Survive Till Dusk (The Maze Runner)

Chapter 4 // Recuperation Weeks

The girls lost track of time, not knowing for how long they had been in the facility. They had been confined to the medical ward, where they were monitored, fed, and dressed. Days had passed since Robin had been told she could get her memory back, since Scarlett had seen Thomas kissing that strange girl, and since Alex had been put into a medically induced coma.

Although Alex had awoken about two days after her healing process, she had managed to stress her — already fragile — muscles even more, just about three days after, through her constant movement. After that, she was put into a deep sleep once again. 

In the mean time, the other two girls were allowed to leave the medical ward on one daily occasion: lunch. All of their other meals were served in jello, slob, or tube form, but the conscious part of the trio ate lunch in the cafeteria. 

As on the previous days, Robin and Scarlett were escorted through the maze of hallways. Once they had entered the cafeteria, they were left to be swallowed by the crowd of hungry WICKED employees. The first time they had visited, they had stuck out like a sore thumb, but they had been there at least a dozen times and were just another part of the routine now. Robin and Scarlett mostly kept their heads down — quietly getting their food, avoiding conversation, and sitting wayward from the general population. 

But today, something felt different. They had sat down and, immediately, the hairs on the back of Scarlett's neck stood on end. She picked at her food, waiting for the feeling to reside, but it simply did not. She looked up at Robin, who sat across from her, only to find her eyes darting from one place, lingering in another, and then returning to the same place. Scarlett shifted to see what she kept looking at, but Robin quickly stopped her midmovement with a sharp "don't". 

"Robin, I feel weird. What's going on?"

"There's a woman staring at us," Robin replied, keeping a low tone. 

Though seemingly uncustomary for the mood, Scarlett let out a little laugh. "Oh that's all?" Her tense muscles immediately relaxed. "That's nothing new here. Probably just another employee who's seen us for the first time."

"Got a point there." And with that, the thought of the strange woman was thrown aside as the girls finished their food. 

Not too long after, a melodic ding-dong sounded, announcing the conclusion of lunch. As per usual, Robin and Scarlett kept sitting until most of the surrounding people had put their trays away and cleared out of the room. Then, the two girls proceeded to do the same. 

As Scarlett turned around to walk out the door — though there was a meager crowd around — she immediately spotted her. The two locked eyes: icy blue on cloudy grey. It was the woman from before. Her eyes shone with lingering tears but her face was a stone slate, worn with the lines of fatigue. 

Scarlett tilted her head in wonder as that feeling made itself present again. That familiar, but frustrating feeling — a memory.

That woman... She was a memory.

...

They were back in the medical ward. Alex was in the same place they had left her. Robin and Scarlett sat down in the bed next to Alex's space, curtains drawn open so they could watch over her while she peacefully slept.

"When are they taking her off the sleeping drugs?" Scarlett asked. She had protested vehemently when Dr. Crawford had told them Alex had to be sedated, but Robin agreed with the doctor and Alex really had no choice.

"Dunno, but I'm sure all this sleep she's getting in vegetable form is treating her well," Robin shrugged it off. "But I thought you got over the whole thing days ago." 

"Uh... yeah, I did," she shook her head as if she had just spaced out and was returning to reality. "It's just that the lady back in the cafeteria... I think I might know her."

"Uh huh, very interesting." 

"Did you hear me? Does that not even sound slightly weird to you?"

"Yeah, that's great. Have you thought about what I told you? The whole memory thing." 

Scarlett sighed. "It still sounds kinda sketchy."

"Oh my. You know what? Let's just get someone else to explain it to you," Robin shouted as she reached over to the button to call the nurse in.  

...

The next morning, Scarlett eagerly awaited her informant, whilst Robin merely continued to aggressively nap. She was protesting the fact that Scarlett would still not go along with her idea.

"Do we really need to have someone else come here again, to get it through your thick skull? Getting memory back equals good. You have to come to the same conclusion even without some other person coming to explain it," Robin had argued before. 

"Because your logic has more holes than the entire memory story itself."

"Okay, fine. Suit yourself." And with that she had begun to aggressively nap. 

********

*Scarlett's P.O.V.*

With a disruptive whoosh, the door opened and in walked a click of heels.

There she was again. Shiny blue eyes, unfitting for her solemn face. 

I couldn't take my eyes off of her, as the memory started to pry itself to the surface, pulling with a dull grip at the nerves in my brain. It made me queasy. I just wanted to rip my skull open and scratch the paining spot. 

The woman cleared her throat. "Ahem, I was called in because you had questions."

"Uh, yeah..." My eyes trailed down to her name tag. "...um, Evelyn. I don't really buy the whole getting my memory back."

"Oh, well, I see." Her voice adapted a strangely peppy tone and the stone slate that was her face contorted into a wide smile. "I work with Dr. Crawford. We've developed a non-surgical procedure to tap into the part of your brain which stores memories. Then we can eradicate whatever it is that's blocking your access to them."

I could barely even hear her. My entire body was crawling. This woman — Evelyn — her presence had disturbed my inner balance. Usually the feeling of blocked memories was somewhat subtle, but these memories were screaming and lashing out to be acknowledged, trying to fight against the relentless barrier of my mind. Who the hell are you? 

"YES," I cut her droning voice off. "When can we do it?" I just couldn't stand being in the dark any longer.

"Oh, ok," she said, taken slightly aback by my outburst. "You'll be going with Dr. Crawford then." She sighed, nearly unnoticeably, as if she'd expected, and would've appreciated, more unwillingness from my side. "She'll have to take a few CAT scans on all three of you then. You should be ready to go in a couple of days."

********