[2] Remember Me ➝ The Maze Runner ✓

*Just like old times*

I must've have done more than just disable it...

"Woah," Thomas breathed, turning back to face me. "That was incredible."

"What happened?" I asked, bracing myself for some ridiculous answer.

"It was fighting with mid-air. Something kept throwing it into the wall, until it eventually collapsed."

A grin suddenly pulled at my lips. "Must've been a malfunction," I smirked, and he gave me a knowing look.

"Alright guys, keep moving."

I returned to Kyle's side, where he began fussing over the cut on my head, but I dismissed his concern and forgot about the pain.

The stream of gladers began forth once more, and I noticed most of them had turned a considerable shade paler.

But then I discovered why, as Kyle and I came across a body.

I blanched, involuntarily covering my mouth with my hand. An older-looking guy was sprawled in a grotesque position, his arm barely hanging from his shoulder by a bloodied strand of skin. Dark blood pooled about the body, oozing from the two stab wounds to his chest and his severed arm.

My stomach churned and I turned away. Kyle put a comforting hand on my shoulder, and gave it a light squeeze.

The other two must've sensed my abrupt switch of emotion, for their solemn voices echoed amongst my thoughts.

It couldn't be helped, Axel murmured in a monotonous tone.

He just... he was in the wrong place at the wrong time...

I sighed, feeling a sudden sense of melancholy. Death. It hadn't really bothered me much before; I'd always just viewed it as a part of life. But seeing someone so brutally murdered... It made me angry. Angry at the grievers. Angry at WICKED. Angry at the world for allowing such things to take place.

My fists clenched; a raging flame had erupted in my heart, and it wouldn't be extinguished until WICKED had paid for what they'd done.

Hey, relax yourself. Too tense and you'll lose focus. The guy's death wasn't your fault.

I know. I'm just... I'm sick of WICKED and what they're doing..

Nobody replied to that, and I figured they must've slipped into a thoughtful daze.

~

"We're almost there," Soldier announced, his voice almost lost to me as it rippled over the heads of the gladers. A wave of murmurs traversed the crowd, and I found myself back on my tiptoes in order to see over the shoulder of a lanky figure in front.

"Hey. You can go see your friends if you want," Kyle stated casually, throwing a quick glance over his shoulder. "I'm pretty sure I have things sorted over here. And anyway, it's not like you'll wander too far ahead."

He had a mysterious glint in his eye, and I realised he must've meant Thomas. My cheeks flushed a little, but I nodded anyway and slipped through the crowd to where Thomas was slouched, ambling forward slowly.

"Hey," I said quietly, smiling at Teresa. I was still a little baffled at what she had said earlier, but now didn't seem the right time to pursue it. As Thomas had said before, once we left this shucking hell hole, we wouldn't have to uncover its secrets and get ourselves into more danger; we could just forget about it. About everything.

"Hi," he responded dully.

"Hey, everything will be fine once we get out of here. Remember what you said to me earlier?"

He nodded. "I remember, but I don't really think what I said is true; how can we just forget about all of this? Everything that's happened? You especially, Rowan. You've been through so much! It's not something you can easily push to the back of your mind," he urged, his voice sounding almost desperate. He stopped in his tracks, facing me completely. "What if this new life doesn't accept us? What if we don't fit in and we're miserable and unhappy? What if... what if this place was our safest option?"

I glared at him incredulously. "How can you say that!? You think living in a Maze, surrounded by dozens of mechanical killers, controlled by an organisation of sadistic scientists, is our safest option?! Do you want to be their lab rats? Do you want them to experiment on your brain and give you shucking mind powers!?" My voice rose in intensity with every question, until my voice grew hoarse and tears pricked my eyes. "Don't you see?" I said, my voice strangely calm. "This place is tearing us apart. Bit by bit. And if we don't get out of here, there'll be nothing left."

I sunk into silence, and suddenly became aware of the other gladers staring at us incredulously.

A single tear trailed down my cheek, and I hastily wiped it away. Thomas looked speechless.

"Alright, keep moving, guys!" Kyle called from the back. "Thomas, Rowan, with me. Now!"

I calmly turned, and the gladers parted to form a direct path to the Right Arm leader. They gazed at me with an expression resembling something similar to fear.

Wonderful. People were scared of me. Just like old times.