Into the Maze (English Version)

18

Finally Janson picked them up again at the showers. He immediately took them to the next stop, a large room that was somewhat reminiscent of a hospital emergency room. In addition to the medical beds, there were also all sorts of sports equipment. The gladers now had to be checked from top to bottom. Among other things, they should also demonstrate their physical fitness.

Of course, J and Minho chose two treadmills that were right next to each other. And of course he tried to run faster than her. And of course she didn't put up with it.

"Just give up," it came from his side at some point.

"In your dreams," J replied and sprinted on.

"You don't have to prove anything to me, just because I made you nervous earlier," Minho tried to laugh, but she could clearly hear that he was starting to get out of breath too.

"Don't talk Klunk," her calves burned, but she didn't want to stop. While running, it almost felt like normal... Her and Minho as runners in the maze. "In your dreams."

She was still angry about him getting on her nerves outside the showers. But most of all she was pissed because she didn't understand what was different now. She had always liked Minho more than the other boys >aside from Newt, but that was a completely different kind of relationship<. She had always thought of Minho as good-looking. But he had never made her nervous, they had been a team. They had worked well together.

But they only knew each other in the labyrinth. They didn't know each other in another situation than solving a huge life-and-death riddle. This was a new situation. Suddenly J got scared. What if she and Minho had only gotten along in the maze? No, that was ridiculous. J was just confused.

At some point she tried to distract herself from these annoying thoughts. She looked around the room. Thomas just came in with Janson. The man probably had wanted to talk to Thomas again, because Thomas had more memories of W.I.C.K.E.D. due to the Griever poison. Newt sat almost opposite the treadmill. A doctor was injecting him with the contents of a large syringe. According to the doctor, a cocktail of minerals and vitamins, as their blood probably had some nutritional deficiencies due to the imprisonment in the glade.

Teresa sat on a white medical gurney to the left of J's treadmill. Now a dark-skinned doctor came to her and shielded her from views with a curtain. Teresa was probably particularly important to the people here. If Thomas' memories were to be believed, she, in turn, had been an important contributor to W.I.C.K.E.D.

But somehow it was a little strange. Sure, Janson's people had kept them from falling back into she, in turn, had been an important contributor to W.I.C.K.E.D.s claws by housing them here. But if the glades really were such special children, J couldn't believe that this rescue had been a completely selfless act.

It took several hours until all the gladers were checked >except Teresa, whose examination would take a little longer<. And so Janson finally led them to dinner again. This time the situation was a little different, not to say, the gladers stared into the room as if struck by a blow.

"Say that again," Newt demanded, but without looking at Janson. What laid before them required far too much attention.

"W.I.C.K.E.D. has worked with several mazes. These are other teenagers we freed. They went through something similar." Minho leaned forward, as if so he could see better into the room, whose door Janson had just opened. But J didn't even had to look particularly closely. She saw the many people, she heard the babble of voices. That was a joke, right? Somehow it felt like something had been taken away from her. All the young people in there >if they had really experienced the same thing< gave J the feeling that some of their suffering had been taken away from them. As if it would make the gladers fate less shocking if it had happened to several people. And not in a good way. It was as if someone was telling her to pull herself together, after all others had survived it too. And so she looked almost hostile when Janson shooed them into the dining room, and told them to just sit with a few others, no one would bite here.