Perilous Love | Maze Runner

Changing

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  It all starts with a tingle. In my chest. It tickles my insides and makes me want to scratch at it, almost like a flea inside my rib cage. But the sensation eventually evolves into a sting, like acid, flowing throughout my torso and arms, followed by a sharp stabbing pain.

  It feels like a dagger is being dragged through the flesh of my legs and arms, filling my body with a pain I didn't think was attainable.

  And now, my whole body has the knife in it. Every inch of my skin hurts like hell. Fire is burning through my veins, scorching everything from my bones to the freckles on my nose. I want to cry and scream and run but in my barely conscious mind I cannot control such things. I hope my screams aren't as loud and as dreadful as Alby's were.

  I imagine myself the way he and Ben looked, sickening veins throbbing along me, chest shaking and body sweating. But such horrible things are hard to think about.

  This is the Changing.

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  For a while, the pain lessens. Now my entire body is completely sore, aching from head to toe. And I am staring out into black abyss, nothing crosses my line of vision. It's absolutely dreadful.

  And that's when it begins.

  A faint light explodes in my mind, shining through my eyes, morphing into images. I sink into a different world, become some one else, see it through their eyes. But it's not someone's else's eyes. They're mine.

  My memories.

  I look around. There is a large crowd of people gathered by something unknown. They all wear medical masks and are waving their hands in the air. But not in a happy way.

  Someone is holding my hand, their big fingers wrapped tightly in my small ones, so I imagine I am very young. I look up to see a woman's face staring straight ahead. She has wrinkles and dark hair, a sad look stapled into her eyes. She is carrying a smaller boy with dark brown curls and chubby cheeks. The crowd is making way for us.

  A voice echoes on the speakers above. "Welcome everyone. This is the World in Catastrophe Killzone Experiment Department. We are delighted to announce that almost all of our...subjects...are collected and ready for transportation. We would like to say thank you for your understanding, and guarantee a cure in the future. Our world lies in these kids' hands. They will be tested and studied, sacrificed and observed, but they will give us what we all need. The Flare ends now! We will no longer let this disease take over our lives. We will fight back! And these children are our weapons! You may not agree with our methods, but we are working for the Greater Good. And that's something we can promise. "

  By now, the woman and I have reached the front of the crowd. She sets the boy down, facing her. I let go of her hand and I turn my head to see soldiers behind me, all dressed in black uniforms and holding guns. "Wicked" is written on heir badges.

  The woman speaks. "I love you. I love you both so much. You won't see me again, so remember that."

  The sad thing is that I didn't remember that until now.

  Someone picks me up from behind and I let out a cry. "Mommy!" I yell, trying to escape the man's arms that are holding me tight.

  I look at my mom's face, the tears running down her bruised and beat up face. Despite the crease in her forehead and the scabs on her cheek, she is a truly beautiful woman.

  Another solider has the little boy, my brother, in his own arms. He is crying more than me. He looks about four or five years younger than me, so he must have just turned six.

  They carry us up the steps of a train or bus or plane, I can't tell because of the tears staining my eyes vision.

  I am sat down onto a cushiony bench, my brother next to me. Other small kids sit across from me. One with dark skin, one with black hair, one with the blonde hair and innocent brown eyes that I know all too well.

  Except at this point, I barely know them.

  My brother is holding my arm, whimpering. Tears still stream down my face as I look out the window, the moving landscape of dried earth and blue skies.

  Someone puts a hand on my knee. I look up to see a lady looking at me. Her eyes are kind and her blonde hair is pinned into a tight bun. She smiles.

  "Olivia, Chuck, it's okay."

  Chuck...
---
  Another burst of light and I am somewhere else.

  I am in the laboratory from my dreams. Holograms of blue prints and images and faces sit all around me. Pictures of brains stare at me, yellow lights signaling certain parts of it. I am typing on a magnetic keyboard, the words showing up in front of my eyes as my brow furrows.

  I look through one of the cameras, see the tall, blonde boy staring at the giant Maze walls. There are only about ten Gladers. In the beginning, they sent them up every week, and it slowly descended into once a month. The boy studies the walls before walking into the Maze. He doesn't come out for a while until I see Alby run into the Maze. A piercing scream echoes through before I shut my screen off and stand up, having gathered all the information I need.

  "Good job," The woman from the train in my first memory says. She is older now. She puts her hand on my shoulder. "Come with me."

  I stand up and follow her.

---

  Now I am in a room filled with machinery of all kinds. I am sitting in a chair, wires and tubes stuck to me. Someone bursts into the room. It's the boy from my old dreams. His sandy brown hair is shaved and his wild blue eyes are studying me.

  "Olivia! What are you doing!" He looks like he's about to cry. I recognize his voice all too well.

  "I can't just keep watching them die." I say, my voice echoey. I can't control the words that come out. It's a weird sensation.

  "There has to be a different solution!" The boy says, tears actually escaping his eyes this time. "Please don't do this!" The voice. I know it. But I can't put my finger on it until...

  "I'm sorry, Aris. It has to be done,"

  So this is Aris.

  "I love you," He says.

  "I love you too." I reply just as a mask is placed over my mouth and my mind fades to black.