A Way Back - The Maze Runner (♡Newt)

Chapter 74

Cally's pov

Three days, three days, and Thomas was still going through the Changing. Or, at least, he was still unconscious. The screaming and yelling had stopped pretty quickly, quicker than when I went through it, according to Newt and Minho. But even though that seemed to have gone faster than usual. I still was worried he wouldn't wake up within now and a few days.
     Every night, we put him in the Slammer, together with one of the Med-Jacks, so if he would wake up or freak out, he wasn't alone. I was with him last night. To be honest, sitting in the Slammer, with an unconscious friend while Grievers walked past and over the building, wasn't really pleasant. I was lucky I had at least Bark with me, Clint and Jeff both had to do it all by themselves. 

This morning, when the Grievers had left, Thomas was brought back to the Med-Room. Fortunately, that room was one of the few that hadn't been destroyed or damaged by one of the Grievers.
     Chuck, who maybe had been the most worried about his friend out of all of us, was sitting by his bed. "When do you think he'll wake up?" The boy asked me, but I just shrugged
     "I don't know Chuck, could be a few hours, could be days."
     "Oh, okay." Chuck had asked me that question almost every day, multiple times. I hated not being able to give him a straight answer, but then again, I really didn't know. 
     "I'm gonna go to the bathroom," I announced while pushing myself up from the bed I had been lying on. "You think you can handle being here alone without breaking anything?" I half joked.
     Chuck sighed, "Still not funny, Cally."
     I chuckled at his expression, "I think it is." I said, ruffling his hair before walking out of the room. Life in the Glade had been going as normal as possible, Newt and Alby tried their best to keep some sort of order, and it was working. It just didn't help with the tension that hung in the air all day, every day.
     It didn't take long for me to walk back up the stairs, but the moment I turned the corner, I ran into someone. Or, more specific, Chuck ran into me.
     "Wow! Calm down, Shank. What's going on?" I asked with slight amusement in my voice after seeing Chuck's enthusiastic and bewildered expression. "
     Thomas is awake!" He exclaimed. Not expecting that answer, my eyes widened.
     "That's great," I said with a big smile, trying to walk past the boy, but he stopped me.
     "That's not all, he wants me to get Alby and Newt to call a Gathering."
     At this news, I furrowed my brows, "Did he say why?"
     "No," Chuck said while shaking his head. "But he says it's urgent."
     I nodded my head, softly pushing Chuck's back, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go get Newt and Alby." Chuck nodded determined before running down the stairs.
     I sighed, getting nervous about why Thomas needed a Gathering so soon after he woke up. With a deep breath, I opened the door to the M.R. and indeed, there was Thomas laying in his bed, looking at the ceiling. He seemed deep in thought, he hadn't even noticed me and Bark walking in.
     I wanted to make our presence known by clearing my throat, but Bark beat me to it. When she had also noticed he was awake, she immediately jumped on him, liking his face. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw his startled first reaction before pushing Bark off of him and sitting up straight.
     "Good to see you're awake." I said, pulling Bark off the bed and handing him a towel to clean his face from the dog's saliva.
     "Thanks," Thomas mumbled, just before I handed him a bottle of water. I watched as he drank all of it. He didn't seem sick at all. All the other times I saw some Shank after they got out of the Changing, they looked like they walked to Mount Doom and back, but he only looked a little tired.
     I quickly examined if he had a concussion or any other kind of injury, but when I didn't find any, I went to the only logical next move. I hit him on the back of his head.
     Thomas flinched, grabbing the back of his head where my hand had made contact with his scull while he groaned a little. "What was that for!" He whined.
     I just smirked at him, sitting back down on his bed beside him. "For running into a horde of Grievers and getting stung, on purpose."
     Thomas wanted to protest, but at that moment, Newt walked in. He looked Thomas over while he walked closer. "Tommy- you barely look sick." He said what I had already concluded.
     Thomas nodded in response, letting the hand he had been holding against the back of his head fall in his lap. "I feel a little queasy and got a specific sour spot on  the back of my head." He said more to me than to Newt.
     I shrugged again, "You deserved it." Was all I said while Thomas continued.
     "But other than that, I'm fine. Thought it'd be worse." 
     Newt shook his head, and I could tell he was angry at Thomas, but also in awe. Which was also an accurate description of how I was feeling towards the boy. "What you did was half brave and half bloody stupid. Seems like you're pretty good at that." Newt paused, shaking his head. "We know why you did it. What memories came back? Anything that'll help?" 
     "We need to have a Gathering." He said, without even bothering to answer Newt's question. "Before I start forgetting some of this stuff."
     "Yeah, Chuck told me. We'll do it. But why, what did you figure out?" I leaned a little closer, wanting answers just as much as Newt did. 
     "It's a test, guys- The whole thing is a test."
     I sighed, leaning back on my hands. "We already knew that." Thomas looked at me. Somehow, I thought I saw a flash of pity in his eyes.
     "You only know what they wanted you to know." My brows furrowed in confusion, trying to determine if Thomas somehow knew about my memories.
     "What are you talking 'bout?" Newt asked for me. Thomas now looked from me, to Newt and back to me.
     "Does he know?" Thomas asked me, making me furrow my brows even more.
     "If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, then yes. Newt knows. But how do you know?" 
     "I remember now, but we need to hurry. 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." 
     Both Newt and I looked at Thomas with even more confused expressions. "What do you mean?" Newt asked. "You know a way out?" 
     Thomas looked between the two of us again before answering. "Yeah, call the Gathering. Now." 

~.~.~

An hour later, Thomas, Newt, Alby, and all the Keepers were inside the Gathering room. I wanted to be there, hear what Thomas had to say. But it didn't matter what I said or how hard I tried to convince Newt, Minho, and Alby, I still wasn't a Keeper, so I wasn't allowed to be there. 
     It had been about fifteen minutes since the Gathering had started, and I was already going crazy waiting. I had made Newt and Minho promise to tell me everything Thomas told them, but the longer it took, the more nervous I got.
     Something Thomas had said was floating through my head, and I couldn't get rid of it. 'You only know what they wanted you to know.' What did he mean by that? Did the creators do something to my memories? Does it have anything to do with the leather bracelet around my wrist that I can't get off? I was almost sure it had something to do with the bracelet, but that wasn't really a comfort. It actually only made things worse. I needed to know what was going on. 
     "What's up with you?" A female voice addressed me. I looked up, snapping out of my thoughts. Teresa was standing in front of me, a hand on her hip and her black hair falling half in front of her face while she looked down at me.
     "They wouldn't let me join the Gathering." I said, leaving out the part that it probably had something to do with me and Ezra.
     Teresa sighed, sitting down beside me against the wall behind the Homestead. "Me neither. Tom says it's because the Keepers don't trust me yet."
     I scoffed, leaning my head against the cold stone. "Yeah, well, Newt says I can't join because I'm not a Keeper." 
     "Maybe it has to do with the fact that we're girls," Teresa half joked, making me chuckle shortly.
     "Probably not. If it was, they would've let Chuck join. He wanted to hear what Thomas had to say as well."
     Did Thomas tell you something?" I asked, changing the subject. Teresa now also leaned her head back against the wall, letting out a deep sigh. "He did."
     "What did he say?" 
     "He told me that we, Tom and I, did something to you guys. He just didn't say what." I nodded, taking in the girls' words.
     "Anything else?" I asked after she stayed silent for some time.
     Again, Teresa nodded. "He said that the Maze can't be solved." 
     I scoffed, "No shit, we already figured out as much."
     Teresa chuckled shortly, "That's what I said. But he also said that there was a way out. That the Creators meant for us to escape somehow. That he had a plan. He just didn't tell me what it was."
     "Typical," I mumbled, patting Bark's head as she continued sleeping against my leg.
     We sat in silence for a moment, but I could clearly notice the way Teresa repeatedly glanced over to me.
     "So?" Teresa asked me eventually after I did not break the silence.
     "So, what?" I questioned back.
     "Aren't you going to tell me to leave you alone now you know I did something to all of you? Aren't you going to yell at me or blame me for it all?"
     I looked at Teresa fully now. Her face was serious. Working her lower lip as she waited for my answer.
     I thought about it for a moment before letting out a deep sign and spoke in the most flat, yet sarcastic tone I could muster, "Oh no, how dare you, leave me alone, traitor."
     At first, Teresa looked at me with wide, stunned eyes, not knowing how to react. I tried to keep a straight face but couldn't help the burst of laughter after seeing Teresa's reaction.
     "Cally!" Teresa bit at me as she hit me in the arm. "I was being serious."
     "I know-" I said while trying to regain my laughter. "But I couldn't help it. Your face, just-" a last wave of laughter came out.
     Teresa glared at me, but I could see the smile she tried to suppress.
     "You done?" The black haired girl asked me after I stopped laughing.

     I shrugged, "For now." I looked back at the young woman beside me, even though she seemed a little more relaxed, there was still something sad behind her eyes...
 

   "But seriously, Teresa," I started, all the amusement gone from my voice. "We don't even know what you guys did. Besides, I know most of us like to pretend we are all so adult, but we are still children... teenagers at best. I don't believe any of us could be held responsible for anything, not really."
     Teresa nodded, hearing what I was saying, but clearly not really hearing it. I didn't really know what to do about it, but what could I really do? I didn't know what they did. But that didn't mean I didn't mean what I said.
     Eventually, I just leaned my head on Teresa's shoulder, and she, in turn, rested her head against mine. All we could do was wait.