The Trigger (A Newt fanfiction)

WOW it's been forever since an update. Sorry! To be honest I've been focusing on my other stories and have been a bit stuck with this book. But thankfully, watching the Scorch Trials movie yesterday boosted my imagination, and so here is another chapter! Enjoy! :)

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I stare mindlessly out the window of the bus. Everyone seems to be lost in thought. Then, the bus screeches to a halt.

"What happened?" I hear a girl ask.

I look through the front of the bus, and a terrifying sight catches my eye. A sickly man with blistered skin, greasy hair, and wild eyes stands in the middle of the road. His ankle seems to be twisted in an unnatural way. He smiles with yellow mangled teeth.

"Move on!" I hear one of the rescuers yell out the door.

"Gonna save us all!" the sick man cackles, limping closer to the bus. "Gonna save us from the Flare!"

The Flare?

The rescuer grunts to himself, then steps off the bus and over to the sick man. He picks him up and flings him to the side of the road.

"Stay put or I'll kill you!" he says, heading back towards the bus.

The sickly man cackles once again, and stares through the window at me. A shiver races down my spine. What happened to that guy?

The rescuer climbs on the bus, and as the doors close, the ill man gets to his feet and starts sprinting towards the bus, his eyes full of lunacy.

"Go!" the rescuer yells to the driver, and he steps on the gas pedal, lurching the bus forward and over the mans' body.

I blankly stare forward, processing my thoughts one by one. Quiet chatter erupts throughout the bus, but Harriet and I don't exchange any words. We both knew, deep down, that this was not what the world used to be like.

The world we live in now is a blistering, hot desert. It's unnatural.

"Hey," Harriet speaks up, her gaze traveling to our rescuers. "I don't believe we formally met each other. Who are you and why did you rescue us?"

A man, presumably the leader, chuckles. "We rescue you and your friends' asses and you dare ask us why? Ungrateful."

Harriet huffs. "Well can you at least tell us where you're taking us, smart guy?"

"Oh, just a cliff so I can throw you off," he smirks, sarcasm coating his voice. He then frowns. "Where do you think, sunshine?"

Harriet abruptly stands up, fists clenched. Her eyes burn with rage. I stand up with her, holding her back. "Harriet. No," I say.

The man raises his hands up in defense, a playful grin forming on his face. He looks over at me. "Sheesh, if I would've known your friend was a hot head I would've told my men to leave her behind."

"Listen," Sonya interrupts, "How about you quit being an asshole?"

The man snaps his head towards Sonya. "Well, sweet pea, it just so happens that this asshole is saving your skins from the Cranks."

"Cranks?" Harriet asks, her eyebrows arched.

"Damn right. That man you just saw, was a Crank."

"What is it?" I ask.

The man rolls his eyes. "You girls got a lot to learn."

Suddenly, the bus stops, and the rescuers hop out. I peer outside to see where we are. We are stopped in front of a large building. The rescuers wave their hands for us to follow them and we do so.

I step out into the blistering heat, my eyes squinting to see. A hot breeze blows by, and my legs are stung by the sand. We quickly file inside.

We are immediately greeted by a tall man with a long nose. He smiles. "Welcome," he says. "I've been waiting for you all."

"Who are you?" Harriet asks.

"I'm Dr. Janson," he says, without further explanation. "Enough questions, though. I'm sure you all are wanting something in those stomachs of yours, eh? And maybe clean up a bit?"

We all hesitate. Until I decide to make the first move. "Fine, but afterwards, can we get some questions answered?"

"Of course," he smiles, then guides us away.

After we clean up and eat, the guards lead us into a large recreational room. We take a seat at some empty tables, and await further instructions.

Dr. Janson walks in, a file of papers in his hand. "Maya," he calls out. "Could you follow me?"

I stand up, and I feel all eyes on me. I glance at Newt, and he looks very concerned. I walk over to Janson and follow him out of the room and down a hallway.

I sit down in a room with him, and he pulls out papers and such. "Now, Maya," he starts. "What do you remember about WICKED?"

I blink, trying to remember all that I can. My memories came out fuzzy, but I tried to relay them to him. "I remember being prodded with tools. And watching people die from a screen. I think I, somehow, worked with them," I say, biting my tongue at the last sentence.

He nods, interested. "I see. Now, the important question. Whose side are you on?"

I flash back to the Glade. All of the innocent people WICKED killed. The things we went through because of them. Capturing kids and wiping them of their memories. There's no doubt in my mind that I'd choose my friends. "I'm on the side with my friends."

He stands up, and puts his papers away. "Alright. That's it, thank you."

"Oh, okay," I say, shocked.

"The guards will take you back to the recreational room."

"Okay," I say, and stand up. A guard waves for me to follow him, and I do so.

I enter the room, and Newt, Harriet, and Sonya walk over to me.

"What was that about?" Sonya asks.

"They just asked me whose side I was on," I reply.

"That's it?" Newt asks, his eyebrows arched.

"Yeah," I say. "And what I remembered about WICKED."

"Huh, interesting. I hope we'll be able to ask a few questions ourselves," Harriet says.

A door slides open, and a guard walks in. He walks over and asks for Newt.

I arch my eyebrow. Newt follows the guard out of the room.

"Wonder why they want him?" Sonya asks.

"I don't know," I reply, still staring at the door in which they went through.

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So for those of you that watched the movie, yes this is sharing some aspects of it, but just because I want to switch it up a bit. I'm still going to add in some book things, but I wanted it to be mixed. I hope you enjoyed! :)

-crankynewt