𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡 of something cooking makes Blake moan silently, wishing nothing more than to devour what ever it is that makes her mouth water.

The girl's stomach growls as she walks beside Minho, shooting the boy a nod for him to look at the huge pot of food cooking. Blake's eyebrows wiggle as soon as the boy turns his attention back to her with a laugh.

"I'm starving." Blake admits as she throws her head back, groaning. "And that is torture."

"They've been planning this for over a year now." Harriet's voice pulls Blake's attention back to the more important things at hand. "You guys are lucky you found us when you did. We're moving out at first light." Sonya says as Blake and the others scan the camp around them.

"Where's Vince?" Sonya asks one of the men walking by.

"Somewhere over there" the guy responds as he points his finger toward a tent.

"Who's Vince?" Thomas quizzes

"He's the one who decides if you get to stay." Harriet answers simply before walking off with a smirk.

Blake chuckles as she nudges Minho's side with her elbow "Think they might kick your shank ass out." The girl teases as Minho rolls his eyes.

"If anyone is getting kicked out—it's you. You little she devil." Minho teases back as Thomas' eyes shoot a quick glare at the two.

"Who could say no to this face?" Blake smiles softly as she bats her lashes at the boy next to her, causing the ex keeper to roll his eyes again in a playful manner.

Turning her attention back, Blake's eyes flicker around her at the amount of...what looks to be civilians and teenagers—raising her eyebrows as she looks around.

"I thought the right arm was supposed to be an army?" Blake questions the two girls in front of her as they continue walking.

"Yeah we were" A male's voice catches the girl off guard, turning her body to the direction as he continues. "This is all that's left of us." The man says as he walks away from the tent he had just emerged from.

Blake stops between Thomas and Minho as the man walks closer.

"Lot of good people died getting us this far." The guy says as he rests his hands on his hips.

"Who are they." The man asks as he looks to Harriet in question.

"They're immunes. Caught 'em coming up the mountain." Harriet answers

"You check 'em?"

"I know this guy Aris. I trust them." Harriet shrugs as she looks back at the group.

"Well, I don't." Mutters the man as he shakes his head "Check 'em"

Heavy breathing causes Blake to furrow her eyebrows and slowly turn her head to Brenda—who looks awfully pale.

The man follows Blake's confused and worried gaze just in time for Brenda to gasp with her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

Even though Blake is somewhat mad and agitated at the girl—she quickly turns and catches her new friend before she can hit the ground.

"Oh my god." Blake exclaims as she lowers the sick girl to the ground.

"Brenda! Brenda!" Jorge shouts in worry as he quickly comes to Blake's side.

"What's going on?" Blake asks as she tries to hold the other girl up, concern and worry etched all across the small brunette's features.

"Brenda, talk to me." Jorge whispers as he pulls Brenda from Blake's arms to rest in his own.

Gasping for air Brenda wheezes out "I'm sorry."

"What's going on with her?" The man asks as he kneels beside Jorge, concerned for the girl.

Blake stays kneeled beside Jorge, tilting her head to the side as her emerald orbs find Thomas' worried ones.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥? Blake widens her eyes to silently communicate with the boy behind her.

"I don't know. Brenda, are you alright?" Jorge asks as he readjusts the gasping girl in his arms.

The man beside Jorge reaches out to Brenda's leg, noticing a bandage on her shin.

Blake's eyebrows furrow as he carefully slides the white cloth down.

Almost immediately, emerald eyes widen into the size of saucers—A bite mark.

Black veins spread through Brenda's leg as the indents in her flesh gush with black and dark red.

𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵

"Oh, shit!" The man mutters as he flinches back, reaching into his jacket pocket to pull out a pistol. Aiming it towards the girl he yells "Crank! We got a crank!"

"Hey! 𝘕𝘰!" Blake yells as she pushes her body in front of the two beside her.

"No!" Thomas screams, moving his body quickly to guard the three on the ground as Jorge and Blake haul Brenda to her feet.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!"

"Step back!" The man yells as Thomas steps closer.

"Listen, okay?" The boy tries to calm the situation down "This just happened, okay? She's not dangerous yet!"

"Well, you shouldn't have brought her here!" The man yells back, inching closer to get in Thomas' face.

"Calm your fucking shit." Blake yells as moves to stand slightly behind Thomas.

"I know I-" Thomas stutters as he backs up a step to stand side by side with the angered brunette now beside him.

"We let cranks in here now? The safe haven doesn't last a week." The man angrily yells "Step back!"

"I understand, okay? Just listen, okay? Please. I told her that you could help." Thomas pleads as his eyes connect to the angry emerald beside him before turning back around to check on the sick girl. "There's got to be something you can do."

"Yeah" The stranger nods as he keeps his gun aimed on the girl behind the two brunettes.

"There is." He breathes out as Thomas and Blake slightly relax—only to freeze when the man cocks his gun and aims it at the girl again. "I can put her out of her misery."

"No! 𝙉𝙊𝙊!" Jorge shouts

Just as Blake thinks the man is actually about to pull the trigger, a woman's voice causes everyone to stop and turn their heads "Vince, that's enough!" A woman yells as she quickly makes her way over to the commotion.

"She's infected doc." Vince informs the woman as she comes to stand beside him. "There's nothing we can do for her."

Blake's eyes connect with the woman's for a brief moment before the woman flickers her gaze between the two brunettes with a smile spreading across her lips.

"No, but they can." The woman says as she nods to the two guarding the rest of the group.

Thomas and Blake both blink in confusion as their brows furrow.

???

"Hello Thomas—" The woman says before shifting her eyes to the small girl next to him "Blake"

Blake narrows her eyes at the woman in front of her before cocking her head to the side to catch Thomas' eyes flickering between her and the woman.

"You know us?" Thomas questions

The woman presses her lips together and nods, sadly. "Interesting...Makes sense they'd put you two in the maze." The woman lowers her voice before moving to Brenda's side. "Though I must admit. I was worried they'd kill both of you after what you did."

Blake's face scrunches in confusion and worry as she shares a glance to the boy next to her.

"What did we do?" Blake's voice cracks as she questions the woman kneeling beside Brenda.

"The first time we spoke, you said the both of you couldn't take it anymore. Watching your friends die one by one. Blake had already been sent up into the maze when Thomas contacted me again. The last time we spoke you gave us the coordinates of every WCKD compound, trial, and lab."

"They were our source." Vince breathes out as he looks between the two brunettes.

"We couldn't have pulled all this off without them." The woman says as she sends the two a small smile before returning her gaze back to Brenda. "Take her to the tent. And get these guys some warm clothes."

Blake and Thomas stand frozen in place as they try to search their brain for any memory of the woman in front of them.

"Careful." The woman warns as two men pull Brenda up.

"Thomas, Blake—come on." The woman says, nodding her head for the two to follow as she walks away.

Deep brown eyes meet emerald, sharing a look of hesitation and disbelief before the two glance around the group and follow the woman.

"I need to get some blood from the both of you." The woman says as she guides to two teenagers along—leaving the rest of the group and people around to stare. "I need a good amount and I know you two have the same blood type."

Blake sits next to Thomas, fiddling with the hem of her tank top nervously as the woman shifts between the two—checking on the blood being withdrawn.

"In the beginning we were lost. All we knew for sure was that the younger you were, the stronger your chances." The woman says as she walks behind the two to gather some supplies.

Blake's eyes flicker up from her hands to meet with Thomas' for a brief moment as the woman continues.

"You worked for WCKD?" Thomas questions

"Mhm—a long time ago." The woman nods "You know, at first we had the best intentions. Find a cure—save the world. It was clear you kids were the key, because you were immune. But why?" The lady continues as she pours a substance into a beaker. "Eventually, we found an answer. An enzyme produced by the brains of the immune. Once separated from the bloodstream, it can serve as a powerful agent to slow the spread of the virus."

"So you found a cure?" Thomas questions as he shifts his body to face the woman behind him.

"Not exactly. The enzyme can't be manufactured, only harvested from the immune. The young. Of course that didn't stop WCKD. If they had their way—they'd sacrifice a whole generation." The woman says as she lifts a syringe up "All for this. A gift of biology. Of evolution. But one not meant for all of us."

Blake blinks as she turns her body back around to the woman as she kneels next to Brenda's side. Finding a vein with her fingers, the woman then inserts the needle into the sick girl's arm—making her stop panting as the liquid flows through her veins.

"How long will that give her?" Thomas asks

"It's different for everyone. A few months maybe. But that's the catch, isn't it? She'll always need more. Okay—let's um...let's go outside and let her rest."

Jorge nods to the two brunettes sitting across from him, a small twitch pulling his lips upward.

As the two adults go to leave Blake pushes her hands against her thigh to pull herself up to stand.

"Thomas." The woman calls out for the boy in a whisper "You know she can't come with us, right?"

Blake's face falls into a saddened frown as she flickers her eyes between the sick girl and the boy sitting below her.

"Hey um..." Blake calls out to the woman, not knowing her name.

A smile spread across the woman's lips before she answers "Mary."

Blake nods, "Mary, do you know how I got sent up into the maze? What exactly did I do?"

Mary shook her head as she walked closer to the girl. "You were the one to find the coordinates of every WCKD compound, trial, and lab...but before you could send it to us—you got caught." Blake's eyes widened as she listened to the woman.

"You also covered for Thomas and made sure he would get the information to us but told him to wait a year so it wasn't suspicious."

"Oh my god." Blake blinks in utter shock and disbelief.

Mary smiled at the small brunette in front of her, trying to recall any memories. "You and Thomas made a great team. He was terrified and extremely distraught when you were sent into the maze. It's a shame they took your memories away."

As the woman turns to leave she sends the small girl a small smile before walking out to leave the two.

𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵. Blake thinks to herself as she stands in the same spot, staring off into space.

𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦...𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦.

𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵.

Blake quickly snaps out of her gaze and heads for the exit, not wanting to talk about everything they had just learned.

The small girl had truthfully forgotten that she was even angry with the boy, considering their friend was dying. She wanted to be mad at Brenda—but she couldn't be. Even though she might have kissed the guy she had fallen for, Blake didn't want her to die. Especially a long and painful death. Their new friend had helped them escape WCKD and looked after them. Without her and Jorge—they would have ended up back with WCKD or worse.

And to make matters worse, Blake had just learned she was the reason her and Thomas were sent into the maze. Not the other way around like she had thought.

"Blake, wait." Thomas' voice called after the girl as she pushed the flaps of the tent open.

Rolling her eyes she kept walking forward, ignoring the boy's footsteps smacking the dirt behind her.

"Blake" Thomas repeats her name as he reaches out to grab onto her wrist—spinning the small brunette around, green orbs lock onto the brown in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Thomas asks as he furrows his eyebrows.

"I know you're upset about something." Brown orbs soften as they scan over Blake's scowl.

"Nothing." Blake replies simply before trying to head back to the others.

A quick jerk of her arm stops the girl before she can take another step.

"Is it because of what happened back at Marcus'?" Thomas questions

Blake rolls her eyes as she turns to face the boy, swallowing a thick lump in her throat. "What happened at Marcus'?" The girl asks, playing it off like she had no idea what happened before he passed out.

Thomas' eyebrows furrow closer together as he flickers his gaze around the girl's face. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?

"I'm just stressed out." Blake lies "You know almost being killed multiple times and all. Now I'm going to talk to Min— if you'll excuse me." The girl says as she rips her wrist out from the boy's grasp.

As the small girl turns away from Thomas, Jorge watches the two—pushing himself up to stand with an unreadable expression on his face as he suddenly walks toward them.

"Hermana." Jorge whispers as he wraps his arms around the small girl, pulling her into a hug as Blake stills with shock.

Hugging the man back, the small girl's lips pull into a smile as he steps back to turn his head to Thomas. "Hermano." The man smiles as he then pulls the boy into a tight hug, patting him on the back as he pulls away.

"If anything we're to happen to her, I..."

"I know, I know." Thomas cooes the man "You should get in there. Go talk to her."

"I guess I owe you two, now." Jorge says as he turns back around to face the two.

Blake simply nods and sends the man a smile before Jorge turns to lift the flaps of the tent up—leaving the two brunettes to stand there.

Blake's eyes connect quickly with Thomas' before she heads off to see the rest of her friends—leaving the boy behind her to let his mind wonder.