artemis, MAZE RUNNER¹

² 𝒔𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏.

As Emis went to stand next to Newt, she realised that Alby's eyes were shining with tears, unfocused around a point straight ahead of him. He looked distant, frozen in shock, as if he'd seen a ghost. The ghost of someone he had known, and loved, and lost forever.

Emis thought of the Alby she had first met; a calm, strong, determined leader who had fought to keep her out of the Pit on her first night despite having known her for barely a few hours. She thought of the way the others had spoken about him, how Newt had told her what he'd done for him, and with a pang Emis realised that this new Alby had been broken beyond mending. That he was miles and miles away from the Alby who had helped her up out of the Box.

Newt seemed to realise it, too. He was still shaking, and turned away, as if he couldn't bear to look at him. Emis felt her heart go out to him, reaching a hand out as if to put it on his shoulder, but almost helplessly he flinched away from her. This was between him and Alby; it had nothing to do with her, and there was nothing she could do to help.

"Hey, Alby." Thomas's voice was uncharacteristically gentle. He had crouched down. "Alby, we might have just found a way out of the Maze."

Again, there was no response. Thomas shifted. "You hear me? We could be getting out of here."

There was another pause. Very slowly, Alby began to shake his head.

"We can't." His voice was a broken whisper. "We can't leave. They won't let us."

Thomas shifted again, a shadow of confusion passing over his face. "What are you talking about?"

Alby's voice was cold and soft, like thin ice. "I remember."

The whole room seemed to draw a sharp breath.

"What do you remember?" Thomas was hesitant.

He sounded as if he already knew the answer.

For the first time, Alby looked at him. His brimming eyes spilled over with tears. "You." He said, in a voice like cracked glass. Almost instantly, all eyes went to Thomas. "You were always their favourite, Thomas. Always."

Suddenly there came a series of shouts from outside. They were distant, but very clearly panicked, rising up against the silence. The others had looked up in bewilderment, and Ed had begun to move towards the doorway. It was clear that something was happening outside that wasn't supposed to be.

Alby seemed not to notice it. "Why did you do this?" He was staring at Thomas as if he couldn't quite believe that he was standing right in front of him. "Why did you come here?"

The shouts rose to screams, suddenly. Emis felt her heart hammering hard against her chest. That odd feeling of cold foreboding had found its way under her skin again; the same feeling she'd experienced when she had known, inexplicably, that Thomas had been in danger, and that Ben had been chasing him. Something was coming. She could feel it, like instinct. Like a radar. And, like a switch being flicked, she saw the world turn red again.

Thomas was speechless as he backed away, turning around as if he could not bear to look at Alby anymore. Emis wanted to ask him what had happened, what Alby meant, but as they burst out of the Med-Hut, all thoughts of Alby and Thomas and distant memories went straight to the back of her head.

The red tint to her eyes seemed to illuminate the world around her. The Glade was in a frenzy; boys were everywhere, out of control, bearing torches and pitchforks and converging towards the walls. Emis thought with fleeting panic that they were going to try and run into the Maze, and that this was like it had been before, with the riots and the broken rules and the boys turning mad with fear, before the realisation hit her.