Him (Newt x Reader)

Chapter 13: Headquarters

I slowly turn around to face the door, which was now slightly open. No one moved, and no one spoke. If someone on the other side were to fully open the door, then I bet that we would all appear as statues to them.

To my right, Teresa decides to push on the door, allowing it to fully open. Some of us squint our eyes, but I chose not to and allowed them to sting for just a bare moment. If anything was to happen, it would happen now, and I wouldn't want to miss it.

She looks back to us as she steps down into the hallway, the boys and I cautiously follow afterwards. For a light that seemed so bright, it was surprisingly coming from only one lightbulb, the rest that lined the hallway were out.

I suddenly hear some sort of clank from behind me, and I immediately whip my head to see that the rest of the lights were now turning on. Lighting up the long, dark hallway.

~ ~ ~

We all walked in silence, the occasional glance to Newt here and there, but no one said a thing. Thomas then suddenly looks back to the group, and I look past him to see a door with two lights and a sign above. One light was red, one light was green, and the sign above said EXIT.

Currently, the green light was on.

"Seriously?" Frypan said with an attitude, and I couldn't blame him. All that fighting for two lights and one EXIT sign? I was pissed.

Thomas then finally opens the door, which reveals a shorter hallway. This one had yellow lights and sirens going off, lights hanging from the ceiling, blood nearly everywhere, and three dead bodies that were scattered throughout it.

We all walked in a straight line through the door, then slowly unraveling ourselves as we fully made it into the hallway. To my right was a room, which was separated from us by a glass wall with bullet holes drilled into it. The room consisted of two more dead bodies, but they were on two separate tables and were luckily covered by two white sheets.

"What happened here?" Minho asks, but no one responds.

We then walk into a much larger room, the number of dead bodies increasing with every step. However this room was much more different than the last, there were desks, chairs, and computer screens along every wall, one elevated platform in the middle acting as a bridge, even more computer screens and chairs outlined the platform, and then one other room stood to the far left of us.

This must've been their headquarters, I thought to myself. But my assumption was soon proven correct as the group dispersed and we all got a closer look at everything.

I went left, along with Newt and Frypan. We stopped at a desk and looked at the various screens, two of which were just cameras looking into the Glade.

"So, they were watching us." Newt growled, and I had opened my mouth to say something as well. But soon stopped when I was reminded that I used be one of them, and I felt that it would be wrong to say something in a time like this.

I then moved away from the boys, slowly walking around the destroyed room to see if anything came to mind. But nothing ever did, and for now that is a relief to me.

"Hello." A female voice came, and I turned my head to see that a video was now playing on one of the screens, a much bigger screen than the rest, it sat opposite of the hallway.

"My name is Doctor Ava Paige. I'm director of operations of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department..."

As we all moved closer to the screen, this Ava Paige seemed oddly familiar to me. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but there was something about her.

"If you're watching this, that means you've successfully completed the Maze Trials..."

So Thomas was right, everything was just a test.

"I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you, but circumstances seem to have prevented it. I'm sure by now you must all be very confused, angry, frightened."

I mean sure, that's one way to describe it.

"I can assure you, that everything that's happened to you, everything we've done to you, it was all done for a reason. You won't remember, but the sun has scorched our world..."

The screen then changed to a recording of the sun, however it was extremely enlarged, and I had begun to feel hot from just looking at it.

"Billions of lives lost to fire, famine, suffering, on a global scale." As Ava Paige says this, dozens of pictures and videos show cities, buildings, trees, and even bodies burnt to a crisp.

"The fallout was unimaginable. But what came after was worse, we call it the Flare..."

The more I listened, the more I watched, the more familiar Ava Paige has become.

"A deadly virus that attacks the brain. It is violent, unpredictable...incurable. Or so we thought..."

It finally clicked, Ava Paige was the voice. The voice that has already saved my life twice, and yet she is seen as the villain. How can someone who I saw as a hero, suddenly be the villain?

"In time, a new generation emerged that could survive the virus. Suddenly, there was a reason to hope for a cure. But finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed, inside harsh environments, where their brain activity could be studied."

Most of my questions were being answered one by one, and I'm hoping that it was going the same for everyone else. Especially those who were trapped a lot longer than I was.

"All in an effort to understand what makes them different, what makes you different..."

My breath suddenly hitched in my throat, scaring me for a quick moment before everything went back to normal once more.

"You may not realize it, but you're very important. Unfortunately, your trials have only just begun. As you'll no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods..."

In the background of the video, people in black suits with guns begin to shoot up the WICKED facility, which clearly explains the destruction and dead bodies.

"Progress is slow, people are scared. It may be too late for us...for me...but not for you. The outside world awaits..."

Chills suddenly run down my spine as Ava Paige holds up a gun to her head, and I soon feel someone gently pull me back with their hand, allowing me to stand next to them.

"Remember..."

Ava Paige takes one deep breath.

"WICKED is good."

I can't bear to look away as the gunshot rings through my ears. So many emotions were swirling around in my head, sympathy, confusion, anger, fear, and disappointment.

I know that I should not be feeling sympathy for Ava Paige, the person who controlled all of WICKED, the person who destroyed so many lives. But yet I am also disappointed in myself, seeing now that I have trusted the villain, it makes me wonder who I can truly trust.

Thomas suddenly moves away from the group, walking towards the room where Ava Paige's dead body is resting on the floor. I cannot see her face, but her white clothing will not go unrecognizable.

We are only a few feet away from reaching the glass wall, the one which separates us from her. When a door to our right suddenly opens, the left of the door said SURFACE ACCESS TUNNEL, while the right of the door said S7.

That was our way out.

"Is it over?" Chuck asks as we stand in a group, staring at the tunnel in awe.

"She said we were important..." Newt adds. "Well, what are supposed to do now?"

"I don't know." Thomas mumbles, and everyone was now exchanging glances to one another.

"But let's get out of here." Thomas then adds, and my heart skipped a beat at the thought of finally being free from this place.

All together, the group took one step and-

"No."

It was Gally.