MISTAKE | Minho / The Maze Runner

nineteen

When Vera finally woke up, the harsh white lights told her she was anywhere but the Glade.

Once her eyes got adjusted to the blinding light, she took in her surroundings. Oddly, she felt like she was waking up in the Glade all over again. Though this time, she was alone. She was in a room, a medical room, strapped to the bed like some kind of mental patient.

In her gut, she knew that wherever she was, she was far, far away from the familiarity of the Glade. Far away from Newt, from Clint, from Winston, from Jeff, from Gally. Far away from Minho.

She struggled to get out of the straps that were confining her ankles and wrists. It was futile. There was no hope. She would have to wait for someone to come find her. A million questions swarmed her brain, but none of them would be answered unless someone found. So, she did the only thing she knew what to do in a situation this pointless. She screamed.

A woman came into the room. She was blonde and there was a smile on her face, as if she were trying to say she came in peace, but Vera knew better than to trust random strangers.

"Where am I? Who are you?" Vera asked.

"I'll answer all of your questions soon. Patience," the woman said in a condescending tone.

Vera shot daggers at the back of her head. Was this how the Greenies felt when they first woke up in the Box?

"I'm going to release you, but only if you promise not to try to escape. I can ensure you, there is nowhere you can escape to," the woman said.

Vera was about to object, until she spotted the men walking down the long hallway, guns in their hands.

She nodded her head.

The woman smiled; a smile Vera so desperately hated. She released her, and Vera sat up, feeling as if she slept for days, but that sleep was no where near refreshing.

"Come with me, I have a lot to explain," the woman said.

Vera followed, not wanting to risk disobeying the woman and facing the men with guns. She caught her reflection in the glass window. Vera looked scared.

"My name is Ava Paige, I run WICKED," the woman said.

The pieces started to fit into place, like a puzzle. WICKED was written all over the Box, all over the packages that were sent to them each week.

"You sent me to the Glade!" Vera hissed.

"Yes, I did, but I promise it was for a good reason," Ava Paige said.

"What good reason did you have to send kids into a Maze," Vera snapped.

"At WICKED, we're looking for a cure. The world is in ruins. A disease, The Flare, has taken over. You're immune to the disease. We needed to see why you were so special."

"What did you do to me? How did I get out of the Glade? Where are my friends?" Vera asked, questions flying out of her mouth a mile a minute.

"The other subjects are still in the Maze. It was time for you to be taken out of the first trial. You weren't supposed to be there in the first place."

Vera knew, deep down, that this made sense. She was the only girl in a group full of boys.

"Where was I supposed to be? What trials? What's going to happen to my friends?"

"Group B. The other Maze, the Maze of girls. There was a mistake, you got sent instead. The trials are a way to find the ones with the best chance of saving us from The Flare. Your friends are going to go on to the next trial, once they escape the Maze," Ava explained.

Vera asked the question she didn't even know if the wanted the answer to, "what are you going to do with me?"

"Everything happens for a reason, Vera. Remember this. You are an Immune. Your chances of saving us are good, so we will continue to run tests. It made for a more interesting set of variables, a better way to get rid of the weaker subjects, if you were no longer in the Maze."

"And what if I don't want you to continue testing on me? What if I want you to let me go?" Vera asked, gaining confidence despite her fear of this entire situation.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in this matter," Ava Paige said, her face turning hard, like stone.

Vera had to get out of here. This wasn't the Glade. This was so much worse.