Emma wasn't surprised when she was the last to enter the examination room. She felt the cleanest she had ever been. Her hair felt soft. As it dried, there were more waves than normal and no frizz. It made her feel different, but not in a good way. She felt like a stranger inside her own body.
Suddenly, there was a pinch to her arm. Emma flinched, looking down. "Sorry," the woman, Dr. Crawford, offered her a sympathetic smile. "I know it pinches."
"What was that?"
"It's just some vitamins," she explained kindly. "Stuff your bodies been deprived of in the Maze. Don't worry. It'll help keep you healthy."
Emma nodded, trying to understand. These people wanted to help them. They wanted to make sure they were healthy. It was a weird feeling. For so long in the Glade, she was used to a certain lifestyle. Having to work in order to survive. The last thing on her mind was vitamins and staying healthy. It was about staying alive.
"You're all set to join the others. They're in the cafeteria eating."
Emma looked across the room where the curtain was slightly open. She could see Teresa talking to someone. "What about Teresa?"
Dr. Crawford didn't look at the girl in question. "They're running a few more tests. She'll be out there shortly, okay?"
"More tests? Is she okay?" Emma was immediately concerned. After losing so much, she feared anything happening to her friend.
"She's fine. However, you won't be if you don't eat something. It's been a while, and you need some protein."
Emma pursed her lips but didn't argue. She felt uneasy about leaving Teresa but had to trust these people. They were helping them. The last thing she needed to do was complain. "Okay."
"Great." Dr. Crawford stood up. She took off the plastic gloves and tossed them in a trash can. "Follow me. I'll show you where to go."
Emma didn't say anything, but she did as told. Standing up, she trailed after the taller woman. Stepping into the brightly lit corridor, she rolled up the sleeves of the shirt she was wearing. It wasn't hers, not really. Just something she pulled off the shelf. The fabric was soft and smelled nice, and she hated it. There was something wrong and unfamiliar about it.
"Your friends are right through here."
"Thanks." Emma pushed open the door, lips parting at the sight before her. It was a room full of tables with people sitting at them. Everyone was around her age. They were talking and laughing while they ate.
Boys and girls alike. All crowded around tables with smiles on their faces. It didn't feel real.
Everything was different. Everything had changed, and Emma's mind couldn't comprehend the situation she was in. Mentally, she felt like she was still stuck in the Maze. Stuck in the room with the dead WICKED workers. Back with Gally and Chuck, whose bodies were left behind to rot.
Emma shuddered at the mental image. She took a deep breath, trying to rid herself of the thoughts, but they wouldn't go away.
The memories wouldn't go away. The sounds Gally made, his body hitting the floor, and Chuck's final words were burned into her brain.
She felt like she couldn't breathe.
"Emma," someone called her name. The dark-haired girl looked up, finding Newt rushing toward her. His face was filled with worry. "Hey, hey. You're okay. Breathe." He knew her better than anyone, and he knew when she needed help. Emma nodded, more to herself, and took a deep breath. Then another. Then another. "Good, good. You're okay, see?"
"Yeah," she responded shakily. "What's going on? Where is everyone?"
"We're eating over there." Newt didn't bother to point to where. That wasn't his concern. "Are you all right?"
Emma licked her bottom lip. "I don't really know how to answer that question right now."
Newt understood. He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "Let's get you something to eat, yeah?" Emma didn't respond, but she didn't need to. Newt guided her toward the table, where she found most of the others. Winston, Minho, Frypan, and Jack. Thomas wasn't there.
The first person to notice her was Winston. "Emma," he said. Immediately, everyone at the table, including the strangers, turned to look at her. She tried to stop walking, but Newt didn't let that happen. Instead, he guided her into an open seat beside his.
The girl did her best to ignore the stares from her friends, but it was hard. If they weren't looking at her sympathetically, they were looking at her questionably.
"Hi," an unknown boy said. He had tan skin and black, curly hair. His smile was bright like the sun, and his eyes shinned. "I'm Riley. This is David."
"Hi," she responded, voice faint and shy.
It caused the boy beside him to grin. He shared a look with Riley that Emma didn't care to decipher. Minho stood up and walked away, but she barely noticed. Newt placed a hand on her knee, stopping her leg from bouncing. Something she didn't realize she was doing.
"They said you were in the Maze with them for months?" Riley placed his arms on the table. Emma never had a chance to respond. "That's nuts, man. Our girl came up three days before everything fell apart."
She raised an eyebrow. "You guys were in the Maze too?"
"Yeah," David confirmed. "But we didn't escape like you guys did."
"There was a big explosion. These people came out of nowhere." Thomas and Minho joined them. Emma crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back.
"It was intense," Riley added.
"They took us out of the Maze and brought us here." Emma wasn't sure what to make of his story. They didn't escape their Maze. They were rescued.
"What about the others," Newt questioned curiously. "The other people left in the Maze. What happened to them?"
David shrugged, not seeming to care much. "No idea. I guess WICKED still has them."
"And you were okay with that?" Emma couldn't imagine leaving the others behind in that sort of situation.
Riley took a bite of his sandwich. "Didn't really have much of a choice."
"How long have you been here?"
"Not long," David glanced at Riley. "A few days. That kid over there." He nodded toward a boy at a different table. He had a grey hood over his head, causing Emma to be unable to see his face. "He's been here the longest. Nearly a week."
"His Maze was all girls."
"Really?" Minho's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Emma couldn't help but roll her eyes at his tone. "Some guys have all the luck."
"Good evening, Gentleman," Janson spoke. He was standing at the front of the room. All conversations ended almost instantly. "And ladies. All of you know how this works." In his hand was a clipboard. "When you hear your name, please stand and join my colleagues behind me. Then we will escort you to the Eastern wing. Your new lives are about to begin." A few people clapped. Emma wasn't sure what was happening, which seemed to be a reoccurring pattern.
"Connor." A boy with dirty-blond hair stood up. "Evelyn. Justin." With each name called, someone stood up. "Peter. Allison. Squiggy." A few people laughed at the name. "Okay, calm down. Franklin and Abigal." He dropped the clipboard, causing a wave of sighs and displeased murmurs. "Don't be discouraged. If I could take more, I would. There is always tomorrow. Your time will come. Finish eating everyone." As Janson walked out of the room, the group followed. All of them were smiling, seemingly happy that their name had been called.
"Where are they going," Minho asked David and Riley.
"Far away from here. They're lucky."
Riley spun back around. "A farm. Some place safe, but they can only take a few people at a time."
"What the hell?" Thomas stood up abruptly. Emma watched as he walked toward the window. Walking on the other side with two doctors was Teresa. "Teresa, hey." As he approached the door, a man stopped him. He was too far away to hear, but Emma assumed Thomas was arguing with the man based on his body language.
"You okay?"
Emma glanced at Newt, who had ducked his head to talk to her without drawing the attention of the others. She shrugged, playing with the food on her tray. Eating would be smart, but the idea of it made her nauseous. "I'm really tired." She hadn't slept yet. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time she slept. It had been a while.
"I know." They were all tired. "We'll get some rest soon. I'm sure of it. We're safe now. Everything's going to be okay."
Emma sighed. If only it were that easy. She wasn't sure anything would be okay again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay," the man said. "This is where you'll be sleeping." He pushed open the door.
Emma walked in first, arms crossed as she studied the room. She could hear the others around her as they picked their beds. The sound of the door slamming shut caused her to flinch. It locked behind them, which wasn't surprising. The people here seemed to be very cautious.
Rolling her shoulders, she walked to the first open bed and sat down. It had been a tough couple of days. Since the night Jordan cornered her, everything began to spiral. Nothing had been easy the last week. Each day bringing harder challenges.
All she wanted to do was sleep, but Emma knew sleep wouldn't be kind to her. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Gally. She could see his motionless body on the floor. It would haunt her forever.
"Hey." A voice startled Emma from her thoughts. She looked up to see Minho staring down at her. "Can I sit?"
"Yeah, sure." She didn't have to move. Emma was curled into herself in the corner of the bed.
He was nervous. That was the first thing Emma realized. Minho was nervous. It was obvious in his body language. The fidgeting and how he wasn't facing her, not entirely. He messed with a loose strand on his maroon shirt, a color that suited him well. "How are you doing with," his words trailed off. The dark-haired body cleared his throat. "With everything?"
"With this place or with Gally?" Emma knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to ask about Gally without upsetting her. It was considerate, given the situation. Minho didn't respond. He just stared. "I'm fine, really. It's fine."
"Okay." He clearly didn't believe her but was willing to let it go for the moment. "Are we okay?"
Emma stared at him curiously, head tilted to the side. That wasn't something she expected to hear. "What do you mean?"
Minho sighed, rubbing the back of his neck apprehensively. That only confused her more. "I mean, are we okay? Are we good? Or do you hate me for," once again, his words trailed off.
Finally, Emma understood. Her heart raced with dread, regret, and guilt when she realized why. Minho thought she hated him for what he did. For killing Gally. "Oh, no, Minho. No, I don't hate you," she assured him. "I thought that maybe," Emma licked her bottom lip, words coming out in a stuttered mess. "I thought you blamed me."
"What?" Minho's expression twisted. He was stunned. "Blamed you? For what?" In his mind, Emma hadn't done anything.
The girl sighed, leaning against the cold wall. "I think Gally followed us because of me. If I had tried harder to convince him to come with or stayed behind, then none of it would have happened." It was her fault. "They would both be alive. You wouldn't have had to stop him. Everything would be fine. Everything would be better."
Minho gaped at her, blinking in shock. "You're such a stupid Shank, Emma." With that, he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into his embrace. Emma went willingly, mostly because she wasn't expecting it. She rested against his chest, breathing deeply as he held onto her. "It wasn't your fault, you hear me? You did what you could, but you couldn't have stayed there. Gally made his own choices. They had nothing to do with you." Emma felt her eyes burn with tears. She relaxed in his arms, wrapping hers around his stomach. "And I'm so sorry."
She sniffled. "Don't be. You did nothing wrong. You did what you had to do."
Minho nodded, his grip tightening as if he needed to hear those words from her. In a way, he did. He needed to know he made the right choice, and hearing it from Emma, the person who cared about Gally the most, made him feel less guilty.
"I'm still sorry."
"Yeah," she whispered. "Me too." Minho's warmth was comforting. Blinking a few times, she felt her eyelids grow heavy. Sleep was no longer something she could fight. In the silence, she finally let herself relax. She let herself sleep in the arms of her friend, who needed the comfort as much as she did.