Variables → Group B [AU]

50 → "I HOPE SO"

50 → "I HOPE SO"

THEY WERE GIVEN hot food, cold drinks, medical attention and fresh clothing. They treated her leg, let her shower. And she needed it, because her skin was caked with dirt and her hair was greasy. She carefully stood in the shower, watched the blood and dirt disappear down the drain alongside the water. She dried off after her shower, pulled on the fresh clothes. She felt refreshed. All of this was well needed. The only thing she needed now was rest; a long full night's sleep. Adeline found both groups in a room, most a sleep. Aris was propped up against a wall, but when he noticed her, he got to his feet.

"Adeline —" Adeline went to avoid him, but he got to her before she could. "Look, I'm sorry. I had to do it."

But Adeline didn't want to hear it, and instead glared at him and limped off. Aris didn't try to catch up to her, letting her go. As she limped away, she found Thomas and Teresa, seated on a couch, although Teresa appeared to be falling asleep. Minho was trying to talk to a girl from Group B, but her eyes were closed, as if she was already a sleep. Newt was wide awake, but the dark circles under his eyes showed just to how exhausted he was. Adeline plopped down beside him.

"Hi." She threw him a small smile.

"Hey," Newt said, perking up as she settled down beside him.

"You look like crap." Adeline nudged him with her elbow. Newt gave a laugh.

"As do you." he gave a grin, then went serious. "I saw Aris trying to talk to you."

"More like trying to apologize and tell me he had to do it." Adeline huffed. "We all have choices to make but he didn't have to choose do it."

Newt just nodded. They sat in silence for a while, but something came to Adeline's mind, and she spoke once more.

"Can I ask you something?" Newt nodded once more. "Were we close back in your Maze? And I don't mean close as in friends."

"Yeah, I guess we were." Newt shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you think we were before the Maze? Do you think we knew each other?"

"Well, I can't exactly say." Newt said. "Ya know, the bloody amnesia and all." 

Adeline bit her lip. She'd hoped he'd thought they were. Adeline may not remember her time back in Group A's Maze, but if there was this closeness and familiarity with Newt, surely they would've been. Newt glanced at her, nudged her jokingly.

"I see those gears spinnin'." Newt grinned. "What're you thinkin' 'bout?"

Adeline turned to him, met his gaze. Then, she did something that surprised him, and even herself. She kissed him on the cheek.

"I hope we can rebuild what we were before. Before everything." Adeline stated. "And I hope one day you and I will remember what we were before the Maze."

And then moments later, Adeline fell asleep.

—

"Adeline." Adeline was awoken by a hazy voice. Above her, two brown eyes greeted her, then Newt's face came into focus. "Hey, we just landed. C'mon."

Adeline propped herself up and Newt reached out his hand for her to take. Adeline pulled herself up so that she was standing. Around her, others were awake, some peering out the window of the Berg, some were still trying to wake up, clearly still exhausted. Right as the Berg landed, everyone waited for David to come back, and when the door swung open not a moment later, Adeline believed it was him coming to escort them out of the Berg. But when two other guards burst through the door, everyone watched as they headed straight for Thomas, who had still yet to wake.

"Hey!" Minho shouted. "What're you doing?"

The guards grabbed Thomas by his underarms, hoisting him up and off of the couch. The guards didn't answer Minho's question, heading straight for the door. Teresa followed them.

"Answer us!" Teresa shrieked. "What're you doing with Thomas?"

"It's too late." One guard replied. "The Flare —
it's too rooted inside of him. He's already gone crazy and violent."

Everyone started asking questions all at once, but the guards had already left them. Everyone stood around, each sharing glances, still asking questions that wouldn't get answers. After a moment, David appeared and told them to follow him. They all did. David lead them to a dormitory, told them to get inside and not to ask any more questions. After, he shut the door and the door locked behind him. Everyone — Group A & B — stood around, unsure on what to do now. Shock was plastered on everyone's faces; nobody knew what to say.

—

For almost a week, they all waited inside that dormitory; waiting for the door to open. They did nothing; just sat around. Nobody spoke, except for the occasional small talk. Then one night when everyone had fallen asleep, the door finally opened.

—

Everything was dark when Adeline woke up. The darkness was pitch-black, and colours swirled in her vision. She could hear the sound of breathing; her breathing. It was ragged and faltered, and panic washed over her. Adeline almost started to hyperventilate. Slowly and carefully, Adeline rose to her feet, stretching her arms and fingers to feel for the wall. Her fingers came in contact with a soft surface. It felt padded, like she was in a room ... for people who wanted to hurt themselves.

Why am in here?

Adeline slowly made her way along the wall, her fingers gliding across the padding across the wall. And then all of a sudden she was pulled back, tumbling to the floor. Something dug into her skin of her wrists; something metal. Then she heard the sound of ... chains. Chains clanging together. Adeline slowly and carefully made her way back to her feet, not daring to go any further. A sickening sound of static noise echoed around the padded room, and then multiple monitors appeared on each wall of the room. She hadn't noticed them before.

A distorted voice came over the monitors, before it came clearer. At the same time the voice became clearer, a face appeared on the screen. Janson.

"Time to begin Phase 3." was all Janson said, before the video of Janson changed to something else. A video appeared. It was from the Maze. It started from early in the morning, and then there was screaming. My screams.

The footage panned to her sprinting across the what appeared to be the Group A Maze, screaming at the top of her lungs. Behind her was Matt. It had to be the apparent day she'd died. Adeline felt sick to her stomach, wanting to look away. The footage continued to zoom in; Glader's coming to her aid, prying Matt off of her. Adeline tried to look away, but her eyes were glued to one of the monitors. Just when Matt had been dragged away by Minho and Alby, and the realization that Adeline was dead at the time, the footage cut off. Then it started all over again. It continued over and over in a cycle, and Adeline lost count on how many times it looped. And when it shut off out of nowhere, Adeline was left in the dark, alone.