Into the Maze (English Version)

29

Newt and Gally were alive. J let out a relieved gasp. Then they hurried to get out of the tunnel. Night had already fallen there. The city streets were still well lit with bright light. So the four of them were very careful to stay hidden.

Eventually they reached the other side of the wall that surrounded the city. They climbed some stairs until they reached a lookout point on the stone wall. Gally went straight to a pair of binoculars that were set up here. He aimed it at something specific. Then he let the others see through it.

They were looking at a floor of the largest building here, which read W.I.C.K.E.D. in large letters on its front. It took J a moment to spot her. "Teresa."

Thomas' mine petrified. But Gally nodded. "You may not like it, but I think she's our way in."

"Wait a minute," Brenda said when they were back in Lawrence's camp and talked about what they had seen. It was now mid-morning again. "That's the same girl who betrayed us. The same bitch."

"I like her," Gally pointed to Brenda with a grin. But J wasn't at all enthusiastic. For some reason she still felt sympathy for Teresa. She gave them both a warning look. "Careful."

And Thomas also seemed unsure when Newt spoke to him. "I don't know, maybe she can really help us..."

"Great," Newt said, in a tone that J didn't recognize from him. He sounded almost aggressive.

"Newt what...", J wanted to ask, but her brother interrupted her. "No! It's always the same. Teresa can do anything she wants, and yet Thomas is still worried about her."

Now Newt's more blazing gaze snapped to Thomas. Then, without warning, he jumped at his friend and pushed him roughly against the nearest wall. "Right? You're afraid your little friend will get hurt. But she's the reason we have to free Minho. She did this to him."

Now Newt even raised his fist as if he wanted to hit Thomas. Brenda put her hand over her mouth in shock. The other boys and Jorge started to intervene. But then Newt calmed down again.

"Sorry, Tommy," he said. He seemed shocked about his own behavior. Then he hurried out of the room. J watched her brother go, then she gave Thomas a slap on the shoulder. "Come on, go after him!"

But because J wanted to know what had just gotten into Newt, she also followed the two of them. She heard their voices through an open door that led to the roof. She walked towards them, but didn't make herself noticeable. Because what she heard now robbed her of any ability to speak. She had to hold on to the door to keep herself from falling over.

All she realized was that Newt... Just thinking about it made her feel sick. She heard him telling Thomas that he was sick, that he was infected. Then he showed him his arm. J didn't quite see it because she was standing in some distance from the boys. But as far as she could tell, the dark discoloration looked similar to what Winston had had on his stomach after the Cranks had attacked him. Just before he...

"J!", Newt and Thomas had both turned around with frightened looks as she had lost her balance and stumbled out the door. But the uncertain mood quickly changed when J felt anger take hold of her. Her eyes blazing, she looked at her brother. "How dare you hide something like that?"

Newt now came towards her and held out his hands in a placating manner. "I thought it wasn't that bad, I didn't expect to last this long."

"What?", she exclaimed. Newt shrugged. "I thought, why talk much when I'm going to become a child-eater anyway. It would have just worried you unnecessarily."

"I hate you!", J stomped the floor like a toddler while screaming at her brother. For some reason Newt seemed amused. "You hate me?"

"Yes! And Minho too. You idiots always think you have to protect me. And look where it got you. You're both almost dead. Minho may already be dead."

"This illness has little to do with you," Newt replied, tilting his head. But J countered. "Still, you didn't tell me anything when you noticed you were getting worse."

"Only because I thought..." Newt began, but J immediately cut him off. "No, you didn't think about one thing, just like Minho didn't think about it. You both didn't think about what I'll do it when you're both gone. But that's the most important thing. You both need to live. I need you both to live.

Now Newt said nothing more and Thomas just looked at J silently. She accepted it that way.

However, when evening came, J was no longer angry. She just wanted to be with Newt. So she cuddled into bed with him. But that didn't really help. Rather, she mentally sank into a terrible spiral. The fear, that soon she might never be able to lie down next to him again, never be able to talk to him again, grew even greater. This fear almost threatened to tear her apart from the inside. So she couldn't take it anymore and climbed out of bed. For a while she wandered aimlessly through the corridors of their shelter. At some point she found herself on a bench in Lawrence's rose garden.

The flowers and the green of the plants, had something calming about itself. As she sat there, tears suddenly streamed down her cheeks. There was no sobbing, no screaming, just silent tears.

At some point someone sat down next to her. She recognized Lawrence without looking at him. She recognized him by his raspy, sick breathing.

"How long did it take for you to really feel bad?", J stopped staring at the flowers and turned to the man.

"You have to understand that it's different for everyone. So no matter what I tell you, it won't apply to any other infected person," Lawrence noted before answering. J didn't understand. "Why?"

"The cognitive destruction caused by the flare depends on the activity of the affected person's brain. So if one of your friends..."

"My brother," J interjected. Until now she hadn't said that it was about Newt. On the one hand, she didn't want to say it. On the other hand, J doubted that Newt was okay with her telling people.

There was a brief flash of pity in the man's eyes. "The experiments W.I.C.K.E.D. conducted on you children were very stressful. This means your brains have also been put under a lot of pressure."

"So Newts chances are bad," J summarized and felt tears welling up in her eyes again.

Lawrence didn't answer, but his curt nod was answer enough. J didn't move for a few moments. She had a hard time staying upright. Ever since she had found out what was going on with Newt, she had felt this feeling like concrete blocks were weighing down on her. They squeezed the air out of her lungs, cut off her blood supply, and caused her terrible pain. But she wasn't ready to give in to this feeling. Even though Lawrence hadn't made it easy for her to remain hopeful. What was it with that blue stuff? This drip that Lawrence was constantly attached to. The stuff he always injected himself seemed to counteract the illness.

"And what about this?", J pointed to the tube that ended with a needle in Lawrence's forearm. "Where can I get something like that?"

Lawrence raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, if I'm not mistaken you can get it out of your pretty veins."

J winced as Lawrence reached out and stroked a vein on her neck. She looked at the man with wide eyes. All of this didn't really fit into her head. Why was she healthy and Newt was sick? Was this what Thomas had seen that with Aris back then? Probably. W.I.C.K.E.D. got that blue stuff out of the kids. But then why bother with the labyrinths? Why not just get it out of their blood immediately?

"The Bliss, that's what we call it," Lawrence had removed his hand from J's skin again. "It has a relaxing effect, so to speak. This relaxation means that the brain works less and the flare progresses more slowly."

J listened carefully. And that was all well and good. The only question was, how could she bring this Bliss to Newt?