Sacrifice

Chapter Forty-Six

Present Day 

Teresa stood at the window in the Chancellor's office. The large room was near the top of the building and overlooked the city. The view was breath taking, but Teresa's wasn't focussed on it; her brain was a million miles away. 

She should be celebrating. Everything she had been working toward her entire life was finally coming to pass. But the price was steep. Even though they were safely tucked away in their room at this moment, Teresa felt like she could still hear Minho and Claire screaming. 

"Nicely done," came a voice. Teresa barely flinched as Ava Paige joined her at the window. "They can be a tough crowed, you handled them perfectly." 

Teresa still didn't respond. 

"Delaying the inevitable," Ava Paige continued. "Thomas used to say the same thing about us. Do you still think about him? I can help with those memories, there's no need to keep holding onto them, it's a simple procedure." 

Even though the Swipe had been developed for the subjects in the Maze Trials, there were still those who wanted to forget parts of their past. Ava knew that she once had a husband and two children. She didn't know exactly what had happened to them, but since she had chosen to have her memories of them removed, it was probably for the best. 

"There is a reason," Teresa answered. "I want to remember. If we find a cure, that's the only way all this was worth it." 

It was the only way Teresa would be able to live with herself. It wasn't just Minho and Claire that kept her up at night, it was every kid that had been put through all of WCKD's trials. She herself had been in the Maze and watched several boys die right in front of her. 

Ava Paige looked at Teresa and felt a twinge of pride. The girl had shown promise ever since she was five-years-old. She had been an easy choice when it came to selecting the four elite candidates chosen to help design the Mazes. And of the four, she was the only one that had remained loyal to WCKD. 

If Ava did have a daughter, she hoped that daughter would have been like Teresa. 

"I hope you're right." 

************** 

As they got closer to the city, the crowed seemed to get thicker. Among the ruins outside the refugee camp was a whole colony that looked like a refugee camp. Everyone was dirty and looked tired, or ready to start a fight. They even spotted some men hauling dead bodies into the back of a truck. 

"This place has really gone through hell," Jorge commented. 

"We just gotta stay together," Thomas said. 

Just then Tony noticed a van coming up the streets behind them. The crowed parted in order to create a path, Tony told everyone else to do the same. Sitting on top of the van were a handful of men holding guns and wearing gas masks that concealed their faces. The only one not wearing a mask was a man speaking into a megaphone. 

"We are the voice of the voiceless!" the man said. "They hide behind their walls, thinking they can keep the cure for themselves, while they watch the rest of us wither and rot!" 

As the van drove by, Thomas thought that one of the men was looking directly at him. 

"There are more of us than there are of them!" the man continued. "And I say we rise up and take back what is ours! Let's bring back a victory!" 

The crowed cheered. Cautious, but curious to see what was going on, they followed the crowed. They ended up walking through an alley that took them to the edge of the ruined city. Ahead of them was the large wall, preventing them from getting into the Last City. The thing was even more enormous up close than it had been at a distance. All around them there were more angry refugees, shouting and demanding to be let inside the city.