Sacrifice

Chapter Fifteen

The first thing Thomas saw when he woke up was Teresa looking down on him. 

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked. 

Thomas sat up and took in his surroundings. He and Teresa were in the Pit. Minho, Newt, Claire and Chuck were on the other side of the bars looking down on him. 

"What the hell you were thinking?" Chuck said to Thomas. 

"What happened?" Thomas asked. 

"Gally's taken control," Newt said. "He gave us a choice: either join him, or get banished at sundown with you." 

That's when Thomas noticed the bruise on Claire's cheek. 

"Claire, what happened?" 

"It's nothing," she said, looking down. 

"Gally," Teresa said bitterly. 

"He hit you?" Thomas was horrified. He knew Gally was determined to have things done his way, but he never imagined he would go so far as to hurt one of the Gladers, especially Claire. "The others are okay with this?" 

"Not exactly, but they're scared," Teresa answered. "Gally has everyone convinced that you're the reason all this has happened." 

"Yeah well he's been right so far," Thomas said. 

"What are you talking about?" Minho asked. 

"This place isn't what we thought it was," Thomas explained. "It's not a prison, it's a test. It all started when we were kids, they would give us a bunch of tests, challenges. They were experimenting on us. Then one by one, everyone started disappearing every month like clockwork." 

"Sending them up into the Maze," Newt realized. 

"Yeah, but not all of us," Thomas said, dread filling him. "Guys, I'm one of them. The people who put us here, I used to work for them. I watched you guys for years, the entire time you've been here, I was on the other side of it. So were you," he added, looking at Teresa. 

"What?" 

"Teresa, we did this to them," Thomas confirmed. 

"No, it can't be true." 

"It is, I saw it." 

"Why would they send us up here if we were with them?" Teresa asked. 

"Does it matter?" 

"You're right," Newt said. "It doesn't matter, any of it. Because the people we were before the Maze, they don't even exist anymore, these creators took care of that. 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 might still be alive," Thomas said. 

"Maybe," Newt agreed. "But if he were here right now he would be telling you the exact same thing; pick your ass up and finish what you started. Cause if we do nothing that means Alby would have died for nothing and I can't have that." 

"Okay," Thomas said, a new sense of determination in him. But we gotta get through Gally first." 

"What's your plan?" Claire asked. 

****************

They had a few hours until sundown. Chuck, Claire, Newt and Minho went to prepare. They recruited Frypan and Jack to help. Their task for the rest of the day was simple, gather as many weapons and supplies as they could carry. The tricky part was not letting anyone else know about what they were doing. At least the bruise Gally gave Claire provided a good excuse to stay away from him. 

Claire felt strange as she walked around the Glade. It was the last time she would ever see this place before leaving it forever. Thanks to her missing memories, this was the only home she had ever known. In just a few hours, if all went according to plan, she'd be leaving if for good. While they had been talking about leaving for a long time, she was terrified now that it was actually happening. But she knew that it was also time. They deserved to be free. 

She walked through the Homestead, all the tents and hammocks were in pieces. The most painful thing to see destroyed was her treehouse. Half of it was torn off the tree, the rope ladder was in pieces scattered through out the mess. 

This treehouse had been more than just a place for Claire to sleep, it was her place. It's where she went when she needed to wind down, when she needed alone time, or just to relax on her own. Her own private place from the chaos of the day. Seeing it destroyed somehow hurt more than she expected. 

Feeling herself crumbling on the inside, Claire left the Homestead and walked to the forest. She found a tree that was still standing and climbed up it. From up here she could almost pretend everything was normal. This time of day, Zart and the other Fielders would still be working, Frypan would start planning dinner. Now everything was eerily quiet, the usual spirit of the Glade was gone. Alby, Zart and half of them were dead. 

"Thought I might find you up here," came a voice. 

Claire looked down and saw Newt climbing up the tree. Her heart skipped a beat as he sat down on the branch next to her. He was exactly who she needed to see right now. 

"How are you doing?" he asked. 

"I think you can guess," she said. "How's your leg?" 

Newt had broken his leg a couple months after he arrived in the Glade. At the time he had been a Runner and was out in the Maze avoiding a Griever. Minho was the one who found him injured and got him back to the Glade. His leg had healed but he still had a limp, and some days it still hurt. All the running and fighting from the previous night made Claire worried about how he was holding up. 

"I'll be okay," Newt said. "Doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would after last night." 

"That's good." 

Then there was a moment of silence. Normally they could sit comfortably in silence with each other, but now they were both completely nervous. Claire couldn't explain why, maybe it was because they were about to execute an insane plan to escape the Maze, but that wasn't quite it. Lately she had started to feel...different around Newt. Her palms felt sweaty and her heart rate was going at a faster pace than usual. 

But why? She had seen him everyday for months, why now? She didn't feel this way around the other guys. 

"Claire," Newt said. 

"Yeah?" 

"I just want you to know, before we go out there...I really care about you, and I need you to promise me that you'll make it out." Newt's words were filled with so much care and worry it made Claire's heart swell. 

"Only if you promise me the same thing." 

Newt took a look at Claire. He hadn't been in the Maze since he broke his leg. Every time he went out there it was the drive to live another day that got him back to the Glade. Now he had something greater than his own survival motivating him. 

A piece of Claire's hair had fallen out of her ponytail, Newt reached other and pushed it out of her face. They locked eyes. 

Without thinking, they felt themselves let go and they kissed. 

It didn't matter than they were about to go out there and risk their lives, it didn't matter that the future was uncertain. 

What mattered is that they were together now. Both their hearts wanted to explode from this moment of pure happiness.