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"We can get down here, come on." Thomas wiped the sweat off of his brow before turning around and starting to walk down another set of stairs.

After a few moments of staying in that room, letting the adrenaline slowly leave our bodies, the three of us had made it out of the leaning building. We were running on fumes... Having no energy whatsoever after our little endeavor. The bags underneath my eyes began to take effect as I poked my head over the small railing of the in-tact staircase we were climbing down.

I sighed and tapped the metal with my palm, hissing through my teeth when I felt the pain. Turning my hand over, I finally saw the crescent moon wounds that I had created back in the tunnels. They were deeper than usual—the skin around them almost as red as the actual cut. I ran my thumb over the scratches, looking back up to Thomas as he slowly made his way down the flights of stairs.

"You okay?" A voice from behind me asked. I turned my head to look at Brenda, nodding.

"Are you?"

She shrugged, "I dunno."

I nodded once more, "Yeah, me either." We both started down the stairs, trying not to focus on the soreness in our legs. "That was pretty crazy back there, huh?"

Trying to start up a conversation with her was the only thing I could think to do in a moment where we had absolutely nothing to say to each other. But we needed a distraction.

She seemed to agree, as she nodded and raised her eyebrows. "Never seen one of those things... Always heard about 'em though. People made them sound a lot less scary than they actually are."

I scoffed. "Yeah. Having them chase after you doesn't make it too much better, does it?"

"Not at all." She laughed, glancing at me as she clutched on the rail, trying to hide her pain. "I should thank you though."

"Why?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

Brenda cocked her eyebrow as we turned to head down the last flight of stairs. "Well...you kinda saved my life."

I hated when people said that. They made me sound like this big superhero when I was just doing what any civilized person would do. Even if I didn't know the girl all too well, I would've tried to help her. Hell, even if it was Teresa, I would've done the same thing. Anyone would. When I helped Thomas through the Maze, he thanked me as well. I remember feeling so...odd at that moment. Like it was an exaggeration of what I actually did. I didn't save anyone. I just did the right thing. Helped them.

So, I shook my head. "I didn't save your life. I helped you."

"It's the same thing..." Brenda pushed. "If you hadn't broken that glass then I probably would still be fighting off that stupid thing."

She hissed through her teeth as we reached the ground finally. "So thank you."

I paused before I stepped off, her words hitting a different part in me that I didn't exactly know I had. I couldn't place a finger on it, but tears lined my eyes as I took the final step down, staring at the ground as I tried to blink them away. Brenda walked alongside Thomas, while I staggered behind, looking at my hands once more as a reminder of my capabilities.

I found it immaculate that I hadn't died yet. I lived through everything that I've been through. From the life-threatening asthma attack that I went through at the start of my new life from what I could remember, to being shucking struck by lightning. I should've died long ago. Why the hell could I stop the asthma attacks by myself without an inhaler? Why was I able to take down anyone who crossed my path while not having any idea what I was doing? A part of my mind wanted to believe that it was because I was just too strong—mentally and physically. But a dark place in my mind wanted to believe that it was because I might not exactly be the same as everyone else.

The sound of shuffling finally broke me of my confusing thoughts. I lifted my head to see Brenda dragging her leg behind her, while Thomas' ears visibly perked up at the sound of distinct chatter in the distance.

"Hey, you hear that?" He asked as I furrowed my brows and watched as the girl swung her bag around her shoulders and plopped herself on the ground. "You alright?" He asked again.

She ignored him and began to unravel some sort of cloth in her hand. She ripped the fabric as Thomas and I watched with concern in our eyes as she lifted her jeans that were too tight. Under the seams, her wound seemed to look much more severe than my tiny little crescent cuts. My eyes widened as I saw the inflamed bite mark that was beginning to swell on the side of her shin. The gash visibly showed that she had been bitten by someone or something—her blood smeared all over the rest of her leg.

That's not good, I thought to myself as I lifted my eyes to look at Thomas, who glanced at me as well, the same thought rolling through our minds.

"Shit." She spoke to herself at the sight of the injury. I swallowed the forming lump in my throat and crossed my arms over my chest, feeling the leather jacket become tight against my skin.

Thomas sighed. "Brenda..."

She glanced up at him in annoyance. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

Before I could bend down and try to comfort her about the new problem that was brought upon the three of us, she stuffed the cloth back into her bag, attempting to stand back up. I watched her with admiration and apprehension at how she managed to keep going even though she had begun to slowly lose her mind to the craziness of the unbeknownst virus.

"Let's just go find Marcus." She murmured as she straightened her body onto her feet.

We made our way through the grimy alleyway, following the echoes of chatter that Thomas had previously heard. When we reached the end, the three of us looked right and left, checking our surroundings as the smell of cooking food made its way into my senses. I felt my mouth start to water as I took a step forward, looking for where the glorious stench was coming from.

But when I saw what was actually down that alley, my apatite disappeared.

"Okay." Brenda turned around, walking backward. "Try to blend in."

It was a wasteland. There were small settlements scattered throughout the premises, a fire growing near each of them. Tents were set up, holding broken, skinny families that didn't know what to do as they hoped someone would save them and take them away from this place. We walked past the birthplace of the smell that had gotten my attention. A girl a few years younger than us was holding some type of sausage on a poker, cooking it over the fire as others around her did the same thing.

I kept my eyes on her as she brushed her stringy hair out of the way, and we continued to walk away. She looked like she was the same age as Chuck—maybe twelve or thirteen. Her nose was scrunched as she tugged on her backpack that sat next to her feet. She pulled the zipper open and fished out what looked like a book. An old, worn down book that matched her dirty hands. My eyes stayed glued on her as she held one arm over the fire, cooking the little bit of food that she could feed herself, while her nose and the rest of her was immersed in the literature. The girl flattened out the pages and held one side down with her elbow as she began to bite on her thumbnail, reminding me of a special person.

I averted my eyes only then, bringing them back to Thomas as he peered over his shoulder at a younger child who had been walking hand in hand with another girl. Immediately, I knew that we were once again feeling the same thing. I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, taking his attention away from the kid. His eyes met mine, and I knew we had come to an understanding.

The boy nodded and looked away, keeping them on the floor as we followed Brenda to wherever she was taking us. We walked until there became fewer settlements, and more people—all talking to each other and laughing like they didn't have a care in the world. Like it was normal for them all to look like shit yet still have the time of their lives. The base of a song was ringing in my ears, almost sounding like the giant building in front of us was alive. It was bigger than the others, still holding the same distressed look with the shattered windows and broken concrete. But what stood out was the blood-red banner gently waving from side to side, reading ZONE A.

As we followed Brenda to the entrance, strange individuals watched the three of us. I felt different pairs of eyes on me as I walked behind Thomas, my arms crossed over my chest to hide from everyone else. I lifted my eyes for only a moment, seeing the grimy face of a man who looked like he was completely out of it. He was leaning against a cement pillar, his hands in his pockets as he looked right at me through the dark eyeliner that was coated around his eyes. He pulled his mouth into a lazy smirk, giving me goosebumps as I took a bigger step towards my friends.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Thomas asked as I caught up to both of them. Brenda looked back at him with uncertain eyes.

Just as I was about to speak, I felt a slender hand on my shoulder. "Are you here for the party?"

Her voice was low and intimate as she ran her tongue across her teeth. She looked like everyone else that was intoxicated. Moving at a dangerously slow, but graceful pace as she took a step towards Thomas. Although her hair was a mess, and she was wearing rags she tried to cover up with jewelry, she was somewhat pretty. I stared at the hand that was still wrapped around my shoulder, her gentle fingers burning uncomfortable holes in my skin as I waited for one of my friends to answer her question.

"Uh, no." Brenda finally replied. "We're looking for Marcus. This is his place, isn't it?"

The lady gave us a lazy smile as she leaned her head back and squeezed on my shoulder. I clenched my jaw at her touch, looking into Thomas's eyes, almost for some kind of reassurance.

"This is my place." A scratchy voice answered Brenda's question from behind us. The three of us turned our heads towards the noise, watching as some middle-aged man took a long sip from the green glass cup he was drinking from. He looked a little better dressed than half of the people here, acting like he was above everyone. He peered down on the three of us as we were pushed towards him by the lady standing behind. The man had a cocky tone to him as he set his glass down, then let his hand slap against his thigh.

Thomas cleared his throat. "Are you Marcus?"

The man fiddled with his fingers, almost like he was deciding what to say. Black bags filled the space underneath his dilated eyes...he wasn't sober, no matter how hard he tried to come off as. "Marcus doesn't live here anymore."

He choked back a laugh as if this situation was humorous to him.

"Do you know where we can find him?" I finally spoke up, my voice feeling hoarse all of a sudden. All the hope I had inside of me was gone, and I didn't doubt that this guy was lying to us at all. He was drunk, and he wasn't thinking straight.

His mouth twitched before he replied, "Sure, sure... He's over in Zone B."

I shook my head at the man, feeling tears start to come on again as the lump in my throat started to grow. My heart felt as though it was being squeezed, thinking about my friends who were god knows were probably looking for us. I thought of what Newt told me the day I had come back from being trapped in the Maze. The night we first kissed. I didn't even want to imagine what he was like now. And this man who thought it was all a joke was keeping us from getting back to them and to the Right Arm, where we could finally be safe.

"Okay." Thomas tried to reason with the man I wanted so badly to punch. "What's Zone B?"

"It's where they burn the bodies." The hot breath of the woman standing behind me sent chills down my spine as she spoke into my ear, loud enough for the others to understand what she had said. Her hand slowly trailed from my shoulder over my bicep as she made her way over to Mr. Chubby.

The three of us became silent, not knowing what to say. If we couldn't find Marcus—the person to potentially lead us to our so-called freedom and safety—then what was the point of searching for something that wasn't going to be found? At this point, we were just wasting precious hours of daylight that could be spent looking for our friends.

I sighed and ran a hand over my eyes, willing tears not to fall. "Okay, look, has anyone else been by here looking for him?"

Mr. Chubby raised his eyebrows in question as I continued. "A group of kids about our age? Mostly guys? One of 'em has blonde hair with a weird pink scarf?"

"They had a girl with them. Dark hair." Thomas piped up as he took a step towards the man.

He rubbed his eyes and scrunched his face up in fake contemplation. "You know, uh..." He tried to make himself seem believable as I rolled my eyes. "I think they might be inside." He jerked his thumb towards the entrance of the building, which was covered in weird tapestries.

"Here." His voice became gentle as he reached into the pocket of his coat, pulling out a bottle of green liquid and removing the cap. "Drink this."

I stared at the bottle, the weird feeling in my chest starting to grow with every second that passed. A part of me was trying to convince myself to run. Leave and find everyone on my own. Maybe if I tried hard enough and didn't rest until I did, I would find them. The other part of me was saying to drink it. It didn't matter what happened to me, just drink it. Trust these people, for your friends really could be on the other side. But I just continued to stare at it, feeling frozen in time.

"What is it?" Thomas asked, confliction eating at his mind.

My eyes locked on the man in front of us as his face dropped, and he began to lose his patience. "The price of admission."

The three of us stared at the glass bottle, and I hardly felt the woman place her hands on my shoulders once more, letting her long nails massage my skin. If it wasn't done by some creepy snake-like lady, then I would've maybe liked the feeling. But I just wanted her off of me.

"Drink it!" The man yelled at us, causing me to flinch at his sudden outburst and crash into the chest of the woman. I could feel her smirking as I watched Brenda snatch the glass bottle from him, taking a couple long swigs before tearing it away, and coughing into her elbow. She tried to catch her breath as the man in front of us chuckled, knowing something we didn't.

He looked back at Thomas. "Your turn."

The boy looked at me for a second before he hesitantly grabbed the bottle from Brenda, bringing it up to his lips with anxiety in his eyes. As soon as a drop hit his tongue, the woman standing behind me removed one hand from my shoulder, replacing it on the bottom of the bottle and tilting it up so Thomas took in more of the drink.

His eyes shot open in surprise as he gulped it down, only stopping when the girl removed her hand, taking the bottle from his grasp. Haunting chuckles echoed through my head as my heartbeat started to increase. My fingers began to wiggle at my sides when I realized that I was next. Eyes darting from person to person, the lady standing behind me brought the bottle from Thomas and held it in front of me.

"Drink it." She breathed, once again sending chills up my spine. I blinked, feeling a single tear fall as I grabbed the neck from her, staring down at my potential fate.

Don't do it, Maisy, I heard his voice in my head.

"Drink it." The woman's voice said to me, still gentle but a tad louder. I pursed my lips and swallowed the lump in my throat before letting a cough escape my lips as I tried to cover up a sob. In an impulsive decision, I brought the bottle up to my mouth and tilted it upwards, taking three long swigs, emptying the flask.

As soon as it touched the back of my throat, the burning sensation caught me by surprise. I yanked it away from my face, shoving it back into the hands of the woman behind me, at the same time pushing her away from me like I had been wanting to do this whole time. I stuck my tongue out, the foul taste leaving a residue in my mouth. The man that had been standing in front of us was now behind the three of us in the blink of an eye.

Chuckling. He was still chuckling. It sounded like a muffle in my ears as he spoke again. "Alright." Suddenly he was pushing us towards the tapestries that were used as a makeshift door. "You three enjoy the party."

Everything felt heavy. I could feel the base of the music that was playing as it thumped through the building. My heartbeat matched the music.

As soon as we stumbled through the last tapestry, I couldn't feel my legs beneath me. I was walking on air. The surroundings around me didn't matter as I turned towards Thomas, who seemed like he was just as out of it as I was. The music was a catchy song, but haunting. Almost threatening.

I wanted to dance to it.

"Maybe we should split up..." Brenda's voice was coming from all sides as I slowly turned around to face her. She had the humanity in her eyes that I was guessing I didn't. "See if we can find the others."

I smiled lazily but nodded. Thomas did the same, but without a smile. The girl took a step towards us, and I swear I could feel the ground shake as she did so.

"Hey..." She softly spoke to each of us. Her hand touched the side of my neck, and I swatted it away. Her fingers felt like ice against my skin. She gave me a confused look as I blinked and averted my gaze, letting my eyes fall on a girl who had her eyes closed in a euphoric state as she bobbed her head to the base with a drink in her hand.

"Don't drink anything else."

I hardly heard her as she walked off into a crowd of people to the left of Thomas and me. Without thinking, I grabbed the boy's hand, leading him towards what looked like the dance floor as butterflies continued to flutter in my head.

"Wh-What are you doing?" He asked me, licking his lips that had become dry.

The music became louder as I became more intoxicated. "We're dancing, Tommy."

The boy's mouth opened as he closed his eyes, then opened them slowly...gracefully... shaking his head at the same time. "We can't, Mae. The others..."

I rolled my eyes, causing a head rush that I enjoyed. But I shouldn't be enjoying this. I'm drunk. On top of the world while hitting rock bottom at the same time. Just...everything about the atmosphere was so inviting. Intriguing. Despite being in a serious situation, I needed to let loose. The smiley expressions of everyone in the room only fed my want to forget about everything—I wanted more of that drink.