A familiar face greets Thomas with open arms.
"Hello Thomas," it says. Thomas just squints to get a better look. "Welcome home."
Home? Thomas thinks to himself. He looks around. The white walls seem to make everything glow. The freshly polished, odd figurine stands to his right, made of China. He walks closer to the person near him. It was a girl.
Her hair reached her shoulders, thin and a silk brown colour. Her face sharp and angled, her eyes golden brown. Thomas thinks she's about in her late thirties.
Thomas felt like he was back when her first arrived at the Glade. Confused and scared. "Where am I? Who are you?"
The woman laughs. "Thomas, I'm you mother."
Thomas stumbles back. Hitting a wooden table with his heels. The woman approaches him, placing a hand on his left cheek, stroking his hair. She has tears swimming in her eyes. "Everything's going to change."
What? Thomas nearly falls. Did this woman who claims to be his mother really just repeat what Teresa said to him?
Before Thomas could react, soldiers dressed in black gear burst through the door, shoving Thomas's mother away from him. His mother does nothing, she just stands and weeps.
"Mom? Mom?!" Thomas screeches. The soldiers drag him away from her by the arms, pushing him into an army jeep and closes the door. Thomas slides to the window, screaming out to his 'mother'.
Thomas could only just hear the next words he will never forget. "I'm sorry Thomas, just remember that I love you." And then his mother's face just fades away.
They arrive at a tall building with a sign marked: WICKED HQ, in big black writing. Thomas felt like he was about to throw up. How could is mother give him over to WICKED? The Jeep rams into a sudden stop, throwing Thomas forward.
The door fly open and hands reach out and yak Thomas out of the car. He gets a bag thrown over his head, only seeing darkness. The soldiers pull him forward, turning corners and walking up flights of stairs. Finally they come to a stop and pull the bag off his head. He blinks to regain his sight, he stands in a line with other kids around his age next to him.
Two people next to him was Teresa. Her hair neatly cleaned and brushed back. She wore a white shirt with dark pants. Her arms crossed behind her. He turns to his other side was Aris. He grins at Thomas then turns back to the front.
Thomas looks to the front and sees an old woman standing in front of all of them.
"Congratulations for making it to the WICKED Head Quarters. You should all feel very proud and special you have been selected to work for WICKED; not many people usually are, especially with kids your age."
Thomas clenches his hand into a fist. He doesn't want to work for WICKED, he doesn't want to feel special.
"My name is Ava Paige, and I will be your instructor for your days working here, now if you all follow me, you will all be located to your dormitory."
Thomas felt like running. To escape this place, but he had no choice but to follow. Ava shows them around, the Head Quarter being mainly white was like a giant maze, all walls looking exactly the same as the next. Finally they reached the work room where they would be working. Chair were placed for each thirteen of them, a large transparent screen too being in front of the chairs.
"This is where you will be working, you will work for ten hours a day, with a thirty minute break. Anything you do will be monitored, there will be no escapes; there are guards at each entrance. Any necessary breaks needed, you will be escorted by a guard. Good luck here, and remember…"
She pauses for a response. "WICKED is good." Everyone replies.
Everyone except for Thomas.
They all take a seat at their desks, Teresa facing him. Next to him was a boy Thomas didn't know.
"Hi, I'm Teresa," she says extending an arm out.
"Thomas," he replies. He looks down at his keyboard, he presses a button and everything turns on. He looks up at his screen.
A familiar scenery covers most of his screen. Healthy green grass, blue sky, and building located around the inside of a forest. He twist his screen to face the side, only being able to see high concrete walls. Finally he realises what it was.
The Glade.
He looks down to see four people standing around. He recognises all of them. Alby, Minho, Newt and Gally. They all look so young. Alby too, his usual stern face seems softer and kinder. Gally's crooked nose straighter and not ugly. Minho's buff arms still thin, and Newt…
Newt. Thomas thinks. His old friend who hasn't changed. Still the same scrawny, odd accented person he came to know.
"It's interesting isn't it?" a voice startles him. Ava. "Kids your age will be the next generation of human existence."
Thomas doesn't know whether to run now, or to just punch her across the face.
"Don't worry Thomas, you will go home, eventually."
Thomas had been working there for years now, watching a new Glader pop up every now and then. More and more of the kids Thomas had made friends with seem to have disappeared. Thomas not knowing where they went. Now only about seven of them have remained.
Thomas starts his daily routine, turn on the computer, stimulate each Gladers's brain, make a few changes to the Maze. And do it all over again. Finally, Ava comes to him.
"Well done Thomas. I would like you to come with me, I have something to show you."
Thomas stands up from his chair, pushing it in neatly. He prances up to Ava who had already started to walk off without him. Ava leads him to a room with a bed and medical objects around them.
"Sit down," Ava offers him pointing at the bed. Thomas obeys and pushes himself onto the bed, the silk sheets rubbing against the palm of his hands. "I have something to tell you Thomas. And don't worry it is a good thing."
Thomas wriggles on the bed and crosses his hands in front of him.
"You have been selected as the smartest Candidate here right now. And we want you to undergo the Swipe."
"I don't understand," he replies.
"The Swipe is a process where one gets an ability, they will be sent into the Glade to do further studying on the Gladers there. We want you to become one of them."
That all sounded pretty good to Thomas. He was only missing the fact that he wouldn't know anything about his past life. Thomas nods at Ava once she had finished. Acknowledging that he wanted to do it. Ava smiles cheerfully and summons two people in. Teresa and Aris.
Teresa runs to Thomas and hugs him.
"See you on the other side, dude," Aris says patting him on the back. Thomas smiles and lies down. They both get called out of the medical room as doctors start to surround Thomas. He closes his eyes and falls asleep.
Finally, he wakes up to reality.
