𝙍𝙚𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨

𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙠𝙨 fly, crackling and popping as the metal melts.
A few thuds pound on the thick surface before Thomas swings the door open with a screech.

The boy's heart pounds against his chest, light and nervous as his whiskey orbs adjust to the dim lighting, taking in all of the teenagers staring back at him.

Flickering his eyes between each set trained on him, Thomas scans the shipping container for certain set of emerald—Only to freeze in place as his eyes land on a familiar face.

"Aris?" Thomas whispers in disbelief, immediately rushing to the boy's side as his eyes scan over his friend's sunken features.

"Hey, you guys okay?" Thomas asks, voice shaky as he looks in between Aris and Sonya, softening his gaze at the boy's black eye, dark circles, paled, and fragile like state.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮?

"Yeah, we're fine." Sonya breathes out a sign of relief, knowing they are finally safe.

"Jesus." Thomas whispers as he blinks his eyes in disbelief, rising to his full height to continue looking over the group for his girl and best friend.

"It's okay. You guys are safe, just hang on." Thomas cooes the worried pairs of eyes trained on him as he walks towards the back of the shipping container.

Newt follows closely behind Thomas, scanning over the numerous faces staring back at him. The blond's heart sinks to the pit of his stomach as he can only imagine what these kids have gone through in the past six months.

Thomas' boots shuffle against the metal as he continues making his way to the back, flickering his eyes between each beaten and bruised face.

𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯, 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

Stopping in his tracks a few rows before the end, Thomas' shoulders sag as he feels his heart ping in his chest, blinking away the tears clouding his vision as he turns around to face the blond.

"They're not here." Thomas whispers as his body deflates in disappointment.

Newt presses his lips together as he squeezes his eyes shut, turning back around to hide disappointment and irritation present on his face.

Thomas blinks once more, fighting back the tears in his eyes as he turns back around to help load the teens off.

"Thomas" Aris' raspy voice calls out, stopping the boy in his tracks. "Check the back again."

Thomas' eyes widen as his mouth falls open, heart beating rapidly against his chest as he looks to the boy who stood from his seat, nodding his head back to where Thomas had just came from.

𝘕𝘰...

As teenagers piled out of the shipping container, clearing the path, Thomas quickly pushed his way through the kids with Aris on his tail.

Coming up to the last row, farther than he had before, Thomas' body stiffens as he spots a mop of messy brunette hair—making his heart skip a beat.

𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦?

Thomas quickly ushers the other two teenagers to move out of his way, impatiently shifting between them as they walk past as a small girl in the very last seat—sits hunched over, unconscious.

Long brown locks block his view of her face as she sat hunched over with her head hanging in between her small restrained hands. New and old gashes and bruises littered her arms as Thomas stood there frozen in place. Tears blurred his softened whiskey orbs as footsteps echoed behind him.

"It's her." Aris whispered in confirmation. "They sedated her for the trip."

Finally pulling himself together, Thomas crept forward, shuffling his feet and moving his body in between the seats to get closer. The boy's eyebrows furrowed as he looked over the dark bruises covered the girl's small arms.

𝘖𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘥...𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

"Blake?" Thomas attempted in a whisper as he crouched to the girl's level—trying to see if she would wake.

Raising a very shaky hand up to brush the locks out of her beautiful face, Thomas let out a small gasp as he pushed the messy hair away.

𝘖𝘩 𝘮𝘺.. Thomas blinked the tears away as his shaky hands cradled her head, brushing the pad of his thumb over the excess hair falling over her beaten and bruised face.

A freshly formed black eye surrounded the girl's left eye. Dark circles and bags hung under her thick lashes, mirroring Aris' beaten and bruised state as dried blood caked her face—slightly hiding the new and old bruises.

"They knocked her out. Knew she'd try to escape on the way there." Aris whispered from behind the boy's heartbroken gaze.

Thomas swallowed a thick lump in his throat as his eyes continued flickering over each gash and bruise.

"Give me something to get her out of here." Thomas whispered, voice cracking as he finally rips his eyes away from the girl in front of him.

Nervously bouncing his leg up and down, Thomas sits beside Blake's bed, watching as her chest rises and falls.

"She'll be okay." Newt attempts to calm the boy down as he whips his head around to a whimper of pain leaving Aris.

Sitting down on a bed a few feet away, Newt watches as Thomas' saddened gaze snaps from the small brunette to Aris and Sonya sitting a feet feet away.

"Here, drink this." Harriet steps to the boy's side, offering a glass of water as Thomas flutters his eyes, trying to calm himself down as the images of his friends and Blake being tortured flash through his head.

Aris sighs as he takes a sip from the glass, squeezing his eyes shut for a brief moment before lowering the glass back down. "Took you guys long enough to rescue us." The boy jokes

"It's good to see you too, bud." Thomas answers as he rises to stand, flickering his gaze between the three teens and Blake. "So what happened?"

"We fought back." Aris laughs as he presses his lips together, nodding his head over to the unconscious girl laying feet away.

"Tried to anyway." Aris pauses as he looks between Thomas, Newt, and Brenda who stands behind them.

"Blake got the worst out of all of us. She fought the guards every day. Then— Janson decided to torture her daily. Tried to break her."

Thomas flinches at the last part, anger rising inside of the boy's chest as he stayed silent to listen.

Aris blinked, fighting the tears from escaping. Squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he tried not to remember. "I can still hear her screams....Janson singled her out and took out his anger on her. Blake said he used her as a 'personal punching bag' and did almost anything he could to her without killing her. Ava said that she needed us to be alive, but Janson took that as something else—since she wasn't there the entire time."

Thomas' body shook with a mixture of anger and frustration as he listened to the boy. Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, Thomas tried to hold back the tears threatening to fall.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴. 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺. Thomas quickly rose from his crouched position, turning his body away from the group as he ran a hand over his face.

"You're lucky you found us at all. They had us on the move. It felt like something big was happening." Sonya spoke through the thick air, wanting to slightly change the subject so Thomas wouldn't beat himself up.

"Any idea where they were heading?" Newt's voice cracked as he remained sitting in his spot, fiddling with his hands as he sent a worried glance over to Thomas.

"All I know is...they kept talking about a city." Aris spoke, capturing Thomas' attention back as he turned back around.

"I didn't think there were any cities left." Harriet flickered her eyes between each teen as she spoke.

"That's because there aren't. Not still standing, anyway." Brenda corrected, keeping her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Thomas walk back over.

"Okay, wait. What about Minho?" Thomas questioned, crouching back down to Aris' side. "Why wasn't he on the train?"

Aris and Sonya share a glance as their lips pull into a sad smile.

"I'm sorry, Thomas." Aris trailed off as his voice cracked from his sore throat. "He was."

Thomas blinked in disbelief as his eyes fluttered shut in disappointment, running a hand over his face, once again in frustration.

"They split them up." Aris continued as Thomas opened his disappointed whiskey orbs. "They wanted to make sure both of them wouldn't escape. Blake almost did—She tried to make a run for it, but they caught her. That's why she's out cold and you couldn't find her. She was the last one on."

Newt pressed his lips together in agitation as Thomas turned his head to glance back at the girl.

"Thomas.." Aris trailed off, calling the boy back.

Thomas snapped his head back over to Aris, furrowing his eyebrows together as Aris opened and closed his mouth—looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words to say.

"Blake's not the same person she was six months ago." Aris' voice cracked once again "I just don't want you to be in shock when she wakes up."

Newt and Brenda share a look with each other as Thomas' heart pangs at the boy just said.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?

Blake wakes with a gasp, immediately squinting her eyes at the natural light seeping through the building's windows.

Tears blur the girl's emerald orbs as she pushes herself to sit up. Kicking away the covers laid over her legs as she backs away from the figure coming closer.

"Stay back!" Blake's voice comes out cracking as she grips the material beneath her, knuckles turning white as her emeralds widen in fear.

She usually wasn't like this back at the WCKD compound. She wouldn't dare let the guards or the other teenagers see her break down. Blake only let herself fall apart during the simulations, when nobody was watching..or when she was in her cell.

The simulations were either being back in the glade—running for her life as grievers chased after her and ripped her apart. Or a sick and twisted scenario of being rescued.

"Love, I need you to calm down." A familiar Brit's voice cooed as he crept closer.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦.

Blake shakes her head as she peers through her blurred vision, noting the blond crouching before her.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘵, 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬.

"Get the hell away from me!" Blake's scream comes out raspy and almost quiet as she glares at the blond.

Newt slightly flinches away from the girl as Brenda quickly enters through the doorway, looking between the two as her brown eyes widen.

"Get Thomas!" Newt orders over his shoulder, keeping a safe distance away from his distraught friend as Brenda nods before sprinting to find their friend.

"You're not real! Get away from me!" Blake continues shaking her head as involuntary tears roll down her cheeks.

"Love, this is real." Newt's voice softens as his foot taps on the ground below, impatiently waiting for the two to return.

"Blake, I'm real...Wicked can't hurt you anymore." The blond tries again. Heart breaking into pieces seeing Blake in this state. "Thomas is coming just hold on, okay?"

"No...no." The small brunette shakes her head again as her hands glide up to her messy head of hair. Gripping onto the dark brown locks on her head, Blake squeezes her eyes shut. "You're not back in the glade. You're in a simulation. They aren't coming to save you." The girl tries to calm herself as hurried footsteps pound against the ground by the door.

Newt sighs in relief as he snaps his teary eyes over to Thomas, who bursts through the door with Brenda and Frypan hot on his trail. The blond backs away from the girl, raising his hands up to stop Thomas in his tracks—feet away.

Thomas' heart shatters as he peers over the blond's shoulder, softening his gaze at the girl's distraught state.

"She thinks she's in a situation. Doesn't believe this is real." Newt whispers as he pushes his hands harder against Thomas' chest—keeping the boy in place. "Be careful, don't scare her." Newt whispers as he loosens the hand on his friend's chest.

Brenda and Frypan both share a worried glance to each other as Thomas creeps toward the girl, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Blake?" Thomas' voice cracks as he slowly crouched beside her.

"Just—stay away from me." Blake cried as she tried not to meet Thomas' worried and heartbroken gaze.

"I-I'm real." Thomas stumbled over his words as Newt ushered the other two teenagers out—giving the two privacy.

The small brunette sniffled as she peeked through her long lashes, daring to meet the worried whiskey orbs trained on hers.

Emerald orbs widened as she took in Thomas' appearance—He didn't look like he did when she last saw him.

His hair was longer, falling over his forehead a little as a small stubble etched around the sides of his face.

He looked older, more mature—nothing like he had in the simulations.

𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩?

Blake slowly met her favorite pair of brown eyes. "Thomas?"

Another stray tear fell from the boy's red and puffy eyes as his heart jumped upon hearing his name.
"It's me, Blake. I'm here." Thomas whispered as a small smile spread across his lips.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘮...

Blake let the dam break as she jumped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck as she cried into his shoulder—Feeling his warm and strong arms wrapping around her small frame as tears seep into the material of his shirt.