Hey, guys! Here is the next chapter! And I had someone ask if this was book-verse and movie-verse. This is book-verse. If there are any other questions, feel free to ask them! Hope you enjoy the chapter!:)

I do not own The Maze Runner or any of James Dashners' characters. I only own my characters and my ideas.

~Isabelle


And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain

Don't carry the world upon your shoulders

For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool

By making his world a little colder

-Hey Jude, The Beatles


Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Stepping out of the Flat Trans was disorienting. I've always had trouble traveling; I get carsick and seasick and all kinds of sick. Apparently, molecular transportation isn't an exception. I tripped over air and fell onto the ground. The first thing I noticed was that the grass was soft and very, very green. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen grass this green. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen grass, to be honest. I looked up to see the bluest sky with perfect, fluffy white clouds. I rolled over onto my back to fully take in the sky.

"Lux?" Christopher's voice drifted to me. I got up on my elbows to see Christopher emerging from a forest. "It's beautiful, isn't it? There are all sorts of different fruits on these trees. And there are flowers, too."

"Where are we, Chris?" I asked in awe. I managed to get to my feet and walk over to where he stood. I looked over his shoulder to see into the forest. Bananas and oranges and apples and fruits I'd never seen before dotted the trees. "I thought those fruits all needed different climates to grow."

"It's weird, right? This place is different," Chris said.

"Do you trust it?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Chris gave me a confused look.

"It's too perfect. WICKED obviously made it. What if this is just a form of the Trials? What if they lied to us?" My breath started to come in short gasps.

"Lux, calm down. You know Chancellor Paige. She obviously cares for you. She wouldn't do anything to put you in danger. And I know Theo. He hates WICKED as much as us. They're not playing us, Lux." Chris sounded so sure. A noise sounded behind us, and I could hear Lizzie's sobs.

"No! Please, no! I won't leave him!" she screamed.

"We're gone, Lizzie! There's nothing we can do to save him," Kate replied. I turned around to see Kate pinning Lizzie to the ground. I ran over and slid to my knees beside her.

"Liz, hey, you have to calm down," I soothed. I heard Christopher approach, and he kneeled down on the other side of her.

"We don't know what's going on here, Liz. Maybe Newt is safer where he's at." Christopher tried to be the voice of reason. That same noise sounded again and we all turned to see Theo step out of the Flat Trans.

"Come on, Kate. I need your help," he said. She nodded and let go of Lizzie, standing up and walking over to the machine that we'd all taken to get here.

"What are you going to do?" Christopher asked.

"We have to destroy it," Kate told us.

"No!" Lizzie shot up and launched herself at Theo, who had somehow gotten a hold of a sledgehammer. He quickly dropped it and caught Liz around the waist.

"Liz!" I yelled. She started swinging at Theo and Kate, who had run over to try and help.

"You can't! You can't leave him!" Lizzie cried.

"This is just one way, Liz! There will be another Flat Trans, I promise," Kate said.

"I don't believe you, Kate. How long have you been in on this?" Lizzie demanded.

"Lizzie." Kate looked hurt. "I only agreed to this because it would protect you and Chris and Lux."

"What about Newt? Why couldn't you take my brother, too? The only family I have left?" Liz stared hard at Kate. Theo tentatively released his hold on Liz and reached down to pick the sledgehammer back up.

"Listen, we can explain everything, but first we have to destroy this thing. We can't risk anyone following us," he said.

"But―" Lizzie began.

"We have to. I'll explain later," Kate said. She nodded at Christopher who wrapped his arms around Lizzie. For a moment, Liz looked like she was going to fight but instead sagged against him. Kate and Theo turned to the Flat Trans machine.

"You know what to do," Theo said. Kate stepped up to the keypad and started hitting buttons. The machine began to make a beeping sound. Kate quickly stepped away and walked over to stand beside me. Theo hefted the hammer up onto his shoulder and swung it down onto the keypad. The beeping increased to a wailing.

"Come on!" Kate had to yell in my ear. She pulled me up and motioned for Christopher to follow her. She started running into the forest, and I warily followed her. She stopped after about a minute and turned to look at us.

"We should be safe here," she commented.

"Safe from what?" I asked. The small explosion answered my question.

"That." Kate smiled and put her hands on her hips. Lizzie let out a sob. "Liz, I promise, as long as Newt survives the Trials, he will be here."

"Why couldn't he come with us?" Lizzie wailed.

"Because he's not immune," Theo said. We all turned to see him walking towards us. He reached up and put out a small fire in his green hair.

"Is it gone?" Kate asked.

"Completely obliviated." Theo nodded.

"What do you mean because he's not immune? What does that have to do with anything?" Lizzie demanded.

"Chancellor Paige knows that WICKED won't find a cure. She's hopeful, but she wanted to have a back-up plan. This is her back-up plan," Theo explained.

"And the back-up plan is?" I asked.

"To repopulate the Earth," Kate answered. I made a face. So did Christopher. Lizzie looked like she was about to cry.

"As the Trials go on, Chancellor Paige plans to send more immunes. As she finds them, she'll send them. Then, once the Trials are over, she'll send everyone in one big group. After that, it's over. It'll be our job to make sure the human race survives," Theo said.

"If there is no cure, how is Newt supposed to survive?" Lizzie asked.

"Chancellor Paige isn't sure if they'll find a cure. They might," Kate soothed.

"If they might find a cure, what's the point in all of this?" Christopher asked.

"There won't be much of it, and there's no guarantee that it will work past a certain point," Theo explained. "I understand that you're worried about your brother, but you have to focus on the bigger picture. We are saving humanity."

"Why did we get sent here first?" I asked.

"Because Chancellor Paige insisted that we save you," Theo told me. My eyes widened in surprise.

"Me?" I asked.

"That's part of the reason that she chose me," Kate said. "She knew that you trusted me." I shook my head. Lizzie gripped at her hair. Christopher rubbed a hand down his face. I couldn't deal with this right now.

"What are we supposed to be doing then?" I asked. Theo and Kate looked at me. I raised my eyebrows at them. "Well?"

"First, we need to start building," Theo said.

"Building what?" Christopher asked.

"With what?" I added.

"Someplace to sleep to start with," Kate said.

"Chancellor Paige got it started a little bit. There are tools in that shed back there," Theo told us.

"Food? Water?" Christopher asked.

"We've got it handled. We basically just have to figure out how to run this place." Theo sounded so calm, so sure. I was on edge.

"Fine," I said. I clasped my hands together in front of me to hide the fact that they were shaking. "Let's get started."


I woke up in a sweat. I could see the faint outlines of stars through the canvas roof of our makeshift home. It was difficult to sleep here; I knew that we were in the middle of nowhere, but I still worried about Cranks somehow finding us and killing us. Or eating us. I shuddered and rolled over onto my side, nearly flipping over in the process.

Carefully, I got out of my hammock and stood up. Theo and Christopher slept in a separate "building" on the opposite side of our camp, along with the two new guys who had shown up last week. They had been a huge help with the building; especially since we had discovered that both Lizzie and myself were completely inept at holding a hammer.

I saw Kate's sleeping form, but Lizzie's hammock was empty. I sighed silently. Lizzie had been a little hard to handle these past three weeks. Not that I blame her; I imagine losing your twin is a very hard thing to go through. I knew that she snuck out at night, but I'd always been asleep when she'd done it. Now, I felt a sense of responsibility to go talk to her. I crossed my fingers that she wasn't crying (I'm not good at comforting people) and walked towards the lake.

This place, which we had dubbed Paradise, was truly amazing. Christopher had managed to find thirteen different kinds of fruits and vegetables, and declared that the water in the lake was, in fact drinkable. We'd found two different springs a little ways off from our clearing and decided that one would be like a girls' shower and the other would be for boys'. The spring was warm and had some sort of mineral in it, according to Christopher. Kate and I joke that Christopher needs to get a life.

I walked barefoot across the grass, relishing the feeling of the soft stuff between my toes. It was strange to be so surrounded by nature after being so cramped up for years. As I got closer to the lake, Lizzie's form began to take shape.

"Hey, Lizzie," I said as I approached. She turned around and gave me a shaky smile.

"Hey, Lux. What are you doing up?" she asked. I sat down beside her and put my feet in the water. It was cold, but it was refreshing.

"I could ask the same of you," I replied.

"Couldn't sleep." She shrugged.

"Me too, but I suspect your incapability of sleeping has more to do with someone than something." I kicked my foot and some water splashed up and onto my thigh.

"Newt is going into the box tomorrow," Liz told me. I crinkled my forehead in confusion.

"I thought they were going to send up a person once a month," I said.

"It's been a month, Lux. I've been keeping track," she replied.

"I have too," I insisted.

"I know I'm right. Here." Lizzie handed me a piece of paper. There were a lot of slash marks on it, but it was too dark to count them all.

"But I thought…" I trailed off. "Stupid temporal dysplasia." I thrust the piece of paper back at her and shook my head. "I'm sorry, this is selfish of me. You're clearly upset. Do you… want to talk about it?"

Lizzie laughed and ran a hand through her hair. "You never have been very good with people. I'm fine, Lux. In fact, it's a little comforting. By tomorrow, Newt will be looking at the same sky I am."

"Actually, the sky in the Trials is fake. I overheard a couple of the scientists talking about it." I winced. That was insensitive. "Sorry."

"It's okay. I've kind of known that I'd never seen my brother again. I just have to make peace with it, I guess."

"Don't say that. Maybe they can find a cure."

"You heard Theo and Kate when we first got here. Chancellor Paige doesn't think that they'll find one. That's why we're here!"

"Lizzie―"

"No, Lux. It's the truth," Lizzie said. I looked over at her. For once, her eyes weren't on the verge of tears when she talked about Newt.

"Maybe it doesn't have to be," I said slowly.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Let's search for a cure ourselves," I suggested.

"What?" Liz looked at me, her eyes wide with surprise.

"We can try and make a cure ourselves. I mean, come on, we've got magic springs and magic fruit and magic conditions. We can look for something," I said.

"How will we know if it works?" Liz questioned.

"We won't." I shrugged. "But we can still try."

"It's a nice thought, Lux, but I don't think it will work."

"But―"

"Please," Lizzie looked at me sadly. "Don't give me hope. I've already said goodbye. I can't stand a second one."

"But you never got a real goodbye," I said.

"I've come to terms with it. You can go. I just want to be alone."

"Okay, but just know that my offer is always open," I told her. I got to my feet and walked back to camp. I could see the burnt remains of our fire from that night and managed to skirt around the edges. I wondered how the Trials were going and if both Group A and Group B spent their nights like this too. Then, I thought about Newt. I wondered if he would be able to remember his sister. I wondered if he would survive. And then I wondered that if he and Lizzie were somehow reunited, if he would remember her. And if he didn't, if that would break her.


Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think! Follow, favorite, review, PM me, whatever you feel like doing! I especially love it when you guys give me your opinions! Thank you for reading and I hope to have another chapter up in the next week or two! Stay tuned:D

~Isabelle