"You'll Always Be My Princess...."

Chapter 24

After a couple seconds, I hear a door behind us open, making me glance over at it.

I push it open, revealing some bright florescent lights.

I walk away from Newt, and I step out into the hallway.

Everyone joins me, and we look down the hallway.

We slowly begin to walk down the hallway, my hand in Newt's.

We slowly come upon a door with an exit sign above it.

"Seriously", Frypan says.

Thomas slowly steps forwards, looking at the door. He turns the handle, before pushing it in.

I look in to see a whole hell of a lot of people lying on the ground dead.

We walk in, and I make my way through the bodies.

"What happened here", Winston asks, before we walk into a different room.

I walk over to Newt, who's now looking at some screens. "So, they were watching us. This whole time..."

"Hello", I hear a woman's voice speak, making me look up. "My name is Doctor Ava Paige. I'm Director of Operations of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. If you're watching this, that means you have successfully completed the Maze Trials. I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you, but circumstances seem 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. Billions of lives lost to fire, famine, suffering on a global scale. The fallout was unimaginable. What came after was worse. We called it the Flare. A deadly virus that attacks the brain. It is violent, unpredictable, incurable. 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 sacrificed, inside harsh environments, 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 will no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods. Progress is slow, people are scared. It may be too late for us, for me, but not for you... The outside world awaits. Remember...", she gets out a gun, pointing it at her head, Wicked is good." She pulls the trigger, making everyone look away.

"Oh my god...", I whisper, backing up.

The other door opens, when someone grabs me from behind, pressing a gun against my skull and covering my mouth with their hand.

"Is it over?"

"She said we were important... What are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't know... Let's get out of here."

"No", I hear Gally speak from behind me.

Oh no... That's who has grabbed me...

Everyone turns around to see Gally pointing his gun at me, and I notice Newt's fists clench in pure anger.

"Gally", Thomas questions, stepping forwards.

"Don't. He's been stung", Teresa says.

"We can't leave... None of us", Gally says, gripping me tightly.

"We did. Gally, we're out. We're free", Thomas says, as Newt eyes his gun carefully.

"Free? You think we're free out there? No. No, there's no escape from this place", Gally says.

"Don't shoot her, Gally. You know you don't want to kill her..."

"You're right. You're the one I want", Gally says, removing the gun from my skull and pointing it at Thomas.

"Gally, listen to me. You're not thinking straight. You're not. Now, we can help you. Just put down the gun", Thomas whispers.

"I belong to the maze."

"Just put down the gun."

"We all do."

He pulls the trigger, but Chuck pushes Thomas out of the way, as Minho throws his stick at Gally hitting him directly in the chest.

His grip loosens around me, and I push him off me, backing away from him.

He hits the ground, wheezing, before falling over, dead.

"Thomas...", Chuck says, making us look at him.

I look down at his chest to see bloody oozing out of it.

"Chuck."

Thomas quickly catches Chuck, and I run over to them.

"Oh, shit. Shit", Thomas says. "Look at me, look at me! Oh, shit! Chuck, look at me, all right? I got you, buddy. Just hang on. It's okay", Thomas whispers.

"Thomas, Thomas..."

He holds out his carving, making the tears start to fall from my eyes.

"No, Chuck. You're gonna give it to them yourself. Remember we told you that", Thomas says.

"Take it..."

"No..."

Thank you", Chuck says, looking at us. "Thank you."

"No, Chuck, you're gonna get..."

Chuck goes silent, his eyes not moving.

"Chuck. Chuck? Hey. Hey, Chuck, come on!"

I stand up, backing away from Chuck, making Newt grab me, swiftly pulling me into his strong arms.

I bury my head in his chest, sobbing softly. I cling onto his waist, as he cries softly.

I hear the door open in the distant, after a couple minutes, but I don't look away from Newt's chest.

Newt takes my hand in his, intertwining our fingers, before we're pushed along.

Once we're in the plane, I lie my head on Newt's chest, curling up next to him.

He wraps his arms around me, as I stare at the plane flooring.

Three years in that place.

Three years of wondering if I'd ever get out.

Three years of being in love with my best friend, Newt.

Once we're lifted off the ground, I lift my head off his chest and look at the window, at the maze below.

It's huge.

Newt looks down at me, and I look up at him.

"I love you, princess..."

"I love you to, Newt", I smile.

He leans down and kisses my lips softly and sweetly.

As long as I have Newt and the others... I know we'll be able to get through anything.

Together.

And only together.