WCKD 57 → Newt [1]

13 → Why?

Disclaimer: This chapter has a little bit of a spoiler for Kill Order and The Fever Code. It's not too big though. Also, um, Newt talks about how he tried to kill himself so yeah, just read at your own risk.

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"What are you going to do? Blow this place up?" Newt asked, leaning against one of the walls.

"Maybe. Let's see what I have to work with." Vera replied, taking the flashlight and shining it on the ground, where she had placed all her vials.

"Please tell me you're experienced 'cause I plan to live a bloody long life," Newt said.

Vera could tell that he was trying to joke around, but why would anyone do that in a situation like this?

"I work as a chemist for WCKD. I think that's enough experience for you." Vera mumbled, picking up the vials that were poison and placing them back in her pocket.

She sculpted a little tower with the sand and began her work. As she mixed together the liquids, she could feel Newt looking at her.

"Hey, if you're still here, might as well do something," Vera suggested, tilting her head to the walls.

"Uh, right." Newt stood up and started to look for a possible exit.

It felt like an hour before Vera was almost ready.

"Done," Vera whispered at the same time Newt shouted, "The wall's thinner over here!"

Vera nodded and carefully bottled up the substance and brought it over to where Newt was standing.

He took a look at the liquid and said, "If this works, you're a shucking genius."

"I already know I'm smart; I don't need people telling me that." Vera smiled slightly. "Now stand back."

She tipped the container forward and watched as the green acidic liquid dripped onto the rocks. There was a sizzling sound as the rocks began to melt.

"And now, we wait," Vera said, spilling the rest of the liquid onto the rocks and throwing the container away.

It took a while for the acid to burn a human-sized hole into the walls and when it did, Vera was almost asleep.

"It's done!" Newt exclaimed, causing Vera to bolt upright.

"Did you have to shout?" She mumbled, leaning back against the rocks.

"C'mon. Tommy and the others will be wonderin' where we went." Newt said, climbing through the hole, Vera following.

They appeared in a tunnel-like area and as Vera shined the flashlight around, it illuminated the walls and it was clear that the walls were covered in ivy and moss. It seemed like a place where Cranks would hide in.

"So, uh, what's the deal with WCKD? Why did they send us into the bloody maze?" Newt asked.

Vera ignored him and kept walking. It wasn't something she wanted to discuss, not when Newt could easily break her neck in two seconds flat.

"Tell me."

Letting out a sigh, Vera looked over her shoulder at him a curious expression on his face.

"It's because the Flare took over the world. Everyone's so desperate for a cure a-and families are dying. The world counts on WCKD to find a cure. The world counts on WCKD to save them." She explained. "WCKD is trying. We're trying so hard to find a cure. We're not immune, Newt. Each day we face the fear of being infected. The fear of turning into a Crank."

"What does that have to do with kidnapping kids and putting them in a maze for years? WCKD just dumped us there, expecting us to know what to do. Well, we shucking didn't. So many of us died trying to find a way out." Newt muttered.

"We came across a miracle. We came across kids that happened to be immune to the disease. And WCKD thought that was a cure. Teresa was one of the first ones to be found. I don't really know what happened. She was already there when I was brought in. Thomas was too. And WCKD's original founder? Well, he was the reason why we push so hard to find a cure. He was infected and we couldn't save him."

Vera took a deep breath, trying to remember what it was like as a kid to witness people turning into living breathing zombies.

"Ava became the new head and we took the non-immune people who had lost their families and offered them a spot at WCKD and then we took the immunes and we started to experiment on them. Those hard challenges you faced is going to be worth it very soon."

"You don't understand, do you? You don't know what it's like being trapped in a place for years without an escape! It was like all our efforts were useless. Year by year, a handful of Gladers died trying to get us out and it was like we were never getting close to escaping. You don't understand what you did to us. I tried to kill myself because of you!" Newt shouted.

Vera dropped her flashlight. It fell to the floor with a loud clang and shut off. Never had Vera ever thought that the Immunes would be mentally harmed. She realized that they had no clue where they came from, who their parents were, and about the outside world. To them, their whole life was the maze.

"Why can't you understand that we're just trying to survive? I don't want to become one of those Cranks." She whispered.

"Why can't you understand that we were suffering in that maze? It was like being trapped in a time loop." He whispered.

"Why?" They both mumbled in unison.

I'm sorry, that made me cry.

Uh, I'm terrible at writing so if that was super crappy, I'm sorry.

After being sick for the last couple of days, I'm glad to say that I'm better now and updates will resume.

And for the question of the day: What song do you think suits Vera?

My answers are biased only because I've been listening to them for such a long time while writing is, but they are: Piece by Piece (Kelly Clarkson) and Human (Christina Perri)

Thank you for reading!

< Emily >