I heard footsteps from behind me. "Nice job." Jeff congratulated. "Thanks J. I'm really not in the mood to talk right now. Could you please leave me alone?" He looked a little hurt, "Yeah, sure. Whatever. I'm here when you do want to talk." I nodded. I was angry with myself for the crimes I just committed. I walked into the nearest hut figure and waited for Theresa. "She doesn't want to talk." I heard JJ say. "Oh, okay? Can we just for a second, please?" The boys asked. Then there was silence until the flap of the figure opened. I picked up some rocks and chucked them at them. "I. Don't. Want. To. Talk." I said while hurling the pebbles and dirt at them. One put his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine. We were just curious to see what you wanted that Theresa girl to do for you." "Tell her that she'll be teaching me all of your guys' names. It'll be a hard task, I know it. I think she has gotten punishment enough. Oh, and please send the girl in." I said. They nodded. "Okay," a taller boy replied. If I remembered correctly, his name was Gally. A few minutes later, Theresa walked into my little 'tent.' Let's talk in our minds, she suggested. Good idea. They're probably about 15 guys out there listening in. I said. She nodded. Probably. I thought for a second of how to ask her to tell me anything and everything she knew about WICKEDLY without overwhelming her. WICKED is a group of past governments who make killer mazes and put poor teenagers in them for tests. She explained. I raised an eyebrow at her to tell her to tell me more. Of course, the tests are for a good reason. They're to find a cure to the Flare, which slowly drives you mad. There are only a few people in the world who are immune to the illness, and others would kill to be immune. Whoever here is telepathic is well, immune. But they don't know that. They don't even know about communication through the mind. Anyways, you did great in that fight. WICKED can control you into it, but they can only use your strength and ability while using you. She went on to explain the whole story which I could barely pick up, I was so tired. Solar flares, blah, blah, blah, sun burning the earth, LOTS of people dying, Flare disease, WICKED is good, trying to find a cure. Yep, I'm pretty sure that that was a good summary of what she'd told me. What about the maze? I asked. I know as much as you on this. We have to get out of here, and there IS a way. We just have to look closely. She answered. Yes. I agreed. We were going to have to look extra hard and ask lots of questions before getting our way out. Oh, and I got this. I had it with me when I came up and I wanted to show it to you. She held out a note, which I was hesitant to take considering the mess I was in. I finally reached out and took it. She's the last one. Ever.
What does that mean? I practically shouted in my mind. Ow! She yelped. Not so loud! I was surprised that it actually came across as yelling in her mind. Sorry, it's just that, you're probably the last thing the box will bring up... Ever. Oh no! No more supplies! No new Gladers, which means that the people who die, we can't regroup. We're so dead... She eyed me over. Well, we'll find a way out of here before we needs supplies and numbers. I guarantee that. The way she said it, made me believe. I truly thought that we wouldn't need to worry. Let's go and ask Minho if he has seen any patterns in the maze. It kind of changes every night. She suggested. I nodded. Who is Minho? I asked. Oh, he is the keeper of the maps. She said. Let's go then! I said.
We walked out to sea bunch of boys huddled by the doorway. "Is Minho here?" I asked. A boy stepped out of the crowd. He had a twisted yet mischievous smirk on his face. "That, would be me." He said. "We also want Newt, Alby, and Thomas to come with us. No questions." Theresa added. "And Jeff." I said. She raised an eyebrow at me, questioning my words. I shook it off. Jeff and I were now friends. I wasn't going to leave home out. We walked over to the map room and took out all of the maps. "We need to search for patterns." I said. The boys looked at us like we were crazy. But Thomas was curious. "Just do it, guys." Thomas said. "You in on their plans?" Minho asked Thomas under his breath. I was about to respond when Theresa replied for me, "No. He's just a good boy." She said mockingly. She patted him on the head for effect. We spent hours in the map room. Newt gasped. "It spells out... Words. See? Each night the maze opens up a new segment, for instance, yesterday, section 2 was open. Section two recordings spelled out the word, Catch. The other days go in order like this, FLOAT, CATCH, BLEED, DEATH, STIFF, PUSH." Newt explained. This time it was Jeff's turn to gasp. "You know that keyboard that was in the box when Theresa showed up?" He asked. When he got no answer he went on, "we should try typing these words in on there!"
Everyone started to hoop and holler like madmen. We were getting out of this stupid maze! We called everyone over to the box and as we typed in the letters, they appeared on a little screen on the back of the box. FLOAT, CATCH, BLEED, DEATH, STIFF. Then finally, PUSH. When the last word didn't show up, we panicked. "Push the button at the bottom maybe?" Chuck hollered over the collage of noises. I looked down and smashed my hand on the button. We heard a couple clicks, then everything went dark. The walls were open, and it was night. On the screen two words popped up. 'Get in.' We all scrambled in. But only ¾ of us made it because soon after, it dropped. We were dropping so fast that no one heard or saw anything but the screams of the boys, who were left behind, probably being eaten by Grievers. Then, it all suddenly stopped. Jeff was running around, calming people down. The doors opened into my house. We were safe. Finally. But, Chuck didn't make it. Thomas was on his knees. "I saw him!" He sobbed. "I saw a griever get him!" Here's a placed a hand gently on his back, "Shush. We're okay. Most of us are still here." Jeff walked in and looked around, "That's not good enough. We only have about 35 survivors!" People shouted 'Where are we?' 'Are we out of there?' That I could respond to, "Yes, we're safe. WICKED won't bother us anymore." There was a million noises heard at once and soon my parents were in the room, as well. "Where were you? We were so worried!" I smiled. "I kind of fell into the hole of the Charatress. Then went to the maze in which the maze runner book was held. So, now I'm back here!" They touched my forehead, checked me all over to see if I was hurt. "Oh! I have my memory back!" I shouted gleefully. We then figured out that we all worked for WICKED, and that my dad, was in charge of the organization. We all stared at him in shock. "How do you not have a cure yet?" I asked. "Their Flare is different than ours." He said simply.
I went downstairs with my new friends and had them move in with my neighbors. I was all happy. With my family, with my friends, safe again. But scarred for life. I was still telepathic, as I was immune to the Flare and talked with Theresa often.
There are still all of those 'what if's' but at least one is figured out.
