𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 ★ 𝙏𝙈𝙍

[22] Vent

Elsie and the others sat at the long tables in the Cafeteria again the next day. Elsie peered quizzically at Thomas. he had been acting peculiar ever since last night. There was still no sign of Teresa, and he had woken the Gladers up and told them all about how he had gone into the vents and seen some suspicious activities. he had his chin resting in his hands, deep in thought. Elsie turned to look at Jada, who was grinning excitedly, hopeful that she get her named called out. she gave Elsie a little wave, looking cheerful. Elsie smiled back, turning her attention back to Mr Janson, who had his clipboard tucked in his arm. "Walt, Edgar, Samantha" Mr Janson called out, his voice echoing across the cafeteria

"I want to see what's behind that door," Thomas muttered, a determined look on his face as he stared across the cafeteria. "What?" Elsie hissed, eyes widening as she tapped his shoulder. "Are you mad?? you saw what happened last time," Elsie whisper shouted, referring to the showdown yesterday with the guards. "We've been over this." Newt said in a warning tone, turning to look at Thomas. "You said they were covered up, so you don't know what you saw! it could've been anything under there" Newt wasn't very convinced from Thomas' story. he didn't know what to believe, for the moment he had no suspicions. "I know exactly what I saw. they were bodies" Thomas said, his tone adamant. "Aris said they bring in a new batch every night."

"Who the hell is Aris?" Minho asked, frowning. Thomas looked over at the mysterious boy from yesterday sat alone in the far corner and everyone followed his gaze. the mysterious boy was sat alone as usual, silent and unbothered as he lifted a slice of fruit and inspected it, twirling it in the air. "he looks...Promising," Elsie said in an uncertain tone. "Well. Im sold," Minho said.

"At last but not least, David!" Mr Janson called out, having finished reading out the list, his voice drowned out by the scattered applause and mutters of disappointment from around the room as the group of teenagers left the room. "Thank you for your attention! enjoy the rest of your evening" Mr Janson said with a grin. Thomas kept his eyes glued to the door as the guards opened it with their keycards to let Mr Janson and the teenagers pass. 

"Okay, now until we know for certain, we should just keep our heads down and try not to draw any attention to ourselves." Newt advised, lowering his voice. "Alright?" he asked, looking at Thomas and waiting expectantly for an answer from him as the other Gladers nodded in agreement. it was clear and rather obvious that Thomas was not listening and didn't plan on taking Newt's advice. Thomas banged both his hands on the table as he quickly arose, brisk walking across the cafeteria towards the door to Newt, Elsie and the Gladers Horror.

"What is he doing?" Newt asked, panic forming in his eyes. Elsie's jaw dropped, shaking her head. "Not drawing attention to himself" Frypan replied sarcastically. "So much for keeping our heads down," Elsie muttered, watching in horror as Thomas did the exact opposite of keeping his head down and not drawing any attention to himself.  Thomas tried to sneak into the group of teenagers who had their names called so he could walk out of the door as casually and normally as possible, but he didn't succeed.

"Hang on, you weren't called!" The Guard said, stopping Thomas before he could walk out of the doors and join the group of teenagers and Mr Janson, the second Guard taking a defensive step forward. "I know, Im just gonna be a second," Thomas fibbed, trying to push past the Guard to no avail. "This is a restricted area, kid" the Guard warned him, holding him back. Thomas took a step back, trying to think of what to do. "I just wanna see my friend, can you let me through?" Thomas asked. "Get your ass back in that Chair" The Guard ordered in a strict 'don't mess with me' Tone, gripping Thomas by the shoulder. 

Thomas turned and began to walk away, seemingly giving up, to the Group of Gladers relief. but the relief didn't last long as Thomas spun on his heels and darted right at the Guard, pushing into him in an attempt to take him down. Newt leapt to his feet, Elsie and the others following. The Group of Gladers hurried over to the door to Rescue Thomas. "Back off!" The Guard roared, shoving Thomas off of him and causing him to fall back.  "What's your problem man?? What the hell?" Thomas yelled, sending a powerful shove at the Guard, causing the Guard to shove him back.

Elsie stepped back, watching in horror as the boys tried to restrain Thomas, pulling him back. Mr Janson, hearing the commotion, came into view as he ran back down the hallway. "Thomas! Calm down!" Elsie shrieked, walking over to him and taking a step back as he fought to get out of the Gladers grip. "Why won't you let me see her?" Thomas yelled. 

"Control your friend!" The Guard yelled at Elsie as she stepped up to him, glaring up at him.
"As you can bloody well see, that's what we're trying to do, mate" she shouted at the Guard over the noise, stepping out of the way Again as Mr Janson pushed past the two Guards. "What's happening here??" Mr Janson yelled, pushing the two guards out of the way and approaching Thomas, an angry look on his face.

"Thomas? I thought we could trust each other" Mr Janson said, placing a hand on Thomas' shoulder. The Gladers stepped away from Thomas, letting him go as he was no longer trying to beat the shit out of the Guard. Newt pulled Elsie to the side, an arm wrapped around her shoulder as he stared at Mr Janson. "You know we're all on the same team here." he said.

"Are we?" Thomas said sarcastically, earning a tight-lipped smile from Mr Janson as he raised his eyebrows, pausing. "Get them to their Bunks" Mr Janson ordered. 

"Get your asses in here, all of you!" The Guard yelled, swinging the door to the Gladers dorm wide open. Thomas was pushed right in, tripping over his feet, the Gladers following after him as they hurried into the room. Newt dragging Elsie in behind him, beckoning to the Gladers to hurry up as he didn't want them to get into any more trouble. 

the door was slammed shut and locked. Elsie caught her breath, fiddling with her braid that Jada had done for her, looking down at her feet. "What the hell was that about??" Minho exclaimed. Elsie looked up at Thomas, who was looking completely bewildered. "Thomas, you're an absolute Nutter, you know that right?" Elsie exclaimed. Thomas stayed silent, taking a few steps back and sitting down on a bunk. "You didn't really think they were just going to let you through?" Newt scoffed. "No, of course I didn't" Thomas said, whipping the Guards key card out of his jeans pocket and stunning everyone. 

"Oh Thomas! You clever Nutter!" Elsie grinned, rushing forward and giving him a clap on the back. "Im Gonna find out what's on the other side of that door." Thomas said, holding up the key card. "Right." Newt muttered, unconvinced. "Newt! They're hiding something!" Thomas argued, leaping to his feet and starting to walk over to the vent "These people are not who they say they are!"

"No, Thomas! you don't know that!" Newt protested, following after him. Thomas halted, turning around to look at Newt. "the only thing that we do know, is that they helped rescue us from WICKED. they gave us new clothes, they gave us food, they gave us a proper bed! Some of us haven't had that in a long time." Thomas opened his mouth to speak, unable to think of what to say in response. "Some of us longer than others." Newt persisted. Elsie stepped forward, taking Newt's hand into hers and squeezing it in an attempt to reassure it.

before anyone could say anything else, there was a loud clatter as the Vent cover popped out, sliding across the floor. Elsie shrieked in surprise, jumping back as the Mystery boy, Aris, crawled out from beneath the bunk. "Hey Thomas!" Aris said, pushing himself up onto his elbows. "What the??" Frypan exclaimed. "Who is this kid?"

"You got it, didn't you?" Aris asked. "Yeah, let's go!" Thomas said, showing Aris the key card, sliding it into his pocket before going down onto his knees to crawl beneath the bed and join Aris. he stopped for a moment, turning back to look at the Gladers who were looking at him and the weird boy beneath the bed in absolute confusion. "Okay, maybe you guys are right, maybe Im Paranoid" Thomas said. "But I got to find out for sure. just cover for me. I'll be back as soon as I can" 

and with that, Thomas disappeared beneath the bed, crawling into the Vent after Aris. the group of Gladers were silent, sharing looks. Newt bit his lip, looking nervous and concerned. Elsie crouched down beneath him, placing a hand on his shoulder.