Till The WICKED End | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

27. A very old friend

The next morning, as I stood in front of the bathroom mirror brushing my teeth, I noticed dark shadows under my eyes. Overall, I felt as if I hadn't slept a wink, even though I knew I had slept at least a few hours. It seemed to me that these dreams full of memories were not resting me, but much more exhausting and draining me. But firstly, I didn't know what I could do about them and secondly, I wanted to know what had happened to Thomas and me and how we had ended up at WICKED.
Ready dressed in my new outfit, I sat down on my bed, which I had just made, and waited until someone came to pick me up. I felt more powerless than I had ever felt in my life. Even back then, over four years ago, when I had lived at WICKED, I had at least had a purpose, I had seen a meaning in my existence, but now I was just a prisoner.
Then my thoughts wandered back to Newt and I wondered if Shepherd had already administered the serum to him last night. Would I be allowed to see him again today? And what would happen to him if it turned out that the serum worked?
At 6:55 there was one thumping knock on my door before it was unlocked and pushed open. I was immediately on my feet and standing in front of a masked soldier whose mask and posture gave him a completely expressionless impression.
"Come on," he ranted at me, making a gruff head movement. "The boss wants you ready for more tests in half an hour."
With that he stepped aside so I could step out into the corridor before he closed the door and pushed me along the corridor in front of him.
We reached a lift that took us up a little way before the man pushed me in front of him again, stopping after a few metres in front of a large swinging door. Apparently he expected me to open it myself, so I took a step forward and pushed the door open.
A large room spread out in front of me, very similar to the one we had eaten in before the maze. I looked around searchingly, hoping to spot Thomas, and realised that there were two soldiers posted in front of each of the three exits. At a table in the corner sat a group of girls, all of whom looked slumped and completely worn out. Near them was a group of boys who looked similar, but I couldn't recognise Thomas among them.
As the door slammed loudly behind me, some of the kids looked up and those who were looking at me seemed to recognise me for some reason. They tapped their friends and they too now looked up and stared at me. Suddenly one of the girls stood up and came staggering a few steps towards me before grabbing hold of a table and looking at me with a pained expression.
"Anna... Why did you come back?" she asked in a breaking voice and only now did I recognise her.
She was not at all as young as I had initially thought, in fact she was pretty much my age. Her dark blonde hair had lost the slight red tinge that had always made it shine and the freckles on her cheeks and nose looked almost grey.
"Rachel?!" I groaned, completely perplexed.
She nodded mutely and continued to look at me with that pained expression. With long strides and now completely back to myself, I crossed the room but stopped a little way in front of her. Uncertain how to react and how she would react, I fussed.
"I thought you didn't make it, Rachel..."
"I know. And you were right, weren't you? I'm still here, I didn't make it. Unlike you. Why are you here, Anna? What happened out there? They told us you and the others had escaped, that it was you who destroyed the last town."
I fell silent and just looked at her, overwhelmed by my feelings.
"It's because of him, isn't it?" she asked then. "You've never been able to let go, always wanting to save everyone. And that got us into big trouble before."
"I..." I began, but didn't know what to say.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not angry with you. That was my own decision, I had a choice. I just wish someone had come looking for us," she said quietly, yet pierced me with the look from the depths of her eyes.
"We didn't know you were alive. We had no idea, Thomas, Aris and I saw you hanging from the ceiling with countless others and we thought... I thought..."
But what I had thought, that I had thought she was dead, no longer crossed my lips, because at that moment the big door fell shut once more and I turned around, just as everyone's eyes were now on the young man standing there.
"Tommy!" I blurted out and rushed across the room towards him.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him to me, so glad to see him alive and apparently unharmed.
"What did they do to you?" I asked as I moved a little distance away and now looked at him more closely.
Thomas too already had dark circles under his eyes and the whites of his eyes seemed milky.
"Simulations. It was as if I had been in the maze again, all alone. Kind of like Minho told us."
Angrily, I looked around at the nearest soldiers, but they paid no attention and just stared straight ahead, expressionless.
I would have loved to ask Thomas so many questions, to take his hand, to show him my new-found memories from our childhood, to tell him about Newt, but then I remembered Rachel, who was still leaning on the table. I turned to her and motioned for my brother to follow me.
"That's Rachel, Tommy. Do you remember her?"
My brother nodded slowly, staring at the girl as perplexed as I was just a few minutes ago.
"I thought you were..." but he didn't say it either.
"Believe me, Thomas, I'd rather you were right. But you're here now, aren't you? Can't it just get better now?" she asked then, just as we sat down at the table with her and the other girls.
Some of the boys and then slowly but surely all of them came closer and also sat down with us and at the table that was directly adjacent. They all seemed to share Rachel's thoughts. To them we seemed to be a higher life form, some kind of heroes they looked up to.
We tried to answer any questions they had for us and to tell them what had happened, but even for me the whole thing was still so surreal that it took me a while before I could even tell them about it properly.
Just as Thomas was telling about how we had met Jorge and Brenda, someone put a hand on my shoulder. Surprised, I looked around and gazed into the eyes of the doctor who had been with me so far.
"It's time. You two are coming with me. Let's see how healing your blood really is, Anna."