𝘿𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨

𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙙𝙨 scan over the crowd, searching for any sign of the brunette boy as worry makes her stomach churn with uneasiness.

"Where the hell are we?" Blake asks as she slowly trails her eyes down the buildings— filled with people chatting and walking past.

"No idea." Fry answers from beside the girl as he, too, looks around.

"Hermana, up here." Jorge calls over his shoulder, nodding his head forward for Blake to move to the front of the group.

The small brunette flickers gaze around before walking to the front, shrugging when she passes Minho and Newt, who send her questionable expressions.

"Yes?" Blake breathes out as she walks beside Jorge, shooting him a questionable look with her eyebrow arched.

"I'm sending you around the back to sneak in. We need to have someone on the inside they don't suspect if things go south." Jorge whispers

Blake's brows furrow. "Why me?"

Jorge lets out a small laugh before turning to look at the girl walking next to him. "You're the smallest one out of all of us." The man answers.

Blake blinks a few times in understanding as she nods her head slowly. "Where do I sneak in?"

Jorge stops in his tracks as he turns his head to look back at the other teenagers. Minho and Newt walk towards the back as they chat. Aris and Fry laugh at something and joke as Teresa walks off by herself—glaring at the older man and small girl as they come to a halt.

Jorge turns his head back to the small girl stopped in front of him, "Go around the back. There should be a decent-sized vent on the side. Meet us in the middle of the dance floor and act out of it."

"What do you mean 'out of it?" Blake questions in confusion.

"You'll see, Hermana." Jorge answers as the group stops beside them.

"Hey? What's the deal?" Minho questions as he sends the two a questionable look.

"Nothing, you shank." Blake smiles as she rolls her eyes playfully. "We're just planning on how to get in."

Newt and Minho glance around the group with their eyebrows furrowed. "Well—do share with the rest of the class, Blakey." Minho sarcastically spits out as his hands fall onto his hips.

"Oh, cut it out, you drama queen." Blake laughs as she uncrosses her arms.

"You ready?" Jorge asks, returning the teenager's attention to the plan.

"Yep." Blake nods as she presses her lips together.

"Ready for what?" Newt questions from the side as he takes a step closer.

Blake opens her mouth to answer the blond but gets interrupted by Jorge reaching into his pocket.

Fiddling around with the items, the man eventually pulls his hand out and hands Blake an object.

The girl's eyebrows furrow as she looks down at her hand. 𝘗𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦? 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺?

Emerald orbs rise to the man's face as she sends him a disappointed gaze.

"You don't have anything bigger?—or you know..more efficient?" Blake asks

"Whoa! What the hell does she get a knife for?" Fry questions as the rest of the group all stand there, confused.

"Blake will be taking a different route." Jorge says

"What?" Minho questions in disbelief, "Why? She's hurt. You can't send her alone. She needs to stay with the rest of us."

"Hermano, she will be fine. We need an inside man." Jorge explains

"Yeah, keyword—Man." Minho pushes, "Preferably not the smallest, injured, and the one with anger issues."

"Hey!" Blake scolds as her voice raises

"Blake, you need to go now." Jorge urges as he turns to eye the entrance. "Remember what I told you. We'll find them."

Blake nods and swallows a lump in her throat before walking away.

"Hey," a voice calls from behind the girl, making her snap her head back to Newt as he watches the girl from a few feet away. "Be careful...Tommy would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

The small girl's lips twitch into a smirk as she starts to walk again, keeping her back to where she is headed.

"You got it, Newty." Blake says as she salutes the boy before finally turning around and heading to the back of the building.

"Vent" Blake whispers, reminding herself as she scans the concrete walls for her entrance.

As the girl scans over the wall—a door suddenly squeaks open with a teenager stumbling out, mumbling things to herself as she holds the door open.

Dazed eyes scan over the outside before landing on Blake, who stands a few feet away, confused.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?—𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? Blake thinks to herself.

"You get locked out?" The girl asks in a slur as she lazily hangs her head.

"Uh—yes!.... Actually, I did." Blake quips, "I was looking for someone but couldn't find them."

"Well, come back to the party!" The girl exclaims as her drunken expression turns into an upbeat one.

Blake nods before quickly walking in, scrunching her nose as she passes by the drunk girl who reeks.

𝘑𝘦𝘦𝘻. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴.

Blake makes her way into the facility and gazes at the amount of drunk teenagers dancing and stumbling around. Emerald eyes widen as she takes in the chaos before her.

𝘖𝘩𝘩𝘩...𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵.

Hands slide over her shoulders seductively as a girl walks by, gazing at Blake.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴?

As Blake shakes her head, her eyes wander till she spots the one person she didn't think she would ever see again.

"Thomas," Blake breathes out in pure joy and relief as her legs carry her quickly to the boy—not caring about the number of people she bumps into.

Just as the girl is a few feet away—she stops in her tracks, noticing Brenda lurching forward and wrapping her arms around the boy's neck, gazing at him with lustful but dazed eyes.

Blake's heart plummets into the bottom of her stomach as Thomas and Brenda lock lips with each other. The happiness and relief now washed away as the small girl stood a few feet away watching.

Tears build in Blake's eyes as she fights them back, Only wishing to clear that memory from her head.

Quickly, Blake turns on her heels and pushes through the drunk crowd of teenagers to find the others.

"What?" Brenda asks, letting her smile fade into a frown upon noticing the boy's disappointed expression.

Thomas shakes his head as the buzzing in his head gets louder. "You're not her." The boy admits as he takes a step back.

Brenda chuckles dryly with a frown before pressing her lips together in disappointment. Turning to walk away—Brenda leaves the boy to call after her as his head spins.

Thomas pushes through the crowd of dazed people, stumbling as he tries to follow the girl. "Brenda, wait." He calls out as he pushes a guy off to the side.

In the middle of the crowd, Thomas' gaze stops on a small brunette. Squinting his blurred vision, the boy tries to get a better view.

𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘦?

Thomas blinks his eyes in disbelief, only thinking it's part of his hallucination, before accidentally bumping into a delirious man. The guy laughs hysterically at absolutely nothing as Thomas tries to shake himself out of it.

Chuckling catches the boy's attention as he spins around to try and find anyone he knows—but falls onto his back when Winston and Newt appear before him as cranks. A scream erupts from the boy's chest as he falls onto the ground, crawling through the dancing feet as he tries to shake it off.

Thomas' head spins around in circles as his vision blurs more and more.

Finally, letting the daze consume him, the boy's eyes roll into the back of his head as he passes out.

Blake wipes a stray tear from her eye, trying to get herself together before a voice calls out to her—making the girl snap her head in the direction.

"Hey," Newt greets as he lowers his tone, stopping to stand beside the girl. "We found Thomas. He's passed out."

"Okay" Blake whispers as she tries to hide her face by looking off to the side, not wanting to spill her thoughts and feelings.

The blond's eyebrows furrow in worry as he notices Blake's saddened expression.

"You okay?" Newt asks softly

Blake finally manages to pull herself together as she turns her head toward her blond friend. "Yeah. Just—you know, emotions." The girl says, trying to play it off. "Girl things."

The blond only nods slowly, not believing a word she said as he presses his lips together. "Jorge needs us."

The girl simply nods before following Newt through the crowd.

Thomas' deep brown eyes shoot open as a gasp escapes his mouth.

"Hey. Hey. You're okay." Teresa's soft voice soothes the boy as her hand rubs circles on his collarbone.

Thomas' eyes search the girl in front of him in shock as he tries to recall the events before he passed out.

"Hi." Teresa whispers softly with a smile as she gazes down at him.

Green eyes glare at the two from afar, watching the two interact as Minho walks over to stand behind Teresa. Bending down, the ex-keeper leans over the girl's shoulder with a smirk spread across his lips.

"Welcome back, you ugly shank."

Thomas scoffs out a laugh before pushing himself up, groaning at the aches and soreness in his body.

Whiskey brown orbs almost immediately search for the small girl as he stretches his limbs. Scanning the room, Thomas' eyes land on Blake, who stands beside Newt with her arms crossed—completely ignoring the boy.

Thomas blinks in shock as he tries to recollect himself. 𝘐𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦?

"Son of a bitch!" Jorge shouts as he throws a punch at the man tied to a chair.

Thomas flinches at the sudden outburst before pushing himself up to stand—flickering his eyes from the interrogation to the small brunette off to the side as he stalks closer.

"Ah! Damn it!" The man groans. "I'm sorry. You're going to have to leave my house."

A creak in the floorboard causes Blake to shift her head to the sound, quickly gazing at Thomas, who comes to stand beside Newt.

𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘵. Blake tells herself—𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

The girl quickly shifts her head back and ignores the boy's presence once again as Newt chuckles at Thomas' state. "Looks like you've been having fun."

Thomas ignores the remark as his brown eyes gaze at the scene before him— watching as Jorge shifts to stand in front of their prisoner. "Listen. I don't enjoy hurting you. Okay?"

"Uh-huh." The man groans as he peeks through the eye, not swollen shut.

Thomas shakes his head in disbelief, piecing the puzzle together. "Wait. This is Marcus?" The boy asks

Marcus chuckles with a snort. "The kid catches on quick. Are you the brains of this operation?" The man asks but yelps as Jorge grabs a fist full of what's left of his hair and tilts his head up to look him in the eyes.

"I know you know where they're hiding. So you tell me, and I'll make you a deal." Jorge says, and he lets go of the man's hair and takes a step back. "You can come with us."

Blake rolls her eyes as she lets out a sigh, not daring to look beside Newt as she feels a pair of eyes burning into the side of her skull.

"I burned that bridge a long time ago. Besides, I made my own deal. You're the one who taught me never to miss an opportunity." The man laughs as he trails off.

"Can we please just kill this psychopath?" Blake mutters out as she glares at the man tied down.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘥.

"Not yet." Jorge answers

"Can I do it?" Blake asks as she cocks her head to the side.

"What's he talking about?" Newt questions as his eyebrows furrow.

"I'm talking about supply and demand. WCKD wants all the immunes they can get. I help provide that for them. So I lure the kids in, they get drunk, they have a good time. And then, later, WCKD comes in, they separate the wheat from the chaff." The man finishes as he giggles.

"I change my mind, hermano. I do enjoy hurting you." Jorge says before he throws his foot up to connect with the man's chest, knocking him and the chair over.

An angry Jorge then pulls a gun from out of his holster and pushes the cold metal up the to man's chin.

"Talk!" Jorge yells as he presses his hand down on the man's windpipe, making him choke. "Talk!"

"Okay! But I'm not making any promises." Marcus wheezes out

Blake shifts to lean her weight on the other foot as she watches Jorge continue his interrogation.

"These guys like to move around." Marcus admits as Jorge hauls the chair back up.

"They have an outpost in the mountains. It's a long way away. You got half of WCKD on your ass. You're never gonna make it." Marcus chuckles again as blood drips down his chin.

"Not on foot." Jorge smiles as he leans closer to Marcus before slapping a hand on the man's shoulder. "Where's Bertha?" Jorge asks as his lips form into a mischievous grin.

"Not Bertha." The man whines out as his lips quiver.