THE SURVIVOR!
the escape.

MARG!

   𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄, Thomas was the first to leap forward only to be grabbed by the collar by Marg and shoved back.

"Let me go first, you'll get lost, especially while panicking." She simply stated before rushing back to the vent and starting to make her way through while hearing Thomas panting behind her as he was struggling to keep up. They had to act more than fast, they had to act faster than what she'd anticipated. She wouldn't let them take Thomas' group. Once she reached the right grate she pushed it open with all her force sending it flying upwards and hitting someone, albeit by mistake, as a result of her action.

"What the...?" An Asian boy asked her, but she didn't utter a word, she simply rushed toward the door of their room. "Thomas!"

"We've gotta go, we've gotta go right now." He kept repeating.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Asked the boy who had been accidentally hit by the grate when Marg had opened it.

"What do you mean 'We've gotta go'?" Asked another boy with sandy blonde air and an accent the redhead had never heard beforehand.

Everyone was in a downright frenzy and, while Margaret and Thomas were basically destroying the room to create some kind of barricade to keep the door shut for as long as possible, the boys seemed to be having none of it as they kept asking question after question.

"Ava Paige is still alive." Margaret spoke for the first time while Thomas was still working on securing the door by tying a knot on the handle with a blue sheet.

"Ava?" The sandy blonde boy asked again.

"It's WICKED!" Thomas yelled "It's still WICKED."

"Guys, we're all still in the hands of WICKED and, right now, they don't want you alive. We need to get the shit out of here before they put their hands on anybody." Margaret exclaimed when she noticed the look on each of the boys' face while Aris was standing in the back, looking like he was on the verge of having a panic attack. She couldn't let her emotions get the best of her so she rushed to the side and helped Thomas lift a mattress and shoved it in front of the door.

"Guys, what did you see?" The boy with the weird accent asked.

"You don't want to know, trust me." Margaret replied in all honesty placing a hand on his shoulder before rushing toward the grate again. "Guys, we can get out of here, you'll have to follow me. We all need to get out of here or come morning we won't be alive." This, along with seeing a panicking Thomas seemed to get the attention of his Gladers who, one by one rushed inside the vents and started to follow Margaret. She brought them to one of the many exits she and Aris had found once and one by one every boy exited the vents.

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   "Aris, you know the drill. Go ahead with it and stop by my secret place, pick up what I stashed in there." Her friend gave her a quick nod before Thomas put himself in between the two of them.

"What do you mean by drill?" He questioned.

"Trust us, Thomas. We all need to leave this place." She looked at the boy, since he was their leader, waiting for him to either challenge her, mistrust her or accept her help. Thomas went for the latter. "I am gonna come with you, we're gonna need to fight our way out." The redhead stated as a matter of fact and she quickly noticed that the sandy haired boy was already on her side, ready to follow her, along with the Asian guy she had accidentally hit minutes before.

"I'll go with him." A guy name Winston said before following Aris back toward the first door they needed to get through using the code only her and Aris had memorized.

"You don't want to know where we'd be without her and..." they almost rounded a corner when they came face to face with one of the scientist that worked for WICKED, one Margaret knew for sure to be a doctor.

"What are you kids doing out?" She asked raising both of her hands, noticing that Margaret was in front of the group, brow raised and teeth clenched.

"You're coming with us, doc." She said before Thomas grabbed the doctor by her arm. "And you try to run or do anything to any of them? You'll have me to deal with." She added shoving the woman forward and hurrying her up by grabbing her other free arm until she was basically being dragged by the redhead and Thomas and left with little to no freedom at all.

"I like this girl." Muttered the Asian guy who was now walking behind their hostage, Margaret and Thomas. "Talks and acts like a fighter." Another guy, Margaret couldn't really tell who as she was too focused on the task at hand which was consisted in finding a certain girl named Teresa, tried to conceal his snicker with a fake cough.

"Cameras, get your heads down, everyone!" Margaret yelled while also shoving the doctor head down. She knew that they had probably already been spotted, but if there was even an inch of possibility to get out of there without seeing Rat Man again, then she was going to take it and go with it. They were running through every single corridor until she heard the distinctive sound of the boots belonging to a guard. "Back! Back!" She left the doctor for Thomas to handle for a second and was quick to get the sandy haired boy to duck before shoving him and herself backwards toward the others. She looked at what the guard was shooting and recognised the weapon that had been used on her when she attacked three of them in the cafeteria, the shot would have hit the boy in the chest. The two of them shared a quick look, he was almost going to thank her until they both turned to Thomas.

"Minho!" He yelled.

"Fuck this." Marg muttered before placing herself next to the boy called Minho. She wasn't going down without fighting.

"Margaret, what the hell are you guys doing?" Thomas yelled once again, only to be completely ignored by the two of them "Minho, Margaret!" The two of them started running toward where the guard was bound to turn around. The guy named Minho kept on charging, but Marg opted for knocking the guard out cold, therefore she jumped and, just as Minho kicked him the guard in the stomach, Margaret's right foot collided with the side of his head causing the guard to fall to the ground, not only in pain, but probably with an additional concussion. Margaret eyes immediately fell on the weapon the guard was previously using and the other one he carried on his back as she grabbed both of them tossing one to Thomas who quickly grabbed it.

"Shit. Minho, Margaret." The guy with the weird accent commented once he saw the state the guard was currently in.

"Time's ticking." Margaret told Thomas who, after having given her a quick nod, pointed the gun straight in the doctor's back while Margaret walked toward the back of the group to avoid any possible ambush.

"Okay. Let's go! Come on, let's go!" Thomas shouted shoving the doctor forward with the newly 'borrowed' gun.

"By the way you better start calling me Marg." The redhead said from behind earning a quick glance from Minho and his friend.

"Well, thanks for saving my life, Marg. Newt." The sandy blonde haired guy replied with a sincere smile on his face while they all kept on running following Thomas and the doctor, Margaret running backwards as she didn't want any additional surprises. "Why are you...?"

"To cover your backs, now keep running. They must have seen us by now." She replied without any issue whatsoever as years in her Glade had basically forced her to face far worse situations.

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   They reached the medical wing of the structure, but, before Thomas could go in blindsided, Margaret stopped him and pointed her gun at the doctor and then at the door. Thomas poked the doctor in the back. "You first." He said noticing that the doctor was now shaking.

Once she opened the door they all followed her in when Thomas started asking for the location of her friend before throwing the gun at Minho. Marg pointed her gun at the group of doctors who were cowering in a corner.

"Get down!" Minho barked.

"He said get down, now!" Marg reinforced by taking a threatening step forward, an action that caused all of the doctors to get on their knees. "I am going to guard your back, the door's not safe." She stated without even waiting for a response from the guy but, before putting herself in defence mode she spotted a series of perfectly cut gauzes and tossed them at Newt. "Tie their hands." She quickly pocketed whatever she could find on the counter knowing that none of them knew what to expect from the outside world.

"Guys, they're coming, what do we do?" A dark-skinned guy called out looking at Marg.

"We need to move!" The redhead yelled to Thomas.

"Frypan, Marg, move!" Newt exclaimed and, just as they took a step back, he threw what was a medical tray in front of the entry. Unfortunately, they didn't react in time as Rat Man, along with another handful of guards, was already trying to pry the door open.

"Everyone, behind me!" Margaret shouted pointing the gun at the door only to be mimicked by Minho.

"Get back, back!" He continued to shout while pushing his friends further back into the room. "Okay, we've gotta get out of here!" Minho exclaimed in a panicked way while the redhead kept her footing just to turn toward Thomas and point at the large set of glass windows that adorned the back of the hospital wing.

"Break the damn thing, is the only way out!" Marg yelled before whipping her head back toward the door, eyes trained on the entry point and finger ready on the trigger. Her breathing was fast, but nothing she hadn't experienced before. She took a deep breath in and leaned her cheek on the gun to get a better aim just in case they needed it.

"Everyone stand back!" Thomas yelled and started banging on the glass window, the constant thumping indicating that the object was still fully intact, yet he wasn't giving up. "Newt, help, help!" Suddenly the glass window shattered into a thousand pieces and one by one each single one of them jumped through the opening, Marg deciding to be the last just in case one of the guards made it through the door and the group needed cover. "Stay behind me." Minho had thrown the gun at Thomas while Margaret was still holding the other one.

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   Once Thomas had taken care of one of WICKED's guards who was apparently ready to ambush them, they all scurried out of the hospital room.

"Follow the black marks on the wall. The black marks I drew on the wall will point us in the direction of the exit!" Margaret shouted from the back of the group, still making sure no one would get hit in the back by one of WICKED dearest.

They reached the door and Thomas quickly started to try and get it open with the key card he had swiped earlier in the day. "Shit, come on." He started muttering while Marg stayed with her back to the group ready to fire at whoever would try to attack them. "No, no, no, no, no."

"We need to..." Margaret started only to be interrupted by the last person she wanted to see.

"Thomas, Margaret!" He exclaimed causing Margaret to hold the weapon even higher and ready to shoot at any given time. They all knew Margaret would have never hesitated to kill them, the only reason she was still holding on was that it wasn't just her anymore. The reason WICKED still kept her alive, though, was something she still didn't understand herself. She was a warrior, someone who, years ago, might have been seen like a soldier.

Margaret started to walk toward the group of guards and Janson only to realise she was not the only one who had powered up her weapon, Thomas was now walking beside her, both of them protecting the others.

"Open this door, Janson!" Thomas yelled.

"Open the fucking door, you major dickhead!" Margaret re-iterated Thomas's point by taking a step forward and pointing her gun directly in the direction of Janson's face, an action that made him step back immediately making the girl smirk at his own expenses.

"You really don't want me to" Rat Man answered with his signature smirk and it took everything, every little ounce of self-control she had left, not to kill the bastard there and then.

"Open the damn door!" Marg and Thomas yelled at different times, yet their voices overlapping one another.

"Listen to me! I am trying to save your life." Janson started to speak. "The Maze was one thing, but you kids wouldn't last one day out in the Scorch. If the elements won't kill you, the cranks will."

"I'll take my motherfucking chances out there instead of letting you execute us in here." Margaret spat back, venom laced in every single word that came out of her mouth.

"Margaret, Thomas. You two have to believe me. I only want what's best for you." He replied by coming forward and causing Margaret to raise a brow. They were going to lose the shields and shoot at Thomas' friends and the two of them, her and Thomas, had walked further away that she intended to do, making the rest of the teen an easy target. She silently cursed herself before smirking at the man and taking a few steps back very slowly.

"See, Janson. That's the issue here." She kept on going, buying time for the others and Thomas while the guards' and Janson's attention was on her. "Amuse us for a second?" She asked without lowering her weapon, but noticing that Thomas must have understood her plan. "Let us guess."

"WICKED is good?" Thomas bit back.

"You're never gonna get through that door." Janson replied with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Oh, you wanna bet?" Margaret asked in a sarcastic way just in time for the door behind them to open up completely. "Thomas, come on!" She yelled while grabbing his collar just to notice he had started firing at the guards without landing a single shot. A shot left Marg's weapon and caused a guard to land on his back, shot after shot the redhead kept aiming at different guards, managing to take down four of them before throwing the now empty weapon on the ground and turning around just like Thomas to run toward the now closing door. She could hear the rest of Thomas' group and Aris screaming their names, telling them to hurry up. They both threw themselves on the ground at the very last minute and barely managed to get through the small gap landing on the other side of the door that shut close behind them.

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NEWT!

   As soon as Thomas and Marg made it out of the closing steel door each one of us started running toward what had to be the main exit. Newt threw a quick look at the redhead that was now standing next to him, holding her friend's hand while looking more relieved than anything. He smiled as the girl squeezed Aris' hand, most likely to show him support and for a second he forgot where they were and what they were doing. The girl next to him had saved his life and had barely escaped what he then saw were electric shocks emitted from WICKED's guns, he saw the girl standing next to Thomas, standing up to Janson and taking out the guards that would have, more than likely, shot his best friend.

When the doors opened they were all met by a huge sandstorm, Newt could barely see in front of him, but they had to run, this much was clear.

"Keep moving!" Thomas yelled as they were running toward a hill completely made out of sand. The fiery redhead running alongside his friend and leading the way while he and the others were just behind them.

"Over the hill! We need to hide!" Margaret shouted while sprinting even faster than Thomas toward what she had pointed as a hiding spot. He could hear screams and orders being barked right behind him, guards were being sent out to look for them.

"Come on, come on, keep going." Thomas kept encouraging them while trying to match Marg's speed. He had never seen anyone in the Glade run as fast as she did, let alone that right now they were not dealing with normal concrete, but with sand that seemed to do its best to swallow their feet to try and prevent them to go further.

"We need to keep moving!" Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts as he noticed she was now standing in front of him, red hair surrounding her face like a halo because of the strength of the wind. "The storm will cover our traces!" He looked at Thomas who had briefly stopped as well to look at the girl and quickly nodded agreeing that that was their best plan. He didn't stop running, not once, but quickly looked to his side noticing that Marg was holding Aris' hand in her own trying to get the boy to run faster before shoving him forward and running right behind them.

"Here, here." Thomas started motioning to all of them and, one by one, they all ducked behind an alcove made of sand. He put a hand on his chest trying to catch his breath, not having ran that much since they escaped the Glade.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Marg has met the rest of the group!

What do you think about Margaret so far?

Thanks for each read and comment, I am really really grateful to each one of you. Please, if you can, share this story among other TMR's fans.