Chapter 1

Thomas woke with a jerk. Memories of the maze haunted him as he cleared his mind. He looked at his surroundings and jumped up.

"No no no no no no no." he mumbled as he took in the sight of the prison cell he was in. He saw his friends in the same cell, fast asleep. His mumbling became louder as he frantically examined the bars caging them in. His racket woke the others.

"What's going on?"

"Where are we?"

"What happened?" rambled his cellmates. Thomas started yelling for help and the boys joined in. After a while, some of the boys slipped to the floor, defeated. Thomas kept yelling.

He finally heard footsteps and on the other side of the bars, there was only a set of stairs that lead out of sight. Feet descended the stairs into view and stopped. A head bowed into view and Thomas stopped yelling.

The girl couldn't be older than ten. Her brown hair was curly and her face was speckled.

"Hey. Hey! Can you help us?" Thomas asked her. She stood upright and ran out without saying a word. Thomas jumped when he heard a strange whistle echoing down the stairs. Like some kind of a birdcall, the whistle repeated several times.

"Hey guys." Thomas had a thought. "We don't know where we are or what's going on. But we may want to stay quiet until we know something. We might be in a dangerous place. Who ever is out there might be hostile."

"Why would they be?" Newt asked.

"Because this is a test, remember?"

"They could test us again?" Teresa added.

With that, more footsteps approached and finally a young woman walked into the room. Her long blond hair was messily tied up and she was a little out of breath. She skimmed the boys and quickly raised a gun on them. They all took a step back and heeded Thomas's warning.

"Who are you?" she started asking no one in particular. She turned the gun on each of them, as her list of questions grew longer. "Where are you from? What are you doing here? Who's your leader?" etc.

No one answered but Thomas had to bite his lip to stop himself from demanding answers himself.

"You're a big bunch." She rambled for a bit but in the cell they remained quiet. She even asked if any of them understood her.

She pointed the gun at Teresa and yelled: "Where's the wizard?"

They all frowned and stared at Thomas for guidance.

"You're going to die in there. No food or place to really sleep…" She said as she moved the gun again. She started a bit of speech when Thomas heard more footsteps running closer.

"I'm here. I'm here." A voice called from the hall up the stairs.

"What took you so long?"

"I came from North Wing. I was in the Blue Neighborhood. "

"Then that was quick."

"Yes."

Another teen girl stepped down the stairs. Her hair was gold and wavy, cut inexplicably at an angle so that the left wave was longer than the right. She scanned the cell with awe and then looked at the other girl. She rolled her eyes and stepped closer to her.

"You have to be stupid to think that they will say anything with a gun pointed at them. Honestly I don't know why you still think you run this place, Heidi."

Heidi narrowed her eyes and turned the gun on the newcomer who quickly grabbed her wrist and twisted out of shot. She held the gun pointed at the wall behind her as she grabbed it from the top. She pried it from Heidi's fingers and took a quick step back as Heidi reached for her.

"Go on Heidi." She nodded at the door. Heidi did not look happy. "It's almost nightfall."

"Yes it is. I'll stay here." They stared at each other for a minute and then Heidi stepped back with a grunt. She leaned against the wall and remained quiet. The other girl turned her eyes on the cell and watched them carefully.

"Who's your leader?" she asked gently. Thomas felt almost inclined to answer her. She scanned their scared faces and sighed. "You don't have to be scared. We're more afraid of you than you are of us. Trust me." Newt snorted and her attention went straight to him.

"There are more of you than there are of us." She stated simply. "What's your name?"

"What's yours?" Newt asked quickly. She smiled and moved on to the other boys.

"Is he the leader?" Heidi asked as she pointed at Newt.

"No." The other girl mumbled and her eyes finally settled on Thomas. "This one is."

She stared at Thomas for a while. The other boys looked between them but kept to themselves.

"What's your name?" She asked him. He glanced at the boys and then answered her.

"I'm Thomas. But I'm not the leader."

"Not by choice, no." she specified. "But they will follow you to their deaths."

"Face!" Heidi whined. "Time!" The girl with the strange hair looked at Heidi quickly and back to Thomas with a sense of resolve.

"Thomas. We will let you out; take you to a place that's safe. You'll get food and a place to sleep."

Thomas started asking her questions but she cut him off.

"All your questions will be answered. But you have to follow the rules."

"Is it safe?" Heidi asked. The girl scanned them quickly and stepped closer to Thomas.

"Listen to me Thomas. I promise you that we are not here to harm you. You have to do as you're told. You don't know what is out there. We do. Let us get you safe."

Thomas nodded and turned to his cellmates. "Let's do as they say, guys." Everyone nodded. Newt kept his eye on the girl. She nodded at Heidi who then grabbed a key off the wall and started unlocking the cell gate.

"Keep an eye on him." She pointed at Newt as they walked closer to the gate. She nodded and turned to the door.

"Where are you going?" Heidi called as the other girl raced up the steps.

"The Blue Neighborhood." She called out of sight.

"You're going to die out there." Heidi yelled but there was no reply. "Your funeral." She mumbled as she started ushering the boys upstairs.