❝You are all still here because of an uncanny will to survive.❞
Solving the Maze was meant to be the end. No more tests. No more puzzles. They thought that by escaping the Maze that they'd been stuck in for two years, they could go back to their old...
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24 → "THE BETRAYER"
THE OTHER GLADERS noticed Teresa not long after and had stopped to stare at Teresa as she got closer to them. On both sides of Teresa, girls appeared; there were at least twenty girls, all holding weapons. Adeline knew who these other girls were, the name popping into her mind; Group B. Teresa stopped about thirty feet away from the group. The other girl's did the same, forming a complete circle around the Gladers. Thomas spun around in circles until he stopped, facing Teresa. Teresa's eyes were focused on only Thomas. Minho was the first to speak.
"What's this crap about, Teresa? Nice way to greet your long — lost buddies." Minho commented. Adeline shared a glance with Aris; who at first was gawking at the girl's circling around them. This was the group he'd escaped the Maze with. The group that was meant to supposedly kill Thomas. Teresa didn't answer the question, only walking toward them only to stop about ten feet from where Minho, Newt and Adeline stood.
"Teresa?" Newt asked. "What the bloody —"
"Shut up." Teresa said. Teresa didn't yell, instead she said it calmly. "And any of you makes a move, the bows start shooting."
Teresa brought her spear into a fighting position, before sweeping it back and forth as she stepped past Newt and Minho and through the Gladers. She met Adeline's gaze, and recognition glazed her eyes before she blinked, then she continued on through the crowd of Gladers. Then she came over to Brenda, and paused. Neither said a word. Teresa moved past her, and then she was in front of Thomas.
"Teresa." Thomas whispered. Teresa didn't move, just kept staring at Thomas. "Teresa, what's —"
"Shut up." Her voice was still surprisingly calm.
"But what —" Teresa reared back and swung the butt of her spear at him, smashing it into his right cheek. Thomas fell to his knees, a hand to his face.
"I said shut up." Teresa reached down and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him up until he was standing again. She repositioned her hands on the spear, pointing it at him. "Is your name Thomas?"
"You know who I —" She swung the spear once more, using the end without the blade, hitting Thomas on the side of the head once more. "You know who I am!"
"I used to, anyway." she said. "Now I'm going to ask you one more time. Is your name Thomas?"
"Yes!" he yelled back at her. "My name is Thomas!"
Teresa nodded, the tip of the blade aimed at his chest. "You're coming with us," she called out. "Thomas. Come on. Remember, anyone tries something, the arrows fly."
"No way!" Minho yelled. "You're not taking him anywhere."
Teresa acted as if she hadn't heard him. "This isn't some stupid game. I'm going to start counting. Every time I hit a multiple of five, we'll kill one of you with an arrow. We'll do it until Thomas is the only one left, then we'll take him anyway. It's up to you. One!"
Thomas walked forward, pushing past people, heading straight toward Teresa. Minho, Newt and many other Glader's protested, but Thomas ignored them. Why was Teresa acting like this?
"Fine." he said. "Take me."
"I only made it to one." Teresa said.
"Yeah. I'm really brave that way." She hit him with the spear again, making Thomas collapse to the ground again.
"Bring the bag." Teresa said. Two girls walked toward him. One of them — a dark - skinned girl — held a large sack. They stopped two feet from him.
"We're taking him with us!" Teresa yelled. "If anybody follows, I'll hit him again and we'll start shooting you. We won't really bother aiming. Just let the arrows fly any old way they feel like."
"Teresa!" Minho's called. "You catch the Flare that quickly? Your mind's obviously gone already."
Teresa once more swung the butt of her spear, smashing it into the back of Thomas's head, making him collapse onto his stomach. "Anything else you wanna say?" Minho didn't say anything; and Adeline was thankful for once he kept his mouth shut. "Didn't think so. Put the bag over him."
And with that, the sack slipped over his head. Adeline stood there dumbfounded for a moment. How could Teresa do this to Thomas? It was like she'd had her memory erased again and didn't know any of them. But then again, when Teresa met her gaze, recognition flashed in her eyes.
—
The group had decided to keep going, despite everything with Teresa. They'd decided they would sleep through the day, and keep going through the night and keep going once they reached the mountain, even if it's still daytime. After everything, they stopped to rest. In the distance, heat rose from the horizon. Minho called out that they were stopping to rest and that this was their chance to have a nap before they'd continue on again.
"If you don't rest up now, you'll be exhausted walking overnight. It's an easy choice, really." Said Minho, plopping down on the ground. Adeline decided to use this time to sleep, curling up on the ground, using her arm to shield away the sun as it beat down on her. It took Adeline a while, but she finally fell a sleep.
—
The next time she woke up, mostly everyone was a sleep. Propping herself up on one elbow she noticed something; Aris was gone. Adeline got up into a sitting position, just about to reach over to her right to wake up Newt when she noticed something in the distance. Besides the fact the sun was setting, she made out three figures in the distance, heading directly towards the group. As they got closer, their appearance came more clearer. Adeline shook Newt awake, then proceeded to do the same with Minho. Minho ordered everyone up right as the three came into view.It was Matt and a man and a woman. And they weren't heading for the group.
