Be Mine

Chapter 11

   I sat in the tree in the Deadheads for about an hour. I finally climbed down and headed toward the kitchen. I had just remembered that I promised I'd help Frypan with the dishes.
   "There you are, Addison," Frypan said. "I was starting to think that you wouldn't come."
   "Sorry," I muttered.
   "It's fine," he said, handing me a plate of food. "Here you go. When you're finished, come back here and you can help me with the dishes."
   "Okay," I agreed. I had nothing better to do anyway.
   I sat down at an empty table and ate. I didn't realize how hungry I was until now.
   Luckily, no one came by me or talked to me so I finished pretty fast and quickly went back to Frypan. I avoided eye contact with the boys who were eating. They didn't seem to mind, though.
   I handed my plate to Frypan.
   "Thanks, Addi," Frypan said. "Since you haven't tried out for a Cook, I'll count this as your training."
   "Thanks, Frypan," I said.
   "So you're a Med-Jack now?"
   "Yeah," I sighed.
   "You don't seem too happy about that."
   "Well cuz that's not what I want to be!"
   "What do you want to be?"
   "Never mind," I said. "You'll just say the same thing as everyone else."
   "Let me guess, you want to be a Runner?"
   "How did you know?"
   "Just a wild guess," Frypan said.
   "Yeah, right," I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Fry, how did you know?"
   "Let's just say that you're not the only one who talks to me about things other than what's in my soup."
   "Newt?"
   Frypan nodded.
   "Why won't he let me be a Runner?" I asked.
   "I dunno," Frypan said. "He just said that he doesn't want you to be a Runner because it's dangerous. He just wants you to understand that you can't be a Runner."
   I was so angry. "Why can't he just understand that I can be a Runner?!"
   I abandoned the dishes I was washing and ran to my room.
   "Ugggghhhhhh!!!" I screamed, kicking my bed.
   I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes, trying to empty my mind.
   "Addison," a woman's voice whispered.
   I looked up from my work. I was examining the boys running in the Maze. Their brain patterns were the same as last time. The same people ran in the Maze everyday. They were always so close, but they couldn't find the way out. It was frustrating, watching them pass by the Cliff but never paying any attention to it. I wanted to scream at them, yell at them for being so stupid as to not check the Cliff. They would never get out of that prison! I had watched them for two, almost three, years. I hated every moment of it. I did not agree with what WICKED was doing. How could putting these boys in danger possibly find a cure for the Flare? I always wondered what Thomas and Teresa thought of it, but we never talked about our jobs.
   "Addison, I need to talk to you," the woman said. I nodded and followed her out the room.
   I glanced at Thomas and Teresa, who looked up to see me leave. The woman led me to a room and shut the door.
   "Sit down, please," she said. I obeyed. "You're probably wondering why you're here."
   I nodded.
   "As you may have noticed, this experiment is going by slowly,"  she stated.
   I nodded again.
   "So, we decided to speed up the process," she continued.
   "How?"
   "I'm getting to that," the woman said. "You know the Maze very well by now, don't you, Addison?"
   "Well, yeah."
   "Good, because you, along with Thomas and Teresa, are our solution."
   I was shocked. "W-what?"
   "We send up a different kid every month. This month will be you," she explained.
   "How will that solve anything?"
   "You will remember more than the others, Addison."
   "You mean, I get to keep my memories?"
   The woman chuckled. "No, sweetie, you'll still have your memories removed. You'll just remember more than the rest."
   "Why are you sending me in there?"
   "To help lead them out," she explained. "We'll send Thomas the next month and the day after, Teresa."
   "Wait, you're sending me to Group A?" I was confused. Groups A was all boys. She couldn't send me there. I'd fit in better with Group B.
   The woman nodded. "Don't worry about being the first girl. You just need to be able to go out into the Maze. Once you're out there, everything will feel natural to you. However, you will not remember the way out."
   "How is that any use at all!?" I was losing my patience. I did not want to be sent into the Maze.
   "Once Thomas and Teresa come, all three of you will figure a way out together. Think about it, if you showed up and automatically knew a way out, wouldn't that seem suspicious?"
   "I guess," I hated to admit it, but she was right.
   "Great," she clapped her hands together. "Next week you will get your memories removed and you will go into the Maze."
   I swallowed and reluctantly nodded my head.
   "I can't believe I'm doing this," I muttered under my breath.
   I started heading toward the door when the woman called out to me. "Addison?"
   "Yes?"
   "Remember, WICKED is good."
   I closed my eyes and nodded. "WICKED is good."