181A/N: WHEW! This is a long one haha but next chapter is the last and as promised…. You know who will be there (not Voldemort xD)! I want to say thank you to everyone reading! I especially want to say thank you to Martine9295 for reviewing! As always I hope you all enjoy and I will see you in the next chapter! (:
Martine9295: (ch.58) I have to say that Chuck's response was one of my favorite parts in the movie x) lol like I always kind of hate when people state the obvious and I feel like I probably would have said the same thing x) lol
I'm so bad with titles too D: usually I have some sort of songspiration lol and I have kind of a playlist set up for the sequel, but nothing that strikes me as title worthy, you know? Lol and I hate that I'm so focused on it, but I just want it to be perfect D: lol this is by far my favorite story I've ever written and I'm so excited to continue it (: Me and my cousin were kind of thinking something on the lines of that actually (I'm letting her write most of the Thomas/OC parts) but I'm like "what if someone thinks it sounds stupid…?" "it doesn't sound like a standalone sequel title" and I think I'm over thinking it x)
(ch.59) One more chapter after this! I'm so excited lol
Me too lol x) Google is always there when I need it haha we just kind of do all the same things but it doesn't really feel like a tradition, you know? Lol that sounds kind of weird
Close, but not quite lol I think you won't like the reunion moment as much as you think x) and I'm sorry please don't throw anything lol I love you guys and Newt and I promise everything will work out for him… but it has to be drug out to some extent lol xD
"This is such a waste." Gally remarked as they threw Thomas (who was pretending to be still unconscious) onto the ground. Teresa was being held with her arms behind her back.
"Gally…" Winston's voice was kind a quiet, almost like he was scared to talk, "It doesn't feel right, man."
Jeff piped up, "Yeah, what is Thomas is right? Maybe he can lead us home."
"We are home. Okay?" Newt cringed when Gally said those words. The Glade had undeniably been a home to them, but it was meant to be more of a waypoint. They were never supposed to stay there indefinitely. "I don't wanna have to cross anymore names off that wall."
"You really think banishing us is going to solve anything?" Teresa spoke freely, she was about to be thrown into the maze and to the Grievers so it was not like she really had anything to lose at that point.
"No. But this isn't a banishing. It's an offering."
"What? Wait! Gally, what are you doing?" Teresa was pushed against the pole and her arms were tied above her.
"You really think I'm gonna let Thomas back into the maze after what he's done? Look around you! Look at our Glade! This is the only way." Gally was doing his best to sell his delusion to the other Gladers and it was seemingly working. Newt looked towards Minho, they had made their choice earlier but at that point Gally only seemed crazy, not completely insane. Minho gave a nod that was slight enough that only Newt was able to note it. "And when the Grievers get what they came for, everything goes back to the way it was."
"Are you listening to this? Why are you all just standing there? He's crazy!"
"You shut up."
"If you stay here, the Grievers are going to come back. They're going to come back, and they're going to keep coming back, until you're all dead!"
"Shut up! Tie him up! Did you hear me?! I said tie him up!"
When Gally's two new elected goons began to lift Thomas up, he jabbed his elbow into one's stomach and quickly grabbed hold of his spear before knocking the other one in the head with it. Newt pulled out the knife he had strapped to his back and hit one of the Gladers about to go after Thomas in the back with the handle (just enough to knock him down and keep him down for a few moments). Teresa failed against her restraints and kicked everyone who tried to come near her. The blade of Minho's knife rested on Gally's shoulder. Chuck noticing the commotion was taking care of came running with all of their things that had gathered in advance.
Minho circled around keeping his blade trained on Gally and all of them stood in front of the entrance to the maze. Newt could see Frypan out of the corner of his eye handing Teresa a knife.
"You're full of surprises, aren't you?"
"You don't have to come with us, but we are leaving. Anyone else who wants to come, now is your last chance." Thomas ordered, he would have given them more time if they had any, but if they wanted any chance of survival they should have left hours ago.
"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to scare you."
"No, I'm not trying to scare you. You're already scared. All right? I'm scared. But I'd rather risk my life out there than spending the rest of it in here. We don't belong here. Okay? This place isn't our home. We were put here. We were trapped here. At least out there we have a choice. We can make it out of here. I know that." Thomas felt a little better about his speech once Winston and Jeff joined them and after the two a handful of the others stepped towards them as well. "Gally it's over… Just come with us."
"Good luck against the Grievers." Newt felt Minho pat him on the back in a gesture to get them to start moving and they did. A bit reluctantly so since they were leaving so many behind.
Newt had run in the maze for at least two years, but this was something completely different. They were setting out now with two very likely outcomes. They would either die in their or they would get out. There was no Glade to run back to; even if they did make it through the night there would be no welcoming party or home cooked meal waiting on them.
"Everybody this way!" Thomas led them all. Newt had to admit that the activity was far more strenuous than he remembered it. Perhaps it was the fact he had not been in the maze in so long, or perhaps it was the pressure riding on that particular run… it could have been his leg (to him he felt more like he was hobbling and trying to keep up). Maybe it was a mixture of the three; either way he would be thankful when they could finally stop running. "Keep it up, guys, we're almost there!"
Although Thomas told them they were almost there, Newt felt like they ran for another eternity and they abruptly stopped and took cover against one of the many concrete walls. The faint growl in the distance was unmistakably a Griever, and although it was no doubt unsettling he was glad to have a moment of rest. There was sure to be plenty of movement and action coming up very soon, he was sure of it.
"Is it a Griever?"
"Yeah."
"Shit."
Minho handed Chuck the peculiar item that Minho and Thomas found in the Griever. A key of sorts they said; their way out. "You take this, Chuck. Stay behind us."
"It's okay. Just stick with me." Teresa smiled weakly at the boy and tied her hair up with something.
"Once we're through, it will activate and the door will open. We stay close and we stick together, we get through this, we get out now or we die trying. Ready?" Thomas slammed the blunt end of his spear against the ground. Newt offered a small nod and Minho pulled a blade out to arm himself even further. "All right. Let's go!"
They all charged towards the Griever, flinging over top of them. "Get up! Look out!"
"Push it!" They prodded it with pointed sticks and flailed blades at it and tried their best to keep it off of them, but the Griever managed to pick up one of the Gladers and throw him off of the edge. The push of motivation was what they seemed to need as their adrenaline and bodies kicked into overdrive. The boys kept pushing forward stabbing into the creature and finally watching it fall off of the edge and into a dark abyss, hopefully to never be seen again.
There was a brief moment of triumph and victory, but it was cut short by Teresa and Chuck, "Thomas! Thomas!" Newt looked over to see two more Grievers clawing their way up the concrete and onto the platform they stood on.
"We've got more coming! Keep it steady guys!"
The series of concrete walls behind them slowly began to raise. "Teresa go!"
"Don't back down."
Newt really had no idea what they were really doing. He knew to keep swinging and pushing the creature away. He knew they were trying to survive, but there was so much going on it was hard to focus on doing anything. "Stay together!"
"Watch it!" Thomas yelled towards the overzealous boy who charged a few inches in front of them. Seconds later he was flung far from them by one of the Grievers. They began to slowly back towards Teresa and Chuck, while still trying to keep themselves from being caged in by the monsters.
"Thomas! There's a code! Eight numbers!"
"Eight sections of the maze. Hey, Minho! What's the sequence?"
"What?"
"The sections of the maze, what's the sequence?"
"Seven! One! Five! Two! Six! Four-"
Newt hated to interrupt his train of thought given that it was important he continued, but when he caught a glance of something directly above them he had to say something. A griever came racing down a concrete shaft towards them, "Heads up! Minho!"
Minho struggling with the insanely large creature on top of him, using his spear to push the razor-like and chomping teeth away from his head, "Get off of me!"
Jeff yelled before charging and stabbing a wooden weapon through it. Suddenly the creature was no longer focused on the boy underneath him rather than the one in front of him. Miho quickly shuffled back away as Jeff struggled with the thrashing predator. The struggling was short lived as they soon over took him in a sight that was way too grisly too watch. Newt wanted desperately to look away. "Jeff!"
"What's the sequence? Come on!"
"Uh… Six! Four! Eight! Three! You got it?"
"Keep holding! Almost there, come on!"
The walls in front of them started to lower. Thomas stabbed his spear into a Griever's head pushing it away just in time to be crushed by the heavy rock. Newt took a deep breath and stopped. He felt safe and hopeful, but only for moments. Second later the door in front of them quickly shut leaving them in complete darkness.
A door creaked open in front of them. Cautiously the now rather small group eased out of the maze and into what seemed to be a tunnel of sorts outfitted with pipes and wires. Lights started from behind them and began to flicker on one at a time all the way down the exceptionally long passageway. Thankful to be able to simply walk the group of Gladers walked slowly down the hall until they reached a door with a large green light beside it and a neon sign above it that read: Exit.
Frypan looked towards Winston, "Seriously?" Carefully and slowly Thomas opened the door.
Newt was not sure what he was expecting, but once the door crept open he knew that was not it. The lights flickered and there was an incessant alarm sounding. There were bodies lying on the floor and leaned up against the walls. They were clearly dead, but it had not been Grievers. Ever so slowly they walked through the mess of a building, trying to avoid whatever had done this to them.
They passed a large glass window, Minho and Newt glanced through it. There were two steel tables and a body on each of them. They were covered in a blue blanket covering everything but their ankles and feet and a large blood stain on each of their chests… They did not look like they faced the same thing the men and women in lab coats did and a sickening feeling feel into the pit of their stomachs. Newt put a hand on Minho's shoulder pushing him forward, but also letting him know he was feeling the exact same way.
"What happened here?" Winston finally broke the silence, but no one answered. Of course everyone else was wondering the exact same through as they stepped around the corpses and into a room once outfitted in functioning equipment and an alarming amount of monitors. Now there were sparks flying and the screens flickered.
Newt placed his palms on the desk in front of the screen and examined the pictures on it. There were scans of brain and pictures of the Glade. He wondered how anyone could do what they did. To sit and watch them suffer without thinking of it. Thomas and Teresa had done it, but that was different. Thomas had almost killed himself trying to save Alby, Thomas had almost killed himself trying to save all of them… "So they were watching us. This whole time."
He was not sure who did it or how it was done, but suddenly a video of a woman popped up. "Hello. My name is Doctor Ava Paige. I'm Director of Operations of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. If you're watching this, that means you've successfully completed the Maze Trials. I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you, but circumstances seem to have prevented it. I'm sure by now, you must all be very confused, angry, frightened. I can only assure you that everything that's happened to you, everything we've done to you, it was all done for a reason. You won't remember, but the Sun has scorched our world. Billions of lives lost to fire, famine, suffering on a global scale. The fallout was unimaginable. What came after was worse. We called it the Flare. A deadly virus that attacks the brain. It is violent, unpredictable, incurable. Or so we thought. In time, a new generation emerged that could survive the virus. Suddenly, there was a reason to hope for a cure. But finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed, inside harsh environments, where their brain activity could be studied. All in an effort to understand what makes them different, what makes you different? You may not realize it, but you're very important. Unfortunately your trials have only just begun. As you will no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods. Progress is slow. People are scared. It may be too late for us, for me, but not for you. The outside world awaits. Remember… Wicked is good." Newt did not want to look away when the blonde woman lifted the small gun to her head. This is what they did to them every day. He was supposed to feel sorry for them as soon as strange men came in and started shooting up the place. He did feel a pang of sorrow and grief throughout him when the pictures of innocent people burning, starving and slowly dying surfaced on the screen, but not with them. They screwed with his head until the point he tried to kill himself… it felt like some sort of sick but poetic justice when the gunshot rang and she fell out of the view of the camera.
There was a body lain on the floor and in the midst of glass right behind them. It must have been Ava Paige. They ventured forward to confirm the identity, but a door opening behind them drew their attention away before they could.
"Is it over?" Chuck asked.
"She said we were important. What are we supposed to do now?" Newt would admit that escaping the maze had not felt at all like he thought it would.
"I don't know…. Let's get out of here."
"No." The voice was alarmingly familiar. One they did not expect they would here again. Gally stood behind them. With a Griever part in one hand and a gun in the other. The veins rippling through his skin and the look in his eyes made it clear there would be no reasoning with him.
"Gally?"
"Don't." Teresa laid her hand on Thomas's arm, "He's been stung."
"We can't leave." He dropped the Griever arm, but kept the gun in his hand. He sniffed and the deadly item shook in his grasp.
"We did. Gally, we're out. We're free."
"Free? You think we're free out there? No." Slowly and shaking he lifted his arm and pointed the gun at Thomas, "No, there's no escape from his place."
"Gally, listen to me. You're not thinking straight. You're not. Now, we can help you. Just put down the gun."
"I belong to the maze."
"Just put down the gun."
"We all do." Newt was unsure of what happened… he knew what seemed like happened, or what seemed like was going to happen. There was a shot and Minho pushed forward and slung his spear at the boy. It pierced his chest right under his shoulder and the boy fell to the floor slowly wheezing.
"Thomas…" Newt looked towards the young boy.
"Chuck…" Thomas tried to hold the boy up and lower him slowly to the ground. It was clear what had happened now. "Oh, shit. Shit. Look at me, look at me! Oh, shit. Chuck, look at me, all right? It okay."
"Thomas… Thomas." Newt watched him pull out a small wooden figure and place it in Thomas's hand.
"No, Chuck. You're gonna give it to them yourself. Remember, I told you that."
"Take it."
"No."
"Thank you…. Thank you."
"No, Chuck, you gonna… Chuck… Chuck? Hey. Hey, Chuck, come on! Come on, wake up! Damn it!" Thomas sobbed into his chest. Newt's hand gravitated to his mouth. They had lost so many people. He had grieved so many people, trying to get out of this place, but he was so young. They made it out. This wasn't supposed to happen. "We made it. Come on. I'm sorry! God damn it! Damn it! Get up, Chuck! Come on!"
Newt wasn't sure what was happening once again. They were being pulled away by men covered head to toe and wielding much larger guns than what Gally had. Thomas was fighting against them screaming Chuck's name. He felt guilty leaving them all behind, but he was not sure they had much of a chance. This could be their ticket to a happy life and that was what they fought for, what so many people had died for. He ran through the sand following his companions and their guides.
They sat in a helicopter and one of the guard like men threw off the wrapping he had on his face, "You guys allright? Don't worry. You're safe now." Newt glanced out of the window as they rose. Even from up high the maze looked vast. He looked away, they had done it. They were out… and they maze was slowly fading into the distance.