The trio turned around to see the men.

"Run!", yelled Matt, doing just that. Iona reached out and grabbed him. "Stop! We can't outrun them. They have gùns they can just shoot", said Iona.

Matt looked over at Ed, who nodded. "She's right"

"Well what do we do then?", asked Matt, panicked.

"Ed, you've got a good punch. We'll hold them off long enough for Matt to disarm them", said Iona, taking charge. She seemed like a natural leader, a rulebreaker.

Ed didn't hesitate and stood next to Iona, giving Matt enough room to see the gùns but also stay protected.

To their suprise, they didn't shoot. Instead they charged forward and threw punches.

Iona and Ed were ready, fighting them off. Iona did her signature limb twist whilst Ed punched the other man's stomach.

The man crouched down low on the floor, groaning. The other man ran over to him. "Craig!"

The trio took the opportunity and started running.

They didn't look back, adrenaline pulsing through their veins, pushing them to carry on. They were far away from the men now. Not enough to stop running entirely but enough to slow down. They tried to catch their breath. Just as Matt was about to speak, a loud groan of pain came from someone.

"Ed!", Matt yelled as he turned around and saw the older man in pain on the floor.

One of the men had shot a bullet in his arm.

"Ed come on, you need to get up", panicked Matt, going to him. "U-Uh.. m-man up! Come on!", he rambled, desperately.

Even in excruciating pain, Ed still managed roll his eyes sarcastically. "Get up? Thanks for the not obvious advice", he said sarcastically, in between groans.

Iona helped him up by putting his right arm over her, Matt doing the same with Ed's left arm. The bullet went through his right arm so Iona grabbed a shirt from her bag and ripped it, putting the piece of it over his wound. "We need to take him back to wherever you guys live. And fast"

Matt nodded and they all walked together, heading back to the house.

"So where do you live?", asked Iona after a few minutes of them walking.

"Colburg. We originally stayed in the neighbouring village, Harville, but we had to move", said Matt.

Iona nodded. "Colburg. Yeah, I know where that is. This woods is a part of that village"

"It is? Why's it called the Hapton Woods then?", asked Matt, curious.

"Named after the man who claimed to have found the Flare Virus Cure. Course, he lied. The name kind of just stuck though. The main area, where most of the houses are, I know the way and it's quite far. Did you guys stock up on supplies before you came?"

Matt nodded, suprised. He hadn't known a man faked knowing a cure for the Flare. It sent a bit of anger through him, knowing that someone could lie about such a thing. "Uh, yeah. Water bottles, food. Essentials"

Iona nodded. "Good. We're looking at a good 30 minutes"

Ed yelled out in pain again. This time, it was obvious that it was becoming unbearable.

"Ed.. Ed can you hold on long enough for us to get back to the others?", asked Matt, gripping his hand.

Ed just shook his head, his body shaking as he screamed.

"Ok, ok! The bullet's probably duplicated. We need to remove it now", said Iona, lifting Ed's arm off of her and getting him on the ground.

Matt furrowed his eyebrow. "How do you know about the bullets duplicating?"

Iona frowned, thinking of how she could answer.

Ed's heartbreaking screams stopped the conversation as they both looked at him.

"Matt, got any sharp things in your bags?", asked Iona.

"Uh...", Matt said, grabbing his bag and looking through it. "Here", he said, getting out a fork and giving it to her.

Iona stared at it for a few seconds before sighing. "It'll have to do", she said and took it. "Ok, Ed, you're gonna feel a lot of pain", she said, not sugarcoating it but saying it in a comforting manner.

Ed nodded and braced himself. "Just get the buggin' things out"

Iona nodded and made a cut so that she could feel around for the bullet. She acted quickly and efficiently, doing whatever she could to make this as pain free as possible.

Matt was in awe of Iona's leadership skills and did everything he was asked to. "Will he be ok?", he whispered to her.

"Well he's yelling a lot less so that's a good sign", she said, giving him a reassuring smile.

Matt nodded, believing her.

"What are you's two plotting?", grumbled Ed, though from the expression of his face he wasn't angry.

"Nothing, wise man. Just keep still", laughed Matt, making Iona laugh too.

"Right. It's removed. There were 3 bullets but no more", said Iona, putting the things down. "We need to get him back quickly though because I don't have any equipment to stitch him up here"

Matt rubbed his chin, thinking. The wound needed to be closed but it couldn't stay open while they got him back to the House. "We'll need to stay here for the night. It'll get dark before we've reached the house so we should just camp out here"

"Good idea. How will we get him back without being stitched tomorrow though?", asked Iona.

Matt thought, running a hand through his hair. "In the morning, I'll head back. I'll grab some stuff and then come back here. I'm sure I'll remember the way"

Iona nodded, though Ed wasn't so sure.

"No. You need to go now. Knowing you you'd forget your left from your right! I need to get back now. Sandra and Mel need me", said Ed.

"Oh leave it will you? They can cope without you. Focus on you now!", argued Matt, with a sigh.

"Just stop! Ok, both of you. We'll head back now. There's no guarantee we'll be able to hold his wound so that it doesn't open up more, all night. Besides, if the 3 of us go and other people come for us we'll be able to hold them off", said Iona, taking control once more and calming the situation.

Ed nodded, liking this idea. "Sounds like a plan", he said. He continued walking, Iona following.

Matt just stood there, confused. "How does she do it?", he said to himself, still perplexed. He ran after them.

The rest of the Journey was good. Ed explained their situation to Iona, something Mark tried to stop him from doing. Iona seemed like a good person but that's probably the exact same things the parents of all the deceased Gladers thought.

"Here we are", said Matt, pointing to the Group of people who were sat on the Benches.

Matt looked at Iona's face which was unreadable. He turned his attention to Ed, who was holding his arm.
"Ok so I think we shouldn't rus-", started Matt.
"-Sandra! Mel! We're back!", yelled Ed.

"Or we could just do that", said Matt with a sigh.

The group looked at the trio, their eyes wide.

Sandra ran forward, relief on her face. She threw her arms around Ed, pulling him close.

Ed groaned in pain, unable to hug her back. The others had come too but Matt didn't have time to greet any of them, not even Mia. He had to make Ed better.

"Ed's been shot. With the same type of bullet Cal was shot with", said Matt, quickly.

Their eyes widened. "What?", asked Sandra, horror in her eyes as she saw the wound. "Why are there incision marks?"

"Iona cut his arm to take out the bullets", said Matt, pointing to Iona.

The Group looked at her, shocked.

Iona just stood there, more concerned for Ed than basking in this glory.

Cal, who looked a lot better now that he had a fresh set of clothes on and a bandage wrapped around the wound, which wasn't visible as it was under his shirt, looked at Iona questionably. It was clear he didn't trust her that much. "Mel, can I talk to you for a second please?", he asked.

Mel nodded, slowly looking away from Ed's injury. The pair moved closer to the house.

"I don't trust her", said Cal.

Mel raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Why not?"

"How did she know the bullets duplicated? I think she's working for the people that shot me. All I know is that she can't be trusted"

After a few minutes, Mel replied. "You might be right but she helped save Ed. So as long as nothing too suspicious happens, I trust her"

Cal frowned but nodded. "Fine. She did help Ed. I'll keep my opinions about her to myself but something's telling me she's trouble"

"Why didn't you tell me you were shot?", asked Sandra, who was stitching up Ed's wound.

"You didn't give me much chance did you?", he said with a laugh, trying to make her less worried.

Sandra frowned. "Ed, if I lost you-"

"- But you didn't. Thanks to Iona and Matt, I'm still here. So don't be upset", said Ed.

Sandra sighed but nodded. She gently kissed along his arm, where the wound had been stitched.

"I ain't one of your plants, Sandra. Remember when you used to kiss the leaves on your flowers after they died because Miss Smith told you they'd come back to life?", said Ed, reminiscing about their childhood.

Sandra let out a small laugh, sounding like a young girl again. Ed pulled her closer, so that her head rested against his chest.

"It's gonna be ok. We're going to make it. All of us"

"D.T.I? Sounds like an IT Company", joked TJ, poking at the green vine like object that Matt had found.

"Be careful, TJ", warned Mel.

"It's a disgusting colour", stated Cassie, turning her face away in dismay.

Lou and Liz laughed at Cassie's hatred for the vine.

TJ continued poking it, though not as fiercely. Cassie seized hold of it, her nail sliding across it. "Stop touching the damń thing!", she exclaimed. As she lifted it up,  luminescent, green slime oozed from the accidental cut she had made.

"Drop it!", yelled Iona, slapping it out of Cassie's hand after a few seconds.

It hit the floor but everyone looked at Iona instead.

"Did you know it had slime in it?", asked Cal.

Iona shook her head. "No. I just saw it when it came out of the cut in the vine", she said, though she sounded uneasy.

Cal raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "We'd better clean it up then", he said, walking to it.

Iona held her hand out, stopping him. "No. L-Let's leave it for a while. It might be easier to clean when it's dry"

"Looks like it'll be easier to clean when it's not", he replied.

"I'll clean it then. I was the one that made the mess", said Iona.

"I'll help you then", said Cal.

"I don't need help. I can do it by myself", said Iona.

"I'm sure you can. I'll just make sure it's done properly", he said, just wanting to see what the big deal was about the slime.

"Are you obsessed with me or something?", asked Iona, raising an eyebrow.

"As if", replied Cal, folding his arms.

"Anyone got any popcorn?", asked TJ, making Lou laugh.

"That's enough guys. There's enough slime for both of you. Food's being served now anyway. We'll bring some to you afterwards", said Liz, getting up. The others followed after her.

"Mia please talk to me. You haven't said a word since we got back", said Matt, sitting next to Mia. They were both on Mia's bed.

"Iona's pretty, isn't she?", said Mia, not making eye contact with him.

Matt was taken by surprise. "Uh, I hadn't really noticed if I'm honest", he said, truthfully.

Mia seemed to believe him because she relaxed slightly. "I thought I lost you. I hadn't realised how quiet it is without you"

"Uh, thanks?", said Matt, not sure if it was a compliment.

"Don't leave again, please. I can't lose you, Matt. I need you", said Mia, finally making eye contact with him.

Matt had to resist the urge to get up and start dancing with joy. His heart rate increased, his heart practically pushing through his skin. "I can't promise I won't have to go again but I'll always be back. I promise"

Mia gave him a small smile. "Thanks Matt. I really needed to hear that"

Matt moved closer to her and put his hand over hers. He didn't really know what to say but she didn't seem to object.

Mia sighed. "Matt, I need to show you something", she said.

Matt was a little nervous but nodded, moving his hand away.

Mia slowly lifted up her dress, exposing some of her back.

Matt fidgeted uncomfortably. Was Mia trying to hint at something?

Mia's full back was now exposed and Matt saw it. Near her right shoulder blade. A series of purple and green vein- like lines protruding out of her skin.