.* ﾟ

G A M E O F
S U R V I V A L

· 。ﾟ

𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬
𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞-𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚
𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬
𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮
𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞
𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

chapter eighteen
romeo & juliet

.·:*¨༺     ★      ༻¨*:·.

PEOPLE DANCED around the lost girl. No one bothered to check on the girl who looked around her surroundings looking quite lost. She could hear the thumping of her heart beating quite loudly and the regret that ran through her veins. What happened to the girl she once knew? Who was this person in this body? She didn't recognize herself.

Rosie was lost. Not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. Where did her values go? Where did her respect go? Newt didn't deserve this. That boy had gone through so much, Rosie could physically feel a weight on her back.

She didn't know what to do. Should she tell him? Should she stay quiet? Would Mara say something? What would happen if she told him? Why did she do it?

Her thoughts flew out her head once she felt a sudden push on her shoulder. A girl had accidently bumped into her and noticing Rosie was standing in the middle of the dance floor not doing anything. The girl had a light brown haircut and wore a white t-shirt and short shorts. She looked pale and dehydrated as if she hadn't eaten in days.

"You look like you need a drink!" A young girl possibly even younger than Rosie herself offered her drink to her.

Rosie shook her head remembering very clearly that Jorge told them not to take anything from anyone. "No, I don't drink." Rosie stated.

"Oh, come on! Dance with me then!" The girl pleaded grabbing a hold of Rosie's hand. The Latina was about to pull away before the young girl pulled her close. Goosebumps ran down Rosie's arms as the young girl whispered with a shaky and nervous tone, "please help me."

The young girl pulled away her eyes showing it all. She continued to pretend to enjoy the music but her overall body language showed the opposite. The young girl clung onto Rosie's hand not letting go as Rosie nodded trying to figure out how she was going to help the girl.

"Celia! Darling!" A man with a maroon coat walked up to the two girls. He had spilled mascara on his bottom eyelashes surrounding his blue eyes. "Who is this lovey lady you've found?"

The young girl, Rosie assumed was called Celia, tightened her grip on Rosie's hand. "Her name's Gigi!" Celia lied to the older man who smiled pleasingly.

"Here, sweetheart!" The man motioned his drink to Rosie, "take a sip of this you'll love it!"

"No, thank you." Rosie replied feeling Celia's hand starting to get sweaty. "I'm just looking for someone."

Celia shakes her head trying to comply with the older man, "it won't hurt you! It'll just loosen you up girly! Have some!"

The older man frowned at Rosie who kept denying the offer. "Who are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for Marcus." Rosie informed

Celia's eyes widen after hearing the name. "If you take a sip, I'll tell you where he is." The man suggested trying to get Rosie to drink out of the cup.

"I don't think so, sir." Rosie replied, "I'm not here to have some fun."

"Oh! Come on! Don't be a party pooper!" The man played around noticing the two girls hands intertwined together. A little chuckle left his lips as he added, "if you drink this, I'll get you a private room for you and her."

Rosie moved Celia behind her as Rosie shook her head again, "I said no. Don't you comprehend that?"

The man moved closer to Rosie grabbing a hold of her neck moving it close to the drink in his hand. "Drink it!" The man ordered raising his voice at Rosie.

The cup flew out of the man's hand the moment Rosie pushed him away. Celia let go of the girl taking steps back not knowing about Rosie's capability of being able to actually handle herself. "Young lady!" The man exclaimed

     The people near them had stopped dancing as they watched the scene go down. They didn't know what to do but just watch. No one stepped in to stop what was happening.

      The man tries to get ahold of Rosie this time by the waist, "you need to relax!" Rosie grabbed a hold of his arm twisting it causing a jolt of pain up his shoulder and towards his neck. "Ow!" The man groaned in pain. "Let me go! Someone help!"

      Before Rosie could even think about it, Celia spotted a knife half stashed in Rosie's pocket. The girl took her chance and pulled the knife out threatening Rosie with the knife. "Let go of him." Celia ordered.

      A chuckle left Rosie's lips as Celia had been fooling her this whole time. "You're messing with the wrong girl." Rosie explained.

      "I don't think you know who you're messing with." Celia stated bringing the knife close to Rosie's neck. "Now let him go."

      "Just give me my knife back, kid." Rosie demanded motioning with her free hand, "don't be stupid. I don't want to ruin your pretty face."

      Celia didn't move an inch nor did she speak. She was afraid because she knew that if she gave the knife back she'd be punished by Marcus. If she didn't move the knife there was a likelihood of a chance that she could get injured.  All Celia really wanted to do was leave this hellhole but she didn't have a way to leave.

      "If I give you the knife, can you take me with you?" Celia asked her hand shaking from the fear that she was going to have to stay here. "It doesn't matter where you're going. Just out of this city. Please?"

      Rosie turned to look at the young girl. She didn't know if Celia was telling her the truth or lying to her. But Celia reminded Rosie of herself. She was just trying to live by doing whatever she could to keep herself alive.

      "Sure." Rosie replied, "now give me the knife."

       Celia hesitated before handing Rosie the knife back to her. The moment Celia gave the knife back, Rosie used her elbow to hit the girl right in the nose. Celia stumbled back holding her bleeding nose in pain.

      "On your knees, old man." Rosie ordered the man who struggled to fall down on his knees. With the knife Celia gave back, Rosie placed it centimeters away from the man's neck. "Try that shit again and I'll cut your throat."

      "Hey! You found Marcus!" Rosie heard a familiar voice and she could hear it getting closer and belonging to Jorge.

      The girl turned behind her shoulder to see Jorge, Samadhi, Frypan and Minho arriving to her. "This is Marcus?" Rosie questions in disgust.

      "Jorge!" Marcus greets from the bottom of the floor, "Nice to see you, pal!"

      "We gotta talk, amigo!" Jorge replied

       "We'll talk as much as you want if you get this girl off me!" Marcus stated.

      The girl turned to Jorge to give her the order to let him go. The man gave a slight nod making Rosie let go of Marcus. "Minho, Frypan, grab him." Jorge ordered.

      The two boys rush through grabbing a hold of the delirious Marcus. The man tried to get out of their grips but quickly stopped as he knew they were stronger than him.

      "You good?" Samadhi asks continuing the conversation after Rosie gave her a nod. "I saw what happened with you and Mara."

      Newt furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity as he had been trying to get to Rosie but hid through the crowd when he heard the two girls talk. "It was nothing. It's not going to happen ever again." Rosie explained.

      "I already have Jessie's feelings on my plate. I don't need Mara's as well." Samadhi replied, "come on. The guys are leaving."

      Rosie turned to the side spotting Celia on the ground. "You're coming with us." Rosie stated crouching down to Celia's level before pulling her up rather harshly. "Let's go."

      "Who's this?" Samadhi asked

      "One of us."

The crowd watched the group of getaways lead Marcus out of the building. Rosie put her knife back into her pocket glancing around her surroundings before following the rest. Thomas laid unconscious on a dirty couch with Teresa caressing his hair. The moment, Jorge spotted Brenda, he started to argue.

"What were you thinking?" Jorge questioned the girl that sat on the other side of the couch. He could see her paleness and the dehydration all over her face. "What did you take, Brenda? What?"

The gladers watched the interaction play out. They hadn't seen this type of relationship in a very long time. A father figure disciplining his daughter figure. The gladers had gone completely silent knowing Brenda was in trouble for not following Jorge's specific orders.

Rosie untied her messy hair as all she could really think about was her guilt. Her eyes avoided the blonde boy who was curious as to what Samadhi meant when she spoke to her. She ran her fingers through her hair before tying the upper half of her hair and letting the bottom free.

"She's fine, my friend." Marcus spoke up grabbing everyone's attention. "It'll wear off soon for both of the girls." Marcus motioned towards Mara as well. "Looks like the boy's a lightweight though. It'll take him longer."

"Let's go." Jorge demanded pointing at Thomas, "someone carry Thomas. We gotta go somewhere private to talk."

A smile printed itself on Marcus' lips as he suggested, "you're welcome to my place."

"That's where we were headed." Jorge replied.

"Oh." Marcus said not really surprised as he added on with hints of sarcasm, "it's the least I could do after that crazy psycho you have there, almost cut my throat open."

Jorge and the boys all looked toward where Marcus pointed landing on Rosie. "Ay, sorry, 'bout that, mate. She's still working on her impulse control." Newt informed him before giving him a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Come on," Jorge told the group, "keep up everyone."

Minho and Frypan quickly grabbed Thomas by both sides as Jorge hadn't stopped to wait. Everyone grabbed their belongings and stood up from the uncared-for couch. Rosie turned to Samadhi asking her, "can you take her?" Rosie asked referring to Celia.

"Sure. C'mon," Samadhi motioned to Celia who did as she was told following Samadhi wherever she was going.

Brenda touched her forehead feeling the coldness. Her body had stopped producing the natural heat. The paleness that was forming on her face wasn't because of what she had taken, rather it was the infection spreading in her body. Rosie glanced towards the girl noticing her flinch when she stood up on her two feet.

      "You alright?" Rosie asked Brenda after everyone had started walking leaving the two girls towards the back. "You don't look very well."

       The short-haired girl shook her head before replying, "I'm fine. It's just whatever I took. It'll wear off."

       A look of suspicion rose in Rosie's chest as she observed the girl's behavior. Rosie's hand flew to Brenda's chin grabbing a hold of it before quickly getting a reaction out of Brenda as she pulled Rosie's hand away. Rosie rubbed two fingers together feeling the wetness of Brenda's sweat on her fingers.

       "I said, I'm fine." Brenda grunted.

       "Where is it?" Rosie asked

      Brenda's left eyebrow went up in curiosity as she asked, "where is what?"

       The Latina looked around making sure no one was close enough to hear her. "Where's the bite?" Rosie implored, "or the scratch?"

      A glint of fear flashed in Brenda's eyes for a split second but long enough for Rosie to see. "I, I don't know what you're talking about."

      Rosie's eyes wandered around Brenda's body as she looked down at the girl's ankle noticing the bandage. Brenda started to walk away from Rosie trying to reach the rest of the group before she was stopped. Rosie grabbed her arm stopping her, "let me go!"

       "Guys!" Jessie exclaimed as she walked back for them interrupting the conversation not realizing what was going on. "What the hell are you two doing? Come on! Let's go!"

       The two girls looked at one another before Brenda took her opportunity to walk away and stay close to Jorge. Rosie clicked her tongue as Jessie waited for her. "Can I talk to you about something?" Jessie asked.

       "Yeah, sure." Rosie replied following the group from a distance as she kept Brenda in mind. "What about?"

       Jessie fumbled with her fingers before telling her, "well, you know Minho, right."

       A little smirk formed on Rosie's lips as she knew what this conversation was going to be about. A short chuckle left her lips, "yeah, known him for a couple of months, what about him?"

"Um," Jessie muttered not knowing how to bring up the topic. "Do you think he'd ever be interested in me?" Jessie asked rubbing her jaw as she further explained. "Honestly it's a long shot and I've only known him for like three days so I don't even think it's possible for a guy to develop feelings that quickly. So it's probably a no, you know? I mean, who am I kidding? I don't think a guy like him would ever like a girl like me—"

       "Jessie take a breath." Rosie cut the girl off taking a turn around the building. "That boy would be stupid to not be into a girl like you."

       The two girls noticed the group head inside the back door of the building. Jessie nodded, "I'm just nervous, you know? I haven't felt like this for a long time."

       "He's most definitely into you, Jess," Rosie stated before stopping Jessie from going inside. "Let's wait for a few seconds."

       "Why?" Jessie asked

       Not a second later, Minho walked out of the door in search of the two girls, specifically the curly-headed girl. "Because of that," Rosie muttered.

     "You girls okay?" Minho asked concerned.

      Rosie let out a short laugh as she patted Minho's chest before entering, "we're fine."

     The girl looked around her surroundings seeing nothing but a set of stairs going up. The small lobby was painted a dark red and music from the club could be heard through the thin walls. On the ceiling hung a small broken lightbulb and a dusty railing to help walk up the stairs. Rosie walked up the stairs with Minho and Jess walking behind her.

     "He'll wake up soon." Rosie could hear Marcus speak as she took more steps.

     The three entered the messy yet large studio as everyone was either finding somewhere to sit or tending to Thomas. Teresa sat with the sleeping boy worried about how long he would take and the side effects he might have. Rosie wandered around passing her finger across a surface and lifting it up to see a gunk of dust. The girl grimaced before wiping her finger on the side of her pants to get rid of the dirt.

     "Make yourselves at home!" Marcus informed the group as he gathered a few chairs for the group to sit on. "Mi casa es tu casa." He added in a terrible mocking accent before snapping his fingers at the young girl. "Celia, grab them some chairs." Marcus ordered the girl.

     My house is your house.

     Rosie glanced towards him raising her eyebrow at him as she was the only person whose native tongue was Spanish. The man was way too nonchalant to not be afraid of the group.

      Celia stood up from the couch she was sitting on before being stopped by Rosie who pointed at the couch. "Sit back down." Rosie ordered before turning to Marcus, "she's with us now. Why don't you get us some chairs instead?"

      Marcus glanced to Celia who looked back in forth between Marcus and Rosie. The girl swallowed hard before sitting down on the couch ignoring Marcus' demands. The older man scoffed as he shook his head before grabbing a few chairs himself.

     Samadhi handed the gun to Rosie before whispering, "Something is off."

Samadhi had already caught on to Rosie's curiosity as the two girls wandered around the room. There had to be someone or something that kept this man calm. Especially when Celia looked around in slight fear.

     "We're going to do this the friendly way, Marcus," Jorge spoke as he sat down on one of the chairs Marcus had brought, "just answer a few questions and we'll be on our way."

     "Of course!" Marcus replied pointing toward Rosie who was sensing something was off. "What is, what is the girl doing?"

     The group all turned to Marcus before glancing toward Rosie after hearing Marcus' shaky and nervous tone. "Making sure no one is listening," Jessie informed as she sat down next to a nervous Brenda.

     "Well, no one is-"

     As if on cue, Rosie touched a part of the wall feeling the material different from the rest of the room. The girl pushed the wall out of instinct and opened up a door revealing a man with a gun over his shoulder. A grin formed on Rosie's lips as she caught the man who was