The boys whipped their heads to the source of the screams. Newt dashed to where the shrieks seemed to be coming from and the closer he got, the more bloodcurdling the screams became. It was like twenty blackboards being scratched, all at the same time. Chills ran up Newt's spine with each cry of pain. When he finally reached the body, he found her hand and squeezed it.

"EMILY!" Newt shouted.

The girl's body thrashed and squirmed violently and the sounds coming from her mouth made her throat raw. "PLEASE! ARGHH! MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE! GAHHHH!"

She kicked everywhere and her arms flailed in all directions. Newt moved his hands to try to find the source of the pain and his fingers brushed a smooth, cold surface. He pulled his hand back and froze. Another boy, Frankie, tried to help. He knelt beside Newt and Newt told him where the cool surface had been. Frankie moved his hand to it and grabbed it. He tried to pull it off but that just made things worse. Yells and screams indicated that the thing had latched onto Frankie. His body convulsed, as Emily's did but his screams did not last for long. Thomas bent down and patted his hand on the boy's body but when he reached where the head should have been, a smooth ball of metal was its replacement. Blood streaked the ball and Thomas wiped the red liquid on his pants.

"What the shuck happened, Thomas?!" Minho asked.

"I don't know! One minute, he's screaming and then his head's replaced with a metal ball the minute after!"

"Metal ball? What?!"

"It just rolled away after... it was covered in blood, I think."

The boys gathered around the two and asked Thomas multiple questions at once. Minho stopped them and silence wavered throughout the air.

"Where's Newt?" Minho questioned.

Before anyone could speak, Newt answered from farther down the tunnel. "Ya buggers! Over here! Emily's not moving!"

The gladers rushed over to the British boy, leaving Frankie's headless body behind. Clint checked for her pulse and stated that it was beating but it was very faint. Newt picked up her limp body and felt a sticky liquid drop onto his hands. Blood.

"We gotta go." Thomas spoke.

"We should go back!" someone else shouted.

"No way. Not gonna happen." Minho growled. "You shanks just hunch down and spread yourselves out. If some metal ball comes towards you, hit it like your life depends on it... which it does. Newt, do ya mind carrying Em the whole way? We can have people take shifts."

"It's alright. I'll just stay in the back." Newt responded. "Let's get out of here."

The boys zoomed down the tunnel and Newt limped farther behind the last glader but he was determined to make it. For Emily. The journey was tiresome but he kept on going. Unfortunately, they lost another person to the ball. They mourned but they quickly started their run after.

Newt almost fell over when he bumped into the boy in front of himself but he managed to balance himself.

"What's going on up there, Minho?" He called out. The smell of bad breath and sounds of panting filled the space. This was their second break throughout the whole run and everyone was completely exhausted.

"Almost smashed my shins. Anyways, I think there's a stairway here." Minho replied back.

"Are we gonna go up?" someone asked.

"No." Minho's sarcastic tone spoke. "We're just gonna stay here and wait until the shucking ball comes and slices each and every one of us."

Minho's footsteps clunked up the stairs and the boys followed shortly after. Newt struggled, his arms were sore and he was exhausted. His limp wasn't much of an advantage either.

"Need some help?" Thomas asked.

"Sure."

The two boys each supported one side of Emily and they slowly walked up the stairs. The clank of Minho's head hitting the top made everyone jump.

"Well... here goes nothin'." Minho muttered. He slowly opened the hatch and light seeped through the opening.

"Gah! Too bright! Too bright!" Frypan yelped. Minho let the door slam shut.

"Calm yourself, shank. Can someone pass me a shirt or something?"

"Why?" Frypan asked.

"So I can soak up the sweat on my forehead."

"But how --"

"You klunk for brains. I'm gonna use it to help prop the door open. It'll let us get used to the light if we have a little bit shinin' through."

"Ohhhh."

Minho sighed and held his hand out for the shirt. He stuffed it in the door and bright, orange sunlight leaked onto the gladers' faces. Newt set Emily down on his lap and brushed her hair out of her face. He looked down at her arms and neck and was shocked to see the cuts that scratched up her skin. Some of them still drizzled blood. Her chest was rising but her breaths were shallow. Newt held her head closer to his and his eyes watered. She doesn't deserve this. He thought.

A few minutes later, it got too stuffy and the boys started complaining. Minho shushed them and wiped the sweat off his brow. He put his hands on the metal hatch and took the shirt away. He pushed it open and the gladers were greeted with the burning sun staring down at them.

********

Emily's eyes cracked open and two hazy figures were above her. Once her vision was clearer, she saw that figures were a man and a woman. The man had her light brown hair and the woman had her green eyes. Another figure walked to the left of her bedside and she recognized who it was.

Dee Dee.

The woman spoke. "Hey sweetie."

"Hi mommy," Emily spoke.

"I'm sorry that we have to... let you girls go." Her father started. "We just... we can't let you see..."

"Honey..." her mom interrupted. "Don't worry. Remember these words: Right Arm. Both of you, okay?" She looked back and forth between the twins and waited for their confirmation of her request. The girls nodded slowly.

Dee Dee scrunched her eyebrows together. "But what is Right Arm?" her twin questioned.

"We --"

Someone pounded at the door. "Oliver Agnes and Victoria Gabrielle, this is WICKED. You have two minutes to turn your daughters in or else we will come in by force."

Their mom started to cry and their father put his arm around her. They picked their daughters up and carried them to the door. Their mom bent down and smoothed down Emily's hair while their father did the same to Dee Dee.

"You know how we put your name on your neck, Em?" their dad asked.

"Yea..." Emily rubbed the back of her neck and flinched. "It's still kinda sore. Why didn't Dee get it?"

"Sorry about that, Em." their mom kissed her forehead. "But it's really important. Okay? It's like a password. And... if we meet again, I'll tell you why Dee Dee didn't get it."

Dee Dee raised her eyebrow. "What do you me--"

"Thirty seconds!" a voice boomed from behind the door.

"We love you guys." their parents hugged them one last time.

Without warning, her father collapsed and he clenched his head with his hands. He got up on his knees and his face started to twist as if he was resisting something. He looked up at his daughters and smiled, like what he did never happened. "Hopefully we will get the chance to see you when you --"

The WICKED employees kicked down the door and walked up to the twins. Each of them picked up a twin and carried them out the door.

"No!!" Dee Dee yelled.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Emily squirmed in the man's tight grasp.

"Shut it, muchacha." He muttered.

The other man slapped his partner. "Hey, go easy on the kid."

The partner rolled his eyes. "These muchachas make it twenty kids today. I have to see so many kids with fear in their eyes and there's nothing I can do about it! I swear, I'm done with WICKED."

"Ah, Jorge. They're the last ones of the day. C'mon, how about some names?"

Emily huffed. "My name is Emily!" She covered the back of her neck.

"Whatcha hiding, kiddo?" Jorge's partner asked. He took Emily's hands off of her neck and moved her hair out of the way. "Huh, looks like names are already done. But shouldn't we chang--"

Jorge groaned. "Argh! Hermano, I'm too tired to think of names right now. Who cares if it's the original? Let's just get back to headquarters."

"Alright, alright."

********
Emily woke up with a shock. Her head smacked Newt's and he fell back. She rubbed her forehead and looked around her. There was a vast landscape of sand, hills of sand, and debris. Past that... oh, whaddya know? More sand and debris! Newt groaned and Emily turned around.

She whispered, seeing how the rest of the gladers were asleep. "Where are we? And, uh, sorry bout your head." She rubbed the back of her neck, thinking about how her name could be so important to this... Right Arm.

Newt rubbed his head. "The Scorch, I guess. And don't worry about it."

"How... how long was I out?"

"Pretty much the rest of the day. You were losin' a lotta blood, Em."

"Whoa." She looked to Winston. "What happened to Win?"

The blonde boy cringed at the mutilated face. "The metal ball got him too. Luckily we got it off him before it took off his head."

Emily nodded, looking down at her own arms and legs, which were covered in cuts that have now scabbed over. Newt opened up his arms and invited her to come sit with him. She accepted his offer and let her back rest into his chest and his arms wrap around her. Emily and Newt looked up at the night sky, which was sprinkled with twinkling stars. Newt kissed her head and Emily closed her eyes.

This could be the only normal time that we'll have together. She thought. The only time we'll ever feel like normal teenagers. The only time that I could tell him about how I'm not... She squeezed her eyes tighter. No. It will break his heart. Plus... maybe he'll treat me differently.

Her thought were interrupted by Newt's soft snores. She giggled and slowly took his arms off of her and laid him gently onto the sand. She kissed his cheek and a sad smile appeared on her face. Emily turned back to face the sky and noticed a star, one that shone brighter than any of the other ones. Somehow, she remembered something about how you can make wishes on the brightest star. A rhyme played in her head, she could hear the voices of a younger version of her and Teresa and their mom.

Star light

Star bright

First star I see tonight

I wish I may

I wish I might

have the wish I wish tonight.

I wish WICKED never existed. I wish it never took my life away from me.

Suddenly anger, sadness, hate, and an urge for revenge started rising up in her body. She looked towards the star again and she loathed the thought of it granting wishes. How could it? To her, it was just full of empty promises, broken dreams and false hope. Wishes were just there to help people think that it was going to be okay and that things could change, when in reality, nothing changes and they are left demoralized and disappointed. She stood up and ran. She ran and ran until her legs gave out and she was on her knees. She screamed and yelled. Her already raw and sore throat felt even more damaged. But she didn't care, WICKED had done this to her and now she was left with the knowledge of her not being immune to a sanity destroying disease. She was left to make wishes knowing that there was no way to make them come true. She was left with the burning thought that she could break the love of her life even more than he already was.

After a few minutes, exhaustion took over her voice and body. Her head started to ache as if someone put a clamp on it and was slowly tightening it. The pain and somnolence overcame her and blackness was all she could see.