Lovers Lies || Thomas

18 - Goodbyes

SANDRA'S lungs burned as she gulped down air, her eyes flying open to be greeted by blue eyes staring down into her eyes. The back of her head throbbed as it rested in Teresa's lap with the girl's hand on the side of her face.

"What the hell?" Sandra groaned, her voice hoarse and raw.

Teresa moved her hand away and Sandra slowly sat up, blinking as she took in Thomas passed out on the floor beside her. It was then she realized they were in a pit the next day.

Sandra nearly punched Thomas when he suddenly jolted up, gasping for air, his eyes wide and frantically looking around.

"Why the bloody hell am I here?" Sandra grumbled, rubbing the back of her head where dried blood flaked out of her hair.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Sandra nearly broke her neck turning her head to see Chuck above them on the other side of the locked door with Carlos, Minho, and Newt beside him.

"Why am I down here? What happened?" Sandra questioned, pushing her hair back. Then it hit her. Everything that happened last night. How she almost died. How Alby did die in front of her. How she nearly killed Gally.

"Gally's taken control," Newt gravely said. "He said we had a choice. Either join him or get banished at sundown with Thomas."

Sandra scoffed, rising to her feet and slightly swaying. "He can't banish me. I'm first in command." She threw her arm out and Thomas grabbed her hand as nausea hit her body.

"You're not being banished," Carlos told her, his jaw tight and his knuckles bruised and covered in dry blood. "Gally just wants you in here until you calm down. I told him that if you get banished, I'll skin his ass alive."

"No one argued with The Big, Bad, Scary Carlos on that," Minho hummed, nodding his head. "But they did argue when he tried to get you out of being banished," he added, looking at Thomas.

"Did the others agree to that?" Thomas asked them and Teresa placed a hand on Sandra's back, standing behind her.

"Gally has everyone convinced that you're the reason all this has happened," Teresa answered him.

Sandra straightened, taking in a deep breath. "How the hell can this be Thomas's fault?"

"Well, he's been right so far," Thomas said and Sandra raised a brow at him.

"What are you talking about?" Minho asked, tilting his head.

"This place," Thomas said, swallowing hard. "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. Every month, one after the other, like clockwork."

"Sending them up into the Maze?" Newt asked, sharing a look with Minho and Carlos.

"Yeah, but not all of us."

"What do you mean?" Sandra asked.

Thomas looked at her, his eyes calculating. "We're one of them." Sandra's jaw slightly dropped, not understanding why the fuck he would think she was one of something. He looked back up to the boys. "The people who put you here, Sandra, and I worked with them. I watched you guys for years. The entire time you've been here, I-I was on the other side of it." He paused, looking at Teresa. "So were you."

"What?" Teresa breathed as Sandra still struggled to wrap her head around the new information.

"There's no way in hell I would work with them," Sandra stated, crossing her arms over her chest.