Trials Together (Book Three): The Death Cure

Chapter 17

It actually wasn't that hard to fit fourteen people in the basement of the house, which was carpeted and had a small bathroom and electricity. It was obvious that normally no one ever came down there, there were even a few children's toys in a box in a corner, which certainly looked as if they had been sat there for eleven years.

They didn't have to stay in the basement during the day, only to stay out of bedrooms and the attic. It wouldn't make for a permanent arrangement, and Thomas wasn't exactly comfortable accepting charity, but it would do for the moment.

But they had to be quiet, all the time, Mark explained that was because Darnell, Misty and the Toad, who Alec had collectively called 'The Three Stooges' for some unknown reason, worked as guards at the Crank Palace outside the city walls. They left at 6PM and came back at 6AM every day and didn't wake before 4PM. If you woke them they would apparently put salt in your coffee or something.

Crank Palace guard was one of the jobs that only Immunes would take, and with all the disappearances the guard ratio was very low. Darnell had mentioned something about some saner Cranks planning an uprising, to take over the city

From everything Thomas had heard it seemed that they had walked into the impending apocalypse. Just their luck.

"So, we've come out of the frying pan and into the fire." Rachel had collected up several blankets and pillows from somewhere and was laying them out in the corner. Thomas knew he would be crammed in with her, Aris and Teresa again but didn't mind that at all. With his memories back doing so seemed even more natural than it had during the Trials, mostly because they had done it all the time as kids.

"As we usually do." Aris had commandeered someone's workpad and was playing a game that involved a bouncing lightbulb. "Because our luck was cursed in an arcane ritual before any of us were even born."

"Sounds about right." Rachel snorted, pulling the sheets tight. "That should do."

Thomas wondered how strange it must be for Teresa, having now come almost full circle in her life. In a way it made her incredibly lucky, and he could tell he wasn't the only one to envy her.

Thomas's parents had both come down with the Flare, and would be long dead. Newt had seen his mum and dad killed by WICKED for attempting to protect their children, and had recently lost his little sister, who meant the world to him. Both him and Minho were struggling, and Thomas had left it to Harriet, their close childhood friendships were gone, but she could handle them. Thomas would run from anything Harriet couldn't handle. Very fast.

He had read the files on Aris and Rachel, the memories they had suppressed. Rachel had lived with a grandmother whose dementia meant she had been almost ignored, and the woman's infection with the Flare had gone unnoticed for months until a neighbour had called police out of concern for the girl. They had taken her away, discovered she was Immune and handed her over to WICKED in less than 24 hours. She'd only been four.

Aris had been cared for by his older sister, who had only been twelve when the Flares hit and died before she turned sixteen. The file had noted that she had also been Immune, as siblings had a 1 in 4 chance of being. Thomas would never understand why someone had felt the need to include a picture of the pair, but he would never forget it: a young girl with only one eye, half of her face melted like candle wax, her brother clinging to her.

She had given him away willingly, then been killed by a rogue Crank less than a year later.

Thomas had shown those files to Teresa, and they had both agreed to never let their friends know what they contained, some things were better forgotten.

None of the rest of them could ever find their families again. But Teresa had, Thomas could tell that made her self-conscious, at least no one was giving her a hard time.

Likely because they were all benefitting.

Her people were surprisingly nice, in such a way that you knew you didn't owe anything back. Even though physical threats were passed around like candy.

Despite this most of the Gladers were apprehensive, the Trials had made them immediately distrustful of any stranger, but not enough to refuse a free and safe place to stay.

"Why have none of you actually gone to work today?" Thomas asked Trina, if they hadn't because of him and his friends it would attract attention, and no attention could be good.

"We all take one day off a month. You just got lucky." She looked up from the tablet she was working on.

"To do what?" Teresa sat on the counter, she was growing more comfortable here by the second, Thomas was noticing, filling the place she always should have had.

"To drink and complain about stupid coworkers." Trina glanced at the clock on the wall. "I'd best go find out what's happening for dinner, or we might not get any."

Dinner ended up being pizza, because no one actually wanted to cook. Thomas could agree with that, the only thing he knew how to make was grilled cheese, and he had once set a fire doing that. Rachel had been greatly amused by that.

"I want to ask a few questions." Jorge announced after the meal was over, Thomas had asked several, never able to restrain his curiosity, the answers weren't withheld but not exactly detailed.

"Ask away, but if you want the whole story you're in for a long night." Lana replied, brushing her hair back into its bun. It seemed that despite only having one ear she could hear perfectly well from both sides. Thomas had also noticed how her left arm seemed weaker than the right, slightly crooked. She had said it was due to a 'quite horrible incident with Cranks' and Thomas hadn't pushed further.

"We can deal with that." Newt leaned forward on his elbows. "Start talking."

It was the craziest story Thomas had ever heard, but he didn't doubt its validity. The scar Darnell had on his shoulder from the virus dart, Lana's injuries, the way Trina flinched recounting her captivity by a cult of long Gone Cranks. It also matched perfectly to everything Teresa had ever told him, Aris and Rachel.

The Flare had been a man-made, biological weapon, released to thin a population too big to feed. But it had gone wrong, mutated, became the plague WICKED was desperately trying, and failing to Cure.

Thomas knew how the virus worked, knew that one percent of the population was Immune, and that there were only two billion people left on the planet.

"Why do I actually believe all of that?" Brenda asked when the group finally finished talking, the role of speaker had passed around everyone, with no disagreements in events.

"Because who'd make it up." Alejandra answered her. Thomas didn't know her or Mary at all, but thought he might be able to like them, if there was time.

Most of the Gladers were silent, labouring under the dawning revelation that WICKED had lied to them, that the original heads of the organisation had created the problem they were trying to solve.

Had destroyed humanity by trying to save it.

"Now it's your turn. You've heard our secrets." Mark prompted. It was a fair enough trade.

Thomas turned to Harriet, who he knew could tell the story of the Trials concisely but perfectly, although he knew he would have to relate what he had done as an Elite Subject.

In the end it felt good to get his secrets off his chest, to tell everything he had done until he entered this room.

By the time all the telling was done it was past one in the morning. Further actions still needed to be discussed but everyone was too tired.

Thomas threw himself down between Teresa and the wall, instantly falling into a dreamless sleep.

A/N: Rereading my writing is painful, I keep repeating lines and making strange mistakes. I have got to stop doing this at 10PM or later. Feel free to come talk to me on tumblr, my username is still msnoname24 there.