A/N: I won't say much. I don't really think I can, after the last chapter. But in my defense, I'll say that I did originally declare that my OCs would be in Chuck's place. And, well, I'm gonna shut up now.

Embers To Ashes: Honored? Honored is an understatement. I went a little loopy when I saw your review, and it made me so un-put-in-wordably happy! As for Lee… um… I can't really say anything there, but… sorry? *weak smile*

Dis.: I don't own TMR.

~.~.~.~.

If only the Grievers had shut down when I had pressed the button. But no, it seemed as though the Griever wanted to claim its last victim.

With a final jump, the Griever leapt at my brother, and I watched from the side, knowing only too well that I was too far to be of any help. I wanted to cry out, but my voice wouldn't work.

Suddenly Lee came from nowhere, barreling in front of my brother. She reached there just in time, and the Griever leg went through her stomach, poking Aidan slightly behind her. Thomas let out a blood-curling wail, as he ran forward to his sister. The minute the leg pierced Lee, the Griever dropped to the ground, dead.

Lee pulled the leg out, a small squeak escaping her lips. She started to fall, but Thomas caught her, sinking to his knees. He cradled her head in his arms, crying. Aidan seemed shocked into silence, as he knelt beside Thomas. Lee was doomed. I knew that for certain. There was nothing we could do for her. But that didn't make the pain of her loss any less. I walked over to them, and put my arm around Aidan. I was also crying; the sight of Lee's broken form wrenched my heart.

Gladers poured into the room, happy at first, only to be silenced by the scene. I looked at Minho, to see that his lip was quivering, and he had his eyes shut, as if he wanted to bottle up his emotions. Newt saw our situation, and walked up to us, his face being streaked with tears. He took his place behind Thomas, looking at Lee.

"These bloody Grievers." Lee said, blood spewing from her mouth as she talked. "Why can't I ever wear something without it being covered in blood?" She laughed weakly, and a new wave of tears fell from my eyes. She didn't have much time left. She looked at Minho and Newt. "Get out of here. All of you." She sighed. "I'm sorry guys."

She turned her gaze to Aidan, whose mouth was still hanging open, as if he couldn't quite process what had happened. "I'm sorry Aidan." She said. She turned to Thomas next, and drew in a final shaky breath, a hint of a smile on her face.

"I'm sorry Tommy."

Then she was gone.

"NO!" Thomas yelled, holding Lee close, "NO, LEE GODDAMIT, DON'T DO THIS!" He was crying harder than I had ever seen anyone cry; his sobs were like a knife through my heart.

Aidan reached out and touched Lee's lifeless face. "Lee?" he said, tears spilling over his eyes. His expression morphed into one of pain and misery. "Lee? Lee? LEE! LEE!" He yelled her name over and over again, shrieking, howling. But Lee was dead, and no amount of mourning would bring her back.

I don't know how much time passed before Minho took Thomas' shoulders. Thomas' sobs were now muffled, and Aidan simply sat there. I knew Lee's loss had torn him apart from inside, but I also knew that we had to leave.

"C'mon Thomas. You heard her. We have to go." Minho said, softer than I thought he was capable of. Thomas slowly let go of Lee, placing her head gently on the ground. He got up, and nodded.

"You're right." Was all he said. I pulled myself and Aidan up, holding his hand tightly. He didn't resist. It was almost as if Lee's death had taken away all his emotion, and now he was empty. His expression was blank, and he let me lead him to the door that had opened up opposite the one we had come through.

Thomas reached the door, and turned the handle. He stole one last glance at Lee, and I could see the pain in his eyes. He was keeping himself together for us, because he knew we saw him as something of a leader. He couldn't afford to be weak. He looked away, and shut his eyes. He walked through the door.

We followed him, only to find ourselves in a long corridor, blinking lights dotting the walls.

"Hello?" we heard a muffled voice, coming from behind a door, somewhere to our left. "Anyone there?"

Thomas ran in the direction of the voice with us on his heels, and stopped outside a blue door. "Teresa?" He called, his voice breaking. He clearly was shattered by Lee's death, but also clearly was trying not to show it. The door was bolted from outside. There was no high-tech mechanism, just a simple bolt. Thomas removed it from the lock, and pushed it open, to reveal a girl about our age, sitting in a bare room. There was nothing to the room, save four barren walls.

The girl flew at Thomas and wrapped him in a hug. "Tom!" she said, before pulling away.

"Teresa." Thomas turned to us. "Guys, this is the girl I told you about."

I recognized her from my memory. She had long black hair, and electric blue eyes, which took in all of us, one by one. She smiled at first, but her smile quickly faded. "Where's Lee?" she asked.

Thomas turned away, refusing to show his pain. Our expressions must have spoken for us, because the girl put her hand over her mouth, tears already forming in her eyes. "Oh my god…" she said.

Thomas turned back to us, his eyes red.

"We need to go that way." He said, pointing off to his right. He started walking in that direction, without waiting for our response.

"C'mon guys. We have to get out of here." Newt told our group, and we followed Thomas, Teresa tagging along. I somehow trusted her. I had seen her in my memory, and if Thomas trusted her, which he seemed to, I did too.

Thomas finally stopped in front of a door, above which, in bright green letters, the word 'EXIT' stared back at us. I had no doubt that Lee would have made some sarcastic comment at this.

"Seriously?" Frypan tried to make up for Lee's absent sense of humor, his words carrying half-hearted sarcasm.

Thomas turned the knob, and pushed open the door.

Inside, bodies littered the floor. A man was slumped against a wall, blood splattering the surface behind him. Numerous other bodies greeted us inside. The room itself was lined with high-end computers, holographic screens surrounding us.

Thomas walked up to a keyboard, facing the screen in front of his, and looked down at the keys, he must've remembered something from a memory, because he reached out a pushed a key, and the screen came to life.

On it, was a lady who looked to be about forty. She had blond hair, and was wearing clothes that were completely white. I recognized her from my memory as well.

"Hello." She started. "My name is Doctor Ava Paige, Chancellor of the World In Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department."

WICKED, I thought. I looked at Newt, and saw him staring intently at the screen. I turned my attention back to the lady.

"If you're watching this, it means you've successfully completed the maze trials. I wish I could be there in person, to congratulate you. But circumstances seemed to have prevented it. I'm sure by now you must all be very confused, angry, frightened. But you will soon know, that everything that's happened to you, has been for a reason."

I stared at her in disbelief. How could all this be for any reason? What could possibly be the reason for torturing us the way they had? My question was answered almost immediately.

"Sun flares have scorched our world." The screen changed, showing us scenes of destruction, death and carnage. Buildings were on fire, bodies burnt to dust. The lady continued talking.

"The fallout was unimaginable. What came next, was worse." The screen changed to a man lying on a hospital bed. His condition was so revolting, that I turned away, refusing to see more. When I turned back, the screen had changed to the lady again.

"A deadly virus called the Flare was released. It attacked the brain, rendering the being to something less than an animal. But after years of waiting, an answer emerged. A new generation was born, that could survive the virus. Finally we had reason to hope for a cure. But finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed." Behind her, people came in carrying guns, shooting at anything they saw.

"It may be too late for us; for me. But it's not too late for you." She took out a gun and held it to her head. "Remember. WICKED is good."

The gunshot was loud and clear. The screen went blank, and I looked at Thomas, who seemed to be transfixed onto the blank screen.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"I don't know." He shook his head. He seemed strangely disoriented, and I knew Lee's loss had shaken him up much more than I previously though. He started to walk towards what seemed to be a door, when from behind us, a voice came.

"Stop."

I whirled around, and found myself facing Gally. He'd been stung, and for the first time, seemed to be crying. I didn't know how he'd gotten in, but now was not the time to wonder. He held up a gun, and pointed it straight towards Thomas.

~.~.~.~.

Aidan:

For the entire time the lady had been talking, my mind had been on Lee. I felt empty, as lifeless as her corpse had been. She'd been my best friend, my sister. Now she was dead, all because of me. I knew for a fact that I would never be able to forgive myself, as long as I lived. I was snapped away from my thoughts by another voice, one which I recognized to be Gally.

"We can't leave Thomas." He said. I knew from the direction of his voice that he was somewhere in front of us.

"Yes we can Gally. Just put down the gun." Thomas replied. That's when I knew that Gally was holding a gun, which must've been pointed straight at Thomas.

"No." he said. I realized he was going to shoot Thomas, and made a split second decision. Lee had given her life for me. Now was the time to return the favor.

"I belong to the Maze. We all do."

He pulled the trigger, just as I threw myself between Thomas and the bullet.

The gunshot echoed around the room. Before I could even cry out, the bullet entered my body, and pain exploded in my chest.

~.~.~.~.

Kyra:

I watched helplessly as Aidan put himself between Thomas and the gun, the bullet penetrating his chest. Minho had a javelin buried in Gally's body a fraction of a second later, but I had eyes for only Aidan, who collapsed against Thomas. He fell to the floor, and Thomas took his head in his arms.

I now knew what Thomas had felt, when Lee died. I sank to my knees beside them. My heart felt like it was being ripped from my body. The red stain on my brother's shirt grew bigger, and he took my hand, smiling lightly. His green eyes seemed far away.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm fine with this. At least I know I died for a good reason." He said. Thomas seemed to be going into shock, his mouth hanging open, tears once again falling from his eyes.

"Aidan…" He managed, his voice cracking.

Aidan smiled, "I'm really just sad about one thing."

My brother was dying, and I couldn't do anything about it. I wanted to cry and rage, but all I did was look at him, as he slowly drifted away. He tilted his head back, and spoke his final words.

"I'm just sad that I could never see the sun."

Then he closed his eyes for the last time, as life left his body.

~.~.~.~.

A/N: I'm not even gonna say anything…