𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 ➁ - The Scorch Trials, Newt

Chapter 23 - The Blamer

Me, Thomas, and the woman, which name turned out to be Mary, arrived in a big tent. We lay Brenda down on a bed and Mary motioned for me and Thomas to sit down.

'In the beginning, we were lost. All we knew for sure... was that the younger you were, the stronger your chances.' Mary explained as she got some blood from Thomas.

'You worked for WICKED?' I asked, watching every step Mary made.

'Long time ago. You know, at first, we had the best intentions. Find a cure, save the world. It was clear you kids were the key, because you were immune. Eventually, we found an answer. An enzyme produced by the brains of the immune. Once separated from the bloodstream... it can serve as a powerful agent to slow the spread of the virus.'

'So, you found a cure?' Thomas questioned.

'Not exactly. The enzyme can't be manufactured, only harvested from the immune. The young. Of course, that didn't stop WICKED. If they had their way... they'd sacrifice an entire generation.
All for this.'

Mary held up a small syringe, filled with a blue liquid.
'A gift of biology. Of evolution. But one not meant for all of us.' She walked over to a panting Brenda and slowly inserted the syringe. Brenda's chest started moving up and down slower and her breaths seemed to become steadier. She let out a relieved sigh.

'How long will that give her?' Thomas looked at Brenda too.

'It's different for everyone. A few months maybe. But that's the catch, isn't it? She'll always need more.' Mary stopped talking and looked at me.

'Why did I have to come too?' I carefully asked.

Mary sighed and sat down on a chair. 'You remember things, don't you?'
Thomas raised his eyebrows and looked at me and Mary.

'Well, yes.' I almost stammered, confused by how the woman could know I remembered things.

'Do you know what they call you?' Mary asked. I frowned and looked at her, confused.
'When they scan your neck, I mean.'

I remembered Brenda scanning my neck and the letters appearing on a screen.
'A10, The Blamer.' I almost whispered.

'That's right.' Mary straightened her back. 'And do you know what it means?'

'No.' I replied. But I was curious. Very curious.

'After you got memories, you blamed yourself, right? You felt guilty.' Mary looked me in the eyes.
My breathing hitched and I slowly nodded in response.
'That is exactly what WICKED wanted to happen.'

'What? They controlled my memories?'

'Most of them. But sometimes you got memories they didn't want you to have.' Mary paused.
'They wanted to see how you reacted to the memories. They always knew you were very caring and they wondered what would happen if they let you remember stuff. The bad stuff.'

Thomas looked at me with his mouth slightly open. He knew nothing about all of this.

'They also wanted to see how it affected others. Important people to you. Like Newt. They thought it would help them to get closer to the cure.'

My heart started beating faster when she mentioned Newt. 'What do they call Newt?'

'A5. The Glue.' Mary responded. 'He holds every one of you together.'

Slowly it all made sense. Newt indeed held everyone together. Without him, I probably wouldn't even be alive.

'Now I want you to tell me exactly what you remember, Nora.' Mary lowered her voice.

My breathing hitched again. 'I remember Chuck.' It hurt to say his name. I missed him so much and I got tears in my eyes. 'I remembered him before he came up in the Box. I knew he was my cousin.'

Mary nodded and motioned for me to continue.

'I remember Minho getting punished because-.' I bit my lip when I thought of it. 'Because he tried to escape with Gally. He tried to escape the building we were locked in.'

Thomas seemed very surprised and curious about everything.

'Okay. Good. What else?' Mary didn't sound impatient.

'I remember meeting Thomas and Teresa for the first time. They could talk through the minds.'

Thomas his eyebrows furrowed. 'I don't remember that.' He replied.

'Alright, Nora. Tell me what else you remember, please. You're doing very good.'

The last three topics I remembered were stuff I rather not tell in front of Thomas. Of course, I trusted the boy but still.

Mary looked at me and then at Thomas. 'Thomas, I think it's best for you to leave now.'

The boy didn't seem satisfied, but eventually obeyed and walked away.

'What else do you remember, Nora? I know it might be hard for you but this could help me.' Mary carefully said.

I took a deep breath. 'I remember-.' I bit my lip and felt my eyes get watery again. 'I remember Newt jumping off the maze wall.' I lowered my voice a lot, so only Mary could hear it. I couldn't stop myself but let some of the tears fall.

'It's okay. Keep going.' Mary grabbed my hand and squeezed it lightly.

A dark feeling washed over me when I thought about everything I remembered. 'I- uhm... I remember my younger self- feeling guilty...'
Tears streamed down my face by now. It was like I let out my emotions from the past days out.

'Continue..' Mary calmly said.

I sniffed quietly. 'And when I felt guilty- I hurt myself.' I wiped some tears off of my cheek, but they kept coming. 'On my wrist.'

'Can I see them?' Mary asked. Surprised I looked up.

'Sure, I guess...' I muttered, overwhelmed by everything. Slowly I rolled up both of my sleeves and revealed the cuts to Mary. She looked at them for a few seconds before telling me to roll my sleeves back down.

'What else do you remember?'

Then I paused. Something hit me. A realization.

'Nora?'

The last thing I remembered was Newt's sister.

'Sonya...' I muttered.

It all made sense. She had the same blonde hair and accent as Newt and I recognized her. She was in a maze too, just like Newt. The only wrong thing was her name. It wasn't Lizzie.

'Nora, what do you remember?'

'Does Sonya have a brother?' I looked at Mary.

'I don't know.' Mary replied. 'I didn't know her before the Right Arm. I'm sorry, Nora.'

'I gotta get- I need to-.' In a panic, I got up from the chair. 'I need to see Newt.'