They Don't Own Me

Chapter 41

"No!" Jorge cried.

"Vince! That's enough!" a voice called. They looked over to find an older woman walking toward them. "Let him go!"

"She's infected, Doc," Vince said. "There's nothing we can do for her."

"No, but he can." She nodded at Thomas. "Hello, Thomas."

Everyone looked around, confused as to how this woman knew who Thomas was.

"You know me?" he asked.

"Interesting," the woman muttered. "It makes sense they'd put you in the maze." She walked over to where Brenda was, Jorge once again at her side. "Though I must admit, I was worried they'd kill you after what you did."

"What I did?"

"The first time we spoke, you said you couldn't take it anymore, watching your friends die, one by one. The last time we spoke, you gave me the coordinates of every WCKD compound, trial, and lab."

"He was our source," Vince realized.

"We couldn't have pulled all this off without him." She looked back at Brenda. "Take her to the tent. Get these guys some warm clothes. Careful," she said as Jorge lifted Brenda off the ground. She started toward her tent, pausing beside Thomas. "It's the least we can do. Thomas, come on."

~

Thomas followed the woman he now knew as Mary to her tent. Brenda had been laid on a cot and Mary got to work on drawing blood from Thomas. Jorge had refused to leave Brenda's side until he knew that she was going to be okay. Mary spoke about WCKD and their ways, their thoughts on finding a cure for the people of their infected world. She told them that the cure could only be made by harvesting special enzymes from immune children.

She finished mixing the serum and injected it into Brenda's arm. The girl's breathing quickened briefly before she suddenly exhaled deeply in relief.

"How long will that give her?" Thomas asked.

"It's different for everyone," Mary replied. "A few months maybe. But that's the catch, isn't it? She'll always need more." She paused and looked across the tent. "Just like her."

Thomas and Jorge turned their gazes to who Mary was referencing. For the first time since entering the tent, the two men noticed a young woman with brown hair lying on a cot. Her face was pale and dark veins could be seen under her skin. What differed her from Brenda was the fact that she was chained down to her cot and she had a cloth in her mouth. Tear stains could be seen on her cheeks as she whimpered in her sleep.

"Who the h*ll is that?" Jorge questioned.

"Her name is Michelle," Mary told them. "I found her several years ago, and took her in. She was infected but because of my work with WCKD, I was able to make the cure for her. Sadly, its effects wear off within a few weeks for her. She needs a new douse each time, but each time she gets worse. I'm not sure how much longer she has. It's a miracle she's made it this far."

The woman stood up and grabbed another syringe, filling it with the blue serum she had made for Brenda. Thomas and Jorge watched as she sat on the side of the girl's cot and injected the serum into her arm. The girl calmed down like Brenda had and her head lulled to the side.

"Okay," Mary sighed before looking at Jorge. "Let's go outside, let them rest." Jorge reluctantly nodded and stood up after grabbing his bag. "She'll be fine."

Thomas watched the two move toward the exit. Jorge stepped outside as Mary removed her gloves.

"Thomas," she said, gaining the boy's attention once again. "You know she can't come with us, right?"

Thomas felt his blood run cold at the idea of having to leave Brenda behind. Mary sighed sadly before stepping out. Even after she had gone, Thomas stared at the exit. After several minutes, his gaze moved to Michelle. He wondered how on Earth Mary would be able to leave her here after having taken care of her for so long.

Thomas sat in silence for a long time, waiting for Brenda to move or wake up, to simply know that she was okay again. At least for now. By glancing outside, he guessed that he had been sitting there for almost an hour. He realized that his muscles were starting to get sore so he stood up so he could stretch. As he pulled his arms behind him to stretch his muscles, he heard movement. Thomas's eyes immediately went to Brenda, only to see that she was still asleep. Disappointment filled him, causing his shoulders to drop. He looked around the tent as he started to sit back down when his gaze landed on Michelle.

The woman's eyes were open and she was looking at him, slivers of fear in her green eyes. She started to shift around on the cot even more, as if she was trying to escape from her chains. Thomas froze, not knowing what to do, but after several moments, he hurried to her side. Michelle seemed to flinch away when Thomas reached for her.

"Hey, hey, hey," he said, trying to keep his voice low and soothing. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I'm a friend of Mary's."

Michelle paused in her struggle before nodding slowly. Thomas carefully removed the cloth from her mouth, allowing her to speak.

"Where's Mary?" she asked, her voice rough.

"She's somewhere outside. She was here earlier to give you and my friend the cure."

Michelle seemed to deflate a little before nodding.

"Can you help me out of these?" she questioned, gesturing to her chained limbs.

"Is that okay?"

"Mary locks me down when I start showing signs. Then once she's given me the latest cure and I'm awake, she lets me up."

Thomas nodded and helped undo the chains. Once Michelle was free, she placed the chains in a pile on the end of the bed. She slowly got up and walked to the small table in the tent that had water on it. Before she reached the table, her body swayed and she had to catch herself on a post.

"You okay?" Thomas asked, stepping forward in case she needed help.

"Yeah, I will be. I tend to get a little light headed after I receive the serum." She took a long drink of water before glancing back at Thomas. "So were you the one Mary used?" Thomas nodded. "And what about her? Is she a friend? Sibling? Closer than friends?"

"We're just friends," Thomas quickly said, getting what she was implying. "She helped save my life."

Michelle hummed, walking back to her cot to sit down. Thomas sat down as well, watching her. The girl rolled up her sleeve, revealing a set of marking on her forearm. She took a deep breath before grabbing a small knife and bringing it to her arm.

"What are you doing?" Thomas asked, eyes wide in panic.

"Adding a tally." She showed him her arm. "Each tally represents how many times I have received the cure. It reminds me how many times I have been close to death's door because of this stupid virus. Every time I look at these marks, I'm reminded of all the times that I have been close to seeing my brothers again."

"You have brothers?"

"I had three. I was the oldest. Our parents died or disappeared when my youngest brother was a baby because they were starting to become Cranks. They didn't want us to see them like that. My baby brother died early on. Years later, I started to show symptoms of the Flare. I left so my younger brothers wouldn't have to see me like this: slowly losing my mind, my humanity. It's slowly tearing me apart. There have been so many times I have tried to get Mary to let me die just so I could see them again. Truth is, I don't even know if any of them are alive anymore. It's been so long."

Thomas swallowed heavily as he watched Michelle make another mark in her skin. It was deep enough to scar, but not enough to be deadly.

"So, how many times have you gotten the cure?" Michelle looked at him for a moment before rolling up her other sleeve. His eyes widened slightly when he saw the scars on her other forearm. She rolled her sleeve back down so she could grab a clean cloth from the table and clean her new wound. "What were their names?" Thomas inquired.

"Neil was the baby. Julian and Chris were the two I left."