Him (Newt x Reader)

Chapter 13: Headquarters

I slowly turn around to face the incoming light. No one moves nor speaks. To my right, Teresa pushes on the door and opens it fully. I shield my eyes for a moment before looking in front of me, nothing but an old hallway.

Teresa looks back to us before stepping into it, we cautiously follow after her. The hallway seems to stretch for miles on both ends, looking like it forms into a circle. One light hangs from high on the wall, illuminating where we just stepped into.

A loud clank suddenly fills the hallway. I glance around expecting another griever to come out, but instead, more lights begin to turn on, lighting our path.

~ ~ ~

We all walk in silence.

I occasionally glance to Newt, but no one dares to interrupt our shocked silence. We eventually reach two lights that are apart from the rest, one green and one red, and a glowing EXIT sign that hangs above a door.

The green light is on.

"Seriously?" Frypan says tiredly, and I can't help but agree with him. "All this for an EXIT sign?"

Thomas finally opens the door, revealing a short hallway with windows on its right, looking into another room. The hallway is lit up with flashing yellow lights while blood stains the floor, three bodies being the cause.

We slowly walk through together, glancing into the room on the right as we pass. Inside, two bodies lay on tables, not moving nor breathing.

"What happened here?" Minho asks, but no one responds.

We get through the hallway and walk into a much larger room, the number of dead bodies increasing with every step. However, this room is much more different than the last. Desks, chairs, and computer screens line every wall. An elevated platform stands in the middle, acting as a bridge to survey the room with even more screens surrounding it, and then another room stands to our far left.

This must've been their headquarters.

Soon enough, we all find the courage to disperse and get a closer look at everything in the room. I go left, along with Newt and Frypan. We stop at a desk and look at the various screens, two of which were cameras looking into the Glade.

"So, they were watching us." Newt says in a low tone, and I open my mouth to speak when I realize that it probably isn't the best idea. They may accept me now, but I still worked for Wicked. I was behind the screen, watching them.

I move away from them and head back towards the short hallway, suddenly feeling an urge to explore the rest of the building. Before I take another step, however, I can't help but look behind me to see Teresa and Thomas standing at two desks, directly across each other but separated by the platform. They stare at each other before looking to me, and I suddenly feel dizzy with deja vu.

After a moment, they both walk away and head in opposite directions. Maybe I should stay here.

"Hello." A female voice suddenly fills the room. I find the source and see a video playing on the largest screen in the room. This woman appears older, blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in white.

"My name is Doctor Ava Paige. I'm director of operations of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department."

We all move closer to the screen and crowd around it. Now seeing her up close, she seems so familiar. Too familiar. 

"If you're watching this, that means you've successfully completed the Maze Trials."

Thomas was right, everything was just a test.

"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 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."

The screen changes to a different recording. Broadcasting an image of an enlarged sun, big enough to see the heat waves coming off of it.

"Billions of lives lost to fire, famine, suffering, on a global scale." As Ava Paige says this, dozens of pictures and videos show cities, buildings, trees, and even bodies burnt to a crisp.

"The fallout was unimaginable. But what came after was worse, we call it the Flare."

The more I listen, the more familiar Ava Paige becomes.

"A deadly virus that attacks the brain. It is violent, unpredictable. "She pauses, "Incurable. Or so we thought."

The voice.

The woman.

Ava Paige is the voice. It's her voice. She saved me. Us. Twice.

Yet, she's the villain. The woman who saved my life is everything I'm against.

"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'll no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods."

Behind Ava Paige, in the background of the video, people in black suits with large guns begin to shoot up the room we're standing in.

"Progress is slow, people are scared. It may be too late for us, for me, but not for you. The outside world awaits."

Chills run down my spine as Ava Paige holds a gun to her head, and I soon feel someone gently pull me back with their hand, making me stand next to them. I don't need to look to know who it is.

"Remember."

Ava Paige takes one deep breath.

"WICKED is good."

I can't bear to look away as the gunshot rings through my ears.

I know that I should not be feeling sympathy for Ava Paige, the person who controlled WICKED, the person who destroyed so many lives. But she saved me. Because of her, I am standing here. Conflicted is an understatement to how I'm feeling right now.

Thomas slowly moves away from the group, walking towards the room where Ava Paige's dead body is resting on the floor. I cannot see her face, I don't want to see her face, her white clothing is enough.

We're only a few feet away from reaching the room when a door to our right suddenly opens. SURFACE ACCESS TUNNEL is printed on the wall to the left of it, while the right of the door says S7.

Our way out.

"Is it over?" Chuck asks as everyone stands together, staring at the tunnel in awe.

"She said we were important." Newt says. "Well, what are supposed to do now?"

"I don't know." Thomas mumbles, "But let's get out of here."

Finally. This is it. This is the end.

"No."

Gally.