"I think she's dead."

IX ~ Aris

Disclaimer: all characters apart from Peyton and Alex belong to James Dashner.

Aris ate dinner with Harriet. They sat away from the Gladers silently. Neither of them spoke, nor did either of them try to start any sort of conversation. They were both too caught up in their own thoughts.

Sonya had been muttering many things in her sleep today. The Med-jacks were clearly shocked, a sign that no one ever really said or muttered anything while going through the Changing. Aris couldn't tell if the Gladers were more worried about Sonya than Ben, or if she was just acting strangely.

The three conscious Icers had been taking turns with one of the Med-jacks watching over Sonya and Alex was with her while Aris and Harriet ate dinner. Harriet was taking the night shift.

Aris didn't know how long he'd been there, time seemed to go by so fast yet so slow since the Icers' arrival.

He looked around at the Galders. They were eating and chatting happily, not acknowledging the Icers' presence. Not that it mattered, anyway.

He saw Alby sitting with Newt, Chuck, and Jeff; Gally was with some Builders Aris didn't know the names of; Minho was eating silently as he watched the other Runners chat; Zart and Winston were with more Gladers that Aris didn't know the names of; and everyone else was spread out everywhere.

Aris studied each face carefully. They all - well, most of them - seemed so carefree and serious at the same time. Like, no matter how big their smiles were, they had to be on high alert at all times. He didn't understand this. Something he'd learned since his arrival in the Spring was that humans are confusing.

~~~this short time skip is dedicated to Gally's eyebrows (seriously dude, go to an eyebrow place)~~~

After dinner, Harriet bid Aris a goodnight and went to the Homestead, from which Alex emerged moments later. Claiming she wasn't hungry, Alex went straight to where her hammock was set up and laid down, not saying anything. Aris considered talking to her, but thought better of it as exhaustion consumed him. He barely made it to his hammock before falling into a dreamless sleep.

~~~short time skip, feel free to name it~~~

What felt like only seconds later, Aris was awoken by screams coming from somewhere nearby. At first, he thought he was in the Spring, but quickly realised he was in the Glade.

But why was it so dark?

Looking around, the other Gladers seemed just as confused as Aris. Someone came up from behind him and shook his shoulder. He turned around and saw Alex, the bags under her eyes more evident than ever.

"They're coming from the Homestead. It's Sonya. Hurry!" Without waiting for a response, she sprinted off towards the Homestead. Aris quickly followed suit.

It wasn't too hard to get in. Most Gladers had been making their way to the building at different paces, but the Icers were fast enough to get there first.

When Aris arrived, he stopped for a moment to take in the scene in front of him.

Sonya was sitting straight up, panting heavily. She looked shaken and worse than Aris ever recalled seeing her; her blonde hair that usually sat in a braid was sticking out in all directions, her bright eyes showed nothing but fear, her pale skin was a sickening green with veins sticking out of her arms and neck. Harriet was sitting in front of Sonya, trying to calm her friend down. However, Sonya's eyes were glued on Newt, who was standing against a wall, looking almost as shaken as Sonya. Despite how clear the Icers had been with the schedule for watching Sonya, not a single Med-jack was in sight.

Meanwhile Ben lay motionless on the bed next to her.

"What happened?" Alex asked, but the question sounded like more of a command. Harriet looked at her.

"Sonya's awake."

"No shit." Alex scoffed. "Why was she screaming?"

"I- I don't know." Harriet looked back at Sonya, who was still focused on Newt, who's eyes kept darting from Sonya to everyone else.

"What's wrong with her now?" Aris asked.

"She woke up suddenly when I was... resting my eyes and Newt hurried to take care of her while I woke up." The way the words came out of Harriet's mouth made Aris wonder if that's what really happened.

Alex's gaze moved from Sonya and Harriet to Newt. "What did you do to her?" She ran over to him and held her arm at his neck, which obviously caught him off-guard. "Answer my question!"

"Alex, relax!" Harriet yelled. "He didn't do anything!"

"How would you know? You were sleeping, Harriet! You were supposed to be watching her!"

"I was barely asleep!"

"What would've happened if Newt wasn't here? What would've she done?"

"We don't need to worry about that, Alex!" Aris cut in before things could get too serious. "Newt was here, okay?"

Alex looked at him, her eyes bright with anger. "Fine." She let go of Newt, who gasped for breath.

"Is Alby here?" he managed to say. As if on cue, the leader of the Gladers shoved his way through the Gladers standing at the door. Just like Aris, he stood there for a second to take the scene in.

"She's awake," he decided.

"Yeah, and she's not talking and she won't take her eyes off him." Alex tilted her head in Newt's direction, arms crossed. Even though her red hair looked just as bad as Sonya's, Alex still managed to look intimidating. It's probably her dark brown eyes, Aris thought.

Harriet and Newt told Alby what happened. "Where are the Med-jacks?"

"Um, Clint was really tired and I couldn't sleep, so I took over for him," Newt said.

"But you're not a Med-jack," Alex pointed out angrily.

"I spent a long time in here. I'm as good as," he said.

"So what do we do about Sonya?" Aris asked, anxious to get to the point. Alby looked at her.

"She hasn't said anything since she woke up?"

"She's just been panting heavily, like she just ran twenty marathons," Harriet said. "And she won't take her eyes off Newt."

"Sonya? Can you hear me?" Alex asked, her tone more soothing than ever. "Sonya, it's me, Alex. Lexi. Sonya?"

"Lizzie."

The Icer had just barely whispered the name, which made it much harder to hear through her heavy panting, but the room went completely silent.

"What?" Harriet asked her.

"Lizzie," Sonya repeated louder. She looked at Harriet. "My name is Lizzie."

"No, it's 'Sonya.'"

"No it's not."

"Then where did 'Sonya' come from?"

"They gave me it."

"Who gave you it?"

"The people who sent us here. WICKED."

"How do you know?"

"I saw it."

"Wha- Why wouldn't you stop looking at Newt?"

Sonya looked around the room, locking eyes with everyone for a split second.

"Because he's my brother."