After the Death Cure ( The Maze Runner )

Chapter 2

And I dream.

More like a nightmare.

I "wake up" in the Maze. Just me. No, not again. I was the first alone in the Maze. Spent one whole month by myself. I was ok...I guess. I didn't go crazy. I was just lonely. Heard the noises at night, the sound of the Maze moving, the Grievers. I was more alone than scared.

I couldn't tell it was a dream at first. I ran straight into the Maze, I knew the way out. But then I saw a figure. A boy. Newt. I run to him, only to realize that he's a Crank...oh no. He talks in that deep, British accent, "Not another step, Kenzie. Why would you follow me here? I came here to save you, and you put that all to waste, why?"

"I wanted to be with you. Besides, I wouldn't get the Flare here. I was more safe here than anywhere." His face contorts to anger, and I'm more scared than I've ever been in my life. He walks toward me, and my face and his fist collide. I cry out in pain...no, no that didn't hurt. It's a dream. I turn to run, and attempt to control my dream. I imagine him gone, and he is. But when I open my eyes, I hit a wall.

I wake up...maybe. I'm in a white room. On the floor. I sit up, and glance around the room, and stop. Someone is in there with me. His face bloody, I recognize his body, though. It's Newt. He's been stabbed in the face multiple times. I lay my hands on his chest, astonished. "No, no, no, no, no. No!"

He can't be dead, not again. Who did this?! I lay my head on his chest, along with my hands, and grasp his shirt. I sob, and sob. I've been crying for at least five minutes, when I see footsteps out of my peripheral vision. I look up, I feel my body shake. I look at the stranger's feet, then set my glance up to see his face. Newt?

How? I look at the body, then back at Newt. He's a Crank. I look at his right hand. A knife. I stand up, wipe my tears. He has a menacing look on his face, but I don't care. I run into his arms, and he orders me off, but I don't care. He pulls my head back off of him by my hair, and slits my throat, deep. I feel the blood filling my throat, then my lungs. I can't breathe. I fall to the floor. Black spots fill my eyes, and I'm out.

I wake up. And I can't tell if it's a dream, or real. I run to the bathroom, and look in the mirror. I look for anything that a dream could distort. I'm awake.

Ok, I'm awake.

It feels as if my heart is trying to escape out of my chest. I can barely control my breathing. I walk back into my bedroom, and lie down. I check the clock, it's six thirty. The door won't unlock until seven. WICKED has a system to where the doors lock at eleven at night, and unlock at seven in the morning. Almost feels like the Maze doors. They do that so no one will go into rooms they shouldn't in the middle of the night. To keep order.

I miss him. I wonder what they're doing to him right now. Is he in a bed? Or still on that table?

I can't stand this. I need to get out of here. It's six forty-five the next time I look at the clock. I decide to get ready. The only clothes provided are similar to the ones I wore in the Maze. The same color green shirt, like a dark color to match my eyes. And a brownish colored pair of pants. And a pair of black military kinda boots.

Make up. Hmm...haven't had any of that in three years. I still remember how to apply it, and I do. It's seven ten now. The doors have been unlocked for ten minutes. I take a deep breath, and walk outside the door. I walk to the elevator, and press the down button. As soon as the elevator arrives, I step in, and press level three. The elevator doesn't have music...thank you...I step outside, and walk into the room with the computers. The man with the slicked hair walks up to me, with a wide smile on his face. He's a morning person, I suppose. I've never actually asked for his name. I look at his name tag, Joshua.

"Good morning, Kenzie. How did you sleep?"

I shrug. "You?"

"I didn't sleep at all, actually. You see, we were up all night, experimenting your hypothesis on the Flare. And I think you will find the results very satisfying. We've had one of our very own scientists sign up for this, and is very prosperous. The Flare is leaving his mind. All with hope."

"That's good." I see by the expression on Joshua's face that he can tell I don't give a klunk. I just want to see Newt.

"Follow me." He leads me out the door, and straight across the hallway, and into the same room Newt was in last night. He looks over at us when we walk in. All of the wires are gone. Even the heart monitor is off. His eyes light up, and he shoots up off of the table, and walks toward us...more like runs...he runs toward us. He slams into me, and wraps his arms around me. He kisses the top of my head, and I look up, see the tears streaming down his face. I can't tell if he's happy or sad. I don't really care, though. I'm just glad to be with him.

"I'll leave you two to talk," Joshua says as he turns to the door, walks out, shutting the door behind him. Newt looks at me, straight in the eyes, and asks, "Do you remember me?"

"Of course I do, you're the guy from Group A, right?" He frowns, but I smile back at him, and he realizes I'm joking. He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a silver ring. He shows it to me, and slips it on my left ring finger. "So I'm guessing you remember this?" I stare at it, and he pulls his silver band out if his pocket, slips it on his left ring finger.

I turn around to walk out, it's too much to take in at the moment. He touches my arm, and I flinch. The images of him in my nightmares last night come back, and I feel myself tense up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just...want to see the progress that the scientists have done." I open the door, and he follows me.

"I heard you helped find the cure."

"Well, they haven't really proven it yet...but I'm thinking it's right." We walk into the computer room. I never realized how big it was until now. The brown haired lady walks up to us. I thought her name was Brenda at first...Brenda. I saw a flash of her face on the lady. But I came back to reality. They left. They left you, Kenzie. Her name was Barbara. Not Brenda.

"Would you like to see the test subject?" Subject. I hate that. We walk out of the room. Down more hallways. Hallways. Hallways. And into what looks like an observation room. There's a glass window, and the subject is sitting at a table on the other side of it. "He is telling himself he doesn't have the Flare, at the moment. Sounds kind of ridiculous when I say it out loud." She snickers, and stares at the man through the window. "Thank you, for informing us of your observation. Although you and your friends did blow up one of our finest WICKED buildings, you have been extremely useful to us in finding a cure. We are very desperate in finding it."

"I know," is all I could say.