Subject of the Flame | Maze Runner [2]

SEVEN

[ ELECTRA ]

❧

"Try to speak to Teresa. Tell her about the danger."

Electra surprised herself when the words fell out of her mouth. She didn't like the girl, but WICKED was still upon them and they were all in immediate danger of sedation, or maybe worse. So bitter dislikes weren't the biggest cause for concern at the moment.

"Can't. Haven't been able to speak to her since our first night here," Thomas replied, his voice shaky and Electra furrowed her eyebrows at him.

WICKED had given them telepathy so of course they had a way to shut it off. Electra pushed thoughts of Teresa and telepathy out of her mind when nerves bubbled up in her stomach. What had Janson and Ava said? Phase Two of the Trials? A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of being subjected to another Trial similar to the Maze Trial.

They wouldn't take away their memories, right? Electra couldn't bear the thought of forgetting Minho and everything she'd been through in the last three years. She wouldn't allow herself to get her memories wiped. She'd rather be killed.

Aris pulled her out of his thoughts when he spoke, "I need to go warn the girls. The boys' room is two rights down."

Thomas nodded, charging forward anxiously and breathless. Electra kicked open the panel to the room and climbed out, feeling the unfortunate familiar sensation of trembling in her hands.

"Electra!" Minho yelled, running up to her and embracing her in a hug. "What happened?"

Electra couldn't find the words for what she saw. She instead focused on eliminating the shakiness in her entire body. She trained her eyes on a bunk in the far corner of the room and stiffened herself. Thomas showed up a couple of seconds later, looking around anxiously.

"We gotta go. We gotta go right now." He pushed through all the Gladers, running up to the door and peering through the window.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Minho asked.

"What do you mean we gotta go?" Newt asked.

Thomas turned from the door, blinking like a madman, "They're coming. Come on. We gotta go" –he ripped the sheets from one of the beds– "they're coming for us."

"What happened in there?" Frypan asked but Thomas wouldn't respond. The boy turned to Electra, his voice raising, "Electra, what happened?"

Electra shifted her gaze from the bunk to Frypan. She shook her head slowly, opening her mouth to answer but not finding the right words.

"Thomas, can you just calm down and talk to us?" Newt pleaded.

"She's still alive," Thomas muttered.

"Who's she? Teresa?"

"Ava."

"Ava?" Newt asked and Thomas kept fumbling with the sheets in the door handle. "Will you just turn around and talk to us?"

"It's WICKED!" Thomas yelled and the room fell silent. He went and grabbed the bare mattress and slammed it against the door. Electra's hands went cold now that the statement was in the air. "It's still WICKED. It's always been WICKED."

Newt shook his head, "What did you see? It must be a misunderstanding."

The bitter feeling of annoyance appeared in Electra's mind and she latched onto it like a lifeline, "Come on, Newt. You really believe the whole 'taking us to a safe haven to live the rest of our lives in peace' bullshit?"