𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦, minho (tmr)

Chapter Twenty Four

Thomas woke to five pairs of eyes on him. For a moment, he couldn't remember a thing and it was like he was arriving in the Box again. And then it all came flooding back.

The visions.

He and Teresa were working alongside WCKD - the Creators. He studied his friends in the Glade. He watched as they sent them all up into the Maze, month by month, kid by kid.

Teresa was leaning over him currently, and when he sat up, he realised he was in the Slammer. Florence, Minho, Newt and Chuck were sat at the bars, their expressions laced with concern at the only just conscious boy.

"Bloody hell Thomas, you stung yourself." Newt exhaled heavily, his voice shaking with anger, but it was clear he was relieved he was okay. They had the serum of course.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Chuck scolded him. Sharing an amused glance at most definitely a bad time, Minho and Florence forced away the smirks that threatened to show at the young boy berating Thomas.

But the boy didn't reply. His eyes scanned the group; Teresa sat by his side a little too close for his and Newt's liking, Newt's lovesick expression melting his heart, Florence's big-sisterly disapproving glare, Minho's blank yet judgemental face - Thomas had no idea how he could manage that - and Chuck's worried eyes.

"What happened?" Thomas was oblivious to anything that had happened since that night. Well, he was unconscious.

"Gally's taken control. He said we had a choice; either join him, or get banished at sundown with you."

It was impossible to fight against him. Him and his goons had taken over the Glade, and Florence knew it would be easier to take them down from the inside rather than rebel against him.

"The others agreed to that?"

"Gally has everyone convinced that you're the reason all this has happened." Teresa told him, disappointment briefly flashing across her eyes as Thomas moved away so his back was on the wall.

"Well, he's been right so far." The boy looked guilty beyond reason. Florence felt a swell of dread beginning to build in her stomach as she started to gather that Thomas had remembered something in the visions he saw.

"Sorry, not really understanding you Thomas." She said, bitterly sarcastic, and Minho reached her hand to squeeze it reassuringly. Usually, it would've helped, but she was far too preoccupied.

"This place, it's not what we thought it was. It's not a prison, it's a test. It all started when we were kids. They would give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us. And then people started disappearing. Every month, one after the other, like clockwork."

Florence put the pieces of the puzzle together, "They were sending them up into the Maze."

It was just as she thought. They all knew each other before the Maze, the Maze was an experiment, and they were all being monitored. All of it had happened for some reason.

But why?

"Yeah, but not all of us." His eyes flickered to Teresa. She returned him a confused expression, and he shifted uncomfortably.

"What do you mean?" Newt asked, the dread Florence was feeling was now creeping up on Newt too.

"Guys, I'm one of them." Florence's eyes widened as she knew exactly what he meant. Minho sat back, the reality of his words setting in. Thomas couldn't read Newt's expression.

"The people who put you here, I worked with them. I watched you guys for years. The entire time you have been here... I was on the other side of it."