Remember for the Both of Us [COMPLETED]

21: Betrayal

I woke up in the morning, body sore after sleeping on tree roots and rocks. I walked into the Glade, where Newt was making final prep to leave. I didn't look at him, but out of the corner of my eye I saw him cast me a glance, almost looking--sad?

Teresa smiled at me and I smiled back weakly. Newt and I navigated coldly around each other the whole morning, and he made no effort to talk to me. Finally we stood in the shadow of the Doors. The other boys had assembled to watch us go. "You're walking to your deaths," said Frankie. 

"Come with us," I said desperately. "Please. There's hope we might get out this way."

"They left us alone last time!"

"But you didn't have this!" The tattoo said 4 now.

"Leave it alone, Hope," Newt said sharply. 

Silently we turned and ran into the Maze. Minho, weak but on his feet, led the way. We paused and peeked around the final corner. "There's too many of them! Almost ten..." said Minho, pale. "How are we all supposed to get through?"

My knees turned to jelly.

I.

Had.

Forgotten.

About.

The.

Codes.

I slowly slid down the wall, putting my head in my hands. What was I supposed to do?

"Hope?" the voices were distant, echoing.

But there was only one thing I could really do. Complete and utter betrayal time is here.

I stood up, motioning them to follow me a little deeper into the Maze. Baffled, Newt nodded, and they followed me. My throat was dry, and I tried not to imagine the look of pain in their faces as they figured out I had never been like them. "Listen up." I tried to sound confident, but I was close to tears. "I need you guys to trust me." How was I supposed to say this?

"I... haven't been entirely honest with you guys." I made eye contact with Newt. Stupid stupid stupid stupid! He didn't look hurt yet, just confused. Wary.

"I promise I will tell you everything after we get out of here. But now I need you to trust me. Past the Grievers, through the hole, there's a computer and there's a code to punch in. It... it turns off the Grievers. So if you can make a path through the Grievers, and I can get in the hole, then I can shut them down."

Newt started to ask a question. "No!" I yelled suddenly. "Don't--don't talk to me, okay? I'm sorry, but I didn't think this through all the way. We need to get out, and this is the only way to do it before we run out of time."

Newt stepped forward. "Can we talk in private?" He reached out for my arm, but I swatted his hand away.

"No," I said. "I can't talk to any of you. Let's... let's just get out of here."

Surprisingly, in the dead silence that followed, Minho piped up. "This is not the time," he said quietly. "Let's go destroy those shuck Grievers and get out of this klunk place!"

Weak cheers came from some of the boys. More joined in, and the cries strengthened, and soon I was running in the middle of a screaming mass of teenage boys, most of which--I realized with a jolt--would not survive the next five minutes.

They charged the Grievers, and I hesitated, waiting for an opening. The noise was terrible. Screams, and yells, and clashes of metal on metal. Squishing of flesh--was it Griever flesh, or human? I tried to keep track of the blonde head, but I lost it in the blood and gore and raw pain.

There! A sliver of open space between the seething bodies to the nothingness off the Cliff. I sprinted forward, breath rasping in my throat, stomach jerking up and down. I knew where it was, didn't even have to think about it, just sent my body hurtling across empty space, remembering at the last second to stiffen up and streamline myself--

I crashed into darkness, sprawling across the floor. Pain flared in my knees and hands, and I grimaced, rolling onto my back.

I scrambled upright and rushed across the room, taking a deep breath before starting to type at the computer. My fingers shook as I carefully input the code, a letter at a time. My blood smeared across the keyboard, and my breath rasped in my ears.

Float.

Catch.

Bleed.

Death.

Stiff.

In a final effort, I collapsed, pushing with all my effort, screaming in pain. "Kill... The... Maze!"