𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 ★ 𝙏𝙈𝙍

[19] Chuck

There was nothing but silence between the Gladers as they stood in the pitch black tunnel, waiting for the door to open. There was a sudden click and a hiss of air as the door before them swung open, finally letting light into the dark room. Elsie took a few slow steps forward, reaching out and hesitantly pushing the door open further. she stepped out of the tunnel and looked around her, eyes widened in surprise. 

They were in a very long lit up corridor, so long that Elsie couldn't see what it lead to, nothing but the dim Glow of ceiling lights in the distance. Elsie found herself being pulled into Newt's arms as the Gladers all stepped out of the tunnel and into the long corridor. She wrapped her arm's around him, relaxing into his body and holding tightly on to him. They had survived. they had both gotten out. They were both alive and safe in each others arms, and Elsie couldn't be more relieved, her eyes clenched tight as she held onto her brother as if she would never let go.

"Let's go" Thomas said into the silence. the Group began walking slowly down the long corridor. the concrete walls were covered in nothing but pipes, flickering ceiling light's lighting up the long endless hallway. Elsie's eyes traveled across the walls as she held onto Newt's hand, walking along at her own pace. The group slowed to a stop once the reached a tall metal door, a sign labeled 'exit' just above the door.

"Seriously?" Frypan scoffed, looking over at Thomas who was staring up at the Metal door. Thomas ignored Frypan's comment, taking slow steps over to the door and hesitantly reaching out for the door handle as if he were worried it would explode upon contact. the door slowly swung open, revealing a large laboratory behind it.  Elsie froze as she spotted the three bodies sprawled across the ground before them. something terrible had happened here. 

Her hand tightened around Newt's by the minute as she looked around the room at the lifeless bodies. on the wall beside them, there was a long window into a room, two beds were placed side by side, the people inside the bed's immobile and lifeless, their bodies covered with white sheets splattered with blood, their feet sticking out the end of the bed. Newt gripped Elsie's shoulder's, steering her away from the window and around a corpse on the ground, showered with bullets and shattered Glass.

"What happened here?" Winston asked the question everyone was asking themselves in that moment, but no one had an answer. as they walked further into the lab, they were greeted with the sight of a load more dead bodies scattered across the room, pools of blood and broken glass everywhere. There was a continuous blare of an emergency alarm, the lights flashing. the hologram screens at the Center of the room attracted Elsie's attention. 

The walls were covered in computer screens and holographic images of statistics and all sorts. Elsie slowly approached a large screen infront of her, projecting security camera images of the Glade. "So they were watching us... this whole time" Newt exclaimed, appearing behind Elsie as she looked at all the screens around her, confused.

All of a sudden, a voice filled the room. "Hello" Elsie spun around and spotted a Woman on the large screen at the front of the room. "My Name is doctor Ava Paige" soon everyone's attention was directed to the Woman on the screen as she began to speak. "I'm director of Operations of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. if you're watching this, that mean's you have successfully completed the Maze Trials"

Soon the group of Gladers had all gathered around the screen, their eyes glued to the Woman on the recording speaking to them. "I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you, but circumstances seem to have prevented it. Im sure by now you must all be very confused, Angry, frightened. I can only assure you that everything that's happened to you, everything we've done to you, it was all done for a reason. You won't remember, but the Sun has scorched our world."

Elsie's wide eyes were glued to the screen as images and videos were shown on the screen. "Billions of lives lost to fire," the Woman continued. "Famine, suffering on a global scale. The fallout was unimaginable. What came after was worse. we called it the Flare. a deadly virus that attacks the Brain. it is violent, unpredictable, incurable" Elsie shuddered as disturbing imagery of People gone completely mad began to appear on the screen, all infected by that...Virus.