Touch Of Memory

Chapter LX

'Who are they?' Teresa asked, innocently.

'The Creators,' Minho spat.

They kept looking at us, some of them taking notes. I kept thinking about my mother. Would I find her?

'I'm going to kill you,' Cam yelled.

'What are they waiting for?' Sofia asked.

A loud beeping sound cut her off. Everyone looked at Thomas. He shrugged. A door opened, and the beeping stopped, leaving a deep silence. I couldn't breathe.

Two people walked into the room. The woman was familiar, I knew I'd seen her before.

'Welcome back,' she said. 'It's amazing to see that so few of you died.'

'Excuse me?' Newt asked.

'Mr. Newton, everything has gone according to plan,' she replied, in a cold tone. Was I supposed to find the other Maze? Was it all part of the plan?

She glanced at her companion, pulling off his hood.

I almost passed out. It was Gally. Wasn't he dead?

'What's he doing here?' Newt shouted.

'Be at ease now, you're safe,' the woman said.

'Safe?' I asked.
'Yes,' she replied. 'I see you've gotten along with Thomas and our little Chuck.'

The way she talked made me sick.

Meanwhile, Gally didn't respond. He seemed even sicker than before.

'There is, of course, one final Variable,' she said, stepping back.

I squeezed Newt's hand. Something was incredibly wrong. Gally's body trembled, his face twitching, as if he were trying to speak.

'Gally?' I asked, trying to supress my hatred.

'I can't... They... Control...' And his body relaxed, just like Alby had when he got stung. He pulled something from his back pocket. A knife. And he threw it straight at me.

I closed my eyes. But nothing happened. When I opened them, I saw Chuck falling to the ground.

I couldn't believe what had just happened.

'How could you?' Thomas screamed.

'You're part of the experiment now, Thomas. Weren't you expecting something like this?' The woman asked.

But Thomas didn't reply. I held Chuck's hand.

'Why?' I asked him, crying.

'I just wanted... To say I'm... Sorry...' He said. 'I... Should've helped more...'
He didn't finish. His body went limp.

Thomas threw himself over Gally. I couldn't figure out anything but blood and screams. Cam and Minho managed to pull him apart.

Thomas wept, his sobs echoed as if he were being tortured.