~~~Author's Notes~~~
Happy Valentine's Day Guys! I honestly have nothing to say before you read this, so go ahead and have a party! Actually, I just posted a new story. So it would mean the world to me if you all read it. But read it after this, haha!
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~~~Brianne's Pov~~~
I hit the ground with a cold jolt. I fell to the floor, but it's not like I expected to land on my feet anyway.
It was dark down here, that's what I first realized. And then I saw the dead grievers. There was blood too, but for all I know, the blood could be mine.
I crawled away from the entrance, so that Newt could come down safely.
Clare reached her hand out for me to take, "You look awful," She whispered, as she helped me stand.
"I feel awful too," I grunted, letting my weight rest on my unhurt leg. I took in Clare's appearance. She wasn't looking too good either. Her cheek had a small cut on it that dripped blood down her face. Her red hair was a frizzy mess of waves. Her T-shirt was torn across her stomach and I took note that the dark coloring around the rip was not sweat but blood.
Clare shrugged, "We all took a pretty hard beating."
What was taking Newt so long? I mentally complained, wanting to yell at him.
I looked around at the group of us that was left. Half had died.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Newt fall through the Griever hole. About time.
I was scared to see who was missing. I was scared that everyone I loved had died. Well, Clare is right beside me. Newt and Minho are good.
My eyes searched the crowd, and Victoria was no where to be seen! This awful day might have just gotten better-
"How's your leg?" I heard her stupid voice ask. Spoke too soon.
"I'm fine," I answered, shortly.
Who else?
My eyes fell on a crying Chuck, so I hobbled over to him. I placed my hand on his shoulder. At the touch, Chuck threw his arms around me.
"What happened? Are you okay?" I rushed, hating to see him upset.
My whole world kinda froze as I waited for him to explain. Oh no.
"Sam. She's not here," He mumbled into my shirt.
Tears welled in my eyes also, "I'm so sorry," I kept close to Chuck after this. I felt awful. I loved Samantha. She was so nice and cute and young.
"Is this it?" I heard Thomas ask.
Newt, who I hadn't even known was standing next to me, answered, "Half of us. Dead."
The group stood silently, but then Minho said, "You know what? Half of us might have died, but half of us lived! And that's pretty good if you ask me. And nobody got stung, just like Thomas said."
I didn't find this to be very good at all.
"Lets just get out of here," Newt sighed, briefly closing his eyes.
I let Chuck move away from my embrace. He gave me a look that told me he was trying to be strong, but really wanted to give up. I had a new respect for him after this.
"I saw a door open down there," Thomas said, pointing towards the darkness.
I wiped away my tears, and tried walking with everyone else.
This was impossible. I couldn't even stand, much less walk.
"Hop on," Newt whispered, turning his back towards me and removing his backpack from around his shoulders.
"No, I'm fine," I gushed, wincing in pain, "You're hurt too."
"Not nearly as bad as you are," He shrugged, leaning down so I could climb onto him more easily.
"Are you sure? I probably don't weigh much less than you do," I huffed, throwing my arms over Newt's shoulders and limply letting my legs hang at hips. His hands held a firm hold on my legs, but he was careful not to hurt me anymore than I already was.
Newt readjusted his hands and then began walking. I felt awful for making him do this, but I really don't think I could make it. I was hurting.
What if I can never walk again?
"Are you okay?" I asked into Newt's ear as we rejoined the rest of the Gladers.
"Emotionally? Eh. Physically? Been better."
"I love you," I said, resting my head against his.
"I love you," He responded. This wasn't comfortable. I was bobbling up and down because Newt was limping also, but I didn't wanna say that I was uncomfortable, because there was no other choice for me.
"It kinda just ends up here," I heard Minho shout, "Wait? What the he-"
His voice was cut off with a squeal. And then I heard movement and another scream. What was that?
"It's some kind of slide," Someone explained, unsurely.
"Where's it lead?" Someone else asked, and then I heard a loud noise.
"Guess you'll find out."
"I'm gonna put you down, okay? It's probably best if you slide alone," Newt gave me a quick smile as I stepped down from him.
"That is the weirdest thing you've ever said," I mumbled, waiting for it to be my turn.
A slide. We are leaving the maze on a slide. This has to be the biggest joke of all. Creators must be laughing at the other end of this.
"I'll go first," Newt said, disappearing down the shoot. This seemed unsafe.
After waiting a few moments, I entered the darkness. This was not a slide.
I took a step forward and I started falling. I legitimately had no hold on anything.
I felt like that character from that book, I don't remember the name of. But that girl went down a hole and then fell for a really long time. This was me right now.
I tried to reach out and grab onto something to slow me down, but the walls were slimy and slick. This hole was small too. I felt congested.
Then my fall shifted directions and I hit a metal slab. Now, I was no longer falling but sliding. The smell was the worst part. The tunnel smelled of trash and death and I wanted to throw up.
I was gonna throw up. The slide turned sharply in a circle, making me feel like I was endlessly spinning.
I felt a cold rush of air and then I saw a bright light at the end of the darkness.
I tried to slow down so that I wouldn't fall so quickly, but the sides of the slide were still slippery with an oily liquid.
So I flew out of the tunnel and slide across the floor on my butt. My whole body ached and my eyes were practically blinded by the white fluorescent lighting in this room.
I opened my eyes again slowly, groaning as I looked at my surroundings. I felt extremely nauseated, and mentally praised myself for not eating a huge dinner. It would have been thrown up by now if I had.
I stared up at the ceiling of this new environment, refusing to move.
From my view, the room seemed to stretch on forever. The ceiling was so far away. The way the pipes lined the air above me, made me immediately think 'warehouse.'
I slowly sat up, and looked around. There were rows of computers and machinery and weird coffin looking white boxes off to the side. Windows lined the far wall. I couldn't see what was beyond them.
Newt helped me stand, once everyone was down the slide.
I hesitantly leaned against Newt's body. Mine didn't feel like it could take much more of this fight.
Then my eyes fell on them. The Creators. I didn't have to ask who they were, I just knew. I knew by the lab coats they wore. I knew by the clipboards they held in their hands. I knew by the way they seemed to be studying us.
This was it. These were the people who had been watching us and torturing us in the Glade. I hated these people.
I tapped on Newt's shoulder, and pointed at the people watching us from behind a wall of glass. His eyes widened at the sudden realization.
"Who are they?" Chuck asked, sniffling.
"The shuck Creators, that's who," Minho shouted, walking closer to them, "I'm gonna punch each of you in your stupid faces!"
"I don't understand," Thomas mumbled, "What are they waiting for?"
"I don't know," Newt groaned, holding my hand.
Then a woman with shoulder length brown hair, stepped through a door in the glass. Behind her, walked someone with his hood pulled up, concealing his face.
"Welcome back, Subjects. After two years, you have finally figured the maze out. So few of you dead, amazing," The woman said, addressing us as subjects. Okay?
I felt Newt tense beside me, "Excuse me?" He asked, clearly angry.
The woman's eyes scanned the crowd before finally falling on Newt, "Everything has gone according to plan, Mr.Newton," She gave him a smile, "Although, we expected a few more to give up along the way."
Did she just-?
"I'm sure you personally saw to it that we didn't give up though, right?" I questioned, sarcastically.
"I think you are correct. You're very intelligent," She nodded at me.
Newt moved his lips close to my ear, "Don't waste your breath on her."
"I won't, Mr.Newton," I impossibly smiled.
The woman reached over to the person with the hoodie and unmasked him.
I almost had a heart attack. It was Gally.
"What?" I voiced.
Didn't he die like last week?
Why isn't he still dead?
Newt pulled me closer to him.
"What is he doing here?" Minho shouted, angrily.
"I could have sworn he died, but," Frypan started, throwing his hands in the air.
"Don't worry. You are all safe now," The woman said, calmly.
"I wanna see the police! I wanna see the freaking President! You have no right to keep us here," Minho protested.
He had a point. Why didn't the government care that sixty teens were being tortured by these people?
"You have no idea what you're talking about," She answered, losing her patience slightly, "Use sense. You just survived the Maze Trials, I'd assume you'd have some."
Minho went to speak again, but Newt cut him off, "Gally? What's going on?"
Gally just stared at Newt, keeping his mouth shut. His face twitched oddly.
"One day, you'll all understand why we've done what we've done. If not, then the whole thing will have been one big mistake, Mr.Newton," The woman nodded, as she continued, "There is, of course, one more variable."
"Why does she keep calling you that?" I asked Newt. He just rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.
Gally stepped forward, his whole body shaking.
"Gally?" Thomas asked, clearly on edge by his odd behavior.
"They can control me," Gally answered in a quick breath, "I don't- I have to-"
What is happening?
Then all at once Gally's twitching ceased and his body calmed, as he pulled something out from his back pocket. It was a knife.
Without hesitating, Newt stepped in front of me, "Look, Gally, I don't know what they're telling you, but we're your friends," Newt reasoned, his breathing heavy.
"You were never my friends."
"Gally, chill out," Minho said, as Gally ran his finger along the blade.
The lights bounced across the metal weapon making it look even more menacing.
What was Gally gonna do-?
And then in a split second the dagger was released from Gally's hands and hurled towards Thomas.
It all happened so quickly, "Thomas, move!" Newt shouted, but someone else moved instead.
I caught a glimpse of curly hair jump in front of Thomas, shielding him from the knife. But the person who'd protected him took the dagger right to the chest.
It was Chuck. I tried to run over to the scene, but Newt grabbed my arm, and held me back. I can't believe it.
Chuck's body fell to the floor with a quiet thud. He convulsed on the ground. Blood poured from the wound.
I let out a sob, "Someone has to do something!"
"Chuck!" I heard Thomas scream, "Chuck," This time it was only a whisper.
"Let me go," I struggled to move out of Newt's arms.
"Shh," Newt said, pulling me closer to his chest, and forcing me to look at his face, "There's nothing we can do."
I cried even harder.
I glanced over at Thomas, who held Chuck close to his body.
"Thomas," I heard Chuck faintly whisper.
"Don't die, Chuck, you can fight it!" Thomas sobbed.
"Thomas, find my mom," A cough that sprayed blood, "Tell her-"
And then I didn't hear the rest. I watched in horror as Chuck's eyes closed and his body went limp.
I felt numb. I couldn't even think about the pain in my leg anymore; all I could feel was the pain in my heart.
Thomas jumped up from the ground and ran over to Gally, punching him in the face. I wanted to cheer him on for beating Gally up, but I couldn't move. I was too shocked.
I heard a crash and a bang, and then I heard punch after punch after punch. I looked over to see Thomas on top of Gally just punching him in the face over and over.
Finally Newt and Minho, pulled Thomas away from Gally's lifeless and beat up body.
Thomas sobbed and sobbed, screaming, "I promised him, I'd save him and take him home! I promised!"
We all stood silently. It seemed like the right thing to do, but more importantly, it was all I felt like I could do.
Eventually Thomas stood up and wiped away his tears. I watched as Teresa took Thomas's hand in hers.
The woman from WICKED broke the steady silence, "All things happen for a reason. You must understand that."
Nobody said anything, but I still heard shouts and commotion. The woman panicked and turned towards the door that she'd come through. In walked several men and woman dressed in jeans and soaking wet coats. They each held a gun and they were all shouting different things to each other. I couldn't make out any of their words.
And then there was shooting, at the woman. They excessively shot her multiple times. I held onto Newt's arm tightly. Tears still streaked my face.
The group of Gladers cowered back in fear. Then the group of people shot at the Creators that had been sitting and observing us.
A middle aged man with dark hair and blue eyes approached us. His gun was hanging by a strap at his side, "I don't have time to explain. Just follow me and run like your life depends on it, because it does," And with that he was off. And we ran after him.
Newt scooped me up in his arms and ran just as fast as everyone else. I gasped in surprise, but didn't protest. I kept my head pressed against his chest, not wanting to look at everyone that was dying.
Were these people rescuing us? Who are they? How did they know that we'd be here?
"You don't have to-" I barely started, before Newt said, "If you want to live, I do."
I didn't say anything else.
Other random people ran with us, down many dark hallways. Then I saw a door opening up ahead. This door led outside.
I could feel the air. It was heavy and warm, but different than the Glade's arm. It was fresher and it didn't smell like animals.
As Newt carried me through the door, I saw a drop of water fall onto my shirt. I looked up, about to ask Newt why he was suddenly crying, but then I felt a drop on my forehead. And then I looked up and felt a hundred droplets soak my face and body.
Rain.
I gasped again, as I let the storm wash away the blood and dirt on my face.
Then I heard thunder or maybe that was a gunshot.
I saw a bus and I saw a man directing us onto it. Newt ran to it, puddles splashing as he did so.
He placed me gently onto my feet, once we got to the vehicle. I hesitantly stepped up the stairs and hobbled down the aisle to a seat in the middle of the bus. Newt was right behind me. He sat in the same row as I did.
I looked out the droplet covered window to see a woman running towards Thomas.
I went to yell but it was too late, the woman tackled Thomas to the ground, causing a splash from the water covered ground. The rescue man kicked the woman off of Thomas before the two of them ran onto the bus, leaving the crazy woman behind. Who was she? Why was she so weird?
Newt stood, "I'll take the window seat," He said, motioning for me to move over. I did, but didn't have enough energy to ask why.
With everyone inside, the driver closed the bus door and sped off. I'm pretty sure he hit the crazy lady, but I didn't care enough to pay attention.
I was exhausted. I was drained. Emotionally, Mentally, and Physically.
I wanted answers and I wanted to be safe. I wanted someone to explain everything to me, but I also wanted to sleep.
I was soaked head to toe. I was bleeding.
I rested my head on Newt's shoulder. He placed his hand on my leg. Like this, I dozed off.
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~~~Newt's Pov~~~
The bus ride was long and tiring. I wanted to close my eyes and fall asleep, just like Brianne had done. But I was scared. I was scared that if I fell asleep also, then neither of us would wake up.
So I leaned my head against Brianne's and watched where we drove. We drove through towns and cities, and past people and buildings. The people we passed were odd. A group even attacked the bus. We just kept driving.
I heard Thomas speak at the front of the bus, "What was that?" He asked, referring to the people, I'm assuming.
A long pause then a woman spoke, "Its a long story."
"Please," Teresa pleaded, "Tell us something."
"We have no idea what they did to you or how they did it. We aren't scientists," The woman said, and I listened closer.
"Who are they?" Thomas questioned.
"It started with the sun flares," At this, I tapped Brianne's shoulder, waking her up. I felt awful for doing that, but I wanted her to be in the know.
"What?" Brianne started, yawning, but I shushed her.
"The sun flares," The lady said again, "They couldn't have been predicted. It was just a normal day and then in an instant, the heat slammed into the earth and killed millions. Next, came the sickness," She paused, "The sickness took over the earth. People call it the Flare. It's horrible. And only the rich can be treated and no one can be cured. Unless the rumors from the Andes are true."
Brianne and I exchanged a glance. That must be what that woman that attacked Thomas had. Maybe thats why she was so weird. And those other people, they must've had the Flare too.
"As for you, you're just a few of the millions orphaned. WICKED tested many and chose you guys for their test. Everything you lived through, was calculated and thought out. They studied everything about you, in hopes of helping us beat the Flare."
"Orphans?" Brianne whispered, sadly. Her eyes met mine, and my heart almost broke.
"How do we know she's telling the truth?" I whispered back, but I believed every word that woman said, I had no reason not to trust her.
The woman continued talking, "Most of the physical effects of the Flare are caused by something else. It starts with delusions, then the animal instincts start to kick in and overpower the human ones. Finally, it destroys their humanity altogether. It's all in the brain. It's an awful thing. Better to die than to catch it."
"That sounds awful," I mumbled, feeling the blood drain from my face.
"Lets hope we don't catch it," Brianne's voice shook with fear as she spoke.
I placed my hand on her unhurt leg again. I drew circles with my thumb.
"So why are you helping us?" I heard Thomas ask.
"We won't let them do this to children. We've sworn our lives to fighting WICKED. We can't lose our humanity, no matter the end result," I liked the sound of that.
Silence followed her sentence and I assumed the conversation was over. I felt Brianne lay her head on my shoulder again and by her calm breathing, I knew she'd fallen back asleep.
I took a deep breath, leaning my head on top of the bench's back. I closed my eyes, trying to rid my mind of today's miseries.
My heart ached for Chuck's death. My heart ached for our survival.
Were all of the lies finally done with? Were we safe now?
With that thought, I finally let myself fall asleep.
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~~~Author's Notes~~~
Only one/two actual chapters are left. Then the epilogue. DO YOU HEAR MY SCREAMS? The last chapter is gonna be very long and very crazy. I think a honeymoon is in order!!??!! I literally cannot wait to finish up the last chapter. It's a good one, I think.
In case anyone was curious, Book Two is gonna be named To Live. I love the aesthetic feel of my titles. To Love. To Live. To ___.
ON ANOTHER NOTE, EVERYTHING I DIDN'T SAY IS OUT NOW! It would mean the world to me if everyone checked it out! I've been working very hard on it.
Lastly, I would like to thank shanksofthemaze for reading my story! She's so nice and she's really good at writing!
BUT THAT'S IT FOR NOW! READ ETIDS! I WILL TALK TO YOU ALL SOON!! BYEEE!!