XX

Brenda sat on the floor.

Her knees were drawn up to her chest and her chin was nestled on top of them. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her legs and a miniature wooden figurine was being turned over and over between her fingers.

Chuck had made it. He had given it to her for her 18th birthday.

Brenda's mind wandered back over the past few hours, her heart weighty with the grief that bound it down like chains.

Harriet, Sonya and seventy others managed to escape in the evacuation but, unfortunately for everyone else, they were either shot down by machine guns or captured and taken back to WCKD.

Chuck had been among the ones taken.

It was all her fault. Brenda had promised herself that she would protect him. She had promised herself to never let anything bad happen to him. But now? Chuck was in the vice-like grip of the enemy, in the very midst of the lion's den.

It should've been her that they had taken, not Chuck! She should've stayed behind at the camp so she could've saved him during the raid ... But she hadn't.

"Hey Be."

Slowly, Brenda lifted her head and glanced up into the puffy, tear-streaked face of a young, scruffy-looking boy. His light brown hair was messily sticking up in all directions and his green eyes were shadowed with sadness.

Upon recognising him, Brenda sighed and raised her arm, motioning for the boy to come closer. "Aris," she whispered. "You okay, mate?"

Aris gulped and shook his head as he dropped his lean body to the floor and scooted over towards Brenda. Burying his face in her shoulder, he started to cry, his frame wracking with sobs.

Brenda bit her lower lip as she comfortingly rubbed his back. Neither her nor Aris said anything further, but they didn't need too.

They had all suffered a serious, heartbreaking loss.

Would she ever see her little brother alive again?

~~~~

Regardless of how bad everyone was feeling due to the attack, they had no choice but to move forward.

With Vince, Brenda and Jorge implementing each step of the plan, the remaining Elites trekked back through the Scorch towards the Flats Trans; a series of knolls and plains bordering the edge of the capitol.

After five days, they finally arrived at their destination and made camp in an old abandoned motel that was practically falling down around their heads!

Dawn had barely broken over the horizon the next morning when Brenda, Jorge and Harriet scoured the village for their old friend, Marcus.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" the chubby-cheeked man exclaimed after hearing of their proposed idea. "So you want me to make room in my palace for nearly eighty outlaws who are wanted by the government for treason? Haha, I don't think so." Marcus' overhanging belly bobbed up and down in laughter as he stuffed the last of his bagel into his mouth.

"Quit playing around, Marcus," Brenda scowled, shifting her hand to the pistol tucked securely in the waistband of her pants. "We've saved your ass from WCKD before so now it's time for you to return the favour."

Marcus rolled his eyes and wiped his fat, greasy fingers all over his shirt. "Listen, I don't have time for ..."

In one swift motion, Brenda pulled out her revolver and pointed it at Marcus' head.

"Whoa, geez!" Marcus squealed in terror as he threw both hands up in the air.

"Stop faffing around and tell us what the hell is going on with you," Jorge cut in demandingly.

Marcus hesitated before finally relenting. "Okay, okay. Look, after you lot scampered off into the wilderness, I struck a deal with WCKD. In return for letting me keep the palace, I lure naive, innocent children into my luxurious parties, drug them and then turn them in to the government! But, man if they found out I was harbouring a bunch of criminals, they'd kill me!"

"You disgusting bastard," Brenda growled, her finger tightening around the trigger. "You deserve to die!"

"That sounds about right," Jorge huffed as he planted his hands threateningly on his hips. "Marcus, stop fooling around with us and just let us stay at the god-damn palace! It's only for a little while, until we can figure out our next move. C'mon man. We - we were attacked by WCKD. They took Chuck."

Marcus' eyes widened in shock. "That sweet little kid who used to buy me lollies? Rip. Well ... I guess I can let ya all stay ..."

"Finally," Brenda huffed as she lowered her gun.

"Let's go," Harriet piped up. "We need to inform the others."

"Thanks Marcus," Jorge nodded pointedly at him. "You won't regret this, I promise."

Marcus just waved them away, muttering a string of incoherent words under his breath.

Although many were uncomfortable staying at Crank Palace, anything was better than what they had going back in the Scorch. However, even though the name sounded quite glamorous, the place was far from it. It was a restricted zone where people infected by the Flare where sent to be quarantined.

Whenever anyone needed to go outside, they always had to cover their noses and mouths with masks and they always had to wear gloves and covered shoes at all times. Everyone's food was rationed and water was very scarce. However, despite the huge amount of disease and infestation going on, it was easy to use the palace as a good cover story for the Elites' sudden appearance.

For the next five months, the survivors of the remaining Right-Arm resistance banded together and plotted and planned long into the night. It wasn't easy figuring out exactly what WCKD was up too. In fact, when they weren't playing card games or making deals with Black Market bosses, most of the Elites' time was spent gathering and processing information gained by spies that they had on the inside.

Eventually, the odd bits and pieces they received from their sources started to make sense.

After a variety of tests was run on each person within the white-walled WCKD labs, it was decided whether that person was to go to one of two places. The weaker were sent into lock-up, awaiting their fate in the scientific departments while the stronger were prepped for the newest, the most costly, and the most technologically advanced experiment of all.

WCKD called it the Maze Trials.

It covered hundreds of kilometres in all directions. The walls were granite and cement, so thick no one could break through them, and so heavy that no one could move them.

There were two mazes, each constructed back-to-back with the other. One was labelled Maze A and the other Maze B.

Every month, one girl and one boy were sent up into each of these Mazes. Once inside, technicians, who controlled the weather, the life, and the growth that sprung up within these cold, foreboding walls, would issue forth a series of challenges to see how the people on the inside would respond. By recording their brain activity and studying their emotions and reactions, WCKD elaborated on the fact that they might have a chance at finding a cure through the brain stimulations of their 'subjects'.

But Brenda and the others knew better. The Mazes were a symbol of torture, a game of survival, a matter of kill or be killed.

Before placing someone within the vast experiment, the WCKD scientists would send them through a machine that would completely erase their past memories by inserting a metallic triangular chip into the back of their heads. The poor kids wouldn't even know their own names! Many a time, when the kids awoke to find themselves in the maze, they would died of panic. But that was the whole point of the experiment: to determine the difference between the strong and the weak, the immune and the vulnerable, the detached and the emotional.

WCKD controlled everything.

That's why Brenda nearly collapsed when, one heart-wrenching day, she heard the sickening news: her little brother, Chuck, had been sent into Maze A as part of the experiment!

Now, the Elites knew what they had to do. They had to get him and the others out ... before it was too late.

~~~~

"Be, Be, wake up!"

With a startled jolt, Brenda's eyes snapped open and her hand flew to the pistol that was tucked beneath her pillow. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Jorge, who was leaning over her, sighed and rolled his eyes. "Nothing's wrong, silly. It's time."

"Time? Time for what?" Brenda questioned groggily as she slowly pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"Wow, you really are out of it, aren't you?" Jorge chuckled as he shook his head. "Today's the day that we're gonna see Chuck again!"

Brenda nodded as the realisation hit her. Her fingers deftly slid into the front pocket of her jacket and closed around the solid wood of the familiar figurine that she hadn't let out of her sight since the raid. She cast Jorge a quick glance and smirked, "Are you ready to give WCKD a taste of their own medicine?"

Jorge cocked his eyebrows haughtily as he whipped his revolver out of his belt and snapped off the safety lock. "You bet I am."

A devious smile played around Brenda's lips as she kicked aside her blankets and stood up. Grasping the butt of the revolver tightly in one hand, she inclined her head towards her uncle as she stated, "Then let's go."

It was time to enter the lion's den. It was time for WCKD to pay for what they had done.

Gif: Harriet as she talks to Marcus. Omg, I love her so much!

Q: Would you have preferred staying at Crank Palace or out in the Scorch?

~ If you enjoyed this chapter or want to give me feedback on anything, don't hesitate to vote, comment or DM me. I'm open to any suggestions, ideas or constructive criticism. I love chatting with my readers and I love to hear what they think about my writing. However, any hate or negativity posted on here will be deleted and reported. Have a great day everyone! Catch you all soon. ~