Solo //The Maze Runner Series//

Chapter 18

When my eyes opened I gasped. My mother and my father were standing there, looking happy and healthy. They were both in the room I fell asleep in, Newt was still in the same spot he was before, on his side of the invisible wall.

"Mom? Dad?" I said as I got up. They smiled.

"Echo," My mother said holding her arms open wide. I started to race forward, to her loving arms but stopped a couple feet away. This wasn't real.

She gave me a confused look. "Come here and give mama a hug, I've missed you. We've missed you Echo."

I shook my head. "This isn't real. You're not here, neither of you are."

"What do you mean?" My father said, "We're right here."

"But you're not really here." I said, "This is a dream. A hallucination. My mind is pulling tricks."

"No sweetie this is real I promise you." My mom said, her and my father opened their arms waiting for me. I know this isn't real. It can't be real. But would it hurt if I hugged them?

"Before I hug you, what's that boy's name over there?" I said looking at Newt.

My father chuckled, "We don't know."

"But he looks tasty." My mother said under her breath. I jerked my head towards them. They were no longer the happy and healthy looking parents I just saw. They were wearing tattered, bloody clothing, their flesh infected with pus and other disease. They looked just like they did when they died.

My mother licked what was left of her bottom left while staring at Newt.

"It wouldn't hurt to take a bite." She laughed and started moving towards Newt. I screamed and ran in between her and Newt. I wasn't going to let her touch him. Even if this isn't real, I couldn't let her.

"Move." My father snarled.

"No! Don't touch him! You're not real!" I screamed.

"Echo!" My father yelled, but this wasn't his voice, it was someone else.

"You're not real!" I screamed, repeating it over and over again. My mother turned to my father and lunged at him, tearing his flesh apart. It was exactly the same as when they did kill each other. I screamed, the memory repeating itself even after they were both laying on the ground, pools of blood surrounding them. It kept playing over and over and over again. I was screaming, wanting it to stop but it wouldn't.

Suddenly I bolted awake and Newt was standing on his side of the wall, pounding on the invisible force.

"Echo!" He screamed. I looked up at him, shaking with tears in my eyes.

"Newt." I whispered.

"Are you ok?" He asked softly.

I shook my head.

"What's wrong? Why were you screaming?" He asked.

I shook my head again. I curled up into a tiny ball, shaking and crying. I couldn't take this.

"Echo what's wrong?" He yelled.

"I can't do this!" I screamed back. "We've been in here for so long Newt! They haven't done shit to us! I can't do this! I can't do this! I can't do this!"

"We're going to get out of here ok?" He said.

I shook my head, "They're never going to let us out."

"Then we'll have to get out our own way." He said.

"How? How can we get out of here when they have cameras and security guards and technology and equipment to kill us in a second Newt. There is no way! And even if there is what are we going to do? We can't just have things go back the way they were! Your friends probably think you're dead, I can't go back to the scorch without having nightmares worse then the ones I just had. Things will never be the same! So what's the point? What's the point of trying to escape or being let out if things are just going to be messed up? What's the point in living anymore if we're just lab rats?" I said. He stood there frozen, not knowing what to say. I couldn't stop shaking or crying. My head was spinning and full of thoughts and I couldn't take this anymore.

"I didn't die when I wanted too..." Newt whispered. I looked up at him, seeing tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm taking that as a sign that I shouldn't have died on that day, or the next or even now. I'm not going to give up anymore. We will find a way out of this and so what if things are different? Life is going to change. We are going to change and that change starts now." He said.

I shook my head, "I can'-"

"Stop saying that!" He yelled, "You can!"

"I can't! I lost my parents, I have no friends except for you. If we even get out of this you'll go back to your friends and forget about me just like everyone else did. I'm done, I don't belong here or anywhere in this world. I never have and never will be." I cried.

"Listen," Newt said, "I'm here for you, so are the glazers. You helped us, without you we would have died. Even though they seem to hate you they actually respect you for saving us. If we get out of this I'll make sure you're kept safe. I'm second in command, well technically first now but even if I wasn't I would make sure you were no matter what."

I looked up at him, he was leaning his forehead against the invisible wall. I sighed and looked down at my feet, wiping off some of my tears. Suddenly I heard a gasp and a loud bang. I looked over and Newt was face down on the ground.

"Newt?" I got up and walked over to him. He lifted himself up and rubbed his head.

"That hurt." He mumbled. I grabbed his wrist to help him up when I realized something.

The wall was gone.

A/N

Listen guys,  I am so freaking sorry I've been just ghalhkldj lately. I'm getting my life together and I have been just lazy and I am super sorry i haven't updated. I promise I'll update more. I even started a new Colby Brock Fanfic Called Heart Beats   I would appreciate it if you checked that out. Thank you and i love you all so much!!!

Talk to ya later shanks! 

~Emily