"So when did you- you know- fall in love with her?" Thomas smirked, knowing he had him right where I wanted him, with his head in Fionaland.
"Woah," Newt defeated with his hands up, "What?"
"I may be slow to getting to know things around here, but...
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Everything we feared. Everything we thought we were safe from was just wrapped up and sealed with a bow. WCKD was still very much alive and even worse we were part of it. Aris's friends were suffering as they hung from the wall unconscious. In the state that they were in, it didn't look like they could live like that for much longer. My eyes begged not to see Teresa or Fi hanging there. That was the only ounce of luck I was afforded today.
Janson burst through the door as I jumped behind a pillar, the same determined walk but with more frustration in his voice, "You sure this can't wait?
Doctor Crawford spoke next, "She was very specific, sir. She wanted to speak with you personally."
"As if I don't have enough to deal with." Janson muttered
"Just bear with me. I'm getting some interference from the storm."
He brushed it off, "Come on. It's good enough. Make the connection."
"Good evening, Doctor Paige." My heart sunk at the sight of her blonde hair. I would recognize her face anywhere. The head of WCKD and the mastermind of all my nightmares. "Lovely to see you again. Although I admit... I wasn't expecting to hear from you quite so soon."
She cut through his pleasantries, "Change of plans, Janson. I'll be arriving a little sooner than expected. First thing tomorrow."
He nodded, his face was turned away from me so I couldn't see his true feelings on the matter. "We'll be delighted to have you. I think you'll be pleased with the progress we've made. As you can see, early results have been extremely promising. Whatever it is you've been doing to them in there, it's working."
"Not well enough. I just received board approval." She ordered him, "I want all the remaining subjects sedated and prepped for harvest by the time I arrive."
"Doctor Paige, we are going as fast as we can. We are still running tests..."
"Try something faster." She had little time for his excuses. "Until I can guarantee their security, this is the best plan."
He shook his head, and I could tell by his posture that he was not overly fond of the respect level he was receiving, "Ma'am, security is my job. We're on a twenty-four-hour lockdown here. I am assuring you... the assets are secure."
"Have you found the Right Arm?" She changed her course.
He exhaled, "Not yet. We tracked them as far as the mountains."
"So they're still out there." She concluded, unimpressed all around.
"And they've already hit two of our installations. They want these kids as badly as we do. And I cannot..." She put emphasis in her words, "I cannot afford another loss. Not now, when I am so close to a cure. If you are not up to the task, I will find someone who is."
"That won't be necessary." He told her, "Might I suggest we start with the most recent arrivals.
"How's our favorite girl?" She tensed her jaw with the words. My heart instantly dropped with worry for Teresa.
"Her condition is stable. I'm told another brain wipe is not recommended. It's unclear what the side effects are for even a second. The doctors are saying, it might have everlasting effects on her mind and we just might lose the intelligence we need."
"Just do what you need to. Janson. I don't want them to feel any pain." Pretending to be a saint. He agreed with her, turning around. Making me duck back behind the pillar again as he left. Aris and I didn't even have to speak out loud for our brains to understand what happens next.
All I knew is that we were only safe on our own.
I barreled through the vest, punching the gate open. I side out from under the bed, jumping up and ripping my sheets off.
"Thomas!" Newt hollered, trying to get me to slow down but I pushed him out of the way.
"We gotta go. We gotta go right now!" I yelled, hoping to get everyone out of bed and ready to run.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Minho grimaced.
"What do you mean, "We gotta go?" Newt repeated, his face filled with concern.
I shook anyone who didn't look like they were awake. "They're coming. Come on. We gotta go. They're coming for us."
"Who?"
"Ava. She's still alive." Aris spoke finally, making them bounce their attention between the two of us.
"What happened in there?" Next asked me first, begging for an answer. Then turning to Aris. "Aris, what happened?"
He ran his hand through his hair, looking nowhere but the ground, still too in shock to formulate words.
"Thomas, can you just calm down and talk to us?" Minho tried to help me get a solid thought through.
"She's still alive!"
"Who's 'she'?" Fry is worried. " Fi? Teresa?"
"Ava!" I yelled finishing my knot on the door hands
"Ava?" Newt still looked at me like I was insane, grabbing both my shoulders and holding me in place for a moment. "Will you just turn around and talk to us?"
"It's WCKD!" I screamed. "It's still WCKD. It's always been WCKD."
I saw the panic flash over his eyes. Minho didn't take any more convincing, starting to throw what little we had into a bag.
"Thomas. What did you see?" Newt ordered answers again.
"They are still testing us! They wiped Teresa's memories again. The maze wasn't the end!" I stressed, my entire being begging him to believe me. To follow me again, for all of our sakes.
"Okay, let's go!" I agreed, pulling Aris with us. Basically throwing his frozen in a fear state into the vent and following right behind. I slithered as fast as I could through the vents, taking every turn to lead us out the fastest way possible. I kicked a large grate open, opening it into a hallway.
"You guys go ahead," Aris told us, a southern accent much more apparent now that he wasn't whispering to me in a vent. "There's something I gotta do."
"What are you talking about?" I questioned him, not liking the idea of splitting up. We might never get back together if we split now.
"Trust me, it's important. You guys wanna get outta here, right? Just go." Aris instructed, pushing us along.
"I'll go with him." Winston offered.
"Okay, Winston, go! Go!" Newt ordered and they headed in the back into the vent.
"You sure we can trust this kid?" Minho asked me as we started running.
I looked back to make sure no one was following us, "You don't want to know where we'd be without him."
We rounded a corner, I sent my hands out to stop everyone behind me. We came face to face with Doctor Crawford, "What are you kids doing out?"
--
Finished, edited, and put 13 chapters of this book into wattpad in the past two days. that means 11 more days of Single Blind new chapters. maybe more if I edit chapters 44 and 45 which is promising. :)
I'M TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME BC YOU GUYS DESERVE IT.
