Finding Marcus

I frantically feel for a bullet wound, and my shoulders relax when i don't find one. I scan everyone else, making sure no one was shot. I see Minho and Frypan rush to my side in a state of panic, grabbing onto me to check for themselves that i'm alright. 

I watch in confusion as the man in front of us bleeds out instead, dropping to the ground to reveal the girl with her gun raised at the spot where he was just standing. 

"Thank you" i say to her, trying to calm my racing heart. She just nods with a small smile, before turning serious as she addresses us all. "Ok, come on". 

Everyone stays still, still unsure whether to trust her or not. "Come on. Let's go!" She says urgently. I'm the first to follow her, and the boys, and Teresa are quick to move after us. 

"I know right now isn't the best time, but i never got your name" i say to the girl as we rush through the building. 

"It's Brenda" she replies, glancing around for anyone ready to stop us.

"I'm Madeline, but everyone calls me Maddie" i say to her. She abruptly stops, and her face is filled with shock as she stares at me. "Are you alright?" I ask, concerned.

"Your name's Madeline?" She asks, ignoring my question as she stares.

"Yeah, why?" I ask with a frown.

"Guys, why have we stopped?" Thomas asks, glancing around anxiously.

Brenda seems to snap out of her shocked state. "No reason. Come on" She says, rushing ahead. We all catch up to her, but i can't help but think about the disbelief on her face when i said my name. 

What the hell was that all about?

We follow Brenda up the same stairs from earlier, hearing Jorge call out to her. "Brenda! Hurry! We don't have much time. Let's go, let's go, let's go!".

We follow him to a large window. "Right this way!" he says, opening the windows to reveal a rope, connected to another building.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me" Fry says, staring at the rope. I forgot he said that he's afraid of heights.

"It looks like it could be fun" i say, shrugging my shoulders. Yes, the height is quite scary, but the thrill might be enjoyable.

Frypan looks at me unimpressed. I just pat his shoulder with a reassuring smile.

"Plan B, hermano. You kids want to get to the Right Arm? I'll lead you to them, but you're gonna owe me" he says, pulling something down. He grabs it and jumps out of the window, and starts to slide down the zipline. "Follow me!" he shouts as he speeds off.

"All right. Let's go. Come on!" Brenda shouts, gaining our attention.

"Go, go. Everyone, go!" Thomas says pushing us towards the zipline.

Minho grabs it next, not hesitating as he speeds off next. I go next, looking to Fry.

"You better be right behind me" i say sternly.

"I promise" he replies. That's all i need to push off next, and i can't help but laugh as the adrenaline courses through me. This is best thing i have ever done.

When i get to the end, Jorge is there to catch me, forcing me to a stop. Minho looks at me and sees the bright smile on my face. "You alright?" he asks.

"That was the best fucking thing ever" i reply with a laugh, causing Minho to chuckle too.

"I'm glad you enjoyed the trip. It doesn't look like your friend is much" Jorge says with a smirk, watching as Frypan speeds towards us with pure fear on his face.

"You alright Fry?" i ask with a grin.

"I never wanna do that again. Ever" he replies, trying to calm his breathing as we wait for the others, making Minho and i snicker.

Teresa gets to us next, and we wait for Thomas and Brenda but they're no where to be seen.

"Teresa. Where's Thomas and Brenda?" i ask her.

"Brenda ran off. Thomas said that he'd be right behind me" she replies with a frown.

"She ran off?" Jorge asks, concerned.

"She had a look on her face, like she'd forgotten something important" Teresa says, thinking back to a few moments ago.

Jorge has a look of realisation on his face. We all jump when we hear explosions, and watch in horror as the building starts to blow up. 

"Oh God!" i exclaim, my eyes watering as i watch the building go up in flames and collapse.

"No!" Teresa shouts in despair. 

"Are Thomas and Brenda-?" Newt asks, swallowing down his grief, unable to finish the question.

"No. No, Brenda knows that place like the back of her hand. They found another way out, hermano" Jorge replies defiantly.

"Should we look for them?" i ask, watching the helicopter circle the remains of the building.

"Brenda knows where we're headed. Her and Thomas will be making their way there. We can't stay here or we'll be found" Jorge explains, watching the light from the helicopter light up parts of the rubble.

"Where are we headed?" Newt asks Jorge.

"Before we travel to find the Right Arm, there is someone we need to pay a visit to. Let's go" Jorge replies, before walking off.

"Should we really trust him? The guy had us dangling from our ankles over a bottomless pit moments ago" Minho asks, skepticle of trusting the man.

"He did say he'd help us" Frypan says, seeming to trust the man a little more than before.

"And he did help us escape when WCKD showed up" I add, glancing at Jorge. 

"They're right, and besides, we haven't got any options left. Thomas is with Brenda and we need to get him back" Newt says, looking at the destroyed building.

"Are you kids gonna come or not? I'm not waiting forever for you to trust me" Jorge calls out to us. 

"You heard the man. Come on" i say, walking towards Jorge. I glance back at the others, watching as they follow.

"So you kids decided to trust me yet?" Jorge asks me with a small grin.

"For now. We need Thomas back before we make our grand escape" i reply playfully, earning a chuckle from Jorge.

"I like you. You remind me of Brenda. She said you're her favourite already" Jorge says to me.

"I'm honoured. She seems badass" i reply with a smile.

"That she is" Jorge says with a smile. 

We all begin our journey to wherever Jorge says we need to go. I pray that Brenda and Thomas will get there safely. I have faith that they made it out of the building, and hopefully Thomas doesn't ask too many questions. Brenda will definitely kill him otherwise.

"So, who are we visiting?" Newt asks, eager for more information. I can tell that he's sick of not being told everything. We can thank Thomas for always not telling us the full story and leaving us confused when he orders us to blindly follow him. 

I mean, couldn't he have at least told us about WCKD and his plan to find the Right Arm before sending us into a frenzy of panic and confusion?

"A man who i really despise, but has resources that we can use to find the Right Arm" Jorge replies.

"What kind of resources?" Minho asks, intrigued.

"I believe that he has information on the Right Arm, and maybe a way to contact them, or a location to where they are" Jorge explains.

"How long will it take to get to him?" Fry asks.

"We'll be walking until light" he replies, causing us to groan.

"This is gonna be torture" i say with a sigh.

"Seriously? We've done nothing but walk and hardly sleep since we escaped WCKD!" Minho complains.

"It'll be worth it, besides Brenda and Thomas won't be resting, and we don't want them to think we got captured because we're not there to meet them" Jorge replies, amused at our complaints.

We walk for a while in a comfortable silence before Jorge breaks it. "What happened to you all whilst being with WCKD?".

"It's a long story" Newt replies bluntly.

"We have the time" Jorge says, waiting for us to answer his question.

"Well first they erased our memories and then all put us in this maze. They sent a new person up every month in a box with supplies every month for over three years. Thomas got sent up, found a way out of the maze and we escaped. Then WCKD picked us up and took us to a 'safe place', though we thought they were people against WCKD. Then Thomas and Aris realised that they were WCKD, and they were taking a group of kids everyday to basically kill them to find a cure for the cranks. Then we escaped from the building, got attacked by cranks and walked through this endless desert. Then we got caught in a storm and Minho got struck by lightning, and that's when we ran into your building to avoid it and met you and Brenda" i explain, shrugging my shoulders, unbothered.

Jorge stares at me blankly, seeming to take a long moment to absorb the information i just gave him. Minho snickers at his expression.

 "That's..... eventful to say the least" Jorge replies.

"Eventful is an understatement" Aris says in amusement.

"So, you kids have no memories of your family? Or your past at all?" Jorge asks us.

"No. We have no idea who they are, and no way to find them" Fry replies.

"They might not even be alive" Minho adds solemnly.

"It's not really my place to say, but Brenda said she had a brother taken by WCKD. Would he have have been put in this maze?" He asks.

"We were told that there were multiple mazes, so probably. Aris here wasn't in the same maze as us" i reply, pointing to Aris.

"Yeah. I met everyone in the WCKD facility" Aris adds.

"He's part of the family now" i say, earning a wide smile from Aris. I send a small one back, my thoughts travelling back to my memories with Gally. I miss him so much. 

I think of Alby, Chuck, Jeff, Clint, Winston and the others, and back to Gally, my smile slowly fading.

"You all shouldn't have had to go through that. We'll find the Right Arm and you won't have to worry about WCKD. You have my word" Jorge says to us all, earning small smiles from us.

"We appreciate that" Newt replies kindly.

We walk until daylight. The sun is almost at it's peak when we reach the building Jorge says the man we're looking for will be in. I can hear loud music blasting from inside. People outside look menacing, feigning kindness. They're smiles are sinister, and they remind me of Janson and the rest of WCKD, feigning safety and security.

We get to the entrance, and one of the woman holds out a bottle filled with green liquid to me.

"You need to drink some of this to enter" She says, trying to hand me the bottle. I hesitate, really not wanting to drink the mysterious liquid. Thankfully, Jorge pushes the bottle away from me, giving the woman a harsh glare. 

"She won't be drinking that. Now get out of my way" Jorge says aggressively, pushing past the woman who's slightly swaying on her feet. She's definitely drunk.

We follow Jorge into the building that's filled with kids around our age. They're all dancing, and seems to be blackout drunk.

"Stay close" Jorge orders us, and i'm happy to oblige, not having a good feeling about this place at all.

"Thomas" Teresa whispers, rushing away from us. We all watch as she drops to the ground in the crowd, and see an unconscious Thomas surrounded by the crowd.

"He probably drank from the bottle. I suspect it was drugged. He'll be alright, let's pick him up and find Marcus and Brenda" Jorge says. Minho and Fry Pick Thomas up, and soon find Brenda wandering aimlessly. I gently grab her arm and guide her with us as we follow Jorge. We soon find Marcus.

"Marcus" Jorge greets with a fake smile.

"Jorge. It's been a while" Marcus says, with a large false smile on his face.

"We need to have a little chat" Jorge says, harshly grabbing Marcus and dragging him upstairs, ignoring Marcus' protests.

We make it upstairs and i help Brenda to sit on one of the couches. She seems to finally be coming aware once more. The drug induced haze beginning to wear off. Minho and Fry lay Thomas on another couch, and i notice Newt watches with a bitter expression as Teresa kneels beside Thomas. 

Uh oh. Newt is J-E-A-L-O-U-S. 

I turn my attention to Jorge, who has tied up a frightened Marcus to a chair. Marcus is trying to hide his fear, but his trembling gives it away. After a minute, he pulls himself together, pretending to be amused and unbothered. 

"I've got a few questions for you Marcus, and unluckily for you, i have a method that i'm going to enjoy using to get your dirty rat self to talk" Jorge says menacingly. 

"Oh, shit's about to go down" i whisper to Aris.

"I'm kinda excited" Aris replies with a grin.

"So am i" i say with a matching grin on my face.

This is going to be a good show.

Author's Note:

I've been so tired with work lately, it's so draining. BUT i'm getting a new bed delivered tomorrow and i can't wait to hibernate in it. 

I also wanna say thank you so much for over 500 reads and to those for voting! When i started writing i never expected many, or anyone to bother reading. I decided to write this fanfic because i enjoy writing and i got inspiration from so many Maze Runner fics i've read. 

I hope you enjoy the chapter and please remember to look after yourselves because self care is important :)

Xxxx