|They're running, running, running again

|Song: Young god, Halsey

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Dawn's P.O.V.

After we'd slept through most of the day, Minho woke us up and urged us to pack everything up. Before we left Frypan made us the most delicious meal. The reason was not clear to me, maybe he just wanted us to have a bit of happiness in the middle of this all.

We set off just as the sun went down behind the horizon, making the dusty land look almost purple. The mountains slowly became jagged peaks of shadow, growing taller and taller as we walked. The land around us was all brown and ugly, lifeless. No one spoke much as we marched along. Lisa and Minho walked close to each other and I couldn't help but feel like something had changed between the two of them, and that made me happy. Newt walked a few steps to my right, never far away.

After another few hours of walking my legs started to get tired. But as the mountains got closer, the air cooled and it felt wonderful. The fresh air was welcoming after days of nothing but warm and dry air.

Suddenly Thomas, who walked before me, stopped walking making me walk right into him. 'What are you doing?' I groaned, rubbing my nose.
He gave a curt nod forward.
Everyone came to a halt and stared at the sight before us. Halfway between us and the edge of the mountains' slope a girl had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. And she was walking toward us at a brisk pace. In her hands she held a long shaft of wood with a large, nasty looking blade lashed to one end. It was Teresa.

Her face was hard as stone and it confused me. This was the second time she appeared before us out of nowhere only this time it felt different. And seeing the look on her face was enough for me to know she wasn't here to talk.
A sudden movement stopped Thomas from walking towards her.
I turned around and my eyes widened. Girls appeared, they too seemed to come out of completely nowhere. I turned in a slow circle. Within a few seconds we were surrounded by at least twenty girls. And they all held weapons, from knives and rusty swords to jagged machetes. Several girls had bows and arrows, and one of them had an arrow pointed right at me.

A small frustrated groan escaped my lips.

This had to be the Group B Janson and Aris had been talking about. Suddenly I remembered Thomas his tattoo and moved a bit closer to him, ready to fight for his life. We just got him back, I wasn't going to loose him again. I noticed Minho, Newt and Lisa do the same. Even Frypan had his hand on his knife.

The group of girls formed a complete circle around us, there was no way we could fight our way of this.

Minho seemed to have that figured out as well, because he took his leader role up again. 'What's this crap about, Teresa? Nice way to greet your long-lost buddies.'
At the mention of the name Teresa, Brenda spun and looked sharply at Thomas. He gave her a sad nod, making me wonder what happened between them.
Teresa didn't answer the question, an eerie silence swept across the group. Teresa walked forward again and stopped about ten feet from where we had built a human wall around Thomas.
'Teresa?' Newt asked. 'What the bloody-'
'Shut up,' she said, calm and with conviction which made it only more frightning. 'And if any of you makes a move the bows start shooting.'
I honestly didn't believe it. I never liked Teresa but I also never expected her to threaten us with weapons. Teresa brought her spear up in a fighting position and pushed Newt and Minho aside.
Brenda stepped before her. Neither of them said a word but the hatred between them was visible.
Teresa moved passed her, never dropping her icy glare and then she was in front of Thomas.
Both Lisa and I moved a bit closer to him, but her hatred glare made us stop moving.
What was going on here?

'Teresa,' Thomas whispered.
She didn't move, just kept staring at him, her face unreable except for the obvious anger.
'Teresa, what's-'
'Shut up,' she said, again in that same calm voice. It made me nervous.
'But what-' Before he could finish Teresa reared back and swung the butt of her spear, smashed it right into his cheek.
Thomas groaned and fell on his knees, his hand on his face.
A small gasp escaped my lips and my grip around my knife tightened. My eyes flickered at Lisa who stared at Teresa with a burning hatred in her eyes.
It surprised me. Something must have happened between her and Thomas or else she wouldn't have cared about him at all. Even though I was angry I couldn't help to feel curious as well.

'I said shut up,' Teresa's voice took me back to my surroundings. She reached down and grabbed Thomas by the shirt, jerked up until he stood again. She repositioned her hands on the wooden shaft, pointed it at him and I knew she wouldn't hesitate to use it again. 'Is your name Thomas?'
That question was so ridiculous that I almost laughed. What was she doing? Thomas gaped at her. 'You know who I-'
She swung her spear even more violently this time, crashing the bladeless end into the side of his head, right to his hear.
Thomas cried out and I screamed. Newt took me by the wrist to stop me from jumping forward and beating Teresa to the ground.

Thomas had been one of my first friends, always ready with advice or for a friendly talk. He was the one who wanted to figure the Maze out, just as desperatly as me. We had been in this journey together from the start, he was my friend, I couldn't just let Teresa beat him like this. I noticed Lisa had a hard time holding Minho back from giving Teresa a good punch. I bit my lip and Newt took my hand, whispering in my ear. 'Don't do somethin' stupid.' I could only nod.

'You know who I am,' Thomas screamed in frustration.
'I used to anyway,' she answered in a voice that was both soft and disgusted. 'Now I'm going to ask you one more time. Is your name Thomas?'
'Yes!' He yelled back at her. 'Yes, my name is Thomas.' Frustration and pain were almost visible in his voice. Teresa nodded, then started to back away from him, the tip of the blade once again aimed at his chest.
People got out of the way as she passed the group and rejoined the circle of girls who surrounded us.

'You're coming with us,' she called out. 'Thomas. Come on. Remember, anyone tries something, the arrows fly.'

I couldn't believe my ears. This wasn't happening.
'No way!' Minho yelled. 'You're not taking him anywhere.'
Teresa acted as if she hadn't heard him, her eyes fixed on Thomas. 'This isn't some stupid game. I'm going to start counting. Every time I hit a multiple of five, we'll kill one of you with an arrow. We'll do it until Thomas is the only one left, then we'll take him away. It's up to you.'

My eyes widened. She would never do that. She couldn't just start shooting at us!

'One!' Teresa shouted.

My gaze turned to Thomas and I knew he wouldn't take any chances. He turned to look at me and I slowly shook my head. But he turned back forwards, ignoring my call.

'Two!' She shouted.

Thomas walked forwards, ignoring the comments and shouts from Minho and the other Gladers.
I could only stare.

He walked up to Teresa until he was almost nose to nose with her. I felt my heart crumble. We couldn't just let him walk towards his death!

'Fine,' Thomas said. 'Take me.'
'I only made it to two,' Teresa answered.
'Yeah. I'm really brave that way,' Thomas responded with sarcasm.
Again she hit him with the spear and he fell to the ground. He spit, blood coming out of his mouth.
This time it was Lisa who let out a scream, but Teresa gave her an angry glare, making her stop. She was on the edge of snapping and beating Teresa.

'Bring the bag,' the black haired girl said.

Two girls walked towards Thomas, carrying a burlap sack.
'We're taking him with us!' Teresa yelled. 'If anybody follows. I'll hit him again and we'll start shooting arrows.' 'Teresa!' Minho yelled and I gave him a worried glare. 'You catch the Flare that quickly? Your mind's obviously gone already.'
Not smart, Minho, not smart. And indeed she smashed the butt of her spear against Thomas his head again. I bit my lip and felt my heart ache. It was horrible watching and not being able to do anything.

'Anything else you wanna say?' Teresa asked. And after a few minutes of silence she nodded. 'Didn't think so. Put the bag over him.'
The bag slipped over his head, and they started walking away from us. They dragged him across the floor, their bows still aimed at us.

'We'll find you!' Minho suddenly started screaming. 'We have shucking weapons as well!'
Teresa hit Thomas in his stomach and Minho shut up.
Then they disappeared out of sight as they walked further into the mountains.

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Hey guys!

I am so sorry it took me so long to update. But between having a jet lag from my trip to Canada, the charger of my laptop being broken and my great-grandmother dying, I couldn't really find the energy and time to update.

But everything is settled now and I'm back with a new chapter! I really hope you guys enjoyed it and don't hesitate to let me know your opinion. It means a lot to me.

Much love,

xXx

UYM