𝙀𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚

𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙠𝙚'𝙨 eyes scan over Thomas as he breathes heavily—trying to catch his breath.

"Hey...quick question—what the hell is going on?" Blake asked as she glanced at him, concern etched on her features.

"They're going to kill us—I saw bodies, okay? You were next! I don't have time to explain—" Thomas began as he couldn't hide the panic that flickered across his features. "We gotta go—𝙉𝙊𝙒!"

Blake's heart hammers against her chest—her blood runs cold at Thomas' revelation. She would have been dead if they hadn't found her.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦..

When Thomas almost yelled that she was next, her eyes had cast down to her feet—shifting her gaze from the panicked boy.

As she lets her body slowly detense, she picks her gaze up from her shoes to see him already staring at her. Blake felt her heart hammer in her chest for an entirely different reason as the pair locked eyes.

Feeling the way his eyes burned into hers, Blake quickly shifts her gaze back down to her feet.

𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵?

"𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙠𝙚! Let's go!" Minho's loud yell cuts Blake from the daze she didn't know she was in.

Her head lifts just in time as she feels a hand grab onto her arm—dragging her into the vent.

Thomas hops out of the vent first, with the rest of the teens following behind him. The panicked boy then looks around to ensure the coast is clear before hurrying the others.

"Come on, come on, come on!"

Blake is the second to last one out, poking her head through the opening as her eyes glance up to Thomas, who is motioning to hurry.

Thomas' hand reaches out and grabs onto Blake's to help pull her out of the vent.

As the boy helps Blake to stand, Minho crawls out behind them."Come on, Let's go!" Thomas continues ordering.

Aris suddenly turns around on the balls of his feet and crawls back into the vent. "I got something I gotta do."

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asks, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Who's this kid?" Blake questions from beside Minho, pointing her index finger with an eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Trust me, it's important. You guys want to get out of here, right?" Aris asks, flickering his eyes between the group of confused teenagers.

Thomas shakes his head again, "Hurry! Just go!"

"I—I'll go with him."

"Okay, Winston, go!" Thomas says before turning back around to the rest of the group. "Let's go, come on!" As Thomas starts to run, his hand glides down and grabs Blake's, pulling her behind him.

"You sure we can trust this kid?" Minho pants from behind.

"You don't want to know where we'd be without him." Thomas responds as the group goes to turn a corner.

Suddenly, Thomas skids to a stop, halting the group in their path. The teenager's bodies stiffen at a figure standing in their path.

The doctor looks up from her clipboard—pausing her movement as she looks up at them.

Her eyebrows raise as her eyes scan the frozen teens. "What are you kids doing out?" She questions as her eyes land on Blake.

A slight frown forms on the doctor's lips at the girl.

Just as the doctor had asked her question—the security alarms blare, and orange lights flash.

Blake's eyes flicker from the doctor to the orange lights flashing on the walls—

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.

Blake then returns her eyes back to the doctor—watching the woman's stance stiffen. Blake turns her head to glance between her boys with a small smile etching her lips.

The doctor stiffens her body even more as she watches as the teenagers exchange glances.

Thomas holds Dr. Crawford in front of him as Blake follows close behind. Walking through the halls of the facility with their new tour guide, Minho and Fry both run ahead till figures in front of them make them skid to a stop.

"Freeze!" A guard shouts from the other side of the hallway. "Stay where you are!" Another yells.

Blake's eyes widen at the wall of guards, all standing with their guns pointed in the group's direction. The group of teens, plus the doctor, pause for a second—debating on what to do.

Not even a split second later, bullets whizz past them, making the teens all dart in the other direction.

"Shit!" Blake hisses as a bullet flies past her head.

"Why are they shooting at us?" Minho asks as he grabs Blake's hand, pulling her to another hallway.

The teens all run down the hall and go to turn another corner, but Minho suddenly says, "Hold on," and pushes Blake in front of him, making her stumble into Thomas' arms. Both brunettes share a confused glance.

Minho then spins on his heels—facing the direction of the footsteps echoing from where they had just run from.

"Min—what are you doing?" Blake shouts as Thomas shouts beside her, "Minho! What the hell are you doing?!"

Minho sprints forward— jumping with his foot outstretched into the guard that appears at the end of the hall.

The guard lets out a pained grunt before falling to the ground—unconscious. Blake and Thomas exchange another glance before rushing up to their friend.

Minho stands over the guard as the group comes to a halt beside him.

"Shit, Min. What the hell." Blake asks with wide eyes, looking down at the unconscious guard.

Thomas stares down at the guard, noticing the gun. Quickly, he grabs it and presses it to the doctor's back—turning her around. "Come on, let's go!"

"Bring me to her." Thomas shouts at the woman from behind her.

Blake rolls her eyes.

𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

The woman opens the door slowly as another doctor inside the room turns to see her poking her face through the crack.

"Doctor Crawford—? What are you—" He begins but shuts his mouth when he sees Thomas pushing past the woman, aiming the gun at them.

"Where is she?" Thomas asks as he backs one of the men into a shelf, "Where is she?" Thomas repeats himself, yelling.

Blake flinches at his angry yell—feeling her heart pang.

The doctor flinches at Thomas, remaining quiet in fear. Noticing the doctor's eyes flickering between him and to his right— Thomas' head turns to a set of curtains on the opposite side of the room.

Letting out a loud sigh, Thomas strides over and shoves the gun into Minho's hands. Blake shares a silent conversation with Minho as Thomas slides the curtains open.

Blake watches as Thomas immediately rushes to Teresa's side, caressing her face and scanning over the girl's body for injuries.

Once again, the girl can't help but feel a pang strike her heart. Blake shakes

Blake takes a deep breath as she stands beside Minho, who points the gun at the doctors kneeling on the ground.

Fry rushes up to open the door—seeing guards running towards them. "Guys! They're coming! We gotta move!"

"Frypan! Move!" Newt shouts as he tips over a table. Utensils fly everywhere as the boys shove it up against the door.

"Get back!" Newt says as he throws an arm in front of Blake and the other teens. Minho grabs Blake's arm, pulling her behind him as the guards try pushing through the door.

"They've got the door barricaded. Send backup!" One of them yells.

"Okay, We gotta get out of here!" Minho yells as he points the gun at the door.

Newt grabs Blake by her arm, backing her up even more as the guard pounds on the door.

"Where do we go?" Fry asks as his eyes scan the room for an exit.

"Stand back!" Thomas yells as he grabs a stool, smashing it repeatedly till the glass breaks with Newt's help.

Teresa lays a blanket over the window as Thomas reaches out to help her—picking her up bridal style as she hangs her legs over the side.

Blake's heart pangs in her chest at the interaction. She draws in another deep breath before hopping onto the window seal. Thomas' other hand reaches out to help her down.

"I don't need your help." Blake spat as she hopped down from the window. Walking past Thomas, she ignores the frown formed on his lips.

Minho throws his gun through the window to Thomas as he yells for them to go, but Blake waits back as her best friend climbs over. Grabbing his hand, they sprint after the rest of the group.

"Stay behind me." Thomas yells as he swings a door open.

A guard stops on the other side of the door, feet away—frozen. His eyes flicker between each of the teens as they all share the same panicked expression.

Thomas pauses for a second before shooting him—making the guy fall to the ground. Electricity crackles, paralyzing him as the teens all stand in the doorway, shocked.

Thomas looks down at the gun for a second, then turns his gaze back to the guard. "Shit, come on." Motioning for the rest of the group to follow.

The teens sprint down a hallway as they come to a metal door. "There it is! There it is!" Thomas yells

Blake breathes heavily as they come to a stop at the door.

Thomas pulls a key card out of his pocket and tries swiping it, but the reader blinks red. The boy swipes it two more times, instantly becoming more angry.

"Come on...no, no, no, no! Damn it!" Thomas shouts

"Thomas!" Janson's voice echoes from the other end of the hallway, instantly gaining the group's attention.

Anger bubbles inside Blake—seeing his smug face as he stalks down the hall. Thomas shifts the gun and cocks it—pointing it at Janson. The man raises his arms in surrender as he continues walking.

"Open this door, Janson!" Thomas yells as he keeps his aim on the rat man.

"You really don't want me to!"

"Open the 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙣 door!" Thomas screams angrily

"Listen to me!" Janson shouts as Minho continues trying the keycard.

Blake steps closer to Thomas for backup, following a few yards behind him.

"I'm trying to save your life. The maze is one thing, but you kids wouldn't last one day out the scorch." Janson says as the two continue walking toward each other. "If the elements don't kill you, the cranks will. Thomas."

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴?

Janson pauses as his eyes flicker over Thomas' shoulder, noticing the small brunette girl behind him. "Blake—you have to believe me. I only want what's best for you."

"Not sure death is really the best thing for me—not my style." Blake retorts, keeping her eyes trained on the man standing twenty-ish feet away.

"Yeah...let me guess? 𝙒𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙?" Thomas says right after Blake, with his gun still trained on the men.

"You're not getting through that door." Janson says, lowering his arms.

Suddenly, the door behind them opens, making everyone's attention turn— revealing Aris and Winston standing on the other side. "Hey guys"

"Asshole says what?" Blake says as she turns her head back around to face Janson, smirking.

The small brunette slowly backs toward the exit as she watches Janson's small smirk fade into a frown.

"Thomas! Come on, let's go!" Newt shouts as the group runs out. Minho sprints forward and grabs onto Blake's arm, pulling her back.

"Yeah, kiss my ass, you 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠!" Blake shouts as she throws Janson her middle finger—giggling as she and Minho run.

Thomas attempts to shoot his gun, missing a few men. He had managed to knock three guards down as he emptied the clip before running out of bullets.

Thomas grunts in agitation as he throws the gun down. Slowly backpedaling, Thomas then turns around and sprints back to the rest of the teens—who all shout for him to hurry.

"Shut the main vault door! Shut the main vault door!" Janson shouts over the radio as he sprints after Thomas.

"No!" Blake shouts as the doors start to shut.

"Run, Thomas!" Minho screams from beside Blake

At the last second, Thomas slides under the door—gliding his feet behind him to come to a stand. The teens all let out a sigh of relief as the door shuts.

Before the teens rush off, Blake reacts quickly—grabbing the fire extinguisher from the side of the door and smashing it down on the card reader—destroying any chance of Janson dragging them back in.

Janson and his men skid to a stop as they near the exit. Blake stands back and watches as one of the guards tries swiping the key card—but to their misfortune, it doesn't open. Janson pounds on the door as he looks through the window, glaring at the two brunettes who share smirks from beside each other.

Thomas raises his hand to flip the man off as Blake mouths a "Kiss my ass" once again and lets her middle finger fly up as well.

"Blake! Thomas!" Minho shouts from behind them, "Let's go!"

Blake laughs as she and Thomas both turn on their heels and sprint after the rest of the group.