We weren't walking. We weren't running.

We were driving.

I had my hand outside the window, feeling the cold, refreshing air blow through my messy hair as we drove on the road. Despite all being squished together, I felt relieved. Calm for the first time in what felt like forever. I moved my hand as though the air passing beneath it were waves...and I was perfectly content.

This was the first time that I could remember ever being in a moving vehicle besides a helicopter. Outside the window, the world flew by. My eyes tried to catch onto something, but as quickly as I had spotted it, it disappeared. To me, this was mesmerizing. The world could be dying outside of this window, and it wouldn't matter to any of us because we wouldn't stop in time to catch a glimpse of it.

I watched the clouds roll by, and the grass too. It was like the wind was blowing them too fast for me to see. But the sounds of the engine rolling against the asphalt put me in this state of tranquility I hadn't been in since that day I had my head on Mae's lap. Even then, I was mourning the death of Alby. She sat right next to me. Her head rested on my shoulder, and her eyes were focused on watching the world from the window in the front of the car. Our hands were intertwined on her knee, my thumb running against her bruised knuckles.

None of us spoke as we traveled down that road. The silence was comforting for once. Minho sat next to Mae, the rest of our friends in the seats behind us. She had mentioned how she wanted to sit in between the two of us. We didn't ask why...she had been drugged and left in the corner of a room unconscious. Minho was the one who found her. With the music blaring in our ears, we lifted the girl into the air, carefully carrying her until we got to an empty room. I sat her down on the bed, and from there we waited as Jorge located Marcus, bringing him in and tying him to a chair.

And now, we were on our way to the Right Arm. I still didn't exactly know who they were—the only information that I had being that they were against WICKED. That's all the facts I needed to be on board and follow Thomas to wherever he was going. I would follow him anywhere, no matter what the plan was. Whether it was stupid or not. I hoped he knew that.

I glanced down at Mae, seeing her brown eyes blink once as she nuzzled closer to me. I felt my heart burst at the action, and I gently pressed my lips to her temple, laying a soft kiss on her hair. She quietly hummed in pleasure, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. I leaned my head on top of hers, my gaze falling to the window once more as we turned, continuing on the path through the mountains.

As we drove past a patch of trees that blocked our view, we finally got a clear sight of what we were above. The hills were dead—so were the plants—but I sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of being able to see so far. I could spot more distant mountains, but they were nothing but a blur as we kept driving. Telephone poles were scattered across the land, useless for the situation of the world. Unless cell phones were still a thing. But I had a feeling that those were as significant as the scarf I had taken from the mall.

Although most of the land was burned out—dust covering most of the life that used to be there—I still found it strangely beautiful. The sight I was seeing was broken, but gorgeous. I looked back at Mae, the thought reminding me of her. There was still so many things that she had to open up to me about, and I could say the same about myself. If anyone was broken, it was me. Hell, I even had evidence in my leg. What made me wonder was why she would stick around for this long...if I told her why I was the way I was, would she stay?

My heart sank as my insecurities ate at my mind, all begging to break down the low wall of confidence I had found a way to build up this past month. I swallowed the lump in my throat, the thoughts all beginning to do their work as they found any weapon they could, banging and punching at that weak barrier between what was good for me and who I was before. But I couldn't let them win. The last time I did that, it didn't quite work out as I had hoped. I'm still here, aren't I?

Just as my eyes began to accumulate tears, I felt Mae's head on my shoulder shift. I looked down at her, only to see her staring back up at me. Almost as though she had noticed how I was feeling, she leaned up and placed her lips onto mine, engaging in a soft, yet meaningful kiss. Immediately, I kissed back, wanting to feel her in any way possible. I always did. My eyes fluttered shut as my heart burned inside of my chest, almost engulfing in a strange feeling that I had become addicted to. She pulled back, a small smile spreading across her face as she looked back down, bringing our intertwined hands to her lips, placing a gentle peck on each of my knuckles before running her thumb slowly over them.

And just like that, my mind became quiet, and the only thing that mattered was me and her.

Newt and Mae.

I wanted to write about her.

Have something that could capture all of these small moments we had with each other. Whenever our lips touched, it felt like my soul was being set on fire. When she looked at me, all the air was sucked out of my lungs like she had purposely done it. Touching her felt like magic. I wanted to remember all of these things, even though I don't think I could ever forget what she made me feel. I wanted to tell her without actually telling her. Describe it in a way that my words couldn't. Although sometimes, when I'm with Mae, I couldn't find any phrase that summed it up. Sometimes the emotional attachment was too much for me to process. I just relished in the moment until it was over and I was left alone feeling like I was flying.

We drove for a few more minutes before we came to an opening in the mountains. No longer could we see the view of the dead earth that somehow took my breath away, but all we saw were rocks towering above us. It reminded me of the Maze, except you could see the remnants of what used to be a once green planet. On the other side of the road, was a huge ditch. The land decided to cut off right before a new mountain, creating a long drop down to what seemed like the core of the planet we lived on.

I leaned toward my window, trying to get a better look at the ditch as the cold air nipped at my nose. I felt the car slow down, and only then did I avert my gaze to Jorge, who had his eyebrows furrowed as he put it into park. I pat Mae's knee, and she got the message, lifting her head off of my shoulder and letting go of my hand. I pushed the door open, my hand already becoming colder as I zipped my leather jacket up rubbed my hands together.

Dusted cars blocked our path through an opening in the rocks. The trunks were open, supplies hanging out of them like someone had raided this place a while ago. Either that, or these cars have been abandoned for some time. The metal on some of the vehicles was starting to rust over, some covered by the shadows that cast over the mountains to the right of us, and some under the spotlight of the bright evening sun that did nothing to warm us. But it was nice to be cold.

"Well." Jorge spoke up as everyone else filed out of the truck. "I guess we're on foot."

I sighed, not ready to start walking again. I looked over at Tommy, who was staring at the cars with furrowed eyebrows, probably wondering why they were here in the first place. He always had questions to ask in that head of his.

The old man took a step forward, bringing us all out of a trance as we began to follow him. I looked around just as everyone else was doing, clenching and unclenching my firsts in attempt to keep them warm. It seemed as through the road was endless. We allowed ourselves to be carried by the mob, to be swept away by blind fate. Bertha sat behind us, useless now as we slithered silently through the maze of ineffectual cars. Chilled to the bone, hungry, thirsty, fatigued, we pressed on.

We were the masters of the world. Or what seemed like it anyway. We survived everything—death, heartache, our natural needs. We were stronger than what we needed, stronger than desire to go to sleep forever. Doomed and rootless, nothing but subjects to a larger enemy, we pressed on. We were the only people on earth.

The chirps and crows of birds echoed through the area, creating a haunting silence as none of us dared to speak. In front of me, Minho shoved his hands into his pockets, jumping up and down twice to get his body temperature flowing. Jorge scavenged in the trunk of a car in the distance, coughing from the dust that flew up into his face. I passed a sullen blue truck, bending down at the open passenger window. I didn't know what I was looking for, maybe a sign of life...something that gave us an answer as to why only this part of the road had been abandoned. But when I didn't find anything, I straightened myself up and continued to follow close behind Mae.

Stones rumbled around us, an invisible sight that made my heart beat the tiniest bit faster. Mae paused in front of me, looking down at the ditch below us as though it was suspicious. I placed my hand on her lower back gently, making my presence known as she kept her eyes on the rocky hills that towered above our heads. She turned to face Jorge, who was looking out as well as though he was grappling with his conflicting thoughts. The man sighed and tapped his hand on the metal barrier between the road and the earth, pursing his lips.

Just as Mae was about to break the silence, a grunt mixed with the sound of a quiet gunshot caught our attention. My head whirred around to look at where it came from, but Mae grabbed my wrist that had been wrapped around her waist, pulling me down behind a car with Minho.

"Get down!" Jorge yelled at us as we struggled to find somewhere to shield ourselves from the threats we should've known were coming. The day had been too good so far...

I grunted as my knee buckled beneath me. I planted my hands into the ground as I fell and adjusted myself, clenching my teeth as my ankle began to feel like it was going to pop out of its place. And yet I still yelled to my friends, "Take cover!"

"Why, why, why, why..." Mae whispered, softly hitting her head into the back of the car behind us. She was chanting the word like a prayer, verbalizing how we all felt. I could tell she was sick of always being surprised, it had gotten us nowhere but to fight for our lives again. I turned towards her, doing a quick scan over her body to see if she had any injuries. When she didn't I let out a sigh of relief—I had gotten lucky again.

Minho was darting his head in every possible direction, trying to see where the source of the danger was coming from. But the shots had stopped for now, the silence turning my stomach into a sea of weariness.

"Hey, is everyone okay out there?" Thomas's voice echoed through the area. I tried to lift myself up to see where he was, but as the ache in my left leg traveled throughout the rest of my body, I was forced to suck in a harsh breath and relax back down onto the pavement.

"We're fine!" Teresa yelled to Thomas, wherever the hell he was.

Confusion ate at my mind as I turned my head, trying to get my voice to travel towards the cars ahead of us—where the others were, "Does anyone know where those bloody shots came from?"

I didn't hear a reply from anyone ahead of us as we all continued to wait for an answer, or for someone to give us a signal that we would be safe. Mae turned around on her heel, keeping her head below the trunk of the car as she let only her eyes peak out at the mountains above us. Minho did the same. I had the strong urge to smile at the both of them despite the situation we were in. The two looked like children who poked their heads up to see their parents kissing, or who were too scared to show their whole face as they watched a horror film. A spark of a memory ignited in the back of my mind, but as quickly as it had developed, it dissolved into a sea of depression as I remembered that I would never get those memories back.

Two more gunshots brought me out of my trance, and I grabbed the jackets of both Mae and Minho, shoving their heads back behind the trunk as I moved my arm over Mae's head, trying to protect her although I didn't know how.

"Jesus." She murmured in frustration. She always got frustrated when she didn't know what was going on. I moved my arm from around her neck, bringing my distressed nailbeds to my mouth and nibbling on them, trying to calm down my racing heart. I heard Thomas mutter something incoherent to Jorge, who must've been next to him. His voice was nothing but a distant hiss, and as much as I strained my ears to try and make out a single word, I couldn't.

"Everybody!" Jorge's voice carried all the way to us, "Get set to sprint back to the truck! And hold your ears!"

Where the bloody hell are we gonna go from there? I thought as I looked at the two I was sat next to. They both met my gaze with worried eyes, the thought of being so close yet so far tearing our once mended hearts into pieces. I could feel that we were almost to the Right Arm. But as always, there was something prohibiting us from achieving our dreams. All we wanted was to be safe. But apparently that's too great of a desire. I've never been one to ask for much, but in the deepest darkest parts of my mind, I found myself wanting something different every day. Desiring something, whether it was a feeling Mae gave me, or something as simple as food. There was still an empty hole inside of me—it used to be bigger, but the girl sitting next to me put together a part of my heart that I wasn't sure would ever be the same. However, the emptiness still ate at me like a virus.

"I said drop it!" A feminine voice sounded through the air, making my heart drop. I turned around, clenching my teeth together as I waited for whatever Jorge was planning. But as I saw two figures pointing their guns at something behind a truck, I had a feeling that plan was thrown into the dirt and stomped on.

"On your feet." The girl ordered, motioning her gun to the side. "Let's go."

Jorge and Tommy stood to their feet, arms raised in the air as a surrender. They stood in their place, not sure what to do as the two girls watched them with their guns raised. One of them had on a brown jacket, white wool on the edges. It looked warm. A scarf was tied around her neck, covering half of her face almost as though she didn't want to breathe in the air. The other girl was a couple inches shorter, her blonde hair tied into a lazy braid that was brought over her shoulder. She had a lighter scarf around her neck—one resembling flowers I believe.

"Let's go! Move!" The darker haired girl's voice was harsh, yelling at the two boys as they began to walk backwards. Her patience was clearly on a thin line as her face stayed as hard as a stone, showing absolutely no sympathy for either of them. "Back up!"

"Easy..." Jorge tried to calm them down. From the corner of my eye, I could see Mae and Minho begin to raise their hands as well, still staying crouched down as though they were ready to run at any moment. I followed their actions, bringing my arms up next to my head as I sat there defenseless.

The girl who had been yelling pointed her gun at us three as they walked closer. "You three over here, now!"

We all stood up in unison, fear crippling our thoughts as we obeyed her.

"Come on, let's go!" The other girl spoke up finally, throwing orders around just like the first girl had. Minho, Mae and I stayed put, not knowing where to go as we were being yelled at left and right.

"Don't be stupid, move!" The one who seemed like she was of a higher power than the smaller girl jerked her gun to the side, towards Tommy, telling us to move next to them. We obeyed, moving forward slowly as Teresa, Brenda, Aris and Frypan stood up as well, shuffling towards them as well so we were once again in a group.

I turned my had to look at Mae, who had her jaw clenched and her eyes focused on the gun the girl was holding. I could practically see the wheels in her head spinning, forming a plan to possibly get us out of here. But when I looked back at the girl, she was no longer barking orders at us, but looking at Aris with astonishment and relief.

"Aris?" They knew his name too. She dropped her gun as we glanced at the boy who I've hardly heard speak two words this entire time. I could tell he was thinking—he did that a lot. But he never vocalized any of his thoughts. How would they know him?

The girl pulled her scarf down, revealing her skinny face and her sharp cheekbones. Almost instantly, the boy's face dropped, and he pushed past Teresa and Brenda. "Oh my god, Harriet?"

Mae furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, the wheels in her head coming to a stop as the timid boy saved us once again. This kid followed us, but has gotten us out of some of the most precarious situations we've been in on this wild journey. I guess we owed him a little more credit.

The girl named Harriet took one big step forward, pulling the boy into a tight hug. "My god. What the hell are you doing here?" She buried her face into his neck as the other girl lowered her mask, her mouth shaped into an 'o' as she stared at the two and watched them embrace.

"Sonya." Aris greeted her finally, hugging her quicker but just as tightly as he did the other girl.

"Aris, you're lucky we didn't shoot your dumb ass..." She teased as Minho and I exchanged confused glances. "You alright, man?"

Suddenly, Mae cleared her throat, bringing all the attention to her. She lowered her hands and folded them behind her back, underneath the bag that was still around her shoulders, holding god knows what. She swayed back and forth on her heels, wearing a dorky smile that made me want to break out into a grin as well.

"Um...hi." She started. "Would someone like to tell us what's going on here?"

On the other side of her, Minho choked on a laugh, licking his lips to try and hide his smile as he moved behind Frypan, trying to hide himself from the girls who stood in front of us. I had the strong urge to laugh as well, maybe I would if I actually knew what was going on.

Frypan nodded. "Yes please, cause I'm...really confused."

Aris breathed a laugh, his smile never falling from his face. "We were in the Maze together."

Just as he turned back to the girls, Mae pursed her lips and nodded. "Course you were...got any new shucking surprises?"

They ignored her remark, and Harriet turned towards the tall mountains, sticking two of her fingers into her mouth and blowing, creating a high-pitched whistle echo through the air. "We're clear, guys! Come on out!"

We all turned towards the rocky hills, gazing at the peaks of them as the outline of tiny people revealed themselves from behind bushes and boulders. They all had guns around their shoulders or in their hands, looking down at us as we stood there, oblivious that they had been shooting at us from there. Mae sighed and dropped her hands, making them slap against her thighs as she blew out air threw her pursed lips. I couldn't tell whether she was aggravated or relieved.