Remember for the Both of Us [COMPLETED]

28: Rat Man

I saw one of their faces in the windows, and I shuddered. Skin torn, blood mixing with spit, one eye gouged out. There were tons of them, groaning, muttering, screaming at us. Long past the Gone. "What is that?" hissed Minho, scrambling to his feet. 

Newt placed a protective arm over me. "Stay right here," he said, striding over to the window. I sat up, calling after him, "Newt, they can't get in!"

Thomas ran to the door. "We need to find the people who brought us here. Do they know?"

Soon everyone was streaming out the door, because no one wanted to be left behind. I heard muffled curses in front of me, and soon we were pushing through things suspended from the ceiling. It stank too, like rotting flesh. I pulled up my shirt over my mouth and tried not to puke. "What the bloody shuck is going on?" I heard Newt yell, irritated, and then someone flipped one of the lights. 

Bodies.

The bodies of the men and women who brought us here, who served us pizza, who told us that we were safe from WICKED. Hanging from ropes tied to the ceiling, necks twisted at unnatural angles, feet dangling at about eye level. I knew they were playing games with us. That they were manipulating our minds. But just--their limp, bloated bodies, and the stench...

I grabbed Newt's arm. "I need to throw up," I groaned in a choked voice.

His eyes flicked around, assessing our options. We had already made it across the circular room, and it was obvious I wasn't going back through that. But an identical corridor stretched away from on this side of the room. "Maybe there are some over here," he muttered. "Come on."

We ran down the hallway; sure enough, it was an exact copy. Probably the girl's dorm. I ran into the bathroom, heaving into the toilet. "Oh..." I heard Newt sigh. He held my hair back from my face, hand rubbing a small, comforting circle on my back. "It's okay. It'll be okay."

"It's... fake," I managed. "They're just messing--" I doubled over. "Messing with us. Our minds." 

Slowly, I stood up, staggering over to the sink. I rinsed out my mouth, wiping my face off with a paper towel. I smiled weakly at his reflection staring worriedly at mine. "It's probably good Minho ate all that pizza instead of me, huh?"

Fingers trembling, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I looked pale and peaky, not well at all. "You don't have to stay," I said, voice weak and throat burning from the acid I had just thrown up. "I'm feeling better. Go check up on the rest of them."

"Okay." He planted a quick kiss to my cheek, then was gone. I put my head between my knees. Breathe... In. Breathe... Out.

After what hardly seemed like any time at all, he returned, face troubled. "They're all gone."

"What do you mean?"

"The bodies, the smell, everything. Minho said he led the boys into the corridor, but they would have heard something. And there's no way they could've taken the bodies down and gotten them out of there so fast. Not to mention the smell."

"I told you," I said, heading towards the bathroom door, "they're just messing with us."

Minho rushed down the hallway, panting, looking shaken. "Newt! There's some shank out there--some dude, reading at a desk and like, a shucking forcefield around him. We can't get to him--"

"Calm down," Newt said, taking larger strides. "I'm coming."

Sure enough, Janson sat there, studiously ignoring us. Hatred boiled up inside of me. He didn't even pretend to care about a cure. Sure, in front of us. But at the Headquarters, he was just into torturing children. While Newt conferred with Minho and Thomas, I swaggered up to the forcefield, putting on a show of bravado that I knew would irritate him. 

"What's up, Janson?" I asked, hands on my hips.

He didn't look up. "Going to have fun sending us into the Scorch?" I spat. His eyebrows twitched as he tried to keep his face neutral. "I bet you'll get a real kick out of seeing us stagger and bleed and die and slowly go crazy as we catch the Flare--"

"Silence, Hope!" At the same time he bellowed at me, my body seized up, and I collapsed, WICKED taking over my body. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't blink or swallow, and panic surged through me.

"Lynn!" Newt cried, sprinting across to me. He propped me up, waving a hand across my vacant eyes. "What did you do to her!" he screamed at Janson. "Fix it!"

With a jolt WICKED let go of me, and I breathed in a huge gasp, chest heaving. "I'm... I'm okay," I mumbled. I glared at Janson. "I go by Lynn now, you son of a--"

"Well, you're all probably waiting for me to start," he said suddenly, cutting me off. By the set of his jaw, though, I knew I had irritated him. I smirked, and he glared at me, face red. 

"You all have chosen--willingly, though you don't remember--to take part in this experiment. You see, years ago, the world was struck by abnormally large sun flares. Our planet was plunged into chaos--the environment completely changed, and thousands of species went extinct, including a large portion of the human race. The sun flares burned up a large portion of Earth, around the equator, which we now call the Scorch. At the same time, a disease called we called the Flare ravaged the globe. The virus infects the brain and destroys it, creating a condition almost zombie-like. We call the affected Cranks. You chose to have your memories wiped and participate in the Maze Trials to find a cure for the Flare.

"So what happens now? Well, after you left the Maze, unfortunately you all came into contact with the Flare. Tomorrow morning, you'll be supplied with food, and transportation will be arranged for you to the Scorch. You'll have two weeks to get to the meeting spot across the desert and over the mountains. I'm sure she'll tell you what's going on." He glared at me. "Unfortunately, because you know that Subject C1 knows, she'll have to stay behind. To make sure you don't do anything funny, we'll make sure you can't move for the time while they're leaving." He returned his gaze to the rest of the group. "I would suggest you leave while you can. I think you know what will happen to any who stay behind."

"We're not leaving without Lynn," said Newt. "I guess we'll all stay behind, then."

I touched his arm. "Newt, please. Remember? Trust me." He pursed his lips, glaring at Janson.

In my head, I asked, Chancellor, are we still on?

Don't worry, she responded. Hardly comforting, but better than nothing, I suppose.

"That will be all," commented the man mildly. "Sleep well."