(Thank you for reading! I Hope you enjoy it :) and that your week is starting very well! I shall likely post again before this week is over as I find myself with some extra time ;) I do not own Maze Runner)

The next thing Brenda knew she was chasing after Thomas without knowing why they were running.

"Thomas! Hold on!"

He showed no sign of stopping. Thomas called back as he was pulling away.

"Stay here!"

Brenda didn't comply. Instead, she sped up in pursuit.

"Where are you going?!"

Thomas didn't have the time or the breath to explain himself. He knew the last time Gally escaped unharmed from WCKD's rocket attack at the wall. But something told Thomas that the truckload of armed guys would have done more than skulk around in the crowd if Gally hadn't spotted him and started following him and his friends.

*I don't want Brenda near this.*

Thomas resolved the only way to protect Brenda was to leave her safely behind. Without a word, he cut down the concrete stairs leading from the highest landing then jumped railing after railing until he reached the bottom level.

"Thomas wait, slow down!"

He figured once he lost her, she'd have no choice but to join back up with the others. As Thomas rounded a corner exiting the parking garage, he was back at street level. He turned and raced down an adjacent alley before Brenda could even make it outside. Stretching out into a full sprint he flew passed overfilled dumpsters and jumped over a stack of broken wood pallets emerging on the opposite street where people were marching towards the wall, Thomas glanced back at the alley and saw nothing, no sign of Brenda giving pursuit. He pulled his hood up over his head and melted into the crowd.

"That wasn't so hard," Thomas said to himself.

The next thing he knew he felt someone pull on the side of his jacket. He looked to see Brenda, out of breath but smiling, beside him.

"Nice try," She said panting.

Thomas shook his head as Brenda continued speaking.

"-Isn't this right where you told everyone not to be?"

Thomas sighed exasperatedly. "Brenda, I was trying to keep you clear of all this!"

"That's a really nice way of saying, ditch me." Brenda smiled as she walked alongside Thomas towards the crowd gathered ahead. "At least this settles one thing."

"What's that?" Thomas said.

"You might be fast, but still can't get away from me. I wonder why that is?"

Brenda's eyes sparkled as she posed her rhetorical question.

Thomas' smirk faded into a smile.

"Well, when this is all over, we can have a real race and then we'll see.

"Oh, I know you're faster than I am Thomas." Brenda quipped with a teasing look in her eyes. "Anyway, why'd you take off?"

"I gotta find Gally. He's here somewhere. If he gets killed, we'll never make it inside the walls in time to find, uh, find Teresa."

Thomas felt a chill race through him seeing Brenda's muted reaction to him mentioning Teresa's name. Thomas continued.

"I mean, we need her to make the serum before Newt runs out of time."

Brenda's mood boosted slightly, even if it was just for the kindness of Tom's attempt to disguise his interest.

"Great, but where do we start? There must be thousands of people here."

"He'll be armed and wearing a gas mask. At least he was last time."

Brenda scanned the crowd.

"You mean like those sketchy looking guys over there?"

Thomas glanced in the direction Brenda indicated to see four guys standing in a parked Jeep with gray tape wrapping the roll bars. Thomas observed the guy in the back seat on the driver's side had the right stature to be Gally and was wearing a gas mask.

"I think that's him!"

The noise from the crowd jeering made calling out to Gally impossible. Thomas and Brenda were fighting there way through the crush of people moving towards the gates when Thomas heard it. A low rumbling of giant machines whirring up overhead. He knew what was about to happen.

"Shit! We gotta move Brenda!"

As Brenda looked up, she turned white as a ghost. "Those are the missile turrets?"

She was speaking directly into Tom's ear as they weaved through the crowd. "Somehow I pictured them a lot smaller."

They were almost close enough to shout.

"GALLY!" Thomas called at the top of his lungs. "GET DOWN!"

He turned and looked in Thomas' direction. Hearing the familiar voice calling out to him from the crowd he pulled up his gas mask. Thomas never thought he'd be so happy to see a dirty look on someone's face. But it was him, it was Gally, and he recognized Thomas too. Just then Thomas heard a whizzing sound race past him from overhead. Gally's Jeep roiled with blue electricity as the missile hit. The resulting shockwave knocked everyone within ten meters over like dominos. Thomas was at the very edge of the blast's event horizon. He only managed to keep on his feet with Brenda's support from behind. Thomas could feel the residual electricity in the air as if it was arching between the fillings in his teeth. As Tom's vision cleared and he started taking in the scene.

*This is all wrong.*

He could see the Jeep on its side, and Gally draped lifelessly over one of its rollbars. Brenda thought Thomas seemed dazed, so she grabbed his hand and led him over to Gally. Together they pulled him free of the wreck and started dragging him away with one of his arms over each of their shoulders.

"Ugh! Thomas, couldn't you pick a lighter friend to get us inside the walls?"

Carrying Gally felt like lugging an anchor across wet sand. Thomas could hear strange sounds like static crackling behind him, but couldn't turn back to look. It was all he and Brenda could do to remain upright. Somehow they made it to an alley and took cover behind a twisted vehicle frame. As Brenda looked over Gally Thomas took in the chaotic scene of the street from the alley.

"He's breathing Thomas. I think he's just stunned."

But Thomas couldn't look away. Nothing was right. Brenda could see the questions adding up in his eyes.

"What is it, Tom?"

Before Thomas could answer, he saw six WCKD guards carrying shock launchers like they'd seen used before back in the Scorch.

"We gotta get out of here; they are rounding everyone up!"

Thomas pulled up a manhole cover up near his feet. The smell it released was like hot garbage and feces mixed. Brenda turned away wretching.

"No choice," Thomas said shaking his head.

Brenda rolled her eyes and took a deep breath like the clean air was the last breath she'd take before going underwater.

Gally started to regain consciousness. He opened up his eyes and winched from the rancid stink.

"I guess I kinda owe you this Gally."

"Thomas? ...What the hel-"

Thomas cut Gally off by lifting his legs and dumping him headfirst back into the sewer. Kicking and screaming in freefall, Gally landed with a mucky splash.

"That felt good," Thomas said.

Brenda smirked and ripped a length of cloth from around the bottom of her t-shirt giving herself a mid-drift. She tied the length of cloth over her mouth and nose.

"Want one?"

Brenda put her hands on the ragged bottom of her shirt jokingly.

"I don't think you've got any more shirt to spare Brenda."

Brenda batted her eyes at Thomas with a mischievous look.

"No secrets between friends, right?"

Brenda started down the grooved ladder built into the side of the sewer, Thomas followed.

"What can I say, Brenda,"

Thomas pulled the manhole cover back into place as the pair descended into the darkness.

"-I like mysteries."


Teresa walked down a long glass hallway towards the location security had called her to. She'd been told they'd lost tracking on Sonya and Aris. She could feel the emotional conflict building inside her. Part of her was livid.

*How could he let this happen? Could Janson be any more incompetent?!*

But even as she was silently cursing Janson and mentally selecting his replacement. She felt her pace quicking from the excitement. Part of her couldn't resist the feeling of Hope building inside of her. She knew Aris and Sonya were smart, but they couldn't escape without help.

*There's only one person I know who would dare attempt a rescue on the eighty-seventh floor of WCKD headquarters.*

Teresa felt herself glancing at the guards in the hallway wondering if it was Thomas inside one of those helmets. The idea that he could be close by was exhilarating. Even if she had to keep telling herself, it was just for the opportunity to attempt the tandem trial simulation with him. She approached several guards standing outside the forced door leading to a server room.

"Report."

A guard with red hair parted on the left side answered.

"At 0137 hours the locking mechanism was deactivated on holding cells four and five simultaneously. Moments later, internal sensors picked up subject three and subject seventeen moving through the halls. Their signal terminated at this door at 0145. A suppression squad responded to the location and found the door sealed from within. The team forced entry and completed a sweep of the room."

"So you found nothing? How can that be?"

"There was too much magnetic interference from all the computers inside. Even with their implants, tracking them within the room wasn't possible."

"Where's Janson?"

The ginger guard motioned into the server room. Teresa marched inside, and her eyes found Janson almost immediately.

"So you lost them? In your own building, in your own department, with all your people surrounding them you managed to lose the two most critical assets we have left."

"We didn't lose anyone; they're here!" Janson replied defensively.

"Wonderful. Point them out to me."

Teresa stood in front of Janson with her arms slack at her sides. She tilted her head slightly as she moved closer, imploying her own brand of menace. Making no attempt to protect herself as she spoke to the man she knew to be infected with Flare.

"-Because from where I'm standing you've outlived your usefulness."

Teresa's posture radiated utter confidence in the face of Janson's slippery demeanor and historical volatility.

"Look, Teresa, you don't know what you are talking about. Someone must have tampered with the holding cells. It's the only explanation."

Teresa nodded and turned her head.

"Guards. Take Director Janson to cell four and hold him there."

Janson's eyes went wide with rage as he clenched his trembling fist. Teresa didn't flinch. Instead, she starred cooly back at him in spite of his eroding mental state.

"You can use the time to look for clues. Until further notice."

Teresa reached out her hand and took a .45 caliber handgun off Janson's belt.

"A smart guy like you won't be needing this."

The red-haired guard walked up behind Janson.

"Sir, uh, this way."

Janson smiled at Teresa.

"You know I thought you were smarter than Thomas."

Janson didn't protest further or offer resistance. He turned, flanked by guards on all sides and began walking to what was to become his holding cell.