Chapter Text
Thomas began to lose track of how long he was stuck in the white room. He had no way to tell time. Only the consistent appearance of the white room. But none of this was what was starting to get to Thomas. None of it bothered him as he stayed in the room pacing around. It was the smell. To be more specific, his smell.
Ever since he had been thrown into this room, his hygiene had gotten terrible. There was nothing to bathe with. Because of that, he stank. He smelled terrible and he was going mad because of it. He had to actively prevent himself from throwing up. This is because the idea of poor hygiene began messing with him. He knew he had been infected with the flare, and in the back of his mind, he started equating his stench with that of the cranks he had encountered. That’s what made him go mad. That his own stench made him think of his own mortality.
He had noticed that his brain had been pleasantly quiet. He hadn’t heard anything from Brenda or Teresa during his time in that white room.
But as he thought about it, a thought appeared in his head. His friends. What happened to them? Where are they? How were they handling the flare?
Was everything all over? Was this how it ended?
That thought made him upset.
Thomas let out a sigh as he sat on the bed, facing the door. There was nothing more for him to do. Though he also found himself pacing around the room, waiting for something to happen. But it was nothing but silence. He occupied his time by thinking about his friends, and it worked. That was until one day, the door opened.
Thomas found himself frozen when it did. He was sure that he would have gotten up and just ran up. It is what he thought about doing when he envisioned it opening. But now that the door was opened, he didn’t move.
Rat Man appeared a second later.
“Good Morning, Thomas.” Rat Man said. He walked into the room and sat at the desk.
Thomas rolled his eyes with a huff, “Would be a good day if I were to finally get out of here.” He replied.
The man held a blank expression, “Yes I know. I’m sure you’re very eager to get back to your friends.” Rat Man replied, “`Trust me, you’ll be getting plenty of positive news today.”
“Positive news?” Thomas deadpanned, “Please, I’m not that dumb to know that there is nothing positive about this situation.”
“Oh, I’m well aware, Thomas.” Rat Man said with a bit of a sneer, “Hard to miss a bright mind as yours.”
“So what now? You're gonna tell me that you were bluffing now? I know you lied, and that all of this is just another test. If so, what’s next, huh?” Thomas asked question after question, making the man before him tense.
But Rat Man didn’t snap at him. Instead, he just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, be assured, I haven’t lied to you.” he replied, “You do have the flare.”
That kind of floored Thomas. But he felt that deep down, he was expecting that, also. It was what was driving the thoughts that haunted him, “Well at l;east I know I’m not going crazy.” Thomas replied.
“I’m aware you were told a bit of why we put you with Group B.” Rat Man told him, “I’m surprised it took as long as it did for that tattoo to be revealed to you. A5 must really care for you.”
“We hardly knew each other before then.” Thomas felt the need to point out, then rolled his eyes, “But also it is also just being a decent human being.”
“Well no denying that. And no denying the lack of honesty either, I guess.” Rat Man replied. “There’s no use in keeping you in the dark, especially about your history.”
Thomas frowned, “I already know everything.”I used to work for WICKED, and betrayed you. As punishment you sent me to Group B, right? Teresa already told me.”
Rat Man seemed surprised, but nodded, “Yes. You ratted us out. We had to find an extreme way to deal with you. It failed, of course. You somehow befriended them, and they decided to keep you alive. All except for Aris that is.” He replied, “You know it was incredibly jarring to learn of your betrayal. You’ve always been so promising, always held the same belief as us. But then, that boy came along, and changed everything.”
“What are you saying?” Thomas asked.
“The ends justify the means,” Was all Rat Man told him. “It’s something we’ve always believed. You did too.”
“Just get to your point.” Thomas snapped.
Rat Man sighed, “Impatient as always. Look, all I’m here to do is tell you that the blueprints are almost complete and soon enough you’ll be able to go and boohoo with your friends.”
“You’re torturing us… for a blueprint?” Thomas wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, “What does it have to do with all of this?”
Rat man got up. “It has everything to do with it. Mapping your brains, searching for a cure. It all comes down to people like you, Thomas. The flare lives in you, but it won’t affect you, now or ever. You’re immune Thomas.”
“Then why lie about the cure being at the safe haven? Furthermore, why lie to Teresa?” Thomas questioned.
“Variables. Everything we’ve done to you has been carefully calculated by our Psychs and doctors. Done to stimulate responses in the killzone, where the Flare does its damage. To study the patterns of different emotions and reactions and thoughts. See how they work within the confines of the virus that’s inside you. We’ve been trying to understand why in you, there’s no debilitating effect.” Rat Man replied, almost as if it should have been obvious.
“That sounds equally terrifying and unethical.” Thomas remarked, “All of this is pure torture.”
“It’s all about the killzone, Thomas.” Rat Man sounded like he was correcting him, “Mapping your cognitive and physiological responses to build a blueprint for the potential cure. It’s all about the cure.”
Thomas tried to understand how to make sense of it all. But he couldn’t.
“You’ll remember it all soon, Thomas.” Was all Rat Man told him, “Just follow me.”
Against his better judgement, Thomas followed Rat Man out of the blank white cell and down a hall. He was led to a room with showers and lockers, one of them opened to reveal a fresh set of clothes with a watch.
“You have 30 minutes.” Rat Man informed him, “When you're done, sit tight and I’ll come back to get you and take you to your friends.”
With that, he left Thomas standing alone with the sound of the door closing behind him. At the mention of friends, Thomas’s mind jumped to the group of boys. It was strange. He’d only known them for a short while, yet had made the most significant impact. Then he thought about the Icers. They had looked genuinely apologetic for what they had to do to him. But Thomas didn’t know how he should feel about it. He genuinely didn’t want to hate them, as he said he did. But he also couldn’t ignore what they did cut deep.
In the end, Thomas just shook his head and took off his dirty clothes, stepping into the shower. If there was anything he could take comfort in for the moment, it would be scrubbing himself until he felt normal and clean again. When he was done, he put on clean clothes and watch. He wasn’t sure what it was for, but he figured he’d find out once Rat Man returned.
He left the showers and stood next to the door, leaning on the wall. In no time, did the face of Rat Man show up before him.
“Well, aren’t you looking spiffy.” Rat Man said.
Thomas shrugged, “Feeling good, I guess.” he replied, “Now, when do I get to see the others?”
“Right now.” Rat Man replied, “And we’ll be seating you with your original group.”
“Fine by me.” Thomas replied.
As they began walking Rat Man continued talking. “All of you went through different types of tests for Phase Three of the Trials. We’d hoped to have a killzone pattern mapped out by the end of the second phase, but we had to improvise in order to push further. Like I said, though, we’re very close. You’ll all be full partners in the study now, helping us fine-tune and dig deeper until we solve this puzzle.”
Thomas couldn’t help but tense up at those words. If the rooms were Phase Three, and it was all almost over, did that mean there was a Phase Four? He wondered what trials the others went through. A part of him didn’t want to know.
Rat Man stopped in front of a pair of double doors. He opened it and stepped through. Thomas followed behind him. He entered a small auditorium and was overcome with relief. Scattered amongst the rows of seats were his friends, safe and healthy-looking. He was happy to see the Icers and boys of Group A again. Just then a voice broke through, and Thomas couldn’t help but smile.
“Thomas! You’re ok.” Sonya said, making her way up to him.
“Hey, Sonya.” Thomas replied. He glanced over where Minho and Newt were and gave them a wave. Sonya pulled him into the room and over to where her, Harriet, and Marie were sitting.
“Hey, Thomas, I just want to apologize, again.” Harriet said.
“I know.” Thomas replied, “You were just doing what she told you. I’m sorry I got angry with you over it.”
Sonya shook her head, “It’s still not a good reason. You are our friend, Thomas.”
“Thanks.” Thomas replied.
Sonya gave him a brief hug, which Thomas returned. He saw Teresa, but decided to ignore her. She was the one person he would never forgive. He turned away from her and back towards his friends. He just sat there while they got into a conversation about what they thought was going on.
That was until Rat Man began walking down the aisle between the rows of seats clapping his hands. “Everybody take a seat. We’ve got a few things to cover before we remove the Swipe.” He said.
Thomas felt a bit taken aback. The Swipe? The idea of it being removed nearly froze Thomas. That meant he was going to get all of his memories back. That alone felt like too much to comprehend.
Rat Man cleared his throat, “As you were informed in your one-on-ones, the Trials as you’ve known them are over. Once your memories are restored, I think you’ll believe me and we can move on. You’ve all been briefed on the Flare and the reasons for the Trials. We are extremely close to completing our blueprint of the killzone. The things we need- to further refine what we have- will be better served by your full cooperation and unaltered minds. So, congratulations.”
He could hear yelling coming from Group A.
“Are we even sure we want to do this?” Sonya asked the group.
“We don’t have much of a choice, I think.” Marie replied. Thomas looked over at her. This was the first time he had heard her speak.
“Something tells me probably not.” Thomas agreed. The other girls turned to look at him.
“Maybe he might?” Aris questioned, and Thomas had almost forgotten his presence.
Thomas rolled his eyes, “No, he won’t. The way he talks makes it obvious.”
“What if we don’t want to?” One of the group A boys he hadn’t had the honor of speaking to asked. It was like he could tell what the Icers were talking about, “What if we don’t want our memories back?”
“Is it because you really have no interest in remembering, or is it because you don’t trust us?” Rat Man asked.
“Oh, I couldn’t imagine why we wouldn’t trust you,” The boy replied.
“Don’t you realize by now that if we wanted to do something to harm you, we’d just do it?” Rat Man asked him, “If you don’t want to remove the Swipe, don’t do it. You can stand by and watch the others.”
Thomas couldn’t tell how Rat Man meant that. He looked at the rest of Group B.
“So what do we do?” Harriet asked the group.
“I wanna get my memories back.” Sonya told her.
Thomas wasn’t surprised about this. Harriet gave a nod.
“Me too.” Harriet replied.
Marie shrugged, “I’ll go for it.”
They all looked at Thomas, wondering what he was going to say. Thomas gave a shrug.
“I don’t know what I should do.” Thomas admitted, “There are some things I learned about myself. Horrible things. I don’t know if I want to remember them.”
All of them looked at him in confusion, with the exception of Aris. Thomas looked at Aris.
“I know now why you were with her. You knew as well.” Thomas said, “You’ve always known haven’t you.”
Aris linked startled, “I-”
“You knew I was one of them. You knew I was never supposed to be in the Spring.” Thomas called him out.
“What?” Harriet asked from next to them.
Thomas looked at the group of girls, “I used to work for WICKED until I betrayed them. That’s what Teresa had said. She also said that her and Aris had their memories when we met again in the Scorch. But I’m thinking Aris knew the whole time. It’s why he looked at me weird when we first met.”
The girls all looked at Aris, then back at Thomas.
“Why did you betray them?” Sonya questioned.
“I don’t know.” Thomas replied, “I only know that I was put with you guys to die because I worked with them, then betrayed them.”
Sonya put a hand on top of his own. “Thomas, I think you should go through it.”
“What?!” The others, except Thomas, exclaimed.
“Think about it. Thomas has parts of his past that he knows, and doesn’t. He knows these people. If we have his memories, it could help.” Sonya argued.
Thomas considered it. He knew that Sonya had a point.
“Alright. I’ll do it.” Thomas agreed. A part of him didn’t want to, but he knew that it was all on him. He was the one the Icers were trusting, and they would need whatever memories he had. Thomas watched as Group A got up and left the auditorium. He could see Newt glancing at him with an almost unreadable expression on his face. Then Thomas and the others got up and walked out of the auditorium, following Group A and Rat Man who had left at some point during the conversation.
Newt approached him. “So, I overheard that you were going to get your memories back,” he said.
Thomas nodded as they continued walking, “Yeah. I don’t know how I feel about it, but I think it might be the right move.”
Newt didn’t reply to that, not that Thomas was expecting him to. He was well aware that Newt and Minho made the decision not to have the Swipe removed.
Rat Man led the group through two large metal doors. They were locked with Rat Man needing to use a card to open them. Once they got past the second door, the group entered a small room. It had the same walls and tiled floors as the rest of the building. But there were cabinets and machines all around with beds.
Rat man gestured to the beds, “This is how we’re going to remove the Swipe from your brains.” He announced, “Don’t worry, I know these devices look frightening, but the procedure won’t hurt nearly as much as you might think.”
“Nearly as much?” The boy who spoke up earlier questioned, clearly in disbelief, “I don’t like the sound of that. So it does hurt, is what you’re really saying.”
“Of course you’ll experience minor discomfort- it is a surgery.” Rat Man replied. “We’ll be removing a small device from the part of your brain devoted to long term memory. But it’s not as bad as it might sound I promise.”
Thomas glanced down at the floor. He was second guessing his decision, but knew it probably was too late to turn back.
“Okay, I think we’re just about ready,” Rat Man announced, pulling Thomas out of his thoughts. “One last thing, though. Something I need to tell you before you regain your memories. It’ll be better to hear it from me than to…remember the testing.”
Thomas was confused.
“What’re you talking about?” Harriet questioned, sharing in Thomas’s confusion.
Rat Man clasped his hands behind his back, his expression now grave. “Some of you are immune to the Flare. But…some of you aren’t. I’m going to go through the list- please do your best to take it calmly.”
It sent silence throughout the room.
“For an experiment to provide accurate results,” Rat Man explained, “One needs a control group. We did our best to keep the virus from you as long as we could. But it’s airborne and highly contagious.”
“Just get on with it.” Newt said, “We all figured we had the buggin’ disease anyway. You’re not breaking our hearts.”
“Yeah,” Sonya agreed, “Cut the drama and tell us already.”
“Ok, then. Most of you are immune and have helped us gather invaluable data. Only two of you are considered Candidates now, but we’ll go into that later. Let’s get to the list. The following people are not immune. Newt.” Rat Man began going down the list.
Hearing that name felt like a punch into Thomas’s chest. He doubled over and started at the floor. He could hardly hear the other names that Rat Man had called out. His friend was going to die. They had knowingly given Newt a death sentence, and here he was acting like a child. Thomas felt surprised at his own reaction, until now, he hadn’t realized just how much Newt meant to him until he heard the declaration.
“Marie.”
That also hurt Thomas. He and Marie never talked while in The Spring, but Marie was still a friend.
“I wanted to get that out of the way, mainly so I could tell you myself and remind you that the whole point of this operation has been to build towards a cure. Most of you not immune are in the early stages of the Flare,and I have every confidence that you’ll be taken care of before it goes too far. But the Trials required your participation.” Rat Man spoke.
He continued to speak, but Thomas wasn’t paying attention to him anymore. He was already mentally prepared to do the procedure. Even if he didn’t trust WICKED, didn’t trust Rat Man, there were no other options.
His brain trailed back to Newt. Could he perhaps be saved? Would Newt choose to do the procedure? Would they save those not immune now or wait?
A hand appeared on his shoulder.
Thomas spun around and saw Teresa standing beside him. He frowned at her and shrugged her hand off of his shoulder.
“Tom.” Teresa attempted to talk to him.
Thomas shook his head, “Teresa, I already said I don’t want to talk.” He simply told her.
When Rat Man left, Thomas approached Newt and Minho.
“We don’t plan on doing the operation.” Was what Newt started out with.
“I figured.” Thomas replied.
“Why did you agree to do it?” Newt asked him.
Thomas sighed, “The girls want to use my memories for whatever will happen next.” He confessed, “I’m also hoping that my cooperation will allow me to make a request.”
“Explain.” Minho said, not beating around the bush.
“The non-immunes. I want to try and see if my cooperation will ensure a cure.” Thomas explained, “I used to work for them, so maybe they’ll throw me a bone.” He tried to crack a bit of a joke.
“You WHAT?!” The two boys exclaimed.
“Yeah. Until I turned against them. I don’t know why though, and I’m hoping my memories will tell me.” Thomas answered.
The two boys looked at one another. Thomas stared at them awkwardly, wondering what they would say to this revelation.
“That sounds really stupid of you, Thomas.” Minho finally said.
“I know.” Thomas replied.
Minho simply walked out of the room. Newt looked back at his friend before turning his focus onto Thomas.
“Tommy, I don’t know how you expect this to work. But for your sake, I hope it does.” Newt spoke.
“I just want you and the other non immunes to live. I don’t genuinely know if it’ll happen. If it’ll work, but I have to try.” Thomas’s resolve strengthened.
Newt simply nodded.
Rat Man walked back into the room with people behind him before either of them could say anything more. Those who were doing the procedure got called back to their respective rooms, and Thomas knew it was time.
Thomas turned to Newt, “Please, stay safe.” Was all he said, before following a few others into a room.
Thomas heard his name be called and he was led to one of the beds and instructed to lie down. The doctor doing his procedure gave him some sedative shot and before long, he was out like a broken light. When he woke up again, he had a pounding headache. It also felt like he couldn’t move anything.
“Go ahead and rest up. You’ll be able to be up and around soon enough.” A doctor told him, but Thomas couldn’t respond.
Soon enough, Brenda appeared.
“Hey. I figured I’d let you know. Minho and Newt aren’t going through with it.” She said, “But the others are. Janson’s keeping them somewhere. But that’s not all I’m here to tell you.”
Thomas looked over at her. Brenda gave him a smile, but it wasn’t entirely happy.
“We can help Newt. I think there’s a way. But for now, you can only trust your friends, me, and Chancellor Paige.” Brenda told him.
“Ava?” Thomas asked.
Brenda nodded, “Yes.”
Thomas frowned, “She’s the one who did this.”
“Well, now she wants to make it right, I guess. I think she knows there’s nothing anyone can do.” Brenda replied.
“I want to trust her.” Thomas confessed, “If you’re right.”
“I am.” Brenda declared, “But you might not get all that you wanted.”
Thomas didn’t know how to feel about that. Brenda got up and left, leaving Thomas alone with the others in the room. Once he felt like he could move around again, he sat up and saw that others of the groups were here. The only exceptions were Newt and Minho.
Sonya, Lizzie his mind supplied, approached him.
“Thomas, so glad you’re ok.” She said, giving him a hug.
“Hey, Lizzie.” Thomas said.
Sonya gave him a confused look, then a grin. “That’s right. We’ve met before.”
Thomas nodded.
Before either of them could say more, the door opened again, and Teresa walked in. She wasted no time telling them all what she was there for.
“I’m going to get you all out of here, but you need to follow me.” She told them.
Thomas got out of bed, saying nothing to her. She looked over at him, “I can get us out of here, just trust me again.” Teresa told him.
“If this is another one of your tricks, I’ll make you pay for everyone that gets hurt.” Thomas told her bluntly, “What’s your plan?”
“I can get one of the bergs to take us out of here. If we can get a hold of one, we can get everyone out of here.” Teresa said.
“What about Newt and Minho?” Thomas asked.
“You can’t say we’re just leaving them here.” Siggy, or Frypan as Thomas remembered him being called, agreed.
“We won’t.” Teresa assured. “There’s a facility in Alaska. When we get there we can get a cure, but I don’t want to be sitting ducks. We ALL have to get out of here.”
“I’ll go get them.” Thomas said.
Teresa gave a nod, “Ok, we’ll meet you back here.”
With that Thomas departed from the group, making his way to where Newt and Minho were as they made their way to the hangar.
“Tommy, you’re ok.” His voice made it sound like he was trying to hide just how upset about it he was. But then Newt pulled away and slightly yanked Thomas by the ear, not hard enough to rip it off in the midst of the flare, but enough to ensure it’d hurt. “I still think you were a complete idiot for that.” he quickly said.
“I know, I know. But I have a reason.” Thomas replied, unsure why he had to try so hard to defend himself.
“Yeah, yeah, but I’m still allowed to give you shit for it.” Newt replied.
“Teresa is planning an escape for us from here. The others are at the Bergs.” Thomas told them, opting to just rip the band aid off.
Neither one of them looked impressed by that. But Newt was the first to visibly voice his frustrations.
“You’re seriously going to trust her after what she did?” He asked.
“Not necessarily.” Thomas replied, “That’s why I came to get you both. I’m not leaving either of you behind.”
“What are we going to do?” Minho asked.
“Brenda says there’s a way we can help Newt, and maybe Marie. I don’t want her suffering either. But that’s all she told me.” Thomas explained. Then he rolled his eyes, “Well, that and that she was the only one I could trust. And I don’t particularly trust Teresa or Aris, but I think Teresa can get us somewhere where there’s a cure.”
Minho smirked and gave a huff, “She promised a cure.”
“Yeah, for Newt. He needs one, and he’ll die without it.” Thomas argued.
Newt wasn’t happy about it, “So, you’re just going to listen to her because she might be able to find a cure? That is a load Tommy, and you know it.”
“What else can we do?” Thomas questioned, getting annoyed, “I don’t wanna lose you, but I don’t know who else but someone more involved with everything now. If you have any other suggestions, voice them now.”
Newt stepped closer, getting into Thomas’s face, “Maybe use that shuck brain of yours for once. You were some fancypants kid genius, shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Let’s get out of here.” Minho said, groaning. “As nice as seeing this fight would be, we need to leave, now.”
Thomas and Newt nodded.
“I know where the hangar is, follow me.” Thomas told his friends. He led them through the facility, trying to remember the path he took to get from where they had been kept overnight.
The trio came across a room that Thomas thought was the way to where the hangar was. But opening the door, it showed weapons.
“Great, just weapons.” Minho muttered.
“Better than nothing.” Newt commented.
Thomas had to shrug in agreement.
“I’m surprised that no one has come.” Newt said, then pointed to a few spots on where the launchers had been resting, “Look at the dust, there’s obviously been someone here.”
“What would dust have to do with anything?” Minho asked.
Newt made a noise like a growl. “Can’t you figure something out yourself for once, you bloody shank?”
That stunned the both of them. Thomas was sure that he had never seen Newt so angry before.
“Newt, what’s going on.” Thomas questioned. “Is something wrong?”
“I’ll tell ya what’s wrong. You go and risk your skin for some memories that probably won't even help us, we’re running like headless chickens with no plan, and Minho can’t take a buggin’ step without askin’ which foot he should use.” Then he let out another growl then a sigh, “I need a break.” With that he left the room.
Thomas and Minho looked at one another. Minho sighed. “We don’t have time to wait. If guards have been in here recently, they’ll be coming. We need to leave.” He said.
“I’ll go get him.” Thomas said. He left the room to go find where Newt went. He didn’t have to go far because Newt was sitting against the wall.
“Hey.” Thomas says, not sure what else he should say.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, I just need a moment.” Newt told him.
“Are you sure?” Thomas asked.
“Yeah.” Newt gets up, “Head back to Minho, I need to go do something really quick.”
Thomas gave a nod. He goes back into the room where Minho was waiting.
“Where is he?” Minho asked Thomas.
“Outside. He said he had something to do before we leave.” Thomas replied.
Minho nodded. It was a few minutes later when Newt walked back into the room. Minho and Thomas gave a glance in his direction.
“Hey, Tommy, can I talk to you alone for a second?” Newt asked.
“Don’t we have to go?” Minho questioned.
“Yeah, but I have something to give him. It’ll take a second”
Thomas gave a nod and he left the room with Newt. As soon as they stepped out, Newt handed Thomas a piece of paper.
“I don’t want you reading this now, you’ll know when, but this is for you.” Newt told him.
Thomas took the piece of paper, looking at Newt confused.
“Newt, what is this?” Thomas asked.
“Don’t worry about it.” Newt reiterated, “You need to wait for the right time then read it. Now let’s get Minho, and get out of here.”
Thomas nodded and the two boys walked back into the room.
Minho grinned, “Finally ready to go?”
Thomas nodded, “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”
The three boys made their way from the gun room to the hangar. There they found Teresa waiting for them.
“Let’s get going. I can take everyone to Alaska, but I’ll need a pitstop to Denver.” She said,
“Why Denver?” Thomas asked.
“Something called the Bliss. I’ve told Gally about it, but it’s this thing that seems to slow down the virus. It can still spread though, and only those at the top have been lucky to get their hands on it.” Teresa explained.
“Sounds serious.” Newt said.
Teresa nodded. “Yeah, but that’s about all I know. Now we need to leave.”
They got into the berg and Teresa made her way to the front. The three boys shared a look with one another, “This better be worth it.” Newt said to Thomas.
“Even if I’m angry at her, I know she’ll help.” Thomas replied.
The ride to Alaska was tense. Eventually, they all fell asleep. When they woke up, Teresa led them all into the facility, and it was there where Ava was waiting for them. She looked surprised to see Thomas.
“Thomas, it is so good to see you.” She said, “You and your friends can follow me right this way.”
“There’s a Flat Trans in the backway from Group A’s maze that will take you to the Safe Haven.” Teresa explained to Thomas, “But we’ll need this place taken down. Janson needs to go down.”
Chancellor Paige gave Thomas a seemingly sad smile, “Unfortunately there were a few unprecedented things.”
“I know, but right now what matters to me is finding a cure to save the non immunes.” Thomas confessed, “I don’t trust Rat Man to be honest.”
Sonya stepped forward, putting a hand on Thomas’s shoulder. “Where do we start?”
“I want to try my blood first.” Thomas answered.
“If you think you’ll find it in time.” Chancellor Paige told him, “But we already know that we’ve lost. Janson has yet to accept that reality. Follow me.”
The group of kids followed her as she led them all to the lab. There, Thomas got into one of the seats. Newt pulled up a chair next to him.
“Are you sure?” He asked.
Thomas nodded. Theresa was the one who drew his blood. She looked at him with an unreadable expression before going to the other side of the lab where samples of the virus were located. She dropped some of the blood into it and observed it through the microscope. Everyone waited with baited breath for what Teresa would say. It felt like hours had passed, and
“It works.” Teresa said with surprise.
“Ok, so let’s create a few. We need to create as much as we can.” Thomas replied.
Chancellor Page looked it over. “Let’s go for it.” She turned to the larger group. “Non immunes, you will stay here as the cure is crafted. Immunes, you will be taken to the bunkers. Once the cures are prepared, You’ll be brought to the Group A Maze.”
It was better than nothing, and at least they would be free.
“I want to stay with Newt.” Sonya told Ava, who simply nodded with a smile.
Ava led the rest of the kids to one of the barracks.
Newt held Thomas’s other hand as they started drawing blood again.
“Why are you doing this?” He asked, voice quiet. “Why are you so insistent on saving me?”
Thomas thought about it. “Again, I can’t place it, but for some reason, you mean a lot to me.”
Newt huffed and shook his head, “You’re a complete shank, you know that?” he asked, though it was a rhetorical question.
They ended up drawing enough to get at least four vials. Once they were done, Thomas was made to remain sitting. Sonya had gone to get food, and Teresa was preparing the cures. There was one thing she knew would have to be discussed.
“We’ll need to prepare.” Teresa said. “Janson will be here soon, and we need to reach out to The Right Arm.”
Newt nodded, “I take it we’ll be flying out to Denver?” He questioned, rolling up one of his sleeves as Teresa approached him.
Thomas shook his head, “No, I already sent them everything. They’re just waiting for the final signal.”
Teresa was injecting the cure and glanced at Thomas, “I think your computer will still have their contact.”
Thomas gave a nod, “Good. We’ll use that to reach out to Vince.” It felt weird to Thomas to remember the man’s name. He pushed it to the side, knowing he had other things to worry about.
Teresa backed away when she was done and went to grab the next injection of the cure. She made her way over to Marie, “Well, go now. I can handle the others.” She said as she injected Marie with the cure.
Sonya walked into the room then, “Newt, Thomas, Chancellor Paige wants you to join the rest of us in the cafeteria. As well as the others when they’re done.”
Thomas and Teresa gave different affirmations. Thomas got up and out of the chair and followed Sonya to the cafeteria.
To their surprise, a few trays of food awaited them and the two boys each grabbed one. Newt led Thomas to where Minho and Frypan were sitting, speaking to some of the girls from Group B. Minho was the first to notice them walking over. Thomas sat down next to Minho, then Newt, then Sonya.
“How’d it go?” Minho asked Newt.
“Fine. They’re apparently still going with the plan ‘bring it all down’, so that’ll be fun.” Newt said.
“Come on brother. It’s the best plan we’ve got.” Sonya defended.
“I never said it wasn’t, Lizzie.” Newt argued.
Thomas sighed, “We need to have a solid idea of how we’ll do it in the first place.”
It was the thing that bothered Thomas. It was the fact that there was no way to ensure it would all be brought down. As they were all sleeping that night, Thomas decided he had to do it on his own.
He got up out of his old bed, and made his way to his desk. He had put it in the observation room, to have somewhere to work and observe the Gladers. It was also where he reached out to Vince for the first time. He found the old radio and mic he had hidden and turned it on.
“Hello?” He spoke into the mic, unsure if there would be a response’
“Hello?” Another voice answered back.
“Hey, this is Thomas.” He said.
“The source?” That was definitely Vince.
“Yes. I’m back in Alaska. Chancellor Paige has opened a way out, but wants rid of the facility and Janson.” Thomas told him.
“We figured.” Vince replied. Don’t worry, We’ll gather the rest of your crew and bring them to you. From there, we’ll discuss everything else. Rest up.”
With that Vince cut the call. Thomas found himself unsure of what would happen from here. The next morning, All of the subjects aside from Teresa and Thomas were taken to the Maze. The door leading to where the Flat Tran was was there. The duo were waiting for when the right arm would show up.
It was after lunch when they heard the sound of a berg landing. Thomas went out to where it was located. He sat at the entrance of the berg and waited for it to open. When it did, he was greeted by Jorge, Brenda, a kid he recognized to be Gally, and another man. Thomas assumed this had to be Vince.
“Thomas, you’re ok.” Brenda said.
“Yeah, super glad to see you all ok, too.” Thomas replied, “Everyone else is already ready to evacuate. We just need to get down there and go.”
“Leave it to me. My people can begin setting up explosives when Rat Man shows up.” Vince replied.
“We’ll go down there and begin evacuations to the Safe Haven.” Jorge offers.
“Doesn’t sound like a bad idea.” Vince told him.
Thomas led Jorge and Brenda to the building. Jorge and Brenda were sent up there with instructions to wait until the time was right. In the meantime, Vince went to rally his crew and prepare for the attack when Janson finally arrived.
Thomas found it odd. His life within the trials started as a boy who spent all his time in the observation room, and it would end with him in the same observation room, waiting for Janson to show up. He kept his eyes on his friends the entire night, now knowing they were all safe.
It was early the next morning when the show finally began. Thomas went to go speak with Rat Man.
“Thomas, I’m surprised you’re here. I suppose that means you’ll be open to what I have to say.” Janson said.
Thomas huffed, “Just get on with it Rat Man.”
Janson made an unamused expression at that, “It’s Janson. But that’s not the important matter here.”
“Then what is?” Thomas asked.
“The final candidate.” Janson replied. He led Thomas to a room. “After the extensive research on the killzones both yours and Teresa’s were considered. But, there could be only one, and you Thomas have shown to be the most promising blueprint for the cure.”
There was a loud booming sound as the building began to shake. Thomas wanted to curse, the Right Arm was moving in too early. But he had no choice but to get up and bolt out of the room. Janson was taken aback by this and followed Thomas. The building continued to shake as Thomas made his way to where the way into the Maze was. He reached there in no time, his speed on the ice translating into a faster run. Teresa spotted them coming and quickly got onto the lift. There was a bomb going off above them, causing the ceiling to collapse. Thomas didn’t turn back and he jumped into the lift that was to carry them into the maze.
He did spare a glance at Janson when he was on though, and almost felt disheartened he couldn’t choke the guy out for everything.
Thomas and Teresa appeared in the maze in no time, the other gathering around.
“Tommy, what’s going on? Newt asked.
“The Right Arm.” Gally replied, “They’re bombing the place aren’t they.”
“Yeah, we need to go. Now.” Thomas informed them, he turned to Minho, “Lead the way, I trust your ability to find your way around.”
Minho nodded, “Yeah, there's a way to the maintenance hall in the Maze.” He turned to the large crowd, “Alright! Let’s get out of here, everyone follow me!”
Everyone started gathering up in a frenzy, grabbing onto each other so they’d have someone to stick by as the building shook above them. When they were ready, Minho led them all through the corridors of the maze, all the way until they reached a big cavern.
“Down here.” Minho said. Thomas gave a brief nod, and the two jumped down there so they could begin helping the others. Teresa and Newt did the same thing on the stone ground. Thomas was surprised at just how much bigger the group had gotten, but considered it a good thing. Eventually, Sonya jumped down, and Minho started leading them to where the Flat Trans would be, which ended up being the maintenance room.Eventually Newt and Teresa came down to join up with Thomas and Sonya, who joined up with the larger group. Minho watched as one by one they all passed through the Flat Trans before passing through himself.
Thomas found himself opening up his eyes to see Newt staring down at him.
“Well, looks like you had a rough crash there, huh, Tommy?” Newt teased.
Thomas groaned and he moved to sit up. “What the hell happened?” He asked.
Newt gently patted Thomas’s arm, “Well, someone wasn’t taking it easy after a blood donation and passed out.”
Thomas blinked at him, then looked around to get a look at his surroundings. “Did we do it?” He asked.
Newt nodded, “Yeah. They’re all safe. In fact, Minho’s been looking to see you, but I told him to give you a bit.”
Thomas smiled. He finally felt like he could get up, so he tried. Of course he didn’t make it a step before Newt had to jump in and help him with walking. Newt led him to where the beach was.
“C’mon, I want to show you something.” Newt told him. Thomas let himself be led to the waters by Newt.
“Look, it’s the ocean.” Newt pointed it out to him. Thomas rolled his eyes and playfully hit Newt in the chest. It sent the two spiralling into laughter.
“I know that already, Newt.” Thomas told him.
“Yeah, yeah.” Newt rolled his eyes. “Mr. Kid genius would clearly know what an ocean was.” While the words did sound taunting, the look on Newt’s face made it clear he was teasing.
Now it was Thomas who rolled his eyes and he moved to hug Newt. “I’m just glad that you’re ok.”
Newt’s teasing smile softened, “Yeah, I’m really glad about that too.” He replied, with a thoughtful look on his face, “You know, I don’t think I ever properly thanked you for that.”
Thomas shook his head, “You don’t need to Newt. You’re my friend, I just care that they’re all safe.”
“I know,” Newt replied, stepping close to Thomas, “but consider this my personal thanks.” Newt leaned down a bit to kiss Thomas, who was more than willing to reciprocate the kiss.