The Player of the Maze

W.C.K.D

Crawling through the dusty air vents. The three would reach the end, where they were yesterday. Only to find another boy crouching over the air vent in the ceiling.

"Woah. Wait." Thomas immediately pushed Paige behind him. "Who's this?"

"Chill out. You can trust him. He's my friends. The one who noticed the air vents led here." Aris said as a boy their age appeared next to Aris. His eyes fell on Thomas putting his hand out, Thomas shook it.

"Thomas."

"Luca." The boy said. His hair was a dark brown like Thomas' he was smaller than Thomas and Paige in height ways. His eyes had no bags under his eyes like he could sleep anytime, anywhere. His jawline was as sharp as a 90 degree angle. Bright white teeth glowed in the dark, as he smiled at Thomas and Paige. The color green in his eyes looked at Paige stood behind Thomas.

"Paige." Paige said still behind Thomas.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Either of you." Luca said. "I just want to get out of here. Before they call my name."

"Let's go then." Paige said holding the key card.

"Alright. I'll go first." Thomas said opening the vent, it swinging down.

"He always this protective of her?" Luca asked whispering to Aris.

"Yes." Paige said watching Thomas hang down then dropping. Looking back up, Thomas looked at Paige. Paige nodded.

"Alright let's go." Aris said. Paige pushed him back gently.

"Wait." Paige whispered. Appearing below them, Thomas looked up again and nodded.

"Okay. Go after me." Paige said looking at Aris and the new boy Luca. They both nodded. Taking a deep breath in, Paige dropped. Expecting to hit the floor, instead she fell into something warm. Thomas had caught her. Looking at him, she looked back at his lips then at his eyes again. Helping her stand up, Thomas smiled. Dropping down, Aris and Luca landed on their feet.

"Okay. Paige." Thomas said. Swiping the keycard, the door lifted making the four step back. As it lifted blue surrounded them, suits, hazard signs, and numbers. For once, Paige walked in front of Thomas looking around Luca and Aris found themselves looking through a window. At large tubes, filled with water and bubbles connected to wires. With some sort of creature inside. Who knows what it was. The other two (Thomas and Paige) looked around at the other door. Suddenly, the door opened leading to the four stood looking into a large room. What came next wasn't a surprise, but it was. Bodies. The same ones that had been called out. They weren't dead. But they weren't alive either. Tubes coming out, when Paige looked blood was coming out of the tubes. Turing into some blue liquid. Rows and rows of these children lined up. That's where Paige knew she had to do something. Chuck would have wanted her to. Although, before she could the door opened. The four scattered hiding behind pillars, tanks, and bodies. Thomas and Aris on one side of the walkway in the middle of the room. Paige and Luca on the other. Janson and a guard walked in, both holding iPads in their hands. Peering out from behind a pillar, Paige looked at what they were doing, so did the others.

"Come on we don't have all day." Janson said getting impatient.

"Sorry sir it's interference from the storm." The guard said. Like it was on cue, a blue screen appeared in between to large pillars. A women. Dressed in all white. Paige looked away thinking. The women. The women on the screen when they got out the maze. She worked for Wicked. Why as Janson talking to her? Ava. That was her name Ava Paige. Wicked. What were they doing together? Paige looked back gulping her salvia.

"Doctor Ava Paige." Janson said formally.

"Janson. I have news I am expected to arrive early tomorrow morning. I need the rest of the subjects prepped and ready for harvesting by then." Ava Paige announced. She was sitting at a desk, maybe hers, staking piles of paper on her desk making it tidy, like she was setting off now to arrive tomorrow morning.

"Dr. We are moving as fast as we can. As you can see the results are promising.
Whatever you have been doing to them in there it's working." Janson said as he pulled up some statistics on brains and heartbeats and numbers. Ava looked at these statistics and shook her head.

"It's not working enough." Ava replied. Janson frowned.

"I suggest. We work on our newest arrivals." Janson suggested. Thomas quickly looked at Paige, that was them. Their friends. Them.

"You sure you want to do that? What about her?" Ava asked.

"Who?" Janson asked confused.

"Your daughter. Paige Everdeen." Ava said. Ringing in Paige's eyes as the world spun around her. Looking away she looked at the floor below her breathing heavily.

"She doesn't know." Janson nodded. "She's not my daughter. Just a subject with a means to an end."

"Very well then." Dr. Ava Paige nodded. "I don't want them to feel a thing."

"They won't feel a thing." Janson repeated walking away. "Cut it off." The guard did as he was told as he cut the call off. As soon as they walked out the room, Thomas ran over to Paige.

"Hey. Hey. We're going to talk about this. But right now. We need to get the others out. They're your family. I'm your family. It's Wicked." Thomas said shaking her. Paige looked at him like she was half out of her mind nodding.
"Aris, Luca, come on."

•••••

Busting the vent open the rest of the Gladers jumped up to find Thomas crawling out helping Paige up before hurrying towards the door.

"Thomas what is it?" Newt asked jumping up. "What did you see?"

"Ava." He said over and over again as he grabbed a mattress putting it next to the door. Then a blanket tying it round a bunk bed then the door.

"Thomas!" Minho shouted.

"It's Wicked!" Thomas said getting frustrated. "It's Wicked! It's always been Wicked!"

"Paige?" Frypan asked. The girl looked directly straight ahead like she just witnessed death. Chuck, now she was the rats daughter.

"She'll be okay. I just have to get us out of here." Thomas said. "They're coming. We need to go."