The first thing I noticed, was how hot it was outside, obviously. It was the Scorch! The sand was already in my shoes as I walked through the desert. Some buildings that had fallen apart were on the ground, like the one the Gladers went in. I decided to sleep in there at night.

Being alone was quite boring, but I had to be sharp all the time and look everywhere around me, so maybe it was good no one distracted me. Minho's arms for example.

Crassus had shown me the way. Basically going to the north the whole time, which would take about two days if I hurried.

Soon it was getting dark outside, so I found a building that still looked quite stable and slid in there by a sand mountain.

It was quiet and the dust made me realize no one had been there in a while, though the smell was weird, like something rotten. 

I found a nice corner and used my backpack as a pillow. I was a little scared to be all alone at night, to be honest, but fell asleep anyways.

~

Later, I woke up by a weird sniff by my side as if someone had a cold and a stuffed nose. I grunted and hurried to open my eyes, who knew what the hell was next to me?

"She's waking up." Someone said, voice hoarse and false.

I felt a cold breath on my face. "A new visitor."

When I saw the thing hanging in front of me, I let out a yell. A woman smiled at me, her hair greasy and stinking, teeth falling out, and weird veins on her neck and face. A Crank.

I shot up, crawling on my feet while a man that looked just as horrible as the woman laughed.

"Watcha doing here, my dear?" The man slugged over his words and made a weird movement.

I hesitated, and thought for a second. "I'm on my way to meet my friends."

"And are your friends here, honey?" The woman put a hand on my shoulder. My eyes widened and immediately I slapped it off, a shiver going down my spine at every physical touch someone made with me.

"I'm meeting them somewhere else," I admitted. Lying wouldn't help, I already told them what I was doing.

"False hope." She breathed. "Guess that's better than no hope at all."

I swallowed. "I think I'm gonna leave your place. I'm sorry for-."

"Ah ah ah." The man shook his head, spit coming out of his mouth. "It's not nice to leave without chatting a bit, am I right?"

He wrapped an arm around me, trying to walk further, but I froze right in my place. Kane's hands which never left my body, pressed harder, making me feel them better. I gasped, a quick image of his face appearing in my mind before I threw the man off me.

"Our visitor is a bit rude." The woman giggled, but soon stopped, her face darkening. "But we don't approve of that here."

I took it as my sign to start running, so grabbed my backpack off the ground and did. The two Cranks let out a yelp and chased me, our footsteps echoing through the building.

It was a big space and I didn't know where to go without getting stuck in a dead end, so ran up an old escalator that didn't work anymore, the Cranks close behind me.

Panicking a bit, I ran over a large balcony. I suppose it was a mall but completely fallen apart and old. The dust made my eyes water and nose tickle, yet I kept going.

Never stop running and don't look back.

Then suddenly, one of the Cranks jumped forward and grabbed my leg, making me fall and scratch my knee on the ground. I let out a scream and twisted around, trying to fight the man off.

He grinned and screamed at me, some black liquid coming out of his mouth and on my shirt.
My chest tightened, body froze again. I had to concentrate on fighting the man, but the only thing I saw were the blue lights of the pub, hands all over my body, and imagining the Crank as a man that danced with me.

Then he jumped off me, or rather, someone pushed him off me. I gasped as I felt myself being pulled up by my shoulders. Then I elbowed them in the nose, assuming it was a Crank or either a pervert who wanted to touch me again.

They grunted loudly when I tackled them, their back smacking onto the hard ground. My breaths were heavy as I looked at the body on the ground for a few seconds.

Then a shucking gunshot went off. I flinched, thinking someone might've shot me, but instead, the woman fell onto the ground, blood from her head pooling onto the surface. Soon it was the man's turn. Another gunshot before he dropped off the balcony.

With an open mouth, I stood there, looking at a dark figure a few feet away from me and the person on the ground.

The one on the ground held up their thumb. "I'm okay." They groaned. It was a boy, I realized once I heard the voice.

"What a love at first sight, Rye." A girl that held the gun walked over to the boy. "I'm not helping you."

"Who the hell are you?" I took some steps back.

The boy scoffed. "Your saviors."

"You didn't even help her, idiot." The girl said. "She literally threw you onto the ground."

"Thanks for your trust in me." He groaned one last time before getting up. "Hey." He held out his hand, which I refused to shake. I didn't want to touch any more strangers ever again.

"See?" The girl laughed at the boy.

Embarrassed he put his hand back. "I was trying to be nice!"

"You were trying to impress her, you mean." She corrected. "And you can't even do that."

"Who are you?" I pulled out my knife, which they both seemed taken aback by for a second.

"Oh, I was trying to introduce myself by shaking your hand, but you didn't want to." The boy furrowed his eyebrows. "Who are you?"

"I asked you first." I threatened, tightening the grip on my knife.

He chuckled. "Throw it then."

"Did you just ask her to kill you?" The girl blurted out.

He sighed. "No. I'm saying that it looked like she didn't really know how to fight since I had to push that Crank off her. I want to see what she can do with that knife."

A small grin appeared on my face, proud of the fact I knew exactly how to use the knife. "What do you want me to hit?"

"His crotch." She ordered.

"Alright." I got ready in my place, knowing I would never hit the boy, but still wanted to act tough.

"No, no!" He quickly interrupted. "That pole." He pointed at a thick pole a few feet away from us.

I nodded and just threw, hitting it exactly. Triumphant I turned back to the boy.

He cleared his throat. "Alright then. You can do it."

"She's better than you." The girl commented. "You can't even use a gun."

"Because you keep stealing it from me! You always have the gun and I only have my fists. That's quite unfair." He defended. "But we better hurry, because there are more Cranks."

"Who are you?" I repeated.

"Cyra." The girl introduced, never taking her hands off the gun she pointed at the ground. "That's my brother."

"Rye." He said.

I couldn't see their faces yet, so had no time to see what they looked like. It was too dark and I was still a bit upset for me to look closely.

"Come on!" They started running away. Quickly I caught up with them, using my run skills, one of the only things I was proud of, including the knife throwing.

"It's not a competition!" Rye yelled when I ran past him. He wasn't out of breath or something, but his pace could be quicker.

"Maybe you should run faster!"