From The WICKED Start | A Maze Runner Story (English Version)

31. The last goodbye

I woke up again when I heard voices outside the door. Voices I knew.
Slowly I straightened up. We were still sitting next to each other just as I had fallen asleep and Minho seemed to have dozed a little too, because he had just lifted his head off mine when I opened my eyes.
Again I heard a familiar voice, but I couldn't tell who it belonged to because the door was still locked and not everything was coming through. The people standing there had to whisper and I wondered what time it was. Probably in the middle of the night.
Suddenly the door clicked and I finally recognised the voices, but I could hardly believe that I was not dreaming.
"We did it!" That was Thomas.
"Quick, inside before anyone sees us!" Teresa.
They slipped into the room, which was still brightly lit, and locked the door behind them. When they saw us, Teresa slapped her hands over her mouth and Thomas whispered: "Holy shit."
Quickly he came towards us and crouched down in front of me.
"Tommy...," I croaked and felt tears when I realized that this was the last time I saw him. Just that I saw him again was incredible.
"How did you get in here?" Minho asked.
"Thomas stole a member of staff's card. That was very dangerous, but also... brave." Their eyes met and they looked at each other for a moment longer than normal.
Teresa also came to us and sat down next to Thomas. "We heard what they did to you. How are you?"
"What have they done to us?" Minho sat up straight.
"They've created simulations in your heads to drain your serum. And it seems to have worked." Teresa sounded fascinated, but worried.
Suddenly a memory flashed past my mind's eye again. Gally and Newt in the maze, pursued by a Griever. A shiver ran down my spine.
And then I remembered something else.
"Teresa... I have to thank you. You really did it. They're sending me to Newt. Even though I really didn't make it easy for you." I smiled at her gratefully and she took my hand and squeezed it.
"It was the least I could do."
"Paige really seems to think a lot of you."
She nodded slowly. "Seems that way."
"How are Gally and Newt? How are the kids who didn't make it? What did they do to them? Did the Right Arm get away?" The questions just kept popping out of me, and I didn't know which one I wanted to be answered first.
Teresa seemed to decide to answer them one by one. "They are both fine, but something has happened to George. They couldn't keep him with them because the risk was too great and decided to put him in the maze..."
"That was quite violent," Thomas threw in and looked down.
"His condition worsened more and more and he was less and less responsive until he tried to bite everything and everyone that came near him. I think they probably had no choice...
The kids you tried to get out of here are back in their rooms. Unfortunately, there aren't many left. Janson is incredibly upset, and it's all thanks to Miss Paige that they didn't do any worse to you." She looked at us rebuking and shook her head. "I just don't understand what got into you guys."
Thomas looked at me and our eyes met. He would never tell her that he had helped us and I believed it was for the best.
When no one said anything, Teresa continued talking. "Well, the group got away with the kids and was nowhere to be found. Fortunately for them, I want to say. Those who stayed here will continue to live as they did before and then at some point they will all be sent to one of the mazes. Since Janson believes that the threat has disappeared with you, they will not be taken away."
I did not know what to think about all this. The kids were safe and the Right Arm had escaped, which was much more than I had dared to hope for after all that had happened. Nevertheless, the thought hurt me that the other children would at some point have the same fate as us and there was nothing we could do about it.
"Your friend, Rachel, has already been taken to another maze. She has been the least of your worries, if it's any comfort to you." Thomas looked directly at me and I knew he suspected what was going on in my head all along.
It's my fault. If it wasn't for me, none of this would have happened.
Even if Minho disagreed. I knew that he would keep saying that it was his decision, as well as Rachel's, and that they had no regrets.
And they wouldn't, right? Rachel had already forgotten everything and Minho and I would soon do the same. I wondered what would happen if we woke up next to each other and didn't even know each other anymore.
"Thomas, we have to go. If anyone catches us here, they'll throw us in a cell like this." Teresa broke the silence and stood up.
Thomas nodded, came even closer and took me in his arms. Teresa joined us and carefully put her arms around us. I could hear her sobbing softly and Thomas seemed to cry, too.
This goodbye perhaps didn't hurt like Newt's or Gally's - it hurt differently. Probably just as much. Because I would never see them again, not even without recognising them, I was absolutely sure of that.
This was goodbye forever.
When the two broke away from me again, Teresa wiped her face to hide her tears and Thomas also dabbed a few tears away with his sleeve.
"Well then... So long, Minho," Teresa nodded at the boy next to me while I too dried my tears.
"So long, you two." His voice trembled.
"Have a good trip. We'll take care of you." Thomas squeezed my hand once more and then followed Teresa to the door. Before he closed it behind him, he looked at me once more and I could already see that painful look again that Gally and Newt had had when they had their last look at me.
But this time I was the one who was left behind.