Chapter 15:
>Fabulously<______________________________________
Darcy looked out the window as they drove. She wasn't even fully aware of who the Right Arm were.
She was glad to see Harriet and Sonya, even if they were never the best of friends in the Square. They were the ones in charge, so they never really had time to talk to her. Nevertheless, they still helped her when she was the newbie, and she was grateful. Plus, a couple more familiar faces was definitley comforting.
She was in the car that Sonya was driving. Thomas and Minho sat in the seats beside her, Brenda in the front. Everyone else was with Harriet, as her car was slightly bigger.
After what seemed to be Thomas' one hundredth question since they started to drive, Darcy finally told him to shut up, which earned a laugh from Sonya.
There was a few moments of silence before Sonya spoke.
"So, Darcy," she began, "How have you been holding up?"
"Fabulously."
Minho snickered. "If you call nearly dying 'fabulous,' then that's definitely the truth."
"That's exactly my definition of 'fabulous,' Minho. So thank you for the compliment."
Minho rolled his eyes as he turned away, looking out the window.
"Wait, Darcy, you've almost died?"
"Quite a few times."
Sonya said something else, but Darcy didn't hear. A sudden though struck her. It filled her with anger at the driver and her bitten arm throbbed.
"Wait a minute," she cut the girl off. "How come you guys escaped without me?"
Sonya faltered for a moment as she glanced at her through the mirror. "Darcy, we didn't have a plan, we just--"
"You left we in there with only Aris for company--"
"Ouch," muttered Minho.
"-- and you made me think that you had been taken into that weird room with the bodies! As miserable as the Scorch is, W.I.C.K.E.D wasn't exactly the most glamourous place to remain in either."
"Darcy, we just--"
Anger flared inside her. "Never mind. I know why. You just didn't want to take me because I'm just a 'little girl' who can't take care of herself."
"I thought you weren't little?" asked Minho.
"Minho, shut up!"
"Darcy, just calm down--"
"Thomas, do not tell me to call down! I'll calm down when I want to calm down," she waited a few seconds before saying, "Okay, now I want to calm down."
Everyone was quiet. Darcy sometimes got like this inside the maze. She was a headstrong young girl and sometimes just needed a while to cool down.
Thomas continued to ask questions, but Darcy tuned him out, instead staring at the sky. She remembered the conversation she had with Newt one night, about space. In some ways, the sky calmed her. It made her feel like her problems weren't that big. It made her feel like there was so much out there, that she had so much to live for. It made her feel safe.
She didn't even realise that she was starting to fall asleep.
"Come on, Darce. You've gotta eat something," came the voice of Amelia.
Darcy was sitting against a tree. It was about a week after she had arrived. She was so confused and scared. All she had been doing was avoiding everyone and sleeping.
"I'm not hungry."
"Doesn't matter. We don't want you starving."
"I wouldn't mind starving."
"Well I don't want you to starve. You're about the only person I can stand in this place, I don't want you dying," a pause, "and besides, starving wouldn't be the best way to go."
Darcy sighed as she got up with the help of Amelia.
They walked through the Square, all the way to the place where they ate their food.
All of a sudden, someone called her name.
"Darcy!"
"Darcy!"
Her eyes snapped open, sitting up quickly. This resulted in her bumping her head against Thomas', the one who had been calling her name.
"Ow!"
"Shuck!"
They both clutched their heads.
"Guess I headed in the wrong direction, eh, Thomas?"
Darcy received a glare, but didn't blame him. That one was pretty bad after all.
"At least you've calmed down," muttered Thomas.
Darcy rolled her eyes as she followed Thomas.
When they got out of the car, they seemed to be at a large camp high in the mountains. Smoke filled the air from people's fires. Tents were scattered around and chattering could be heard amongst the people.
"They've been planning this for over a year now. This is all for us," explained Harriet.
"You guys are lucky you found us when you did. We're moving out at first light," added Sonya. "Where's Vince?" She asked a passer by.
"Over there." He pointed in the direction.
"Who's Vince?" asked Thomas.
"He's the one who decides if you get to stay," answered Sonya.
They walked a moment in silence before Minho said, "I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army."
"An army... the Right Arm."
"Maybe just give the jokes a break for a while, Darcy," said Thomas.
"They're not jokes, they're puns. Besides, I'm the only one here with a sense of humour. We need someone to stop the atmosphere being so depressing all the time."
Darcy was too busy talking, she didn't realise that Vince had arrived. He was walking towards them, just after saying something that Darcy missed.
"Lot of good people died getting us this far. Who are they?" he asked Harriet.
"They're immunes. Caught 'em coming up the mountain."
Immunes?
"You check 'em?"
"I know this guy, Aris and her, Darcy. I trust them."
"Well, I don't. Check 'em."
"Hey, boss..." a random guy said, looking uncertainly at Brenda.
Brenda was having trouble breathing. Her eyes rolled back as she fell forward onto the ground.
"Brenda! Brenda!" exclaimed Jorge.
He picked her up slightly as she was still having trouble breathing.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry," she uttered.
"What's going on with her?" asked Vince.
"I don't know! Brenda... are you alright? Brenda!?"
Vince pulled down a wrapping on her leg, revealing a bite, just like the one Darcy had on her arm.
Vince quickly pulled out his gun, about to aim it at Brenda.
Without hesitation, Darcy aswell as some of the others, who she didn't have time to identify, jumped in front of her, shouting in protest. Thomas moved forward towards Vince.
"Listen, listen," he tried. "Okay, look, this just happened, okay? She's not dangerous yet."
"Well, you shouldn't have brought her here!" shouted Vince.
"I know, I--"
"We let Cranks in here now, the safe haven doesn't last a week."
As Thomas tried reasoning with Vince, Darcy was silently panicking. How long would it be before what happened to Brenda happens to her? What if she got shot because of her bite?
Darcy never realised that you could become a Crank. She could now presume that you became one when you got bitten. But what was it Harriet said about immunes earlier? Immune to Cranks? Darcy sure hoped so. But, if Brenda wasn't immune, it was possible that Darcy wasn't either. But maybe that was why W.I.C.K.E.D took her, because she was immune.
Her hope suddenly deflated when Winston's face popped up in her brain. Winston wasn't immune. The same thing that happened to Brenda had happened to him, and he was with W.I.C.K.E.D. Darcy wasn't sure how lucky she would be. All she could do was rely on the fact that she hadn't shown any Crank signs yet. Or had she...?
"--put her out of her misery."
Darcy only now realised that Newt and Fry had pulled her off of Brenda, bringing her away from the guns. Jorge was restrained by two men and Brenda was still on the ground, her chest heaving. And Vince and Harriet had their guns pointed at her.
"No!" shouted Darcy.
She quickly broke out of the boy's restraints, as they weren't holding her arms tightly, and ran forwards. Once she reached the ground, she quickly squeezed her eyes shut, shielding Brenda.
There were many shouts of "No!" And people trying to run forwards, but a shout caused everything to go silent.
"Vince! That's enough! Let 'em go! Let 'em go."
"She's infected, doc."
Newt quickly stumbled forwards, grabbing Darcy's arm and pulling her away from Brenda. She didn't even try to break free from his grasp.
"There's nothing we can do for her."
"No," she said, smiling. "But he can. Hello, Thomas."
"You know me?" asked a confused Thomas.
"Interesting... makes sense they put you in the maze. Though I must admit, I was worried they'd kill you after what you did."
Darcy looked around at everyone. Just like her, they seemed confused.
"What I did?"
"The first time we spoke, you said you couldn't take it anymore, watching your friends die one-by-one. The last time we spoke, you gave me the coordinates of every W.I.C.K.E.D compound, trial and lab."
"He was our source," realised Vince.
"We couldn't have pulled all this off without him." A pause. "Take her to the tent. Get these guys some warm clothes."
Jorge, with the help of another man, picked Brenda up, presumably bringing her to a tent.
The woman brought Thomas away, whilst Vince stayed with the rest of the group. He had a sad look on his face.
Darcy waited a moment before asking, "Do you guys have a bathroom or...?"