A/N: Warning for language in this one!

Thomas' POV

"We have to go now!" I said, pulling the grate back once more. The sense of urgency drove my actions as I tried to get the gladers to understand.

"Tommy! Will you calm down a moment and tell us what you saw?" Newt nearly begged me, no doubt worried about Clara now.

"There's no time to explain you just have to trust me!" I gestured for them to climb down the vent and Aris went down first. "Follow Aris and we'll find the girls."

Newt glanced at Minho briefly before following Aris down the vent. I followed last, making sure the others all got through.

Once our feet hit the floor we started running. I didn't know where we were going but I knew we had to find the girls.

"Thomas! Come on, follow me!"

We all turned towards the voice and I immediately recognized the boy standing at the end of the hall. He had short brown hair and striking blue eyes that I would know anywhere. "Chase?" The name left my lips before I even realized it and he was eagerly nodding.

"Come on! They're coming!" He rounded the corner without waiting for us and I followed without hesitation.

A loud siren pierced the air and I found myself covering my ears from the loud noise. Chase hovered by a door leading into another hall, waiting for us. He was looking in through a little window on the door with a frightened expression.

Once we finally reached him he threw open the door and ran in. Newt wrapped a hand around my arm and pulled me back suddenly, exchanging a look with Minho as he did.

"Where are we going?"

"This is Clara's brother, Chase. We have to get out of here now, Newt. They're coming for us and the girls. We have to go." I pleaded that he would accept the answer as the alarm rang above us.

"Clara!"

I turned towards the door Chase ran through as he yelled and wasted no time following him. Despite the current situation I found a big smile sliding across my face when I saw her in Chase's arms. The others piled in behind me, all chattering excitedly about finding her. Chase already began to drag her with him down the hall to another door and she easily kept up with him. When he reached the door he threw out an arm to stop her, as if she had a choice.

"What?" Her voice waivered and I felt my heart clinch. Was she hurt or just scared?

"Jansen. It's Jansen. We have to...we have to go." Chase quickly pulled her down a hall to the right and we all followed on his heels. I finally looked down and noticed the giant gun like thing she was carrying in her free hand and smirked to myself. She had broken out. She freed herself without our help and managed to get a weapon.

Chase brought us to another door and peered in with Clara hovering over his shoulder.

"Teresa! Chase, we have to get her!" Clara eagerly pushed open the door before Chase had a chance to react. He sighed, pulling Clara behind him and running into the room first. She pulled the large gun up and aimed it at the lady in the room. "Don't move!" She yelled out, surprising us all aside from Chase. He continued on to Teresa, unhooking several wires from her. I joined him a moment later, glancing at Clara as I passed her. She seemed different and I hoped the change was just temporary and not caused from something she went through here. Teresa wrapped an arm around my shoulder when I got to her and I gently pulled her from the table.

"Guys, we have company!" Minho yelled out, looking out the door.

Newt reacted quickly, flipping one of the tables in the room and shoving it in front of the door with Winston and Fry Pan's help.

Teresa stood on her own feet glancing at Clara with a small smile on her face that Clara returned.

My eyes went to the large glass window on the wall opposite the door, our only way out of the room. "Chairs!" I yelled, grabbing a chair and throwing it as hard as I could at the window with no luck. Newt joined me and we threw them in unison, shattering the window completely. I wasted no time climbing through the opening in the wall and helping Teresa as she was still barefoot. Chase grabbed Clara's gun that she was holding as Newt stepped forward to help her. I watched to make sure the others were okay, that Clara was okay, and saw her jumping through with Newt's help. We raced down a hall, Chase resumed the lead, and we all slammed to a stop when the lights went out and the alarm stopped. It was suddenly so dark we couldn't see a foot in front of us.

"Shit! It's their prevention system to keep us here, we have to go now!" Chase yelled through the eerily silent hall. I heard his feet pounding down the hall away from us and quickly followed, dragging Teresa with me. "If something lands on you, you have to get it off immediately!!" Chase's voice waivered in fear and I found the knot in my stomach grow as we continued running after him.

There was a loud scream and we all stopped in our tracks. "Clint? Clint! Guys, something's wrong!" Clara's panicked voice shook me out of my trance and I quickly ran towards her. My hand slid over Clint's thrashing body as he screamed in pain. I gasped when I found his head covered in a smooth, hard material. I searched down the ball to his neck and yanked my hands back when I found his head separated from his body.

"Keep moving! There's nothing we can do for him now!" Chase yelled as he started running once more. This time I reached out and grasped Clara's arm and pulled her with me.

"What was that Tommy?" She asked me, her hand moving to mine.

"I don't know, just keep moving." I gripped her hand tighter as another scream came from in front of us. "Winston?" I pulled her with me towards Winston's agonizing scream. The same metal stuff was on his scalp and he was frantically pawing at it. "Winston! Calm down!" I nearly shouted at him, trying to pull the metal from his head. Everything was so much harder in the dark. I felt Clara's fingers prying at it with me but it didn't budge. "Winston you have to help us pull it off." I spoke as calmly as I could and his screams finally became quieter. His hands pushed while Clara and I pulled and we were able to pull the metal off of him. I could feel the warm liquid, the blood, from Winston's scalp running down my hand and I could only imagine what he looked like.

"Your skin is gone." I mumbled quietly.

Newt bumped into us then and covered Winston's head with something, helping us pull him to his feet. "Come on, we have to go."

Newt grabbed Clara's other hand but I couldn't find it in myself to let her go so we both pulled her down the pitch black hall only following the thundering footsteps of the others. Another scream made my heart drop as Clara suddenly released our hands. Her screams filled the air and made my stomach churn in fear. "Clara! Where is it?"

"Where is it love?"

Newt and I spoke at the same time, both of our hands frantically searching her for the skin searing metal. "My shoulder!" She cried out.

Both of our hands moved to her shoulder and we were able to pull it off of her after a few rough tugs. The stench of burning metal met with burning skin and I nearly emptied my stomach as I threw the metal, which had started to actually melt in my hands, to the ground.

"Clara?" Chase called out from the front of the group. "Are you okay?"

I could hear the panic in his voice and when she replied with a small yes I didn't need any lights to know she was crying from the pain.

I pulled off the light jacket I had on and draped it over her shoulders. Newt instantly moved to cover her wound lightly with his hand as I pulled away from her. She whimpered slightly when my jacket made contact with her wound and we both moved closer to her to help support her as we continued down the hall.

"Wait, there's something I need to do really quick!" Aris suddenly yelled out.

"What do you mean? We have to get out of here!" Minho yelled back at him.

"I'll go with him and we'll meet up with you." Winston replied quietly and the two were gone before anyone else could protest.

The sound of footsteps filled the dark hall once more as we all started running to what we hoped was the exit. The group stopped suddenly and I found myself pulling Clara closer to me as the lights came back on. My eyes immediately went to her shoulder and I pulled off the jacket to analyze her wound. I sucked in a sharp breath when I saw her blistered skin. My gaze met hers and I frowned when I noticed her eyes watering. Newt was hovering right next to me, looking at her wound as well with a distraught expression.

"It'll be okay. We'll get that fixed up alright?" My eyes stayed focused on hers as more tears trailed down her cheeks and she nodded in response.

I gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked over at Chase to see why we had stopped. He pulled out some kind of card he must have swiped from someone and tried swiping it on the large door that kept us from escaping. I released Clara as Newt pulled her into him, holding her gently as to not hurt her wound any more than it already was.

The sound of approaching footsteps had us all turning to face the hall we just came down. Jansen led a pack of guards, a grimace on his face when his eyes found Clara. Chase stepped forward with the large gun but I quickly took it from him. He nodded in understanding but remained by my side as I aimed the gun at Jansen. "Thomas! You don't want to do this. The maze is one thing but you kids wouldn't last a day out in the scorch." He continued walking towards me so I took another step forward, ready to shoot.

"You think the metal balls were bad? Look at Clara, she needs help. She won't last long out there." Jansen spoke calmly, his gaze flickering from me to Chase. I glared at him and took another step towards him, dangerously close to pulling the trigger when his eyes landed on Clara once again.

Jansen sighed and held his hands up in surrender. "Please. You don't want to go out there. We're trying to save your lives here. Clara's life too."

My gaze didn't waiver as I pulled the trigger as soon as he said Clara's name. He was quick to dodge the electric blue ball that hurled towards him and I continued rapidly firing at him.

The door suddenly opened behind us and I glanced over my shoulder to see Winston and Aris on the other side. Aris had a big grin on his face and Winston was still cringing from his injury.

"Come on, let's go!" Aris yelled, waving us forward as the door started slowly shutting again. The others all ran through as I fired shot after shot on Jansen and the other guards, backing my way towards the door slowly.

"Come on Tommy!" Clara yelled.

I glanced over my shoulder and my eyes met hers and I immediately threw the now empty gun towards the group, throwing myself under the barely opened door. I narrowly made it as the door sealed seconds after I passed under it and Clara was the one there to help pull me to my feet. Her small arms wrapped around my waist and I eagerly hugged her back careful to avoid her wound.

"We have to go. Do you think you can run with us?" I asked her cautiously. I didn't want her to think I was insulting her or that I thought she was weak but with her injury I knew she wouldn't last as long as the rest of us, aside from Winston at least. Newt hovered anxiously behind us, watching every move Clara made. He had a sparkle in his eye that hadn't been there when we were separated from her.

"Of course I can. I was a runner before you even came to the glade, remember?" She grinned lightly before turning towards another big door separating us from the exit. Her hand grasped mine tightly and together we followed everyone outside, where the alarms were blaring loudly, reminding us that we were now escapees and Wicked would be coming after us.

A/N: Sorry that it took so long to get this one posted! I had a serious issue with writer's block but I should be past it now. The next few chapters will be really exciting and I'm going to try my best to offer some elements of both the book and movie. Hopefully you all like it :)