Their journey takes them out into The Scorch, a desolate and post-apocalyptic landscape covered in sand dunes. Responsible for the creation of The Scorch, Weta Digital built entire city blocks and ran a series of destruction simulations on them to achieve plausible ruins and developed a physically accurate sand shader to create the vast dunes.
On their journey, the Gladers encounter The Cranks, former humans who have been infected with the Flare Virus, causing vine like vegetation to grow over their faces. Entirely digital characters, The Cranks were created using motion-capture technology and animated as if they were double-jointed.