Florence's eyes flew open, immediately filling with tears at the realisation of what she had remembered. And then, all she felt was frustration.
She didn't know her memory was going to be wiped when she went into the Maze.
"So you should've had five to six distinct memories and a brief recollection of your life as well. I know some things will still be a little hazy, and there'll still be gaps in your memory but that's normal. The procedure isn't completely perfect yet."
The doctor was chattering away already but Florence was barely listening. She didn't hear a single word that was being said to her.
"We also ran a few tests, the results were a little unexpected..."
Was that it?
It was a lot, but at the same time, it felt like nothing.
She learnt that she was taken to WCKD from a young age, her first friend was Newt, her first love was Minho, and that she was supposed to go to Maze B - whatever that was. The fact there was more than one Maze was the thing that took her interest the most.
I need to talk to the boys.
She lifted herself from the seat, unable to hide her more than impatient expression. The doctor raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed by her lack of respect towards her.
"May I leave?" There was a serious undertone of passive aggressiveness in the otherwise polite question.
"You may." The doctor replied coldly, any signs of friendliness now having vanished.
Florence gave her a sarcastic smile but as soon as she passed her, it dropped. She left the room, before realising she actually had no idea where she was going. She didn't pay enough attention to the path Janson had taken her on on the way to the procedure.
I was a Runner for shucks sake, how did I forget where I came from?
"The cafeteria's over this way." A voice called to her, a southern accent hitting her ears. She tilted her head to the source of the noise; her eyes finding a short boy.
He looked about her age, with short brown hair and olive skin. He was fidgeting with his sleeves awkwardly as his eyes scanned Florence, the girl in turn analysing him.
"Thank you."
She didn't even know she was meant to go to the cafeteria but the boy seemed confident enough in his words for the girl to believe he had been there long enough to know.
Maybe he was in Maze B...
She followed him to where he mentioned the cafeteria was in silence - it felt too awkward to speak - and froze at the sight before her. There were tons of kids. So many of them. They were spread out across a series of picnic tables, all with plates filled with food similar to the feast they had earlier. Instantly, she knew that the kids had all come from Mazes.
"Florence!" Frypan's voice jolted her from her daze and she looked to where her friends were sat with some unfamiliar faces.
She turned back to thank the mysterious boy, but he had already slinked off in the direction of an empty table, choosing to sit in the furthest seat from people with his own plate of food. He began dragging his fork around his plate, clearly he had no appetite.
Minho jogged over towards her, his eyes quickly darting to her side, where she looked to see her brother joining her. He looked just as mesmerised by all the other kids as she felt.
"We weren't the only Maze." Minho told them ecstatically, an excited grin on his lips.
"I know." Florence mumbled, half under her breath, but Minho's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She snapped back to reality, poking his cheek playfully to distract him before stalking towards the table the other Gladers were sat at.
Taking one of the empty seats at the table, Florence focused her attention on the unfamiliar boy across from her, presumably explaining the story of how they ended up there. Minho sat down by her side, his thigh pressing against hers, and Thomas sat on her other side, next to Newt.
"And there was this big, loud explosion, and these guys came out of nowhere. Started shooting up the place."
"It was intense." The boy beside him added in, shovelling food into his mouth.
"They pulled us out of the Maze and brought us here."
"What about the rest? The other people left behind in the Maze, what happened to them?" Newt asked, deeply invested.
The girl was suddenly reminded of the people left behind in their Maze. What would have happened to them?
"I don't know. I guess WCKD still has them."
He shrugged, his eyes falling on Florence and widening in interest. Minho noticed this and his own eyes narrowed, shuffling closer to the girl - if that was even possible.
"How long you guys been here?" Newt asked, Florence feeling a small sense of amusement at how curious he was.
"Not long. Just a day or two. That kid over there has been here the longest." The boy across from them turned around to nod over at the boy Florence had encountered earlier. She straightened up in intrigue.
"I've spoken to him." She said, barely realising she was talking aloud.
"When?" Minho's voice came from beside her, inspecting the boy, before turning his attention back to her.
"After I had my procedure done. It was just quick, he showed me the cafeteria." She said with a shrug, stealing another fry from Frypan's plate.
"Procedure?" Thomas enquired, and Florence froze in bringing the fry to her mouth. She closed her mouth, clearing her throat and darting her eyes to the boys she had only just met.
"I'll tell you guys later." She spoke awkwardly. Luckily, they understood her not wanting to say whatever it was in front of two boys she just met, and instantly dropped the subject.
"So how long's he been here?" She questioned, and the boy seemed more than happy to answer.
"Almost a week. His Maze was nothing but girls."
I bet that's where I was supposed to be. I'll have to find out if it's called Maze B...
But before she could say anything in reply, Minho's eyebrow had cocked in interest and he had blurted out, "Really?" in an intrigued tone.
Immediately, she elbowed him in the ribs, causing him to let out a pained groan, to the others laughs.
"I think you deserved that mate." Newt pointed out, and Minho just glared at him. He turned to Florence with a sweet smile, slinging his arm around her shoulder and pressing a kiss to her temple.
"You know I wasn't serious princess." She rolled her eyes, but internally she was having great difficulty in hiding her blush due to Minho's affection towards her. She could see everyone else's eyes on them which was why her cheeks were threatening to burn a bright red.
"Were you guys in a Maze with just..?" The boy across from them trailed off as he pointed to Florence, not knowing her name.
"Oh, Florence." She said, and he just returned her a smile. She noticed that since Minho kissed her, the boy seemed a little less interested in her.
Okay then, don't tell me your name.
"Well there's Teresa as well but I'm not sure where she is." The girl replied, finding herself scanning the room in search of her friend. She had no such luck.
"She went to have tests run on her as well." Winston told her and she bit her lip anxiously.
What if Teresa had the same procedure I did?
"It's not like you were supposed to be in our Maze." Frypan pointed out and Florence rolled her eyes. The two new boys sat with them looked more than confused at his words.
"What do you mean?"
She shifted uncomfortably, letting out a heavy sigh to ready herself to launch into explanation, not without a glare towards Frypan.
"I got myself sent to their Maze because I was meant to go somewhere else and I wanted to be with these guys." She felt her cheeks heating up as she said it, she felt so incredibly stupid.
"She loves us so much." Fry teased with a smile, and she tried to reach for yet another fry from his plate, this time with failure.
"Clearly I should've just gone to Maze B."
"Maze B?"
She forgot they didn't know what Maze B was.
Rolling her eyes impatiently, she waved a dismissive hand. Her eyes had been drawn to where Janson was walking in, and sensing he was going to make some sort of announcement, all she said was,
"I'll tell you later."
Janson did in fact make an announcement.
Everyone else looked as though they were expecting it, but for their small group, they were none the wiser. The kids around them watching Janson intently looked as though they had a buzz of excitement, and of course Florence had no idea why.
"Good evening, gentlemen, ladies. You all know how this works. If you hear your name called, please rise in an orderly fashion and join my colleagues behind me where they will escort you to the eastern wing. Your new lives are about to begin."
New lives?
This earned scattered applause, but Florence didn't join in. Instead, she exchanged a confused look with Thomas.
"Connor." A boy from the table behind them high-fived his friend and got up from his seat. Clearly he was Connor, and whatever he was being picked for must have been a good thing.
"Evelyn." A girl rose from her seat, an ecstatic smile playing on her face as she walked up to the workers stood behind Janson.
As names continued to be called, kids from across the cafeteria celebrated themselves being chosen and joined the now-growing group stood at the front with Janson.
"Squiggy." The unusual name took everyone off guard and a ripple of laughter went throughout the cafeteria.
"All right. Settle down." Janson called, before relaunching into listing more kids. However Florence's attention was stolen by the boy beside her leaning close to her ear.
"Hey, you okay?" Minho murmured, concern evident in his tone.
"Yeah I'm fine." She replied quietly, not wanting anyone else to listen to them instead of Janson. Minho didn't look convinced by her words, however her eyes hadn't left Janson, so she couldn't see his disbelief.
"Yeah, and I'm in love with Winston."
Florence struggled to stifle her giggles at Minho's words, funnily enough the person who caught her laughter was in fact Winston. He looked between the pair in oblivious bemusement before focusing back on Janson.
"Seriously, Flo." Now her eyes moved to him.
This was the second time he had ever used her real name. Not even once in his memories had he referred to her by name, and she couldn't help but think it a strange coincidence that he called her princess both in and out of the Maze - not that she minded.
She huffed a little, leaning into his side and whispering back to him, "Seriously, I'll tell you later. I need to talk to you all."
He said nothing in reply, but looked a little agitated with the fact she had given him no answers.
"Now, now, don't get discouraged. If I could take more, I would. There's always tomorrow. Your time will come." She focused back into Janson's speech to catch the end of his words. "Go on, eat up."
Applause sounded again, and the Gladers watched entranced as the group with Janson's two guards disappeared through a door to their 'new lives'.
"Where are they going?" Minho asked the boy opposite them whose eyes were still focused on the door.
"Far from here. Lucky bastards." The boy replied, turning back in his seat to return to his food.
"Some kind of farm. A safe place. They can only take in a couple of people at a time." His friend explained, a clear look of disappointment on his face for not being chosen.
"What the hell?" Thomas murmured from beside her, suddenly standing up from his seat. Florence caught sight of what he was so shocked by, watching as he jogged across the room towards the door the 'chosen' group had walked through.
Besides it was a glass window exposing another corridor, in which Teresa was walking down accompanied by four doctors. Thomas was acting as though she was being held against her will, but Teresa in fact looked more than happy to walk wherever they were taking her.
"Hey, Teresa! Teresa." Thomas tried to call to her through the glass, but she obviously didn't hear him.
Florence's focus shifted to Newt, whose expression she couldn't read. She imagined he was conflicted between concern for Teresa and jealousy for Thomas's concern for Teresa. Eventually, after watching Thomas talk with one of the guards for a few minutes, she got up to try and defend and/or calm her brother.
"They just have to run a few more tests." She caught the guard's words as she joined Thomas' side, causing his eyes to flicker to her.
"Is she okay?"
"She's fine."
"Seriously Thomas, don't worry about her." She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and the guard gave him a smug, condescending smile. Florence wanted to punch him, but she chose - with great difficulty - to rise above it as she encouraged Thomas to walk away.
"Florence?" She was forced to freeze in her tracks, causing Thomas to do the same. Whirling around, she was met by Janson's same menacing smile that made her want to run in the complete opposite direction of him.
"You're going to have to come with me-"
"-No way. You're not taking her anywhere." Thomas interrupted firmly, folding his arms across his chest.
"Yeah I think she's fine with us." Minho added, moving to her side, the rest of the group having joined them now.
As much as she appreciated her friends looking out for her, Florence knew why Janson wanted her. She couldn't exactly stay in a bedroom with all of the boys. Well, she could, but she knew that Janson wouldn't want her to.
"It's for sleeping arrangements, gentlemen. I assure you Florence will be well looked after in the company of some other girls."
Florence watched in amusement as the boys shifted uncomfortably due to their mistake, and she leaned forwards to ruffle Thomas' hair to mask her feeling of anxiety of being separated from her friends.
"I'll see you losers tomorrow."
Janson escorted Florence down a series of a corridors and right up to a metal door which he opened with his ID card. Motioning for her to go inside, she did so, and the door locked shut after her.
Turning to look at the room, she saw two bunk beds, with three of the beds occupied by girls. The room was pretty empty aside from the beds, metal walls and a dusty mirror making it all seem very prisonlike. Two heads had swivelled to look at her when the door had opened, curious to see the new arrival.
"Hello." Florence gave the most awkward wave, internally cringing immediately afterwards as she moved to the only available bed. It was a bottom bunk bed, so she didn't have to climb up to get to it, and she sat on the end.
"Hey." One of the two girls that had turned to look at her gave her a wide smile. She had dark brown hair and eyes exactly the same shade, and she was quite petite. Her legs were crossed and she was sat on her bed facing sideways so she could look up to the girl sat on the bunk above Florence.
"My name's Samantha, that's Alice." She nodded to the girl on the bunk above Florence. She had dirty blonde hair and freckles splattered across her face. Her legs dangled over the edge of the bed but she was small enough that they weren't in Florence's eyeline.
"It's nice to meet you both, I'm Florence." She could calm her racing heart now, the girls were both incredibly nice. She felt stupid for feeling so nervous to meet them.
"How long have you guys been here?" She asked curiously, Samantha immediately responding.
"We got here yesterday. We were in Maze C."
"Maze C?" Florence's eyes widened.
Of course there was a Maze C, all those kids from the cafeteria didn't come from one Maze.
"Yeah there's a bunch of Mazes. Beth up there is from Maze D, but we don't know anything else about her." Alice told her, pointing to the girl lying on the top bunk above Samantha, still laying with her back to the room. She was probably asleep but Florence found it a little weird as it was so early.
"How long has she been here?"
"We have no idea. The only thing she's said to us is her name and the fact she's from Maze D. She hasn't said a word since then."
"So, tell us about you then." Alice asked, climbing down from the top bunk and settling at the bottom of Florence's bed. She smiled warmly and the girl chuckled.
I wonder how many times I'll end up reciting my story to people.
"I was sent up to Maze A, but I was supposed to go to Maze B." Before the girls could ask any questions, she continued. "My brother used to work for WCKD so I got him to send me up to Maze A so I could be with my friends."
The two girls exchanged glances Florence didn't understand and the girl found herself preparing to be judged by them. She felt ridiculous telling people about it.
"That's totally badass!" Alice said with a laugh, Florence now noticing her mouth was open in awe.
"Really?" She asked in disbelief, to which they both nodded.
"Yeah! You didn't want to go where they were gonna send you so you sent yourself somewhere else. That's badass."
Samantha reiterated and Florence found herself beginning to blush in embarrassment and flattery. She shrugged nonchalantly, which caused both girls to give her teasing laughs and smiles..
"Do you miss your friends?" Alice asked, the mood immediately shifting as Florence thought about it.
"Yeah I guess. They're idiots most of the time but they're my family. Haven't really been away from them for this long at all." She mumbled the last sentence, hugging her knees to her chest.
Samantha shared a glance with Alice, and there was a look of mischief in her eyes. A smile found its way onto her lips as she turned back to Florence.
"Well... What if we had a way to get you to them?"