Y/n's P.O.V.
I shot up in the dirt with a gasp. I quickly realized I was still in the pit in the Glade. I pulled my knees up to my chest, leaning against the wall and trying to steady my breathing. This better not become a habit . . .
"Calm down, princess," Minho said jokingly from above me. I looked up at him, not really amused by his joke considering the state I was in. On the other hadn't, I saw the slightest bit of concern deep in his expression.
"Another dream?" A British voice chimed in. I looked to Newt, nodded a little, and shifted my gaze to the ground.
The picture of all of my friends looking at me with so much hatred . . . It was too much. I felt my eyes start to fill up with tears. I just shut my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall behind me.
"That bad, huh?" Minho asked gently. I just sighed.
"Worse than last time?" It was Newt who spoke this time. I opened my eyes and looked at him.I nodded and closed my eyes as more tears started to form. The last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of them. Minho left after a few minutes to go see if Chuck was up yet.
"Do... do you wanna talk about it? Your dream?" Newt asked softly. I just shrugged.
"It was bad. Twenty times worse compared to last time."
Newt just looked at me.
"We heard you. We've been sitting here waiting for one of you to wake up. We were sitting here talking and we heard you call out my name," He whispered.
"Let me guess, then to Minho, then to Chuck, right?" He nodded.
It was the order of the people in my dream. I called out to Thomas and Teresa then to Newt. I called out to Newt about Minho and Chuck.
"It was me . . . I dreamt that I put you guys here. In my dream I woke up and neither Thomas or Teresa would talk to me. Then when we were being banished, Thomas said that I was the one responsible," I paused and sighed. "He threw all of the blame on me, which made Gally only banish me. And that's not even the bad part."
I let out a sad, dry laugh before continuing. Newt was looking at me, listening intently to what I was saying, which I appreciated.
"It was terrible because when I was standing in the entrance of the maze, with everyone blocking me in, the looks of pure hatred in all of your faces... it was horrible."
"Everyone was there?" He asked.
"No. Not everyone," I sighed. "Chuck wasn't there at all and you walked off right after they threw all of the blame on me. You guys just looked so betrayed. I hated it."
Newt nodded slowly.
"I just walked away? As soon as all of the blame was on you?" He asked. I nodded, pulling my knees closer to my chest.
"Well technically you were part of the 'everybody looking at me with hatred' thing, but after that then yeah."
He was silent for a second.
"Just so you know, Y/n . . . I would never do that. I don't care what Tommy says when he wakes up," He whispered. I smiled up at him as Minho arrived with Chuck, preventing me from saying anything back.
Teresa woke up not long after.
We sat there and talked most of the day, Minho, Newt, and Chuck leaving once to grab lunch and come back. Not long before our banishing, Thomas' eyes fluttered open.
"Hey," Teresa said calmly. "Are you okay?"
He looked around.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Chuck scolded. Thomas mumbled something incoherent.
"Gally's taken control. He said we have a choice, either join him, or get banished at sundown with you," Newt informed.
Thomas groaned as he pulled himself up to a sitting position.
"Everyone's just agreed to that?" He asked.
Teresa spoke up. "Gally... has everyone convinced that you're the reason this is happening."
"Well, he's been right so far," Thomas muttered.
"What are you talking about?" Minho questioned.
"This place. It's not what we thought it was," Thomas said. "It's not a prison, it's a test. It all started when we were kids."
Everyone was silent, trying to take in what he was saying.
"They'd give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us," he continued. "And then people started disappearing. One every month, like clockwork."
"Sending them up into the maze," Newt said, thinking out loud. Thomas nodded.
"Yeah, but not all of us," Thomas said.
"What do you mean?" I asked. Thomas looked at me and sighed.
"Guys, I'm one of them," he whispered. Everyone looked at him, confused. My heart started beating faster as I thought about what Alby. Flashbacks of my dream made my anxiety even worse.
"The people who put you in here. I worked with them." He was silent for a second. "I- I watched you guys for years. The entire time you've been here, I was on the other side of it."
Thomas then looked at me.
"So we're you." He then looked at Teresa. "And you."
"What?" We both asked in shock.
"We did this to them," he said, glancing up at Newt, Minho, and Chuck.
"No," Teresa whispered. "That can't be true."
"It is, I saw it," Thomas spoke.
I looked up at Newt as he wiped his lip with his hand. Chuck looked at me with sad, confused eyes. The same eyes from my dream. I felt tears forming in my eyes as I shook my head.
"Why'd they send us up here if we were with them?" I asked softly, trying my best to wipe away the tears that were flowing down my cheeks.
"It doesn't matter," Thomas answered with a shake of his head.
"He's right," Newt chimed in. "It doesn't matter. Any of it."
I put my head in my hands, trying to contain myself while Newt continued.
"Alright? The people we were before the maze . . . they don't even exist anymore. The creators made sure of that," Newt said, looking to Thomas. "But what does matter is who we are now, and what we do right now. You went into the maze and you found a way out!"
"Yeah but if I hadn't Alby would still be alive," Thomas said, looking at the ground. Abby flashed through my mind. I remembered his last words telling me to get everyone out.
Newt stopped for a second.
"Maybe," he whispered. "But I know that if he were here, he'd be telling you the exact same thing. So pick your ass up, and finish what you started. Because if we do nothing then that means Alby died for nothing and I can't have that."
"Okay," Thomas croaked. "Okay but we've gotta get through Gally first."
-
When it was time for our banishing, several boys came and tied Teresa and I up. Thomas pretended to still be unconscious so two guys would have to carry him. One boy grabbed Teresa and one grabbed me and they led us to the doors of the maze.
"This is such a waste," Gally muttered as the two boys dropped Thomas to the ground.
"Gally," Winston called out, grabbing Gally's attention. "It just doesn't feel right, man."
"Yeah What is Thomas is right? What if he can lead us home?" Jeff chimed in.
"We are home, okay?" Gally said, walking towards them. "I don't wanna have to cross any more names off of that wall."
"And do you really think banishing us is going to solve anything?" Teresa questioned.
"No," Gally said. I was confused now. "This isn't a banishing. It's an offering."
"What?" Teresa said as the boy dragged her towards a large pole in front of the entrance to the maze.
"Gally, wha -" I was cut off by the guy harshly dragging me forward and tying taking my arms up to tie me to the wooden pole.
"What're you-" Teresa started to ask, but she was being tied to one of the poles.
"Gally! What're you doing?!" I yelled as the nameless boy tied me to a pole in front of the doors.
"I'm sorry, Y/n, but do you really think that I'm just gonna let Thomas back into the maze after what he's done?!" He yelled. "Look around you! Look at our Glade! This is the only way."
I noticed Newt look at Minho and drag his finger against his lip. Minho nodded and I saw Chuck in the distance, walking over with a bunch of supplies and bags.
"And once the grievers get what they came here for, everything goes back to the way it was," Gally finished.
"Are you even listening to this? Why are you all just standing there? He's crazy!" Teresa yelled.
"Could you shut up?" Gally spat.
"If you stay here, the grievers are gonna come back. They're gonna come back! And they're gonna keep coming back until you're all dead!" I yelled to the remaining boys.
"Shut up! Tie him up," Gally yelled as he motioned to Thomas. Nobody moved at first.
"Did you hear me? I said tie him up!" Gally yelled. The two boys finally reached for Thomas to do as Gally ordered.
That's when all hell broke loose.