If There Is A Light

Chapter 59

It was not surprising that Thomas had been put into the pit... there was nowhere else for him to go. Teresa took it upon herself to stay in with him and watch over him. Newt sighed... he and Minho were standing a little ways off, he was not sure what was supposed to happen now. Alby was gone. Practically everyone was gone. The whole Glade was basically gone. Everyone was scared and unsure of what was supposed to happen and he felt obligated to try to ease everyone's mind. The problem he was facing was that he was just as scared and confused as everyone else.

Chuck came bounding towards the two. His words came out so quickly they were jumbled. Between that and the fact the younger boy was trying to catch his breath neither one of the older two had any idea of what was said. Newt placed his hand on the boys shoulder and bent down slightly to make eye contact. "Hey, hold on a second. Breathe, alright? Now what's going on?"

Chuck took his advice and took a couple of breaths before he spoke again, "Gally's got everyone convinced this is Thomas's fault! He said they're gonna banish him at sundown and anyone who wants anything to do with him is welcome to go too!"

Newt was quick to get back on his feet and cast his gaze into the direction Chuck had just come from. Newt could only imagine what all Gally was saying, but just as Chuck told them he had what was left of the Gladers standing around in a circle and he was exuberantly exclaiming something. Newt knew this was bad. There was just no doubting that. He began walking towards the commotion, Minho and Chuck right beside him.

Newt understood that Gally was scared. They all were. Newt understood that Gally was upset and grieving the destruction of the Glade and the deaths of their friends. They all were. Hell, Newt could even understand Gally's need to blame Thomas. Although he did not agree with it, he could understand the comfort in having someone to blame and thus in a way shed some sort of understanding on what was happening. It was wrong though. What he was doing was wrong? Fueling their fear to the point where they were okay with practically killing someone who was in the same boat they were in. This was not how the Glade was supposed to work. It was supposed to be a home; they were supposed to be a family and Gally was purposely trying to divide them. It made Newt sick. Alby would be heartbroken if he could see what this place had become so quickly. "Aye Gally, can I talk to you for a second?" Newt really had no intention of doing this in front of everyone. Mainly because he had a hunch whatever he said was not going to make a difference and he needed time to think and get things together before they chucked him into the maze with Thomas.

Gally approached the three... It was clear there was no reasoning with him. He didn't even give Newt a chance to say anything, "Newt, this is what needs to happen. It's going to happen with or without you." He turned to leave and rejoin his group of minions he had been working on brainwashing.

"What choice are you really giving us here? What am I supposed to do?"

Gally didn't turn to face him, "There's only one choice, Newt. It's the right one and you know it."

Chuck was extremely concerned with what had transpired, but he kept silent. Only speaking a few words to warn Teresa of what was to come. They were sitting in front of the pit... waiting. That's all they could do and it was a horrendous experience. Thomas squirmed a little and slowly his eyes opened. Teresa looked down at him and stroked his forehead in a soothing manner, "Hey. Are you okay?"

"What the hell were you thinking?" Chuck's voice made Thomas quickly sit up and turn around. Sure enough Minho, Newt and Chuck were there for him.

"What happened?"

Newt had his elbow propped against one of the wooden bars. "Gally's taken control. He said we had a choice. Either join him, or get banished at sundown with you."

"And the others agreed to that?" Thomas groaned as he stood to his feet.

"Gally has everyone convinced that you're the reason all this has happened."

Thomas leaned against the compacted dirt wall. "Well, he's been right so far."

"What are you talking about?" Minho questioned... he could not remember a time Gally had ever been right about anything. Especially this.

"This place, it's not what we thought it was. It's not a prison. It's a test. It all started when we were kids. They would give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us. And then people starting disappearing. Every month, one after the other, like clockwork."

"They were sending them up into the maze."

"Yeah, but not all of us."

"What do you mean?" Newt listened intently to everything Thomas was saying.

"Guys, I'm one of them. The people who put you here. I worked with them. I watched you guys for years. The entire time you've been here, I was on the other side of it." Thomas looked over at Teresa, "So were you."

"What?"

"Teresa, we did this to them."

She began to shake her head in disbelief and her eyes watered, "No. That can't be true."

"It is. I saw it."

"Why would they send us up if we were with them?"

"It doesn't matter."

"He's right. It doesn't matter." Newt shook his head. "Any of it. Because the people we were before the maze they don't even exist anymore. These creators took care of that. But what does matter is who we are now and what we do, right now. You went into the maze and you found a way out."

"Yeah, but if I hadn't, Alby would still be alive."

"Maybe." Newt was ashamed of a lot of things. He was ashamed that he had been so strung up on a dream. He was ashamed that he tried to take the easy way out when everyone else was suffering as well. He was ashamed that he thought of what Thomas had just said, but Thomas was one of them now. Alby was one of his closest friends, and he knew Alby would not want this. "But I know that if he were here, that he would be telling you the exact same thing. Pick your ass up and finish what you started. Because if we do nothing, then that means Alby died for nothing, and I can't have that."

Thomas nodded. He hoped that Newt knew how much those words meant to him. "Okay... Okay, but we gotta get through Gally first."