Six Months Later

The last time I was prepared for a plan was back in the Glen. Escaping that place felt like an eternity, a lifetime. It seemed like it was merely a dream.

Now, I was somewhere new, ready to fight a brand new battle.

What was still left of the sun was shining over our new camp, the water glistening to every ripple. I huffed a sigh and watched as Vince led some of his people from the Right Arm to a few trucks. Tomorrow was what we had been planning for the last six months, all thanks to Thomas. He was more determined to figure out a way to save our friends before Vince ran off to the Safe Haven without them. At first, when Thomas introduced some of his ideas, Vince was unsure about it, but he finally came around and was ready to help him out.

I gulped down some of my water before heading to one of the trucks. Jumping inside, I cranked it up, almost put my foot on the pedal when someone jumped out in front of me.

I gasped. "Dammit, you crackface!"

"Sorry, stick, but I can't let ya go alone," Gwyneth informed me.

"Well, come on, then," I replied, motioning her to hop inside.

She smirked and obliged, huffing a sigh. "Stomp on it!"

"Woah, not yet!" Harriet shouted, swinging her legs over and plopping down in the back.

I rolled my eyes. "Anyone else we know that's going to join us?"

"Unless you want more people to join us..." Harriet said.

"Nah, I'm good." So I slammed my foot on the gas and drove out of the camp.

The scenery didn't change as much in the last six months. Other than being close to the water, we weren't too far from the Scorch. Still, where our camp was now, WICKED wasn't able to find us. It was odd, but nice, to be off the grid from those horrible people.

"I'm really gettin' tired of these roads," Gwyneth said as I drove over the bumps on the road.

"You are welcome to stay behind," I reminded her.

"Hell no. I want our friends back just as much as you do."

"Then stop complaining," I retorted, smiling a little.

"Seriously, Gwyn, you didn't complain this much when we were stuck in the Glen for two sticking years," Harriet pointed out.

"That's because everyone else did it for me," she stated.

The three of us chuckled as we continued on our trip. We passed by many abandoned buildings and torn down bridges. However, the view of the mountains was nice to look at.

"Will we make it back before Vince notices we're gone?" Harriet asked.

"It'll be fine," I assured her. "We've got plenty of trucks for tomorrow."

It was quiet for the rest of the bumpy ride. We were almost at your destination, which made me slow down a little. At the top of a cliff, I stopped the truck and turned it off. The three of us hopped out of the truck and went to the edge of the cliff. In the distance was train tracks, having no idea where they went.

For the last six months, WICKED had been going back and forth on the train, with many carts hooked up on each run. None of us knew where they were going or what or even who they were taking, but we paid close attention to their train schedule to see how often they came through.

"The train will come through tomorrow, right? Are we sure about this?" Harriet asked.

"Yes, we're sure," I answered.

"We've had this planned out for months," Gwyneth stated. "And there's no turnin' back now."

I looked down at my feet, my arms crossed over my chest. "Do you think they've changed?"

"Who?" Harriet questioned.

"Minho, Sonya, Lillie, Maeve...Aris." I left Teresa out, because I didn't know what to think of her anymore.

Gwyneth shrugged her shoulders. "Six months is a long time, Piper."

Gwyneth was right about that. I wondered what our friends were thinking while being stuck at WICKED once again, especially Aris. Knowing that if this plan worked, I was going to see him again tomorrow, and I was excited yet worried about being reunited with him after being away from him for so long.

"What do I even say to him?" I asked the other two. "I mean, I don't want it to be awkward between us."

"Why, because y'all shared a kiss before he went to sacrifice himself to WICKED?" Gwyneth said, a grin on her face.

I playfully rolled my eyes at her. "Romantic, isn't it?"

Gwyneth and Harriet chuckled at this. "Totally romantic for two sticks," Harriet teased.

"Stuff it," I retorted, grinning a little, then looking up at them. "It's hard to believe there's not many of us left from the Glen."

The two gave each other a sad look, then back at me. "We've come so far. It bothers me that so many of them aren't here to help us."

"We all owe those sticks a debt that we'll never be able to repay," Harriet said.

The three of us took another moment to look down at the train tracks, then I was the first to speak up. "We should start heading back."

"Fancy that," Gwyneth agreed. "But I want to drive this time."

I obliged and handed her the keys, getting in the passenger's seat this time. The ride back was more quiet, our heads and thoughts somewhere else. The sun was about to go down, which meant we had to really get our heads back to reality.

We arrived back at camp in no time, it seemed like, and got out of the truck. Thomas locked eyes with us, then came sprinting our way. "Hey, you guys got a minute?" We nodded our heads. "Good. Vince wants to talk to us about tomorrow."

Thomas led us to the place where we had our meetings. It was in what we called the Headquarters of the camp. We had our map of what was left of the world, specifically, what was left of our surroundings. When we got inside the room, Jorge, Brenda, and Aurora were there, along with Newt, Frypan, and some other members from the Right Arm that would be joining us tomorrow.

Vince was at the center of the table, sighing. "Okay, everyone. Tomorrow, we're going to hijack WICKED's train that'll be passing through. We need to double check and make sure we have all of our equipment and weapons."

"Do you really think this plan will work?" Aurora spoke up.

"As long as we don't screw up along the way," he replied.

"So basically don't screw up," Frypan commented. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"It's a lot easier said than done," I pointed out. "But we're ready. I'm sure of it."

Thomas nodded his head in agreement. "Look, we've got this plan right down to the last detail. It's gonna work. I know it will. We'll get our friends back."

Vince huffed a sigh. "Thomas is right. We'll save them. Get some sleep. We've got a big day ahead of us." He dismissed us, with everyone leaving.

Aurora was in front of me, grabbing his arm. "What if we don't save your friends, Thomas?"

He looked at me. "We will, Aurora."

"But what if we don't?"

"We will."

"Hey, hermana," Jorge got beside Aurora. "Let's go get some sleep."

Aurora looked at Thomas one last time. "I sure hope you're right." With that, she walked off with Jorge.

"She's always been a bit pessimistic," I commented.

Thomas rubbed the back of his neck, feeling uneasy. "Yeah, well, we need hope right now."

I nodded my head. "I know."

To be honest, I was glad that Thomas had hope that we'd rescue our friends, but at the same time, I wondered if I was having doubts like Aurora.

Thomas said we'd get them back. He was sure of it. But how could he be so sure?

"Piper." I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to see Gwyneth. "Come on. We need to get some sleep."

So I followed Gwyneth to our room, beginning to feel uneasy about tomorrow.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Hey, hey, Piper is back!

I know it's been over a year since we last heard from Piper, but now she's back and I'm excited to get started on the FINAL book in the trilogy!

Song above is This Is Our War by Shelby Merry.

Comment, vote, more soon!

-A