Stolen [The Maze Runner Fanfiction]

LII. Belong

"What now?" Someone asks from the back of the group. Indeed what now? I wonder.

"It sounded like a door opened down that way." Thomas says, pointing towards the end of a narrow hallway.

"Well let's bloody go then." Newt says, gesturing towards the hallway. Silently, we all follow his lead. I walk along in front of Minho, dazed and out of it. I'm no longer thinking straight, and I no longer care. We march along like zombies until we reach where the hallway ends in what appears to be a slide.

"You've got to be joking?" Frypan comments from somewhere behind me. He's right, what is this some sort of amusement for the creators? A play on the childhood they stole from us? Jerks.

"We don't really have a choice." Teresa says, stepping forward. She looks back, then jumps through, her screams fading as she goes. One by one, we follow her down.

Eventually Minho and I are the only ones left. "Go ahead, I'll be right behind you." He says, pushing me forwards. I sigh and jump into the slide, no longer caring what's at the bottom. For all we know, there could be a whole other army of grievers waiting below. At this point, I just don't care.

The slide is steep and fast, twisting and turning so quickly it makes me nauseous. Once the corner turns so fast I whack my head on the metal. "Ow." I mutter, brining my hand up to feel for a bump on my head. Add it to my list of three hundred other injuries.
Claustrophobia begins to set in when the slide continues to go on and on, seemingly endless. Will I ever get out of here? Panic starts to seep into my brain, what if I'm trapped again? Suddenly the person in front of me's screams cut off. Seconds later I'm thrown out of the slide and onto the floor, landing on top of someone else in a jumble of limbs.

"Sorry." I mutter, untangling myself and scooting away.

"Couldn't they have put down some pillows or something?" Teresa, who was in front of me, whines pushing off from the floor.

"Why would they do that? Can't you tell they enjoy our suffering?" I spat, hatred for WICKED boiling in my veins.

"We certainly do not enjoy your suffering, A3." A voice comments from behind. I turn around to see a woman dressed in a white lab coat, the same woman from my dreams. "Congratulations on passing the trials."

"You." I hiss, starting unsteadily towards her, but I stop when I realize where we are. We are in a section of a room several times the size of the entire homestead, separated by a glass wall from a section covered with computer screens and monitors. Blank faced people stare silently back at us from behind the screens. "You did this to us."

"I'm sorry A3, but you must understand, everything we do has a purpsose." The woman says, her voice calm and professional. The way she acts like half of us didn't just die makes me want to punch the crap out of her. I know she saw it, judging by the screens, she's seen anything I've ever done.

"Her name is Skylar." Minho growls, standing behind me. By now, the gladers all stand around us, forming a bit of a semi-circle.

"We're not bloody lab rats." Newt adds in, and I can hear the anger in his voice. Suddenly someone steps out from behind the woman, coming to stand beside her.

Gally.

"Gally? How are you alive?" Thomas asks, moving forward to speak to him. Something is wrong, tears stream from Gally's eyes and his body shakes violently his hands trembling at his sides. In one hand he holds a knife.

"I....I'm...ss..s..sorry." Gally stutters, then he lift the knife and throws. The blade flips end over end, headed straight for Thomas.

"Thomas look out!" Someone shouts, but Thomas freezes. Luckily someone shoves him out of the way, just in time to avoid the blade. We all breath a sigh of relief, until we look down.

Laying on the floor is Chuck. A dark red circle growing on his shirt, spreading out from the place where the knife had imbedded itself in his chest. He is already coughing and wheezing, his lips turning a bluish color, bright against his paling face.

"Noooo!!!" Thomas screams, dropping to the ground next to Chuck. He cradles the boy in his arms, screaming and crying.  "No!! Chuck!"

"it's ok, Thomas, tell the-" Chuck  whimpers his voice cracking as he struggles to breathe. "Tell my parents I said...." He looks up at Thomas, before his eyes roll backwards, leaving only blank white circles in their place. The image is horrible, and I look away. Chuck was like a brother to Thomas, just like Kate was a sister to me, and I know how it feels.

"No!!" Thomas screams, rushing towards Gally. In all this he and the woman had simply stood there,
watching. Thomas tackles Gally to the ground, landing punch after punch on his hideous face. I'm considering doing the same to the woman when a door in the back of the room suddenly bursts wide open.