Fitting into the WCKD uniform was the hardest part of the plan as of yet. Being small, Florence's suit was a little baggy, but she was forced to make it work as best as she could as she joined Thomas in marching Teresa directly into the WCKD building.

She straightened herself up to become 'guard-like' or whatever she was supposed to look like, one hand on the gun she held close to her, and the other just hovering by Teresa's arm as if she was going to make a run for it any second. Countless numbers of guards were milling about the place, but Florence kept her focus on the plan, not wanting to think about the other people acknowledging her existence and possibly questioning why she was there. 

Newt met them in the middle of the corridor, wearing almost the exact same uniform but in red instead of black, and nodded them towards the right, down a set of stairs into the basement level of the building. Through a glass screen to their left, another guard was walking besides them; Gally.

Smoothly, he swooped in to their formation; walking ahead of Teresa and leading them all into a stairwell. Thomas and Newt walked either side of the girl whilst Florence kept up the back of the group. When they reached the stairwell that Teresa unlocked, they were able to relax a little more.

They checked the area first for people, before moving towards the stairwell and beginning to head downwards. Only when Gally hung back, saying, "Hold on, hold on." did they take a break.

The boy had placed either one of his hands on the electrical wiring boxes attached to the wall, and then pulled them away, nodding promptly. "I can get in here." He declared.

Pulling down his mask, he took another look at the boxes, inspecting it carefully. Florence jogged back up the stairs and leant back against the stairwell bannister as Gally threw the walky-talky to her brother.

Thomas continued down the stairs, scouring ahead to check they were still alone. Teresa sat down on a step, her eyes fixated on Newt. Newt pulled up his own mask, hand leant against a bannister for support as he began to cough and splutter.

Florence looked to her friend, catching sight of his pale and sweaty face, seeing the life slowly drain out of him. The Flare was really beginning to take a toll. 

We don't have time for all of this.

Gally began to drill into one of the electrics boxes, as Newt turned away from Teresa's curious eye, panting to catch his breath back. Florence moved towards him, nudging his arm with hers comfortingly as she leant towards him.

"Are you okay?" She pretty much knew the answer, but there was no harm in asking.

"I'm managing," He just got out, between pants.

"Frypan, we're in. How you doing?" 

Thomas caught her attention as he took the stairs back up to them two-by-two, moving over towards the door they had arrived through, to check for any real guards or WCKD workers. A crackly voice came back through the walky-talky.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm getting there." He sounded exhausted, from climbing the crane of course, but still enthusiastic.

You could rely on Fry for that, always.

"Tell Minho 'hi,' for me." 

This made a smile invade Florence's face. It was really setting in now too. She is actually going to see him again.

"Hang in there, buddy." 

Gally yanked the electrics box open; a number of colourful wires and strange parts of machinery strung up inside that he somehow knew how to use. Pulling on a tab so he could read it properly, he announced, "This'll work."

"Brenda, what's your status?"

"Status is: I'm working on it."

Florence glanced back to Newt, seeing how the boy's eyes followed Thomas' figure as he paced back and forth around the small area. A strip of brown on his neck caught her eye and she recognised the leather necklace he wore around his neck.

Back in the Glade he told her of it. One day, with the supplies came a simple brown necklace with a small silver capsule on the end. Inside it you could hide small scrolls. And although Newt had already told Thomas that he loved him; she knew the letter he had previously wrote to say it would be inside.

"Copy. Just make sure you're ready on your end."

"Don't worry. You know I'm gonna be there."

Thomas handed the walky-talky back to Gally after the boy had finished fiddling with the electrics box. "Lawrence, we're in position." Gally peered through the glass in the door and spoke into his walky-talky, pausing in wait for a reply. His eyes fell on the group waiting with him.

Florence stared back expectantly, stood the closest to the boy, trying to ignore Teresa as best as she could. Thomas was pacing back and forth, eyes glued to Teresa as if he was scared she was going to run away at any point. Newt had had his back flat against a wall, still panting as if he were out of breath.

"Lawrence?" Gally spoke into it again, fear and worry flooding into his expression.

Everyone moved now; Thomas pushing Teresa gently in line with the other girl and Newt lifting himself from the wall. They grouped near Gally, eyes fixed on the walky-talky.

But no one replied.

"If he hasn't turned those bloody cameras off, we're in big trouble."

Florence nodded in agreement, and Gally peered out the door to the corridor once again. He nodded, turning back to the group as he tucked away his walky-talky.

"He'll do his part."

Teresa grimaced unnoticeably as Newt and Thomas pulled their masks down again to disguise their identities. They both turned to Teresa, intimidatingly and expectantly, and after a moment she moved towards the touchpad next to the locked door.

She pressed her thumb on it, and Gally moved in one sweeping movement to open the door and usher them out. They filed out into the corridor, holding their guns up threateningly as they checked either end of the corridor and began walking speedily to their destination; led by Teresa.

Florence had a bad sinking feeling that the cameras had not yet been turned off, but she held onto the small bit of hope she had left. 

"All right, let's go."

They arrived at a sliding door that Teresa informed them to have real guards behind. This was perfectly fine though, they all had taser guns, and if Lawrence did his part; they had the element of surprise too.

They stood in front of it, silencing completely to hear a set of footsteps behind it, approaching them. The footsteps suddenly stopped and then the door slid open.

Without realising, Florence automatically shot her gun at the man stood behind where the door used to be. He was thrown roughly to the ground, skidding along the floor and writhing in pain from the taser.

The boys all advanced into the corridor, shooting at the others in the security room, Florence left stunned at the scene besides Teresa. She exchanged a glance with the girl, and for a moment forgot everything that happened with her. They shared the same wild shock.

And then she remembered.

Passing by the conflict, Florence's eyes fell on another door leading off from the security camera room, peering through the metal grate on the door. Her heart leapt at the sight of several young people - a few years younger than her - sat inside, in WCKD's 'prisoner' uniform.

They looked terrified by her, but behind her mask she was grinning with joy at finding them. They could save more kids. She scoured the room and although she couldn't find who she was looking for, she remained optimistic.

Minho has gotta be in one of these.

Yanking open the door, she pulled up her mask and beamed out at them. Sweat was causing hair to stick to her forehead, and her cheeks were flustered pink due to being hidden away in the mask for ages.

"Come on, let's go." She beckoned them all out, beginning to turn away again.

As she led the others out, she could see her friends doing the same with the other cells scattered around the place. She could feel a pit of fury rebuilding deep within her.

How could anyone at WCKD keep these kids locked up?

"The vault. How do I get in?" Gally threatened a worker with a gun to his throat. 

He was slumped back against a wall, barely conscious, as Gally shook him to no end. "You can't." He replied, drowsily.

Florence gathered the kids in the middle of the security room, attempting to keep them all together. It was liking herding sheep, only the herders were pretty much on the run from the government.

"Guys, this might take some time." Gally called from the vault door, throwing down his supplies onto the ground. Florence moved away from the kids for a moment, her smile beginning to slip from her face as she realised,

"He's not here." Thomas spoke her thoughts. "Where is he?" He demanded from Teresa, as the other girl desperately tried to keep a smile on her face to reassure the other kids.

She moved towards a computer, Florence bounding towards her side. As quick as lightning, she began to flick through the 'patient' records and found that, "Somebody's moved him up to the medical wing."

"Then we'll have to go." Florence decided simply.

"That's on the other side of the building." Teresa argued.

Florence gave her a ludicrous look. There wasn't possibly any way Teresa thought they would leave without him. He was the reason they came in the first place.

"Okay, take us to him. Right now." Thomas' voice caught Newt's attention and the boy moved towards the group, deciding, "All right. I'm coming with you."

A flash of fear flickered across Thomas' face. Newt was not in a good state. In fact, you could pretty much see him deteriorating right before your eyes.

"Newt, no, you're not." Thomas replied firmly. "You have to stay here, wait with Gally for the serum."

"Minho comes first, remember?" Newt snapped, Florence's eyes widening at the small argument between the pair. "I want to find him too, Tommy."

A beat of silence fell between them; tension thick in the air. Florence raised her eyebrows in amusement as the boys only stared at each other for a moment, leaving her and Gally waiting.

"Just go! We're wasting time." Gally interrupted, pushing goggles onto his face. "I'll get the serum. We'll meet you out back."

"Okay, fine." Thomas caved, meeting Florence's intrigued eye. He was far too busy to communicate with his sister through eyesight and so said, "Let's go. Come on."

"Hey, Greenie. Good luck." Gally called to Thomas.

Florence watched her brother pause, before continuing to move. She rolled her eyes at a lack of response and so chose to reply herself.

"And you, eyebrows!" She shouted, sending a thumbs up in the air, and hearing Gally's amused chuckle as they sped away down a corridor.

They found themselves back in a main section of the building, around people again, moving hurriedly but not too suspiciously across the corridor. Heading directly to the elevator, they made themselves look as natural as possible despite the fact there being three guards escorting Teresa.

It looked a little odd, but they just hoped people wouldn't think anything of it.

Thomas leaned forwards and pressed the elevator button, and then straightened up again to wait. There was an awkward moment of silence, and Thomas glanced back around the corridor, quickly becoming paranoid.

He pressed the button a number of times again, and then the elevator pinged, the metal doors sliding open and meeting their faces with a gust of air. Florence, Newt and Thomas filed in first, Teresa standing in front of them.

Florence, as the shortest, stood directly behind Teresa. This way, she was more out of view to other people, and it looked more realistic for Teresa to be accompanied by two guards only. They were lucky she was short.

Right before the elevator could shut, a familiar voice yelled, "Hold it!" and an arm slipped through the minimal gap, prising the doors open again. Janson had appeared right before them.

Florence felt herself tense up, and despite the mask shielding her eyes, she was nervous to make eye contact with him. He smiled strangely at Teresa, slipping into the elevator and standing beside her.

"You're working late." He commented.

Ha, yeah, about that...

Before Teresa could even reply, he had continued. "See, that's what I like about you, Teresa. No matter how bleak things get, you just, well, you never give up. Times like this, you need a friend that you can count on."

Giving him a tense, tight-lipped smile, Teresa said, "I'll bear that in mind."

"There is one thing you should know. One friend to another."

This feels very, very creepy.

"Thomas is here." 

Florence could see Newt and Thomas exchanging glances over her head from her peripheral vision. Her heart dropped to the floor and she sucked in a breath. 

If they know we're in the city, how long until they know we're in the building?

"A surveillance picked him up outside the walls. Ava didn't want you to know, but there is a chance that he may try to contact you, and if he does, I'd like to think that I'd be your first call."

You think wrong, Janson. Although, we didn't really give her the chance to call anyone, so how would we know?

"Are you going to kill him?" She seemed concerned, her eyebrows knitting together in a tight line.

Of course she does. She's still in love with Thomas, despite everything she did that hurt him.

"Would that be a problem?"

At least we know he's gonna be ruthless, right?

The elevator door pinged again and Teresa straightened up, stepping through the now open doors. "This is me." Florence, Newt and Thomas all followed after her, trying to remain calm and act natural until the elevator disappeared.

"Thomas, you have to listen to me." Teresa began monologing as soon as they had sped away from the elevator. "Getting that serum won't save Newt. It might buy him some time, but-"

"-Just ignore her. She's trying to get inside your head." Newt's reply edged on becoming a growl, and it was clear he was agitated with the girl.

"Ignore her, Tom." Florence added, but it was likely he'd already listen to Newt.

They might've stopped Thomas' attention, however neither of them stopped Teresa from trying. 

"Thomas, listen. You know what's going on out there. People are dying. The world is dying. There's something about your blood I don't understand."

Thomas didn't reply, instead stopping at another door, scanning it. "Open it." He eventually barked out, Teresa immediately pressing her thumb on the fingerprint scanner and causing the door to slide open.

"If you let me run some tests, I promise I can protect you."

Thomas finally had enough.

After walking through the door, he whirled back around, ripping off his mask. "Yeah? Like you protected Minho?" He challenged the girl, making her back away out of intimidation.

"What are you doing?" Newt hissed, in concern they were becoming preoccupied from their original mission.

And they were.

Florence glanced down the corridor ahead impatiently, only yearning to find Minho. She couldn't understand how Thomas was allowing Teresa to distract him.

"How many people is it gonna take? How many more people do they have to round up,
torture, kill? Huh? When the hell does it stop?"

"It stops when we find a cure."

"There is no goddamn cure!"

Silence fell over the group, and Florence took a heavy sigh. Just as she opened her mouth to try and hurry them all along, someone else spoke first.

"Don't waste your breath, Teresa."

Janson.

Well, shuck.

He was advancing towards them, a gun in his hands, directed towards them. Florence swore under her breath, silently cursing out Thomas for losing his temper and giving Janson the opportunity to catch them up.

"He made his choice long ago."

Florence moved quicker than Thomas or Newt, pulling out her gun and turning it on Janson, taking a few steps forward. She still had her mask up, but her height was what gave away her identity.

"Drop it, kid!"

A shout drew her attention to the right, where a swarm of armed guards were making their way towards the scene. Florence felt her stomach twist in nerves and the urge to vomit.

"Back up. Tell them to back off. Tell them to back off!"

For a second Florence wondered what leverage Thomas had to make demands like this, but upon spinning around, she saw what he had done. His arm had wrapped around Teresa, tugging her into a threatening hold, pressing the gun against her temple; although his finger wasn't on the trigger. 

Not yet, at least.

"Hey, Thomas, come on. It's me. I've known you longer than you can remember. You're not gonna shoot her." Janson claimed, but his slightly wobbly voice begged to differ.

"You don't think so?"

Florence resisted the urge to laugh. Anxious giggles were threatening to pass her lips at the way Thomas was unwaveringly putting Teresa's life on the line, and she wondered if he were really considering it.

"Okay. Go on then. Shoot her." Despite the guards that reached Janson's side, still with raised guns, Janson made a show of putting his away. He watched Thomas expectantly, raising his eyebrows. "Prove me wrong."

Florence felt sick with herself when she realised there was a voice inside her head saying, do it.

She backed away, bumping into Newt, and then moving to his side. From there, she could see the whole scene: Janson's amused glare, Thomas holding Teresa hostage with a thousand thoughts running through his mind, and a number of WCKD workers watching from a short distance with great curiosity.

"Shoot her." Janson snarled.

Suddenly Teresa lurched from Thomas' grasp, shoving him roughly past the door besides Florence and Newt. She pulled an alarm lever on the wall besides her, a screen dropping down which read 'Fire Safety Door'.

Janson couldn't get to them.

But they also couldn't get out.

Florence could see Janson's mouth moving from the other side of the door, but could hear nothing. His gun raised again, and shots were fired by the plentiful at the glass screen separating them from Janson.

He ran at the door, slamming his hands on it as a blaring alarm began to ring out from above. Florence cackled with laughter at his helplessness. She pulled the mask from her face, just for Janson to see her bliss as a result of his struggle.

And then, she nudged Thomas' arm, beginning to move down the corridor. They needed to stay ahead of WCKD, find Minho, and get out as quick as possible.

"Let's go."

The three of them were left to find their own way into the medical wing. Luckily, the doctors and workers there wouldn't know that they were the reason for the alarm, not just yet, so they had a window of time in which they could grab Minho and go.

They reached a main corridor again: this time it was clearly the medical wing. White walls, laboratory coats, and patient beds in rooms branching from the corridor, all leading the girl to assume so.

As the amber light continued to flash above their heads and the siren continued to shriek, they received a number of strange looks and judging glances from others around them. They clearly didn't fit in with everyone else. Even with the WCKD uniform; they were like aliens compared to the doctors in slick white coats.

But still, they continued down the corridors as if nothing was wrong. It was all they could do.

And then, Thomas was drawn away from Florence and Newt. Realising it quickly, Newt pulled on the girl's arm, causing her to whirl around and catch sight of Thomas with his gun raised at Ava Paige.

Why they had both stayed so silent was beyond her.

Ava Paige was unmoving; Florence wondering if the woman had gotten in too deep with WCKD. She seemed a little less cold hearted than Janson, and in that moment, she seemed like she wouldn't care if she died.

And then, Newt had spotted Janson from the end of the corridor to the left of them.

"Thomas! No!"

He lurched forwards, grabbing a hold of the other boy and dragging him backwards, behind the safety of a corner. Janson's shots sent sparks into the wall in front of where Thomas had just been stood.

Somehow desensitized by the bullets, Florence glanced ahead of their path, only to see that Ava Paige had vanished.

"We have to hurry." 

She jolted the two boys into action, and they bounded down the corridor in the opposite direction of Paige, and as far away from Janson as possible. Guns permanently glued to their hands, they were as ready for conflict as they could ever be.

Doctors and nurses scattered from the corridor at the sight of them, the chaos even unnerving the girl. Every scream put her on edge; making her desperately try to recognise each one as Minho's familiar voice, to no prevail.

"Minho? Minho!" Thomas began to yell out, and Florence took the initiative to copy him.

"Minho!" Her voice was strangled, but she cleared it quickly, and continued to shout. "Minho!"

"Oh, shit!" They were met by three guards, but like before; they were as ready for conflict as they could ever be.

The guards were all shot down in seconds.

But there were more coming. Even as they sped up, racing down the corridors, peeking in the windows of every room, WCKD guards tailed them. 

They sent bullet after bullet at what seemed like a never ending stream of soldiers. Now coming in three different directions, it was beginning to drain the life out of them. 

They couldn't hold them off forever. Not with only three of them.

"Guys, get down!" Thomas shouted, before slipping around the corner and throwing himself onto the ground.

Newt and Florence both did the same, a little confused as to why, but going along with it. It gave them a few moments to sit, panting for breath, and yearning for sleep.

Can't we just find Minho already?

"Shit! I'm almost out." 

Her brother tossed a gun to the floor like it was a gum wrapper. He then pulled another from his uniform, peering around the corner and continuing to shoot from the angle that gave them an edge over the WCKD soldiers.

Florence's eyes fell on a soldier motionless in front of them. Then she got an idea. Racing forwards, she began to rummage through his things, the fight with WCKD six months ago fresh in her mind. 

She could recall the taser bomb - most specifically the pain of it - like it happened yesterday.

Just like she thought, the dead guard had one. Grasping it, she yelled out, "Get back!" before moving out of hiding for a moment to bowl the bomb down the corridor and to the feet of the guards.

Success.

"Nice. All right." 

They scrambled up from the ground, taking the bomb as an opportunity to slip away from the guards that were hot on their heels. Unfortunately, they didn't take into account the fact they were all now unarmed, and there were other entrances to the path they were taking.

"You three, freeze!"

They learned the consequences of their actions the hard way.

A guard was blocking the corridor ahead, and despite the fact they outnumbered him, he was much more powerful. "Get down on the ground. Now!" He yelled out, yet none of them moved.

It was instinct: to completely ignore whatever you were just asked - or threatened - to do.

"I said get your-"

They were interrupted by a figure running into the guard and slamming him against the corridor wall. Florence suddenly felt a surge of emotions come over her as she recognised the glint of dark hair far too well.

The figure seized hold of the guard's vest, pulling him forwards and then sending him flying into a glass window, shattering it and knocking him unconscious. They let out an angry growl, fists clenched and chest heaving for breaths.

There was only one person they knew that could do that.

The person who they had been searching for for months. The person who they had come to the city to find. The person who Florence had fallen in love with so long ago.

Minho.