Coming to an end of the Scorch Trials sequel, and I'm very excited to start on the Death Cure! I hope you all continue to read, because I have a very interesting ending set up for the series. And thank you again to those who have stuck around. The fact that you've stayed this long bewilders me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart!

Question of the Chapter: What movie are you guys most excited for this year? There are so many, I'm losing track! I'm excited for all the Marvel and DC movies coming, but also the live action Disney movies! The Beauty and the Beast teaser trailer has been released, and I am so excited!

Love you all,
xoxo

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"Run!" Lori hears Thomas scream from in front of the pod which he had just been hiding inside.

As he and Brenda start running towards the Berg, everyone follows suit. The Berg sits waiting with people standing in the door, not bothering to leave the shelter of their transportation.

All of a sudden, the bulb mutations are swarming once more, threatening their chances of making it to the Berg.
"Go right through 'em!" Thomas yells from ahead. Minho, Newt, the girls and several other Gladers slowly hover towards Thomas, forming a group.

Lori couldn't believe this was happening. Everything she had hear about the Glade had made her feel like that was her home, like she had been safe. But now it's all gone. Once again, they're about to enter into something that don't understand; something WICKED is bound to be behind.

The weather gets worse as the lightning flashes and sparks all around, striking the ground so close that Lori can feel the heat off of the hot white streaks.

The creatures continue to grow closer, so the Gladers all pull their weapons out once again. Slashing and hacking at the bulbs, Lori fights her way through, not in the mood for dealing with more psycho-mutants. Finally, all of the creatures are dead on the ground, and the teens all take a moment to compose themselves, taking deep breaths.

"It's leaving!" Lori catches Thomas scream between lightning strikes. "Hurry!"

She looks up to confirm Thomas' statement, the thrusters of the Berg igniting as the ship begin to lift itself off of the ground's surface.

They all run after Thomas again, who is being dragged along by Theresa. Lori and Minho are careful to look back to make sure that Newt's limp hadn't caused him to trip or fall behind.

The Berg is at least three feet off of the ground, and still rising ever so slowly. A couple of the boys and a few girls have already reached the Berg, climbing onto the ramp and into the cargo hold. Others follow, the ones before them helping them in.

When Lori looks towards the Beg once again, Thomas, Teresa and Brenda are inside, and the Berg is flying twice as high as it was before.
"Faster, or we'll never make it!" Lori calls to the others.

They finally reach the Berg; Lori and the two boys boost Clara up into the hatch. Once she is safely inside, she gets some other Gladers to help them lift the others in with them.

Newt and Minho are about to lift Lori, when she notices someone limping towards the Berg. A girl, who she doesn't recognize. She turns back to her friends; "I need to help her!" She yells over the sound of the Berg. "Get in, and I'll be right behind you!"

Before they can argue she runs off, bee-lining for the girl. She has dark hair, pale skin and green eyes, blood dripping down her right leg. Her eyes are filled with terror, as she tries to go as fast as she can.

When Lori reaches her, she throws the girl's arm over her shoulder, and begins to help her move faster.

"What are you doing? If you help me, you might not make it," The girl's concerns for Lori is touching, but there is no time to be sentimental.

"No one gets left behind. I'm getting you to that Berg."

They scramble across the dirt compact ground, kicking up dust as they go. When they make it to the Berg, it is hovering at shoulder height. Newt, Minho and a couple of others lean over the side and grab the girl's hands, whilst Lori boosts her non-injured foot.

Once she's up, they lift Lori, just in time to, as the Berg begins to lift faster, the hatch door still wide open. They pull her over the edge, and once she's in the hatch, she rolls onto her back, trying to catch her breath.
They actually made it.

In less than a minute, the remainders of Groups A and B have been helped onto the Berg, and everyone is sitting together, talking amongst themselves.
Lori looks for her friends, her are off in their own corner. She wraps Minho in a hug, squeezing him a little as he hugs back. She lets go and turns to Newt, not hesitating to be in his arm.

This hug lasts longer than the one she shared with Minho, and if Lori were to be honest, she doesn't mind that one bit.
"Don't do that again," Newt whispers into her ear.

"Do what again?" Lori feels perplexed, knowing that she hadn't done anything wrong this time. At least not on purpose.

"Run straight towards danger. I don't like thinking I'll never see you again. Once was plenty enough."

Lori can't help but smile. He cares so much.
Maybe, just maybe, if they are going to WICKED, they can help her. She wants to remember him so much; maybe WICKED have the answer. They took her memories, surely they can give them back.
"Well, I can't make any promises," she replies with a hint of a smile.

She notices his arms are still wrapped around her, and all she does, is try to pull him closer.

The moment is interrupted when a red-haired man shouts across the room, "Who are these two people?"

Lori reluctantly pulls away, walking forward so as to see what the fuss is about. The man stands in front of Brenda and Jorge, pointing a black pistol at their faces.
"Somebody answer me!"

By this point, Thomas is standing beside Lori, talking to the man with the gun. "They helped us get through the city - we wouldn't be here if it weren't for them."

The man whips his head around to look at Thomas, "You . . . picked them up along the way?"

Thomas nods slowly, "We made a deal with them. Promised they'd get the cure too. We still have fewer people than we started with."

He made some fair points, but the man didn't seem to want to see reason. "Doesn't matter; We didn't say you could bring citizens!"

The Berg keeps flying higher, and Lori notices that the door still hasn't shut. What is going on here? Is this a part of the Trials?

Thomas didn't give up, responding again to the man, "Well, you told us to come here, and we did what we had to do!"

Lori was worried at how the man would react to being yelled. From experience, it never ended well when the person being yelled at held the power.

The man takes a moment, probably considering his options. On one hand, he could kill them both, because we were not supposed to bring people along, apparently; or, he could take mercy.
"Sometimes I forget how little you people understand what's going on. Fine, you can keep one of em'. The other goes."

"What do you mean 'the other goes'?" Lori butts in, slightly mimicking the man.

He sneers in her direction, clicking the gun and bringing it closer to Brenda's head, which noticeably has beads of sweat. "We don't have time for this! You have five seconds to choose the one who stays. Don't choose and they both die. One."

"Wait!" Thomas shouts, throwing his gaze towards to Brenda and Jorge, who both avoid eye contact. They look terrified.

"Two."

"Thomas!" Lori hisses. "Do something!"

"Three. Four!" The man seems as if he's losing his patience, his cheeks starting to redden in anger. "Choose right now or they both die!"

The dark-haired boy finally steps forward, a defeated look in his eyes as he raises a hand and points to Brenda. "Kill her."

Lori is shocked to say the least. She honestly had began to think that Thomas and Brenda had formed some sort of connection or relationship. Plus, she likes Brenda more than Teresa in the long run, and would prefer Thomas to be with her. After all, Brenda isn't the one who lied to them all.

The man shoved his gun back into the waistband of his pants, before reaching down and grabbing a fist full of Brenda's shirt, pulling her to her feet forcefully. He drags her towards the open hatch door, not slowing down for a second.

Brenda's eyes are wide as she is dragged towards an impending doom. Lori turns to Thomas, "What are you doing? Snap out of it! Help her!" she gives him a small shove, before he finally catches on.

Thomas leaps forward, slamming into the back of the man's knees and taking him straight down. They tackle, the gun falling loose, clattering across the metal floor of the Berg. Brenda is dropped, tumbling to the side and out of the way of the fight, caught by Teresa and Lori just before she falls out of the Berg.

Thomas pushes his left forearm into the man's throat, leaving his other hand free to reach for the gun. Once his fingers are wrapped around the weaponry, he brings it close before jumping back to his feet and pointing the gun forcefully at the stranger.

"No one else dies," Thomas states, his breathing heavy after tackling the man. "If we haven't done enough to pass your stupid tests, them we fail. The tests are over."

Lori feels a sense of relied at Thomas' words. It's over.
But is it? Would this hell ever really be over?

It doesn't feel like it.

The man scoots backwards until his back his the wall, leaning on it for support. His expression seems to have calmed, a smile playing on his lips as he looks Thomas up and down. The cargo room remains silent, the mechanical whirring of the door finally closing is the only sound to fill the room.

"My name's David," the man on the ground says loudly over the sound of the door. "And don't worry, you're right. It's over. It's all over."

Thomas nods mockingly, as if the man was being condescending towards him. "Yeah, we've heard that before. This time we mean it. We're not going to sit back and let you treat us like rats anymore. We're done."

David looks around at everyone, studying each and every one of them. Most of Group A and B stood silent and still, a few gave small nods of agreement.

The man looks back to Thomas, rising to his feet, holding a hand up as if to say that he's not going to do anything to cause harm. Once he is standing straight, he slips both of his hands into his pockets.

"What you don't understand is that everything has gone and will continue to go as planned. But you're right, the Trials are complete. We're taking you to a place of safety. No more tests, no more lies, no more setups. No more pretending."

The man froze for a moment, before continuing. "I can only promise one thing. When you hear why we've put you through this, and why it's so important that so many of you survived, you'll understand. I promise you'll understand."

To no one's surprise, Minho snorts. "That's the biggest bunch of klunk I've ever heard in my life."

Thomas nods, "And what about the cure? We were promised. For use and the two who helped us get here. How can we believe anything you tell us?"

"Think what you want for now," David replies. "Things will change from here out, and you'll get the cure, just like you were told. As soon as we get back to headquarters. You can keep that gun, by the way - we'll even give you some more, if you'd like." Lori wasn't totally against the idea.

"There'll be nothing else for you to fight against, no tests or trials to ignore or refuse. Our Berg will land, you'll see that you're safe and cured, and then you can do what you want. The only thing we'll ever ask you to do again is to listen. Only listen. I'm sure you're at least intrigued by what's behind all this?"

Lori can't be the only one who really wants to know what the hell is going on. After everything they've been through, an explanation would be pretty nice.

Thomas looked so done with this guy. He kept eye contact, his voice calm, "No more games."

"First sign of trouble," Minho adds on, "we start fighting. If that means we dies, then so be it."

David's mouth forms a full smile now, as if he had been expecting those answers. "You know, that's exactly what we predicted you'd do at this point." He holds an arm out, gesturing to the back of the cargo hold where a door lay.

Before anyone goes anyone, Newt joins in on the conversation. "What's next on the bloody agenda?"

"Just thought you'd like to eat something, maybe take a shower. Sleep." He walks past all the teenagers, assessing them all. "It's a very long flight."

The Gladers and Group B share looks, trying to get a sense of what everyone wants to do at this point. By the looks of the enclosed metal room flying fifty feet above the ground, they didn't really seem to have much of a choice in the matter.

/\/\/\/\/\

After they have all eaten, drunk, been check by medically staff, showered and changed into fresh clothes, they are transferred to a bigger room, where they now all sit talking or sleeping.

Thomas and Teresa are off to one side, talking quietly; Minho and Clara are sitting together, cute little smiles on their faces as they speak to each other; Jorge and Brenda are no where to be seen and everyone else just looks content with being out of the Scorch.

"You feelin' okay?"

Lori looks to the blonde sitting beside her, a small smile creeping onto her face.

For the first time since waking up in the Scorch, she felt almost safe; almost like she could sleep without feeling like she might die before her eyes open. No pummelling heat, no lack of water, and no killer Cranks.

For now, life was good. Sort of.
Right now, to Lori, being alive was her definition of good; and right now, that was enough.

"You know, for the first time in a while, I think I am. Alright." She sighs lightly. "After everything, I shouldn't be, but I am. And I'm okay with that."

"Good."

"Good? That I'm okay with everything not being okay?"

Newt smiles a secret smile to himself, aware that Lori doesn't remember. But she doesn't mind. It's not her fault. It never was. And besides, if she has no past memories that just gives them a chance to make new, better memories in this safe place which WICKED claims to be taking them to.

"You're safe. That's good."