All I heard was screaming as my bruised cheek pushed into the dirt, Newt's body on top of mine keeping me from hearing the horrors of what was happening at the camp below us. As much as I tried to scramble out from underneath him, his weight kept me plastered to the ground.

"Newt!" I screamed, fear taking over my senses as I began to hyperventilate. "Get off me! Please! My...My mom is—"

Before I had to finish the sentence, Newt grunted and pushed himself to his feet, holding his hand out as the rest of us did as well. As soon as I regained my balance, I moved to dart down the path that led to the camp.

"No!" A large bellow erupted from beside me before an arm wrapped around my stomach, keeping me from running any farther. "We need to stay together, Mae!"

I recognized him as I punched at his grasp. "Get the hell off me, Minho!"

"I'm not letting you go—"

Tired of being held back, I let out a grunt through clenched teeth, turning around in Minho's arms and pushing him as hard as I could off me. His arm loosened, and immediately I grabbed his wrist, dropping my body to the floor and planting my hand into the ground. I swung my legs up to wrap around his neck, and I let my momentum push him to the floor as well. As quickly as I could, I unraveled my legs from around his head and stood to my feet as I began to sprint down the hill into the sea of chaos.

I ignored Newt screaming my name from behind as I immersed myself into the screaming people, only one person on my mind as I weaved myself through a group of people sprinting somewhere I didn't care about. I was being bumped into left and right, pushed as they tried to grab themselves a weapon.

"Mom!" I yelled as I stopped near a flaming tent. My eyes darted in every direction, seeing people drop to the ground from other people wearing all black. They were holding some type of gun—a launcher. Immediately, I knew that WICKED had somehow found us.

Just like that, the hour of rest and peace was gone. We were fugitives again, our temporary happiness replaced with a burning fire that never seemed to be put out. We thought we were safe from the organization that ruined so many lives, but we would never be safe as long as they still existed. And now they were rounding up all of the innocent people who were just looking to move out at dawn...hoping to start new lives where they didn't have to be running as well. But us Gladers would remain on the everlasting track until we were either captured, or we were dead.

"Shit." I muttered as I turned around once again, running in any direction and occasionally ducking from a shot. My heart raced with adrenaline as I ran my fingers through my hair, confusion eating my mind. How could this happen? Why? What did we do to deserve all this?

"Mae!" Someone else screamed my name. I looked up just in time for a body to slam into mine, causing me to lose my balance and stumble to my feet. Landing directly on my shoulder, I yelped in pain, closing my eyes and reaching for the body part. I groaned and rolled over onto my stomach, gathering my bearings as I tried to stand. Right as I did so, a loud explosion erupted less than five feet away from me, causing my legs to give out once more, and my hands to reach over my head as I buried my face into the dirt.

I felt like crying, like screaming, like pulling my hair out until I wrapped my arms around my mother who was nowhere to be found. I laid in the dirt, almost waiting for a WICKED guard to take me and just do what they wished. But in the deepest part of my mind, I knew that I couldn't lay here while the world was falling apart around me.

So, as hard as it was, and as much as my ears rang from the eruption, my shoulder feeling like it was going to be ripped out, I grunted and scrambled to my feet. A voice was still calling my name, but I could hear it as no more than an echo in the back of my head. A muffled tone as I turned around slowly and saw Vince sprinting towards me. He wore a horrified expression on his face as he approached, placing his hands on my biceps. He was speaking, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.

It was like I was submerged in water. Vince was shaking my body, but I wasn't really there. I tried to decipher the words that were coming out of his mouth, but all I could manage in return was a simple head shake. My mouth opened with words to say, but I couldn't get them out over the ringing and muffled noises in my ears.

Giving up, Vince suddenly sighed and grabbed a hold of my forearm, leading me somewhere as I followed behind him, moving at the fastest pace I could. We ran over to a truck with a big gun in the trunk portion, Harriet scrambling with different crates as Vince jumped onto the back.

The man grabbed a rifle and threw it at me, mumbling other words that were starting to become louder, but I still couldn't fully understand. As he screamed something, he cocked the weapon and began to shoot at the WICKED guards that attempted to electrocute us with their launchers. I suddenly understood what he wanted me to do, and I cocked the gun as well, doing my best to blink away the blurred vision and the reminiscing dizziness that the explosion induced onto me.

Placing the gun against my right shoulder like Vince had done, I pointed it at one of the men in black that was sprinting towards us. I aimed, squinting my eyes to focus, and I pulled the trigger, hitting him right in the leg. By now, I could partially understand the words that Vince had been yelling at Harriet, my senses finally waking up from inside my scrambled brain.

"Nice shot, kid!" He looked like he was yelling, but his voice was so quiet. I only grunted in response, hissing through my teeth as I cocked the weapon once more, pausing when something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention.

When I turned my head towards it, I saw Frypan, Newt, and Minho sprinting towards the truck, hunched over at the waist to prevent being shot. Harriet waved her hand at them, speaking things I could hardly understand. Minho furrowed his eyebrows at me, taking a step forward and shoving my left shoulder, the one I had fallen on. I hissed through my teeth in response, dropping the weapon and reaching for the limb. Newt dropped to his knees in front of me, grabbing the sides of my face and speaking.

But I couldn't understand. I felt like going to sleep, like passing out. The boy lifted his head up to meet eyes with Vince, who I guessed was telling him what happened, because Newt's face suddenly grew two shades whiter as he returned his gaze to me. Shaking his head once, he moved out of the way, reaching over my head as I slowly grabbed the rifle I had dropped from the ground.

I cocked it with all of my strength, lifting it as Minho and Frypan ran across to the other side, guns suddenly in their hands as well. I could still feel Newt's presence behind me, but I didn't look at him as I pulled the trigger, hitting another guard and sending them to the floor. Harriet moved around a barrel a few feet in front of us, repeating the same actions we were all doing.

My hearing was starting to come back to me as I began to hear shots being fired from all around me. The groggy feeling was starting to slowly disperse, allowing me to hear Newt as he shouted at Vince. "Hurry up! There's too many of them!"

The man above us let out an overwhelmed and exhausted breath as he went as fast as he could to try and place the ammo in the giant gun above us.

I cocked my gun once again, aiming it at a WICKED soldier who's head was peeking from behind a few crates. I pulled the trigger, waiting for him to fall to the ground. But he never did. My heart sank to the floor as I stared at the gun, almost as though it had deceived me. I opened my mouth to speak, forcing the words out as loud as I could. "I'm out!"

Newt placed his hand on my good shoulder, making me spin around to face him. But he wasn't looking at me. His eyes were trained on something in the sky, following it with his head as his mouth fell open.

"Look out!" He yelled, suddenly dropping his gun to the floor and once again throwing his body onto mine.

"Shit!" Vince screamed as a loud boom sounded right next to us.

Electricity traveled down every limb in my body before I even had the chance to take a deep breath. I was suddenly being struck by lightning once again, losing all function with my body as I fell to my knees, grunting in agony as I twitched on the ground. I couldn't even feel Newt's body on top of mine—he was as limp as I was.

But I was able to see. I blinked as his body was peeled off of mine, WICKED guards holding onto either of his arms as they dragged him away from me. His eyes were wide with fear as he was completely helpless. His mouth was bobbing, the need to curse these guys out or to call for me was bubbling up inside him—I could tell. My mind was blank as I tried to lift a finger, but it was no use.

The guards suddenly made their way over to me, picking up both of my arms, having no idea that my shoulder felt like it was being stabbed by a knife. I opened my mouth in pain, but I didn't let a sound escape as they took me in the same direction they did Newt.

Almost everyone at the camp—not including the people who had been shot—were on their knees. We were in a circle around the familiar taunting face of Rat Man, who had his hands behind his back as he watched the guards shove me next to Newt. When I finally felt an arm being wrapped around my waist, I let the breath I had been holding in, go. Turning my head to face my favorite boy, he lifted me onto my knees, and I was able to hold myself up as I looked at him.

"You okay?" He asked, tears lining his eyes as he looked into mine. I nodded, placing my hands behind my back like everyone else as Minho and Frypan were shoved onto the ground next to me. I sent them both nods, receiving both back from the boys as they pushed themselves up, breathing heavily.

My eyes darted from face to face, looking for the one that had stolen my heart in a different way. A guard was shoving Vince forward, eventually pushing him down to his knees as he fell into her. My mother was kneeling, staring back at me with hopeless eyes. I shook my head at her, feeling sadness overwhelm my body. I just wanted to hug her, but I couldn't get up. The need to stay alive was far greater than needing to hug my mom.

"B-4." A guard beside us spoke aloud, moving down the line and starting with Sonya. They were holding one of the same machines that Brenda had scanned us with the day before.

I watched as Jansen made his way over to another man, who was staring at a device in his hands, tapping away as though this was all normal. "How many did we get?"

The man sighed and looked up at him. "All of them. Give or take."

Looking around, I noticed that Thomas was nowhere in sight. I sighed of relief, happy that at least he was able to make it out of the horrors we were inducing right now. They probably wanted him more than any of us, but why? As long as Thomas was able to make it out, then that meant we hadn't granted WICKED the satisfaction of being completely successful.

"Give or take what?" Janson called back to the same man as he began examine each of us, walking down the line like it was Death Row.

"Well, they lost a few." The man rolled his eyes at the inconsiderate rat human he was talking to.

A pair of gloves being wrapped around my shoulder harshly made me yelp in pain and stop listening to Janson. The WICKED guard grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked it forward, making my eyes water almost immediately. I clenched my fists behind my back tight, hoping to take the pain off of my head and move it somewhere else as my heart began to beat and the soldier scanned the back of my neck.

"Get your bloody hands off her." Newt threatened the guard who towered over the both of us. He simply just tightened his grip on my hair and let out a breathy laugh, mocking the boy as he tried to protect me. I quickly shot him a glance, telling him I was thankful he tried.

"A-3." The man yelled. He harshly let go of my hair, shaking his head before he decided to push me forward. I wasn't balanced on my knees, so I toppled forward, turning my head so that the non-bruised side was the one to make contact with the dirt. I groaned in pain as I heard the man let out a chuckle underneath his breath as he moved onto Newt, who clenched his jaw in irrepressible anger.

Unlike the rest of us, Newt stayed still and let the guard tilt is head forward, easily scanning his neck for his number. "A-5."

As I brought myself back up to my knees, I wiped the side of my face on my coat. I felt a finger brush over my wrist, and only then did I slowly move myself closer to Newt, needing his gentle touch in a moment like this. I moved my pinky out of its fist, linking it with his as we awaited for the worst once more. We didn't know what was going to happen—as far as we knew, we were going to be loaded up and taken back to WICKED for more torturing. I couldn't go back there.

"A-4." They called Minho's number before moving away from him, continuing down the line of what they knew as subjects. They didn't define us as humans. To them, we were experiments.

I lifted my head to see Janson staring back, the smirk plastered on his face for only a moment before his eyes darted around the rest of us. He turned his body towards the man with the device again. "Where's Thomas?"

He shrugged as though he was about to respond, but when a familiar voice called out to Janson from my right, my heart dropped to the floor.

"Right here."

I turned my head to see Thomas slowly approaching, in the limelight produced by a helicopter. He squinted his eyes as he held his hands up in surrender, not even fighting the guards as they harshly grabbed him and shoved him forward. From where I knelt, I could see Janson walk up to the boy, holding his arms out as if he were to be welcoming him.

The creepy smirk stayed plastered on his face, "Thomas..."

Suddenly the welcoming was over, and Janson pulled his hand into a tight fist, quickly connecting it with my friends' stomach. I clenched my jaw hard as he grunted and dropped to the floor, clutching his abdomen as the pain raked through his entire body. Vince launched forward, but was held back by two soldiers who had been standing by, almost as if they knew it was going to happen.

"Get him in line." Jansen ordered to the guards as they manhandled the boy, dragging him next to Minho. He nodded once as he overlooked all of the individuals they had captured so far, seeming pleased by their work. "Okay. Bring her in."

My eyes suddenly met my mothers, and she tilted her head. I didn't know what she was thinking, but her eyes showed that she knew something I didn't. She didn't seem scared, she didn't seem nervous...As I shook my head at her, the corners of her mouth actually twitched up into a warm smile. One that I'd just gotten to know. She opened her mouth, and as she moved her lips, I tried to decipher what she could possibly be saying to me in this moment. I furrowed my eyebrows and tilted my head, squinting my eyes to train all of my attention on the words she was mouthing over and over again.

"I love you."

I was hopeless. But in that moment, it was as though all the stars in the universe aligned, and it was only me and my mom. Two lost souls longing for each others embrace, scared that the world had placed some kind of curse on us. We had just met, and yet it felt like we'd known each other for years. Nobody's ever said those words to me before, and even now, she wasn't really saying them.

But I could still feel it. That moment in my dream when I had felt something stronger than happiness and peace—I finally knew what it was. Love. She was pouring her heart out to me, mouthing the words over and over again as though it were some kind of prayer or point she was trying to get me to believe. After all, how could someone love me?

I thought of us as damned souls in that moment. As we walked through the void of our potential fate, we were two empty bodies condemned to wander through space until the end of our time. Seeking redemption, seeking peace, without any hope of finding either.

Blades chopping through the air above us finally caused my mom and I to break our gaze on each other. The smoke of the fires around us obscured our vision of the host of the noise, making my ears pound with every second that passed. As I looked above me at the night sky, a huge ship finally cleared the clouds, lowering itself down as it blew the dust in all directions, making me pinch my eyes shut and hold my breath. My pack was nowhere in sight—if I breathed in the dust, nothing good would come of it.

I unhooked my hand from Newt's, covering up my eyes with both hands. The boy noticed my struggle as he did the same, shielding his eyes with one hand while placing his arm protectively around my head.

"Jesus." I murmured to myself, coughing once into the open. The beating of the rotors was enough to make me want to rip my ears out—I suddenly wished that I could go back to when I hardly heard anything.

The ship hit the ground with a thud, causing my knees to wobble ever so slightly at the weight of it. We all watched as the dust around us slowly started to disperse, and the blades started to slow their speed as a hatch opened up. WICKED guards stood in two rows, almost looking like robots with the way they were all identically holding their weapons. As soon as the door hit the floor, the soldiers started to match down, all in union as we awaited to see who the beloved 'her' was.

The escorts started to walk slower as they parted down the middle, two of them going to the left side, and two going to the right. In the center, was the woman in white from the video. My eyes widened as I saw her, obviously missing something. I leaned closer to Newt as she glanced at all of the people the soldiers had gathered together.

"What the shuck is happening?" I asked him, whisper-shouting in his ear. "I thought she was shucking dead!"

He shook his head slowly. "It's a long story, I'll tell you later."

Great, I thought. Rolling my eyes and sitting myself up straight once more, I kept my mouth shut as she continued to walk towards us. She looked the same, all except for the white fur coat that was wrapped around her body, almost acting as some sort of crown to distinguish her as a higher class than the rest of us. We were nobody—only useful because of our brains.

She walked down the hill, stopping when she came close to Rat Man, who fidgeted with his fingers nervously. Her lips were pulled into a straight line, almost emotionless. "Is this all of them?"

Jansen cleared his throat. "Most of them. It'll be enough."

She nodded once. "Start loading them in."

Rat Man mumbled something to her as she walked past, observing all the work that had been done here in the past five minutes. Only five minutes, and the world fell apart. That's all it took.

"Let's go!" He yelled at the WICKED guards. "Get 'em on!"