•°•

The music was a rather joyful one and Asterin couldn’t help but think that Jorge has an amazing taste in music, a rather weird thing to think about right now, Jorge appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of the black-haired girl nodding at her reassuringly before hurrying them to follow him, the vintage music faded as they ran. “Right this way!” he said, slamming the two windows open revealing the open emptiness, the horrible cold air slapping their faces, and Frypan staring at the horizon in front of him with wide eyes, he always had a fear of high places and this wasn’t a good idea. “You gotta be kidding me!” he said.

“Plan B, hermano. You kids wanna get to the Right Arm? I’ll lead you to them. But you’re gonna owe me.” He warned pointing his finger at Asterin who nodded in hurry, “I promised you, bro, hurry the fuck up.” She said pulling down the thing they’ll use to slide down to the other building, Jorge was the first to move, Minho turned to look at the girl in worry who nodded reassuringly even if she could feel the nerve bubbling in her veins, “I’ll be after you.” She said pushing towards the thing, he rushed back to her placing a kiss on her forehead before sliding down a rope, it was exciting especially how the cold night air slapped his face as he slid, Jorge caught him carefully, then was Newt, Aris, Teresa and Frypan who was shaking badly, Asterin flicked his forehead and cupped his cheek, “bro chill out, just imagine you’re in an amusement park or is flying, just slide down and hold this tightly” she said watching the boy panicking, “man, I hate amusement park!” he said nodding, breathing in and out he followed the rest of the gladers screaming like a 5-year-old kid. 

Brenda suddenly wasn’t by her side and disappeared out of nowhere, she whistled getting everyone's attention from the building far and immediately turned to look at Thomas, “go find her!'' With that, the boy ran to look for the girl, “BRENDA DISAPPEARED? PLAN C!” she yelled loud enough and Jorge immediately understood her words and started panicking especially when the trio disappeared and will soon be surrounded by W.C.K.D. “Brenda! You’ll get us killed, move your ass!” she yelled, appearing by the duo's side and turning around facing straight with guards aiming their guns at them, both the girls started shooting.

The trio ran trying so hard not to get shot by those electric bullets, dodging every single one that was shot, the duo ran after Brenda down the stairs trying so hard not to trip, guards following close behind and Brenda suddenly stopped, other masked men came out from in front of them blocking their only way out, the only thing beside were railings and the girl immediately started walking on them, Thomas startled by the move and afraid to trip if he started walking on it but eventually followed making sure to keep an eye on Asterin who skillfully moved and tried so hard not to look down and lose her balance, a guard was about to catch her and if she didn’t kick him, he would’ve caught her.

Thomas steps hurried and Brenda was calling out for them to hurry before the song is almost over, as soon as the music stopped the sound of electricity crackling startled the ex-runners, and an exploding was set sending every single guard inside flying and Asterin ran towards the duo who reached for her, her foot slid and if she hadn’t caught herself she would’ve died. Poles started falling to the ground and everything broke at once, the trio tried so hard not to fall as they felt the ground under their feet shake and fall.

Brenda, Thomas, and Asterin fell down a hole holding some ropes not to break a leg as they landed on the ground with a thud, Asterin eyes snapped up and every metal pole or glass fell down the hole and if she didn’t pull Brenda the girl was crushed underneath the rocks and all that shit, the trio were coughing heavily and tried to fan off the dust. “Great, how are we getting back to the others?” exclaimed the black-haired girl in annoyance, “relax. I’m gonna get us outta here.” Said Brenda, “What are you? Fucking Batman? We could’ve been on our way to the Right Arm if you didn’t decide to disappear like a ghost for what? A compass?” Asterin grew irritated and she suddenly got up glaring at the girl in front of her.

Thomas' hand between the two girls who glared at each other, “why do you never trust people?'' asked Brenda, the black-haired girl who scoffed, “why are you helping us? I sure know that I made a deal with Jorge and not you” snapped back the girl, “Jorge seems to think you guys both the duo once again spoke in unison staring at the girl with cocked eyebrows, are our ticket to the safe heaven.” Replied Brenda with a softer voice.

“the fucking what?” both the duo asked turning to look over to the girl in confusion, what does she mean by the Safe Heaven, what the fuck is that? “you know, paradise. Safe from the sun. free of infection. Supposedly, the right arm’s been taking kids there for years. Immunes, anyway.” Thomas's eyes met Asterin’s in confusion watching as she narrowed her eyes deeper, “and you know where that is?” asked the boy, “No.” replied Brenda truthfully, Asterin threw her arms around in disbelief, “great!” she spoke sarcastically, Brenda rolled her eyes resuming with her words. “but Jorge knows a guy. Marcus. He used to smuggle kids up into the mountains.” groaning, she threw what seems to be a wooden box off the sewer to the side. “if Jorge made it out, that’s where he’ll be taking your friends.

“If he made it out?” both the duo once again spoke in unison staring at the girl with cocked eyebrows, "you know what? you ask a lot of questions.” She eyes the two who rolled their eyes in response, “yes. Because we want answers.” They could tell that Brenda was starting to become really annoyed by the questions they kept asking but kept her temper down, “can you just come over here and help me with this?” just as Thomas was about to move forward Asterin caught his wrist and pulled him back keeping him by his side, Brenda noticed the sudden leader move that came from her and she hated the fact that she could read her eyes in which showed that she was waiting for, the word that Brenda hated to utter, “please.” Asterin smiled innocently and made her way towards the girl her age placing her hand on the bars and pulling it up with all her strength.

 The cranks screeching coming from the sewers they just opened, the trio staring at each other thinking if it was a good idea to go down there, besides they have nowhere to go, “well, that doesn’t sound good.” Spoke Thomas breaking the silence roaming around them, “yeah, no shit Thomas.” Replied Asterin pointing her flashlight at the dark place, “down here they’ll be full term. Let’s go.” Brenda was the first to jump down the sewers, the sound of her boot slamming against the ground echoing around the cold smelly place, Asterin nodded for him to go next, then her.

Thomas lifted her in his arms so she could close the sewer back. 

The trio looked around the place in disgust, their flashlights pointed at the place as they walked in silence, she had a bad feeling about what will happen but kept silent, the place smelled like corpses, and not even a single drop of water could be seen but only the ground and wall covered in a black liquid, moss crawled up the curved walls resembling splattered paint. Slender pipelines ran parallel to the stream of stagnant fluid, filthy and repulsive. It wasn't the kind of silence that relieves you or helps you think. It was the kind of silence that made you feel that you were being watched constantly in the dark, it was a sickening feeling.

I think it's this way." said Brenda, "you think?" scoffed the boy slightly and followed her, "do people live down here?" asked the boy making sure to keep an eye on Asterin who kept looking around in fear that something might pop out of nowhere, got tight places like these are her fear and she didn't want to be stuck in this place, a shaky breath left her lips as she tried to calm down, "the solar storms forced people underground. Jorge says there's settlements all over these tunnels.'' The girl seemed to be talking about Jorge in every sentence she says and the duo were confused and Thoma seemed to be reading her mind as he asked the girl the question that kept repeating in her mind.

 "so, what about Jorge, is he your father?" the duo never knew what a father was, of course, they did know that a father is a part of your family that is really close to you and loves you but they never met theirs so they were confused as to what does it feel like to have a parent that cares for you, "close enough. truth is, I don't really know what he is. he's just always been there, and I've always done what he's asked me to do, no matter how stupid." she replied not even glancing at the two behind who were silent and listened to her words, Asterin wanted to reach over to Thomas's hand for comfort as she could feel her heart beating faster and her stomach twitching, their voices fading and Asterin could feel her heart heavy in her chest and her hand shaking badly. The sudden sound of screeching echoed around the sewers behind the black-haired girl and Asterin found herself by Thomas's side holding his arm tightly.

 Thomas looked down at the girl, her eyes glistening in fear as she stared at the other side of the sewers behind her, he ruffled her hair reassuringly not knowing what to do except walk after Brenda with her trying to calm herself down, the sudden sight of gravities everywhere on the wall got their eyes and there were two ways, and this place reminded her of the maze, the same suffocating feeling she had the first day she was in the maze came back and this time she felt cold like ice. This place was a death trap. "hey I think it might be this way?" said Thomas turning to look at Brenda but she was nowhere to be found. 

 "Brenda?" called the girl for the other who disappeared for the second time today, "i'm over here, look at this," she replied, a sigh of relief left Asterin's lips as she made her way towards the girl pointing her flashlight at her, following where she was looking the sight of what seems to be black gue on the wall caught her eyes and both the girls walked as they stared at the disgusting thing with scrunched noses, it was like tree branches and Asterin flashlight was pointed to the center and the same thing on the wall surrounded the whole place like a spider web except they looked like black ivy's with drops of blood falling to the dirty ground, a sudden screech came from beside her startled the trio as they backed away from the hole.

a rat came out of nowhere and screeched at them once it felt the light hit its eyes and it fell to the ground, rolling over and it made its way towards Asterin who kicked away from her groaning in complete disgust, "bitch." she exclaimed her flashlight still at the rat who walked away and made it's way to the black thingy, a sudden hand slammed against the rat and caught it harshly a yelp leaving the black-haired girl's lips as she stared at the hand in horror, a sudden head also popped and bit the rat's head off, another crank growled and the girls gasped in fear. Another crank, then another, then a third one popped out and Asterin's hand flew to her mouth as she tried to keep herself silent, she ran backward, and once she heard the clicking sound of teeth in front of her, turned around in a blink of an eye she stared at the monster inches away from them in horror as it tried to catch her.

 Thomas placed the girl behind him and kicked the crank off her, Asterin was the first to run and she ran without looking back knowing that they are following her of course, the growling of the cranks was loud as they chased their prey, their dinner or breakfast to be exact. The flashlights flickering as they ran towards the light coming to sight, the monsters falling one on top of the other to catch their food and Thomas had to grab the black haired girl’s collar to stop her from falling, the sun light blinded her eyes and she looked down at the ground and dead end, she could’ve fell if it wasn’t for Thomas to catch her. The building that fell on the other creaked and the sound of the monster's step getting closer startled the trio who tried to find a way to get away, Asterin was always the first to move and she climbed up the rocks skillfully towards the building calling out for them to follow her. Watching the cranks as they kicked each other off to try and get them Asterin steps got quicker as she could feel the adrenaline pumping in her whole body.

The sudden sight of a closet falling caught her eyes as she screamed at them to watch out, "WATCH OUT!” her voice was loud and panicked as she continued her way without  looking back, Thomas followed and would scream whenever something would fall, a rock almost crunched him if it wasn’t for Asterin to save his life push the huge rock away from him helping him on his feet, as the duo ran after Brenda who was now leading their way, "MOTHERFUCKERS WILL NEVER GIVE UP FOR THEIR BREAKFAST!" she exclaimed watching in fear as the crank climbed up the stairs like a kangaroo, it tried to catch Thomas and Asterin found herself hanging from the pole and kicking the monster off the boy before it tries to grab him. Thomas thanked the girl, “thanks Asterin!” Brenda suddenly tried to grab what seems to be a pole but it broke and the girl didn’t notice the door under her and it caused her to fall.

The door slammed open and the girl fell on the glass that was already shattering, “BRENDA!” the ex-runners called out for the girl in panic, Brenda stared in horror at the open horizon in front of her, the glass slowly starting to shatter as the girl tried to lift herself with legs shaking badly, one last sharp hit and the glass breaks and she’s falling dead to the ground, and Brenda didn’t want to die yet. Trying so hard to focus on calming her breathing and not put more pressure in the glass she reached over to grab Asterin’s hand, but the sudden crank rushing towards them startled the teenagers and as the monster tried to grab the black haired girl, it fell, hand gripping Brenda’s leg as it pulled her back down with their bodies slamming against the glass, “Brenda!” both the ex-runners screamed in unison.

“Brenda, don’t move.” Said Asterin, but she won’t listen and kept moving away from the monster putting all her weight onto the concentrated area, they watched in frustration as Brenda fought the monster yelling and kicking it off her but it was much stronger and managed to even pick her up and pull her back, it’s sharp teeth digging in her flesh and her screaming in pain, Asterin slid down the wall and kicked the glass with her elbow making sure to hold Brenda’s arm tight, the crank fell to the ground with a loud thud and Asterin held Brenda tightly so she wouldn’t slip away from her hold, she managed to pull the girl and both the girls made their way towards Thomas, Asterin arm around the girl who limped her way towards the boy who gave her his hand to pull her up, the trio leaned against the wall panting heavily and trying to catch their breath, “Jorge was right, you are strong especially when fighting.” Said the girl smiling softly at Asterin who was groaning in pain and clenching her hand on her chest to try and get her breathing back. “yeah no shit, well that’s how you thank someone for saving your life.” Replied Asterin while rolling her eyes playfully, okay fine she may not trust the girl but she didn’t want someone to die once again especially knowing that Jorge was waiting for her and wouldn’t want to lose someone close to him.

"Thank you so much, Asterin."

Maybe she should trust Brenda after all, she won't betray them right? Asterin gave her a small smile in response, "no worries, hey sorry for being a bitch." She said brushing the back of her neck slightly, she hated apologizing that was clear. Brenda nodded back at the girl. "At least you're a badass one, besides you spoke the truth."