Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Scorch Trials nor any of the characters from it.

CHAPTER ONE:

A Morning Worth Screaming About…

Day One – Part One - Rescued

She was in the same street as before, but this time her skin had turned a bright red from the sun shining down on her for several hours. She lifted her head off the ground, noticing her wig had disappeared once again, but this time she was wearing a long, flowing white dress with matching white shoes and her hair had been braided with white flowers.

She looked around her as she stood up, noticing that her dress had no trace of dust or dirt, and it almost seemed blinding compared to everything else in the street. She wiped her brow as she took a step forward, trying to navigate herself underneath the blazing sun. It was oddly quiet compared to her other dreams, and there was no sight of those horrible creatures, or the house the little girl had been staying in.

As she walked down the street, she noticed that all the bodies that had been previously lying there had disappeared, along with the blood stains along the road. It was almost as if she was just in purgatory, and she was just in limbo walking down the same street.

After ten minutes, she finally saw something. A figure dressed completely in white like herself, which made her hesitant to approach them. As she got closer, she noticed the figure was a small boy who looked very familiar. Once she was in ten meters of the boy, she finally figured out that the boy was Emil, standing there with a smile on his face.

"Emil…?" she asked, wondering why he was there standing there in her dreams.

"Hey Leo, so this your home?" he asked as he stuck his hand in his pockets, almost as if he was searching for something as he came closer.

"I, I think so…What are you doing here?"

He shrugged as he came closer, pulling her with surprising strength into a hug. She had no idea why, but she felt very unsafe in his grasp, but no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't escape his grip.

"Emil, let go," she said, but he shook his head.

She then felt a burning pain in her stomach, making her gasp as she felt something piercing the skin. She looked down and saw that Emil had pulled out a knife, the knife that had gone missing in the Maze, and had stabbed her with it. The blood poured out of her, staining the white dress as it started being saturated in the red, copper liquid. She coughed, blood spurting out as it landed on Emil's face, but he continued to smile.

Her body became limp as the pain became too much as she fell out of Emil's grasp, landing with a loud thud on the ground. She had troubles breathing as blood kept coming out of her mouth, the blood from her stomach pouring and leaking out onto the road.

Now she understood why she was wearing all white.

The blood splattered onto Emil, also staining his white shirt as the blood poured onto him.

"I told you I was going to do bad things," he whispered before he dropped the blood soaked knife, the clattering made her hiss. She felt it harder and harder to breathe as her eyes started closing, and she knew she was going to die once again.

How many times did she have to die in her dream before it would really happen?

The last thing she saw was Emil as he walked away, giving a nod to someone who had appeared behind him, dressed all in black as the two walked off together in the darkness…

…

She woke with a start, sweat dripping from her forehead and arms as she tried not to scream. She quickly looked around the room, noticing that she was lying in a bunk bed surrounded by all the other Gladers. They were all asleep in their bunk beds, slight snores filling the room. She took deep breaths as she started to relax. She quickly looked over the side and noticed Emil sleeping on the bottom bunk, which made her give an audible sigh of relief.

She wiped the sweat off her body as she closed her eyes, slowly moving the covers off her body to cool her body down. She hadn't had such a terrifying dream since she first dreamed of the creature ripping her eyes out, but this one seemed almost as bad.

She had dreamed that the thirteen year old Emil had stabbed her.

Had killed her.

She shook her head. She knew she was crazy before, but surely this would have been enough to put her into a mental hospital. If those things still existed.

As the snores of the Gladers started to calm her down, she started to relax, knowing that if the others were there, she would be safe. But, she started to become nervous again when she thought of the person dressed in black.

Was the figure all dressed in black supposed to represent WICKED. Even if it didn't, she was still too paranoid not to think it as true. She also wondered why when those people had come in to rescue them, why had WICKED just given up so easily and let them get taken? Wasn't there plan to keep them and test them at any cost?

Had it been WICKED's plan all along for them to be taken by these guys, and then they would force an attack and take them all back? It had seemed a little too easy that WICKED had just given them up, like something even bigger was going to happen.

She wondered if they were still watching her, if they were making sure she kept the wig and chest bindings on to keep her identity a secret. If she had taken off her wig last night, like she had been tempted to do, would they have taken over her body again and made her try to kill them?

This surely could have just been paranoia from being under their constant watch for three entire months, and having the secret to keep hold of, but she couldn't let that be the cost for her or someone else's death.

And even if WICKED was dead and she was out of their control, would she able to admit it to the Gladers that she had been keeping this giant secret from them all this time? Would they start treating her like a traitor and a spy for WICKED? She wouldn't be able to handle it if the only people she had grown close to, quickly shunned her out because of it.

She slowly pushed herself down from the top bunk, letting her feet gently touch the floor to make sure she didn't wake the others. Noticing the window, she took a step closer, wanting to see what the outside world really looked like instead of the fake sky she had come to know.

She slowly opened the coloured curtains, shielding her eyes from the sudden bright light. It was blinding, but that was most likely because she hadn't seen the real sun in months. Maybe the sun had always been this bright, even in darkness and she couldn't remember it.

She squinted as she looked outside, the bars on the windows obstructing her view so she couldn't see much. But what she did see was a figure walking past in the distance. It was a male figure. She wondered if it was one of the guards that had taken them here, or if it was someone who had gotten lost or was seeking help. She took a quick step away though once she noticed that the figure had stopped moving and that it was looking straight at her.

She closed the curtains as much as she could as she took a few steps back, heading back to the "safety" of her bed. She had only made it three steps away before a loud, crashing sound stopped her dead in her tracks. She screamed once she noticed that the man had suddenly moved to the window and was trying to smash it, screaming at her. She quickly ran backwards, stumbling over her own feet.

"Leo, what the shuck?" Minho asked as he rubbed his eyes as he walked over to see what was happening. Some of the others had woken up too and had quickly made their way over to her.

"You alright?" Newt asked as he stood behind her, gently touching her shoulder.

She couldn't stop staring at the man at the window. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, filled with an animalistic look. Sores and scars covered his thin, burnt face. He had no hair, only splotches of greenish moss instead, a huge cut along his cheek which showed his disgusting looking teeth through the wound. Pink saliva dripped down his chin as he stared at them with widened eyes.

"That's a lovely thing to see first thing in the morning," Minho said, narrowing his eyes. "Know I see why you screamed."

"What is that shucking thing?!" Frypan asked, his face paling as he pointed at the window and the man behind it.

The man continued to bang on the window, screaming at them as the other Gladers started to wake up and stare out the window. He raised his fist in the air and slammed down, smashing the window as the glass shattered and got stuck in-between the bars.

Some of the Gladers screamed as the man tried to reach through, almost grabbing some that were close to him. His screams were loud as he wore a sadistic smile on his diseased, burnt face.

"He almost grabbed me!" Edwin screamed, rushing to stand behind the three as they all watch in horror as the man continued to scream, shaking as he slammed his hands down onto the bars.

Another bang on the window made Leo scream as she turned to see a woman standing at the window to the right, smashing through as the glass seemed to explode. One of the Gladers ducked down as the pieces fell, one scraping his arm as he gave a cry.

"Kill me!" the woman screamed, carrying the same diseased features as the other man. "Please, kill me!" She thrashed around, almost as if something had grabbed her and was trying to pull her away as she slammed her hands onto the bars.

"Shuck," Minho said, noticing the window on the left shattering to pieces as well as both a man and a window stood there, snarling at them like they were a piece of meat they couldn't wait to devour.

All of the Gladers that were awake stumbled back as more and more of the creatures appeared at the window. They looked exactly like the creatures in her dreams, which made her shake. Some of the Gladers quickly went into a panic, some screaming, some stumbling over furniture and the creature's horrible squealing sounds filled the air as if they were being tortured.

"What's happening?" Leo asked as she moved as far away as she could from the window. Newt knew she go into a panic at any second, and grabbed hold of her and pulled her close to him to keep her from panicking.

"I don't bloody know!" he shouted, looking around the room.

"Where're those shanks that we're here last night?" Minho asked. "Shouldn't they be killing these things?"

Some of the more curious Gladers tried to look out the window, but at a distance as the creatures continued to try and grab them.

"I'm a Crank!" the first man shouted. "I'm a bloody Crank!" He kept screaming as the spit flew from his mouth as he shrieked. "Kill me! Kill me! Kill me!"

There seemed to be several more windows around the room with at least one "Crank" smashing on the glass until it shattered as they clung onto the bars.

Thomas stood up from his bed to look out the window, only now just seeming to wake up besides all the noise. Minho placed a hand down on Thomas' shoulder, which made him jump as he spun around, thinking it was one of the creatures.

"They're everywhere," Minho said. "And there's no sign of those shanks who rescued us."

"Have any of them gotten in yet?" Thomas asked. "Do all the windows have these bars?"

Minho gave a nod. "Yeah. It was too dark to notice them last night, especially with those stupid frilly curtains. But I'm sure glad for 'em."

Some of the Gladers had now huddled into small groups, everyone clearly terrified of the creatures slamming on the bars. Just when they'd thought that they'd been rescued, this happens on their first day of freedom.

"Where's Newt? And Leo?" Thomas asked as he searched the room to try and find them.

"Right here," Newt answered as he slowly walked forward, Leo still in his arms.

"What's going on?"

"You think I have a bloody clue? Bunch of crazies want to eat us for breakfast, by the looks of it. We need to find another room, have a Gathering. All this noise is driving nails through my bugging skull."

Thomas nodded, however he seemed to be distracted, but it wasn't the "Cranks" that took his attention away.

"Hey! Gladers!" Minho yelled over the chaos, trying to get everyone to pay attention. "We need to get out of here!"

"We need a Gathering," Newt yelled as he tried to compete with the noise.

"Get away from the Cranks!" Leo shouted, as everyone started to move and huddle together until they all stood in front of the door. Emil, of course, was still asleep, the sounds of the hysteric "Cranks" not bothering him in the slightest.

She was very hesitant to not only leave Newt's embrace, but also to approach him from her nightmare. But, she quickly shook it off, thinking it was just WICKED messing with her as she ran over to him. "Emil!" she shouted as she shook him until his eyes finally opened. "We have to go! Now!"

He rubbed his eyes as he gave a yawn. "What's going on?"

"Just get up! Now!" she shouted as she roughly pulled his arm and dragged him out of the bed and over to the door. He turned to the window and finally noticed what all the commotion was about.

"W-What are those things?" he asked as she let go of him.

"Just hurry up." She pushed him forward until he was right next to the door, the other Gladers covering up the areas in front of him so that he couldn't see the chaos surrounding the windows. She quickly pushed back through the crowd so she could join Minho and Newt as they stood in front of the door.

The door that led to the common area – where they had eaten dinner the night before - was a bright green, the brass handle almost blinding as the sun reflected off it. As Minho grabbed hold of the handle it, he jerked it open, but nothing happened.

Locked.

Of course it was.

The only other door in the room led to a shower and locker, but there was no way they could exit from there. There was only the locked door and the windows that were covered in bars.

Minho finally gave up on the door as he let Newt have a try, but they both ended up with the same result.

"It's locked," Newt muttered as he moved away.

"Really, genius?" Minho asked, the sarcasm thick in his voice. "No wonder you were named after Isaac Newton – such an amazing ability to think."

"Isaac Newton was a physicist and mathematician who discovered gravity, not knowing if doors were locked," Leo said as she gave a glare at Minho.

"Let's break this bloody handle off," Newt said as he looked around the room, expecting someone to just hand him a sledgehammer or some other kind of weapon.

"I wish those shuck…Cranks would shut up!" Minho yelled as he glared at the closest one, which happened to be a woman with a huge bleeding wound across her face.

"Cranks?" Frypan repeated.

"Yeah, Cranks," Leo confirmed as she made sure she didn't make eye contact with any of the "Cranks" outside.

Minho pointed at the screaming woman. "That's what they keep calling themselves. Haven't you heard it?"

"I don't care if you call 'em pussy willows," Newt snapped. "Find me something to break through this stupid door!"

Wanting to get out of there as fast as possible, Leo looked and saw something stuck to the wall beside her that was a bright red. A fire extinguisher. She pushed some Gladers out of the way as she grabbed hold of it, grunting as she pulled it with all of her strength, ripping it off the hinges which made her fall over to the ground. She quickly lifted it up into the air, which made Newt notice.

He quickly grabbed hold of the red cylinder, lifting it and then slamming it down onto the door's brass handle. There was a loud crack and then a deeper crunching sound. It only took three more hits before the handle crashed to the floor and the door inched outwards, cracked open just enough for them to see the complete darkness on the other side.

Minho took a step over and grabbed Leo's arm, pulling her back to her feet with little effort. "Still light as a feather," he said before he walked forward.

"I can't believe that worked," she said as she brushed herself off.

Newt was quiet as he stared down the long, narrow gap of darkness. He handed the extinguisher back to someone, knowing she wouldn't need it when he saw something else leaning against the wall beside the door.

Once she pushed past to stand beside him, she noticed what it was as well.

It was the metal pole.

Again.

Now she definitely knew WICKED was still involved and they were just playing one last practical joke on her.

"Let's go," Newt said.

"Wait," Frypan called out. "We sure we wanna go out there? Maybe that door was locked for a reason."

"But maybe that's to keep us in here with….them," Leo said, gesturing back to the window.

"But what if it's not?!"

"What else're we gonna do?" Minho asked. "Sit here and wait for those loonies to get in? Come on."

"Those freaks aren't breaking through the window bars anytime soon. Let's just think for a second."

"Time for thinking's done," Minho replied. He kicked the door as it completely swung open, completely dark inside. "Plus, you should've spoken up before we blasted the lock to bits, slinthead. Too late now."

"I hate when you're right," Frypan grumbled under his breath.

"Shuck it," Minho said. "I'll go first."

He walked through the door and disappeared into the darkness. Newt had a hesitant look on his face, but he followed behind him anyway. Leo couldn't wait to get out as she bent down and picked up the metal pole. The light of the room behind her did nothing in helping her see what was in front of her. She stuck out the metal pole so she wouldn't bump into anything. She felt like she was blind person using a cane to get her way around.

And then, the smell hit her.

She almost gagged at the smell as she covered her mouth and her nose with one hand, breathing in her own scent which smelled ten times better than the room did.

Minho yelped from up ahead and called back. "Whoa, be careful. Something…weird's hanging from the ceiling."

Knowing she wouldn't be able to reach it because of her short stature, she lifted the pole up into the air to see if he was right. And sure enough, the pole hit something which seemed to swing as soon as the pole touched it.

Newt grunted, the sound of metal dragging across the floor following.

"Newt, you alright?" she asked into the darkness.

"Table," he replied as his answer. "Watch out for tables."

"Does anyone remember where the light switches were?" Frypan asked.

"That's where I'm heading," Newt responded. "I swear I remember seeing a set of them somewhere over here."

As she continued to walk blindly through the room, the pole hit many objects on its path which helped her avoid them. Most of them she assumed were tables and chairs.

Her eyes adjusted slightly, but it was still very hard to see. Her hearing sense increased though she could hear everyone's footsteps behind her and their heavy breathing. Occasionally she would be able to see a shadow of an object, but that was the extent of her eyesight.

"Bluh-huh-huh," Minho said with a groan, like he had stepped into something repulsive.

Another creaking sound filled the room.

"Found it!" Newt shouted.

A few clicks sounded before the room suddenly filled with light, making Leo groan as she covered her eyes, stumbling backwards from being blinded. As she walked forward, she bumped into Newt by accident, who quickly grabbed her wrist before she fell to the ground.

"Whoa!" Minho yelled.

Leo uncovered her eyes as she squinted, looking around the room. She gasped, almost screaming at the sight.

Throughout the room, people were hanging from the ceiling – at least a dozen of them, both male and female. They'd been strung up their necks, the rope twisted into their bloated skin. Their dead bodies swung to the side ever so slightly, their pale pink tongues hanging out of their mouths. Their eyes were wide open, almost as if they were staring at them even in death.

Now she knew why the room smelled so bad, because it was the smell of rotting corpses. They must have been dead for a couple of hours, so while they were sleeping these people had been murdered and hung.

Thomas dropped down to his knees in shock.

"Oh my god," she whispered as she realised that the people that were hanging were the people that had rescued them from WICKED.

Thomas didn't look back at the bodies as he stood back up, walking over to them along with Minho, everyone else staring in fear and shock at the dead bodies of their "rescuers".

Minho swore under his breath.

Leo quickly moved over to the corner and vomited, both the sight and smell making her feel sick. She could others gagging as well, which prompted her even more. She continued until she was just hurling up nothing, which caused her to lean with her back against the wall, tears leaking from her eyes.

Gladers were screaming as Thomas bent over, wrapping his arms around his stomach with his eyes closed, frowning as if he was in pain.

Leo wiped her mouth as she tried to stand back up, her legs shaking from the lack of energy she had left.

"Tommy," Newt said as he squeezed his shoulder. "What's bloody wrong with you?"

Thomas opened his eyes as he realised what he was doing and he quickly straightened himself up. "What…what do you think? Look around us."

"Yeah, but you looked like you were in pain or something."

"I'm fine – just trying to reach her in my mind. But I can't."

Thomas looked very uncomfortable as he answered. During what had happened recently, Leo had almost forgotten that Teresa and Thomas were telepathic. She still questioned how that could be possible, but it was most likely that WICKED had installed something into their brains that made it possible.

"Do you know where she was taken last night?" Leo asked as she pushed herself away from the wall, regaining some strength back.

Thomas shook his head. "We've gotta find where they put her."

"He's right," Minho said, addressing the entire group. "Spread out, find her!"

"Might've already."

Thomas walked over towards a yellow door with a brass handle, dodging the tables and the hanging bodies that were in his way. The door was closed, which meant that it was most likely locked. Though they weren't sure if that was from the outside to keep the person inside out or from the inside to keep them out.

But neither mattered to Thomas.

"Someone grab that fire extinguisher!" he yelled over his shoulder.

"Winston, go get it," Minho ordered as Winston quickly ran back to the room.

Thomas reached the door and tried the handle, but it didn't move.

Locked, but they had already figured that much.

Leo took a step closer to the door, noticing something hanging beside it. Small, clear plastic hung on the wall to the right with a sheet of paper slipped inside, black words typed out.

Teresa Agnes Group A, Subject A-1

The Betrayer

She gulped as she read the last word. Betrayer? Was that what WICKED called her? It sent a shiver up her spine as she backed away from the door, wondering what kind of bad things could happen to them because of her.

From what she had gathered, all of the boys, including herself, had been named after famous scientists. But, she knew there was no scientist called Teresa. The only person who she could think of that had that name would have been Mother Teresa, whose Macedonian name roughly translated in English to Agnes.

The thought of comparing this Teresa to Mother Teresa seemed almost like an insult to the woman who had done so much as a Roman Catholic.

She raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Thomas, noticing that he was in some sort of trance as he stared at the words written on the paper. Minho snapped his fingers in front of his eyes. "Hello? Calling Thomas? Not a good time to day dream. Lots of dead bodies, smells like Frypan's pits. Wake up."

Thomas turned to him. "Sorry," he said. "Just thought it was weird that Teresa's last name was Agnes."

Minho clicked his tongue. "Who cares about that? What's this freaking stuff about her being the 'Betrayer'?"

"And what's 'Group A, Subject A-1' mean?" Newt asked.

"Maybe that's how WICKED knows who we are?" Leo said.

Newt shrugged, handing the fire extinguisher over to Thomas. "Anyway, your turn to break a bugging door handle."

Thomas quickly grabbed hold of it as he slammed it against the door handle. Two smashes later and the handle clattered on the floor, the door opening an inch. He threw the extinguisher to the side as he grabbed the door, swinging it all the way open as he stepped into the lightened room.

"Teresa!" he shouted.

Newt and Leo quickly walked into the room, which was a smaller version of the dorm that they all had slept in – four bunk beds, two dressers and a closed door. All of the beds were neatly made expect one, the blankets tossed to the side and the pillow hanging off the edge. But, there was no sign of Teresa, let alone anybody. The sound of a toilet flushing came from behind the closed door, making Thomas start walking towards it.

"Not a good decision," Leo announced as she folded her arms.

Thomas turned around, raising his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked before he continued walking towards the bathroom. Newt had to grab his arm to make him stop, shaking his head.

"You're used to living with a bunch of boys," he said. "I don't think it's polite to go stomping into the bloody ladies' room. Just wait till she comes out."

"Then we need to get everybody in here and have a Gathering," Minho added. "It doesn't stink in here, and there aren't any windows for Cranks to scream at us."

"I wonder why," Leo muttered.

"I wish she'd hurry up," Thomas murmured as he stared at the door.

"I'll get everyone over here," Minho said as he walked back out into the common area.

Newt, Leo, Frypan and a few other Gladers pushed their way into the room, taking seats down on the beds. Some of them had their elbows on their knees, others rubbing their hands together as worry filled their heads.

Leo gulped as she sat down next to Newt, reaching for his hand to make sure he was still there. She sighed in relief when he interlocked their fingers, and that was really all she needed.

In the silent room, there was a sudden click which made Thomas jump. The handle on the door turned; the door opened as it swung towards him. He stepped forward, but the person who walked wasn't who they were expecting.

It was a boy.

He had on clean pyjamas with a button up shirt and flannel plants of a light blue colour. He had olive skin and his hair was dark and surprisingly cut short for what he looked like. He seemed very innocent, which meant he was probably younger than most of them.

"Who are you?" Thomas asked, anger laced thick in his voice.

Newt stood up, standing closer to the unknown boy. "Don't bloody mess around. There are a lot more of us than there are of you. Tell us who you are."

The boy folded his arms. "Fine. My name's Aris. What else you wanna know?"

"Unless you want to start a fight, I suggest you drop the attitude, none of us are in a particularly good mood right now," Leo said as she stood up.

Aris almost scoffed, but he held himself back as he looked at everyone's faces.

"How'd you get here?" Thomas asked. "Where's the girl who slept here last night?"

"Girl? What girl? I'm the only one here, and it's been that way since they put me here last night."

Thomas pointed back over to the direction of the door. "There's a sign right out there that says this is her room. Teresa…Agnes. No mention of a shank named Aris."

"Look, man, I don't know what you're talking about. They put me in here last night, I slept in that bed-" he pointed to the one with the rumpled sheets "-and I woke up about five minutes ago and took a pee. Never heard the name Teresa Agnes in my life. Sorry."

Newt shrugged when Thomas had glanced at him for his opinion. "Who put you in here last night?"

Aris threw his arms into the air, letting them come back down and slap against his sides. "I don't even know, man. A bunch of people with guns who rescued us, told us everything would be okay now."

"Rescued you from what?" Thomas asked.

Aris looked down at the floor, his shoulders fell as he sighed. He looked back up at Thomas, terror written in his eyes.

"From the Maze, man. From the Maze."