˚ ༘✶₊˚.                         ⊹ ˚ .  SECOND ACT
❪       TWENTY-THREE    ♥︎    ₊˚༢࿐
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    Her elbows rubbed against the cold metal as she pushed herself tightly through the vents. Mae felt her lungs begin to burn, her brain screaming at her to keep going because - like always - her life seemed to depend on it. With all the energy she could possibly muster, the girl pushes through the grille and flung herself into the boy's room.

Thomas, Aris, and Teddy followed closely behind all looking just as shaken and panicked. Completely out of breath, Mae grabs at her knees. She would've doubled forward if it wasn't for Frypan wrapping his arm around her torso, keeping her in place.

"Damn, Mae!" Frypan exclaims, his eyes wide as he looks between his friends and the now broken grille, "What's going on out there?"

"We gotta go!" Thomas shouts, causing the others to stand up in a frenzy. "We gotta go right now!"

Newt stays firmly still, "What do you mean we got to go? What's going on?" He demands an explanation, looking at Minho with a set frown.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Minho shouts, trying to talk over Thomas' rambling.

In hopes to give a proper explanation, Mae stepped forward. Her eyes held the kind of worry that made her friends mirror it without knowing why, and with a grim expression she says, "It's them. It's them and they're coming right now! You have to believe us."

She tugged at Newt's long-sleeve with a burst of fear, the thought of Janson bursting through the doors and taking her away from him was painful enough. Her eyes began to water and she began to breathe unsteadily.

Newt, always the level-headed of the two Brits, grabbed each side of Mae's arms. Giving them a quick rub of comfort, "Mae calm down." He orders, turning to Thomas, "Why is she acting like this? What happened!"

"They're coming. Come on, we gotta go!" Thomas rips the sheets off one of the beds, wrapping it once before tying it between the door, "Paige. She's alive!"

"Aris, what happened?" Frypan rounds on him, sick of not getting a straight answer. But, Aris looked too shaken up to speak too, "Teddy?"

"Bad guys! Bad guys!" The little boy yelled, pointing rapidly toward the door with a wheeze, "Rat-face and blonde lady wants to-" He intakes a big breath of air, "Wants to harvest us like plants!"

"Plants? Wha-? Thomas." Newt says in frustration, "Can you just calm down and talk to us?"

"She's still alive." Thomas mumbles more to himself, trying to make sense of it all. How was she still alive? We saw her put the gun to her head, we saw the body.

"Who's she?" Jack spoke up. He was usually always quiet but with everyone running around he couldn't help but panic too, "Teresa?"

"Ava," Mae emphasized.

"Ava?" Newt and Minho repeat.

Winston throws his hands up at the miscommunication.

Mae groaned in frustration, "The bloody lady doctor who blew her brains out back in the Maze! She's alive and Janson is on his way to hand us over!" The girl backtracks a little, turning a soft shade of red, "S-Sorry. didn't mean to curse-"

"It's WICKED!" Thomas finally screamed, "It's always been WICKED!" He rushes toward the mattress and lifts it up against the door, pressing his whole body into it.

Teddy runs up and does the same beside him, but his small amount of weight didn't do much.

The atmosphere in the room seemed to shift into something intense when WICKED was mentioned. Instantly, the boys scattered around growing more serious.

They looked around in hopes the other had some sort of plan but inevitably - like they had done so many times before - their eyes landed on Thomas.

The Gladers expected him to say something, to give them orders to tell them what to do because he knew WICKED best. Even if he didn't realize it. But, Thomas' eyes shift instantly to Mae, expecting her to have a plan too.

As calm as he could manage it, Newt rested his hand on the mattress, practically towering over Teddy who stared up at him with wide goggled eyes. "Thomas," He asked slowly, "What did you see?"

"Enough. ." He mumbled, his mind flashing to all the teenagers strung up that he felt responsible for not saving, "I saw enough."

"We gotta go," Aris explains, motioning to the vents, "Like right now, in this second."

Mae grabbed softly at Newt's shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. "Trust us, this is the last place we want to be."

She felt horrible. They had been fighting so long and the second they wanted to rest their feet something else had to sweep them back into madness.

Mae could see the exhaustion in Newt's eyes, the desperation to just rest. It seemed she kept forgetting that they were all teenagers not knowing what the hell they were doing.

But, if pushing forward is what they needed to do, the Newt was willing to keep going. They all were.

And that was what kept them alive.

"Okay, lead the way."

✿ ❀ ✿

     Thomas pushed open the other side of the large metal grille, popping his head out before ushering everyone out quickly. The group now stood in the middle of a long, back-alley type hallway, which felt oddly silent.

Mae stumbles slightly, glancing down the hallway with a deep frown. How were they going to find Teresa in this place? It was massive and they had no idea where they were going.

"You guys go ahead, there's something I gotta do," Aris announced, already heading back toward the vent.

Teddy tensed, "What do you mean?!"

"You want to get out of here, right? Find our brother?" Aris pressed, "Just go, I'll come back. Promise."

"I'll go with him," Winston offers.

Mae worriedly grabbed his wrist, "Be careful, Winston." The Keeper nodded at her words, giving her hand a firm squeeze.

"Okay, Winston, go!" Thomas orders, his hand slipping into Mae's and giving it a firm tug to run. "Come on, guys!"

Of course, she hadn't truly noticed Thomas' fingers intertwined with her own. She was more focused on finding Teresa, on keeping Teddy safe and trying to escape.

But Teddy had noticed it, and with a scrunched face he ran between their hands and grabbed Mae's instead, tugging her forward.

"You sure we can trust this kid?" Minho bellowed behind him, practically ahead of the others without realizing it.

"You don't want to know where we'd be without him," Thomas responds.

"The answer is dead!" Teddy voiced.

They turn the corner and come face-to-face with Doctor Crawford, who raised her eyebrows when she saw the group. Her surprise shifted to confusion when she realized why they were there.

"What are you kids doing out?" She asked cautiously.

The Gladers quickly glance at each other with a silent plan. Mae pushed Teddy behind her, handing him toward Jack, who nodded in a silent response. An alarm echoed through the hallway, flashing orange.

Doctor Crawford tries to back away but Thomas grabs her by the arm at the last minute, "Come on, take us to Teresa." He orders.

Reluctantly, Crawford led them down multiple hallways toward the Med. Mae's palms began to sweat. She hoped that Teresa was okay, she prayed that they would make it out of this mess safely.

She was worried about Winston and Aris, she was worried about Teddy running behind her. Her worry about everything was overwhelming.

The group had been running so fast that they almost slammed into a wall when they tried to turn a corner. A Soldier at the end of the hall shouts when he spots them, raising his gun and shooting at them.

"Stay where you are! Freeze!"

Instantly, they turn around and try to run back in sync, almost slamming into each other.

"Why are they shooting at us?" Frypan bellowed.

"Because they're horrible!" Teddy screams in reply.

Suddenly, Minho stopped running and turned back to face the hally, his face stone in determination as he began to bounce in place.

"Minho, what the hell are you doing?!" Thomas snapped.

"Minho, don't you dare-!"

Newt's warning was cut off when the Keeper sprinted forward. Right when the Soldier turned the corner Minho raised his knees up and slammed him into the wall, knocking him out cold and dropping his gun.

The Gladers stared in amazement for a moment and Minho turned back to them.

"Shit, Minho," Newt breathed out, looking at the boy up and down and reddening when Minho winked at him. "Give an inch, take a mile," He grumbled lowly to Mae, shaking his head.

"Keep it in your pants, okay!" Frypan exclaims in disgust.

"And watch your mouth, there's a child present," Mae says, covering Teddy's ears to lighten the mood.

In response, Teddy tugs at Minho's shirt, "Dude, you're a badass!"

Thomas grabs the gun from the unconscious soldier, pressing it into Doctor Crawford's back, "Okay. Let's go."

She leads them to a door and with the jab of the gun she pushes it open.

"Doctor Crawford, are you here to-"

Thomas shoves her into the room and the rest pile in before slamming it closed. He points the gun around, pushing the Doctors into a corner.

"Where is she?" Mae pressed, looking around the room. "Teresa?! Are you in here?"

"Where is she!" Thomas screamed more firmly.

In fear, another Doctor points toward a closed curtain. Thomas shoved the gun toward Minho who instantly pointed it at the door, he pulled open the curtain.

Laying in a hospital bed, Teresa's eyes had barely opened before Mae threw arms around her, "Thank god you're alright!" She says, hugging her tight, "Are you okay?"

Teresa looked panicked as Mae pulled the breathing tube from her nose with a swipe, "Mae?" She muttered.

The blonde wish she had noticed the way Teresa looked at her differently. There was guilt swarming, and it seemed as though Teresa couldn't look her in the eyes.

Thomas quickly pulled the girl to her feet, glancing over her to make sure she wasn't injured.

"What's going on?" Teresa asked.

"You're never going to get away with this!" Doctor Crawford warns them. Newt tugged her hands forward and tied them together with a rag.

"Looks like we are, sorta!" Teddy replies, holding a scalpel in his hands. He thought he looked threatening enough but Jack snatched it from his hands with a look.

"We gotta go, Teresa," Thomas tugs her forward, "Come on."

"Guys?" Frypan announced, "They're coming! Where do we go?"

"Frypan, move!" Newt flipped the metal table over and dragged it in between the wall and the door just as more Soldiers tried to open it.

"Get back!" Minho orders, pulling Newt by the collar and away from the door as he raises the gun up, ready to shoot, "Okay! We gotta get outta here! Where do we go?"

Mae looked around the room before her eyes landed on the glass in front of them, poking Thomas' shoulder, "Thomas, look!"

She didn't need to say anything else. As if he read her mind, Thomas picked up a chair, "Everyone stand back!" He slammed the chair into the glass but it didn't break, "Newt, help!"

Newt grabbed another chair and at the same time they slammed it into the glass, causing it to shatter after the second hit. Teddy yelled, reaching up to grab his cheek where a small shard cut him.

Teresa pushed aside her panic and pulled the blanket off of the bed, placing it on the window so no one would get cut.

Thomas hops over first, his hands instantly reaching for Mae but the blonde shoves Teresa toward him instead, screaming for her fellow Gladers to move.

Mae then picked up Teddy effortlessly and practically heaved him over the window and into Thomas' arms like a potato sack.

Mae waited until everyone was through until it was just her and Minho. The Runner threw the gun to Thomas before glancing over at Mae, his eyes widening at her presence.

"What are you doing?! Let's go blondie!" He yelled, picking Mae up bridal style and rushing them both across the window.

"Minho! Put me down!" She huffed, not wanting him to run with her and slow them all down. Reluctantly, he did.

"Stay behind me!" Thomas announced, tugging the door up and instantly backing up at the Soldier charging at them.

He raised the gun and pulled the trigger, like an electric shock the man had dropped to the ground. The group wasted no time running past him.

"Mae. I-I can't run anymore," Teddy heaved, stopping short and putting his hands on his knees.

Mae realized halfway through that he was on the verge of a panic, and she quickly dropped to her knees in front of him and grabbed his face, "Hey, look at me." She turned his chin up, looking behind him where the Soldiers were starting to come through, "I need you to pull yourself together, okay? I need you to be strong right now."

"What if we don't make it- what if-"

"MAE! TEDDY, COME ON!"

"We'll make it." She says firmly, "We'll make it. We'll find your brother. I swear it," She vowed, "Teddy, I swear I'll get you home but we got to keep moving."

Teddy sniffled, an understanding smile on his face, "I know." He cleared his throat, and stood straighter, "Okay, let's go!"

She nods, scrambling to her feet and gripping his hand right, "Hold it tight."

He nods and together they continue to run. Mae felt like she was going to crash any second if they didn't find somewhere to rest soon, but said nothing as she finally caught up with the group.

"There it is! There it is!" Teddy points to the upcoming door, "It's that one!"

"You sure?!" Jack asked.

"Nope!" He responds.

Thomas pulls out the keycard and swipes it against the panel. It wasn't working. He tried again, and then again, and after the third time he gave up and let out a cuss, slamming the panel with his fist.

"Thomas." Janson's voice rang out. He was walking toward them with multiple Soldiers behind him.

Mae's heart sank, they were stuck.

In a rage, Thomas raised the gun and walked forward, not wanting to give him any more room to walk, "Open this door, Janson!" He ordered.

Janson raised his hands, "You really don't want me to."

"Open the damn door!"

"Listen to me! I'm trying to save your life!"

"Like you saved those other kids?" Mae screamed back, her eyes watering in anger, "The kids you've strung up?"

Janson clenched his jaw, "The Maze is one thing, but you kids wouldn't last a day in the Scorch."

"Oh, yeah? Well, we weren't going to last another day here with your harvest!" Teddy yelled back.

"If the elements won't kill you, the Cranks will." He continued, turning mostly to Thomas, "You have to believe me. I only want what's best for you."

"Yeah, let me guess. WICKED is good?" Thomas mocked lowly.

Janson slowly lowered his hand, dropping the act. "You're not getting through that door, Thomas."

Almost like the universe was also against WICKED, the light on the panel turned green and the door began to rise. Standing there was Aris and Winston, looking as proud as ever.

"Hey, guys!" He greets.

"Come on!" Frypan yelled, pulling Mae with him through the door.

"Thomas! Let's go!" Newt bellows.

Thomas starts shooting at Janson and his men, throwing the gun once it jammed and started sprinting toward the door. Mae's heart dropped when the doors began to lower.

"Thomas, hurry!" She screamed.

Her voice seemed to break through the ringing in his ears and he began running faster, his eyes solely trained on Mae as she waved and yelled for him.

In the last second, Thomas had slid under the door. It shuts, separating them and Janson who slammed his fist on the metal.

Mae rushed toward him, pulling him into a hug, "Oh, thank god!" She screamed, before pulling back and hitting him, "Idiot!"

Aris runs forward and slams a pipe into the key panel. Teddy jumped back from the sparks.

"What is going on?" Teresa screamed.

"Survival." Teddy responds.

It was Winston who was smart enough to grab the gun from an unconscious Soldier while Minho grabbed a packed emergency bag and threw it over his shoulder.

With one hand still wrapped around Mae's waist, Thomas sticks out his middle finger at Janson. Teddy looked between them, before mirroring Thomas' hand.

"You little shits!" Janson snapped.

"Come on," Mae tugged softly on Thomas' arm, "We need to go!"

She felt a sense of dread when they reached the main door, the same door they had entered less than three days ago.

With a quick glance back at his friends, Thomas pulled the red lever down and pulled the steel metal door open.

And without much thought, they ran into the scorch.

[ Teddy being an unknown Gae shipper > ]
don't forget to comment throughout
the chapter it really helps! <3
sorry if it seemed short but I thought 2,920 words was enough.

DECEMBER / 5 / 2021