[2] Remember Me ➝ The Maze Runner ✓

*Lab Thirty-Four*

But then WICKED came, promising to make everything alright. To make everything better. They thought taking me away from my family, from my past life, made everything better!? Experimenting on me? Shoving me into a Maze with stupid abilities? Killing me? Bringing me back to life like some lab rat? That was their idea of making it better? It wasn't right. It would never be right.

"Must've been pretty tough, huh?" Chuck began, breaking my train of thought. I quickly released the tension building up in my muscles. "Being the first girl. I suppose it would've been like when Teresa came; she's the first girl we remember. Everyone got pretty confused and we ended up shoving her in the slammer."

I nodded distantly. "It was tough alright; I was in the slammer twice. But I got through it... with the help of you and Newt, and Minho," I added with a lightly humoured tone. "Gally didn't take too kindly to me. But the others grew used to me being there I suppose."

Chuck nodded thoughtfully as I spoke. "At least you didn't arrive in a coma," he murmured, quickly glancing up.

"Teresa arrived in a coma?" I asked incredulously.

"Yup," he said matter-of-factly. "And apparently she knew Thomas."

I let his words sink in. Teresa sure did know a lot more than she was letting on; Remembering me and Thomas? Did Thomas know me from before too?

"I woke up in the Maze," I admitted softly, fingering the rim of my shirt.

"In the Maze? Woah, that's strange."

I nodded. "This entire thing is strange. But yes, in the Maze. That's when I first encountered the grievers. I ran away, and kept running, until I eventually collided with Miss. Sassy Shank over there." I directed a playful smirk in the direction of Minho, but he wasn't looking.

"You ran into Minho?" He chuckled, ringlets of dark hair flopping over his eyes. He impatiently swiped them back.

I nodded. "He was... pretty surprised to see me."

"Obviously; not often you stumble across a girl in the middle of a maze," he said flatly.

"Ha, I see Minho's a good teacher!" I exclaimed a little too loudly. Chuck immersed into a bout of girly giggles, whilst Minho himself glared at me in question.

"You're talking about me?"

"Nothing bad!" I said, waving my hand as if to dismiss his suspicions.

He rolled his eyes and turned back to the front.

I patted Chuck on the back, still giggling to himself, and rejoined Thomas.

"You've set him off now," he murmured under his breath, smiling bemusedly. I shrugged, but a smile tugged at my lips. A genuine, humorous smile.

We stumbled back into the eerie lab after another ten minutes of slowly plodding along.

Another soldier - clad in an army-style jacket, black trousers and combat boots - greeted us with a grim salute. The gun slung over his shoulder rattled against the wall as he turned to face Soldier. "Commissioner Kyle sent me to escort you, sir!" He said in the same dull voice. "Follow me." He turned and began matching smartly down the hall.

Soldier nodded to himself, a slightly grim smile plastering his face, and we began surging forward once more in a wave of exhausted, illuminated faces.

Soldier obviously picked up on the silent reproach of the group. He didn't bother to turn around as he spoke. "Once we get out of here, you'll be fed and provided with clean clothes and bunks. It won't be long until you're tucked up in bed with your teddy bear." There was only a slight hint of amusement in his tone, but he didn't glance back once.

"Won't we all be going to the Girl's Maze?" Azela asked loudly.

"No."

The silence was unsettling, but I wasn't surprised by it. I was also beginning to feel woozy, even after my prolonged rest back at the homestead. Newt looked ill in the languid light, his face a sickly pale.

"You don't look too great," I commented.

"Thanks," he snorted, regaining a tint of colour in his cheeks. "It's all this bloody change, I suppose. Leaving the Maze after all this time."

An awkward silence fell heavily on our surroundings, until it was interrupted by the abrupt blare of an alarm, only moments later. The corridor was suddenly basked in a haunting crimson glow.

My heart fluttered into my throat. I recognised the sound instantly, and my breath quickened as the familiar voice droned through the speakers, shrill and piercing.

"Do not let Group C escape. Do not let the Failures escape. Do not let Group C escape. Do not let the Failures escape."

Goosebumps prickled my skin. My head began ringing, trilling with a high frequency wail.

What was happening?

The gladers began panicking, glancing around in a bewildered manner. Even Soldier and his companion bore expressions of confusion.

"What the bloody hell?!" Newt exclaimed, squinting in the glaring red light spilling throughout the corridor.

I faltered. Who'd set off the alarm? Why was it about us? The Failures.

"I... I don't know," I lied, but Thomas arched his brow. His illuminated face looked ghostly.

Soldier caught my eye, but I merely shrugged, averting my gaze.

"Alright, keep moving guys. Nothing to worry about!" His voice was strangely steady, but I caught the uneasiness lodged in his dark pupils.

He continued down the corridor, matching his companion's loping strides, and the rest of us followed tentatively behind. As the alarm continued to flare, Soldier began to increase his pace, until we were all jogging after him, weariness and hunger forgotten.

The two sentences continued trilling through the speakers, until my ears grew numb and the sound faded into a distant hum.

As we all filed through another metal door, a ripple of cheers surged through the crowd. The two groups merged as one, and I found myself pushing through the wall of gladers, directed toward Kyle and Axel. I found Azela close behind me, her eyes wide.

I grabbed hold of her arm and squeezed it reassuringly. She offered me a cursory nod as we stumbled in front of Axel.

Dark shadows danced along his sunken cheeks, but his eyes sparked as soon as he caught sight of us.

"Everything alright?" He asked anxiously, casting a glance toward the crimson basked teenagers.

I nodded. "Everyone is fine. But apparently the courtyards been overrun by cranks and we need to get to the other maze and find Harriet!" I exclaimed without taking a breath. Azela placed a hand on my shoulder, calming me down.

"There's another way. We'll get there," he reassured.

"I certainly hope so," I said with a sigh.

Then, as if it never happened, the alarm ceased and silence fell like shattered glass. A moment later, a bone-chilling snarl resonated through the speakers, followed by a venomous hiss. I threw a hand to my mouth, stifling a gasp.

"Come now, little Failures, did you really think you'd escape? EVER?!"