A/n: The parts are going to coincide with the chronological time order of the books. Fever Code was part one, TMR will be part two, TST part three, and TDC being part four. So we're looking at a four part mini series? Hope this doesn't flop?
- 3rd Person POV -
The girl panicked, a gasp wracking her as she sat up abruptly. Her mind was as empty as the darkness around her. That was what she thought of at first. The darkness. And her blank mind. Panicked filled her as she tried to recall a name or a face or even simply how she'd gotten here. But she couldn't. "H-Hello?" she called. No answer.
As she unsuccessfully got anyone's attention and realized the severity of the situation she was in as whatever she was actually, physically in started to go up, she scooted into a corner. She closed her eyes and focused on breathing and tried to sort out what the actual bloody hell was going on.
Bloody hell.
That was not something she said.
Something tugged at her, warm and tantalizing but barely within range to even feel it. But reach it? No. She let it go, keeping herself calm. Her foot hit something as the ground shifted. She reached out to touch-
A box?
She suddenly thought of the extent of what was going on. Never mind where she'd come from - where was she going? Panic pushed her again and she pulled the box closer. In the dark, she pulled open the top, dumped out all the contents half-hazardly - she would have been gentle but she was in a moving container. If something breakable was inside, taking it out of the box guaranteed it getting broken, whether she was gentle or not - and curled in a ball, pulling it over her.
It was suffocatingly small and kind of scary actually, but it made her feel more guarded for some reason so she didn't make to leave the box.
Everything stopped and the girl froze, eyes wide and breath ragged. She covered her mouth to muffle it.
Meanwhile, the Gladers were all rushing as the Box approached, the alarm going off and causing confusion. This wasn't possible. Thomas had JUST come. How was this possible?
As the chaos started to take a grip, Newt moved to the front of the crowd. He jumped down into the box. "It's... a girl." He looked up at the other boys. But he wasn't talking about the girl hiding under the box, thought she tensed as she thought he was. The sunlight filtered into the box, harsh compared to the complete darkness from earlier but extremely muted so that her eyes adjusted a lot smoother than anyone else's had.
There was a gasp as the other girl Newt HAD meant when he'd spoken before shot up, looking around. Her eyes landed on the confused Greenie brunette and she choked out, "Thomas." Then, just as soon as she'd awaken and flipped out, she was out again, limp on the floor. Everyone slowly looked at Thomas. After a second, Newt looked around at the rest of the contents of the box. Two boxes - one awkwardly shaped and presumably empty as the other was tucked into the opposite corner, neat and sealed. The awkward, maybe empty box was upside down and its contents were strewn all over the bottom of the box.
Confused, Newt moved to the box, meaning to turn it over to start to pick up the mess of shirts and pants and socks. But, when he lifted the box, another pair of eyes met his. Newt stumbled back. "There's another one!" he shouted. Everyone looked back down as the girl blinked rapidly, looking around. Her eyes landed first on the other girl, then on Thomas. She looked at him a full second and they both seemed to breathe deeply, as if finding a piece of themselves in each other but neither really sure why. She moved on, looking at the other boys. They all seemed vaguely familiar, as if they'd passed in the background of a movie or had met ever so briefly in a dream. Doing something normal. Maybe one had held a door opened as she walked down the aisle or one had cut her off as she drove or another had bumped her as they passed. Something fleeting and brief. Things she assumed she'd maybe dreamt of, as the ideas of the possible encounters filled her head but none of their faces matched to them. Neither did her face to the person she pictured as her. These memories were not hers. They weren't memories at all. They were mental images. Nothings. It saddened her.
Newt kneeled in front of the obviously startled girl, holding his hands up in surrender. "What's your name, Love?" The blonde asked quietly. The way the Brit looked at the girl, Thomas's shoulders squared and he was annoyed with himself to realize that he was jealous.
The last few days, Thomas and Newt had been surprised to see that they hit it off immediately. Newt said that Thomas reminded him of someone he used to know. A girl. A sister maybe. The girl the boy couldn't remember was a brunette with similar brown eyes to Thomas' and she'd worn the same guarded but wildly terrified expression Newt had seen Thomas adorn that very first day. And, just as Newt could imagine he did for the girl, he swiped in and took Thomas under his wing. Minho was unsure whether or not Newt had made up the girl as an excuse, simply taking to Thomas because the blonde was obviously attracted to the other boy.
Now there was this random girl, with brown hair and similar honey-whisky brown eyes as Thomas' and she was just as unsure and scared and vulnerable, and Newt was being as heroic as ever and stepping in to save the day.
Ever since the fuzzy and incomplete memory the random girl that had popped into Newt's head one day, Newt had held on to her. He clutched to that incomplete face and memory, sure that she was someone important. Someone waiting for him. Someone he was in love with. He craved the kind of physical attention only a really touchy and overly friendly Minho could give him. The thing was, Newt didn't trust any of the other boys like he did Minho, and Minho would only appease Newt when Minho was drunk. The two would cuddle or flirt or hold hands or whatever. But it never riled up that feeling of arousal or excitement or romance and Newt knew that no mater what, Minho and him were and always would be just friends.
So, he'd held on to the possibility that he wasn't alone. That there was a girl waiting for him somewhere. And that's why she'd popped into his head. Especially after he'd just... jumped. It was his subconscious reminding him he most definitely had a reason to live.
But then Thomas came up. Thomas, who was similar enough to the girl that it threw Newt off. Thomas, who was brave and strong and fast and stubborn and determined and an excellent leader, despite his confusion and cluelessness and rash decisions. Thomas, who was really hot and sometimes adorable and funny and easy to talk to and nice to be around. Thomas, who had Newt by the heartstrings, plucking out a stumbling tune whenever the two boys were around each other.
Now, though, Newt couldn't deny that this girl... She was her. This was the girl. In the end, though, Newt looked at her and saw only a small girl who was scared and needed a friend. She was pretty, but he wasn't attracted to her like THAT. Man. Maybe he was more gay than he'd thought.
So while Thomas fumed and worried and fretted, Newt was at complete ease. He was finally meeting the girl he'd been dreaming about - and he was completely relieved to realize they were just platonic. He'd known her. One day, some way, in a life he couldn't recall. It was funny, considering that if someone had told him a month or two ago that he would meet the girl from his dreams and she wouldn't kiss him and he would be happy about it... He would have brushed it off. He wouldn't have accepted it as even remotely true. He'd fancied himself in love with this dream girl. Until he learned what real attraction and feelings and romance was.
Until Thomas.
The girl met his gaze and she relaxed as her eyes filled with a slight calm. She herself didn't recognize Newt, but her body screamed safety, joy, and happiness, so she assumed that he was to be trusted. On some level. But, as she went to respond to his question, she was startled to realize that - she didn't know. "I... I..." Panic filled her body.
Newt jumped to action again, knowing how concerning it was to not remeber anything at all in those first few seconds. I mean over time fuzzy little tidbits would surface here or there but by then one was used to the Glade and it wasn't nearly as horrible without the memories. He was sure if he woke up in the Glade tomorrow without any of the fragmented pieces he'd gathered this far, he's be pretty set. But, unsure of where you were and in a place New with nothing to hold onto, it was a little more than just starling.
Reaching out, Newt grabbed her shoulders. "Hey hey," he coped, his thumbs rubbing gently back and forth patterns on her skin. "It's okay. It's okay. Come on, get up. Don't worry, Love, you'll remeber your name soon enough. We all did."
Silently reminding herself to breath and blinking to try and stabalyze herself, the girl nodded. "Wh-where am I?" Her voice was thick as Newt stood and offered his hand, Thomas growing more and more jealous as the interaction went on.
It was quiet as Newt flicked his wrist, reminding her to take his hand. Once she had and he pulled her to her feet, helping her steady and deal with the headache of gettin up too fast, he threw his arms wide, smiling. "Welcome to the Glade Greenie." He thought it funny. He didn't know why. "I'm Newt. Let's get you out of here, yeah? Get you some food or something. You're probably terrified." He out his arm around her shoulders and all of the boys rolled their eyes. The first girl to come to the Glade and of course the cute guy with the accent had gotten her.
Unbeknownst to them, Newt just felt protective and relieved though. This girl was small and helpless but apart of his past. She was important to him, he just knew it. Relieved because of previously mentioned brain games, which added to his instant informality with her.
He motioned Minho forward and the two helped get the girl out of the box. "Take care of her will you?" The blonde asked his friend. "I'll get girl number two to the Medjacks. See if she's dead or not." The mood grew dark for a second as Newt's meant-to-be joke was realized for how serious it could be.
Minho nodded, putting his hand on the girl's shoulder to guide her. The action made the girl flinch away. Both because of the action itself and because Minho had done it. Her skin had blazed under his touch, like she'd been shocked by stagnant electricity. It had startled her. What he'd done had also pulled at another itching maybe-memory she could reach even less than the last one. One that bothered her and prodded at her, making her uncomfortable. "What, only the cute blonde can touch you?" Minho teased. He had to force his smile though. The girl was really attractive and Minho felt drawn to her in the same way Thomas and Newt felt drawn to each other. It had been cool to see Newt and Thomas hit it off, especially because it got Newt off his back. He and Newt has settled very nicely as just friends. This girl was... something, though. Minho definitely had a crush on her, at least. It bothered him that Newt had gotten both of the two newbies to like him.
Just as Newt felt completely platonic towards her, she felt the same towards him, though. "Yes," she said anyway. "Maybe."
Minho's lips pressed together in an obviously forced smile. Whatever. He didn't have time for girls anyway. "Okay. Sorry. Let me show you around." And so that's what he spent the rest of the day doing.
-
That night they had a bonfire. Everyone was fine calling Thomas by his name and this new girl 'Greenie'. As much as it was fun to tease the boy, the girl still didn't know her name.
At first Thomas and the girl had kind of a face off. Thomas pulled her aside now that he had a chance. It was the first time she'd been alone since coming up from the box. They talked in low voices, Thomas awkwardly telling her to stay away from Newt in tound about ways until he blurted that he liked the blonde and that he wanted her to stop flirting with him. The girl laughed, explained the situation, and everything was immediately good between the two.
She'd even topped it off with a, "Honestly, I hope you two work out. You're adorable," and Thomas liked her even more.
After that, Newt had joined the pair and the now trio spent the next while together until Gally's Mystery Drink started getting passed around. Newt and Thomas got way friendly and the girl slipped away to leave the two alone, unwilling to third wheel that party.
That's about when Chuck found her. The two talked and talked, cracking jokes and seeming to immediately get along. There was a pleasant familiarity between the two as well and they both took to it instantly. Like two school buddies long separated, they spent the rest of the night catching up. Which, in this world, meant Chuck told her everything he knew about himself and the Glade (and even the Maze, because she asked the right questions in the right way that even Thomas seemed to miss) and she told him about the teeny tiny details she'd learned about herself in the last feed hours.
She liked sugar. Running was fun but she much preferred thinking and puzzles and figuring things out. She liked to take care of people and seemed to have a knack in some way for some reason when it came to taking care of people who got hurt. She was pretty sure she liked the idea of being a Medjack. She was funny. That one Chuck had insisted she had to the lost. Above it all, she REALLY liked this drink.
When she started to get really silly, Gallo started to look over at her weird. Minho didn't like it and for the first time thag night he came over. "Come on, time for bed." He'd nodded a goodnight to Chuck who'd walked away giggling hysterically, and then scooped up the girl into his arms bridal style and started to carry her to the rooms. He realized they didn't have a place for her but just shook his head, resigning to give her his cot. He'd make a new one for her later, away from the other boys and the trouble they'd most assuredly cause with her.
At some point, she'd giggled. "It feels funny when you touch me. Zap zap zippety zap zap zap."
Highly amused, Minho couldn't help but smile as he looked down at her. She lay her head on his chest, closing her eyes and mumbling incoherently. His heart tightened in his chest. She wa stunning... he lay her in his cot and stepped back as she immediately made herself comfortable, getting tangled in the blanket. He would maybe try and flirt with her tomorrow. So what if Newt had made a move? It might be fun to joke around at the very least.
All he knew, this girl was already driving him a little crazy. Maybe a little drama would be worth it.
Unfortunately, he wouldn't get the chance to find out.
-
"Ella," the young boy whispered. He was little. Very little. He seemed familiar and he smiled brightly. She tried to run to him. Tried and tried and tried. But the ground was working like sand to slow her and she was running too slowly. "Ella isn't your name. Not Ella. Ella Ella Ella." She finally gave up, her knees bending as she placed her hands on them. "I love you Ella."
Her eyes traded up. "I love you too Thomas."
The girl bolted awake covered in sweat and eyes wide, one thing running through her brain. A name. HER name. Ella.
As soon as the dream faded, though, her senses were filled with chaos. Sounds. Lights. At night? She slipped out of Minho's cot that at this point it seemed he had just given her and looked outside. They must have let her fall asleep early. The sun was barely setting and the doors must have just closed...
Except, when she looked at the Maze doors, they were-
Open.
The panicked screams, hollers, and mixed shouted words all hit Ella at once and she stumbled back. Oh. Oh. This was bad. Very, VERY bad.
-
"You ran INTO THE MAZE?" Ella screamed.
Thomas' eyes went wide, his hands going up. "I couldn't let him die!" He defended.
In that moment the two looked so similar it was like Thomas' mom was scolding him for doing something dangerous. Or maybe... maybe his sister...
Ella shoved Thomas into Newt. "PROTECT HIM!" She screamed with a desperation that Bewt didn't quite understand. Thomas and Ella seemed just as confused about it which made even less sense. Despite that, Newt took hold of Thomas' arm and nodded his head.
"Come on," Newt huffed. As the Gladers awaited to see if the Gruevers would come into the Glade now that the doors were open, Newt guided Thomas into a safe place as Ella ran around gathering up loose end Gladers who didn't know exactly where to go.
Suddenly a roar ripped through the air and Ella turned a, The last one exposed. She paused. That sound... it sounded so familiar. Her brain was wrenching and tugging, working against her to try and dig up the memory that terrible sound was pulling at. She stood there, paralyzed, trying so hard to remeber that her body started to hurt and she couldn't do anything else.
Minho looked around the room. "Wait. Where's Ella?"
A spite of ice dig into Thomas' heart and shot through his veins. He ripped his arm out of Newt's grasped and ran out, his eyes scanning to find the girl. When he saw her, he booked it. His hand wrapped around her arm and he shook her. She looked at him in a daze. "ELLA!" He screamed. "COME ON!"
His voice finally got through to her and she nodded. His hand fell and they both turned tail and ran as fast and as hard as the could to where the others were hiding. Just in time for the creatures from Hell to come raging through the Glade, Thomas and Ella entered the little huddle and the baricade was finished being put on the door.
Before either could catch their breath, Newt was in front of Thomas. "Don't you bloody EVER do that again!" The blonde seethed at the other boy. "You could have died you... you idiot! Shuck!"
All Ella could think was how much of an actual worried boyfriend Newt was. His blonde hair was ruffled and his darker eyebrows were pulled in tight, his eyes wide with residual terror and insistency as he looked at Thomas like he thought he would never see him again. Alive, at least. "You have to promise to stop doing THIS," Newt continued. "This her thing. Stop it."
Thomas rolled his eyes. "Between the two of you I'm never going to catch a break."
"Better believe it," Ella and Newt said at the same time. But smiles could not en be exchanged before the building they were in shook and the fear settled in again, strangling every once of happiness or hope out as nothing but screams and shouts filled the air next.
On instinct, Thomas moves to be perfectly in between Ella and Newt so that he can instantly act to jump in and save either of them if necessary. Newt hands immediately finds Thomas' wrist, holding extra tight without thinking about it so that Thomas can't go anywhere. Thomas looks back but Newt won't look at him directly. The feeling of Newt's fingers against Thomas' skin sends a bit of a weird feeling through Thomas' body and he has to shake it off to try and focus.
Ella steps back, closer to Thomas, putting herself between the entryway and Thomas so that any attacking Grievers will get her first. Her hands are shaking and she goes to reach out to take Thomas' hand but then instantly feels weird, dropping her arm limp to her side. Thomas sees it though and he reached out with his free hand, interlacing their fingers and holding tightly. The two exchange identical looks on almost identical faces and now more than ever, everyone in the room can't help but think that they're related. Closely.
The room shakes and cracks and bursts open and Ella screams. Minho hovers, teaching for Dlla but seeing her being covered by Thomas. While everyone's busy, too fast for anyone to see, Alby is scooped up. One second he's an inch away from Newt, the next... he isn't. Ella screams and goes to run for him but Thomas seized up and uses their hold to keep her back, holding her to him tightly as she screams and fights. Newt drops Thomas' wrist to let him have another hand and Thomas uses it immediately.
As the world goes quiet, Thomas holds onto Ella as she shakes and fights and screams. "He's gone," he whispers. Minho's face is blank, Alby's last words ringing trough his head along with Ella's hysterical fit. "He's gone. Stop, Ella he's gone."
Slowly the screams turns to sobs and a mark goes on the chalkboard for the first of their close friends to die.
-
The group walks through the room in stunned silence. Theresa surges forward, eyes wide, and Ella reminds herself again that Theresa's even there. She keeps forgetting.
After jumping in the Griever hole and finding their way through the building, the silence is so thick with tension that if even a pun dropped or a shard of glass was toes by a foot everyone would jump and freak out, screaming. Chuck clutches to Ella's shirt. She's been his go-to for calm and safety this past while of horror. Ella doesn't mind. It's quite natural for her to care if someone younger and smaller than her. It's... weirdly nostalgic. Makes her wonder if she had a younger sibling she used to take care of all the time.
Minho tilts his head as Thomas branches off, Newt staying close by his side because this boy can't be trusted to just not get in trouble. That would be too easy. So while Thomas explores the controls and the consul, it's Theresa who finds the video. "Guys." Ella pulls away from Chuck to find a place to watch it as everyone huddled around.
Just after it's over, Gally shows up. Gally who everyone thought was dead. Gally who was presumably taken by the Grievers. Gally who is six levels of badly shucked up, disheveled, and holding a look of such sincere insanity in his eye that it makes Ella shrink back into the closest person to her. Minho. The boy in response puts his arm around her waist, subconsciously.
It's a blur or sentences that don't make sense and accusations that are both vague and ominous as Gally glares, brandishing the weapon in his hand. Thomas tries to reason with him. Tries to talk with him. Tries to make him see any kind of sense. And in a second, it's suddenly a flipped coin night and day kind of difference. Gally snaps and the gun goes off. Movement - Thomas stumbles backand Ella launches forward the same time as Newt, Newt getting there first since he's closer and Ella not getting there at all since Minho is keeping her tightly in place. Someone throws a spear. Winston. Ella sees the spear impale Gally, who falls, and Winston stands up again, turning his eyes to Thomas with worry.
A body falls.
Yet, Thomas still stands.
Every single pair of eyes in the room falls to the small body on the floor. Thomas groans in a dull pain and collapses to his knees to hold the injured Glader. Newt is frozen, face twisted in pain and body locked tightly, leaving him unable to move. Minho freezes, eyes trained on Thomas and the boy he holds as Minho keeps Ella up. Thankfully, too, because after a second or so of Ella simply staring and processing after she expected to see Thomas be the one dying, seeing Chuck on the floor bleeding out instead seems to be just as worse.
When had the boy left her side? When had he moved to Thomas'?
I suppose it doesn't matter now...
Ella covered her mouth same time as Newt did, everyone staring in shock or pain or crying. She curled away, closing her eyes tightly and burying her face in Minho's chest. His arms went limply around, taking reassurance in the feel of her against him just as she took comfort in him holding her. Thomas sobbed and pleaded until Newt finally pulled him away. Rugged himmto his feet. Thomas resisted at first but then turned just like Ella had. He buried his face in Newt's neck, doing something hat cane to him naturally. Maybe he'd had an older sibling. Or he used to hide in his mom when he was scared. That made sense.
This though. This didn't make sense. Chuck was...
Innocent, charismatic, hopeful, brave, nothing but good Chuck. Chuck who had been Thomas' only warm, welcoming friend in the Glade. Chuck who had sensed Ella's matriartical habits and had fed her need to take care of someone without being asked or even knowing her well enough to know that that was exactly what she needed. Instinctual and loyal and friendly and kind.
Chuck was dead.
-
Eventually everyone got themselves together and made their way further down the halls. Newt was resigned to holding Thomas' hand as the previous leader shook and hesitated, unable to think for a few solid seconds as Newt dragged him gently along after the others. Aft I r a while Thomas came to but he didn't let go of Newt's hand.
Until they reached the door.
Atop the door was a neon green, glowing sign. An exit sign. "You have got to be kidding me," Minho scoffed from next to Ella.
Ella frowned, looking to Thomas. It felt new and weird to look at the boy for guidance and help. For leadership. Backwards. He looked to her at the same time, but when he saw her looking back his shoulders squared and his jaw set. He let go of Newt's hand and moved to the door. "Come on," he huffed quietly. And so they pushed onward.
Right into the arms of WICKD, who they so believed was there to save them.
If only....