Into the Maze

Chapter 20

The Changing made Jackie remember.
First, through the pain, she noticed that she was floating hazily on a sea of something that felt like sand, then a face materialized before her. The face of a boy. He smiled.
Orion.
Then, he faded away, and the visions became clearer. She was in a strange place. There were creatures that looked slightly like people, but mangled, torn, broken. They reached for her, but bars separated her from them. She was okay, these creatures were contained in cages. (AU: she's in the Crank Pits from the Fever Code but she doesn't know that)
Then, a single creature less creature-ish than the rest was pushing forward, reaching for Jackie as if she was a lifeline. It was a girl of about sixteen. Her brown hair was matted with blood, and there was a certain insanity in her eyes that proved that she was one of these creatures, just less of one.
"Raze?" The girl's voice was certainly human. Her fingertips brushed the front of Jackie's shirt, and she cried out, "Raze! Help!"
Who was Raze?
"Come on, Jackie, you've learned your lesson. Let's go." An adult's hand was pushing her out of that horrible place.
"Raze, no! Please don't go!" The crazy girl screamed, but her cry was drowned out by the shrieks of those inhuman creatures.
"I'm sorry Remi." Jackie heard herself whisper. "I can't save you."
Then, she was sitting in a white room, at a white desk, in a white chair. A woman dressed entirely in white stood on the other side of the desk. "I'm Dr. Paige, and I have a special assignment for you, Jackie."
"What is it?"
Dr. Paige lay a piece of paper in front of her. It was graph paper, and what was printed on it looked like a blueprint. Webbing lines ran from the center of the paper and she recognized it. It was a maze.
"I need you to memorize all the paths. Know the way through that maze like the back of your hand. Can you do that for me, Jackie?"
"Yes," her voice answered.
"Good." Dr. Paige smiled, not an unfriendly smile. "You will do great things someday, Jackie."
Then the vision changed. Now she was alone, and it was dark. It smelled musty, like an old furnace room. Then there was a hand on her shoulder, turning her to face a woman, whose face was deeply lined and work-worn, but kind. "Aunt Mary!" She exclaimed.
"Hush, child, I don't have much time." The woman pulled her in close for a hug. "I'm leaving. I cannot send children to their deaths anymore, Jackie. I have to get away and hide, or Wicked will find me."
"No, don't go, take me with you!" Jackie clutched her aunt.
"I wish I could, but they can track you anywhere you go, Jackie. It wouldn't be safe for either of us."
"Where will you go?"
"The Right Arm will take me, I think. They'll need a nurse. Hush, now, don't cry, we'll meet again, I promise."
"Yes, I promise too." Tears streamed down Jackie's face. "I will find the Right Arm, and we can be a family again."
"Sh! I must go. Be brave, Jackie."
Then that vision, also, mixed with sand and was gone. Now, She was sitting cross-legged, a loom in front of her, full of a rich color and bright patterns. Her fingers worked nimbly, but the thin yarn knotted around her small finger anyways. And there were bigger hands, work-worn and gentle, around hers in an instant, unknotting and pulling at the thread until the pattern continued, unbroken, across the stretch of cloth. "It's going to be beautiful, Raze," came her mother's voice. "You can put it on your baby brother's bed when he comes along can't you?" Her mother's hand moved to her own belly.
"Yes, Mommy." Her voice held a note of sadness.
"Sweetheart, is something troubling you?"
"Yes, Mommy. Those men who were on the other side of the cliff today. The men that Daddy saw. Who are they? Why are they so far out in the desert?"
"They work for an organization called Wicked."
"What's that?"
"They are the reason we're hiding, sweetie. You see, they are looking for you."
"Why?"
"So many questions." Her mother smiled gently, but looked tired. "Raze, someday I will explain it all to you but for now I want you to listen very closely to what I am about to say. And no matter what happens, you must never forget it. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mommy."
The scene faded fast. Her mother's voice was blurred, Jackie could barely make out what she said. As the dull, wooden ceiling of the Med-jack hut came into focus, she murmured the words her mother had told her so many years ago. "Wicked is bad."
"She's awake!" Came a voice, and she was forced to open her eyes and look into the bright light of day.
Coming into focus was a face: Minho's. He smiled and let out a gasp of happiness. "I thought you died, shank!"
She managed a small smile. Newt was bending over her, also smiling, but slightly concerned. "You alright, Jackie?"
"Yeah." She rubbed her head, and more came into focus. James was standing in the doorway, and he waved awkwardly. Ellie was curled up at the end of the cot next to her own, and laying on that cot was...
"Ben!" She gasped.
The boy was sweating and panting.
"He was stung too, but we didn't realize it until he brought you back," Newt said quietly.
"Is he okay?"
Newt hesitated, then answered, "we think so. He's awake, but unresponsive. The serum made him go a little wacky."
She stared at the still body for a few seconds, then looked at Ellie. "How are you?"
Ellie smiled wanly in reply.
"What did you remember?" Queried James, stepping inside the door slightly, as if he felt unwanted.
"Different things," she said evasively.
"Right before you woke up, I heard you mutter something weird but..." Minho trailed off.
"Wicked is bad." She looked him square in the eye. "Wicked is bad."
"What's Wicked?" Ellie asked.
"Sh!" Newt waved his hand at the Slopper. "She needs rest."
"He's right." Somewhat reluctantly, Minho got up from the cot. "C'mon Ellie."
Ellie gave him a distrustful look, then hopped off Ben's bed, following him from the shack. Newt followed, but James remained.
"So..." he sat down on the edge of Ben's cot and rested his elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together. "What did you remember?"
"Mostly my family. I remembered my brother, I think his name's Orion. I saw... I saw my sister, too." She hastily drew her knees up to her chest and wiped her eyes on her blanket. "Her name was Remi. She... she's dead. And it's my fault."
James was quiet for a second. He didn't question her reasoning, but she knew he didn't blame her for this horrible deed.
"And...?" He queried.
"And my Aunt. She was running away from where I was, and she said something about Wicked..." she thought hard for a second. "She said... she said that Wicked would find her if I came, because they can track me."- she knew she was rambling, but she didn't care- "And I saw my mother, and everyone was calling me some strange name, and then Ava Paige was there, and she-"
The world went blurry. Someone was choking her, squeezing the life out of her. She clawed at the hand connected to her neck, but the attacker was too strong.
With a gasp, she burst free. James, who had leaped to his feet to ward off the attacker, stared at her incredulously. "Who... who was it?" She gasped."who attacked me?!"
"Jackie, what do you mean?" James demanded. "You tried to strangle yourself!"
Silence filled the room. Foreboding silence, filling Jackie with cold. "I... I didn't mean to."
"I know. It's okay now Jackie."
She fell back with a sigh, the little strength she had sucked out of her. She would not, could not, ever speak of the Changing again. After a minute, she cleared her throat and glanced at Newt. "How long have I been out?"
"A little over a week. Longer than expected, you didn't really mix well with the serum, but you're back on track now."
"A week!? What's happened since then?"
James shrugged. "We got a new Greenie."
"Poor them. When was that?"
"Yesterday."
"What time is it now?"
"Morning."
"What's the Greenie's name?"
"His name's-"
The alarm cut him off. In her grogginess, she didn't realize what it was until James jumped off Ben's bed, nerves tensing.
"Wha-" he stared at Jackie. "We got a Greenie yesterday."
By the time they reached the Box there was a large crowd gathered. She saw Newt and Alby at the front of the crowd.
"Where's Minho?" She turned to see that James had vanished from her side. Figures, she thought as she pushed the boys, trying to get to the front of the crowd.
Just as she reached the small space of grass right next to the Box, there was a muffled boom, and a silence settled over the Glade.
Newt and Jackie locked eyes for a second, then Newt smiled nervously and looked into the Box.
A moment of silence, then Newt jumped back into a sitting position. "Holy..." his voice trailed off.
Alby heard the tensity in Newt's voice, and he too bent over to see the newcomer. "No way."
"What is it?" Demanded Jackie, jumping up and down.
A chorus of voices filled in with hers as well, and she realized she wasn't the only completely lost person there.
She dared take a step forward, and there was Alby, waving his arms and shouting to regain order. "Hold on! Just hold on!"
"Well, what's wrong!?" Jackie demanded.
"Two Newbies in two days." Alby's voice was once again the only sound in the Glade. "Now this. Two years, nothing different, now this. What's going on here, Greenie?"
A voice, the owner of which Jackie could not see but could only guess was the Greenie, shouted back, "How am I supposed to know!?"
"Why don't you just tell us who the shuck is down there, Alby?" Gally's voice made Jackie's blood boil.
"You shanks shut up!" Ordered Gally. "Tell them, Newt."
Newt took a deep breath and turned to face his fellow Gladers.
"It's a girl."
A scream ripped through the crowd and made the hair on Jackie's neck stand straight up. She recognized that scream. "Ellie!" She whirled around and shrieked. "Where's Ellie!?"
(So starting today I'm on spring break! I'm hoping to finish this book while on break but it all depends on how busy my schedule is. I would also like to make a grand announcement! My sister, bballstarz , has joined Wattpad. She started a book already that I am helping her edit chapter-by-chapter, so definitely go check out Tracks, a science fiction novel. See you next chapter!❤️)