After the Death Cure 2 ( The Maze Runner )

Chapter 41 | Newt

I enter the cafeteria, taking a look around. Guards line the walls, launchers in hand, making sure no one tries to cause any trouble. I can barely remember what it was like to eat a meal sitting next to Kenzie.

I miss her.

She sits at the table we always sit at, picking at her food. The guys and I take a seat, and I sit next to Kenzie. No one says a word, but I don't expect them to.
In fact, no one in the whole cafeteria speaks. Everything feels...empty. I should have said I loved her too. It's almost as if I've made things awkward between us. I don't know why I didn't say it. I was just frozen.
A loud noise cracks through the silence. It sounds like a chair scooting across the floor. A girl from Group B races towards a guard, reaching for his launcher. She is automatically taken down by three other soldiers, screaming and kicking her legs.
She is lead out if the room, obviously to Below Ground Level to be kept in a bloody cell.
The attacked guard stares at our table. At Minho. That must be Melissa.
I can't believe they let Minho stay out of his cell. They have to know he's going to punch someone.
He stands to his feet. "Minho," I pull him down, "Do you want to go back to your happy little lock-up?"
"It's Melissa."
"I don't care if it's Santa Clause, we need you here. In case there's an opening for escape."
A look of shock over takes his face. He moves his head closer to me, "You're planning on leaving?"
"Are you planning on staying?"
"How are we gonna do it, slinthead. There watching us like hawks." He leans back in his chair.
"I'm not saying that we're going to find a way, but if a window opens, we're not just going to over look it."
"True."
"Melissa can't do anything for us, you know that."
"Yeah..."
"So eat your pancakes."
"Whatever," he says like a child as he shoves food in his mouth.
I turn my head to see Kenzie, but she's not there. My hands hit the table, "Where is she?" Lily shrugs her shoulders. "Lily, where the shuck did she go?"
"I don't know," she sounds irritated. She's telling the truth.
I stand up, and rush towards the door. A hand rests on my chest. "Where are you off to?" Melissa says to me.
"To find someone."
"You looking for Kenzie?"
"Maybe," I shrug her hand off of me.
"Come on." She steps out of the door, and I hesitantly follow. "You can't go anywhere without a chaperone."
"Where did she go?"
"Ava called her out of the room."
"How did I not see that?"
"It was while the girl was getting taken away."
"What does Chancellor Paige want with her?"
"How should I know?"
"You seem to know a lot of stuff we don't."
She spins around on her heels, pressing her finger on my collar bone. "That wasn't up to me. I can't help what they make us do. They didn't even tell us where we were going, or what we were doing. They said 'shoot your guns', so we did. It wasn't until after a few hours that I figured out why."
I push her hand down, "Just take me to Kenzie. I don't care what you slintheads have to say about anything now. I just want to spend my last moments with her until my life is ripped away from me." She glares at me, then continues to take me up the stairs. "Why didn't we take the elevator?"
"It's now off limits in case you kids try to either commit suicide, or wreck them so they won't open."
We make it up to the lab, and Ava looks disgusted to see me. "Why did you take him up here?"
"To make sure you don't hurt anyone," I say.
"My goal is to find a cure, not hurt people."
"You seem to be doing neither," I step next to Kenzie.
"As I was saying, you will be kept alive in the Maze. Most of this does revolve around you. But I can't say the same for the others."
"What about Thomas?"
"I will speak with him momentarily."
"So, what? Everyone gets to die, but you're going to spare me?"
"Only those who are needed to die for variables. We don't kill without cause."
"What was Brenda's cause?"
"You are dismissed."
"What was the point of this conversation? To scare me? I'm not scared of you, Ava. I'm not scared of the Maze either. I'm scared for my friends. You're not going to get away with this."
"Melissa," Chancellor Paige says, as if Melissa is on her side.
"Come on," she grabs Kenzie's arm lightly, and leads the two of us out.