The Arrival Of Rosa // (Maze Runner Fanfiction)

Chapter Eighteen

It had been three days, and Thomas still hadn't woken up. We thought he was dead multiple times in those past three days, but he's still alive for now. The Grievers have still been taking one person a night, too. They took two guys I didn't know, and Zart. I hadn't been too fond of Zart, but he was pretty nice when we spoke.

Minho was depressed. Everybody could see it. After a lot of convincing, I finally got him to gather some Runners and keep searching through the Maze. But, they haven't found anything.

I was finally off crutches for good. I had a limp on my right leg, and there was still a dull pain there, but I chose to ignore it. We weren't sure if my limp would be a permanent thing, but we'd just have to hope for the best.

I was sitting with Newt when Chuck came running down the stairs to us. "Newt! Newt!" He was yelling. "Thomas is awake! He's awake! He wants to see you and call a Gathering and he-" Newt cut him off.

"Calm down Chuck! I'll go talk to him." He said, starting up the stairs.

"I'll go with you." I said, trailing behind him. "Thanks Chuck." I smiled.

We opened the door to see Thomas sitting up in bed. He looked pretty much like he did before he got stung, like he wasn't sick at all.

"Tommy," Newt said, sitting in the chair next to his bed. "You barely look sick."

"I feel a little queasy, but other than that, I'm fine. Thought it'd be a lot worse."

"You're insane, Thomas." I told him. "I understand why you did it, but you could've died. Minho was a wreck for the past three days." Thomas sat up straighter at the mention of the sass queen.

"What memories came back? Anything that'll help?" Newt asked him.

"We need to have a Gathering. Before I start forgetting some of this stuff."

"Yeah Chuck told us, but why? What did you figure out?" He asked.

"It's a test, Newt. The whole thing is a test."

"Wait. You mean like an experiment?" I questioned, and he shook his head.

"No, you don't get it. They're weeding us out, seeing if we'll give up, finding the best of us. Throwing variables at us, trying to make us quit. Testing our ability to hope and fight. Sending Teresa here and shutting everything down was only the last part, one more... Final analysis. Now it's time for the last test. To escape."

I groaned. "How 'bout we just have a buggin' Gathering so we don't have to hear this lecture twice?"

Newt nodded. "Good that."

---

I was allowed to go to the Gathering, so I could take Zart's place.

As soon as Minho saw Thomas enter the room, he wrapped him in his arms. I smiled, glad that Minho was okay again.

Alby was sitting in the chair in the semi-circle of chairs, looking much better than when I had last saw him.

"Alright, Greenie. Forget all the beat-around-the-bush klunk. Start talking." Alby said.

"It's a long story." Thomas started. "We don't have enough time to go through it all, but I'll tell you the gist of it. When I went through the Changing, I saw flashes of images, hundreds of them, like a slide show in fast forward. A lot came back to me, but only some of its clear enough to talk about. Other stuff has faded or fading."

I nodded, hoping this would be good.

"But I remember enough. The Creators are testing us. The Maze was never meant to be solved. It's all been a trial. They want the winners, or survivors, to do something important." He stopped talking, considering what he should say next.