"Blue! Blue!" A whisper was heard throughout the room. Bluebell's eyes shot open. "What?" She asked as she sat up, looking at the room full of sleeping people. "Get down here!" It was heard again. Blue silently hopped down onto the floor and followed the voice to the vent. Where she saw the kid the boys were talking about in the cafeteria. "What are you doing?" She asked. "Follow me," he said before crawling away. She looked around the room quickly before lifting the vent and crawling in after him. "You're gonna miss it!" He whispered. "What the hell am I doing?" She asked. "Shh! Watch," he said, pointing to the hallway below them that they could see through the vent.
They watched as people in lab coats wheeled in gurneys with sheets covering what seemed to be bodies. "What was that?" Bluebell asked. "They bring in new ones every night, like clockwork." "Do you know what they do with them?" "This is as far as I've ever gotten. The vents don't even cover that room or that whole section of this facility. But once they go in there, they don't come out," he continued. Blue looked down at the bodies that continued to flood into that room. "I don't think anyone actually leaves this place," he finished, looking at Blue worriedly. "Why'd you show me?" She asked. "Because the others will listen to you," he hummed before going to crawl away. "Hey, what's your name?" She asked. "Aris," he put simply before leaving Blue to contemplate in the vents.
The next day at dinner, Bluebell had told everyone about what she saw. "Aris said they bring in a new batch every night," she finished. "Who the hell is Aris?" Minho asked. Blue pointed over to the boy in the hoodie, sitting alone and holding up his orange slices to the light. "Well, I'm sold."
As Janson finished calling the names for the day, Thomas bounced his knee impatiently. "For now, let's not draw any attention to ourselves. Let's just keep our heads down," Carter said, right as Thomas jumped and ran to the door, trying to slide in with the group of chosen people. "What is he doing?" Chuck questioned. "I think he's drawing attention to himself," Jesse said, watching the boy make yet another stupid decision.
"You weren't called," one of the guards said, stopping him. "I'm just going to be a second, can you let me through," he tried. "Get your ass back in your chair kid," the guard said. Thomas turned around and started to walk away before quickly spinning and running back, trying to push through the guards, only to be stopped again and thrown backwards. "Back off!" The guard shouted as Thomas shoved his chest. "What's your problem? Let me see her!" Thomas shouted, continuously trying to instigate a fight. The Gladers jumped and ran, going to hold Thomas back. "Thomas?" Janson asked. "I thought we were all on the same team? I thought we trusted each other," he said. "Are we on the same team?" Bluebell asked. "Take them to their bunks," Janson said before the group was carted away by guards.
"What the hell was that?" Jesse asked, shoving Thomas' chest. "You really didn't think they were just gonna let you through?" Newt questioned. "Of course I didn't," Thomas smiled, holding up a key card. "We're going to find out what really is behind that door," he continued, looking to Bluebell. Newt ran a hand through his hair in frustration as the Gladers rolled their eyes at his antics. "Newt, come on, they're hiding something, they aren't who they say they are," Thomas tried. "We don't know that Tommy, what we do know is they rescued us from WCKD, gave us proper food, clothes a real bed! Some of us haven't had that in a long time!" Newt shouted. When Thomas tried to stammer out some kind of response, Jesse shut him down. "Some of us a lot longer than others Tom," she spoke softly, looking up into his eyes.
Then the vent was kicked open. "Holy shit!" Chuck said, jumping slightly as Aris slid along the floor into the room. "What the..." Alby started, looking at the boy quizzically. "Hey Blue," he said nonchalantly. "Hi Aris," the girl smiled back. "You got it right Thomas?" He asked. "I got it," Thomas responded. "Alright, let's go," Aris said before crawling back in. "You're not going without me," Blue said before crawling in after Aris. "Cover for us, we'll be back soon," Thomas said before he too climbed through the vent. Newt and Jesse looked at each other. "Your idiot and my idiot are off being idiots together and I blame you," Jesse huffed. "Since when is Thomas mine and not yours?" Newt questioned. "Since he hasn't shut up about Teresa since she showed up," Jesse said.
"Wait how in the bloody hell is this my fault?" Newt followed up. "Your moronic, dumbass, fuckwit tendencies are rubbing off on him," Jesse smirked. "And your excuse for Bluebell?" Newt said angrily. "She's always been odd," Jesse defended. "It's one of the things we love about her," Carter added in. "You're on her side?" Newt asked. "I wasn't aware I was picking sides but if I am then yes, I'm on Jesse's. You're a moronic, dumbass fuckwit," Carter chuckled.
