Murder In The Maze (Maze Runner Fanfiction)

Chapter 41: Who Was I?

     My eyes gaze out at the sandy dunes outside the windows. Nothing lies beyond the horizon, just sand as far as the eye can see. A strange sense of peace overcomes me - a sharp contrast to being trapped in the Maze with the Grievers. My breathing slows, and my heart stops echoing through my head.  

     Jeff sits by one of the Gladers, bandaging up a wound.  Newt talks with Thomas at the far corner in hushed tones, unaudible to me.  Some of the others attempt to open the large door at the end of the room, but to no avail.  Gally stands beside me - his gaze fixed on the desert before us.  

     "Are you okay?" I inquire hesitantly.

     "I'm fine," he grunts, tensing his jaw.

     "I'm sorry about Zart." A part of me does not know what to say, but I push through, "We're you close?"

     Nodding, he continues, "Yeah, he was the dumbest shank you'd ever meet, thick as Fry's stew. I came up the box a long time ago, so did he - ain't a lot of Greenies back then. Slinthead used to be a builder with me, 'til he broke his finger with my hammer; Newt made him a gardener - less chance of disaster, but he was a good shank."

     "I didn't know him very well, but--"

     "Look at this," a Glader interrupts, sitting at one of the working computers. The blue light from the screen illuminates his excited face.

     "What is it?" I question, already coming over to him.

     A group forms around him, staring down at his screen. Images of each of us flash as he clicks the mouse. "They have files on us - all of us."

     Instantly the Gladers begin starting up different computers in an attempt to find their own file. Glancing around the room, my focus shifts to another computer in a glass office. The door lies broken in front of me; glass crunches under my shoes as I enter the room.

     A simple white table rests on the wood floor, seemingly undamaged. Sitting on a black leather seat, I attempt to operate the device. Somehow, the setup is familiar to me, making it easier than I anticipated to find what I'm looking for. The files are labelled with letters as well as names, such as A1, A2, etc.. I scan past a few files, landing on my one, "A12 - Tanya Greene."

     Clicking on the file opens a document with images and information. In bold lettering, it begins:

Subject A12: Tanya Greene

Status: Alive

Gender: Female

Location: Group A (Formerly Group B)

     I scroll further down.  Another note, this time in smaller print, is in the document:

     "The subject's transfer from Group B to Group A was deemed necessary due to the rise in intergroup violence in Group A. The subject displayed prowess  on an intellectual level during our tests from a young age. My associates and I decided that, despite her existing placement in Group B, that A12 would be transferred out of Group B and into Group A. This in turn would maximize our brain scans and improve the results of the test. 

     Group B was unaware of this.  Since the escape of Group B, many of the subjects from that Maze - former associates of subject A12 - have searched for subject A12 with little results.  I would advise that the files and location of A12, formerly B11, shall be kept on-site and only available to scientists at the facility in which she currently resides. Signed: Doctor Ava Paige."

     What is Group B?  Group A must mean us, in this Maze.  This would mean that there's more Mazes out there...more Gladers!  I scan over the document again, this time more carefully.

     It says that I was in Group B, then moved here.  Does that mean I was part of another Maze?  Why can't I remember any of it?

     "Find anything?"  Gally enters the room, stepping over the broken glass door.

     "Nothing that makes sense," I comment.  "I think there's more mazes with different groups of Gladers."

     "What?" Gally snaps.

     "I found my file." I continue staring at the screen.  "A doctor called Ava Paige said that I used to be part of something called Group B.  She referred to another Maze with different Gladers.  She said I was transferred to Group A from Group B.  I think I used to be part of a different Maze but for some reason I was moved here."

     "Let me see!" Gally states, already coming over to the computer.  His eyes glide up and down the screen.  His eyebrows crease as he scratches his head.  "Don't make any sense.  It ain't like locking up some shanks is gonna do anything special."

     "Why would they have more Mazes?  What are these people trying to do?"

     "What else does it say on that?" Gally questions.

     I search through some of the other files, but nothing else mentions anything about another group.  My gaze falls on Teresa's file.  My mind draws back to what Thomas said about her coming to get him out of here.  I click on it, unsure what I will find.

Subject A1: Teresa Agnes

Status: Alive

Gender: Female

Location: Group A

     Another note about her is typed in smaller lettering.  

     "Teresa Agnes - executive scientist of the Group A facility - is to enter the Maze, per her own instruction.  Unlike with our other subjects, her mind is not to be wiped - she must retain her current memories.  She is still a part of our experiment.  

     Teresa Agnes has her own task; she is to retrieve subject A6 - Alby.  His extraction is the main focus of her entering of the Maze, and she must be allowed to survive.  I have sent instruction that the Grievers be programmed to not recognize her as a threat.  A6 however is still expendable and is not immune from the Grievers.  Signed: Doctor Ava Paige."

          "What is going on?" I question, half talking to myself, "Why would she come here on purpose, and why does she want to get Alby out of here?"

     "Don't know," Gally grumbles, even more confused than I am.

     "Something else is going on here, but what?"