As panic and chaos was spreading throughout the entire building, Piper, Maeve, and Gwyneth watched as Jorge and Aurora packed up their backpacks, as well as a backpack for Brenda. Piper was wondering if the others were okay, hoping that no one had already turned them in for WICKED to poke at again.

"Where are we gonna go?" Gwyneth asked the other two. "Those crackfaces have surrounded the whole stickin' place!"

Suddenly, the sound of music began blaring all over the place.

"What is that?" Piper asked.

"Jorge's favorite song," Aurora replied, grinning.

"Let's go! We don't have much time!" Jorge said as Brenda came back with the others. "Right this way!" He led them to a giant window, pushing it open, revealing a long drop to the ground filled with nothing but torn down scraps from buildings in the dark night.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Frypan said.

"Plan B, hermano," Jorge replied. "You kids wanna get to the Right Arm? I'll lead you to them. But you're gonna owe me." He pulled down a rope and prepared to jump out. "Follow me!" he yelled, swinging out of the building and gliding down to the lower building.

"All right! Let's go!" Brenda shouted, pulling the next rope. "Come on!"

Minho was the next one to go, then Newt, then Frypan, and then Lillie. Aris looked down, swallowing hard. "I don't know..."

"Hey, it'll be fine," Piper assured him. "We'll be right behind you. I promise."

Taking a deep breath, Aris nodded his head. "Okay." With that, he took off into the night.

Maeve went next, then Gwyneth. "Hold on!" Brenda said, running off.

"Brenda!" Aurora shouted for her. She groaned in annoyance. "Come back! We gotta go!"

"Just go! I'll get her!" Thomas said, letting Teresa go.

Aurora rolled her eyes and grabbed the rope, handing it to Piper. "Okay, come on." Then, we heard the sound of people coming up the stairs. "Shit! Make room!"

"What?" Piper questioned.

"There's no time! We're going down together!" She grabbed part of the rope with me. "Hang on!" she yelled as the gunshots began to go off, pushing them off from the floor and swinging down to the next building. Piper felt her heart about to drop as they flew down. Once they got closer to our destination, the two crashed into the floor, groaning in pain.

"That sure hurt!" Aurora coughed out.

They stood up, shaking off the dust and straightening themselves out. "Where did they go?"

"They most likely left us already," Aurora replied.

"Not all of us," Lillie said as she made them jump, followed by Maeve and Gwyneth. "Jorge and the rest took off, thinking you guys were not too far behind. We stayed, just to make sure you guys got out."

"Well, Brenda and that other kid--"

"Thomas," Piper cut Aurora off.

"Yeah, that guy is still there. I think the music is still playing, so maybe--"

BOOM!

They turned around and widened their eyes at the flames that were devouring the building they were just at.

"I guess the song's over," Aurora mumbled under her breath.

"Brenda and Thomas...they could still be in there..." Lillie said.

Aurora shook her head. "No. Brenda is smart. She would've found a way out by now. But we can't go back for them. We gotta keep moving and find the others. Let's go."

So Aurora led the rest of them with her backpack and gun over her shoulders. The others all gripped their backpacks tighter, using their flashlights to shine some light that they needed for the journey.

"Where do you think they went?" Gwyneth asked Aurora.

"Well, Brenda and Thomas are probably going to have to go through the tunnels, since we just watched the entire building go up in flames," Aurora explained. "I'm sure there are many Cranks waiting for them down there, Cranks that are way past the Gone."

"What about Jorge and the others?" Piper asked.

"I'm sure he's taking them to Marcus."

"Who?" Maeve spoke up.

Aurora snorted, shaking her head. "You girls ask a lot of questions. According to Jorge, Marcus has been taking people up to the mountains, where you all think the Right Arm is located at, and then the Right Arm takes those people--Immunes--to the Safe Haven, a place away from WICKED, the Flare, the Scorch, Cranks...all of that mess."

"But you don't think the Right Arm is real," Piper commented.

Aurora stopped walking, turning around to look back at her. "I think Jorge is way over his head sometimes," she explained. "When that happens, he walks on a very thin line of hope, playing a very dangerous game. However, Jorge likes to walk on the wild side whenever he gets the opportunity. But, in a way, I think the Right Arm could be out there."

"You seem really close to Jorge," Lillie stated.

"Brenda and I only have him," the ginger responded. "The three of us have always relied on each other." She paused, then continued. "You girls seem really close, too. I guess since you were stuck in that place WICKED had you in..."

"The Glen," Maeve told her.

"Wanna tell me about all of that?" she asked, going back to walking.

Gwyneth was the one to speak up. "WICKED put a bunch of us in the Box and sent us up to the Glen. For two years, we got supplies once a week and a new girl once a month. We built a life there, relied on each other."

"We had to find our way out of a Maze," Maeve stated. "But there were other factors to it, like it changing all the bloody time and the Grievers inside of it as well."

"So you all lived like that for two years?"

"Not all of us," Lillie answered. "I was only up there for two months. Piper was there for only one month."

"Then Rachel and Aris showed up and everything changed," Piper added.

"Well, I'm sure we'll find Rachel and your other friends soon," Aurora tried to assure her.

"Rachel's dead," she blurted out, making Aurora stop and look at her. "She died after we got out of the Maze."

Aurora's face fell. "I'm sorry." She sighed. "Hopefully, your other friends are out there, in the mountains, maybe."

"Yeah, all two of them," Gwyneth scoffed. "Harriet and Sonya are really the only ones from our Maze that we're searchin' for."

Suddenly, the sound of screeching and snarling echoed in the distance.

"Damn," Aurora cursed under her breath.

"Were those Cranks?" Gwyneth asked, concerned.

"Yes," Aurora said truthfully. "And they definitely will catch up with us, which means we gotta move faster now."

Their pace quickened as they hurried deeper inside the building, trying not to trip over their feet or anyone else's for that matter. Through the clutter and dust, it was making things harder for the girls to get as far away from the Cranks as possible.

Then, just their luck, they ran into some, freezing in place.

"Back up!" Aurora shouted, pulling her gun from her shoulder. She aimed it toward the Cranks and shot at them, the creatures falling to the floor. She slung the gun back over her shoulder and motioned the rest to keep going. "Come on!"

The girls went back to running, not wanting to run into any more Cranks. Their hearts were pumping as Aurora finally led them out of the building, panting and trying to catch their breaths.

"Well, that was fun," Aurora stated. "Let's try not to run into any more."

It was already light by the time they were outdoors and back in the Scorch. The thought of everyone else scattered all over the Scorch made Piper worry that they would all be split up for a while now, especially since the Scorch was a big place.

"Now what?" Maeve questioned.

"We have to find Jorge and the others while blending in," Aurora answered, staring at the people ahead of them.

"With a gun over your shoulder?" Lillie pointed out.

Aurora rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine. Come on."

The heat was already hitting down on them, the sweat dripping down their faces and running down the rest of our bodies. Piper felt her hair sticking to the back of her neck as they continued walking. Piper mouth longed for a drink of water, parched to the bitter core.

Piper swallowed hard, rubbing the sweat off her forehead. "Do you have any idea where this Marcus guy is at, Aurora?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Not really. I mean, the Scorch is pretty big."

Maeve scoffed. "That helps a lot, thanks."

Aurora spun around, shooting Maeve daggers. "You're lucky that you have me to guide you out here. Otherwise, you'd be either back in the hands of WICKED or mauled to death by Cranks." She held her gaze at Maeve a bit longer. "You're not stuck inside the Glen anymore surrounded by a Maze. You're in the Scorch now, out in the open, where anyone can easily get their hands on you."

Maeve rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Let's just find everyone else and see if this Marcus guy can help us."

So Aurora went back to being the leader, strolling closer towards the people in the Scorch. It was surprising to see how anyone could live here, based on what we all had seen since they first got out here. Nevertheless, they spotted people under worn out tents with little shade, cooking the little food they were able to make for themselves.

"So, Piper..." Lillie started, getting her attention. "What's the deal with you and Aris?"

"What?" she asked, confused.

"It's just that you two seem like you've gotten a lot closer since WICKED split us up."

"Well, we only had each other when we were in the hands of WICKED."

"Still, there's something else between you guys..." Lillie stated, grinning.

Piper rolled her eyes. "No, there isn't."

She sighed. "You'll see it soon enough."

Piper shook her head in disbelief. There was nothing between them, no way. Lillie was out of her mind to think that.

"Stop." Aurora froze in place, followed by the rest of the girls. She scanned around very cautiously.

"So much for blending in..." Maeve mumbled.

"Hold on," Aurora stated. "I hear someone..."

"Psst!" someone hissed not too far from them.

"I heard it that time," Piper spoke up.

Aurora looked around some more, paying close attention to her surroundings this time. Then, she focused on a narrow path made by two buildings nearby. So, she began walking in that direction, with the others following along, trying to be as discreet as possible. In the path, they all took cautious steps, adrenaline pumping and sweat falling down their bodies faster.

"Stay behind me," Aurora ordered, grabbing her gun, preparing to shoot at someone.

"Rory, don't shoot!" Jorge jumped out, putting his hands out in front of him.

Aurora jumped back a bit, exhaling a sigh of relief. "Don't do that, Jorge!" she hissed, putting her gun down.

The others came up from behind Jorge. The first person Piper made eye contact with was Aris, who was relieved to see her. "Piper!" he said, running toward her and giving her a hug.

She was thrown off for a moment, but then she hugged him back. "Hey to you, too."

He pulled away, looking at her and taking her hand. "Where were you girls?"

"We assumed you were right behind us," Jorge spoke up.

"And then we saw the building blow up," Aris added. "We thought you were gone, so we went ahead and ran."

"It's okay. We're all here now," Piper assured him, looking down at their holding hands, then quickly letting go of them. "Well, almost all of us."

"Have you guys seen Brenda and Thomas?" Aurora asked. "We lost them after we escaped."

Jorge nodded his head. "Yeah, I saw them."

Aurora furrowed her eyebrows. "Okay, and they're not with us because...?"

Jorge walked past us, motioning us to follow him. "Follow me."

They all obliged, walking back into the city, where Jorge led them to a specific hangout spot. There were people with unusual outfits, moving in strange ways, giving off a bad vibe. They were up to something, but what?

"See that guy?" Jorge pointed at a tired and raggedy-looking guy in the distance, laughing and staring at the ladies as he went inside. "That's Marcus. He's got both of them. I saw them go inside."

"What does he want with them?" Lillie questioned.

Jorge shook his head. "He's just sleazy like that." He turned around and looked at the others. "Get ready, kids. We're gonna raid his little house party."

"Raid it?" Piper repeated. "Like, right now?

"Yup, right now! Let's go!" With that, Jorge stormed off towards the house, followed by everyone else, not sure what they were about to get into.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, that was good, right? It was a lot longer than I thought it would be.

Now we're getting (sort of) closer to the end of book 2! Who is ready?

Song above is Walkin' After Midnight by Patsy Cline aka Jorge's favorite song.

Comment, vote, more to come!

-A