The Inventor

Chapter Forty Nine; "The goodness of your heart"

     You sat with Thomas down in your bunker, the door shut tight. Two chairs were pulled up to sit in front of each other, eating sandwiches over the table in between. You had cleared up a whole desktop for it, your junk drawers increasing dramatically from it.

     "Care to explain further?" You prompted, taking a drink of water.

     Thomas chewed and swallowed his bite, "I didn't see much, I just kind of knew stuff. Like the information was just there, not many memories."

     "Then tell me what you know," Then, as a second thought, you added, "please."

     Thomas nodded, "From memories I just remember seeing you young, maybe twelve, eleven. I was peeking around the door, it was like you were really distant and hidden away from everyone else. But you were coding something on a computer. Then I got caught and shut out. It seemed like whoever made this place was keeping you secret and isolated, it felt that way at least," He scratched the back of his neck, a nervous gesture Newt did as well, "Then, for the things I just know without explanation, is you being young and making the grievers. You made the beetle blades too, and helped propose the idea of the maze patterns. You couldn't have been older than twelve. Something happened, though, I don't know what but it sent things into a twist. That's all I know."

     You swallowed harshly. Your obsession with the beetle blades, that wasn't all just random, maybe you knew more in your subconscious about the grievers too. How you were so sure that the griever callers would work. Maybe that wasn't just a shot in the dark.

     "Thank you," You said after a minute of processing, "for not telling everyone. I appreciate it."

     "You stood up for me in the meeting," He shrugged, "And it's not really mine to tell anyone, if it didn't end well for me I wouldn't want to drag you down too."

     You were surprised at his honesty, even more shocked by his consideration, "You didn't owe me that, you told everyone about your telekinesis thing, we don't have a deal anymore."

     "I know," He wiped his hands off on his pants, "But it's not important anymore, you were doing what you could to protect your family. I can't hold that against you."

     "So- you're just going to keep everything secret- out of the goodness of your heart?" You asked skeptically.

     "It would be kind of dumb to do anything else, I don't want my guts blown up," He mocked.

     You nodded once, "The deal doesn't matter anymore, I broke it, accidentally."

     His eyes widened, "Oh my god, so is Newt-"

     "No, no," You shook your head, "I still have the bombs, we're at a standstill but they might aim for him when we try and escape. Chuck- Chuck won't be able to do much to defend himself. I made it harder on them."

     "I guess," Thomas muttered, thinking, "Alright, here, I might have a safer plan. For Chuck at least."

     "Go for it."

     "What if we send Chuck down with whoever goes to punch in the code?" Thomas suggested, "All the grievers will be fighting, he'll be away from the worst of it."

     You thought for a moment but nodded, "Yes, yes that would work. That would be best."

     "And Newt, Newt can handle himself," Thomas said.

     "I know he can, I'll be fighting with him, we've got it," You said, "Just Chuck needs to be safe, he can't get hurt, that would be on me for breaking the deal."

     "As safe as possible," Thomas agreed.

     You cleared your throat, having nothing more to say, "You should probably get up to the box, the gathering will be ending soon."

     "Yeah, right," Thomas stood up and you opened the hatch for him, letting him climb up the stairs.

     After a moment, you followed him, shutting the entrance behind you.

     "I have to talk with one of the keepers, tell Newt to come by and update me-" You were interrupted by a shrill squeal and nearly being toppled over from a hug.

     You got your balance and lightly padded Chuck's head. You heard Thomas chortle to himself and you sent him a warning look.

     "I'll tell Newt to come by, looks like you've got your hands full," He teased.

     "Right, leave now, be gone," You shooed him away and rested your arm on the little man's head, "And how are you doing?"

     "What's going on? The keepers have been yelling all morning!" Chuck exclaimed.

     You hesitated, not knowing what to say, "I guess you'll find out, why don't we hang around the forests and you can carve whatever you like."

     "Don't we have work to do?" Chuck wrinkled his nose, imitating what you do in these situations.

     "Geniuses like us? No, let the keepers squabble and we can relax," You squeezed his shoulder, "Sound like a good day?"

     Chuck nodded, and trotted beside you to the woods, talking feverishly about anything that came to his mind.

     You didn't interrupt him, not for a second. This could be your last day in the glade and god knows what would happen after you get out. It could be so much worse than this. One day, or just for an hour, you wanted to spend time with Chuck while you still had the resources.

     Secretly, though, you didn't want to let him out of your sight. Too scared of what could happen if you did.