Amaurotic \\ The Maze Runner [Newt] [1]

Chapter Thirty-Five

[ P R E S E N T ]

The first thing Thomas saw the moment he came to was familiar faces, and luckily, they were friendly faces. Newt, Nova, Minho, and Chuck. He was a little surprised to see Teresa inside the Slammer with him, right by his side. Smiling down at him, relieved that he was okay.

At first he wondered how he was in the Slammer, considering one of the many Grievers had destroyed it. But then he began to realize, the Griever only destroyed one part of it. And he laid in another half that was managed to be salvaged under the debris.

Teresa scooched over and gave Thomas enough room, as he sat up carefully with a light grunt. Stretching his neck with a few cracks here and there, as the position he was in wasn't completely comfortable.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Chuck muttered, it was so light, it was almost to himself.

As he then looked up at his closest friends, noticing the interlocked hands of Newt and Nova. He smiled at that image. He almost admired their affection towards each other, he then gave a sly glance toward Teresa, and almost imagined the same thing. But, he dropped the thought as fast as it had come to his head. Remembering that he technically just met her. As he then looked back up toward Newt and Nova. Also admiring Newt's consistency with Nova, and how he could still act this way toward her. Even after the news about who her mother really was, this whole time.

And if anything, he looked up to that sort of connection. That's when Thomas knew, Newt loved Nova, no matter what. Because Nova was more than just 'The Wicked', she was more than who she shared blood with. She was so much more than that. Thomas just hoped she knew that as well, and it wasn't just him.

"What happened?" Thomas asked, the moment he came out of the small trance of pure silence.

"You stabbed yourself with the Griever's stinger," Teresa explained, not in full detail. But the gist of it. "and you hit your head pretty hard on the ground when you landed."

Thomas rubbed his temple, suddenly remembering the night of the Bonfire fight with Gally when he first arrived in the Glade. A fresh memory, of course.

His eyes then lit up, "Guys-" He looked up at all of them. "-I remember."

"Remember?" Chuck repeated.

"Everything." Thomas raised his eyebrows, in a very serious tone. Nothing was a joke anymore, nor was it ever.

Newt tilted his head, curiously. "Well, go on then Shank, tell us what you've got on that shuck-mind of yours."

Thomas propped his legs up and held them, "Gally was right. Everything Alby said was true."

He continued, "This place, it wasn't what we thought it was. It's not a prison, its a test. It all started when we were kids, they'd give us these challenges, they were experimenting on us. And then people started disappearing. Every month, one after the other, like clockwork."

"Send them up into the Maze." Newt added, in sheer disbelief.

"Yeah, but not all of us."

"What do you mean?" Newt asked.

"Guys, I'm one of them. The people who put you here, I worked with them. I-I watched you guys, for years. The entire time you've been here, I... I was on the other side of it." Thomas then looked at Teresa. "And so were you."

"What?" Teresa's voice broke.

Thomas stared at her solemnly, "Teresa, we did this to them."

Teresa shook her head, not wanting to understand. As tears began streaming down her face, "No. It can't be true."