the scorch trials
chapter five

❛❛ they lied to us, we never escaped ❜❜

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The Gladers and the two Icers have been running through the sand storm for minutes, they got further from the WCKD compound, the sounds of the motors were drawing close. The sandstorm covered their prints in just seconds, making the security to lose track on the teenagers as they blindly drove around the field of desert.

The teens were hiding up a hill, crawling on their belly as they watched the security scattering around the field. "We need to keep moving" Teo implied.

"Okay, everybody, go" Thomas kept his head down as he moved, "Stay low"

They kept themselves low as they all scrambled back and continue running ahead. The wind was slightly brisk and strong, sands itched Poe's arms, he wasn't wearing socks or shoes, the pants he was wearing were mixed of silk and fabric, all light grey and his muscle shirt was green.

Teresa was running ahead of the Gladers and Icers. The moonlight illuminated the land, they could see a large building ahead, they could tell by it's silhouette shape and Teresa was running towards it. "Teresa, hang on!" Thomas shouted, "Stay together!"

"I think we lost them!" Aris shouted from behind the Gladers.

They ran down the hill, the large building was half buried by sand, Teresa was slowing down when she reached the building. "Where are we even going?!" Nico blurted over the winds howling.

Teresa and Thomas found the way in into the building through the broken window. They all stopped in front of the hole and were all reluctant to go in until Teresa went in, "Come on!"

"Teresa, wait!" Poe called, he looked closely into the dark building as he saw Teresa disappearing into the darkness.

"Get down here!" Her voice echoed within the building. The Gladers and the Icers went inside.

Poe was sliding down the steep hill of sand and found himself beside Teresa. They looked around but it was all too dark to see. "Anyone got a light?" He asked the Gladers.

Minho slipped his pack off and reached around in his pack until his hand found the flashlight. He beamed the light all over the pitch black in front of them, Poe couldn't tell where they were, it looked to be it used to be a store, there was more ahead. "Where the hell are we?" Minho beamed his light around.

"We gotta go" Thomas gestured them to keep going.

But no one moved as Teresa protested, "No—"

"We gotta keep moving—"

"Thomas, stop!" Teresa demanded. Thomas had stopped and turned to the Gladers. Poe was supposed to go into a procedure where he'd get his memories back, Poe could barely remember while he was half sedated and all he remembered was the disorientation and the confusion. "Tell me what's going on" Teresa wasn't aware that it's WICKED all along. Newt explained to Poe what happened and why they left the place so sudden.

"It's WICKED" Thomas answered. "They lied to us. We never escaped. Me and them—" he gestured Aris and Leigh who were standing together, "we found the bodies. Too many to count"

Poe wondered what would've happened if the Gladers never decided to rescue him. He wondered if Janson was lying or telling the truth about getting his memories. "What do you mean?" Minho questioned, "Dead bodies?"

"No, but they weren't alive either" Thomas added, "they had them strung up. With tubes coming out of them. They were being drained. There's something inside of us that WICKED wants. Something in our blood. So we have to get as far away from them as possible"

No one responded. Poe really did fell into Janson's lies, how he told Poe he has the information about WICKED, help him into taking them down, but the rat man was actually part of WICKED. He only lied to persuade the boy into agreeing to go into the procedure.

"Okay" Newt sighed, "So, what's the plan?... you do have a plan, right?"

"Yeah" Thomas sharply breathed out, "I don't know"

"Well, we followed you out here, Thomas and now you're saying that you have no idea where we're going or what we're doing"

Thomas didn't respond, the rest of the Gladers expressed disappointment and growing frustration. "Wait—" Aris started, "Janson said something about the people hiding in the mountains. Some kind of resistance or army"

"The Right Arm" said Leigh, "they're against WICKED, aren't they? Maybe they can help us"

"People" Newt has a tone of doubt, "in the mountains. Mountain people?"

He was looking at the dark blonde girl. She shrugged in response, "What other choice do we have?"

Poe sighed, "It's better than nothing" he said.

The silence could be the response that they agree and that the girl was right. "Hey, guys" Winston called from ahead. They found him on his knee as if he was examining the floor, "Check this out. Minho, give me a light" They all approached Winston and they all gathered closely behind the Slicer. They all glanced down at what he was looking at. Winston gestured the ground, Minho beamed the light on the sand-covering the entire floor. There are prints, shoe prints. "Someone's been down here"

Minho flashed the light ahead following the prints and they were all going ahead. Who knows how long these prints have been here, the storm's winds could've entered the building from where they came in from and covered the prints, wouldn't they? Or not. If the winds manage to reach this far.

They followed the prints further into the building. Poe's feet were beginning to ache as he kept on stepping on tiny debris, he watched where he stepped because there were glass on the sides. The place had many mini stores, once they were stores, this place used to be a mall. Every store they checked, they were all empty and in wreck, they weren't worth of exploring.

Minho found one that was closed, he called the nearest person to help and Teo was closest and he helped Minho to pull the door up. Inside, there were blue jugs with tubes, there could be water and food they might need to pack. It look like someone had lived here not a while ago. Frypan turned a lamp that he found on the table nearby.

"Poe" Teresa called softly, he turned to her, she reached a small flashlight to him which he took.

"Thanks" Poe beamed the light around the room, he found a pile of clothing on the floor.

"Looks like people lived here" said Anton.

"Where are they now?" Newt wondered.

Thomas flapped a jacket to shake the dust off before putting it on, "Let's pack some of this stuff up. Anything you think you might need. We'll split up, see what else we can find. Meet back here" Thomas left the room with Minho.

Soon, Winston and Teo left after they found coats to wear as Jack and Nico followed them. Frypan, Newt and Anton found canteens to fill up with water from the jugs meanwhile Aris and Leigh packed can food or anything they could eat. Poe was rummaging through the piles of clothes, trying to look for any clothing that could fit him.

All he found were pale brown navy pants, a darker shade of green jacket and black boots that were a size bigger than his feet but it was the closest he could find. He accidentally walked in on Teresa while she was changing, he twist around as he uttered, "Sorry"

Teresa said nothing at all, what Poe didn't know is that Teresa oddly didn't mind at all.

When Poe was finished, he continued to look around the store, look for anything that could be useful. "Hey, Poe" Anton approached him, he was holding a backpack, "Surely you can carry this, right?"

Poe raised his brows and grabbed the pack.

"Careful, it's fragile" Anton joked.

Poe chuckled through his nose as he slid the pack onto his shoulders. Not long Poe found a rusted crowbar under a mattress, somehow he knew that sometimes the best hiding place that they could hide something that is useful or is a possession is under their pillow or under the mattresses. He also found a bat and a hunting knife within it's holster.

He put the crowbar into his pack, it's hook was sticking out between the two zippers. He looked around as he picked up the bat and the knife. Aris and Leigh were nearby, "Hey" The two Icers turned to him, he handed Aris the bat and the knife.

"Thanks" Aris murmured before giving the hunting knife to Leigh.

Seconds later, the lights clicked on within the store and even outside of the store. Poe wasn't sure if turning on the power was such a good idea. He wasn't the only one thinking like that, there was Anton, "Who's the idiot who thinks turning on the lights is a good idea? Have they forgotten that WICKED might be outside of the building? The lights might draw them here"

"We don't know if they can see the lights from out there" said Frypan.

"Anyway, I think we've packed everything we need" Newt stood up and grabbed a pack, "Let's meet the others and get out of here"

The boys and the girls left the store and met Nico, Teo, Winston and Jack just outside of the stores. The lights softly whirred as they fade in and out and flickering rapidly.

"All right, which any of you idiots turned the power on?" Nico asked peevishly as he pulled the strap of the launcher onto his shoulder. The weapon he took from the guard back in the compound.

"Well, you blaming on the wrong idiots" Leigh responded coldly.

"Hey!" Someone screamed behind them from across the long corridor. They all turned to see, the two figures came running from the right, they were dashing back to the group. "Hey! Run!" Thomas was shouting and warning.

"Go!" Minho urged, "Go!"

Behind the two were multiple people chasing after them, uttering out inhuman screams and yells.

Cranks.

"Oh shit" Newt uttered as they all began to run the opposite direction.

Teo and Aris were leading them all to the stairs that lead to the second floor. "Thomas, Minho! What the hell are those things?!" Frypan shouted.

"I don't know! Just keep moving!"

They were running up the stairs, Teo and Aris took a sharp turn to the left, Poe was right behind them and the rest behind him. When they ran ahead around the covered boxes, there was a crash ahead of them and a Crank dashed from the side.

"Oh shit!" Teo and Aris halted. When they halted, so did everyone else. Poe reached around his shoulder and pulled his crowbar out.

The Crank was charging at the teens, Aris charged back with his bat raised. "Aris, no!" Leigh screamed. Aris dashed forward, dodged the Crank's hands as he swung hard onto the Crank's legs. The Crank fell forward in the middle of the teens and they all jumped back away.

While Thomas, Teresa and Anton were forced to go up another flight of stairs. The Crank was pulling himself toward the three and more Cranks came running at the rest of the teens. "Go! Go around!" Thomas urged them.

Teo and Aris still lead the way toward to the other side where another stairs that were leading the same floor that Thomas, Teresa and Anton were heading. Poe was behind Leigh when they ran up the stairs, she was behind Newt, Minho, Frypan, Winston, with Teo and Aris still leading.

There was a crash behind Poe and Nico, followed by a boy screaming, "Nico! Help me!"

Both Poe and Nico twist around and see Jack hanging onto the railing with a Crank clinging onto his legs. "Jack!" Nico lunged forward and grabbed Jack's hand. But there was a Crank jumping over the railing from the side, landing onto Jack and Nico lost the grip. Jack slide down and fell down with two Cranks as his screams echoed. "Jack!"

"Guys, get your asses moving! Come on!" Leigh was yelling from near the top of the stairs.

"Nico!" Poe had to grab him and force him to keep moving, "Go! Go!" He let him lead to follow the others while Poe was way behind.

The rest had met up with Thomas, Teresa and Anton on the second floor. There was Newt waiting at the top of the stairs for Poe, letting him to lead to follow the rest to the right hall. The corridor was long way ahead.

Frypan and Winston were leading ahead this time, "We gotta find the way out of here!" Frypan shouted.

As they were sprinting down the corridor, at midways, there was a crash behind Poe, he abruptly stopped and twist around to see Newt on the floor with a Crank on him as the boy screamed for help. "Newt!" Poe gripped onto his crowbar as he charged forward. He swung the bar at the Crank's head and it fell sideways off of Newt. Poe grabbed Newt's arm, helped to spring up onto his feet as the Crank spasmed around the floor before getting up. Poe swung the bar one more time onto it's head and it fell over the railing.

"Newt! Poe!" Thomas shouted, "Come on! Let's go! Let's go!"

The two boys kept running and followed Thomas. The Gladers and the Icers has taken the nearest hallway. They followed Thomas into the hallway on the right where Teo was standing. They ran passed him and he slide the grey gates to the side to close before continuing to run.

They were trying to open every door on the sides but were all locked and the Cranks had already got through the gates. They kept running until they reached the dead end. There were red doors that were locked from the outside, one of it's lock wasn't locked properly.

"Siggy, get it open!" Anton yelled. Frypan began to charge and slammed himself onto the door to get it open.

"I'll hold them back!" Winston pulled a gun and began to shoot at the Cranks

"Teo, here!" Newt tossed a pistol at the Slicer. He joined Winston and began firing at the Cranks and just a second, Nico began firing his launcher as well. They were slowing the herd of Cranks down but they were getting near.

"Get that door open!" Winston yelled over shoulder.

"Siggy, hurry!" Poe urged as he saw the Cranks drawing too close, the launcher emptied already and Nico dropped the weapon.

The Cook finally got the door to open. "Come on! Everyone out!" Thomas yelled. Two by two of the teens dashed through the door, Winston was behind Teo as they ran out of the door but a Crank caught Winston.

Winston fell forward and the Crank pulled him by the legs back into the room. "Winston!" Teo screamed, quickly went to grab Winston while Minho and Thomas held the door to close onto the Cranks and they were still pulling Winston.

Poe and Newt were helping Teo to pull Winston. The Slicer yelled in pain when a Crank clawed on the boy's stomach. Poe, Newt and Teo managed to pull him out. Poe and Teo helped Winston to get up and keep running across the garage while Thomas and Minho were holding the door before sprinting to follow the group.

They never stopped running, they eventually lost the Cranks when they found themselves within the darkness. Lights from the building faded away, as the lights went out, the Gladers turned their flashlights off and they all found themselves hiding under a rubble.

The Cranks has lost the teenagers, they were still heard running around the garage, trying to look for the teens.

It's been a very long night. First they escaped WICKED and now from the Cranks. They were all too tired to go on even when the Cranks were gone. They all felt that they needed to rest, so they stayed where they were.

They slept in various spots, couple feet from each other. Poe found himself sleeping near Anton and Newt. He used his pack as a pillow. Despite of everything he went through tonight, he couldn't sleep, especially that they're still within the place where Cranks live in, Poe got too paranoid.

Anton was already sleeping and softly snoring when Poe fidgeted and let out a soft gasp by the sound of a Crank screaming even though it was faint. There was hand on his shoulder, "Poe, it's okay" Newt whispered. "It's okay. We're okay, they can't find us here"

Poe put his head back down on his pack, he sighed sharply. He was surprised that everyone else sounded asleep except him and Newt. "You can't sleep either?" Poe replied softly.

"I'm trying" Newt shifted to his side and faced towards where Poe was laying.

"The noises scare you?"

Newt sighed through his nose. "A little"

They didn't speak for a moment, the winds were howling, it was all strangely quiet in this place, even outside was all quiet, no other sounds like insects chirping or croaking like they'd hear every night back in the Glade, or the sounds of the maze changing. But the world was quiet. Poe wasn't sure if he liked how the world is so quiet beside it's winds howling and the dust and sands dancing above them.

"Poe?" Newt said softly.

"Yeah?" Poe shifted his head and looked where Newt was laying. Though he can't see him but of his silhouette shape.

"Thank you... for saving me back there"

"No" Poe responded, "Thank you... for not leaving me behind back in WICKED. Even though you didn't have to go through all that trouble just to get me. Also, I'd probably be okay"

"Poe, there wasn't even a thought of leaving you behind, I just—" Newt paused, he let out another sigh, "I just... didn't want to lose another, that's all"

That suddenly warmed his heart, even a rush of comfort came over him. Of course, Newt has lost too much already and he didn't want to lose another Glader. If that's what he had meant. What else?

"How about I'll sleep until you fall asleep? Sound all right?" Newt asked.

Poe can't help but let out a smile, he shifted to his side, face toward where Newt was, only because Anton on his side, already sleeping and face forward Poe. "Yeah, sounds good"

"Good that"

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