"Sonya!"
Aris sprinted for the girl, a smile on his face. To his astonishment, Jorge and Brenda were behind her, too. She grinned back, looking at him. "Where were you?" she said, grinning. "What were you doing?"
When he told her, she lifted a brow and shifted to his side. She nudged him ever so slightly. "We were supposed to go directly to 'safe haven' to receive the cure along with Thomas's friends. What were you doing?" She peered over his shoulder, a frown furrowing her eyebrows as she said, "A....gas chamber?"
"Um, yeah." Aris fidgeted with his fingers, which were all dangled together before his hands reached for the door. With the relief of seeing Sonya, Harriet, and his friends were striding towards them. Sonya engulfed in a bone-crushing embrace, patting him on the back. "I'm so glad to see you alive."
"You, too." Seeing Sonya allowed relief overcome him. "Should, we, uh, go directly to the Right Arm? Or should we go the safe haven as WICKED had told us to and receive the cure?" Sonya and Harriet exchanged glances, then eyed Brenda closely, who cleared her throat and stepped up.
Jorge shrugged. "If you kids think there's a cure, you're deluding yourself. I'd say we go to the 'safe haven' then go to the Right Arm. Just in case. I'd heard rumors of a cure there, but WICKED thinks it won't be provide
Aris nodded in agreeance, knowing that that was what they had to do. If WICKED discovered they weren't in "safe haven" they'd receive consequences and even more death sentences, maybe even forced back into the Maze. There were murmurs of agreenence, others of refusal, but he cleared his throat, raising his voice over arguments. "We have to go directly to the safe haven. You'v experienced through the 'Maze Trials', you know what these people are capable of, they will be after us the second. Then, we will ensure they know, then sneak into the Right Arm. Where's the Right Arm?"
Sonya cleared her throat. "Like I said, the Right Arm is very near the safe haven. We have to turn right, and then, there it is. I've kept a few maps in my pocket when I was transported to the Spring in the Box. I didn't know what these were until I was pricked." Aris noticed the Gladers were exchanging a smiles, they must have gone through memories as well in the Maze.
People paused to consider this. He felt speculation that WICKED wouldn't allow them to reach safe haven so easily. They had to take their chances of receiving a cure--and being free of WICKED--with the Right Arm. He'd heard rumored news of a cure there, but he wanted to catch up with his friends first.
***
Jorge allowed them to rest, even in the trucks or on the ground. While everyone was either sleeping, resting, or just having a conversation with each other, Aris sat down next to Sonya and Harriet. He told them everything in detail. "They called themselves shanks," he said. Everyone laughed. "We traveled through the Scorch, under the sun."
"You did?" Harriet gasped. "We traveled under the tunnels, you know, and avoided the city altogether. A girl named Teresa was a member of our band, but then, she had to do something violent to a boy, so she deserted us without informing us. Then, we watched her push Thomas into the gas chamber.
"Yeah, his name's Thomas," Aris responded. His stomach churned as he thought about his memory-dreams. He remained quiet as they bolted along the sand. Gasping lightly, his back and body throbbed, his breaths became more and more uneven as he trudged after his friends, friends who he didn't trust....just yet.
They clambered over the mounds of sand. Occasionally, they'd pause and battle off a few Cranks. Aris shielded Sonya, lashing out wildly at the Cranks, kicking away the lifeless, unmoving bodies in disgust before sauntering off. Everyone were so exhausted, they slept throughout the entire night with no guard.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
