~.~.~
About half an hour after the guy and the food had shown up in their three room prison, the Gladers had gathered in the main room. Sitting on the ground in messy rows and clusters, all facing the men dressed in white sitting at his desk, protected by his invisible barrier.
Cally sat with Minho to her right and Felix to her left. The girl, having a bit of trouble keeping herself upright, leaned half against Minho's side. The former Keeper of the Runners hadn't said anything about it, not needing her to explain why she looked for a bit of extra support. He had, however caught Felix giving them a bit of a side eye, probably wondering why she hadn't chosen to lean against him. Minho send the guy a glare back, making a point out of repositioning so Cally could lean her back a little against his arm. For optimal support, and obviously for no other spiteful reasons.
On Minho's other side, Thomas and Newt sat patiently waiting for the Rat Man to start talking. Minho, however, did not feel like silently sitting by while the weasel like man just sat there, feet up on the table, reading his shuck book.
"I think we've all gone psycho like those... what'd they call themselves again?"
"You mean the Cranks?" Cally answered his question with a raised eyebrow, not entirely sure if that's what he'd meant.
"Yeah. Cranks." Minho confirmed before continuing. "The Cranks at the windows. We're all sitting here waiting for a lecture from Rat Man like this is totally normal. Like we're at some kind of school. I can tell you this much- if he had anything good to say, he wouldn't need a bugging magic wall to protect him from us, now, would he?"
"Just slim it and listen." Newt responded. "Maybe it's all gonna be over." A sign came from Cally, although she didn't say anything, Minho could tell she did not hold the hope Newt did for all of this to end now. Neither did Minho, especially not after whatever they had to go through the past few days. This did not feel like an ending, more like the start of the next pile of clunk to plow through.
"Yeah, right. And Frypan's gonna start having little babies, Winston'll get rid of his monster acne, and Thomas here'll actually smile for ones."
In response, Thomas turned to Minho with an wide, over the top, fake smile plastered on his face. "There, you happy?"
"Dude, you are one ugly Shank." Cally snickered at his comment, making a bit of pride bubble inside of Minho. She had barely laughed at all the past few days and if he was being honest with himself, he'd started to realize that he needed her to bounce back.
Part of him knew wanting Cally to be like she'd been before everything went down was selfish. He knew very well that, while all of them had been thrown down a ditch to hit rock bottom, she had been handed a shovel and told to keep digging. Still, no matter how selfish, he needed his little sister. He also needed her and Newt to fix whatever they needed to to stop the awkward tension hanging in the air. He'd already had to deal with their obvious pining after each other in the Glade, he couldn't take having to deal with it again in here.
"If you say so." Thomas responded to Minho's insult, unbothered after having gotten used to his Keeper's comments.
"Shut your bloody holes," Newt whispered, seeming to be out of patience already. "I think it's time."
Low and behold, when Minho and the others turned their attention back to Rat man, he had put his feet back on the ground. The guy rummaged through the papers and messy folders on his desk until he seemed to have found what he needed. "Ah, here it is." As he said it, he pulled out a folder, unfolded it, and placed it on the table and turned himself to the group of boys and their signature girl. "Thank you for gathering in an orderly manner so I can tell you what I've been... instructed, to tell you. Please listen carefully."
"Why do you need that wall!" Cally flinched the moment Minho shouted at the man, not able to keep his own frustration in.
Newt leaned over Thomas to hit his friend on the shoulder. "Shut it!"
The man continued without paying Minho any mind, probably having expected shit like that to happen.
Or maybe already used to it, Cally thought. If he really had worked with them before as her foggy memory suggested, she could not imagine that that would be the first time Minho- or any one of them- had thrown words at his head.
"You're all still here because of an uncanny will to survive despite the odds, among other reasons. About sixty people were sent to live in the Glade. Well, your Glade, anyway. Another sixty in Group B, but for now we'll forget them."
The man's eyes flickered to Aris and Cally, lingering for a split second on the girl before going back to scanning the room. An odd feeling took hold in Cally's stomach, something in his eyes... a hint of familiarity, maybe? Had she imagined it? Cally quickly glanced at Aris, trying to see if he'd noticed the look he'd given the two of them, but he either seemed to not have noticed or didn't want the others to notice.
"Out of all those people, only a fraction survived to be here today. I'm assuming you've figured this out by now, but many of the things that happened to you are solely for the purpose of judging and analyzing your responses. And yet it's not really an experiment as much as it is..." The man thought for a moment, glancing down at the paper in front of him. "Constructing a blueprint. Stimulating the Killzone and collecting resultant patterns. Putting them all together to achieve the greatest breakthrough in the history of science and medicine."
Cally cocked her head, looking at the man as if that would help her figure out what he'd meant with that. 'Greatest breakthrough in the history of science and medicine'? What blueprint? How can locking teenagers up in a Maze for years and making them fight for their lives help create medication? Is this some out of pocket, experimental way to cure cancer? Cally shook her head, trying to focus in what else this guy had to say, maybe he would just tell them, because what she'd come up with definitely did not make any kind of sense.
"These situations inflicted upon you are called the Variables, and each one has been meticulously thought out. I'll explain more soon. And though I can't tell you everything at this time, it's vital that you know this much: these trials you're going through are for a very important cause. Continue to respond well to the Variables, continue to survive, and you'll be rewarded with the knowledge that you've played a part in saving the human race. And yourselves of course."
The guy took a moment of silence in a failed attempt at a dramatic pause.
"What is this guy even talking about?" Felix whispered, a skeptical look on his face.
Cally shrugged, "No clue... Doesn't make any fucking sense."
"This dude's jacked in the head." Minho joined our whispered conversation. "How would escaping a bugging maze save the human race?"
"Who says I even wanne save the human race? Let natural selection do its thing and leave us out of it."
Cally couldn't help the amused scoff at Felix's comment, but still she hit him on the shoulder for it. "Oh, shut up, Fe."
"I represent a group called WICKED," Rat man continued without paying us any mind at all. "I know it sounds menacing, but it stands for World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department. Nothing menacing about it, despite what you may think." Cally definitely did think that. Sure, she had seen the plaque in the Maze when she'd still been a Runner, she knew what WICKED stood for, she just didn't know what it meant. Well, she didn't know what 'Killzone' meant, all the other parts were pretty self explanatory.
"We exist for one purpose and one purpose only: to save the world from catastrophe. You here in this room are a vital part of what we plan to do. We have resources never known to any group of any kind of history civilization. Nearly unlimited money, unlimited human capital and technology advanced beyond even the most clever man's wants and wishes."
Cally scoffed before mumbling, "And yet, they need to torture us to reach their goal. Typical."
"As you make your way through the Trials, you have seen and will continue to see evidence of this technology and the resources behind it. If I can tell you anything today, it is that you should never, ever believe your eyes. Or your mind, for that matter." Something stronger then mere anxiety filled and stirred inside Cally's body, in an attempt to not spiral inward she clenched her fist, trying to focus on the feeling her nails left on the palm of her hand as they dug into it. She knew this better then any one of the other Gladers- well, and Felix, he had known another life too before all of this. Although as she glanced over to the dark haired boy, he did not seem bothered the same way as her. Making her realize maybe he hadn't fully believed her words, or maybe he'd just become a lot better at hiding his feelings.
"This is why we did the demonstration with the hanging bodies and the bricked-up windows. All I will say is that sometimes what you see is not real, and sometimes what you do not see is real. We can manipulate your brains and nerve receptacles when necessary. I know this all sounds confusing and a little scary, perhaps."
Understatement, Cally thought.
Rat man's eyes scanned over the group, again, she caught him looking straight at her for less then a second, making an uneasy feeling run down her spine. "The Maze was a part of the Trials. Not one Variable was thrown at you that didn't serve a purpose for our collection of Killzone patterns. Your escape was part of the Trials. Your battle against the Grievers. The murder of the boy Chuck."
The world faded away from Cally the moment Chuck's name had fallen. "That was planned?" She growled, her body shaking with anger. "You saw the youngest of the group and decided to plant a knife in his ribs? Just to see what we'd do?" Her voice raised in volume with every word, trying to get over the Rat man's voice as he continued his speech.
"-The supposed rescue and the subsequent trip in the bus. All of it. Part of the-"
Something inside of Cally snapped and before she knew what came over her she jumped to her feet, yelling, "You're not scientists, you're fucking monsters!"
For the first time, the Rat man jolted up making his chair hit the wall behind him, seeming to forget the barrier existed, even parts startled at her outburst as enraged. "That's quite enough out of you. A-" The man snarled, then stopped himself, took a breath and smoothed out his clothes.
Cally took a sharp breath to shoot another piece of her mind at this horrible person when Newt lay a firm hand on her shoulder, successfully interrupting her trail of thought and drawing her attention. "Breath, Cals." She hadn't even noticed she'd started to heave. "Breath."
"But he-" Cally's voice broke off, the anger making place for grieve way too fast for her to process. She wanted to yell, scream, hurt that man who talked bout killing off their friend as if he were discussing the weather. She hated it, she hated him, she hated WICKED. No greater good could ever be worth any of this.
"I know, I know." Newt almost whispered, leaning closer to her ear, his other hand carefully taking a hold of hers. "But yelling isn't gonna solve anythin'. Please, just sit back down." Again, anger flared inside of her. Anger at Newt for trying to keep the peace instead of joining her, validating her anger at the horrid information they'd just been told. Chuck hadn't been an accident, which means he hadn't jumped into the line of the knife to save Thomas from his own free will. They'd made him jump. Just like they had made Cally run into the Maze, made Alby strangle himself and made Gally throw that knife in the first place.
Newt tugged softly on her hand, not saying anything but not needing to. Knowing her blonde friend wasn't wrong, but that didn't take away from her anger. Roughly she pulled her hand and shoulder out of Newt's grip and dropped back down on the ground. Not leaning against anyone this time, but laying her head to rest on top of her knees, arms wrapped around her pulled up legs, staring at the ground fighting the tears back down.
Seeming pleased with the development, Rat man placed his hands on his desk and leaned towards the group of Gladers, speaking up again. "All of it has been part of the Trials, you understand? Phase one, to be exact. And we are still dangerously short of what we need. So we've had to up the ante, and now it's time for Phase Two. It's time for things to get difficult."
Newt sat back down beside Thomas, for a moment he doubted if he should just sit down beside Cally, wanting to be there for her and maybe also because holding her hand, feeling her presence, had quickly become a source of comfort over the past few months. But after the glare she'd given him, the amount of anger her eyes had held, made it clear she did not want him there right now.
The man in the white suite had sat down again and scooted his chair back behind the desk. "You may think, or it may seem, that we're merely testing your ability to survive. On the surface, the Maze trial could be mistakenly classified that way. But I assure you this is not merely about surviving and the will to live. That's only part of this experiment. The bigger picture is something you won't understand until the very end."
Although Newt listened to the man with interest, wanting to get every ouns of information from him, any amount of answers to what and why everything had been done to them, he couldn't help the sinister part of his brain making him laugh internally. He'd always struggled with that will to live part. Making that same sinister part of his brain think he probably shouldn't have been a part of the remaining Galders.
Still, he found himself grateful he was, the part of him that wanted to live having grown over time. Even while they'd been laying around, hunger painfully gnarling at their stomachs, he hadn't found himself wishing to not have made it that far. And not just because he felt responsible for all those other Shanks looking at him for guidance, but because he wanted to survive. He wanted to see if the next day would be better.
"Sun flares have ravaged many parts of the earth. Also a disease unlike any before known to man has been ravaging the earth's people- a disease called the Flare. For the first time, the governments of all nations- the surviving ones- are working together. They've combined forces to create WICKED- a group meant to fight the new problem of this world. You are a big part of the fight. And you'll have every incentive to work with us, because, sad to say, each one of you has already caught the virus."
Chaos erupted within the group as the man's words sunk in. Newt's heart sunk. Not exactly knowing why his head snapped to check on Cally, as if somehow that would stop her from having this disease. Or maybe so he could see if she already showed any signs. No way she would turn into one of those crazed people. No way he- or any of them- would. This must be some kind of bloody lie to get them to cooperate. Right?
Cally, who's first instinct also seemed to have been to check on him, met his eyes. Fear and confusion also visible in them, her hand clutching Ezra's necklace. For a moment he forgot about the angry glare or the uncertainty and distance that he'd felt growing between them, he just wanted to go to her, to hold her close, comfort her, tell her it would all be alright.
Then, Felix lay his arm around her shoulders, she turned to him, and that moment was gone. Replaced with more doubt and fear. Not knowing what else to do to release the many feelings inside of him he bit down on one of his nails.
The Rat man stuck up his hand, successfully quieting down the Gladers. "Now, now! No need to worry- the Flare takes a while to set in and show symptoms. But at the end of these Trials, the cure will be your reward, and you'll never see... debilitating effects. Not many can afford the cure, you know."
A sour taste filled Cally's mouth at the almost amused tone shining through the man's indifference. Felix and the others seemed enthralled with the man's words, believing every word, she wasn't so sure. If they couldn't trust what they saw or thought, why would they trust this guy's words? Even so... the Flare did sound familiar to her, she could almost hear Jenny's voice in the back of her mind rambling, using that word multiple times.
Could that be a real memory or just another fake one?
Still, real or not, those people were real. Those Cranks. Something definitely had been messing with their minds, decaying their bodies... Cally looked at her hand, the one she'd reached out to the women behind the window, she'd seemed so scared, so human. Until that sudden movement send her into a frenzy. Is that what the Flare did? Decay your body and mind? Turn you into a shell of the person you ones were, only leaving moments of sanity until even those disappeared? What would be left then? An animalistic instinct to survive? To feed? All of it just filled Cally with a new found fear.
"But enough of this history lesson, we're wasting time. We know you now. All of you. It doesn't matter what I say or what's behind the mission of WICKED. You'll all do whatever it takes. Of this we have no doubt. And by doing what we ask, you'll save yourselves by getting the very cure so many people so desperately want." Another pause where Rat Man looked through his messy stack of papers, took one out of a folder, turned it and placed it in front of him, only to not really look at it as he went on to the next part of his monologue.
"Phase Two. The Scorch Trials. It officially begins tomorrow morning at six o'clock. You'll enter this room, and in the wall behind me you will find a Flat Trans. To your eyes the Flat Trans will appear as a shimmering wall of gray. Each of you must step through it by five minutes after the hour. So again, it opens at six and you must step through it by five minutes after that. Do you understand?"
No one responded. If it hadn't been for his response to Cally's outburst, he might as well have been a recording.
The man let out an annoyed sign before speaking up again. "I'm quite certain you can all hear, Do. You. Under-Stand?" Some boys murmured or nodded this time, but Cally, not able to stand the condescending tone of the Rat Man, just glared at him.
"Good." He picked up yet another paper and turned it around. Cally wondered it they actually had any writing on them or he did it just for show. "At that point, the Scorch Trials will have begun. the rules are simple, find your way to open air, then head due north for one hundred miles, Make it to the save heaven within two weeks' time and you'll have completed Phase Two. At that point, and only at that point, you'll be cured of the Flare. That's exactly two weeks- starting the second you step through the Trans. If you don't make it, eventually you'll end up dead."
Silence. No one said anything, no one even asked a single question, all waiting anxiously for the man to continue with the next part of his speech. Not even Cally took the opportunity to shoot another remark. The girl just sat there, glaring at the man, observing as he closed the file and put it in one of the desk's drawers. Calmly, as if he hadn't just dropped an insane amount of horrible news on two dozen teenagers, he got up, neatly put his chair back at the desk and turned to the Gladers, hands clasped behind his back.
"It's simple, really. There are no rules. There are no guidelines. You have few supplies, and there's nothing to help you along the way. Go through the Flat Trans at the time indicated. Find open air. Go one hundred miles, directly north, to the safe haven. Make it or die."
That did it.
The whole room erupted into chaos, everyone talking over each other in an attempt to make themselves audible to the Rat man.
"What's a Flat Trans?"
"How'd we catch the Flare?"
"How long till we see symptoms?"
"What's at the end of the hundred miles?"
"What happened with the dead bodies?"
Cally stayed silent. Trying to ignore the chorus of voices and their useless questions. The Rat Man wouldn't answer. He just stood there, waiting patiently for them to stop. His moving around the room, observing the group, until his gaze met Cally's glare. This time he did not look away, but he met her eyes, staring back. Unlike her glare, which was filled with an unfiltered mix of anger and disgust, his features held no emotion at all. It made her only angrier.
"You Shanks shut up!" The questions stopped immediately after Minho raised his voice. "This shuck-face ain't answering, so quit wasting your time."
Rat Man nodded towards Minho, almost as if he was thanking the guy, which Minho did not seem very happy about. "One hunderth miles. North. Hope you make it. Remember-- you all have the Flare now. We gave it to you to provide any incentive you may be lacking. And reaching the safe haven means receiving a cure." The guy turned around heading straight to the wall, where Cally assumed must be a 'Flat Trans' as he called it, only to turn back around.
"One last thing. Don't think you'll avoid the Scorch Trials if you decide not to enter the Flat Trans between six and six o'five tomorrow morning. Those who stay behind will be executed immediately in a most... unpleasant manner. Better off taking your chances in the outside world. Good luck to all of you."
Having said everything he had to, Rat man turned and continued his way towards the wall. Cally expected to watch him go through that shimmering wall he'd described, but instead the invisible barrier started to fog, turning to a thick mist before evaporating in the air. When it cleared the man, his desk, chair and all of the documents had disappeared, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
~.~.~
YOU ARE READING
Lost - Scorch Trials (♡Newt) 《Slow Updates》
Fanfiction"Who you are, is just what you've got. What will you become when they take from you almost everything?" - MCR ~ Sequel to A Way Back ~ Cally survived the Maze, only to find herself in yet another crazy chain of tests. Together with her friends she s...
