Finally getting a shower and clean clothes actually felt nice and refreshing.
Abby almost felt happy, probably for one of the few times since the earlier days of the maze. Maybe they were finally done with the trials and could get away from WICKED.
However, she still sensed that something wasn't right. It couldn't just be that easy. Especially when you were talking about WICKED.
Abby pulled the lace of her final shoe tight and stood up from the wooden bench near the showers. Her hair was still damp, falling onto her gray t-shirt. She walked over to the door where she had come in and pulled on the handle. It was surprisingly unlocked and swung open. First time ever.
Unfortunately, Janson stood on the other side, leaning against one of the walls of the hallway. He straightened up, seeing Abby.
"Can I see the others now?" Abby asked.
"Yes," he said, "This way."
He led her through the hallways, making a few turns left and right. They soon got to a set of double doors and Abby could hear the mumble of voices coming from the other side.
Janson pulled a door open and Abby took a deep breath, stepping through.
There were rows of seats set up in the large room, plenty of boys from the glade and girls from Group B sitting in them. Abby's eyes scanned past people, seeing Thomas and Teresa talking and Minho near them, until finding Newt.
He was sitting by himself, bent over with his head in his hands. He must have heard the door shut because he looked up and at Abby.
It only took seconds for him to stand up and run over to Abby, embracing her in his arms. Abby hugged him back tightly.
Newt let go a little, his hands on the side of her face, and looked down at her. Abby met his gaze. He looked tired like he hadn't slept recently, and his hair was just slightly messy.
"How are you? Are you okay?" Newt questioned worriedly.
"I'm fine, Newt," Abby concluded, "You?"
"I was about to have a shucking heart attack from worrying so much, but I feel better now that you're here," he half smiled.
Abby pulled him close again, "I had no idea what they were doing to you and it got to me. What did you go through?"
"It doesn't matter," Newt told, his voice sounding a bit troubled, "We're together now and they are going to have to go through me before they can change that."
"Can everyone listen up, please," Janson's voice rang throughout the auditorium. All the heads in the room turned almost simultaneously to look at him.
Abby and Newt headed closer to the crowd of people, Newt's arm around her waist.
"As you should know, the trials are over," Janson spoke, "We just need one more thing from you. You just need to do what we tell you one last time."
Frypan interrupted, "So not really over then, is it?"
Rat Man dismissed him with a small sigh and his eyes flicked back to the whole crowd. "You just need to agree to remove the Swipe," he said casually.
The room erupted in curious voices all at once. "What does that mean?" Newt mused, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Quiet, quiet," Janson motioned, "Removing the Swipe will return your memories so your brain will be unaltered. If you had any good memories of times before this you will get them back. We will take out every device that is in your head except the one that maps your killzone patterns."
Thomas spoke up, "So you won't be able to control us anymore?"
"Correct," he replied, "You will all get the time to make your decisions later. But, for now, I need to let you know who is and who isn't immune."
Once again, the room was filled with urgent questions.
"I thought we were all immune," Minho said, now standing next to Newt.
Newt's eyes stayed at the front of the room, "I guess not."
"Those of you who aren't immune were used as the control group," Janson explained, "A way that we could see the difference between the immunes and everyone else." He pulled out a clipboard. "Please try to stay calm as I read off the names of those who are not immune," he continued, looking down at the list in front of him, "Here we go. Abby. . ."
It was then that Newt's breath caught in his throat and he stopped listening to any more of the names. No...he thought, No, this can't be happening.
Janson kept going, "Newt. . ."
Abby's eyes went wide. Her chest felt heavy, barely moving up and down enough to breathe. She stared mouth agape, at Newt in front of her. He just stared back as Janson continued to say more names.
Eventually, he stopped and it was silent except for the sounds of people comforting each other.
"Newt," Abby breathed.
"Why do you look concerned about me?" he asked.
"Newt, they called your name," Abby told, wondering how he could have missed it, "Were you not listening?"
"I think I stopped listening after he said your name," he crossed his arms and looked at the floor, somehow looking more miserable.
"Newt..." she said again, "It'll be okay. You'll be okay."
He shook his head, "Don't be worried for me because I'm not. I'll be fine. My mind is just worrying about you. Why did it have to be you?" He closed his eyes for a second.
Abby stepped up to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "It's okay," she cooed, "We'll get through this together. That's how it has always been right?" She felt Newt nod.
"How are you guys doing?" It was Thomas who looked pretty upset as well.
Abby pulled away and stood on her own.
"Oh, just bloody amazing Tommy," Newt snapped.
"It had to be both of us," Abby was talking more to herself, "Not just one of us. Both of us. I don't even know what to feel." Her head was all mixed up. This couldn't be real. They said they were immune. They lied of course. She finally looked around the room and saw everyone else. There were a few people staring blankly into the space in front of them and some people from Group B in tears as their friends consoled them.
Janson spoke again when the everyone got a bit quieter. "I'm sorry for being the bearer of bad news, but it had to be done. Those of you who aren't immune are most likely in the first stages of the Flare."
Abby's could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. All of it was too much and she could barely take it. However, she just blinked them away, trying to stay strong. For Newt and everyone.
"So, now for removing the swipe," Janson began, "We'll need to go to the surgery rooms, so follow me in an orderly fashion."
The Gladers and Group B did as he said and walked down more white hallways. At one door, Janson stopped and opened it. It was a pretty good sized room so the whole big group could fit inside. There were four beds on the opposite side of the room with odd machines hanging above them. There was also a person in scrubs standing next to each bed.
"You will be sedated and these devices will remove what needs to be taken out from your brains," Janson explained, "It won't hurt too much."
"Not very reassuring," Minho commented, glancing over at Thomas, Newt, and Abby.
"So," Janson clasped his hands, "It's time to make your decisions."
Thank you guys so much for 120+ reads! Like I just started this like a week ago and that's a lot.
I also saw the death cure movie two days ago and omg...I was literally crying the whole time. Comment your thoughts on it.
I'll again update asap.
❤