FIVE
「break」
＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

SYLVIA'S HEAD POUNDED. All she could feel was the throbbing of her skull. Her spine dug against the ground uncomfortably. She didn't know where she was or what was happening. All she knew was that her head hurt.

She could faintly hear voices flutter around her. She cracked open her eyes, wincing at the light. An oil lamp was positioned on a crate a few feet away from her. It seemed she was on the ground in some sort of basement. The walls and floor were all concrete, and there was only one small window near the ceiling.

There were three Cranks arguing with each other a couple feet away from her. She could tell that one of them was the balding man with the terrible scar across his right eye. Her ears rang incessantly. She could barely hear them.

One of them looked over at her and seemed to say something, her lips moving. The woman stomped over to Sylvia and grabbed her roughly by the shirt, hauling her into a sitting position. Sylvia's hands and feet were bound with rope. She couldn't move.

The woman said something to her, looking angry, but Sylvia couldn't hear her. Spittle landed on Sylvia's face and her expression scrunched in disgust, recoiling. The woman scowled, then slapped her across the face. Her rough hands gripped Sylvia's jaw and she shouted something at her.

Sylvia didn't know what to do. She was a good fifteen seconds away from hyperventilating. She couldn't hear anything. She didn't know what these Cranks wanted. One of the other Cranks, a younger man, pulled the woman away from her. Sylvia watched as they started arguing with each other.

The ringing in her ears began to fade, if only slightly. Though the two were shouting, Sylvia could just barely begin to hear them.

"She must know something." The balding man interrupted the two arguing.

"Her group killed two of ours!" The woman shouted. "We should kill her."

"And we will..." the balding man trailed off. "After we get what we need..."

Sylvia furrowed her brows. What could they possibly want from her? The balding man walked away from the other two. He rummaged for something for a couple of seconds before walking over to her. He towered over her in her sitting position. He crouched down to her level. The scar looked worse up close. It completely marred his right eye, the skin raw and pink.

"Such pretty eyes..." He mumbled, reaching a shaking hand out towards her. Sylvia thrust her head against the wall, as far away as she could get. The Crank laughed maniacally. "Maybe I'll take them when I'm done. I need a new one after all..."

The woman kicked his leg. She snapped, "Just get on with it."

The balding man bared his teeth at the woman before turning back to Sylvia. "You with WICKED, girlie?" When Sylvia didn't answer, he showed the knife he had in one hand. He pointed it at her neck. "Answer me or I start slicing."

Sylvia still did not answer him. She held her chin high, staring right at him. He pressed the knife against her cheek. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to send the message that he wasn't bluffing.

The knife pressed against her skin harder, and she held back a grimace as she felt warmth on her face. She spat, "No."

"Well," He smiled sickly. "Someone's a little liar. I know you've got that little tattoo on your neck."

"Wasn't my choice." Was all she said. "I don't work for them."

"Hm," The balding man hummed, then put his hand out to the younger man.

The younger man placed something in the Crank's palm. The balding Crank held it up in front of her. She squinted. It looked exactly like the metal plaques that were in the Maze, this one dented and bent as if it had been plied off of something. Sylvia had to fight to keep her expression neutral as she read the words inscribed on it.

"THOMAS, YOU'RE THE REAL LEADER."

There was only one person it could be talking about. Thomas. Her group, they had to be alive. Maybe they were out here with her.

"You know anything about this?" The Crank questioned her. Sylvia shook her head, trying to look convincing. The man pouted at her. "Why are you making me do this? I hate hurting such nice little girls."

He then punched her. Sylvia yelped, pain searing across her nose. Warm blood trickled down and over her mouth, slicking her teeth. The pain of it throbbed through her whole head. The iron tang on her tongue was enough to make her nauseous.

"As long as you keep lying, you'll keep getting hurt." He barked. "You understand, girlie?"

"I don't know anything." She pleaded, trying to seem as innocent as possible. "I swear!"

"Who is Thomas?" The Crank ignored her plea of innocence.

"I don't know!"

He punched her again. The pain was terrible. Aching and throbbing. Searing across her cheekbone. He scowled at her. "Keep lying and I will cut those pretty little eyes out."

She snarled, "You can kiss my ass, you creepy bastard."

The balding Crank seemed to ponder, staring at her. He tilted his head. As a sick smile started to creep over the man's face, Sylvia came to the slow realization that she once again let her anger take her too far, and then his rough hand wrapped around her throat. Sylvia sputtered, gasping for air. The man squeezed hard, a sickly joyful look on his marred face.

She couldn't even claw at him, her hands bound. Her legs kicked out helplessly. Her vision blurred. His hand released her neck and she coughed, eyes watery and blood sticking to the skin of her lips uncomfortably.

"You got one more chance, girlie. Who is Thomas?"

Rage boiled beneath her skin, a silent inferno waiting to explode. She clenched her bound fists. She looked up at the man through her brows, snarling, and spit in his face. "Fuck you."

The balding Crank slowly wiped the spit from his face, a mix of blood and saliva staining his skin. He gave her a disapproving look, and shook his head pitifully. He stood to his full height. The man sighed, "It's always the pretty ones, ain't it?"

Sylvia felt her heart beat faster as the man stared down at her. The younger man and the blonde lady stared at her grimly. The balding Crank reared his leg back and kicked her between the ribs. Sylvia grunted, squeezing her eyes shut and doubling over. The remnants of the hit throbbed in the rungs of her ribs sharply.

"Always gotta be difficult..." The balding Crank muttered, trailing off. "Ones like you."

He kicked her in the same spot and the pain doubled. She was gasping for air now, the pain stark in her side. The thump thump thump of her heart against the rungs of her ribs echoing in her chest. Every breath she sucked in sent a sharp stab of pain through her bones.

The man held out his hand to the blonde lady and she handed him a knife. He knelt down next to her again and held the knife beneath her chin, tilting her head up with the blade. Sylvia scowled, bones alight with fury.

"Now, missy—"

The balding Crank was cut off by a loud crash. His head swiveled behind him to see what had happened and Sylvia took advantage of the distraction. She knocked the knife from his grip with her bound hands balled into fists and kicked him in the crotch with her legs. The man fell back in pain and Sylvia scrambled for the knife.

Shouts of pain and flesh ripping filled the room. Sylvia had no idea what was happening. All she knew was that she needed to get to that knife. Her knees dug into the hard concrete ground and just as she was about to reach the knife, someone grabbed a fistful of her hair from behind. She yelped as she was thrown to the side and landed on her back, gasping.

The balding Crank snarled at her, his hands wrapping around her neck once again. Spittle gathered at the crazy man's lips, his mouth moving and muttering something she couldn't hear. She flailed beneath him, helpless with her bound limbs. The air left her lungs rapidly. Her ears rang incessantly.

Her head was becoming foggy. She could hardly think, hardly breathe, but with the last smidge of consciousness she had left, she bared her teeth and wrenched her head around and bit the man's arm. He flinched and his fist smacked her as he pulled his arm away, pain arcing across her jaw.

Just as the darkness was about to take her under, the last thing she knew being the taste of blood on her tongue, the man was thrown off of her. Sylvia choked and sputtered violently, desperately pulling air into her deprived lungs. Her vision blurred and the ringing in her ears flooded out any other sounds. A hand gripped her shoulder and she flinched backwards, trying to escape.

"Sylvia!" A voice broke through the discordant noise.

Her vision cleared and a dark figure materialized in front of her. Rough hands gripped her shoulders. Her eyes focused on Neil's gruff face.

"Sylvia, are you hurt?" He asked, eyes running over her. His hand came up to her face, smoothing a trail of blood away.

"I–" She cut herself off, voice raspy. It hurt to speak.

"Don't try to talk." He said, his usually hard expression soft. The only hard thing about him was his eyes, fueled with rage. Neil began lifting her up from the ground. "Come on, niña. Come on. I got you."

Once she was up, her knees buckled and she nearly toppled back over. She couldn't protest when Neil slung her arm over his shoulder and helped her stand, letting her lean on him. That was when Sylvia noticed Bark. The dog stood alert by the door, almost like he was guarding them. Sylvia felt a well of emotion at the sight of the ragged dog.

She looked up at Neil, a silent question playing in her watery eyes.

"Yes." Neil admitted, albeit begrudgingly. "I got the dog out for you."

Sylvia looked back at Bark, then furrowed her brows. Something was missing. Where was...? Sylvia looked back at Neil frantically. She rasped, the sensation burning her throat. "Hayden?"

"I know where they're keeping him. They took the three of us to different locations." He explained. Sylvia nearly keeled over in relief. "We're gonna go get him."

NEIL LED HER back to an abandoned building up the street from the one she was kept in, letting her lean on him for support. She didn't like feeling this weak, but she had no choice but to let Neil help her. He had saved her life. Twice.

Neil forced her to eat some scraps of food and drink some water before anything else. Sylvia found herself repeatedly brushing her fingers against her neck, her throat feeling sore and swollen. Neil had helped her wipe the blood from her face and changed the bandages over the bite mark on her arm. It seemed to be healing, the wound beginning to scab.

Bark seemed to be doing okay too. There was a small wound on his leg, but other than that, he was good.

Sylvia cleared her throat carefully and tried to speak. "Why did they take us?" Her voice was gravelly and rough, the words coming out slowly. It was hard to speak, but she pushed through it.

"Because of those Cranks that attacked you and Hayden." Neil said. "Because I killed them."

"No, there was..." Sylvia trailed off, having spoken before she thought about it. Neil looked at her expectantly. "There was something else. They were questioning me."

"Like an interrogation?" He asked, intrigued but also strangely...worried.

"Yeah." She answered simply, brows creasing. "They were asking me about some plaque."

"What did the plaque say?"

Sylvia hesitated. Thomas was one of hers to protect. She didn't know what Neil might do with the information, if he would ask her if she knew something. "It was just something weird. I don't even remember."

Neil nodded, but he didn't seem like he believed her. His face then alighted, as if he'd just remembered something he'd forgotten. He dug into his pack and pulled out the baseball bat she had found. "I forgot to give this beauty back to you."

Sylvia smirked, taking the bat from his hands, "So, you admit it is awesome."

Neil rolled his eyes at her. He stood and slung his pack over his shoulder. "Lay down and rest. I'll have Hayden when I get back."

The playful expression on her face diminished. "What? No. I want to help."

"Sylvia..." he shook his head, giving her a once over. "You can hardly walk."

"I can–" her sentence cut off as a cough racked her. Her throat burned and she squeezed her eyes shut while she waited for it to pass. Neil watched her with a concerned expression. She back up at him, eyes fierce. "I can do it."

Neil sighed. "You are one stubborn bastard, you know that?" He sat back down, resting his back against one of the walls.

"What are you doing?"

He shot her a dubious look. "If you want to come, you're sleeping for a few hours first."

"Absolutely not," she seethed. "They could be hurting him. He'll be dead by the time we get to him!"

"He will be fine," Neil said. "If you try to go now, you'll kill yourself trying to get there. I know where they're keeping him. I know what Cranks have him. They're annoying, but harmless. Now sleep before I knock you out."

"But—"

He threw her a fierce look. She dropped her shoulders, sighing. If the only way to get out of there faster was to sleep, so be it. Exhaustion took over her body before insomnia could.

It felt like only seconds before Neil was shaking her awake.

"Come on, we gotta get Hayden back."

Sylvia didn't protest. Despite her previous aggrievement, she felt stronger having rested and ate a bit. She gathered her things and stood with her bat in hand and followed Neil back outside, Bark trailing behind her. She followed Neil down the empty streets. Faintly, she wondered if the Cranks only came out at night, or only the crazy ones at least. It was early morning now, thankfully.

She walked a bit faster to come up beside him, every part of her aching as she did. "What did they do to you? Did they question you?"

"No, they just wanted to hurt me." Neil professed.

"Did they?" She asked. When he looked at her confusedly, she expanded. "Hurt you, I mean."

"No." He answered shortly. Sylvia decided not to question him further.

They walked until Sylvia began to hear music faintly in her right ear, vibrations thrumming at her feet. She looked over at Neil curiously. He raised his eyebrows in a knowing expression but said nothing, only motioning for her to follow him.

They walked down through a narrow alleyway and they emerged on the other side. Neil led her two houses down the street before stopping. There was a small, chain-link fence around the backyard of one of the houses. He hopped over the fence and looked back towards her expectantly.

Sylvia glanced at Bark and sighed. She stooped down and picked the dog up, his weight heavy in her arms. She handed him to Neil over the fence and then hopped it herself. Every movement strained the wounds on her face, the bruises over her ribs.

The two of them came up to a low, dirtied window. As they approached, the music got louder and louder. She could feel the beat of the bass even outside the house. Sylvia peered inside. Vaguely, she saw bodies dancing and grinding against each other.

Sylvia glanced at Neil incredulously and whispered, "Is that a party?"

Neil grimaced. "Not my kind of party, but you could call it that."

"Your kind of party?" Sylvia asked, raising a brow. "You go to parties?"

"No." He scoffed.

Sylvia shook her head. They were getting off course. "Why are they keeping Hayden in there?"

"They're Cranks, Sylvia. There's no rational explanation for anything they do."

Sylvia paused, then said, "We're Cranks."

Neil glanced at her. "Yeah. We're just not half as Gone." He looked back inside the window. "Okay...the plan was for us to just break in there and get him, but I didn't know they'd be throwing a goddamn party."

"How'd you know how to find me and Hayden anyway?" She asked with a bit of suspicion.

Neil threw her an annoyed glance and said, "I asked my attackers nicely. Kindness can get you a long way."

It took a second for it to register what Neil was implying. Sylvia studied him, her eyes a bit wider. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Neil retorted sarcastically. He trailed a finger over the window sill. "These windows are too small to crawl through anyway. We have to find another way."

He started to move away, but Sylvia hesitated, staring at the window inquisitively. It was quite small but...she had an idea. Neil called back to her. She looked over at him. "I can fit."

"What?"

"I can fit through the window."

"Yeah, and go in alone?"

She scoffed. "I can take care of myself." Neil looked hesitant. Sylvia insisted, "I can do it."

"Fine." He conceded. He pointed through the window. "Since we can't exactly fight our way through and demand him back, I want you to blend in. You blend in with the crowd and find the basement. That's where they're keeping him. You find him, bring him back to this window. I'll wait for you. If you're not back in fifteen minutes I'm coming in and I'm looking for you."

"Good that." Neil looked at her weirdly as she said it, but she didn't explain. Sylvia looked pointedly at Bark. "Watch Bark."

"Bark?" Neil asked incredulously. Bark glared at him.

"That's his name." Sylvia said it like it was obvious.

"Of course it is."

Neil helped her inconspicuously pry open the window. The music was loud enough and the lighting dim enough that no one noticed the window opening. She made sure no one was looking as she slipped inside the house. Neil closed the window behind her and she gave him one final look before moving into the crowd.

It was dark inside the house. Her eyes took a few seconds to adjust. There were Cranks all around her, bodies writhing and rubbing against each other to the beat of the music. The volume made her head hurt. She noticed a bottle of what had to be an alcoholic drink sitting on a small table.

She gave into the temptations and swiped it. She threw her head back and drank once, then twice, before setting it back down on the table. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. One drink couldn't do much harm.

Her eyes scanned the crowd. She looked for anything that could lead to a basement, trying to avoid rubbing against anyone near her. Someone bumped into her from behind and she whirled around.

The first thing she saw was a tumble of red hair followed by a constellation of freckles on the girl's cheeks. She was tall and beautiful, and utterly out of place. Her hands gripped Sylvia just as she noticed the blood dotting the pale girl's skin. She was wearing a hospital-like gown.

This was the same girl she had seen appear to her before. This strange, bloodied girl.

The girl leaned in close and whispered, "Don't trust him."

Sylvia brow furrowed, her frown deepening. Before she could even begin to question the girl a rag clamped over her mouth. She blinked once, twice—squirming in the hold of whoever had her. The red-headed girl had disappeared.

"Think you're sneaky, little girl?" A gruff voice asked behind her. Sylvia squirmed in their grip. Something must have been infused in the rag they used to cover her mouth and nose because as she tried to suck in air, she felt herself becoming dizzy. Black spots spurred over her vision. The last thing she heard before she was out cold was, "I'll bet you'll fit right in with the other three."

THE FIRST THING Sylvia felt was the uncomfortable back of a chair digging into her spine. Everything felt hazy, like it could just slip through her fingers. As she tried remembering everything that had happened, the image of the girl with the fiery red hair came back to her.

What had she meant, don't trust him? Who was she talking about? Neil? Hayden? Someone from her group? The dread of the ominous warning stirred uncomfortably in her mind.

She shifted around in her spot, trying to get a feel for her surroundings. As she tried to move her arms, she realized something sticky was binding them to the arms of the chair. Tape.

Great, she thought. I'm tied up. Again.

Her legs could not be moved either, the tape around her ankles securing them to her chair. Her head thumped painfully. She could only hear the deafening music faintly now. As she stirred, groaning, a voice called her name.

"Sylvia?"

She nearly froze. That voice...that voice was familiar.

She cracked an eye open and blinding light struck her. She groaned again, a headache forming behind her eyes. Her head was craned back against the top of the chair. She lifted her head as the voice called her name again, her skull feeling a thousand times heavier.

"Sylvia? Syl?"

Slowly, she turned her head towards the voice, squinting. Sylvia nearly burst out of her chair as her eyes landed on Thomas. His brown hair disheveled, his face dirtied and a cut above his eyebrow. He was taped to a chair, just like her. Thomas!

She couldn't help the grin that stretched her lips. "No way."

Thomas smiled too, his eyes crinkling. "I thought you were dead!"

All at once, Sylvia laughed. She couldn't explain it, but she found this hilarious. She finally sees one of the Gladers again, and they're both tied up. Thomas started laughing too.

"What the hell happened to your face?" He questioned.

"The usual," she said vaguely. "Took a beating for someone I'd rather kill myself."

Thomas seemed lost for a second, since that could practically be anyone she knew. Hesitant, he asked, "Me?"

She smiled, "Who else?"

"Who's she?"

At the sound of a female voice, Sylvia craned her head to see another girl sitting on the other side of Thomas. The girl had short, dark hair and wide brown eyes.

Thomas's head turned to her and he explained, "We were in the Maze together."

"Ah, that explains it." A new voice cut in. "Sort of thought you were going full Crank for a second, Sylvia."

Sylvia turned her head to her left and was met with the sight of Hayden. The smile stayed plastered on her face. "I was looking for you, shuckface."

"Wait," Thomas interrupted. "You know him?"

"Yeah." Sylvia nodded, glancing between them. "He was with me, after I was separated from you guys. You're okay? What about—?"

"Minho?" Thomas finished for her. "Yeah. Newt too. Everyone's okay."

Her smile widened. "Good. Good."

Thomas then introduced her to the other girl. Her name was Brenda. Sylvia introduced Hayden and Thomas. Sylvia had so many questions for Thomas. She felt so elated to know that he and everyone else was okay.

She opened her mouth, about to let all her questions spill, but Thomas beat her to it. "Wait, backtrack. What do you mean you took a beating for me?"

Sylvia waved her hand flippantly with what little motion she could exert from her bound wrists. "Some Cranks had a plaque that said, 'Thomas, you're the real leader.' They wanted to know who that was. I told them I didn't know any shank named Thomas. They didn't like that answer."

Thomas's brows stitched together, "Why would do that? Why would you let them do that to you, for me?"

Sylvia glared at him. "You're a fool, but I want to keep your shuck face in one piece."

Before he could kill her with more questions, three Cranks stomped down the stairs into the basement.

One was tall and ugly looking, one with oily black hair pulled into a ponytail, and one with blond hair. The tall one showed his rotting teeth. "Looks like our little intruder has woken up."

Though her arm was restricted, Sylvia flipped a finger towards the three.This seemed to get a crack out of blondie because he started snorting and received a harsh stare from tall and ugly.

"Looks like trouble," the one with the ponytail snorted. The tall one glared at him.

"Now..." the Crank trailed off. He seemed to be in thought, pulling out a knife and twirling it between his dirtied fingers. "What do you know about Boy-o over here?" He asked, gesturing to a tied up Thomas.

Sylvia's instincts were quick. She took a once-over of Thomas and pretended to look at him with disinterest. She shrugged as well as she could, "Don't know. Never seen him."

Ponytail smirked at her. "Don't lie, sweetie. It tends to make things complicated."

Sylvia furrowed her brows and shook her head lightly, "I'm not lying. I've never seen that ugly shank before."

Before either of the three could continue to patronize her, a loud crash sounded above. All of them turned their heads to the ceiling. Hard footsteps pounded the ceiling above, followed by screams. It sounded frantic. Sylvia knew it must've been Neil. She had to conceal the smirk starting to crawl on her lips.

"Another group must've found us," the blond said, his face suddenly pale. He stood, motioned for the other two to follow him. A few seconds later they were gone, vanishing up a set of stairs into the shadows. A door opened and closed. The chaos above continued.

Sylvia looked back over to Thomas with the raise of a brow. Thomas stared at her confusedly. Thomas then glanced at Brenda.

"What if a bunch of full-gone Cranks are up there?" He asked the three of them.

Now, a coy expression fluttered across Sylvia's face. "It's not Cranks."

Thomas's brows knitted together, his brown puppy dog eyes muddled with confusion. "How do you know?"

She glanced quickly between Thomas and Hayden, gaze settling on the latter when she said, "Neil."

Hayden let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "Man."

"Neil?" Thomas's voice was laced with confusion.

Sylvia looked up at the ceiling again as another crash sounded. A set of footsteps sounded closer, almost near the door to the basement. She said shortly, "I'll explain later."

Another loud thump. Then another. Then, the door at the top of the stairs opened. Footsteps, hard and heavy, running down. It was all in shadow, and a brief, cold panic flooded Sylvia. What if she was wrong? What if it wasn't Neil?

A few seconds of terrible, not-knowing. Finally, someone stepped into the light.

Minho. Dirty and bloody, burn marks on his face. Knives in both hands. Minho.

"You guys look comfy," he said.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

HEY!!!
lets not talk about my absence. double update to apologize. maybe more soon?