caroline wakes up in a metal cage/ box thing, soaring up an elevator shaft looking thing. she doesn't know where she is or what happened, but she wakes up coughing water, gasping for air. she doesn't even remember her name at first. as the box come...
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chapter twenty four.
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Thomas leads us through a doorway, which reveals the main room. And even more death and destruction. I suck in a breath at the sight. Electric cables crackle above us while broken glass crackles under us. A more apparent smell of smoke fills my nose as we start to make our way around the metal room. I walk past someone in a white suit and shiver at the sight of a bullet hole in his chest. Newt and I then come up on a group of screens and my face drops at the sight. Some have live feeds of the Glade, some have stats, some are too glitchy to tell, some even have an active brain scan, showing brain patterns.
"So they were watching us." Newt states while observing the screens. "This whole time."
"Not creepy at all." I mutter through a breath. A voice from behind us comes alive, one I've heard before, I just can't place where. I spin around to see a big screen turned on, a recorded video playing. A blonde lady with slicked back hair into a bun, dressed in white, is talking.
"Hello." She greets in a professional tone. "My name is Dr. Ava Paige. I'm director of operations at the World Catastrophe Killzone Department." Ava.. the girl from our dreams.. oh lord.
"W.I.C.K.E.D" I whisper as I piece together the letters of WCKD in my head.
"If you're watching this, that means you've successfully completed the Maze Trials. I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you.. but circumstances seemed to have prevented it. I'm sure by now you must all be very confused, angry, frightened. I can only assure you that everything that's happened to you, everything we've done to you, it was all done for a reason. You won't remember, but the sun has scorched our world." An image of the blazing sun pops up on screen, illuminating our faces with an orange glow before switching to images of the damage caused. "Billions of lives lost to fire, famine, suffering on a global scale. The fallout was unimagineable. What came after was worse. We called it the Flare. A deadly virus that attacks the brain." I then feel a small tug on my left hand and look down to see Thomas' hand holding mine, and I immediately squeeze back.
"It is violent, unpredictable, incurable." She drones. I flinch hard as a video shows the effects the Flare has on a person. "Or so we thought. In time, a new generation emerged that could survive the virus. Suddenly, there was a reason to hope for a Cure. But finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrifced, inside harsh enviornments, where their brain activity could be studied. All in an effort to understand what makes them different.. what makes you different. You may not realize it, but you're very important. Unfortunately, your trials have only just begun. As you'll no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods. Progress is slow, people are scared. It may be too late for us."
Then, a team of people dressed in dark clothing and guns burst into the room, shooting the place up and taking lives with them. I shift my weight uncomfortably as I watch the scene unfold.
