I Promise | The Maze Runner

Chapter 26: Theo and Lawrence ✔️

"Hey, Spen."

I look at the girl standing in front of me.

"T-Theo?" I ask in disbelief.

She nods slightly. "Spen, listen-"

"You're alive?!" I yell, interrupting her. 

"Spen." Theo says, rolling her eyes.

A guy walks up. "Gally, Theo, Finley. Lawrence wants to talk to you. Heard you brought some people here."

Theo, the guy; I guess is named Gally, and the girl; I guess to be named Finley, look at each other. "Come on." Theo says before turning and starting to walk down a hall.

All of glance at each other before following her. Newt comes up to me. "That's Theo?" He whispers.

I nod. "Yeah."

"I thought you said she..." His voice trails off.

"Theo?" I ask, looking to her. She looks up to show she's listening. "How are you alive?"

"I don't actually know." She says before glancing at me. "I passed out and the next thing I remember is waking up in like a hospital bed. Lawrence's group showed up not to long after."

"What about you, Gally?" Newt asks, looking towards Gally.

"After the maze I got picked up by a group heading to the city. They realized I was immune, patched me up, and brought me here: to Lawrence." Gally explains as Theo, Gally, and Finley lead us through the base. "This group's been at war with WICKED ever since they took control of the city." 

"But WICKED can't hide behind those walls forever." Theo joins in. "Day's gonna come and they're gonna pay for what they've done." 

The two stop outside a door. "Listen, he doesn't get a lot of visitors so, let me do the talking...and try not to stare." Gally says before leading us into the room. Theo, Gally, and Finley put their guns on a table before walking towards a man that's in the shadows of the room smelling flowers.

"Rose took my nose, I suppose." I look at the man as he mumbles the same words over and over again. "Rose took my nose, I suppose." He looks up, seeing us. 

"Gally, Theo, Finley." He says, acknowledging the three with a nod. "Glad to see you made it back. Will told me what happened."

"There was a slaughter." Gally says, looking at the man, who I presume to be Lawrence. 

"There's nothing we can do against those guns." Theo says, leaning against a table.

"No, but they can only poke the hornet's nest for so long...before they get stung." Lawrence says, smelling a rose where a missing nose used to be. "Now, who are these people, why are they here?" He asks, turning towards us.

"We need to get into WICKED. Gally said you can get us through the walls." Thomas says, stepping forward.

"Gally should know better than to make promises he can't keep." Lawrence says, glancing at Gally. "Besides, that wall is only half of your problems. Getting inside WICKED is impossible."

"There might be a way know." Gally speaks up. "But it doesn't work without Thomas.

"Is that so? Do you know what I am, Thomas?" Lawrence asks, walking towards Thomas. I see half of his face has the veins sticking out. "I'm a business man. Which means I don't take unnecessary risks. So, why should I trust you?"

"Because I can help. See if you can get me through those walls, I can get you what you need." Thomas replies, not even dazed by Lawrence's face.

"And what is it you think I need?" Lawrence asks, looking at Thomas.

"Time." Thomas answers. "Every last drop."

Lawrence laughs lightly. "Is that what I need?"

"WICKED is something we both want." Thomas reasons.

"I'll tell you what. Three can go for now. The rest will stay with me. Just a little insurance you find your way back." Lawrence says before putting his hand out. "We have a deal?"

Thomas takes Lawrence's outstretched hand and shakes it.

-----

Gally takes the cover of of the sewer before grabbing a ladder and putting it into the hole.

"Gally?" Fry asks. "Take care of them." He says, nodding to Thomas and Newt.

Gally nods. "Sure." He starts going down the ladder, into the sewer. Thomas follows him in.

I look over to where Newt is sitting, tucking his pants into his boots. He stops, looking at his uncontrollably shaking hand. He takes it and rubs it nervously before looking up and seeing me staring at him.

I go over to him as he stands up. "We'll talk about it when we get back." I say as he fixes his jacket. He nods, fixing his jacket. "Let's go."

I follow Thomas down the ladder, Newt following me. Gally leads us through sewer tunnels and a train tunnel before we walk out into the city. He leads us to one of the walls where he has a small hideout.

Gally looks over the city towards a tower with 'WICKED' labeled across it. "There it is. If WICKED's got Minho, that's where they're keeping him." Gally says, pointing towards it.

Gally pulls a telescope out of a box, hidden by the wall. He sets it up and points it at a certain spot on the tower. "Lawrence has been trying to find a way in for years. The place is crawling with soldiers. They got surveillance everywhere. Scanners on every floor."

"Sounds like a bloody fortress." Newt comments.

"I thought you said you had a way in." Thomas says, glancing at Gally.

Gally sighs. "I might."

"You might?" Thomas asks, clearly mad. "What do you mean, 'might'?!"

Gally steps away from the telescope. "Take a look."

Thomas steps forward, putting his eye to the telescope. He looks for a second before pulling out and looking at Gally. 

"I said I had a way in. I didn't say you would like it."