· · ───────༻〄༺─────── · ·
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘
·𖥸·
ʟᴇᴀᴘ ᴏғ ғᴀɪᴛʜ
· · ───────༻〄༺─────── · ·
FLASHING LIGHTS blinded Thomas's memory, flaring every inch of his brain with moments that had been forgotten.
"Who put us here?", he heard, recognizing his own voice.
"We don't know."
Images of people in white, working away in a lab, began appearing.
All he could see was white and blue, the colors mocking his longing of more.
More answers.
That was until Teresa took over his view, her bright eyes staring back at his own.
"Excellent, Thomas. Come with me", a blonde woman whispered over his shoulder, making him loose sight of Teresa, her dark hair leaving his view.
"Thomas. Wicked is good", the blonde woman spoke again.
And then, his heart jumped at the tragedy of a sight flickering from boy to boy.
Minho, Gally, Frypan.
It only continued, showcasing those who he knew encased in tubes filled with water, drowning them slowly.
"I can't keep watching them die", he heard himself say.
"Wait! Thomas!", he heard Teresa scream, but he didn't look back.
Not until he heard her voice.
And all of the sudden, the white and blue turned into red.
"They're taking me in. I know they are. They only kept me here in fear that I would find a way to stop this. They're getting too suspicious now that you've joined. You are going to have to continue this alone, Thomas", the voice said.
But he couldn't see her, he couldn't see Josephine.
"No. They won't. I won't let them", he heard himself say to her.
"Teresa found out. It's only a matter of time", Josephine spoke.
"She won't say anything. I know she won't. She lov-", he whispered.
"Yes, she loves you, Thomas. She truly does, but she doesn't understand what we are fighting against, what we are fighting for and you know what that means", she whispered back.
"No. I-I'll make her understand, just like you did with me. You taught me, I can teach her", he spoke.
Then, suddenly, a feeling of a soft hand encasing itself with his pulled him from his emotions, and all he could focus on was her.
· · ───────༻〄༺─────── · ·
· · ───────༻〄༺─────── · ·
Only her.
"There is not enough time", Josephine said, "Hey, it will be okay, Thomas. When I'm gone, just remember, you're extraordinary."
"Please, Josephine! I can't do this without you! I need you! Please, Jo!"
And then everything went black.
He felt his eyes flickering open, light blinding the darkness that once took over him.
"Josephine?", he whispered out, but as his eyes focused, Teresa's face met him instead.
"Hey, are you okay?", she asked him as he felt her hands stroke his hair.
"What the hell were you thinking?", a voice called out, Chuck coming into sight as he turned his head.
His eyebrows furrowed and his lips let out a groan as he positioned himself up.
"What happened?", Thomas asked.
"Gally and Jo are bargaini-", Newt began.
"Arguing. Gally and Jo are arguing", Chuck deadpanned.
"Where is she? Where's Jo?", Thomas asked, looking at each figure one by one.
He needed to tell her what he saw, what he remembered.
"She's in the Homestead, trying to knock some sense into Gally", Minho answered.
"Gally is saying that we have a choice. We either join him or get banished on sundown with you", Newt continued.
"And you guys agreed with that?", Thomas asked, softly groaning as he got up from the ground.
"Gally is really convinced that we are the reason all of this had happened", Teresa responded, referring to Thomas and herself.
"Well he's been right so far", Thomas spoke.
"What are you talking about?", Minho asked.
"This place. It's not what we thought it was. It's not a prison. It's a test. It all started when we were kids. They would give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us. And then people started disappearing, every month, one after the other, like clockwork", Thomas responded.
And as Thomas continued speaking of the agony that had led up until now, Josephine stared into the face of pure anger.
"You are being irrational, Jo!", Gally spitted, walking across the Glade.
"Me? Me being irrational? Do you even hear yourself, Gally?", Josephine spoke back, her feet trying to catch up to the boy.
"Admit it. You are just blindly trusting a guy who hasn't even been here for a month!", Gally said.
"You want me to speak of admitting things? Why don't you take a round at it. Admit it, Gally. You are so terrified, so frightened at the thought of leaving the Glade, of leaving the Maze. You speak of honesty, yet you can't even face your own truth", Josephine deadpanned, smoke practically coming out of her as she looked up at Gally.
"Take a look", Gally said, pointing at the stone wall that held names, specifically at those that were crossed out, "He caused this."
"Alby tol-", Jo began, before getting interrupted by Gally.
"Alby? You mean this Alby? Huh?", he said as he pointed at the name, before taking the tip of his blade and hammering a line across it.
The official mark of loss.
"Don't you get it, Jo? Alby isn't here anymore. And that is because of Thomas. He's dangerous", Gally spitted.
"Fine. You're right. Alby isn't here anymore. Alby is dead, but we both know that he was long gone before that Griever took him away. Alby had been slowly drifting away ever since he stepped foot on this suffocating ground. But, you're telling me that you would rather starve then take a chance at finally escaping this hell? Now that...that is what you can call dangerous", she spoke at him.
"That day. That day I found you all alone, crying and shaking, in the bayou after Hudson. That is what you will keep feeling if you don't start thinking with your brain rather than with your emotions", Gally hissed.
Josephine, however, didn't speak back, instead she took a step back from the boy and swallowed.
There was a moment of silence, a moment that changed Josephine's perspective.
"You're using that moment...that moment of vulnerability, of loss to try and talk sense into me? You see, Gally, I always tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. Every bloody lip, every harsh word you spoke, every whiny meltdown. Every fucking moment where you made living here worse?", Josephine began, jamming her pointer finger into Gally's chest, emphasizing the words she spoke.
"Through all that, I still viewed you as someone who just needed the smallest bit of hope. But it doesn't matter because even if we were presented with the easiest way out of here, you would still be the same", Jo spoke, bitterness attached to every syllable she spat.
"Jo", Gally spoke, swallowing at the sight of her watering eyes.
"Well, fuck you, Gally. I'll rather have my fate meet the monsters inside those walls then the monster standing in front of me", she spoke, pushing against him as she began walking back to the pits.
However, instead she abruptly stopped in her tracks as she met the sight of Teresa bounded against a Glader, dragging her figure by force.
"Let her g-", Josephine began to scream, but her words slurred into silence as her eyes brushed past Teresa and met him.
Thomas.
He was alive.
Ringing echoed through her ears as she felt the wind on her face while she ran and ran. Her feet, aching, didn't stop until she was face to face with the boy.
And in that moment, he was the only thing laid out in focus, the green around him blurring into nothing.
"Josephine...", he whispered, making the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
He was here.
He was okay.
"Let him go", she whispered to the two Gladers that held his arms.
"Jose-", one of them spoke.
"Knowing how to fix an injured arm can only mean that I know how to break one, right?"
The two Gladers looked at each other, a moment of understanding and fear shared between their eyes.
"You can have a minute", the other spoke. The two Gladers released Thomas, stepping three feet back, close yet far of the two.
"Josephine, I-", Thomas began, trying to put his thoughts and feelings into words but his attention ran out at the surprising feeling of her gentle hands on his face.
They cradled him so softly, yet he could feel every blister, every thorn. But, somehow, he didn't mind as her eyes searched every feature he held.
The bridge of his nose, his hazel eyes, his moles that scattered all the way down to his neck.
And then, without a moment's notice, Thomas met warmth as he felt her embrace.
· · ───────༻〄༺─────── · ·
· · ───────༻〄༺─────── · ·
And without any hesitation, his own arms wrapped themselves around her waist, bringing her closer to his chest.
She tightened her arms around his neck, cradling her face into his shoulder, afraid that he might disappear.
"You know, I would have killed you if you had died", he heard her whisper into his shoulder, her muffled voice strained and hoarse.
"I know", he whispered back, his voice slightly cracking, "I know."
And soon he felt himself slip away from the warmth, cold meeting his wrists as the two Gladers gripped his arms, forcing him away from her.
Josephine wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to explode.
But it wouldn't be of use.
She followed closely behind, the two Gladers practically feeling her breath on the back of their necks as they continued to drag Thomas before throwing him onto the ground.
Normally, Josephine would have laughed, but laughing now felt like a luxury she couldn't afford.
Josephine watched as the Gladers gathered around, their eyes unable of focusing on only one thing.
She felt a presence next to her, turning her head to meet Chuck.
His eyes met hers as he brought something against her back for her to grab without gathering attention.
Swiftly her left hand brushed against her back, gripping onto the object. And as her fingers softly stroked the object, she recognized the leather book.
The leather book that held not only information but drawings and stories and memories.
The leather book that only confirmed what she already knew, she was leaving and she wasn't coming back.
Gently, her right hand lifted the back of her shirt as her left guided the book into her pants. She brought down her shirt, feeling a strange feeling of string running down her lower back, but she decided to ignore it.
"Thank you", she whispered ever so quietly to the curly-headed boy, earning the smallest of nods as a response.
"I'll be back. Stay here", he whispered before turning on his heel.
And though Josephine wanted to refuse, she followed his wish and kept herself grounded.
"This is such a waste", Gally spoke, bringing his blade to the pouch on his belt.
"Gally!", Winston spoke up, making the boy turn his head to meet the voice, "This doesn't feel right, man."
"What if Thomas is right? Maybe he can lead us home", Jeff spoke next.
"We are home, okay? I don't want to have to cross any more names off that wall", Gally responded.
"You really think banishing us is going to solve anything?", Teresa asked, still bounded against the Glader that held her.
"No. This isn't a banishing. It's an offering", Gally answered.
"What the hell?", Josephine whispered, her eyebrows furrowing as Teresa screamed as the Glader tied her to a post.
"What are you doing?", Teresa asked, whimpering at the harsh tightening of the rope against her wrists.
"You really think I'm gonna let Thomas back into the Maze after what he's done. Look around you. Look at our Glade. This is the only way. And when the Grievers get what they came here for. Everything goes back to the way it was", Gally spoke.
Josephine could feel a shiver go down her spine at the words spoken by someone who she called her fiend, her brother.
"You're borderline psychotic", Josephine spitted, her feet dragging her to face Gally, "Sacrificing people? That's your big idea? I knew you weren't the brightest but I never knew you were a fucking imbecile."
"Shut up, Jo. You're not one to talk about intelligence when your idea is to run into the Maze", Gally spat.
"If you stay here the Grievers are going to come back. They're going to come back and they're going to keep coming back until you're all dead", Teresa spoke.
"Shut up! Tie em' up", Gally commanded.
However, no one moved, no one moved a single inch because they knew that Teresa was right, even if they didn't want to admit it to themselves.
"Did you hear me? I said tie them up!", Gally demanded once more.
The two Gladers that had shoved Thomas onto the ground bent down to pick him up but they were soon met by the surprise of Thomas standing up and bashing them down with a wooden pole.
And soon enough, all hell broke loose and the third rule ceased to exist.
Josephine brought her blade up, bending down to grab a long machete, encasing it inside of her other hand. She striked the neck of a Glader with her hand, causing him to fall down in pain.
· · ───────༻〄༺─────── · ·
· · ───────༻〄༺─────── · ·
Arms bounded her as they wrapped themselves around her, however, she brought her right foot up, kicking the Glader in the shin before slamming the back of her head into his nose as he bent down in pain, finishing him off with a punch across the face as she turned around and ran over to Thomas.
Frypan cut Teresa loose and Josephine could see Chuck running towards her, bags of supplies in hand.
Minho's machete was placed on Gally, daring him to make a move as he walked around the boy.
A small group had gathered in front of the entrance of the Maze, opposite of Gally and those who followed him.
"You're full of surprises, aren't you?", Gally asked, his gaze on Thomas before settling on Josephine.
"You don't have to come with us but we are leaving", Thomas answered, his wooden pole lifted to guard, "Anyone else who wants to come, now is your last chance."
"Don't listen to him. He's just trying to scare you", Gally spoke.
With that, Thomas turned his head to Josephine. Her gaze met his as he gave a brief nod towards the Gladers opposite of them.
"Except he isn't. You can't get scared if you're already terrified", Josephine began, all eyes on her, like they always seemed to be, "Three years. That's one thousand and ninety-four days of suffering that only keeps on giving. We have fought every single day to try and survive. But surviving isn't living."
Silence crept its way in the gentle breeze, surrounding the Gladers that would soon be just people.
On any other day, you could find the Runners cooling off as laughter roared through them.
On any other day, you could see Frypan and Winston arguing over who could survive a fight against a Griever.
On any other day, you could see Gally and Alby sparing, throwing taunting jokes at each other.
On any other day, you could see Clint and Jeff cast shy glances at each other before getting flustered when caught.
On any other day, you could see Newt releasing a deep breath of exhaustion, ready to finally relax.
On any other day, you could see Josephine and Chuck throwing leaves at each other, laughing as if no one was around, even if all eyes were on them.
But this wasn't any other day.
"If you don't want the emotional side, let me give the logical one", Josephine continued, briefly looking at Gally, "The Box will not come up again. Resources have been lost. And there is a good chance that these walls will not close again. If you stay here, I give you half a month before you die of starvation, a sting or anything else."
Josephine brought her gaze back to Thomas, giving him a nod.
"At least out there, we have a choice. We can make it out of here, I know that", Thomas spoke.
And as Thomas ended his sentence, Gladers began walking over to them, deciding their fate.
"Gally, it's over. You should come with us", Thomas urged.
A moment of silence took place, a moment that might have placed hope to those who still didn't believe that there was a chance.
"Good luck against the Grievers", Gally responded, instead.
And with that, the group who did believe headed out, leaving what they called home behind.
However, Josephine lingered behind.
"I wish you all the best", Josephine spoke to the crowd that had stayed in the Glade before setting her gaze on Gally.
"Tell Alby and Hudson that I miss them, will you?", she asked Gally but she didn't wait for his response as she turned on her heel and began walking away, leaving the plethora of green behind.
Leaving everything she knew behind.
"Give me one good reason", she whispered to Thomas as she walked besides him.
"What?", he asked.
"Give me one good reason, Thomas", she asked again, eyes forward.
And this time he understood.
He understood how much she was giving up, how much was being taken away.
"I need you, Jo."
·𖥸·
━━━━━━ AUTHOR SPEAKS !
AHHH! WE ARE ALMSOT DONE!
Firstly, I wanted to give a huge thank you to everyone who has gone out of their way to support me, from a single comment to a message! It truly means more than you guys can no.
Second, I wanted to apologize for the lack of updating. The last days of school were very stressful, but now it is finally done!
Third, obviously this book is sadly meeting its end. Personally, I would love to continue the series however, I wanted to ask your guys' opinions. So, what do you all think? Second Book?
As always, it would mean so much to me if you guys commented, voted, followed or messaged me!