"Piper. Piper, can you hear me?"

I tossed and turned at the sound of Rachel's voice, panting hard. "Rachel?" I muttered.

"Piper. Forget about me."

"What?"

"Forget about me. I'm gone now. You need to let me go."

"No. No, Rachel, I--"

"Thank you for being my friend, Piper."

Suddenly, I felt someone shake me awake. "Hey!" It was one of the men that rescued us. "We need to go right now! Come on!"

"What the--" Before I could finish my sentence, the man pulled me out of the helicopter, causing me to nearly fall into the sand below my feet. I was expecting the sun to blind me again, but I was only brought with bright lights coming from above me as it was now dark outside.

How long was I asleep?

"Cranks!" someone shouted in the distance.

"Keep moving, kids!" someone else shouted as we ran towards a building, the sound of gunshots filling our ears.

So we continued running through the sand, stumbling and tripping over our feet. After struggling for quite some time, we all made it inside, the doors closing behind us. We looked around, taking it all in, still in shock and confused. Where were we at?

I noticed that our group was a lot smaller than it was before I fell asleep. "Where's everyone else?" Aris and Cora looked at each other, then back at me. "What is it? What happened to the others?"

"They were taken to another facility while you were asleep," Cora replied. "This is the rest of us."

I looked around and felt my heart drop. Harriet, Sonya, Maeve, Lillie, Gwyneth, and Emily were not with us. I shook my head in disbelief. "No. No, they can't be gone." I looked at Aris with desperation all over my face. "Aris, please tell me they're not gone."

"They are, Piper," Aris told me. "I'm sorry."

I fought the urge to cry, shaking and clenching my fists. This wasn't happening. I just lost Rachel. I couldn't lose any more of my friends.

"So where do we go now?" Jane asked us. "Do we just wait for someone or...?"

"Okay, kids, let's go!" a soldier shouted at us, trying to get us to follow him.

I stormed up to him and lunged for his throat, anger written all over my face as he tried to hold me back. "Where are the rest of my friends?!" I shouted as Aris and the other girls succeeded at pulling me off of him. "I want my other friends back!"

"Piper, calm down!" Aris shouted.

I turned to Aris, breathing heavily. "Some of our friends aren't here with us and you and everyone else are acting so sticking calm!"

"There's nothing we can do!" Jane stepped in. "It's just us now and we're going to have to stick together!"

"She's right!" a new voice called out from behind us. We looked to see a man strolling towards us, wearing a turtleneck sweater and a jacket, looking casual. His face looked almost similar to a rat. "You kids doing okay?" Rat Man asked us.

"What does it look like to you?" I snapped.

"Piper!" Aris hissed at me.

"I understand your frustration," he replied. "Sorry about all the fuss. We had ourselves a bit of a swarm. Of course, it's common around here, but you're safe now."

"Who are you?" I asked.

Rat Man smirked a little. "I'm the reason you're all still alive and it's my intention to keep you that way."

"That doesn't answer my question," I said.

"You can call me Mr. Janson," he said. "I run this place. Now, follow me. I'm sure you kids would like to get cleaned up." Everyone obliged and began to follow him, while I reluctantly went with them.

"So what exactly is this place?" Cora spoke up.

"For us, it's a sanctuary, safe from the horrors of the outside world," Janson answered. "For you kids, it's more like a home between homes, a way station might be a better term."

"Does that mean we're going home?" Aris questioned, almost hopeful.

"Well, unfortunately, there wouldn't be much left of wherever you came from," he responded. "So we'll be taking you to a home of sorts."

"That doesn't sound very promising," I muttered.

"We have a place for you outside the Scorch," he continued. "There, WICKED will never find you again. How does that sound?"

"Again, still not promising," I mumbled. "Why are you helping us?"

"The world is not what it used to be," he said. "Because of that, we're all hanging on by a very thin thread. The fact that you all can survive the Flare makes you the key to saving humanity. However, that also makes you a target, which I'm sure you all have noticed by now." When we approached a door, Janson took out a card and swiped it, a green light popping up, letting the door slide up. He turned around and faced all of us. "This is the beginning of your new lives."

*******

The process of feeling all refreshed and new was to get a shower. We were led by people in lab coats to the showers where we were given toiletries, towels, and new clothes for us to change into once we were done. Aris was led away from us, going to the next bathroom over.

I took off all of my dirty and smelly clothes and stepped into the shower, turning on the hot water, jumping back a bit from it hitting my skin. A month in the Glen with no decent showers or hot water made me forget what either one felt like. In the showers next to me, I could hear the girls talking and laughing from their showers.

"This feels sticking good!" Cora cheered.

"I sure missed this!" Jane exclaimed.

More chattering went on as I stood under the water, letting the dirt and blood run down my body and into the drain. I closed my eyes and thought more about the ones that weren't here with us, the ones that were dead or were taken somewhere else. I wished that all of us were together right now. I hoped everyone else was okay.

I quickly washed my hair with shampoo and conditioner, then did the rest of my body. Once I was done, I turned off the water and grabbed my towel, wrapping it around my body. I stepped out and walked to the nearest mirror, looking at my reflection. At this moment, I realized that I wasn't the same person that I was a month ago. I didn't think it was possible that my short time in the Glen changed me, but given the events that occurred while I was there, it was clear that I was a new person, a person that had more anger than ever before.

I put on my new clothes along with my fellow Glenners and we were led to a lab where we had people take us to check our vitals. I sat down as a man with a syringe filled it with some red liquid, causing me to raise my eyebrows.

"You have nothing to worry about," he assured me. "This is just a cocktail of everything you've been deprived of out there. Just relax, okay?" He took my arm and wrapped a band around my elbow, making it tight for him to inject the needle into my vein. I fought the urge to cry out in pain, waiting until he was done to sigh in relief.

Once he was done, I laid back in my chair and looked at everyone else around me. Aris was sitting on a bed, swinging his legs back and forth. A dark-skinned woman came into the lab and walked towards Aris, staring at him. "You must be Aris," she said, then pulling the curtains so that neither of them were in my view.

"Piper?" a soldier said once he stood in front of me.

I looked at him, furrowing my eyebrows. "That's me."

"Come with me, please," he said.

I stood up and followed the soldier, leaving my friends behind in the lab. We went to what looked like a room for interrogation as he told me to sit down and wait for Janson to come see me. As the soldier closed the door, leaving me alone, I huffed a sigh and waited, counting the seconds to pass the time. After waiting for what felt like several minutes, the door opened.

"Thank you for seeing me, Piper," Janson said as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He pulled up a chair and looked at me. "I won't take up too much of your time."

"Why did you want to speak to me alone?" I asked.

"I'll speak to all of your friends, in case you were wondering, but you caught my interest, so I thought speaking to your first was best," he replied.

"Why is that?" I asked.

"Because you're not like your friends," he said. "You seem a bit hesitant to be here."

"Can you blame me? It's hard to trust any of you, given the circumstances." I leaned back into my chair. "What do you want to talk about?"

He slightly smirked, which creeped me out. "I just want to know something: What do you remember about WICKED?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What?"

"What do you remember about WICKED?" he repeated.

I shook my head. "Well, nothing, really, since all of my memories before the Maze are gone. I only know what Rach-- my friend told me." I felt my breath getting shaky as I caught myself from saying her name.

Janson nodded my head. "What did she tell you?"

"She told me that WICKED gave us these tests and challenges to do, then they started taking us and sending us up in the Maze while her and Aris watched us." I paused, then sighed. "That's all I know."

He sighed as well, nodding his head again. "I want you to know that what WICKED did to you and your friends was not okay. They took you from your families and swiped away your memories."

"You seem to know a lot about WICKED," I pointed out.

"It's my job to know everything," he told me. "I know that when they took you and other kids, your old names were erased and that you were given new names to go by."

I raised my eyebrows in shock. "You mean, Piper isn't my real name?"

He shook his head. "No, it's not. You see, WICKED sees you as test subjects, not humans. All they want is to find a cure for the Flare virus, and they're not afraid to put your lives at risk for the greater good of the world. You're better off here."

I folded my arms over my chest and stared at Janson. "How do you know that?"

He didn't say anything for a moment, then came up with a response. "Because I've seen the outside world, Piper. Trust me when I say you'd rather be in here than out there." He stood up, sighing. "If you need anything, please let me know. I'll have someone take you to get some food." With that, he headed for the door. As he left, a soldier came in to get me.

I stood up from my chair and followed the soldier out. As we walked towards the cafeteria for some food, I thought about what Janson told me about being here.

You're better off here.

Once I got to the cafeteria, I spotted my friends, who were chatting and laughing while stuffing food in their mouths. I went to join them, sitting beside Cora and placing food on the empty plate in front of me.

"Isn't this place great, Piper?" Cora asked me, a grin on her face.

I shook my head, snapping out of my thoughts. "What?"

"This place, isn't it great?" she repeated, stuffing food in her mouth.

"Oh." I shrugged my shoulders. "I mean, it's okay, but there's something off about it, though."

The others stopped talking and furrowed their eyebrows at me. "What do you mean?" Jane questioned.

"I mean, what if Janson isn't who he says he is?"

"What if you're just being paranoid?" Jane retorted.

"Jane, how do we know that we can trust these people?" I asked her.

"Because they rescued us from WICKED, that's why," she snapped. "These people gave us warm water for showers, clean clothes, and even actual food to eat, food that is pretty good compared to the stuff we ate in the Glen. For two sticking years, no one here had any of this stuff. Of course, I wouldn't expect you to understand."

I raised my eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you have no idea what it was like being in the Glen for so long," a Glenner next to Jane spoke up, one I didn't know very well. "You were only there for a month, so you don't get how much having all of this means to us."

Reluctantly, I sighed, not feeling up to arguing, letting the others get back to eating. I looked around and noticed that someone was missing from our group. "Where's Aris?"

"Your boyfriend is still with those doctors or scientists or whatever they are," Jane replied, not looking up at me.

I rolled my eyes. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Whatever," Jane said.

Still confused, I resisted the urge to go find him. I knew that walking around this place was not an option for me. I remained in my seat and ate as much as I could in silence. Then, a couple of soldiers led us out of the cafeteria and to our room. Inside, there were bunk beds, where the girls fought over the top and bottom bunks. I took the last bottom bunk, sitting down on the bed as the soldiers left and closed the doors behind them.

"Well, we better get to bed, then," Cora stated.

"I've missed this for sure," Jane added.

And so as the lights went out, we all got under the covers and did our best to go to sleep. However, I found myself staring up at the bed above me, wondering if we really were better off here.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Hey, first chapter of the second book!

So since I am done with school, I will be focusing on writing! I'm so excited that I can start posting this! I can't wait for you all to read what I have planned for this story!

So today is Caitlin Stasey's birthday, who portrays Piper. She's 28 today! She was always my first choice for Piper!

Song above is You There by Aquilo.

Comment, vote, more to come soon!

-A