𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬

𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙠𝙚 turned her body to the other side, trying to get comfortable as the soft breeze blew a few strands of hair around her face, tickling her nose.

The daylight shined through her closed eyelids as she snuggled into the not-so-comfy ground beneath her. Smacking her lips together as her heartbeat continued to beat at a slow pace.

A crackling noise made the girl crack an eye open, looking around before she ignored it, not wanting to wake yet.

The crackling of a bag continued as she began to grow more ansty, internally groaning at the annoying noise beside her.

"Hey!" Thomas's voice quipped, making the small brunette sigh as she rolled her eyes.

Peeking her emeralds open, Thomas sits up from his position to sho away a bird picking at a grey garbage bag.

"Hey, get out of here!" Thomas yells as he swings his arm up to make the bird fly away and crow.

Blake rolls her eyes as she places her hands on each side of her body, pushing herself up with a groan.

"Well, I'm awake now." Blake mumbles to herself as she leans against the rock behind her. Shifting her head to her left, Blake's emeralds land on Minho's.

The boy lays against the rock behind him with his arms crossed over his chest. An annoyed expression written all over his face as he watches Thomas pull himself up to stand.

"Are they gone?" Newt questions, making Blake turn her head to the blond, not realizing he had woken up as well.

Thomas pauses for a second to look around, "Yeah, I think we're safe for now." He answers as he leans down to grab his pack. "Okay, we should get moving." Thomas continues as he slides his backpack to him, digging around before zipping it shut.

Blake groans as she runs a hand over her face, blinking her eyes to try and wake herself up.

"Aris, come on." Thomas pushes as he taps the sleeping boy with his backpack, "Fry, Winston. Let's go."

Blake lets her head fall back to hit the rock behind her before pushing herself up, groaning as her sore muscles ache. Bending down, Blake grabs the handle at the top of her pack and brings the bag up.

A loud, painful groan erupts from the side of the group as Blake swings the straps over her shoulders, making Blake and the others whip their heads in Winston's direction.

"Hey, man. You okay?" Fry softly asks as his hand reaches out to the injured boy, offering him help to stand.

Blake's eyes flicker to meet Minho and Thomas' in worry as the group continues to pack up. The girl felt her heartache in her chest at the sight of one of her friends in so much pain.

As the group finally got things ready to move, Fry helped Winston to his feet and followed behind the trail of teenagers, climbing over crumbled ruins.

Blake made her way up and stayed behind Thomas as they walked out of the debris. Her breath caught in her throat as the group walked out, peering over a ledge.

Old buildings that basically reached the sky surrounded them with vines and rubbish littering everywhere.

It used to be an old city, one where thousands, if not millions, of people used to live. But now, it was empty. Forgotten.

The girl placed her foot on the small concrete wall, pushing her sore muscles to work as she stepped over. Feeling a hand on her back to help her, Blake smiled softly at the blond beside her and silently thanked him.

The further the group walked into the ruins, the more anxiety started building in the small girl's chest. Questions and concerns bubbled in her mind, wondering what had happened.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦? Blake wondered as she tried not to think about last night's events.

Green eyes scanned up and down the tall buildings as her feet pushed into the yellow grain below her.

"What the hell happened to this place?" Fry questioned from behind, making Blake turn her gaze to the boy.

"I don't know. Doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time." Newt answers as the group continues trudging through the dust and rocky structures on each side of them.

"I hope the whole world's not like this." Aris says

Blake sighed as her pace slowed, realizing she wasn't by the two men who made her feel comfortable.

As Blake let a few of the others pass in front of her, she finally came in between Thomas and Minho, relaxing her shoulders a little as she began walking their pace.

Truth was, her heart wouldn't stop racing—knowing what was out there. Zombie-like creatures wanting nothing more than to tear into their flesh, and WCKD being on their trail, probably nonstop searching them. It made her more anxious than when she was in the maze—running from the grievers.

Sure, she was scared then—but this was a new type of fear. One that was foreign and new.

Blake had heard the grievers screeching from beyond the concrete walls every night, but she knew she was safe within the walls. They eventually escaped the maze, but right now, they had nowhere to run to safety—nowhere to return to.

"Whoa, whoa, hang on, stop." Thomas' sudden voice broke Blake out of her dazed-induced daydream. Whipping her head to Thomas, who stands with his hand out, straining his ears.

Blake furrows her eyebrows in confusion as the group pauses. "Do you hear that?" Thomas asks

Straining her ears, Blake stays silent, trying to listen for whatever Thomas is going on about. Suddenly, chopping noises echo over the once city. Blake's heartbeat starts to pick up its pace, rapidly beating against her chest.

Suddenly, Thomas' eyes widen. "Get down!" He orders in a panic. "Everybody hide!" Thomas shouts as he reaches for Blake's arm, pulling her with him as the group piles under a long, slender rock.

The whirling and chopping of the aircraft echo closer and closer as Blake lets out a shaky breath, bouncing her leg up and down in an attempt to calm herself.

Emerald eyes cast up to a giant aircraft with two helicopters trailing behind, searching slowly as they glide over the top of the anxious teens. Blake swallows a lump in her throat as she holds her breath, praying they don't stop or turn around.

"They're never gonna stop looking for us, are they?" Minho asks softly, making Blake turn her gaze away from the retreating aircraft. Her anxious green eyes fall onto her uninjured wrist, noticing the boy beside her rubbing circles on her skin.

The anxiety slowly drifted away as Blake let her eyes travel to Thomas' face, who kept his gaze on where the noises disappeared. A small smile tugged on the edges of the girl's lips at the gesture as Thomas then pulled her along with him out from under the rock.

"Everyone good?" Thomas questioned from the front of the group, continuing to climb up the steep rubble of rock.

Blake hissed quietly as she placed her hand down on a rock to balance herself. Glancing down at her pulsing wrist through her cast, which now was covered in a light color of yellow due to the sand.

"You good?" Fry's voice made Blake whip her head to the boy, widening her eyes.

The girl cleared her throat. "Yeah, yep." Blake quipped as she scanned her eyes over the boy's concerned features.

"You know, I'd kill to have a sandwich right about now." Blake teased as she continued up the rubble, trying to uplift the mood. A small smirk tugged on the girl's lips as she turned back to the cook beside her.

"You always got tired of my sandwiches—but now you want one?" Fry chuckled as Blake giggled off to the side. "Well, yeah...food and water is all I can think about right now. I'm starving, and those ham and cheese sandwiches would smack right about now."

Fry continued chuckling from beside Blake as he shook his head at the girl.

As the group trudged up a large pile of sand, the soothing sounds of the grain and dust flying filled Blake's ears, drowning out the sound of her heart beating through her ears. Coming to a stop at the top of the hill, Blake looks off into the distance, letting her eyes travel miles over the horizon before them.

"Those mountains." Thomas raises his hand to point his index finger at the rise of rock in the distance. "That's gotta be it. That's where we're going." grunts fall from Thomas' lips as he finishes his sentence, shifting on his other foot as he tries to relieve the pressure.

"That's a long way off." Newt says from beside Blake, keeping his eyes on the mountains that stand miles in between them.

"Then we better get moving," Thomas answers as Winston reaches his foot out to take a step in front of him—but evidently falls face-first into the sand.

Blake's eyes widen, and her heart drops. "Winston!" She yells as she rushes to the boy's side.

"Winston! Hey, Winston!" Thomas shouts as the rest of the teenagers crowd around him.

Blake turns Winston's shoulder over and caresses the boy's face as he gasps for air. "Winston. Hey." Blake tries to gain the boy's attention as her voice shakes.

"He's hurt pretty bad." Fry says as he lays down the material on the boy's stomach.

"What do we do?" Teresa questions from beside Blake.

Thomas pauses a few seconds before pulling himself to his feet.

"Help me sit him up." Blake says as she lifts the boy's head into her lap. "He needs to sit up."

"Shit." Newt mumbles from the side as he helps Blake pull the boy into a reclined position. "Winston. Can you hear me?" Newt questions as the other teenagers share worried glances.

Blake meets Thomas' worried gaze as she slowly shakes her head, silently telling the boy in front of her that he won't be able to keep up.

Thomas adverts his eyes from the girl before peering out into the distance, gears turning in his head as he searches for a solution.

Grunts escape from Minho and Fry's lips as they drag the makeshift stretcher, trudging behind the others.

"Hang in there, Winston." Minho tries comforting the boy.

The wind howls as Blake blinks the sand out of her eyes, pulling the scarf over her head to try and block out the dust. "Fuck." Blake cusses as she raises her hand to wipe the sand off her face.

Grunts and whimpers escape the boy's lips as they try to push through.

"We gotta find shelter." Thomas yells over the howling of the sandstorm, bringing his hand up to hold onto the scarf covering his nose and mouth.

Blake sighs as she leans as she leans against her backpack. Glancing over to Minho, who brings the canteen of water down to stare off into space, most likely exhausted.

Newt sits down next to Blake with his elbows leaning over his knees, panting to catch his breath. Minho reaches the water bottle out and offers it to Blake as he connects his eyes with hers, nodding for her to take a sip.

Blake's hand wraps around the metal canteen as she raises it to her lips, sighing in relief as the liquid moistens her dry mouth. Blake lowers the drink down before handing it over to Newt beside her and glances up to see Teresa stepping through the sand—making her way over to Thomas, who stands on the hill's edge.

Green eyes close as Blake looks away, casting her eyes down to her fingers that fumble.

"You have nothing to worry about, Blakey." Minho's voice startles the girl, "He likes you." The boy continues as Blake lifts her eyes up to meet his.

Blake lets out a dry laugh as she continues fiddling with her hands. "He likes her too." Blake shrugs, nodding her head up to the two standing side by side—peering out into the horizon.

"Yeah—but not as much as he likes you," Minho assures as his dark brown orbs connect to Blake's green. "He wouldn't automatically reach for you every time we're in danger if he didn't. Do you see him rushing to Teresa?—No." Minho puts dryly as he hangs his head in Blake's direction with a small smile tugging his lips.

"Yeah, he likes you alright." Newt buts into the conversation once he caught his breath, smirking.

"Don't think I didn't notice him sprinting through the woods the other day. And the nervousness you radiated when I asked where he was—also, I have a question." Newt said as he kept his eyes on the girl whose eyes became wide.

"Where were you too after the showers..hmm?" He blond questioned as an amusement smirk pulled onto his lips.

Blake felt like she had fire ants climbing up her neck, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks as the boys all turned their attention to her with an eyebrow raised.

"He..uhm..needed to show me something." Blake tried to clear her throat and think of what to say.

𝘖𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. Blake internally panicked.

"Yeah, show you his—" Fry started, but a hand flew over his mouth, stopping the boy from finishing his sentence.

Blake giggles at Minho's expression, watching as the boy uncovers his hand from Fry's mouth. "I do not want to hear about—" Minho stopped himself, shaking off the thought.

"Well, Blake..looks like he does like you. Quite a lot." Newt teases as Blake's smile fades into an embarrassed one. Her cheeks tinted red as the same fire spread across her body.

"So you have nothing to worry about." Newt adds as he lets himself slump lower on the rock behind him.