She couldn't help but bite on her nails despite how dirty her hands were. They were walking through a town, or whatever was left out of it. There were people around, some acting normal and some like they were on the verge of loosing their mind. As Y/n made eye contact with one such person, he lunged at her in the distance, she couldn't help but shuffle closed to Minho and hold his hand even tighter.

Thomas and Brenda never made it out of the explosion. Despite that, Jorge seemed convinced they were still alive. Y/n wasn't sure if she should let her hopes get too high, but knowing Thomas and his wild luck, he had most likely cheated death again.

''So we're going to see your friend Marcus, you said?'' Newt spoke as he limped next to Jorge, the two of them in the front of the group.

''That bastard's not my friend,'' Jorge immediately retorted, keeping his gaze ahead. ''But he can be a useful source of information. Brenda and Thomas should be there, too. We're almost there.''

The closer they got, the louder the music became. It felt weird, hearing music in real life. She couldn't remember the last time she'd listened to actual music. There were many people hanging outside the loud building, wearing very extravagant clothes.

''Is this what a club is like?'' asked Y/n as they were almost at the entrance of the building.

''This is no club you'd want to enter, believe me, hermana,'' Jorge spoke from the front before he stopped and turned around to face the group. ''We'll split up and look for Marcus. He's blond and annoying, you'll recognize him when you see him. Don't drink anything anyone offers you, got it?''

Everyone nodded and split up. It was cramped as Minho and Y/n tried to navigate their way through, looking around but finding nothing but teenagers. A sudden gunshot rang through Y/n's ears, causing her to jump slightly. It was followed by cheers. She didn't want to find out what had happened.

''You see him anywhere?'' Minho yelled over the music and Y/n shook her head.

''He should be around here somewhere—'' She huffed as someone bumped into her, causing her to let go of Minho's hand. She looked at the guy with her eyes furrowed. ''Watch where you're going, slinthead.''

''Oh? Aren't you feeling a little warm in that jacket of yours?'' the boy spoke confidently, getting closer to her face. Y/n could smell his breath — the odor of a corpse hit her nose and she almost gagged. ''Let me help you take it off.''

Y/n took a step back. ''Stay the fuck away from me,'' she said as she put a hand on her thigh — there was a knife strapped there, one she'd found in the building she'd landed in after they escaped WICKED.

''Ah, you're feisty, I see,'' the boy said as he took a step closer again. His eyes moved wildly around her face and his veins were dark and prominent. He was sick. ''I love them when they're feisty.''

He took another step closer and Y/n took her knife out, quickly putting it in front of the boy's neck. His breath hitched and she got closer to his face herself this time, his crazy eyes fixating on hers. ''Stay the fuck away from me or I'll slice your throat and put an end to your misery quicker.'' She took her knife away and put it back in its holster. The boy gasped for breath and Y/n noticed a small red line on his neck just before he covered it with his hand.

''You're one crazy bitch,'' the boy said as he walked backwards, quickly blending back with the crowd.

''Y/n!'' She looked to the other said and noticed Minho appeared in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders. ''You okay?''

''Fine. Did they find Marcus?'' asked Y/n, taking one of his hands that was on her shoulder and bringing it down to hang between them.

''Yeah, Jorge's got him apprehended. Newt found Thomas and Brenda, too, but they're passed out. Apparently Marcus gave them something that got them drunk.''

It wasn't long until Y/n and Minho made it upstairs to a room. The music was barely audible here and the room was rather fancy. Most everything was covered by white cloths, the chandeliers providing light along with the sun peaking through the blinds. Looking around, Y/n noticed Thomas laying on the ground, unconscious as Minho had said, while Brenda was slowly getting up with Frypan's help. Teresa was kneeling down next to Thomas, while Newt stood above them, leaning on the wall and biting on his nails, looking at Thomas. Aris sat on one of the couches, watching the scene in front of him.

On the other side of the room was Jorge with a blond man — Marcus — tied on a chair with a grin on his face.

''You'll spare yourself a lot of pain if you just tell me what I want to know, hermano,'' Jorge said as he stood cross-armed in front of Marcus.

''Come on, Jorge, we're old friends. No need for such measures.'' Marcus had an amused tone in his voice, most likely thinking he can escape the situation.

Y/n walked over to Aris and plopped on the couch, bouncing slightly as she did. Minho sat down next to her, letting his head fall back on the backrest. Her eyes fell on Jorge, who suddenly started manically laughing before he threw a sudden punch at Marcus' face, snapping his head to the side and causing the man to groan loudly. It was followed by another and then another punch, and from what Y/n could see, there was blood dripping down Marcus' chin now.

''Hey. Hey, you're okay,'' Teresa suddenly spoke and Aris, Y/n and Minho turned to look at her, seeing Thomas moving. Minho put a hand on Y/n's knee and stood up, walking over to them. ''Hi. We have to stop meeting like this.''

Minho leaned down, nodding at Thomas. ''Welcome back, you ugly shank.''

''I suggest that you talk!'' Jorge threw another punch. ''You son of a bitch!''

''I'm sorry, you're going to have to leave my house,'' Marcus spoke.

Thomas walked closer and Y/n looked up. ''Well, well. The party animal woke up.'' Thomas didn't spare her a glance, but Aris snorted next to her.

''Listen. I don't enjoy hurting you. Okay?'' Marcus sighed skeptically at Jorge's words. ''Where is the Right Arm, Marcus?''

''Wait,'' Thomas suddenly spoke, pointing at the man. ''This is Marcus?''

Marcus laughed. ''The kid catches on quick. Are you the brains of the operation?''

Y/n snorted and quickly started coughing once everyone's looks fell on her. ''Sorry, something's stuck in my throat.'' Minho lightly hit the back of her head as he sat down next to her again, shaking his head.

Jorge grabbed Marcus by the hair, pulling on it.m ''I know you know where they're hiding. So you tell me and I'll make you a deal. You can come with us.''

Y/n widened her eyes at Jorge's suggestion. ''I burned that bridge a long time ago.'' Marcus laughed. '' Besides, I made my own deal. You're the one who taught me, never miss an opportunity.''

''What's he talking about?'' asked Newt.

''I'm talking about supply and demand. WICKED wants all the immunes they can get. I help provide that for them,'' Marcus explained. ''So I lure the kids in, they get drunk, they have a good time. And then, later, WICKED comes in, they separate the what from the chaff.''

Y/n stared blankly at Marcus as he suddenly started maniacally laughing. She slowly stood up, causing both Minho and Aris to look up at her.

''Hey,'' Minho called, but it fell on deaf ears.

Before any of them could react, Y/n had taken out her knife again and plunged it in Marcus' thigh, causing the man to scream in pain as Minho and Thomas quickly grabbed her by the forearms and pulled her away. ''You fucking son of a bitch!'' She pulled her arm away from Thomas and took a step closer, spatting directly in Marcus' face before Minho fully pulled her back behind everyone, quickly wrapping his arms around her and running his hand through her hair.

''I changed my mind, hermano. I do enjoy hurting you.'' Jorge kicked Marcus in the stomach, sending him toppling back, the knife still plunged in his thigh. Jorge took out a pistol and loaded it, pointing it directly at Marcus' neck. ''Come on! Talk! Talk!''

''Okay! Jesus!'' Marcus yelled. ''But I'm not making any promises. These guys like to move around.''

Jorge and Frypan pulled Marcus back up. He was breathing heavily as he spoke. ''They have an outpost in the mountains. But it's a long way away. You got half of WICKED on your ass. You're never gonna make it.'' Marcus started laughing maniacally again.

Y/n lifted her face off Minho's shoulder, looking at the scene again. ''Not on foot.'' Jorge excitedly put his hands on Marcus' shoulders. ''Where's Bertha?''

''Not Bertha.'' Marcus' lip trembled, but Jorge continued smiling. He straighten up, grabbing the knife still in Marcus' thigh and taking it out, causing Marcus to scream in pain again. Jorge quickly wiped it off of Marcus' pants before looking at him one last time. ''Nice doing business with you, Marcus.''

The car was silent as Jorge drove Bertha, getting closer and closer to the mountains. Newt sat in the front and Y/n sat squished between Minho and Aris in the back, the rest of the Gladers and Brenda sitting in the trunk. She was leaning her head on Minho's shoulder, constantly feeling the knife in her thigh holster, almost as if pressing on it. She felt sick to her stomach every time she thought about threatening that boy or plunging the knife into Marcus.

They weren't good people by any means, but Y/n was supposed to be one. She wasn't the type of person to go around stabbing people. But Marcus had tipped her scales, drove her insane just with his words. She couldn't believe such heartless people existed, sending over kids to WICKED to make them test subjects. She licked her lips, her mouth becoming drier the more she thought about it.

Minho played with her fingers as everyone stayed silent, noticing Y/n's far-off expression. He pressed a quick kiss to the side of her head, whispering quietly so only she would hear. ''It's gonna be okay. We're almost there.'' Y/n hoped he was right.

They weren't too deep in the mountain way when Jorge had to come to a stop due to a bunch of cars blocking the way. Everyone got out of the car to inspect the situation, but it was obvious Bertha was staying behind.

''Well, I guess we're on foot,'' Jorge said.

Jorge walked in front of the group and everyone followed. He was the only one with a weapon at hand. Y/n looked around as she walked in front of Minho, looking at the broken down cars. The weird scrapes on one of the cars caught her attention and she took a step closer to inspect it. There were small holes not too far off from each other. Y/n touched one of them, realizing they weren't that deep.

''Hey, guys?'' she called out, looking up at her friends. ''Could those be—''

The sudden ring of a gunshot quickly cut her off. Jorge yelled at everyone to get down and Y/n fell down behind a car. Jorge and Thomas quickly fell down next to her, covering their heads from the bullets and glass.

''Hey, is everyone okay over there?'' Thomas shouted out once the bullets stopped coming.''

''We're fine!'' Teresa yelled out from somewhere.

''Anyone know where the bloody shots came from?'' Newt yelled out next.

''Somewhere up in the mountains!'' Y/n spoke, finally lifting her head from her knees.

Jorge roughly took off his gloves, putting them on the ground. ''That son of a bitch, Marcus. He led us into an ambush.''

Y/n suddenly didn't feel bad about stabbing him anymore.

Jorge started unzipping his bag while Thomas turned around, slowly raising to look over the hood of the car.

''Thomas, you idiot, get down!'' Y/n whisper yelled, but it was too late as another shot hit the car they were behind and Thomas quickly retreated.

''What do we do?'' asked Thomas.

''First off, we don't become moving targets, how about that?'' Y/n retorted, glaring at Thomas.

Jorge took out a device, handing it over to Thomas. ''Here. Hold this. We gotta create a diversion. You get ready to chuck it.'' He took out another device and opened it, revealing a button. ''Everybody! Get set to sprint back to the truck! And hold your ears!'' Jorge looked back at Thomas, whispering. ''Ready? One . . . Two . . .''

The cock of a gun was heard and the three of them slowly looked up. ''Drop it.'' They came face to face with the barrel of a shotgun and a girl standing behind it, a mask over her face. ''Now!'' Another girl appeared behind her, pointing her own weapon at Y/n specifically. ''I said drop it!''

Jorge closed the small device and put it on the ground, not daring to move too much.

''On your feet.'' The same girl said. ''Let's go. Let's go! Move!'' The three of them stood up, their hands in the air. ''Back up!''

''Easy,'' Jorge said, letting Thomas and Y/n walk behind him.

The girl pointed her weapon at Minho and Newt. ''You two over there, on your feet. Don't be stupid! Move.''

''Slowly,'' the blonde one said, going over to Aris, Teresa, Frypan and Brenda.

The dark haired girl looked at their group as well, her eyebrows furrowing. She lowered her weapon. ''Aris?''

Everyone looked at the mentioned boy, who kept his eyes on the girl, who took off her mask. ''Oh, my God. Harriet?'' The three had a reunion and it turned out they used to be in the same Maze together. Harriet told the rest if the shooters they were clear and everyone came out from various spots across the mountain.

Sonya and Harriet led the group through a tunnel. A truck was standing in front of the exit, but it moved upon Sonya's sign. Harriet informed the rest of the soldiers they were taking the Gladers to the base, revealing they were from the Right Arm. Not even a moment later they were loaded in two trucks and on their way to the Right Arm.

Y/n almost felt like she could cry from relief. She looked up at Minho with a tight-lipped smile, which he returned.

They were safe.