Chapter Text
The abandoned mall smelled like wet concrete, old mildew, and a ton of dust .
We had just hauled our canvas packs up into the main shopping area , our hands totally caked in dirt from digging around in a smashed pharmacy downstairs . We hadn't found any actual medication, just a few rolls of gauze, some basic bandages, and a bottle of rubbing alcohol that leaked all over Frypan's sleeve. Thomas was already standing near the edge of a broken glass balcony, his dark eyes fixed on the empty corridors ahead, looking completely serious as he tried to scout a path. He looked like he was about to start a massive, brooding lecture on how we were all going to die out here.
"Hey, Thomas," I called out, tossing an empty plastic aspirin bottle straight at his black hood. "Take a breath, shank. We got the bandages . WCKD isn't tracking us inside this piece-of-trash building."
Thomas caught the bottle with a quick reflex, rolling his eyes as he shoved it into his pocket. "We don't know that, Minho. We need to find a safe spot to set up camp."
"If we stay any more alert, my brain is going to completely melt," Frypan groaned, dropping his heavy pack onto the cracked tile floor with a loud clunk. "My legs feel like lead weights. We've been walking forever."
Before Thomas could finish his brooding sigh, a sudden, muffled BOO! echoed from a dark storefront to our left.
Frypan jumped three feet into the air, letting out a high-pitched yell that sounded like a dying Griever. We all whipped our heads around, clicking our newly found flashlights on at the exact same time. The bright white beams cut through the gloom and focused straight on the culprit.
It was Zoey. And she looked completely, utterly ridiculous.
She was standing in the doorway of an old party supply shop, a cracked, dusty gold paper crown tilted sideways over her messy hair spikes. In her right hand, she was proudly wielding a bright red plastic mannequin arm like a sword, while her left arm was completely loaded down with a random collection of junka deflated shiny balloon, a plastic toy trophy, and a neon green feather boa draped over her shoulders. To top the whole look off, she had a stale cracker clamped firmly between her teeth, preventing her from launching any actual sarcastic remarks.
She just stood there under the flashlight beams, her wide green eyes full of pure mischief as she chewed casually, totally unbothered by the fact that she looked like a lunatic.
Newt let out a loud, snorting laugh, burying his face in his hands as his shoulders started shaking violently. "What in the bloody hell are you wearing, Zoey?"
Zoey swallowed the cracker with a loud gulp. "It's tactical camouflage, you shanks. And it worked. Frypan nearly threw his spine out of alignment."
"Oh, you think that's funny, ringer?" I scoffed, a massive, arrogant smirk locking right back onto my face as I clicked my flashlight off and immediately darted into the shadows of the next shop. "Alright, that's it. It's a war now. Last one to scare someone carries the bags!"
"Hey! Wait! No!" Thomas yelled, his serious posture completely fracturing as Aris, Jack, and Clint instantly clicked off their lights and scattered into the storefronts.
The next ten minutes were absolute, beautiful madness. The terrifying weight of the Cranks, the facility traps, and WCKD completely vanished from our heads. We were just a bunch of regular teenagers running around a dark mall, hiding behind clothing racks and diving under broken wooden counters, just waiting for the perfect second to jump out and scream at whoever walked past.
I huddled flat against a wall inside an old electronics store, holding my breath as a flashlight beam danced across the doorway. A shadow crept closer. I tensed my muscles, waited until the silhouette stepped straight into the room, and lunged forward with a loud roar.
"AHHH!" Thomas shrieked, stumbling backward into a pile of old wiring as his flashlight flew out of his hand
"Got you, you boring slinthead!" I barked, throwing my head back in absolute hysterics .
Thomas was still tangled up in a bunch of dusty old television cables, his face a perfect picture of sheer shock while he blindly reached around the floor for his dropped flashlight . "Minho, I swear to god," he panted, his voice cracking as a small, reluctant grin finally started to break through his serious mask . "That wasn't even fair. You were hiding in a literal wall cavity ."
"Hey, a win is a win, Tommy!" I laughed, yanking him back onto his feet . "But remember the rules: if you scream in fear, you’re officially out. Go join the losers' bench."
Before he could even argue, a wild, echoing screech came from the massive department store right across the corridor .
"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU LUNATIC!" Frypan’s voice boomed through the dark aisles, followed instantly by the frantic, heavy thudding of his boots sprinting flat out down the main walkway .
"Frypan yelled! He's out!" Billy shouted from a nearby shoe shop, completely giving away his own position in the process .
A second later, Frypan burst out into the dim light of the central courtyard . Right on his heels was Zoey, sprinting like an absolute maniac . The ridiculous gold paper crown was still miraculously stuck to her head, the bright neon green feather boa was streaming out behind her shoulders like a cape, and she was violently waving the red plastic mannequin arm over her head like a club .
"Yield, Frypan! Yield!" Zoey yelled, her voice breaking into a loud, completely unhinged laugh .
"Never!" Frypan bellowed, diving behind a broken wooden counter just as Zoey lunged, her plastic mannequin arm slamming against the wood with a loud, hollow CLACK .
Before Frypan could even celebrate his temporary safety, Winston dropped straight down from a low display ledge right behind the counter, letting out a wild zombie roar right in Frypan's face . Frypan shrieked again, falling over a pile of old makeup boxes .
"Winston, you're already out, stop helping her!" Frypan grumbled from the floorboards while Winston doubled over laughing .
Meanwhile, a total war had broken out near the bookstore . Billy and Clint had teamed up, their flashlights clicked off as they tried to stalk Aris . But Aris had found a stash of old cardboard shipping tubes . He popped out from behind a towering shelf, whack-a-mole style, swinging a cardboard tube and whacking Clint right on his black hoodie .
"AH!" Clint shrieked as the tube caught him by surprise .
"Clint's out!" Aris cheered, but his victory loop was cut completely short when Newt suddenly stepped out from a dark alcove, grabbing Aris by the hood and letting out a deep, roaring monster growl .
Aris let out a high-pitched yelp, dropping his cardboard tube instantly . "Whoa! Shank, you scared the crap out of me!"
"That's a scream, Aris! You're gone!" Newt laughed, giving Aris a friendly nudge toward the center fountain where the eliminated players were starting to pile up .
"Don't get too comfortable, Newt!" Billy yelled, lunging out from behind a fiction display to get his revenge . But Newt’s runner reflexes were too fast; he dodged to the left, causing Billy to trip over a loose pile of books and let out a loud, startled yell as he went down hard .
"Billy's out!" Clint shouted from the sidelines, cheering loudly .
"You're out too, Newt!" I shouted, clicking my flashlight on and catching Newt completely off-guard as I jumped out from an old clothing rack right behind him . Newt gasped loudly, his boots skidding across the tiles as he tried to backpedal, completely losing his balance and sliding into a pile of oversized laundry bags .
"Shuck it, Minho!" Newt laughed, waving his arm in defeat . "Alright, alright, I'm out!"
Every single one of us was completely losing our minds . The entire level was a total, beautiful madhouse of pure chaos . For the first time since the Box slid open back in the Glade, nobody was thinking about the Maze, the desert, or the faceless monsters hiding in the dark . We were just kids messing around in an abandoned building, screaming at the top of our lungs and laughing until our ribs ached .
As the minutes ticked by, the chaos slowly started to wind down into a tense, competitive quiet . The fountain area was packed with the losersThomas, Newt, Frypan, Aris, Winston, Billy, and Clint were all sitting in a row, whispering and trying to track the final parameters of the game .
Only three of us were left inside the shops: Zoey, Teresa, and me .
I crept down the dark hallway of a jewelry store, my leather boots moving without a single sound across the cracked tiles . I had my flashlight clicked completely off, using the pale moonlight filtering through the skylight to guide my frame . I kept my back flat against the wall panels, my heart hammering a fast, excited rhythm against my ribs as I listened to the absolute silence of the mall .
I checked around the edge of a display counter, totally confident . I was the keeper of the runners, after all . There was no way anyone was getting the jump on me . I stepped out into the open walkway, my eyes scanning the dark store doorways left and right .
BOO!
Out of absolutely nowhere, a dark shape dropped straight out of the sky . Zoey had been hanging upside down from the exposed steel roof rafters above my head, and she dropped blindly into the space right in front of my face, letting out a sudden, terrifying, maximum-volume screech .
"WAAAAAAH!" I shrieked, the completely unexpected jump scare shattering my arrogant armor in a fraction of a second .
I stumbled backward in pure panic, my legs instantly tangling together as I tripped over an old stool and went flying, crashing flat onto my back with a massive thud on the dusty floorboards.
"HA! Got you, Machine!" Zoey yelled, throwing her head back into a loud, completely unhinged laugh that bounced beautifully off the walls . She pointed the mannequin arm down at my chest, her wide green eyes gleaming with absolute, triumphant victory . "Minho's out! The master of the tracking loops just entered total retirement !"
From the central fountain, the whole gallery of guys broke out into loud, roaring cheers and whistling . "Minho got wrecked!" Frypan shouted, slamming his hand against the stone rim .
"Yeah, yeah, keep laughing, shanks," I grumbled, rubbing my hip as a breathless, deeply relieved grin broke through my serious face . I sat up on the floor, looking up at her . "Your form is still a total disaster, ringer ."
Zoey was completely caught up in the absolute madness of the moment, her shoulders shaking violently with deep gasps of laughter as she looked down at me . "Admission is free, Minho! You hit the floorboards like a sack of bricks"
Suddenly, another shadow leaped straight out from the dark clothing racks right behind her .
Teresa jumped out of the total darkness, her blue eyes wide as she violently lunged forward and grabbed Zoey by both shoulders, unleashing a sharp, sudden, and incredibly realistic monster hiss right against her neck .
"AHHH!" Zoey shrieked, her body executing a violent, terrified jump as the sudden fright completely fractured her focus . The red plastic mannequin arm flew straight out of her hand, clattering loudly against a glass display case as she stumbled backward against a column .
The entire mall went completely dead silent for a fraction of a second .
Then, the fountain layout absolutely exploded into total, hysterical madness . Thomas threw his head back, a massive, genuine laugh escaping his chest as Newt and Aris openly, loudly howled from the benches . Frypan was rolling on the floor tiles, his chest heaving as Winston and Clint clapped their hands in pure harmonics .
Teresa stood perfectly still in the center of the walkway, a small, triumphant, and genuinely beautiful smile cracking across her face .
Zoey stood frozen against the column, her jaw dropped in a perfect look of total, blank disbelief as she stared at Teresa . She blinked once, twice, the realization of what had just happened caking over her features . Slowly, a massive, brilliant open grin broke through her serious look, her default witty mask locking right back into position .
"Alright, alright," Zoey chuckled, a breathless, relieved laugh escaping her throat as she stepped forward, reaching up to her head .
She carefully detached the dusty gold paper crown from her own hair spikes, stepped into Teresa's personal space, and gently placed the crown straight onto Teresa’s head, tilting it sideways with an absolute, respectful smirk .
"The mystery has been solved," Zoey whispered, bowing her head slightly as the guys cheered from the sidelines . "All hail the queen of the scrap pile ."
Teresa laughed softly, adjusting the paper edges over her dark hair.