NIGHT BEDS ━︎━︎ THE MAZE RUNNER

xxxi. PLEASE, TOMMY. PLEASE.

the death cure soundtrack // please, tommy. please.

THE BERG WAS JUST THERE, sitting flat on the open ground with the engines still running. Brenda, Frypan, Vince and Jorge were there to watch the explosions and fires afar from where they were.

Brenda was clutching the bottle of serum she had kept safely with her. She heard Teresa's message, everyone did. The serum she had was nothing compared to the real cure that will save thousands of lives if they could, Thomas's blood. At least the serum could hold the infected for a while until it dies off like the Bliss, but this serum also couldn't buy them enough time.

The least Thomas could do was come back to Teresa.

"Brenda!" Minho shouted as he went up the stairs towards the square, Gally followed behind him. "Where's the serum?!"

As soon as they exchanged questions and answers, it was now Brenda running as fast as she could through the city looking for Thomas before it was too late. It was hard for Minho, Frypan and Gally to catch up as there were gunfires everywhere to duck away from and Brenda was racing down from one street to the next, screaming for Thomas.

Gally hasn't ran this fast since the tunnels when the train was speeding towards their path. His chest was starting to tighten, and his arms grew tired from carrying the heavy gun with him, but the only thing on his mind was Newt and his fiancée. Newt needed to be saved, and MK's apparent cry for help was abruptly cut off without any given idea on where she was. All he got from her was a yes to the ring, now he had lost her again.

Gally's eyes lit up when he saw Brenda standing a fair distance from a familiar face. Thomas.

Something wasn't right. He had tears in his eyes, and he slowly got up from a lanky figure lying lifelessly on the ground. He turned passed some glass windows and walked off, leaving Brenda standing there.

Gally was the last one to arrive at the scene. He was confused. They found Thomas who had just left them. Then that was when he finally caught on who the body on the ground was. He recognized the red WCKD uniform he was handed to hours before the infection spread inside him. He remembered him by his British accent and once being a good friend of his until Thomas came to the Glade, he would drink his mason jar moonshine during bonfires, and he bragged about being his best man. He knew that he will never get to see him on his big day—which hurt like hell, but accepted his fate—at least he was happy that his close friend was gonna get married. He died knowing Gally was gonna be happy.

They were too late. Gally rubs the back of his neck as he couldn't imagine how Thomas must of felt before they could reach them. He was close to dropping on his knees like what Minho and Fry were doing in front of Newt's body. There was a knife plunged in his chest, and that agonizing sense of pain and heartbreak felt like the knife was rammed into his, because it was what he was feeling at that very moment.

RUTH ARABELLA HANDS MK a cylindrical metal object. MK recognized it anywhere. A clean stinger from the safe, not gooey or anything dirty from when Thomas jabbed one into his leg the night Grievers attacked the Glade. She hasn't seen those stingers ever since. It was traumatizing to even look at it, as those things have been attached to Grievers after all.

MK remembered when she looked into the eyes—if they were even eyes at all—of a Griever. It was big, slimy and disgusting and it was peering down at her like a meal. She was so terrified to see one that she couldn't move. Minho and Ben would tell the stories of their encounters with them during the bonfires like urban legends, and word would spread around of what they looked like and she finally came face to face with one. Something like that would be in scary books and movies and she wondered how WCKD came up with something so God awful like a Griever. They lost Ben, Alby, Zart and Jeff to those things.

"What is it that I gotta do to make you say yes?" Ruth said.

"I have everything and everyone that I need," MK says. "But if you really wanna prove me wrong, then show me all of my memories. I want to remember all of them. Every single one. Prove to me that I can forget about my family and the people I've been with. I wanna know how I was before all of this."

Ruth swallowed in her throat and stared at her. "As you wish. But do allow me to warn you that you will pass out. It is a stinger."

"How long will I be out for?"

"With Thomas he had a ton of memories, way more than you. We were told it took him all night like a dream. But I'll use a serum to wake you up when it's time."

"Fine. I'm not afraid." She stared down at the number labelled on it.  "You promise not to abduct me if I'm out cold?"

Ruth nods. "I promise. I have nothing to help me strap you down, anyway."

She nods.

"MaryKate?" Ruth was still looking at when she looked back up.

"What?"

"You'll be sweating, and if a memory reaches too far you will bleed, it's too much for your system to handle. That's why I have serum to wake you up before you end up getting yourself hurt."

"I've already been hurt," she motioned at her dirty face, working down at the second to third degree burns on her arm, leg and body.

Ruth nodded. "Before you think about anything, just know that the visuals you will see are nothing but real. This stinger wasn't doctored or manipulated with anything that I used on you for your dreams. It's anything but what you see when you sleep at night."

"You better not be lying," MK says.

"I am speaking nothing but the truth about this stinger. I'll revive your memories so you can finally understand that your past is gone. This will only be a one time thing, first cone and first served to you, especially waited this long for you."

MK pauses and looks down at the cylindrical object. Her mind relaxed for a bit as if what she was waiting for was a vaccine, where the doctor tells the person to relax and distractingly tells them anything of a question of how their day went or to count to 5, but by the time the person could reach 2, the needle is already injected.

This was in her hands now . . .

With a fast motion, MK stabs it in her arm.

She felt lightheaded . . . flashes blinded her vision while she tried to keep them open.

She falls on the ground, and let out a short breath.