The group were now squashed into Jorge's emergency car. Jorge was, of course, driving and Bea was in the passengers seat. Aris, Minho, Newt and Frypan were squashed into the middle seats and Teresa was by herself right at the back as there was only one seat there.

On the way to the car Jorge has briefly explained that Marcus was an old friend of his who used to smuggle kids into the mountains. The group had asked why Jorge was helping them to which the old man replied that they were immune so they wouldn't turn him and Brenda away. Bea had immediately thought of Winston but didn't want to tell him they weren't all immune incase he would stop helping them.

"Are you sure they are going to be okay?" Bea whispered so only Jorge could hear her, after 15 minutes of driving.

"Don't worry hermana," he sighed reassuringly, "Brenda is a smart girl. She would've got herself and your friend out alive. You don't need to worry, she knows what do to and where to go."

Bea turned to look at the old man who was driving the car; his eyes were trained on the road but she could still see the distress in it. She could see deep down he was extremely worried about her. He didn't show it but he cared for that girl - a lot.

"How do you know her?" Bea asked changing the subject. Jorge's back stiffened at the memory of how he met Brenda but his eyes were glazed with nostalgia.

"She was pretty young - probably around 10 - when I first met her," he explained. "It -uh, wasn't under the best circumstances but she was so tiny and frail."

Bea could see the pain flashing through his eyes and how the memory tormented him.

"I had to help her. I knew I would regret it if I did otherwise. And since then I guess you could say I was the father figure she never had."

The man turned to look at Bea and in those few seconds her eyes bore into his. It was like she had uncovered a layer and now understood everything about him. She now realised why he was extremely protective over the girl and she admired him for taking Brenda under his wing.

Bea hummed in response, not needing to say anything. Silence washed over the car like usual - the odd chatter from the back seats every now again.

The car eventually came to a stop at a fork crossing. Jorge turned around to look at the rest of the group.

"Well chicos, this is our stop," he said causing everyone to frown, "We have to ditch the car otherwise the people in the city will become suspicious." Bea nodded in acknowledgement, hopping out of the car first and soon after the rest of the group jumped out too.

"Follow me."

And with that they were back to walking again. To Bea it was like they had come full circle: Escape WICKED, walk for days, find somebody to help them. Escape WICKED again and now they had to find somebody who supposedly going to help them. At least this time they had Jorge so they knew where they were going.

The group followed Jorge, trudging down the left side of the fork road, hands gripped onto the straps of their bags. After a few minutes of walking, more things appeared in their view - indicating they had entered the city.

Bea gazed up at the tall wrecked buildings, wondering how they were still standing. Piles of rubbish and scraps were left around the place, rats scurrying around them to look for food. Bea wrinkled her nose at the sight - and also because it stunk of sewages.

Hundreds of people rushed around busily, covering their mouths with pieces of cloths. There were people of all ages; kids, adults, elders. Her eyes trailed along the side of the road seeing a little boy complain to his mom that he was hungry to which the mom replied that he would eat soon. Her heart pounded in sorrow - she wished she could help them all.

She glanced to the right to see damaged cars and tarpaulin sheets being used as shelter.

These people didn't even have a proper home.

"Try to blend in," Jorge said, as they weaved in and out of groups of people. Beatrice refrained from looking around now, afraid it might make her look tourist-y, and sped up her pace to match the city people. Well, not that you could even call this place a proper city.

She was now walking in line with Teresa, the two at the back of the group.

"Do you think Thomas is going to be okay?" she asked Bea worriedly.

Bea just let out a shaky laugh, "From what I've gathered about that boy over the past few days is that he likes to throw himself into danger and still manages to come out alive so I don't think we need to worry."

Jorge's words had hit her like a truck earlier. Both Thomas and Brenda were clever enough to not die in that explosion and Jorge had said Brenda knew what to do so Bea felt more at ease now with the whole situation.

Teresa nodded at Bea's words, contemplating whether to believe her or not.

"It would have all been fine if that girl didn't run off," she huffed.

"Her name is Brenda!" Bea said, glaring at the girl, "And there's no need to blame her. If you really want to blame anyone, blame my idiotic brother for chasing after her."

She scoffed, barging passed Teresa, not wanting to talk to the girl for any longer. She didn't know why she was protective over Brenda but it just felt like the right thing to say.

The brunette girl speed walked to the front of the group, grumbling to herself about how wrong Teresa was. What she didn't realise was that Minho was now next to her, looking at her with an amused look in his face.

"You good?"

Bea's head snapped to side, now feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah just Teresa being annoying-" she said rolling her eyes and going off on a small rant to which the black haired boy just smirked, his eyes lit up with entertainment.

"So you're good then?" he asked again when she had stopped talking. Bea sighed, nodding with a small but genuine smile on her face. The two fell into a brisk walk, not saying anything else.

"Do you remember that thing you said the other day?" Minho spoke up after a few minutes.

"That's pretty vague. I think you're gonna have to be a bit more specific," Bea laughed, intrigued at what the boy was on about

"When-uh, Newt was asking you all of them questions and you kind of went off at him saying how it didn't matter if you died and how nobody would care and all of that stuff," he said nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

Bea froze for a few seconds at Minho's words before carrying on walking. She swallowed a lump in her throat before nodding at him.

"Well you were wrong," he said firmly, "You're not alone. We didn't really trust you in the beginning but the moment you risked your life for Thomas you became one of us. No sane person would do something like that for a boy they barely know without caring for them."

Bea cracked a smile; out of all the words to describe there she was definitely not sane.

"We do care about you, y'know," he continued, "We have each others' backs."

"Newt and Teresa basically hate me though," she said bitterly.

"Well just ignore them," Minho laughed, rolling his eyes, "You have me and Frypan seems to like you - well he likes everyone. And you have Thomas obviously because he's your brother which by the way is still insane to think about. And also you have Aris.

Bea nodded in agreement.

"I can't even begin to explain how much that boy cares about you," he said, referring to Aris, shaking his head at the thought, "After you exploded on Newt and walked away you should have seen the sad look on his face. He looks up to you so much it's unreal, almost as if you're his older sister. He seemed crushed when you said that because he cares about you more than you even realise."

Bea looked down guiltily. When she was ranting at Newt that day she didn't even realise half of the words that were coming out of her mouth. She was just too focused on confronting Newt that she didn't realise she hurt someone in the process.

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," Minho rushed when he noticed Bea's upset face, "Just...think about what I'm saying." Bea just nodded, internally thanking him for bringing up this conversation topic.

"So does this make us friends now?" Bea asked glancing at the boy.

"I guess it does," Minho smirked making eye contact with her.

"Good."

"Good," the black haired boy repeated.

Less than two seconds later they were doubled over with laughter.

"Ew that was the cringiest thing that's ever happened in my life," Bea gagged to which Minho snorted in agreement.

"Yeah let's never do that again," he said shaking his head. The two started easing up, now feeling more comfortable around each other.

"Well," he said, "Now that I have been promoted to your friend am I allowed to call you Bea or something?"

"Yes, oh my god please do. I hate my full name anyways," she insisted to which the boy smiled.

"Good," he laughed, "I like the nickname. Sounds like a Bea, y'know buzz buzz like a bee?"

The boy began laughing at his own joke, not realising Bea had stopped walking. Something had just clicked inside her head. Those few words reminded her of something.

---

"Hi! I saw you were alone, so I wanted to see if you were okay – not that being alone is a bad thing of course but I know I was really sad when I was alone and separated from my brother so" - the new girl rambled on, waving her hands around animatedly as she spoke.

'Hey! Its okay don't worry. I know exactly how you feel, I don't get to see my older brother as much anymore either. Anyway, its nice to meet you, my names Beatrice but I don't really like it that much," the brown-haired girl laughed, incredibly excited to even be talking to someone her own age. The other girl she had just met had wavy-chestnut brown hair falling a few inches past her shoulders and dark eyes with a childish glint in them. Her skin was fawny beige like Beatrice's and they both shared small turned up noses. To a random stranger, the girls looked like siblings - twins even - and would be shocked to find the two had just met.

"That's fine, I can call you Bea – if you like?" the other girl asked nervously twiddling her thumbs.

"Of course, I like that nickname, it sounds like a bee!" Beatrice giggled tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The other girl laughed with her, finally easing up and becoming more comfortable.

---

Brenda was my friend from WICKED.

She gasped in realisation, wondering how she never thought of this before. It all added up, how Brenda said she used to talk about Thomas all of the time and how the girl in her dreams - well memories - used to talk about how she missed her brother. Bea suddenly felt ecstatic that she could remember Brenda and couldn't wait to tell her.

"Hey, you okay?" Minho asked raising an eyebrow, now a couple feet in front of her.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay. I just remembered something, it's fine," she reassured, catching up with him.

"I can't believe you found that bee joke funny, what are you five?" she quipped, scoffing at him.

"Hey my humour is incredible," he said placing a hand on his chest, "I take that insult to heart"

Bea grinned at the boy's sarcasm, "Well if you find that funny, I suggest you take up another form of humour."

"And there she goes again," Minho sighed dramatically, "Insulting me like there's no tomorrow."

"Oh shut up," Bea huffed, shoving the boy lightly to which he shoved her back. She shoved him again, harder this time making him stumble to the side.

"Oh you're on," he said narrowing his eyes. He pushed her even harder causing her to trip over her own feet and land on her back on a pile of junk. She closing her eyes shut, groaning, clamping her hands on her left side where she got stabbed.

"Oh my god, Bea are you okay?" Minho said urgently, immediately regretting what he did and rushing to her side. The brunette girl lay still for a few seconds before squinting her eyes open to see him leaning over her. She smirked, quickly stretching out her leg and swinging it around his leg. She hooked it around his ankle causing him to fall onto the ground in seconds.

Swiftly, she stood back up, dusting her hands and clothes. She laughed at Minho who was now groaning on the floor.

"You are sly," he said, slowly staggering to his feet, "Very, very sly." He narrowed his eyes jokingly at the girl who was still laughing at him. She just shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what else to say.

"Hey what are you guys doing?"

They snapped their heads to the side to see Fry looking at them in confusion.

"Nothing. We're coming!" Minho called back, grabbing Bea's arm to hurry up with the rest of the group. This little trip was slowly taking her mind off all of the bad stuff.

---

"It's this house."

They had eventually made it to this Marcus' house after a lengthy walk. The house was crowded with loads of drunk people, giving Bea an uneasy vibe. Suddenly a man with blonde, scruffy hair stepped out of the house with a drink in his hand.

"You guys here for the party?" he asked walking over to the group but he froze when his eyes fell on Jorge.

"Hello Marcus," Jorge greeted through gritted teeth, looking at the man angrily. He had said Marcus was an old friend of his but it never occurred to Bea that they might no longer be friends.

"Long time no see," Marcus smirked, clearly enjoying Jorge's reaction.

"Did a boy and a girl come here looking for you a while ago?" Jorge asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Hmm, I don't know," Marcus mused, "Must have slipped my mind."

Now very irritated, Jorge barged past Marcus, straight through the front door of the house. Quickly, the rest of the group scrambled after him.

"Party's over hermanos," he boomed causing the room to slip into an eerie silence. When nobody moved he slipped a gun out of his pocket pointing it at the large group of drunk people.

"I said la fiesta terminó," he snapped angrily, his brow furrowing. The group immediately dispersed at the sight of the weapon which made it easier to find Brenda and Thomas

"Split up so we can find Brenda and you're friend. Once you find them, go into the room upstairs" he ordered and with that he put the gun back into his pocket and strolled out of the house, looking for Marcus.

The group scattered and Bea sighed, a bit scared of the man, realising how he could act when he was it came to somebody he cared about a lot. She scanned the room and her eyes widened when she saw a girl with short, brown hair facing away from her.

"Brenda!" she called out but the girl didn't turn around. Bea rushed over to the girl, bumping into the leaving people and reached Brenda who had just turned around. Bea's eyes darted to the floor to see Thomas lying there and she was about to go to him but Teresa rushed over.

And she claims she doesn't like him.

Bea turned back to Brenda to see that her eyes were bright red and she was sickly pale and looked like she was about to faint any second. She was about to say something when her legs buckled. Alarmed, Bea wrapped her arms around the girl so she wouldn't fall.

"Hey, hey, you're okay," she reassured, "I got you."

Brenda smiled weakly, clutching onto the girl. Bea had never expected to see Brenda so weak and fragile but she knew this wasn't willingly as she had concluded Marcus had given her and Thomas some sort of alcohol or drug.

Bea wrapped one of the girl's arms around her shoulder, directing her towards the stairs. She turned back to see the rest of the group were now crowded around Thomas. She frowned thinking how nobody had came to see if Brenda was okay.

Letting out a deep breath, she reach the top of the stairs, not needing to support Brenda any longer as it looked like she had sobered up. The landing they were on was basically a room in itself. It was fairly large with lanterns hanging around and large windows with extravagant curtains drooped in front of them. There was a few couches and cushions dotted all over the place and a table and chairs by the door. The place was posh to say the least.

"Sit over there. I'll give you something to eat and drink and some painkillers," Bea said, nodding towards the brown coach. Brenda slowly trudged over placing her head in her hands. Bea swung her bag off of her shoulder and onto the table and started rummaging around. Eventually, she found some painkillers in the First Aid kit and the snacks from the abandoned mall. She handed that and her water canister to Brenda with a small smile.

Brenda gratefully took it taking small sips and swallowing the tablet. She opened the snacks which happened to be a packet of mixed nuts and she scooped a handful and chucked it into her mouth hungrily. Bea finally relaxed, knowing all of her friends were safe.

As if on cue, Minho and Newt came in carrying Thomas. They placed him down on a bunch of the plush cushions and Teresa immediately crouched by his side, placing his head in her lap. The rest of the group sighed, crashing onto the couches to relax. Bea stayed next to Brenda, not wanting to leave her alone.

Less than a minute later, the sound of two men arguing escalated up the stairs until they reached the entrance of the room. Bea's eyes widened at Jorge who had tied Marcus' wrists behind his back and was gripping onto him by the collar of his shirt. Marcus had a bruise forming around his right eye and had blood dripping from his mouth.

Jorge grabbed one of the chairs and placed it in the centre of the room before shoving Marcus onto it. He grabbed some more rope from his pockets, tying Marcus' ankles to the legs of the chairs and retying his arms around the back of the chair.

Bea watched in amazement watching the scene unfold.

Jorge grinned, spinning on his heel to look at the group. "Get ready for a show hermanos."

Bea couldn't help but laugh and shake her head at the crazy man. She glanced to the right to see Teresa was still on the floor cradling Thomas, Minho and Fry were on a sofa and Newt was sitting on a single plush chair near Jorge while Brenda was still by herself.

"So Marcus, are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Jorge questioned, causing Bea to turn back to the two old men.

When he got no response, he leant back before punching Marcus in the face causing blood to spurt from his mouth. Bea winced; she didn't enjoy violence as much as the next person but Marcus' face was already making her queasy but she knew this was just the beginning for Jorge.

She turned back around, trying to block out the noise and looked at Brenda who was surprisingly quiet.

"You okay?" she whispered, looking at the girl. Brenda just looked back and shrugged.

"What happened to you two while we were gone?" she asked, frowning.

"Stuff."

Bea pressed her lips into a firm line knowing the other girl clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"Guess what?" she said changing the subject to which Brenda hummed in response.

"I think I remember you."

Brenda's eyes widened, sitting up straight, eagerly looking at the girl for more information.

"There's still some holes in my memory but one memory I do have is I think when we are first meeting and I'm telling you my name and how much I hate it and then you say-"

"-that I can call you Bea and you said you liked that nickname because it sounded like a bee," Brenda finished, smiling a true genuine smile. Bea nodded at her, a smile forming on her face too.

"I'm really glad you remember," Brenda said softly.

"Me too," Beatrice replied. She suddenly flinched at Jorge pushing Marcus' chair to the floor.

Note to self: never make Jorge angry.

She sighed rubbing her temple. It was only now she was realising how tired to she was, the lack of sleep beginning to catch up with her. Her eyes flashed to Aris who was smiling at her. He plonked himself on the other end of the sofa Brenda was on.

"You okay?" he asked to which Bea just nodded.

"You look tired, you should sit," he observed. Bea sighed contemplating whether to make herself comfortable as she knew if she did she would fall asleep within seconds.

"It's not as if we're gonna be leaving here any time soon," he said, jerking his head towards Jorge and Marcus.

"I'll be fine for now," she reassured. Aris tilted his head, giving her a knowing look and patting his shoulder. Bea exhaled, giving in and flopping next to him. She placed her head on his shoulder to which he wrapped his arm around her back. She pressed her cheek against his soft skin, her breath fanning over his collarbone. She closed her eyes, feeling herself relax after a long time.

"Enough of your mierda! Where. Are. They?"

I am never going to fall asleep with this racket.

Bea squinted her eyes open for a millisecond and gasped when she saw Jorge had battered Marcus' face to the point where he was almost unrecognisable.

"Hey, hey. You're okay."

Her eyes snapped to the side to see Teresa talking to Thomas. He was finally awake. Bea internally sighed with relief. She knew the drug Marcus gave them wasn't going to hurt him massively but it still had worried her that Brenda was awake and he was not.

"Welcome back you ugly shank," Minho said walking over to him with a smirk on his face.

Of course. Classic Minho welcoming.

Thomas groaned, sitting up, his eyes nervously darted around the place but he relaxed when he saw Bea slouched next to Aris.

"Hi Tom," she greeted, a hint of amusement in her voice at his frazzled expression.

"Why won't you fucking talk, you son of a bitch!" Jorge yelled, getting everyone's attention as he punched Marcus in the face for the millionth time.

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to leave my house," Marcus mused, still managing to crack a smile.

"It looks like you've been having fun," Newt said, glancing at Thomas who was now standing up and making his way over to Jorge.

"Look, I don't enjoy hurting you hermano," Jorge said, waving his arms in desperation, "Okay, where is the Right Arm, Marcus?

"W-Wait this is Marcus?" Thomas stammered, incredibly confused.

Marcus just cackled, looking Thomas up and down with his one working eye, "This kid catches on quick."

"Are you the brains of the operation?" he asked sarcastically and if it was anyone else saying this Bea would have burst out laughing.

"I know you know where they're hiding," Jorge scowled, clutching the chair on either side of Marcus' head, "So you tell me, and I'll make you a deal."

Marcus just laughed at Jorge's words.

"You can come with us."

Hold up that wasn't part of the plan.

"I burned that bridge a long time ago," Marcus said, shaking his head, "I make my own deals. You're the one who taught me - never miss an opportunity." And then he started cackling again.

"What's he talking about?" Newt asked, a firm expression on his face. This intrigued Bea; she stood up making her way with Aris over to the rest of the group who were standing around Newt's chair - apart from Brenda who was still on the sofa and Teresa who was still sitting cross legged on the floor next to the cushions

"It's about supply and demand. WICKED wants all the immunes they can get. I help provide that for them. So I lure the kids in, they get drunk, they have a good time. And then later, WCKD comes in." Marcus explained, his eyes trailing towards Brenda, "they separate the wheat from the chaff." He cackled again, going into a world of his own.

Jorge looked at who Marcus was staring at and his anger started building up again.

"I change my mind hermano," Jorge sighed, shaking his head, "I do enjoy hurting you." He took a few steps back before lunging forwards, pushing his foot into Marcus' stomach causing the battered man and chair to topple over.

Jorge pulled out his gun and crouched over Marcus who was still cackling to which the group started crowding around Jorge so he didn't do anything stupid.

"Talk!" he said aggressively, pressing the nozzle of the gun to Marcus' head, "Talk!"

"Okay, okay!" Marcus surrendered, kicking his feet in the air, "Jesus... but I'm not making any promises - these guys like to move around."

With the help of Newt, Jorge picked up the chair causing Marcus to wince loudly. The man exhaled heavily, attempting to get his breath back.

"They have an outpost in the mountains. But it's a long way away," he breathed out, shaking his head, trying to discourage the group, "You got half a weekend on your ass, you're never gonna make it." And with that he began cackling evilly for the fifth time that day.

Jorge just smirked at him, "Not on foot." He leaned down, planting his hands on Marcus' shoulders in a friendly way.

"Where's Bertha?"

Marcus' lip trembled, as if he was about to cry, making Jorge's grin even larger.

"Not Bertha," he croaked out.

All Bea could think about was, who the hell is Bertha?