The Group stared in horror and confusion as the two girls ran to the girl and boy.

"Cal? Cal it's ok, we've got you", comforted Lou, taking the boy from Dessy and laying him on the ground.

The boy had a hole dangerously close to his heart. The flesh around it knotted in a painful mesh of blood and skin. Blood seeped from it, all down his chest. His face was a pale grey, the excruciating pain he was in was visible on his face. He yelled out in pain, clutching onto Lou's hands.

"Ok...Cal I'm gonna try and help you but you need to let go of my hands", said Lou, softly, the worry evident in her tone of voice and her face.

Despite his efforts, Cal couldn't let go fully, needing to hold onto someone or something to try and decrease the pain that rippled through his body.

Liz stepped in to help, taking his hands. "Lou, go with Dessy, I've got this"

Lou nodded and moved her hands away, going over to Dessy. Liz grabbed a bunch of towels and pressed them down on the wound, frowning as he winced in pain.

Lou pulled the crying girl into a hug. "It's ok Dessy... Liz will help him. Are you hurt?"

The girl simply shook her head, too shocked and upset to speak.

"Dessy I know you're upset but please, we need to know what happened so we can do something about it", said Lou, gently.

Dessy tried to speak but the words wouldn't come out. All she could do was stare helplessly at her brother.

Lou frowned and her face softened even more. "Go inside and get cleaned up, I'll get you some food. We'll talk about this later, try and stay calm for now", she said.

Dessy nodded and went off into the house.

Lou rubbed her forehead, sighing as her eyes met with the Group's.
"Sorry, is it ok if you show yourselves to bed? It's just, getting Cal better is our main focus now"

"No no, of course we don't mind...", said Sandra, moving forward. Her gaze fell on the boy, screaming out in pain. She frowned, remembering Lani. "...but we would love to help. In any way we can"

Lou was slightly taken aback.  "You would? That would help a lot, thankyou! If someone could clean up the dishes and we'll need a few people getting fresh towels for Cal", said Lou.

Sandra nodded before turning back to the others. "Cassie, Matt, you're on clean up duty. Mia you sort out our stuff into the rooms please. Mel and Ed, with me helping out Cal, Lou and Liz"

They all nodded.

"What about me?", asked TJ.

Sandra looked at TJ then at the house. "We'll need to know who those men were"

Ed stood forward. "Yeah that's a must, TJ, get the girl to talk", he said, not trying to be rude.

"Her name's Dessy, and that would really help", said Lou, politely.

TJ nodded and went inside.

From that point on, it was all systems go. Cassie and Matt washed and cleaned up as quickly as they could. "He looked really bad", said Matt, holding his hand out for another plate.

Cassie nodded. "I know right, I hope he's ok. That wound was pretty big", she said, giving him a plate she washed.

Mia had finally finished sorting out everyone's things. Ed had told her where each of them would be sleeping. She looked out of the window and gasped as she got a painfully clear view of the boy's uncovered wound. She covered her mouth, horror in her eyes.

They stopped applying pressure for a minute or so to see how effective it was.

Lou had a box of medical equipment. When Liz was satisfied that the bullet had been removed she let Lou stitch up the wound.

Sandra was comforting the boy, asking him questions about what he liked, trying to distract him from the pain.

Ed and Mel had fresh towels at the ready.

"So, tell me about Dessy. She's a little sweetheart isn't she?", said Sandra softly, touching his hair.

"Sh-she's...a... a right joker", he breathed out, a slight laugh coming out at the end, along with a weak smile.

Sandra smiled and let out a small laugh. "Like our TJ then. Don't worry, we'll get you right as rain and you can meet the rest of us. We're an odd bunch but hopefully you'll like that"

Cal laughed and slowly nodded, agreeing that he'd very much like that too.

Before Sandra could speak again, Cal yelled out in pain.

"What the h*ll...", said Liz as she stared at the boy's stitched wound rising as lumps became visible.

"Something's moving inside him", exclaimed Liz in sheer shock.

Lou moved closer to get a better look. "I can't tell what's going on"

"You need to open up the wound, get a better look", said Ed, taking the metal stick.

Before anyone could protest he quickly began unstitching the wound, quickening the pace when he heard the boy'a scream.

Ed inspected the freshly opened wound, blood pouring out.

"We need to act quickly. Lou, you've got smaller hands than I have, get inside the wound and feel around", said Ed.

Everyone stared in horror.

"You can poke around in his body!", said Sandra, Liz agreeing.

"Look our best way of helping him is if we see what's going on inside", said Ed.

They nodded and Lou slowly put her hand in and began feeling around, continuously apologising as he yelled.

"Wait! I-I can feel... something round. I think I got it", she said, pulling it out.

Everyone stared at the object, confusion in their eyes. It was a bullet.

Liz reached over for the bullet she pulled out the wound first. "Maybe he was shot twice?"

Mel shook her head. "No, you would've been able to get both bullets together", said Mel.

Cassie, Matt and Mia had joined them, TJ still inside with Dessy.

Mia looked closely at one bullet, Matt taking the other.

"Hold on...", said Mia, her eyes squinting to see something on the bullet. "There's writing on it. It says M. 43"

They all looked at eachother, curiosity in all of them. Thankfully, Cal didn't scream in pain anymorw which was a sign that they could stitch him up again. He still couldn't move a lot though.

Matt looked at his bullet. "This says M.44"

"Maybe the Group that shot him were part of an organisation?", suggested Mel.

"Like WICKED?", asked Cassie, scared.

The very name struck fear in everyone's hearts. They had heard many stories about the brave Gladers who fought for the chance to be free from the cruel system that robbed their childhood.

Mia had a collection of books that were written about some of the Gladers. Alby, Newt, Minho, Gally, Chuck, Thomas, Teresa. Many more too. Her aunt worked for WICKED when it was in its prime. She was particularly close to Alby and Newt. She couldn't handle the guilt anymore so she left the organisation.

It was a pretty selfless thing to do, in Mia's opinion, because from the very minute she joined WICKED she knew she wasn't immune.

"If WICKED is back or, if there's a group like them, out there... I don't want to see them", said Mia, frowning.

Matt pulled her into a side hug, holding her hand too. "It's ok...they can't hurt us. Even if they tried, I wouldn't let them win. I promise"

Mia pulled him closer, moving her face closer to his as if she wanted to do something Matt had always dreamed of doing. She stopped though, gently pulling away and turning back to the others.

"Matt's right. Though I'm sure there's nothing to worry about", said Mel.

"Well whatever it is, or whoever it is, can't be nice guys. We should find out what's going on", said Ed.

The others seemed to agree, though they looked back at Cal, clear that he wasn't well enough to come.

TJ and Dessy were back in the house.

"So, you gonna tell me what happened?", he asked, not pushing too much.

Dessy had calmed down a little and took a sip of her juice. "We were walking back from the shops. We heard loud footsteps, like there was a whole group of people. So Cal said we needed to hide. 3 men dressed in purple suits, the kind you wear at a contaminated, walked around, holding really big guns. They were talking for a bit and..."

"It's ok, you're doing really well", said TJ, sweetly.

"Can I have a biscuit please?", she asked.

TJ nodded, standing up. "Of course! You know what?", he said, grabbing the packet. "You can have 3", he said, a chuckle escaping his lips.

Dessy let out s small laugh, taking the biscuits. "Thanks"

She ate both biscuits and started speaking again. "They stayed for a while, still talking so we had to make a run for it. They saw us and shot Cal. Then I carried him. It was weird though"

"Why was it weird?", asked TJ.

"They just shot him once and then left"

"I'll go with you Ed. We'll search the area for a bit then come back", offered Matt.

"Are you mad?", asked Mia.

"Absolutely not, Matt. I'm sorry. It's too dangerous", said Sandra.

"I want to help! Nothing gets sorted if we sit around and wait. You and Ed taught us that", said Matt.

"The kid's got a point. I'll be with him through it all any way", said Ed.

Sandra thought about, clearly not liking it. "Fine. But be back by 10"

"7 hours, that should be enough", said Ed.

TJ and Dessy walked to them.

"Dessy!", smiled Lou, hugging her. "Did she tell you?", asked Lou, talking to TJ.

TJ nodded. "Yep. 3 men in purple suits came and shot Cal", he said, stopping as he saw Cal. "Sorry mate, I know you don't want to relive it"

Cal shook his head. "It's fine. If it helps then I will. Did Dessy tell you how many times they shot me?"

TJ nodded. "Yeah she did, she said it was once"

"Why would they just shoot you once? Wouldn't they shoot multiple times?", asked Liz.

"Unless they knew one would do the trick", said Cassie.

Everyone turned to her, shocked. Cassie had barely spoken since arriving and it was mainly about how tired she was.

"What are you getting at?", asked Ed.

"Well, what if they only did it once because they knew about the bullet, I don't know...", she said, trying to think of the right word.

"Multiplying itself?", said Mia, finishing off.

They looked at her, Cassie nodding.

"Yeah, multiplying. So they wouldn't need to keep shooting him with them", said Cassie.

Dessy picked up a bullet, looking at it. "M.43?"

"Yeah it's the name of the organisation", said Mel.

"Or...", said TJ.

"Or what?", asked Lou.

"Well, maybe you're going about it wrong. Why would they name it the first letter of their group? Wouldn't they use the whole name or atleast a shortened version?", said TJ.

Sandra nodded. "Yeah, I can see what you're saying"

"What if it's multiply?", suggested Dessy.

They all fell silent, thinking.

"Go on gi- Dessy. What do you mean?", said Ed.

"You said so yourself, what if the bullets multiply? Someone could have invented this new weapon that replicates, multiplies bullets. Each one could have a different amount of times it multiplies. So they name the bullet M and then whatever number the bullet is", said Dessy.

They all thought. This was a good explanation but it left a lot more questions.

"That's good thinking Dessy! Well Ed and I are going to check the area out so we can see what's going on about the weapons too", said Matt.

They nodded and Ed and Matt started to pack.

Cal held out his hands to Dessy.

Dessy ran forward and hugged him, careful not to hurt him.

         *10 MINUTES LATER*

Ed and Matt had almost finished packing.

Sandra knocked on Ed's door.

"I'm getting changed wait up!", called Ed.

"It's just me don't worry", said Sandra, walking in and closing the door behind her.

Seeing Ed without a shirt on didn't really fase Sandra, they went swimming together as kids. She would always joke to him and the others saying it was like seeing a newly transformed werewolf.

"What's up?", asked Ed.

Sandra moved closer to him, running her hand along his arm. "Please don't go today..."

Ed was a little confused. "What? But we need to check th-"

"-just stay for today. Go in the morning. I just want to have the rest of this day, all of us together"

"Sandra, we're not going to die out there. We'll be back", said Ed.

"Please Ed", she pleaded, frowning.

Ed sighed. "You know I can't see you upset. If it makes you feel better, we'll go tomorrow"

Sandra smiled, hugging him.

             *THE NEXT DAY*

It was 5 am and Matt and Ed were already awake and packed. The others came out too, to wish them good luck.

Lou and Mel made breakfast, handing out the plates. Sandra and Ed seemed to be avoiding eachother, even going to different ends of the bench when eating.  They weren't angry at eachother or anything so it was a little weird.

By 6 am, Ed and Sandra were almost back to normal, talking every now and again.

"Let's go, kid", said Ed, calling out to Matt.

Matt nodded and cleaned his plate before grabbing his things.

"Wait, Matt!", said Mia, making Matt stop and turn to face her.

She threw her arms around his neck loosely, pulling him closer. "Please, be careful", she whispered, a slightly worried tone in her voice.

Matt hugged her back, longing to stay like this forever. Everything just seemed right when he was with her.
"I'll be fine. And I'll make sure Ed gets back in one piece too", he said, laughing as he said the last bit.

Mia giggled a little, that twinkle in her eyes returning as she did so. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, looking down as she pulled away.

Matt was surprised and the look on his face showed it. Before he got the chance to fully process what was happening, Ed grabbed his arm and started walking.

"Come on boy, we got a long day ahead of us", said Ed.

Matt nodded and they started walking, out into the Woods.

After walking for 30 minutes, most hope was lost. They expected to find atleast SOMETHING by now.

"This is kind of pointless. My feet are hurting a little", said Matt. He wasn't one to complain. When the Flare hit his area, he lost a lot of people that were close to him. His dad, his sister, his mother- well, no. She went missing but her body was never found. Naturally, after a while he assumed the worst. He didn't complain ONCE though. When Ed and Sandra found him and Mia, he was grateful.

"Quit complaining you sound like Cassie", said Ed, looking around.

Matt sighed, running a hand through his hair. He spotted something wrapped around a tree, too pale to be a vine. It was mint green. He walked up to it, examining it. He saw there was writing on it. "Ed! Come look at this!", he called out.

Ed ran over, kneeling down to have a closer look. He read out the letters.

'D.T.I'