Sacrifice

Chapter Fifty-Three

Present Day

As far as Claire could tell, she was alone in her cell. Not that it mattered to her. Ever since she got back here she just curled up on her bunk and stared at the wall, she hadn't moved for hours. Not since the stimulation.

Physically, she knew that nothing was wrong with her. Everything that had been done to her body, apart from all the blood taken, wasn't real. But psychologically...she couldn't handle what had happened. The only way she could even begin to cope was to allow her brain to shut down, to make her mind go blank so she wouldn't have to think.

I'm sorry, Newt...you're too late.

Just then the silence was broken. Outside her cell door Claire could make out footsteps. She assumed it was one of the guards coming to collect another subject. She prayed it wasn't her; hadn't these people done enough to her?

"Claire!"

It took her a moment to realize that someone was actually calling her name, that she wasn't just dreaming.

Suddenly the cell door opened and two guards came in, holding a person fighting them.

"Minho?" Claire said sitting up.

Minho's face softened, relief flooding through his body. One of the guards unlocked the cuffs around his wrists and he then immediately ran over to Claire. She got up from her bunk and embraced him. Apart from waking up in the stimulation, the two of them hadn't seen each other since the train. Minho had a feeling Janson was behind this. While part of him was afraid that this might not be real, that he was in another stimulation, he was also a little happy. Claire was here now and that's what mattered.

As Claire broke away from Minho she noticed someone else standing in the doorway. It was Teresa. The two girls locked eyes, the two of them being face to face for the first time since Claire was captured back in the Scorch.

While Claire had been dragged to various prisons for the past months Teresa hd been here in the Last City, working for WCKD and having a comfortable life. While Claire had to spend everyday wondering if she and her friends would survive to the next one, Teresa got to sleep in a comfortable bed and never worry about being under fed.

When Minho saw Teresa he was instantly glaring daggers at her. He took an ever so slightly step closer to Claire, making the message clear: back off.

Teresa looked down at the floor before telling the guards to give the two Gladers a minute alone, closing the door behind her.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked.

"No, are you?"

Claire shook her head.

Minho hugged her again, this time crying into her shoulder. Claire had never seen Minho like this before. When she first met him, she thought he was the toughest person she'd ever met. He'd survived the Maze for so long and seemed to do it with ease. She didn't think anything could beat him this badly.

"Why are they doing this?" Minho asked, his voice cracking.

Claire now had tears falling down her own face.

"I don't know."

The two Gladers had never felt so alone. For months they had been surrounded by enemies and strangers. The only other people they could really trust were Aris and Sonya, but they were gone now. All they had was each other.

Seeing Minho now, Claire wondered how much longer they could last. It was clear WCKD would never let them go. They couldn't keep each other alive forever. The reality hit Claire that she and Minho just might die here. They would never be free, they would never see their friends again.