I think Newt liked riding in cars. As I looked at him, I found myself grinning. The smile etched upon his face reached his eyes as he held my hand and watched the world fly by outside the glass window. He made Tommy and I go in first, making me sit in between the two. I had to admit, the ride up here was a lot more comfortable than it was right now. I was sandwiched by Thomas' broad shoulders, pressing against Newt's lean body. He didn't seem to mind though, his hand glued to mine while his body was pressed against the door. His eyes never seemed to leave the window.

After everything the two of us had been through, he never ceased to amaze me. I don't know why it was hitting me so hard today, maybe drinking that weird drink and almost being shot in the middle of a road put things into perspective. I've always realized he was beautiful...you would be stupid if you didn't. But lately it was all starting to soak in. I found myself thinking about him in times I shouldn't, like when my life was about to end. And I thought about him now, wondering what he was thinking about. Every speck of dirt that accented his skin, every furrow of his eyebrows, every nibble at his nails, all of the small little actions he did brought me to my knees. And I couldn't place a pin in the reason why.

Turning my head to Thomas, I saw how he was also staring out the window. But unlike Newt, his mouth remained in a thin line, his thoughts taking over his emotions. I sighed and looked back out of the front windshield, trying not to let the same thing happen to me. We were finally on our way to safety.

The Right Arm. Those three little words that got us into all this trouble, but that also got us out of a horrendous fate. We had managed to dodge just about every single bullet that had been thrown our way. Literally and metaphorically. Just as we thought we were about to get away with something, we would be faced with another challenge, taking what was left of our hope and our energy with it. But now, as we drove across the crumbled dirt roads, it felt surreal. Worry still poked at the back of my mind, but I was finally able to breathe as the blonde haired girl turned around and smirked at me. I nodded, silently telling myself to relax as I squeezed the hand that was wrapped around my fingers. He did the same back.

Eventually, we turned down a road, where all we could see was smoke coming from small fires other people had created. Tarps were pitched up into tents, and people scrambled around, each having a job of their own to do. Some looked like they were packing up, some looked like they were talking with their friends, eating and having a good time with guns strapped to their backs. The cold air whipped at my face as we started to follow Harriet down a hill, our eyes never leaving the camp in front of us. It seemed much smaller than people made it out to be. Or at least what I had heard.

"They've been planning this for over a year now." Harriet told us, turning her head to look me in the eyes for only a moment. "This is all for us."

I raised my eyebrows deciding to ask a question before I could overthink it. "It looks like you guys are moving out?"

Sonya nodded. "You guys are lucky you found us when you did. We're moving out at first light." She turned to a random man in a maroon beret. "Where's Vince?"

He shrugged. "Somewhere over there I think."

"Who's Vince?" Thomas spoke up as we all continued to follow the two girls who looked like they knew where they were going.

Harriet turned around to face us once more, holding a smile on her face that suddenly made me the slightest bit nervous. "He's the one who decides if you get to stay."

Well what the hell happens if he doesn't like us? I thought to myself. My heart started to beat out of my chest as my stomach turned, my palms becoming clammy despite the cold weather. I clenched my jaw and fell back behind the others, walking next to Teresa, who gave me a hesitant smile. We haven't spoken much since that night in the mall. I still haven't really decided whether I liked her or not. But I returned the favor, clenching my fists but immediately wincing at the pain. I wriggled my fingers and stuffed my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket, hoping that nobody noticed.

I watched as people moved around us, holding things over their shoulders and taking down all the tarps that needed it. Everyone was helping, and if you weren't then you were being told to. It kind of reminded me of the Glade. You didn't see one person slacking, and they were all wearing something that defined the group. In this situation, it was the small weird hats on the tops of their heads. Back in the Glade, it was the grubby clothes that made us look like we got caught in a blender.

The stench of food cooking made me look up to see another boy about our age pouring something yellow into a pot, placing it over what looked like a barbecue. I didn't know how the hell that thing worked, but I wanted to know. This was all very overwhelming...there was something new to look at every five seconds, and I was becoming dizzy from all the directions my head was turning. I felt like an animal trying to adapt to a new area. After all, that's what we've done. Adapt.

Thomas spoke, making me blink out of my thoughts. "I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army."

"Yeah, we were." A deep voice told us. In front of me, Harriet and Sonya stopped walking, turning their bodies towards the source of the sentence. "This is all that's left of us."

That's reassuring, I thought to myself again as Frypan slightly moved his large body to the side, allowing me to see what the man looked like. He had a grey sweater underneath his brown leather jacket, holding his arms out as though he was showing us the rest of the place. His goatee was untamed underneath his chin, forming a triangle shape the farther it went down. He had a gun wrapped around his shoulder, just like everyone else. His almond eyes squinted as he stared into the sun, trying to get a good glimpse of us as we stood silent once again. As he started to advance forward, his greasy chin length hair blew behind him. I watched with furrowed eyebrows as he kept his gaze on Thomas—everyone always did.

"A lot of good people died getting us this far." He continued as a crowd began to gather around us. The man turned to Harriet, the thought finally resurrecting in his mind that he didn't know us. "Who are they?"

Just as I was about to make some snarky response towards the man, Harriet responded, cocking her head towards us. "They're immunes. Caught 'em coming up the mountain."

From what I could see, Vince nodded, looking us over before he finally made his decision. "Did you check 'em?"

Harriet pointed to Aris, who stood about a foot away from me. "I know this guy Aris. I trust him."

Minho quickly looked back at the boy, then turned his head to me, raising his left eyebrow as if he was still confused at what was happening. These past few days have been going by so fast, I think some of our minds are still trying to catch up with everything we've been through. A tornado of bad things. From running from weird creatures, to watching a friend slowly fall into a dark abyss of insanity, to being drugged and falling unconscious in a corner of a crowded room. Part of me still wanted to believe I was in the Maze...but that was a thing of the past. What seemed like a completely different life. When in reality, I've known Thomas for about two weeks.

The girl walked over to Vince, standing behind him and smirking at all of us as though she had just handed us our freedom. She seemed proud of herself.

Vince sighed. "Well I don't." He turned to anther man who stood near. "Check 'em."

Rolling my eyes, I stood to the side, moving to the other side of Frypan where I was now totally in view. Assuming that these people were going to pat us down, I lifted my arms into a T position, and pursed my lips. I rocked myself back and forth on my heels, just beginning to enter my own world before I heard a familiar sound.

I turned my head only to see Brenda's wheezes become louder by the second. As soon as I noticed her corpse-like way of standing, I glanced back at Vince, only to see one of his henchman inching towards the girl.

"Hey boss..." He started, furrowing his eyebrows at the girl. I clenched my jaw as I watched Brenda try to take in another large whiff of air, only to be sent to the ground. She hit the gravel with a loud thump that made everyone take a step away, in fear of what the girl might be turning into.

"Brenda!" Jorge's worried voice spoke over the commotion that started to arise around us. I had almost forgotten about Brenda's bite...the whole world seemed to be going on around me. I watched as Vince furrowed his eyebrows at Harriet, confusion spreading over his face as it was the rest of us. All except for Thomas and I, who exchanged a nervous glance, neither of us wanting to tell the truth.

He took a step towards Jorge, who was now cradling Brenda in his arms as though she was his child. She practically was. And he didn't know what was happening to her—all because of Thomas and me. He was reciting her name as though that would make her better, all she was responding with were two words which caused more confusion to be bestowed.

"I'm sorry." She murmured through her staggered breaths. "I'm sorry..."

"What's going on with her?" Vince kneeled down beside the worried man, placing a comforting hand on his bicep to gain his attention. Jorge just shrugged and muttered a simple 'I don't know' before turning back to the girl and wiping the sweat from her brow.

I shook my head with guilt before looking back to who seemed to be the head of operations around this place. Vince furrowed his eyebrows before muttering something to himself, looking at Brenda's leg.

My heart beat started to increase the second Vince scrambled to his feet, reaching for the gun in his holster. "Crank! We got a crank!"

His voice was calm, almost as though he had dealt with this situation before. His weapon was pointed towards the girl who laid limp in Jorge's arms, and his face was void of any sympathy that might have been there previously.

The old man immediately retaliated, his calm nature completely demolished by one now of anger and worry. "No! No!" He bellowed, pointing a finger at Vince.

"Wait!" Thomas tried to stop, bringing himself into the situation. I stepped forward, not saying a word, but standing by him, next to Jorge and Brenda.

Vince wasn't having it. "Step back!" He bellowed, close to shoving the boy out of the way.

Tommy held his hands out in front of him. "Listen, okay? This just happened, okay? She's not dangerous yet."

"Well you shouldn't have brought her here!" Vince whined, almost seeming overwhelmed now. He was looking straight into the boy's eyes, not even giving me the time of day as I turned my head to see Jorge struggling against the person who had pointed out Brenda and how sick she looked.

"I know." Thomas started again, continuing to argue with the older man. "I—"

"We let Cranks in here now, the Safe Haven doesn't last a week!"

Cranks? Is that what those things were called? The monsters that have been the stars of every single one of my nightmares, the things that bring us down when we are at the top of the world? It suddenly occurred to me that those things used to be actual people. They had families, friends, lives where they knew what decision they were going to make, and what food they were eating. They didn't use to be crazy. But now they were, and I was witnessing one of my own friends becoming one. Despite the fact that she could soon turn into a cannibal zombie thing, I didn't want to see her shot. I don't think any of us wanted that. Especially Jorge. I knew how it felt.

"Wait." I spoke up, taking a step forward beside Thomas and speaking in a calm voice. "I understand, okay?"

Vince took his eyes off of Brenda and latched them onto me before looking back down at her, probably brushing me off as I continued to speak. "I understand. Just listen. Please. We told her you could help, okay?"

My eyes traveled to the girl who was now laying flat on her back in the dirt, gasping for air as her body started to shut down. "Th-There's gotta be something you can do."

The man looked at me for longer this time, furrowing his eyebrows and slightly lowering his gun. His mouth bobbed open, like he had come to some kind of realization. His brown eyes looked over my body, almost as if to check if I was actually a person standing in front of him. For a moment, I furrowed my eyebrows as well, letting the confusion loom over me just as though it had for him. But as quickly as the moment came, it was gone, and Vince shook his head.

"Yeah, there is." He cocked his head to the side as I let out a breath of relief. Suddenly, the man cocked his gun, pointing it at Brenda once more. "I can put her out of her misery."

"No!" Jorge screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to yank his limbs out of the grasp of Vince's henchmen. Just as I was about to lose my calm and collected composure, another voice spoke. A soft voice.

"Vince! That's enough!" It was a woman. "Let him go!"

Vince turned around to look at the girl approaching. She was jogging towards us with haste, telling the men to unhand Jorge. They did as they were told, cowering away and holding their guns to their chests as though they would need them at any moment. Vince, on the other hand, kept his gun pointed on Brenda.

"She's infected, Doc." Vince shook his head. "There's nothing we can do for her."

The woman stayed silent.

I lifted my eyes towards her, wondering why she wasn't responding to our cry for help. But when I saw her face, it was almost as if the world faded away.

Her mouth was agape, thin eyebrows raised in shock. She had a comforting face. Her skin glowed with the sun, and her brown hair blew with the chilled breeze. I furrowed my eyebrows, not wanting to accept the fact that I've seen her somewhere. I couldn't remember, right?

"Mae?" She breathed, making Vince turn his head from Brenda and towards the woman who stood next to him. I sucked in a sharp breath through my nose as I felt my stomach drop to the floor.

My dream. I remembered this woman from my dream. The only thing different about her was that she wasn't wearing a white vest. Everything else was the same. Even the strange feeling of being secure. Loved.

Vince turned his head back towards me. "Mae?"

My mouth opened wider in shock as I took a step back. My eyes were locked on the woman, who's eyes were beginning to become glossed over with tears she was trying to hard to keep in. It was only us three. The two people who seemed to know who I was, and me. I stood there, completely clueless as the woman began to lose her composure, pushing past Vince and taking a step towards me. I wanted to move farther away, to grab onto Newt's hand to have a sense of familiarity. But for some reason, my feet were glued to the patch of dirt I stood on, and my breath was becoming quicker with every step the woman took.

Before I could say or do anything, her arms wrapped around my body. One hand on my upper back, and one on my lower, almost like I was a child she was trying to bear comfort to. I stayed stiff, hearing her muffled sniffles as tears rolled down her cheeks for a reason I didn't know. I looked back up at Vince, who was still staring at me as if he was trying to decipher whether this was a dream or not.

Someone from behind us cleared their throat. "Wh-What's happening? How do you know her?"

The woman—suddenly brought back into reality—wiped her nose on her sleeve and released me from her arms. When she did, I felt cold.

"Do you remember me?" She looked into my eyes as though she were praying for me to say yes. Although the memory was on the tip of my tongue, like an itch that was begging to be scratched, I couldn't place where it was. I couldn't lie to her either.

So, against my will, I shook my head. "No. B-But I...You were in one of my dreams." Her head shot up again. "You never said who you were."

She nodded, taking a step away from me. Brenda's gasps were beginning to become louder, almost like she was loosing her own life by the second. I looked back down at my friend and pointed towards her. "Can you help her?"

I looked up at Vince to see his eyes full of sorrow. His gun was now back in his holster, and he was standing still. His arms were to his side, and his eyes were still on me, like he was paralyzed in a sea of shock and disbelief. The man was in a different world as we looked at each other. He didn't give me the same sense of familiarity the woman did—maybe because I didn't have any dreams about him. But he knew me. And I didn't know him.

"I can't help her." The woman sniffled, looking at me once more, then pointing to Thomas. "He can though."

Everyone was turned towards the boy now as he locked eyes with me, so many emotions behind them.

"Hello, Thomas." The woman breathed, sending a warm smile his way. This finally broke Vince out of his trance. He furrowed his eyebrows once again, turning his head towards her.

"What?"

Thomas seemed to be just as confused as anyone else. I turned my head to look around at the rest of our friends behind us. Aris' face was blank, although he was trying to process everything at once. Minho looked like he was going to piss his pants, Fry was staring at the ground, his mouth closed with a hand clasped over it. Newt was staring right at me, his eyebrows furrowed. When our eyes met, he tilted his head to the side and glanced at the woman—I immediately knew what he was asking me. I shook my head and shrugged, wanting nothing more than to be close to him again.

"You know me?" His voice wavered as I took my eyes off of Newt.

The woman who continued to stand in front of us nodded, looking down at the floor. "Interesting..." She sighed and shook her head although she came to a sudden realization. "Makes sense. They put you both in the Maze."

She suddenly took a step around the two of us and crouched down next to Brenda, gently lifting her wrist off of the ground and pressing her fingers onto her veins. "Though I must admit...I was worried they'd kill you after what you did."

"Wh-What he did?" I asked, my refrain to not ask questions was crumbling. Thomas glanced at me and back at the woman—I thought he was going to explode if he didn't ask at least one question.

She placed the back of her hand on Brenda's pale forehead, nodding again to herself as she looked up at Thomas and pursed her lips. "The first time we spoke, you said you couldn't take it anymore...Watching your friends die one by one."

I looked at the boy who stood next to me, remembering how he was one of the people who used to work for WICKED before he got shoved into a Maze with fifty smelly guys and one girl who could beat the klunk out of every one of them. Except Newt.

"The last time we spoke." She continued. "You gave me the coordinates of every WICKED compound, trial, and lab."