Sacrifice

Chapter Seven

Present Day 

Thomas woke from a very restless night. Overtime he closed his eyes, all he could see was Ben. He wanted to hope that, somehow, the boy had survived the night in the Maze, that he was still alive out there. But Thomas knew the odds of that were impossible. Everyone else talked about Ben as if he were dead, because in their minds he was. 

All of this was completely unfair. It wasn't Ben's fault that he was Stung and forced to go crazy. If he hadn't been infected, Ben never would have attacked Thomas. 

Ben had been convinced that Thomas was a threat, kept screaming that everything was his fault.  But that was impossible. 

Then Thomas remembered his dreams: the blonde woman who kept telling him "Wicked is good," the boys inside these tanks, desperately trying to get out. The images were quick and Thomas struggled to get a good look at anything, but he could have sworn some of the boys looked familiar, they looked like some of the Gladers. 

The clearest thing he could remember was a girl. She had dark hair, blue eyes and looked like she was Thomas' age. He noted how beautiful she looked...and also familiar. He couldn't explain it, but he felt a connection to her, she felt like someone who was important to him. One moment Thomas remembered from his dreams was lying on a table, a group of doctors standing over him. When he looked over he saw the girl lying on the table next to him. Both reached a hand out to the other. Then he heard a voice that he was pretty sure belonged to her. 

Everything is going to change. 

That's when he woke up. 

Could there be some truth to what Ben had been saying? 

Thomas was pulled from his thoughts when he saw the Doors open. He climbed out of his hammock and walked closer, hoping that, maybe, he would see Ben walking back through alive and well. Instead he saw Alby, Minho and Newt. Alby and Minho both had packs on and looked like they were saying bye to Newt, right before they disappeared into the Maze. 

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"So why did Alby go into the Maze?" Thomas asked later that morning. He was sitting on a log while Newt and Zart were hacking at an old tree stump, trying to dig it out of the ground. "I mean, he's not even a Runner." 

"Things are different," Newt answered. "Alby went to retrace Ben's footsteps. Look, are you gonna help?" 

"So...he's gonna go back to where Ben was Stung?" Thomas said. 

"Alby knows what he's doing. Knows better than any of us." 

"What does that mean?" 

"Well it's like you've heard," Newt said. "Every month the Box sends up a new arrival. But someone had to be first, someone had to have spent a whole month in the Glade alone, and that was Alby. I mean, it couldn't have been easy. But when those little boys started coming up one after the other, he saw the truth, and he learned that the most important thing is that we all have each other, cause we're all in this together." 

In that moment Thomas felt a deeper understanding and respect for the leader of the Gladers. He could still easily recall the terror he'd felt waking up alone in the Box, no memory, no understanding of why he was there. But at least Thomas had people waiting for him in the Glade, people who understood his situation and could take care of him. He couldn't imagine going through that alone. No wonder Alby was so determined to keep everyone safe and together, because he knew what it's truly like to be alone. 

Thomas decided to get off his ass. He picked up the extra machete and began to help Newt and Zart dig up the tree stump. 

"There you go, Greenie." Newt said.