W.I.C.K.E.D's Girl [Book One]

Chapter Ten

"Joan. Joan. Joan sweetheart you need to wake up." A gentle voice brings me to consciousness yet again. The familiar smell of disinfectant and bright florescent lights attack my senses. "How are you feeling?" "Tired but ok." The woman smiles at me, stoking my hair and humming. "I know I keep asking but why do I have to keep having this done to me mum?" She sighs. "I'm only doing what's best for you. You know how the outside world is and I'm only doing this to protect you and the rest of the human race. Please just understand my reasons for keeping you in the dark sometimes. I'm only doing this to protect you and your friends." "And by friends you mean the people who are kept here from their families, who are practically forced to befriend each other as they have nothing else in this hell." My voice rises with venom dripping from every word. "Shhh you need to rest. We can talk about this later ok." A small silence falls between us with only the sounds of machines bleeping. "Mum?" I weakly call her. "Yes?" "Can you sing to me please?" She smiles and chuckles. "Of course." As she starts to sing my eyelids grow heavy and I fall into a deep slumber.

Groaning I turn my head to the side but keep my eyes closed. What happened? "Jeff go get Alby and tell him that she's waking up!" Clint. "Actually I am awake you shank." I mumble but with a smile. Slowly I let my eyes open and adjust to the light."Welcome back to the land of the living!" Wait WHAT! "What do you mean land of the living?" Clint sighs. "You had us worried you know. For a moment we thought we'd lost you." I look at him and see that he's not joking. "So what happened?" "What can you remember?" All I remember was feeling off and then darkness. "Not a lot." "Long story short, Newt noticed you were off, you collapsed and was brought here, we thought you were dead and then you started muttering and thrashing about. It was like the changing but it obviously wasn't. Then you finally stopped." The door flings open and Alby barges in with Newt and Jeff in tow. They all sigh with relief and I smile at them. "You can't get rid of me that easily!" They laugh. "You gave us a fright Joan. How you feeling?" Alby asks as he pulls up a stool next to me. "I'm fine just confused. I have no idea what happened or why it did. Sorry by the way."

"Don't give us that klunk Jo! You couldn't help it." Newt says to me. "Clint said that I was muttering something, what was it?" They all turn to each other as if having a silent conversation. "We don't really know, just a load of klunk. But what was weird was it didn't sound like you, it was like someone else's voice." Jeff tells me whilst going through some of the cupboards. "Right..." I drag out whilst looking between them trying to read their expressions. "Anyway, how'd Gally take Minho's dare in the end?" A slight smirk forming on my lips. "Well let's just say we need to leave him to cool off for a while and Minho is in hiding." I laugh feeling much better by changing the topic. "I think you should get some rest now Jo, we can talk about today when you're better." Alby says as he stands. "I'm fine Alby and I think I've had enough rest as it is!" They all look to Clint who sighs. "Just don't do anything stupid like running around or daring anyone else." "Me? Do something stupid? You know that that's inevitable Clint." I joke as I get off the bed.

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Nothing in the past week has been interesting, well other than me becoming the only trainer for the runners. I help out here and there when help is needed, even with the builders. Gally has cooled off but is still quite icy with me. Today's not much different. Get up, eat, help out, train some of the runners that aren't running, eat again, practice with my machete, eat and head off to sleep. It's a comforting but dull routine. Walking around the Glade to see if I can help at all I spot Alby walk out of the homestead looking quite, well to put it politely, ticked off."Hey Alby!" I shout as I jog over to him. He turns and half waves but doesn't reply. "You alright?" I ask. It's not like him to be like this. Everyone's mood has changed a bit since Paul... died. The changing was too much for him, he couldn't hold on much longer. "I'm fine Joan, now if you'll excuse me I've got to go and speak to the runners." "They're back?" "Yeah, been back for a while." Alby then walks off to the map room and I then realise how late it actually is. As if the maze is confirming this the doors start to close for the night. My stomach grumbles breaking me from my thoughts, time to go and see Frypan I think!

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My peaceful dinner turns hectic as Minho and other Keepers sit themselves beside me. "You know it was quite peaceful until you lot showed up." I mutter earning a teasing glare from Minho. "You enjoy our company, don't deny it chipmunk!" I scoff and the others just chuckle. "So Min what was out in the maze today?" He looks quizzically at me. "What do you mean? You never normally ask what's out there." Busted. "Well it's just that Alby went to talk to you and looked annoyed, so I guess you found something." "We wish! There's nothing new out there, same shuck system since we first ran the maze." I just make an 'oh' face and think. There must be something. What's the point of a maze if it can't be solved? Maybe we're not meant to solve it... My ears start to ring again and I feel my body shake and start to convulse.

"Come on Thomas! You can trust me!" My vision becomes hazy as the voice, my voice, echoes in my mind. "I don't know Jo. It's not that I don't trust you it's just that they'll know if I tell you." "Live a little Tommy! Come on, I'll take the blame if they find out, I'll say that I cornered you and threatened you to tell me!" He just scoffs "You of all people know what they're like Jo. Look I'm not telling you that phase one isn't just a giant maze that isn't meant to be solved without any genetically mutated creatures that don't attack any human they come into contact with. I'm not telling anything!"He finishes in a low voice. "Shuck it's happening just like last time! Jo can you hear us?" The voices are faint, my body feels heavy. It's dark and I try to open my eyes but I can't, I go to respond but I can't. Using all my strength I lift one of my fingers on my left hand. "Please Jo, don't do this. Can you hear us?" YES!!! I mentally scream but all my effort works to no avail. I try to move again but with no such luck I still don't move. All of a sudden my mind becomes cloudy but a faint yet stern voice commands me stand up.

The concerned gladers gather around Joan. She's stopped her convulsing and is deathly still. "Please Jo, don't do this. Can you hear us?" A panic stricken Newt asks as he is crouching beside Minho and Joan. More boys crowd around waiting to see what happens to the only girl glader. "Slim it and move! NOW!" Alby booms as he and the med-jacks push through. Suddenly her eyes fly open and she jumps up. Falling back with shock Minho and Newt both share a concerned glance. Her eyes aren't her normal bright green, they're faded and bloodshot, pupils dilate and her face is expressionless. She stands ridged facing the boys. "Jo? Jo are you ok?" Clint asks her but gets no response. She starts to shake, fists and jaw clenching. Newt and Minho move closer to her, slowly. Her face stays as hard as stone, her arm slowly rising and reaching out towards Minho. He moves closer to her whilst the rest of the glade watches on. "Hey, you're alright now. Just look at me chipmunk. See she's just-" Joan's fist unclenches and her hand wraps itself around Minho's throat. Gasps escape some of the gladers whilst Newt and Alby rushes forwards, Alby trying to prise Joan's grip and Newt holding Joan. "N-no." She splutters. "Jo let go of him! You're killing him!" Newt yells at her whilst pulling her back. "N-NO! Y-you. C-can't. Control. M-me." She continues to splutter, stringing words together forcefully. "Let go!" Her body shakes more and her eyes roll back into her skull. Alby prises Joan's hand from Minho's neck, her arm falls limp beside her body as she collapses. The med-jacks split and turn to both Minho and Joan. Minho still gasping for air looks at his friend. "Anyone care to tell me what happened?" Alby orders. A rush of responses echo through the Glade. "Slim it!" The noise dies down to a complete silence. The silence then breaks with Joan breathlessly uttering "s-sorry."

With the monitors focusing on the scene, workers of W.I.C.K.E.D gather the data. "Subject A13 certainly resisted control but not completely. However this variable has caused a lot of spikes in the patterns we normally collect." A middle aged man with round glasses announces to his co-workers. The dark haired boy, Thomas, watches on with anger bubbling through him. How can they do this? Because it's for the cure Thomas. He tells himself. He watches as Joan is carried off and the crowd disperses.