Y/n hugged her knees to her chest as she watched the flames dancing in front of her. The heat was hitting her face and legs just barely, causing her to still feel chilly in the cold night. They were camping near an abandoned ship in the middle of the desert, still very far from the mountains and one friend less.

Minho sat next to Y/n, twirling his knife around. The whole group was in silence, most likely thinking about the past few hours. Winston was gone, taken by the Flare, which confused them. '' I thought we were supposed to be immune,'' Minho thought out-loud.

''Not all of us,'' Teresa said and Y/n shot her a look. ''I guess.''

''If Winston can get infected then we should assume so can the rest of us,'' Newt pointed out. There was an itch in Y/n's brain - she'd started getting used to her memories getting back, so it didn't hurt as much anymore. A flash of a list appeared in her mind, full of names and the words 'IMMUNE' and 'NON-IMMUNE' written across them, but she couldn't remember each individual name.

''I never thought I'd say it,'' Frypan spoke and Y/n noticed the single tear rolling down his cheek. ''I miss the Glade.''

Silence followed. Y/n looked back at the flames and remembered the bonfires they held back in the Glade, back when all of her friends were still alive.

She felt like she'd barely gotten any sleep by the time she had to be up again. The sun felt even hotter than the day before and she felt exhausted as they continued walking through the sand dunes. Thankfully for her legs, they eventually reached even ground, though the sun still wasn't helping her case. She had her scarf wrapped around her head so she won't get a stroke and watched as Minho tried to take a sip from an empty water bottle before throwing it away in annoyance.

It felt never ending. A whole day they walked and Y/n felt like they've barely moved a few miles. In the Maze, she knew where she was going, so her day always felt quick. Here, in the middle of nowhere, trying to get to some mountains felt like mission impossible.

The sun set and the group decided to get a few hours of sleep. Y/n curled into herself next to Minho, facing away from him as she used her backpack as a pillow. Her eyes were closed as she tried to sleep, but the ground was uncomfortable and she was cold and hungry and thirsty and she really, really wished she was back in the Glade and eating Frypan's questionable stew and sleeping on her dirty mattress.

''Hey, hey, get up.'' Y/n blinked her eyes open and turned around to look at Thomas, who was pushing people around to wake up. ''Newt, get up. Come on, let's go. Frypan, Aris. I see something.''

Y/n stood up along with everyone else, feeling her joints popping as she did. ''What is it?'' asked Minho, his voice still sleepy.

The group looked ahead, where Thomas was pointing. ''You see that?'' He turned back to face the group, his breathing quickening. ''It's lights.''

Everyone shared a look and Y/n let her mouth hang open. ''We made it,'' Minho said, blindly looking for Y/n's hand with his own. He found it quickly, giving it a light squeeze out of relief.

The sudden cackling of thunder caught everyone off guard. As they looked back, they saw the gray clouds and thunder getting closer and closer, causing Y/n's skin to crawl.

And then the lightning hit.

''Let's go. We gotta go. Come on.'' Thomas tapped Newt a few times and everyone quickly grabbed their backpacks, starting to sprint away from the storm.

Everyone ran with all their might as the lightning neared them. Newt and Teresa were falling behind, so Y/n quickly grabbed into Newt's jacket sleeve and started pulling him ahead with her while Thomas pushed Teresa to go quicker. Lightning struck too close to them for comfort as they were almost at the city they'd seen from afar, almost at the possible shelter. Y/n had fallen to the back, feeling her lungs burning as she made sure none of her friends were left behind.

''Oh, shi—''

Lightning struck not too far from Y/n, sending her flying to the ground. Her ears were ringing and she chocked on air. She looked ahead, seeing two more people on the ground - Thomas, who was getting up and looking behind him, and Minho, laying on the ground, motionless and with smoke coming out of his body.

''Minho!'' she yelled - or at least she thought she did, she still couldn't hear - as she quickly and sloppily got to her feet, rushing over to fall down to Minho's side. ''Minho, holy shit! Minho!'' Y/n shook him by his jacket, but Minho remained unresponsive.

''Help him!'' Y/n heard Thomas yell faintly as he fell down on Minho's other side. The two of them quickly picked Minho up, though Y/n still felt weak from being sent flying so she could only watch as Newt and Aris picked him up and dragged him ahead. She got to her feet again, feeling Thomas grabbing her arm and pulling her head. Lighting continued to strike down from all sides and she only felt like she could breathe again when she entered through the door Frypan was holding open.

Her hearing had returned by the time they were inside, hearing Thomas saying, ''Put him down.''

''Watch his head,'' Aris warned.

It was dark, but Y/n fell down on her knees and felt around the floor, eventually reaching a body laying on the ground. ''Minho?''

''Who's got a light?'' asked Thomas and a moment later Newt flashed one in Minho's face. ''Minho!'' Thomas yelled.

''Minho, come on, wake up,'' Y/n pleased as she put her hand over his cheek, lightly slapping him. She felt the tears threatening to spill from her eyes at that point. It was happening again. ''Minho, please.''

''Come on, come on,'' Newt said. ''Minho!''

''Minho?'' Thomas called again.

''Wake up, shuckface,'' Y/n called as she continued slapping his cheek, but received no response. Everyone was breathing heavily as they watched Minho intently, calling out for him to wake up.

Minho suddenly groaned and Y/n felt out a strangled breath, letting her forehead fall on his chest. Everyone sighed in relief.

''Holy shit, you scared the shit out of me,'' Y/n said as she moved to sit on her legs behind his head, letting it rest on them. Minho's eyes wildly looked around, trying to regain sense of his surroundings.

''Are you okay?'' asked Thomas.

''What happened?'' Minho asked, looking up at Y/n.

''You got struck by lightning,'' Y/n reminded him.

Minho was silent for a moment before he let out a, ''Oh,'' and a small smile appeared on his face.

The guys helped him to sit up and Y/n quickly moved to his side, giving him a hug. ''You scared the shit out of me.''

''Sorry,'' Minho apologized as he quickly returned the hug. ''Won't happen again.'' Both of them knew that was probably a lie, but they didn't address it.

''Can you get up?'' asked Newt and Minho nodded, so the four boys heaved Minho up.

Y/n got up on her own, noticing Teresa straying from the group. ''Everything okay, Teresa?'' Y/n asked as she stepped away from the boys for a moment, reaching out to touch Teresa's shoulder. Teresa jumped at the touch, turning to look at her.

''Do you smell it?'' asked Teresa and Y/n looked around, sniffing the air.

She instantly gagged, putting her nose in her elbow. ''It smells like a rotting corpse.''

The lightning suddenly illuminated the building and a hand reached out, screaming in Y/n and Teresa's faces. The two girls screamed in return at the Crank, quickly running backwards and almost tripping over their own feet. Minho quickly pulled Y/n into him, watching the Crank in shock as it tried to reach out to their group, but something was pulling it back.

A second Crank tried to attack them but they quickly moved away, hearing the rattling of chains as the Crank tried to reach them again, but unsuccessfully. There were multiple of them, all chained and unable to reach the Gladers.

''I see you've met our guard dogs.''

Everyone turned towards the voice, seeing a silhouette standing at an entrance, turning on a lamp behind them. ''Who's that?'' asked Frypan as everyone pointed their flashlights at the newcomer.

The person confidently walked through the Cranks, reaching the Gladers and looking them up and down. Thomas warned the girl to stay back. She had a buzz cut and tattered clothes, but she seemed normal, healthy. ''You guys look like shit.'' Everyone looked at her in confusion. ''Come on. Follow me. Unless you want to stay here with them.'' As the creatures continued snarling at the Gladers, the choice became clear.

The girl opened a sliding door, letting the group in after her. Y/n walked behind Minho, the two of them holding hands so they wouldn't separate in the unfamiliar place. Or maybe it was for comfort. It didn't matter as they entered the room, seeing a bunch of people around the building, which had been turned into a shelter. It reminded Y/n of the previous building they hid in, but the people here were actually alive.

''Come on, keep up,'' the girl said as she continued walking ahead. ''Jorge wants to meet you.''

They walked up a flight of stairs, ignoring the looks they were receiving from the strange people. ''Who's Jorge?'' asked Thomas.

''You'll see,'' the girl said. ''No one's come out of the Scorch in a long time. You just got him curious.'' She took a look back at the Gladers before looking back ahead. ''And me, too.''

As the commotion around them increased, Y/n and Minho shared a look before looking back, seeing a whole crowd following them. Y/n looked back ahead, squeezing Minho's hand harder. What were these people going to do with them?

''Anyone starting to get a bad feeling about this place?'' asked Newt quietly, but Y/n was pretty sure everyone heard him.

Thomas looked back at his friends. ''Let's just hear him out. See what he has to say.''

They climbed up another flight of stairs before they arrived behind a man who was standing in front of a radio. ''Jorge, they're here.'' The man quickly shushed her and the girl went to the side, plopping down on a couch. Y/n looked at it with longing, feeling her legs aching.

The man cursed and turned the radio off, letting out a huff. He turned around and faced the Gladers, who were still surrounded by the questionable people. The man - Jorge - put his hands on his hips. ''Do you ever get the feeling the whole world's against you?'' It almost felt like he was mocking them, Y/n thought. Jorge walked over to another table and picked up a glass, starting to fill it with water. ''Three questions. Where did you come from? Where are you going? How can I profit?''

Y/n looked at the water in Jorge's hands, licking her dry lips. No one spoke. ''Don't all answer at once,'' Jorge said.

''We're headed for the mountains,'' Thomas admitted. ''Looking for the Right Arm.'' Y/n's eyes widened slightly, wondering why Thomas was revealing their goal so easily to a random man who might just get them killed in a moment.

The men behind them started laughing. Y/n took a look at Brenda, who looked confused. ''You're looking for ghosts, you mean,'' Jorge clarified as he took a sip of his glass. Y/n gulped. ''Question number two. Where did you come from?''

Minho and Thomas shared a look. ''That's our business,'' Minho said, looking at Jorge in suspicion.

Jorge shrugged and the men suddenly sprung up, catching each Glader and forcing them down on their knees.

''Hey!'' each of them protested. Minho called Y/n's name as their hands got pulled apart, watching as one of the men grabbed her by the neck.

''Get off me!'' Thomas struggled against his captor. ''Get off me, man!''

The girl stood above Thomas, holding a device against his neck. ''Shut up, you big baby.''

''What is that?'' Thomas asked.

The girl looked at the device, moving away from Thomas before looking at Jorge. ''You were right.'' Jorge put on his glasses and looked down at the device.

''Right about what? What is she talking about?''

Jorge chuckled and took his glasses off his face. The people had let go of them by the time and everyone quickly got back in the group, Y/n rubbing her neck in pain from how tight the man was squeezing. Minho quickly pulled her behind him.

''I'm sorry, hermano,'' Jorge said, looking at Thomas. ''Looks like you're tagged. You came from WICKED. Which means you're very valuable.''