A5 // The Scorch Trials

Chapter 4

Newt felt uneasy as he walked toward the cafeteria where the other boys were waiting. After hearing (Y/N) agree to get the surgery, the doctor was quick to have everything set up so that she would be ready within the hour. He stayed with her until the exact moment that another doctor had to push him out of the room since he was no longer allowed back there. She was scared to be alone so he held her the entire time. Now, he sat uncomfortably in his chair as he thought of what was happening to his girl on the other side of the facility.

"Newt, slim it man." Minho tried getting his friend to calm down, noticing his leg bouncing furiously against the floor and his shoulders clenched so tight that they locked in place. "She's gonna be fine. You know her; she wouldn't go anywhere you couldn't follow."

"Besides, I don't think that doctor is the one we gotta worry about," Fry added. Everyone followed his line of sight and saw Janson enter the room, his usual clipboard in hand. The Gladers noticed every teenager inside the room perked up at the sound of Janson's voice. For reasons unknown, all of them were eager to hear what he had to say.

"You all know how this works. You hear your name called, please rise in an orderly fashion and join my colleagues behind me where they will escort you to the Eastern wing. Your new lives are about to begin." A few kids cheered after he said this but the silence rose just as quickly as it fell once Janson opened his clipboard. He glanced around the room before speaking and Newt, feeling paranoid as ever, swore Janson looked at him specifically.

"Conner, Evelyn, Justice, Peter..." The names went on for a while, each kid happily jumping out of their seats with their friends hugging them or congratulating them on being picked. They formed a line beside the two large men at the wall and waved to their friends who were now across the room from them.

Once all the names were called, the rest that were left sighed in disappointment that they weren't chosen. Janson instantly told them that their time would come soon but left with the others who had been called. Now that Janson was gone, the Gladers felt they could breathe once again.

"Where're they going?" Minho asked the two new boys who happened to sit across from them. They had been telling their stories of WICKED and their maze but they seemed to leave out a key detail—the part where kids were moved from the facility.

"Far from here."

Newt had to contain himself from rolling his eyes at the vague answer, kind of angry that the kid didn't even feel the need to clue them in.

The kid next to him decided to fill them in on what his friend had lacked. "Some kind of farm, a safe place. They can only take in a couple at a time."

The answer seemed to ease the Gladers way more than the other kid's answer did. They understood a little about what this place was but that still didn't mean they were happy here.

"Teresa?" Thomas shouting her name had all of the Gladers, plus the two other boys, jumping in their seats. Once again, they looked where he was looking and found Teresa being escorted down a hall on the outside of this cafeteria.

Thomas didn't hesitate a moment when he ran over to the window, gradually increasing his volume when Teresa wasn't responding to his calls. He had just caught her attention when one of the guards blocked him.

The Gladers stayed behind at the table, all of them knowing that those guards were never going to just let Thomas go into the secluded part of the facility. Instead of helping him, they finished eating their meals so that as soon as another guard came, they would all be ready to head towards their room.

That happened a lot longer from when the Gladers were expecting but they arrived to the room nonetheless. The guard didn't waste any time in letting the Gladers get settled since he immediately closed and locked the door as soon as everyone was inside.

As the Gladers bickered over which bunk they preferred over the other, Thomas looked to Newt worriedly. "What do you think those guys want with Teresa?"

"Now if there's one thing I know about that girl, it's that she can take care of herself. Don't worry about it," Newt tried reassuring his friend before climbing up to his top bunk. Even though he said that to Thomas, he wouldn't stop worrying about (Y/N) until the next time he saw her and he wished on every star in the sky that that would be soon.