Disclaimer: All rights belong to James Dashner, the talented author of The Maze Runner series
Rating: T for Glader language, violence, and some disturbing imagery
Author's Note: About 5 more chapters left, maybe six. Enjoy!
Chapter 45
The next day the Gladers came upon a little village made from the remains of a ruined town. As the Gladers walked down the street, several heads popped out of buildings before disappearing again. Thomas felt uneasy, though he relieved that there were other survivors.
They were met by a small group from the village at the town center. There was an old man, a middle-aged woman, and two young adults. All seemed either Cured or Immune.
"Who are you?" the middle-aged woman asked. "And why do you come here?"
"We're the subjects from the Maze Trials...You know, the trials that led WICKED to find a cure for the Flare?" Minho was the one to introduce them this time, Thomas hanging out in the back. His ribs were hurting really badly.
The woman's eyes grew dark. "You're from WICKED?" she hissed. "What are you doing here? Don't you have labs to attend to? People to experiment on? Fatal viruses to concoct?"
"We're not scientists," Newt replied calmly. "We were their subjects. They experimented on us. Then we were captured by The Right Arm and a bunch of other bloody weird things happened and our plane crashed. We're trying to find our way back."
"Do you know of a man named Janson?" The elderly man asked. He hadn't shown a reaction or interest up to this point.
"Yes. We caught him already, and he's contained."
The woman looked upset. "Why is he not dead? His evil will not be stopped unless there is an end to him."
"I assure you that he can't do anything where he is," Brenda spoke up. Thomas glanced up at her, remembered what had happened last night, and looked away, guilt and happiness both conflicting inside of him. But now isn't the time to entertain those feelings; he was in a war zone, and in a world of death and destruction. After he fixed the world can he figure out his feelings, but not now.
The four of them looked unconvinced.
"Is there any way you could aid us?" Teresa asked. "Our friend here was injured, and it's imperative that he get medical attention."
The woman looked at the man and they conversed with the two young adults for a minute in low tones that Thomas couldn't pick up. Finally the man turned to them.
"We have a truck that you could borrow. However, we have one condition."
"What's that?" Minho asked.
"You have to convince WICKED to execute Janson. He's too dangerous." The man looked at them, waiting for their reply.
Thomas spoke up from the back. "Deal."
Everyone looked at him in shock. Thomas wasn't a huge fan of murdering people, but they did have a point. Janson was dangerous, and Thomas had long feared that he could still do damage behind bars. Besides, he'd talk to Ava about it an see what she had to say.
"Are you sure about it, Tommy?" Newt asked.
"Yeah. We don't have much of a choice, unless you want to stumble around in the wilderness until we starve."
Minho turned to the small group. "We'll make that deal, shanks." The Runner didn't seem too happy about it.
The woman pursed her lips, though the elderly man nodded reverently. The young adults didn't react, and Thomas decided they were only there in case of violence breaking out.
A few hours later the old rusty red pickup truck was rumbling in sight of the faculty in Alaska. They had made good time on the scorched out land, but once the snow and ice had come in sight the speed had decreased sharply. Thomas' ribs hurt from the constant bumping and shaking of the truck, and he lay across the three tiny seats behind the front seats. Brenda was driving, and Newt sat in the front seat. Teresa was squished in with him in the back bench, his head on her lap. The rest of the Gladers were in the bed of the truck.
A particularly rough jolt made Thomas moan a little. Brenda looked at him in the mirror.
"Sorry," she said. Teresa smiled down at him.
"A little pain won't hurt you," she teased. Thomas rolled his eyes.
"I think I've had plenty of pain to last me a lifetime," he said.
"You're one to talk," Newt shot back in a friendly manner. "You were all protected in your little lab while I was running around the Glade for two years."
"We're almost there, anyhow," Brenda said.
As they approached the base and the village surrounded it Brenda suddenly braked. Thomas groaned, but no one paid him any attention; it was the scene ahead of them that held their gaze.
The base was swarming with heavily armed guards. All of their guns were pointing at the truck.
All was still for a while. Everyone was frozen, waiting for the other to make the first move. Then the guards lowered their weapons slightly and parted to let a small vehicle come through.
Brenda's knuckles were white where they were pressed against the steering wheel. Newt looked back worriedly, and Teresa looked down. There was a tension to the air that was almost palpable, and Thomas felt like it would be inappropriate to breathe.
The vehicle pulled up beside the truck. The door opened and two armed guards exited, followed by Ava Paige. She was wearing a bulletproof vest over her professional clothes.
"Open up and exit," a guard ordered without moving. After struggling for a minute, a painful minute, Thomas managed to exit along with the others. Those in the bed of the truck just hopped out. Ava watched them, her eyes empty of emotion.
"What's going on?" Teresa finally asked. Ava's glare seemed to bore into her.
"Where were you?" she demanded. Her gaze scoured the group as if daring them to answer.
"Our pilot crashed," Brenda said.
"Said something about working for Janson," Newt added. Ava's gaze softened a little bit.
"Okay. Get in the truck." She turned.
"Are you going to tell us anything?" Minho snapped. Ava didn't turn as she spoke. "Once we're inside the base. And hurry, too. We don't have much time."
With confused expressions the Gladers piled back in the truck and followed her vehicle back into the base. The guards stayed outside after they passed.
The group was rushed into the med bay, where Thomas and Teresa were inspected and the others were given quick bandaging. Ava stood in the doorway until everyone was settled.
"There's been a disaster," she said. A disaster would explain why there were so many guards and weapons around. "It appears Janson has escaped."
The silence was filled with tension. Thomas felt like a huge blow had been dealt. With Janson on the loose they were no longer safe. Everything they'd relied on was blowing up in their faces.
"So what now?" Frypan asked, voicing the question in all of their minds.
Ava sighed. "I don't know. We have guards here, but Janson is taking over everywhere else. This is our last defense."
"So there's nothing left?" Thomas said. "We sit here and wait for Janson and his army to take us down?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Ava snapped. Then she exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry. Things have been rough lately. I don't know what to do. Things have become worse and worse. What more can we do?"
Everyone was quiet. Things really were hopeless.
"So you have no backup plan?" Teresa looked at her apathetically. "You should have prepared for everything."
"Well...there is one thing..." Ava trailed off. "It's dangerous, and it's experimental. There's almost no chance of it succeeding. But it's all we have."
"What is it?"
"It's not finished yet," she replied, not answering the question. "We need to work on it. If we can finish it there might be hope we can avoid the Flare."
"What do you mean, avoid the Flare?" Thomas exchanged looks with the others. They were as confused as he.
"Thanks. I'll get back with you later. For now rest and recover, and when I'm not busy I'll tell you." Ava half-ran half-walked out. Thomas and the others sat there, perplexed.
"I'm going to take her up on her offer. Don't know about you all, but I really want some real food." Newt stood. The others slowly followed.
Thomas was glad they had made it inside, for the cast around his midsection made walking much less painful. And he was hungry. But more than that, he was curious. What did Ava mean? Why was she hesitant to tell them? What was she hesitant to tell them?
