edward kicked it in the stomach and it fell to the bottom.

"Thanks," Aris quickly thanked. They managed to run faster, their adrenaline pumping their bodies harder, when Brenda turned a corner, grabbed a rail to get up a steep step when it broke and she fell through a door on the floor and she fell right not the room behind it.

"Brenda!" Edward cried. He and the other looked through and watched her land against a floor of windows, cracking it slightly. 

"Are you okay?"

Brenda moved slowly. "Yeah," she panted. 

Edward could just distantly hear the Cranks far below; they were not giving up. "Okay, you three stay here. I'm gonna get Brenda,"

"What no! You can't get her by yourself," Teresa rebuffed.

"If more than one of us comes down we could all get killed. That glass won't hold us all. I'll be fine," Edward said. "If the Cranks come, leave without us," 

He carefully stepped down towards Brenda and began to slide his way door against the metal surface. "Just hang on Brenda. I'm coming down," He watched Brenda as she pressed her hand against the glass pane. It cracked. "No Brenda! Don't move! Don't move!" 

Brenda ignored him and stood up very, very slowly. The cracks remained transparent. Once he was further down, he reached down his hand. "Just grab on. Grab on,"

Brenda reached over and he grabbed her hand. He pulled her uptown support lodged not the metal and she grabbed it giving him a warm express. They then started climbing up together. Teresa and Aris reached down to try and grab their hands. Suddenly Chuck screamed as a Crank roared and leapt towards them. He fell back into Teresa and Aris and then everyone fell back onto the glass, toppling on one another. The glass was breaking fast. 

"Guys get off! The glass is gonna break!" Edward shouted. Quickly the others started scrambling off, grabbing pieces of metal to cling onto before the glass would break but the Crank fell right on top of Brenda. They crashed right through but Edward caught Brenda's hand at the last second. He felt Teresa's arms around his waist as he watched the monster through the broken pane falling to his death in the messy craves below. 

Brenda clung on tight looking up at Edward. 

"Gotcha," he panted. He didn't take notice of Teresa clinging to him, it hurt her a bit. 

Together they managed to climb out of the room and to their luck, there were no more Cranks; once again they had narrowly escaped. They found some good stairs right outside the windows and they climbed down to the ground below. 

Brenda walked next to Edward and looked at him earning his glance. "Thank you. For saving my life twice,"

"No problem," he said. 

"But why did you do that? You could have died trying to save me," 

"No one gets left behind," Edward said boldly. "Something I've always kept in my mind since I first ran in that maze. It didn't feel right to leave you behind," He remembered his adventures back in the Maze with Alby, when he and Thomas risked their lives to save him and how they had risked everything to free their friends from their prison. 

"You are your brother's brother," Brenda said admirably. "Only just met you and I see how much you and he are alike,"

"Thanks," 

During their chat, Teresa eyed them coldly. Aris and Chuck noticed.

Chuck had never seen envy evident on anyone's face before. He looked over at Edward having a friendly conversation with Brenda. He wondered if he was entering a sort of love triangle. 

The group hiked up the mounds of dust and dirt into another district of ruined buildings. 

"Are we getting close to where we'll meet the others?" Aris asked.

"Not exactly. The Crank City is still at least a day's journey away. But don't worry Jorge will meet us there with your friends," promised Brenda. 

Edward didn't like that he still had a day until he would see his brother again but he remained relieved that he would be seeing him soon. As they walked along the ruined paths, they kept a firm eye out for WICKED choppers or any Cranks attacking from any hiding spots. No one felt like talking. After everything they had just been through, they just wanted their minds to relax in peace. 

After an hour of walking, they sat down taking short sips of whatever water they had left. Since Brenda didn't have any, Edward kindly offered some of his. 

"Thanks," she said. She took a sip and then handed it back to him.

"You're welcome. I hope we get to this city we'll find more water and food,"

"Don't worry. The Marcus chap that Jorge's looking for will have plenty,"

"Just as long as he's not going to disrupt anything," Teresa said a little hot-tempered. 

Edward frowned at her again. 

"What?" she scoffed and stormed off. 

"Teresa! Wait!" Edward rushed after her as she started walking off behind a pile of rocks. "Will you please just calm down?"

"'Calm down?!'" Teresa flashed her face at him. "Ever since we met Brenda, you've slighted my warnings," She didn't want to argue in her mind. She wanted to argue verbally with her puffed-up lips moving so Edward could truly see how irritated she was. 

"No, I haven't. You've just been a little overreactive," 

"'Overreactive'? Edward, I've only been trying to keep you alive, especially because you..."

"Because I what?" he snapped.

"You mean...a lot to me. We were close ever since we were children before the Maze. We've always had each other's back. I just...want to keep you safe,"

For some reason, Edward truly wanted to believe everything Teresa was speaking from her heart. But her breaking words made him uncertain. Once again it seemed like she was hiding something. He didn't know how to ask her what she didn't tell him earlier but the heat between them made him freeze. 

Teresa was about to speak again but her eyes tilted left. Edward twisted his head and he saw two girls standing on a hill of debris, glaring down at them. One of them had long hair, some colours of Newt. The other had long dreadlocks of the dark. 

Hearing shuffling they twisted their heads and saw girls surrounding them. They walked down towards them. They wore ragged clothes like the gladers and carried rucksacks, probably full of food and water. 

"Easy..." Edward did his best to be calm. He didn't know if those girls were non-immunes. "We mean you no harm,"

The black and blond girl approached them wearily. 

"Were you sent by WICKED to join us?" the black girl asked. 

"No. We escaped WICKED," Edward answered. 

"What are you doing out here in the Scorch Trials?" the blond girl asked.

"'Scorch trials'?" Edward asked. 

"This is another set of WICKED trials,"

"No way," Edward refused. "They would never send children out here to die,"

"If you're denying it then perhaps you are with WICKED and you're trying to fool us," the black girl said sinisterly. 

"No. No," Edward shook his head but the girls began closing in on them. 

"Edward! Teresa!" the voices of Chuck, Aris and Brenda rung their eardrums. The audience turned to see them running forward.

"You stay away from them!" Chuck bellowed holding up a knife. 

When the two leaders set their eyes on Aris, they stiffened. "Aris?" The black girl asked. 

Aris was shocked. "Oh my god. Harriet," 

Instantly the girl rushed over and pulled him into his arms. "What the hell are you doing here?" he cupped his cheeks and cried out joyfully.

Aris was breathing happily, turning away from Harriet to the blond girl. "Sonya!"

The girl with her blonde hair tied in a plait embraced him tightly. "Oh Aris, thank goodness you're safe," She let go and Aris gazed at his two friends.  

"You know them?" Edward asked.

"These are all the girls I was in our Maze with," Aris said. 

"So this is Group B," Teresa said.

Edward shot a surprised glance at her. "You know about them?"

Before Teresa could talk up, Harriet started talking over to Edward. "Seems like we were wrong. Apologies for the reaction,"

"No apology is needed," Edward shrugged. "It's hard to trust strangers sometimes after what WICKED does,"

"What happened to you, Aris?" Sonya asked.

"I met Edward at the compound I was taken to. We discovered bodies and we escaped hoping we could find this group called the Right Arm. If we hadn't left we would have been sent to another set of Trials like you guys or be tubed up," 

"But we are in the Trials," Harriet said gravely. 

Aris was shocked. 

"What?"

"When we were taken away from you, we were left here in the desert. We've been scavenging for days across the wasteland trying to reach the endpoint where it's completely,"

Edward gawked at them. He thought they were crazy before but now that they were speaking truthfully to the friend they shared he was flabbergasted. "You mean this entire wasteland is a test? And WICKED is monitoring everything?"

The looks in the girls' eyes said 'yes'.  He struggled to breathe. "No. No. No," 

Chuck came over to try and consul him. "Eddie..."

"Thomas and the others are still out there! And they have no idea that we are in a set of trials set up by that Stupid WICKED,"

"Edward just calms down," Brenda tried to soothe. "Everything's going to be okay?" 

Edward suddenly glared at her. "Are you part of these trials? Is Jorge? Do you both work for WICKED?"

"No! We're not!" Brenda retorted back, shocked at his accusation. "We know nothing about this scorching land being used in WICKED's stupid trials. And why in the world do I work with the same people who took my brother from me? Who took me away from my home?" she angrily marched off. 

Instantly Edward felt regretful. "Brenda! Wait! Please!"

But she walked a good distance away out of ear reach. He sighed, cursing himself. 

"Girls, in the mountains there is a group known as the Right Arm. They're against WICKED. They can help us,"

The girls remained uncertain.

"Where is the end point where you're expected to finish?" Edward asked.

"At the very edge of the desert near the Crank City,"

Edward breathed. "Oh. The guys will be heading there. They have no idea what they're walking into. We've got to find them quickly!"

Aris nodded. "Will you all join us?"

"Yes," Harriet nodded. All the girls agreed. All at once, they started walking together as a large group through the decimated city. Brenda kept her distance. Edward always had his glues to his. Half his mind was crushed with guilty for narrow-mindedly accusing her; he felt like he had acted like Teresa. The other half was plaguing him with fear. He had never been more scared in his life than he did for Thomas now. He prayed he remained safe with everyone else. 

Teresa once again felt red watching him hold eyes on the short-haired girl during the walk. She didn't talk to him in his mind; she had a dark feeling he would block her off. 

Another chapter is done. What did you all think? It seems like Teresa is getting very jealous of Brenda. Ooo a love triangle is brewing. How dramatic might this get? We'll have to wait and find out.