I do not own The Maze Runner Trilogy.

"In these bodies we will live,

In these bodies we will die

Where you invest your love,

You invest your life."

—Awake My Soul by Mumford and Sons

They were still walking. The camp wasn't too far off now, and Ruby was itching to see Joan, to make sure she was all right. If something happened to the kid, Ruby had no idea of what she'd do. Susie and Clara were there too, but Ruby didn't care as much as she did about Joan—a young girl who couldn't have been older than ten years old. When they finally arrived, Joan ran to Ruby and clutched her hand tightly.

"Okay, Teresa said. "Let's tie him to that ugly tree." The tree in question was indeed ugly; it had obviously not fared too well under the unforgiving heat of the Scorch, and it seemed like it might crumble if you sneezed in its direction. "And we might as well feed him so he doesn't moan and groan all day and keep us awake."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. Dramatic much?

Thomas didn't put up a fight as Malala, Harriet, and Sonya tied his torso to the trunk. He said nothing as they gave him a granola bar and a bottle of water. Nobody said anything, either. They wouldn't even look at him, not even Ruby. Joan could, though. Joan, in all her innocence had no problem with staring Thomas right in the eyes.

"Ruby?" Joan whispered in a thick accent. If she had her memories, Ruby was sure she'd know where it was from.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Is that the Thomas?"

"Yeah."

"He does not seem as bad as Teresa say. He looks nice."

"I don't know, kid, you never know whether he's faking or not."

They began to lay their pallets out, near Harriet and Sonya, and near Thomas, too. Just as Ruby as about to lay down, she heard Thomas ask, "You guys don't really wanna kill me, do you? Have you ever even killed anyone before?"

Ruby instantly thought of Beth, then grit her teeth.

"Based on what Teresa told us," Harriet began, "we escaped our Maze three days faster than your group did. Lost fewer people and killed more Grievers to do it. I think knocking off one insignificant teenage boy won't be too tough."

"Think of the guilt you'll feel," tried Thomas.

Harriet stuck out her tongue. "We'll get over it."

Ruby snorted. "It's not like we have a choice. WICKED said that was our only task. If we don't do it, no safe haven for us. We get to go crazy and die in the Scorch."

Shrugging, Thomas replied, "Hey, I understand. Sacrifice me to save yourselves. Very noble."

Teresa came over. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Harriet said grumpily. "Tell him to shut up."

Teresa was all too happy to oblige. "Shut up."

"What're you gonna do, kill me if I don't?" Scoffed Thomas.

No one said anything for a few moments.

"Why do you hate me all of a sudden?" Thomas asked. "What did I do to you?"

Joan was nearly getting whiplash from turning her head back and forth between the former friends.

Teresa scowled for a moment before responding, "You know what you did. So does everyone here—I told them all about it. But even still, I wouldn't have sunk to your level and tried to kill you. We're only doing it because we have no choice. Sorry. Life's tough."

Looking utterly confused, Thomas shot back, "What are you talking about, sink to my level? I'd never kill a friend to save my own butt. Never."

"Me neither. Which is why I'm glad we're not friends." Teresa began walking away."

"So what'd I do to you?" Demanded Thomas. "Sorry, I'm kind of havin' a memory lapse—ya know, we have those a lot around here. Remind me."

Teresa glared at him, a fire in her eyes that Ruby had never really seen in her before. "Don't insult me. Don't you dare sit there and act like nothing happened. Now shut up or I'll give you another bruise on that pretty face of yours."

As she left, Ruby sighed and adjusted herself on her pallet, trying to get comfortable. Joan laid down next to her, her bright blue eyes staring deeply into Ruby's brown ones.

"Do we have to kill him?" Joan asked with wide eyes.

Ruby sighed. "I'm sorry, kid, but we don't have a choice."

"But I like him!" Joan pouted. "I like him more than Teresa and WICKED."

Pursing her lips, Ruby replied, "I'm sorry, kiddo, really. If I could, I'd find a way so that we all live."

Joan said nothing as she turned on her side, her back facing away from Ruby as she tried to sleep.

Ruby eventually closed her eyes, too, and sleep embraced her.

She was in the Maze.

Gasping, Ruby looked down to find herself in her old navigator gear, and she backed up against a wall.

"No," she muttered, "no, no, no, no! I can't be back here, no way!"

As she slowed her breathing in an effort to calm down, Ruby heard footsteps. Reaching to her side, she was pleased to find her machete that she always took with her when it was her turn to go into the Maze and crept quietly towards the source of the noise. Turning a corner, she found that the noise belonged t—

"You?!"

It was Pretty Boy, and he looked just as shocked as Ruby felt.

"What the shuck are you doing here?" He asked, eyeing her machete warily.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "I could ask you the same thing, stick! I'm dreaming—how on earth are you here right now? And why you?"

"No, it's my dream, slinthead, so what're you doing here?"

Ruby opened her mouth to retort, when she heard the shrieking of a Griever. She shared a look with Pretty Boy.

"Run." They said at the same time, taking off in the opposite direction of the Griever.

As they ran, Ruby said, "Let's try to get to the Homestead—we might be safe there."

"The what now?"

"That farm place at the center?"

Pretty Boy nodded. "Oh, you meant the Glade!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

They continued on in silence.

When they finally arrived, the Homestead was empty—no people, no buildings, just trees, trees, and more trees.

Pretty Boy laid down in the grass, his arms sprawled out, breathing hard.

"How are you this out of breath, plewface?" Ruby asked. "This isn't even real. Can someone even be out of shape in a dream?"

He pointed a tired finger at her. "Okay, first off, shank, I'm not out of shape. Second, what the shuck is a plewface?"

Ruby shrugged. "Slang. Malala made it up when she came here."

Sighing, Pretty Boy looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Man, you guys had to deal with this klunk too?"

"Yeah, friggin' sucked, didn't it?"

"Still does to be honest. I mean, you guys did pop outta nowhere, stuff my buddy in a sack, and kidnap 'im."

"Oi! We didn't have a choice. If we don't do it, we get to die in that claggy Scorch out there." She sat down. "Besides, it was that Teresa chick's idea. They kidnapped Aris and leave us with that stick, who won't stop yappin' about that Thomas guy, and how she wants to kill him so bad. We all just think she's nuts."

"Shuck," Pretty Boy said, before continuing. "Hey, so, uh, what's your name?"

"Why do you wanna know my name? I thought you were mad at the whole 'kidnapping your friend' thing."

He shrugged. "We'll catch up at some point. Besides, I mostly blame Teresa. Never trusted her all that much anyways."

When Ruby just eyed him skeptically, he sighed in frustration.

"Okay, fine," he said. "I'll go first. I'm Minho."

He stuck out his hand.

"I'm Ru—"

Blackness.

"Ruby," hissed a familiar voice. "C'mon, ya stick, wake up already!" It was Harriet.

"Wha's happenin'?" Ruby slurred, rubbing the sleep from her eyes to see Sonya standing over her as well.

"Help us gather everyone up," Harriet commanded in her 'Leader' voice, and Ruby immediately snapped to attention. "Teresa's gone for now, so we're gonna hear what this stick has to say for himself."

Meanwhile, Minho sat bolt upright, running his hands through his hair. That had been the weirdest dream he'd ever had in his life. He had seen that girl from Group B, the one who he kept locking eyes with before they took Thomas. He had been close to finding out her name, too, before he woke up.

'Ru,' she had managed to say before she was interrupted.

They hadn't talked for long, but their conversation had made him wonder, what if there was a way to save Thomas? Could they convince the girls to not kill him? Minho wasn't really sure anymore. Besides, was he really gonna take advice from a girl in his dreams? That was just stupid.

Shaking his head, Minho just rolled onto his side, trying to sleep once more.

A/N

Thank you all so much to everyone who has read my story so far! My updating schedule will definitely be very spontaneous due to high school and other extra-curricular activities, but I promise that I will try to update as often as I can! Also, since I'm taking midterms this week, I get to leave school early, which means more writing time for me (yay!). Then, I go straight into winter break, which means even more writing time, so expect many updates!

If you hadn't noticed, I took the liberty to make up some more slang for Group B! The words plew and claggy are actually real (look them up!) just like the words used by the Gladers.

Finally, shout out to Neonsweet! Thank you for your awesome review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!