𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍 & 𝐄𝐂𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐘-𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮

TWENTY-FOUR

I woke up in mine and Gally's hut alone. I sat up quickly, throwing the blanket off me and running outside. I felt the hope that was growing in my chest deflate and the events of last night came crashing down. It was all real. Everything.

The sun was already high in the sky, starting to dip to the West. I slept for a while.

I looked around and saw a group of people standing at the West Wall. Gally and the rest of the survivors. There weren't many. I didn't want to join them just yet. I went to the Slammers where my friends were waiting for Thomas to wake up.

Teresa was in the pit with him, his head resting on her lap. I was crushed in a hug as soon as I sat with them and if I had more tears, I would probably cry, but my reservoirs were all dried up. I was just glad they were safe.

Even little Chuck, who did cry when he hugged me. I slowly rubbed his back.
"Where did you hide?"

"I was here?" I mumbled.

"And Nico?"

His death replayed in my head and I stared at the boy numbly. "He didn't make it." Newt squeezed my arm softly. He had known Nico longer, but he had actually been my friend.

When Thomas woke up, I was shocked. Most people stayed out for days when they got stung, and even Alby who received the same serum as him didn't wake up for two.

Thomas's eyes drifted from Teresa to us and he sat up. "What the hell were you thinking?" Chuck asked.
"What happened?"

"Gally's taken control." Newt answered. "He said we had a choice. Either join him...or get banished at sun down with you." It didn't even surprise me that those were the only two options Gally gave everyone. He was past the point of reasoning now. Especially after last night.

Thomas groaned as he turned to sit in an alcove of the pit. "The other's agreed to that?"

"Gally has everyone convinced that you're the reason all of this has happened." Teresa said.

Thomas nodded and looked away from her. "Well he's been right so far."

"What are you talking about?" Minho was still in his running gear and I wondered if he got any sleep last night. I wondered if any of then got sleep.

"This place, it's not what we thought it was. It's not a prison, it's a test. It all started when we were kids. They'd give us these challenges, they were experimenting on us. And then people started disappearing. One after the other, like clockwork."

"They were sending them up into the Maze." Newt said when he realized what Thomas was saying.

"Yeah, but not all of us."

"What do you mean?"

"Guys. I'm one of them. The people who put you here, I worked with them. I watched you guys for years. The entire time you've been here, I was on the other side. And so were you." His eyes flicked to Teresa.

"What?" Her voice shook.

"Teresa we did this to them."

"No." Tears welled in her eyes and I felt my anger rise from them. "That's not true. Why would we be sent up if we worked with them?"

"What was their purpose for all of this?" I spat out. "What was the reason for killing kids?" Thomas looked at a loss for words and I scoffed. I stood up and Newt tried to get me to sit back down but I pulled my arm away from his grip. I walked away quickly, ignoring their calls.

Gally was right. It was all their fault. Everything went to shit as soon as they came up and I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. But there was no denying it now. They would only continue to ruin things as long as they were here.