𝑯𝑰𝑹𝑨𝑬𝑻𝑯 - Maze Runner, Thomas

037 - Where Is She

SIREN had spent the rest of the day helping others. Well, with a little bit of Thomas' help too.

It was when they were sitting somewhere and Siren noticed a woman struggling to fold her clothes and sheets because her kids kept interfering. Thomas had seen her looking, then told her it would be fine if she left him to help, but she had shaken her head, not daring to randomly walk over to a stranger.

"We'll go together," Thomas had said. "I'll distract those kids, you help the mom."

Siren had raised a suspicious eyebrow, forcing Thomas to promise he wouldn't do anything weird to 'distract those kids'.

After he laughed, he made her the promise, gave her a push toward the woman, and bent down in front of the two kids. Started talking, smiling, and made some hand movements, which the kids seemed very interested in.

It took a lot for Siren to ignore how wholesome that looked.

And now, they sat on some rocks, watching over the Haven. All Gladers, including Marie and Zach... excluding Teresa.

Newt announced the news about him and Marie being siblings, which everyone was happy, but not the most surprised about.

"Hey, Aris!" Frypan whistled on his fingers before waving at the boy, who was happily talking with Harriet and Sonya, then he waved back.

"Well, he got out of the shyness too."

Siren groaned. "Or maybe they're just his friends and he's comfortable with them and them only."

"Reminds me of you."

"I speak out of experience."

A few chuckles were shared.

"So.. this is our life now, isn't it? Living in tents with some grown ups, in mountains."

Marie leaned forward, rubbing her hands together. It was getting colder by this time, breezes constantly giving them goosebumps. "Well, I expected I would be living in a beach house or something."

"I still haven't got the dog I wanted once we escaped."

Siren zipped her jacket all the way up now, also due the cold. "You will, once we've defeated WICKED."

"I ain't gonna-."

"I will," she said, finally sharing what she had been planning in secret. "I'm going to make sure they'll never take kids or torture people again. WICKED will be gone and then, I'll get the house I've always wanted."

Impressed, The Gladers stared at her. Thomas nodded firmly, "Agreed."

"So what are you planning to do?"

"Oh- uh... just convince them to get on our side. Maybe make sure Ava Paige and Janson never do anything again."

Actually, she had planned to kill every single person working for WICKED. They weren't innocent to her, but once she started thinking it through, it would maybe be unfair, especially after Thomas explained Mary worked for WICKED too, and she was on their side now.

Whatever, she would see.

"And the house you're planning to live in? What does that include?"

"Plants and cats," she replied immediately. "And a big open room with lots of windows and canvas." And maybe Thomas. "What about you?"

Minho hummed. "Well, no one has said a word about money so I'm not sure if I'm able to make it and then buy a giant house, so... I don't know."

"There's money," Zach said, rubbing his chin. "But it's hard to make it."

"Yeah," Marie agreed. It was logical these two knew the most about the outside world, however, Siren sometimes wondered what they went through with Adkins. They never spoke about it, so she wasn't able to tell if it was bad or good.

"So... it's us against WICKED?"

"Basically." Zach ran a hand through his curls. "You could say it's divided in four different kinds of people. You've got WICKED, the ones who want to find a cure, but with bad methods." He paused. "Then there's Deron."

"Who's-."

"Deron Adkins, but he's currently dead." Zach's eyes narrowed. "His wish was to take over WICKED, with even worse, but faster methods. He never succeeded, since he's obviously dead."

Minho, Thomas, and Marie all stared at Siren. Marie grinned, Minho winked, and Thomas just looked at her.

"But he can't be gone," Marie continued Zach's story. "Not his company, at least. No way no one has taken it over now."

"Amery." Zach confirmed, followed by a light sigh. "Not sure what his first name is, but he's... ranked below Adkins. Used to be his favorite employee. Did the dirty jobs. And-."

A shiver ran down Siren's spine, long and cold, and she froze. Amery had been the one who sliced her back open. Who beat her up until she gave him an answer. Did the dirty jobs.
She could still hear the slashes of the knife ring in her ears, his laughs, and her own damn screams.

"-so we've got to overpower them too." Zach finished. Siren had only heard half of it, since she was so lost in her thoughts.

She flinched when something suddenly touched her hand, then looked down at it. Thomas's fingers slowly ran over hers before he lay them down, intertwining his fingers with hers slightly.

His eyebrows raised, asking her if she was okay. Siren nodded. Managed a tiny smile while Thomas gave her one back.

"Then there's The Cranks," Zach went on. "But there's different kind of people who we call that. Non-Immunes can be considered as much Crank-like as a person who's already past The Gone. Most poor people will be called Cranks. Elderlies and grown ups who are not in The Right Arm too."

"So Jorge and Brenda were called Cranks before they joined this place?"

"Seeing that Brenda isn't an Immune, yes. Just like me." Zach let go of a breath.

When he said that, everyone fell silent. Siren and Marie had already known he wasn't immune, but the rest didn't.

"Anyway. The last ones are us. The Right Arm, or fighters, whatever. Just people who fight against all the other groups."

A long silence.

"This world sucks."

"Truly the smartest thing you've ever said, Thomas."

"Shut up, Minho."

Siren tucked her hands in the pockets of her jacket, eyes twinkling at Minho's comment. Her hair got messy and ruffled by the wind, so she ended up making a ponytail before turning back to The Gladers.

"Have any of you see Teresa?"

They were sitting there, talking happily while Teresa was somewhere else, probably all alone. Siren couldn't just let her be left out! Not before she knew why Teresa wasn't with them.

"Oh, she said she wasn't feeling well." Newt shrugged. "I'm pretty sure she went up there to get some time for herself."

Siren looked to her right and indeed, a figure stood on top of the mountain. Must've been Teresa.

"I'll check up on her."