Minho and Chuck sat beside the girl's bed, visiting her, while Newt went to wash himself and get something to eat.

The poor boy had gone through sleepless nights, barely even paying attention to his own necessities just to stay by her side, watching over her, waiting for her to finally wake up.

Alby and Minho, friends who worried about him, literally had to force him to take care of himself. They told him that if he wasn't willing to do it for his own sake, he should at least do it for Sara. She wouldn't want to find out he'd practically been starving himself and been sleep deprived because of her.

Minho was rubbing the sides of his head to relieve his headache until Chuck hurriedly nudged him.

"Hey," the young boy called to him in an urged whisper. "Hey, Minho, look."

As Minho stared down at the girl, he noticed her fidgeting slightly. Her eyelids quivered, and her eyebrows furrowed as she finally opened her eyes.

The dim light in the hut was almost too bright for her month-long, darkness-engulfed eyes. It made her squint, and she brought her hand up to her face to protect it. The sudden movement stimulated a few painful areas around her chest and shoulders, and she let out a long groan.

"Call Newt," Minho whispered to Chuck, standing up as he ushered him out. The boy didn't even hesitate before he dashed out the door.

Sara groaned again, trying to sit up on the bed.

"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there. You've still got more healing to do," Minho told her, holding her down.

"Mi—Minho?" she asked in a raspy voice. "What—"

The door burst open to reveal Newt with Chuck right behind him. The blond boy had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was disheveled. He was breathing so rapidly until his soft smile provoked a small smile in return from the sick girl. He rushed to her side and stroked her hair as his eyes darted all over her face.

"Sara." The relief in his voice was so evident that the girl's eyes swelled with tears. "You're awake."

Newt leaned in to peck her lips carefully so he wouldn't hurt her. There were deep scars on her face that were still healing. His heart burst with happiness at the feeling of her finally kissing back, unlike during her comatose state.

"Geez, girl. You took quite a beating." This came from Minho. "Do you remember who did this to you?"

Sara's face stiffened, and she swallowed hard. Newt stared at her worriedly, and then he sent a glare in Minho's direction.

"We'll sort that out later," said Newt, assuming she wasn't up for much questioning at the moment.

"I—uh... I do remember. But they'll... they'll do worse things—they'll—" Sara started to panic, but Newt stroked her cheek to calm her down.

He stared firmly into her eyes. "Love, what did they tell you?"

"They said they'd hurt... you. And all my friends—but... they were hoping I'd bleed to death, so... so they weren't too worried. I don't remember anything after that," she managed to say, her eyes full of terror.

"Well, they're bloody shucked." Newt was angered. "You're gonna be alright." His voice softened as he looked back at her. "If you give us their names, we're sure to get those slintheads banished by sunset."

Chuck butted in. "But she's still recovering. Think if they find out she didn't die, they'll for sure try to do something once she's alone sleeping or somethin'."

Minho nodded. "That's why somebody's gonna stay with her until we put them in the Maze, and no one'll say a shuck word about her waking up. Just to Alby, but no one else."

"I'm staying," Newt blurted out and then turned toward Sara. "I hate asking you to do this now, love, but could you give me as many details as you can?"

Sara nodded, but her nervousness wouldn't go away. "Fine. But do we really need to banish them?"

Minho laughed. "Shuck yes. We saw what they did to you. No one gets away with that klunk without getting thrown to the freakin' Grievers."

"But—"

Minho wagged his finger like a mom. "No buts, get on with it. Nobody's gonna try to kill my friend like that. So spill."

~A month earlier – Day of the attack~

Frypan left Sara in charge of the kitchen before making his way to the blood house to speak with Winston.

The girl was left doing busy work. She was constantly checking the stove to keep things from burning, and she was cutting up a pile of vegetables.

Unfortunately, the kitchen wasn't located in the middle of the Glade like the Box, but rather in the corner, making it far easier for certain events to go unnoticed.

It was a small, creaking sound that startled the girl. 

At first, she thought it was Frypan who must've returned from his chat with Winston, but when she turned to greet him, she was surprised to see two boys with disgusted expressions. One had a dagger in his hand.

She immediately stiffened when she saw that the boy holding the dagger was Chris. That same red-haired guy who pushed her into the mud during her Track-hoe tryouts a while ago. The other boy was a tall, black-haired guy with tanned skin, whom she recognized as one of the Builders.

"If you scream..." Chris tauntingly approached her whilst pointing the dagger at her, "...I'm not only gonna hurt you, but also everyone you love."

Sara tried to mask her panic, and assuming those boys were unaware of her private life in the Glade, she boldly confronted them. "Good luck with that. I don't care what you do to me. You both know that no one likes me here. I have nothing to lose."

They both looked at each other with devilish amusement, and the taller guy laughed. "Right. So, you wouldn't mind if something happened to Minho, right?"

Her eyes went wide, but she remained calm. Minho could totally defend himself.

The boy continued, "Or maybe Chuck. Kid's gonna die at such a young age. So sad," he mocked the grief. "Or... I don't know—let's say... Newt?" His eyes glimmered with amusement.

At the mention of Newt's name, a sudden rage overcame her, and she charged at the boys with the knife she was using to cut the vegetables. She didn't care that it was two against one. Newt could also defend himself, but she wasn't about to put him to the test.

Naturally, the odds weren't in her favor, and the tall boy gripped her wrist before her knife could even get near him. He clamped his other hand harshly against her mouth to muffle her screams, and then twisted her arm backwards. The only sound coming out of her mouth was a muffled yelp. The knife in her hand clattered to the ground.

"Now, listen here, you shank," said Chris, holding the knife against her throat as the taller boy held her in place. "You be a good girl and follow us out the door. Keep your mouth shut; act natural. Do the opposite, and I'll pay your friends a little visit."

"Take this fruit basket," said the other guy, snatching and forcing it onto her hands. "Make it believable."

The girl gave them the coldest stare she could manage, but her heart dropped as she thought about everyone she loved, and how they would pay if she let her stubborn, rebellious side get the best of her. She begrudgingly complied and followed them out the door.

Chris hid the knife before they headed out, and the taller boy gripped her arm in case she decided to take off running.

Once they set foot in the darkest corner of the deadheads, the blade came out again. Sara panicked as she saw they already had some rope hidden in the corner, evidence of a premeditated course of action.

"You're clearly a problem here. Everyone knows that. Well... everyone except your stupid little friends!" Chris snarled at her, knocking the fruit basket out of her hands with a rapid slash of the dagger. Sara hissed and held her bleeding hand against her chest.

"Yeah, I never trusted you," the taller boy added. "I bet you were sent by those shuck creators, like a test or something. They don't fool me—I know exactly what I have to do."

Taking turns each, they started throwing punches at her face. Then, several blows to the stomach, knocking the air completely out of her, and making her drop to her hands and knees to catch her breath. She coughed and blood spilled out of her mouth, onto the ground.

"Guys..." she could barely manage to say, "...I swear—I swear I'm not bad... please." She remained on the ground, gasping for breath as she clutched her sore stomach.

"Just shut up!" Chris shouted as he pinned her down.

The two boys got to work and ranged from punches to slaps, to pressing their knees against her stomach or elbows. Her cries and whimpers were muffled by their hands, which made it all the more difficult to breathe.

Her struggling only gave her a slight advantage as she desperately flailed her arms around to connect her fist to their faces somehow. Once she hit her target, Chris pulled back to touch the blood oozing out of the new cut on his lips. She swept her leg across and kicked the taller boy in the shin, causing him to let go of her. He started hopping on one leg while muttering profanities at her. This gave her time to back away against a tree and try to get onto her feet.

She was too late, however, as Chris was right back onto her. He started slitting her skin with the dagger. It continued until her body was so exhausted with burning pain, that she started feeling lightheaded, and dozed off into a stupor.

As her eyes fluttered open once again, her entire body screamed with the pain crawling back all at once. For a split second, she thought she'd had a nightmare until the memories rushed back just as fast.

"You know what this is, Sara?" Chris taunted her. "This isn't just a punishment, no. No, this is something more... significant." Chris stared at his friend as if asking him to add on to the idea.

"It's a sacrifice," the other guy added. "You belong to the creators now."

~Present~

Abruptly, Newt turned over to Minho. "Can you go get Alby? Tell him Chris and Edward are up for banishment. We'll see who's the bloody sacrifice now."

"On it." The Keeper of the Runners hurried out the door.

"Chuckie, can you please go ask Frypan to make Sara some food?" Newt asked kindly, and the boy smiled brightly before heading out as well, happy to be asked to help in any way.

❀❀❀

Newt and Minho returned to the Med-jack hut that afternoon, right after Chris and Edward's banishment.

Newt had always hated participating in them, but the need to maintain order was above anything else. He knew Sara equally disliked them as strongly, yet it had to be done; her life had been put on the line.

Minho, on the other hand, couldn't care any less. Sending two shuck-faces to meet their fate with the Grievers was almost as easy as it was for him to wake up early in the morning for his daily run.

The two boys froze in place just as they shut the door after entering. 

The Med-jacks were simply standing there, not knowing what to do, for once being useless. Newt and Minho were stunned to find Sara sitting on her bed, despite the effort it should've taken to do so.

And she was crying.

Uncontrollable sobs escaped her mouth, making her shoulders shake.