EPILOGUE
It was a sunny day.
Like the previous day and everyday before that one.
The girl could see the light streaming through the window if she strained her neck to the right, catching a glimpse of the burning sky outside.
She had been restrained, again, for what made it the forth time; if her memory served her correctly, which sometimes she doubted was true.
The sunlight seemed to mock her as she lay in the stupid pristine white bed, boredom eating away every other thought from her mind.
The girl did not move, did not try to break out. She had already tried and failed, and tried and failed, time and time again...
But with nothing else to do, except stare at that tall clear ceiling, her mind was free to wander.
And, that was exactly what she didn't want to happen.
She didn't want to face the questions that haunted her day and night, for however long she had been trapped in that ridiculously clean white room, ever since she had been "saved"; as they liked to remind her.
Ugh, she just wanted to spit in their stupid faces.
But she was tired... so tired of fighting, and she knew she was giving up. She was losing her will to fight.
Then, she was angry at herself... again.
She had to keep trying. She had to get out of there.
If there was a time to fight, that was it.
But, she had already tried. She had fought, and ran and tried to claw her way out, which had only resulted in more frecuent electric shocks and being restrained for five consecutive days.
She couldn't break out. She didn't know how.
Besides, even if she managed to, where would she go?
She didn't even know if there was anything to go back to. Or anyone...
Dark almond eyes and honey brown...
NO!
For all she knew, they were dead.
So much time had passed... She couldn't afford to think about them.
She had, at first, when she had woken up in that place to the Doctors kindly explaining to her how they had restored her blood and cured her wounds, saving her life.
They had said she was special, that she could help them save a lot of people's lifes. That they were going to take care of her.
So, she had trusted them, at first. But they wouldn't answer any of her questions. They would simply act like she hadn't spoken when she asked about the Maze, or her friends... And the tests they put her through were tiring and painful, even if she didn't remember anything but the sting of needles and bright lights afterwards. They always left her feeling exhausted and sore and, when she had refused to keep doing them, they had forced her anyway.
So she had cried... A lot. And she had thought about her friends and begged, prayed for them to be alive, to come save her.
But they didn't. She knew they wouldn't.
Even if they were alive, she wasn't, not for them. They didn't know she had lived.
So she had cried, and she had fought, and she had resisted their testing. But she hadn't achieved anything, except being put under constant vigilance and her every move being monitored.
She didn't even know if those were the same people that had put her in the Maze, as far as she knew, those people had been killed.
Whatever the case, these people weren't any better. Maybe they were part of WICKED, maybe not, but they didn't care about her or her wellbeing. The just wanted her alive to do their little tests.
And she had lost the strengh to resist them.
And then, the day before, something had changed.
Hope had swipped in unannounced, unwelcomed, unexpected, when she had already given up her wishing for a different outcome in her life.
But, hope had come and so it had become the only thing she had left.
The girl had been woken up like she was everyday...
She was moved from her room early in the morning, which wasn't unusual. She hadn't been resisting for a while so they did not have to carry her anymore. She simply walked infront of the guards, eyes cast downward, no longer extra-aware of the big electrical guns the carried. The bullets weren't deadly, she knew. She wouldn't get tased if she didn't give them any trouble, she had learnt.
So she walked shiftly, not knowing whether it'd be mental or physical testing that day, and not really caring. The only thing she had left to wish for was that it would be over quickly and she could go back to staring at the wall in her room, watching the light of the day fade away. She had lost track of the days long ago.
She didn't try to peak or listen to any doors as they passed. She had yet to see anyone who wasn't wearing a lab coat or a guard uniform.
She didn't think she was the only one for, sometimes, she had heard crying and wailing through the doors but she had never seen anyone like her.
The guard stepped in front of her as they reached another white door, one labeled "Test room 12". He punched the numbers in the code pad. She didn't bother trying to peak. They changed the codes regularly, she had learnt that too.
The door emited and electric unlocking sound, but before the man could open the door for her to enter, shouting broke into the silent hall.
The guards tensed beside her, their hold on their weapons tightening, alert.
They shared a look.
The girl could only stare down the empty corridor. White lights burned her tired eyes.
There was some commotion but they couldn't see what was causing it.
"TRAITOR! TRAITOR!"
More yelling came from farther down the corridor.
One guard nodded to the other who stepped closer to her. His partner made his way froward, gun propped up against his shoulder, ready to strike.
A door banged open ahead, and the noise intensified. It sounded like someone was shouting in rage while breaking everything they could find.
A figure leapt through the door, dark long hair and a lab coat flowing with the movement. She didn't make it very far. The glowing bullet struck her in the back sending her convulsing to the floor.
The guards quickly moved forward, towards the fallen scientist, forgetting about the other girl who simply stared.
The fallen woman rolled around in pain and her face became visible.
The staring girl suddenly felt alive with recognition. It wasn't a woman at all but a young girl. Her eyelids closed with a flutter.
How was that possible? Why was she there? Why was she wearing the white coat?
Had she snuck in and been caught?
Her legs sprung to action, she had to get to her. She ran to the inmovile figure.
The guards hadn't done the same though. They had crept slowly towards the door as if they expected a bigger threat than the unconcious girl on the ground.
"Teresa..." The other girl whispered, brushing the hair out of the fair face.
She felt unable to comprehend the situation. The face of the girl waking her numb brain with memories that had been forcibly locked in the back drawer of her mind.
"Drop it!" The low voice made her instinctvely jump to her feet, palms up. She hadn't done anything.
But they weren't talking to her.
There, inside the room, her two guards aiming at him; two other unconcious guards behind him on the ground; holding a gun of his own and staring at her was her most painful memory.
"Eleanor?" The disbelief in his eyes matched hers.
It was impossible, he was dead. She had seen him die.
But there he was, much thinner than the last time she had seen him, dark eyes surrounding tired eyes, but undoubtedly him.
"Gally..." She exhaled.
Was she dreaming? Was this another test?
He took a step forward.
So did she.
"Stop." Came from around them.
It was him. It was really him.
He was closer then. Another step. Closer.
Then, a ball of light.
He took another step, arms extended forward towards her and he was falling. She crossed the space between them with an urgency she had forgotten. The gun he had been holding hit the ground before him. She tried to break his fall, she wasn't strong, even less then. Her knees gave out. He convulsed in her arms.
"Gally..." She said. Still unsure.
He was wearing the same clothes she wore, she realised.
Had he been there the whole time? Prisioner and exploited like her?
"El..." He tried to say.
He was resisting... The shocks becoming stronger, trying to subdue the body.
"You're here." She heard herself say.
"Step away from the subject." Came the low voice.
She couldn't focus on their orders.
"We can... get..." He tried, his body tensing, fighting itself.
"We can get out." She whispered.
She believed it. For the first time in a long time, she could believe it. Because suddenly she wasn't alone, and Gally was alive, and it wasn't only her life on the line.
She had Gally and Teresa, and who knew how many other kids, to save.
The boy nodded and fell limp, his body resting on her knees.
"I'll get you out." She knew he couldn't hear her, but it was the one thing she could whisper before arms dragged her away.
So, she had been restrained, bound to her bed. And she was bored and tired of fighting. But she would save the small strengh she had regained.
She felt alive for the first time in what felt like years, and willing to risk it all for her friends again.
And that felt really good.
Because, even though she was tied up and held against her will, and stripped of every sense of freedom; a tiny seed had grown inside her chest and for a small second she had believed she could get out, she could win. And that was enough.
After a few hours that felt like years, a knock came from the door.
That had never happened before. They would nromally simply barge into the room and drag her wherever she had to go.
Eleanor felt like rolling her eyes.
Where they expecting her to open the door? Was she supposed to drag the bed with her?
She felt an urge to giggle at the thought. At least her sarcasm was back.
"Come in?" She spoke, her voice cracking so she cleared her throat.
The door opened slowly and someone walked in, with a purpose, like they were exactly where they were supposed to be.
Eleanor inhaled.
Her hair was pinned back and she was wearing the white coat again, but it was her.
Eleanor's heart sped up with anticipation. She was there, she had opened the door.
She had come to save her.
Teresa didn't close the door. Eleanor could see a guard standing outside the threshold, vigilant.
In two strides the girl had reached the bed.
For a second they stared at eachother as the brunette towered over the girl on the bed.
Eleanor opened her mouth to tell her how happy she was of seeing her, but Teresa's expresion was guarded and unreadable. Eleanor's eyes moved to the notepad she hadn't noticed before, as Teresa lifted it.
"Teresa, what-?" She tried, swallowed and reordered her thoughts. " Why are you here? What happened? Didn't you escape?"
Teresa closed her eyes briefly and took a deep breath. When she looked back at her, Eleanor could see sadness peaking through her blue eyes.
"We did..."
Eleanor exhaled.
"...and we didn't."
Before she could even open her mouth, Teresa said, "It's complicated."
Eleanor closed her eyes tightly. Why was she being so cryptic?
"Why are you here?" She repeated the question, starting to feel like she wasn't going to get the answers she wanted. "Are any other Gladers here?"
Teresa ignored her. "How are you feeling Eleanor?" She inquired.
Eleanor narrowed her eyes at her cold, detached tone as Teresa lifted the notepad, pen ready to write.
"What?" The young girl didn'y understand what was happening. "What are you-?"
The brunette wrote something down.
"Teresa..." Eleanor wanted to cry. "Why are you here? Can you untie me?"
She wiggled, signaling her inability to move.
It was then clear the girl hadn't come to save her. She didn't even seemed to be on the same side of things as her. Was she a part of them?
But, it wasn't possible. She had been inside the Maze too, Eleanor had seen the fear in her eyes when they were there.
When did she switch sides? Or was she always a part of that nightmare?
No.
There was no way.
Teresa was her friend. Eleanor had saved her life. She must have been faking it. She had infiltrated that place, somehow...
"Teresa, please." She whispered. Maybe she just didn't want the guard to hear them talking. "Tell me. What's going on?"
"We made it out of the Maze, we did." Her tone didn't change. She started writing something down as she spoke. "We didn't know anything then, but-"
Eleanor soaked in every word.
"-People need our help. The cure is the only thing that can save us."
Eleanor narrowed her eyes again. She sounded like every person she had encountered since she woke up there.
"What?"
Was she serious?
"I am being kept here against my will, tortured..."
The girl stopped writing. Eleanor saw that glimmer of something in her gaze, and something else... pity.
Her blood started boiling in her veins. Who was she to look down at her? To pity her?
"I don't give a fuck about the cure! I need to get out of here!"
Teresa started writing again, seemingly unbothered.
"I know you're upset but this is for the greater good."
"What?!" Eleanor excalimed. "Are you hearing yourself? These people killed children. I know you didn't know them very well but they killed my friends..."
She didn't even know if Teresa was working for WICKED or whatever the hell this people were but she couldn't let her friends' deaths be forgotten as simple means to an end.
Ben, Alby, Jeff...
She owed it to them to remember.
"They're murderers." She tried again.
Teresa's gaze snapped to hers with an alarm written in her expression and gave a barely noticeable shake of her head.
Eleanor fell silent in surprise.
Teresa was warning her.
The brunette looked down once more. "After the Maze trial you were brought here."
She spoke as if Eleanor hadn't said anything. Eleanor nodded, unsure of what she had to do.
"Tom and the others..." She cleared her throat, "The other subjects were brought into a different trial."
"Are they-" Eleanor couldn't help it.
Another warning look. A small nod.
They were alive... Eleanor didn't know how to process that information.
Teresa didn't stop. "All in hopes of finding the cure. You don't realise how important we are. Of course, not all of us are inmune, that would be too easy. It's impossible to tell until you show symptoms."
Her eyes locked onto Eleanor's. That was important. Teresa wasn't just rambling, she was telling her something important.
"But we have to test everyone who could be inmune in order to find what makes us different, and recreate it."
Eleanor stared hopelessly at the girl, not really understanding what she was trying to tell her.
It was new information. All that time she had been told she was special and important. But maybe, she wasn't even inmune. Maybe, she had been sent to the Maze for nothing. Maybe, she was there for nothing...
She still didn't understand why she was giving her that information. What she was supposed to do with it?
"So... We're special unless... we're not." She said stupidly. Then thought, "And how do you know if someone is not inmune?
Teresa giggled shortly, her unamused eyes did not change as they bore into hers.
"When they catch the virus, of course. They start acting all crazy and violent. It's disgusting." Eleanor's eyes widened. Teresa's expression didn't change, she raised her eyebrows slightly. "When that happens, they are removed, thank god. So it's nothing you should worry about."
She spoke nonchalantly as if she was talking about the weather.
Eleanor mind was reeling with the new information, a plan already forming. Teresa must've seen it in her eyes, for her face turned serious and concerned once more.
Eleanor tried to think fast.
"How awful... I hope that never happens to me..." She tried to sound scared, "...or Gally."
Not very smooth, but innocent enough. Teresa sighed but did not seem surprised.
"He's been a bit difficult, but he's not a Crank yet." She turned to the notepad again, writing. Eleanor interest had considerably peaked."From what I've hear you haven't been easy either."
She risked a glance back and turned the notepad slowly. Eleanor strained her neck off the bed to see. After a few scathered lines noted in a chart, written in rushed calligraphy was a sentence:
He knows.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Perhaps that was why he had lashed out, until he had been distracted by her...
Or maybe, he had simply encountered Teresa and lost his temper.
"I'm better now." Eleanor forced herself to say through the loud heartbeat that had invaded her ears.
She nodded to Teresa. The notepad went back to its original position. The pen scratched against the paper, as if erasing a mistake.
"I'm glad to hear it." Teresa said and, with the most sincere voice she had used during the whole interaction, she added; "I'm happy we can work together. I'll see you soon. I'll try to get you out of those."
She eyed the restrains holding her limbs and, with a last nod and a sad look, she was gone.
The door clicked shut behind her.
Eleanor felt a knot in her stomach, that had felt like a goodbye. She didn't think she would see the brunette again.
But she couldn't feel sad.
Teresa wasn't on her side anymore, that much was clear. But, she had helped her by giving her the key out of that place... If she chose to use it.
For there was no doubt, getting stung had been Wicked's way of weeding out the non-inmune. That explained why some had survived and some had not.
Energy buzzed through her veins for the very first time in a very long time.
She had seen enough boys going through the changing to know how she had to act, what she had to fake. She could only hope Gally's train of thought followed the same path as hers.
She had a plan. She would get out and she would find her friends.
And just like that, for the first time in that cell, the young girl smiled.
There was hope, she could clearly see it then. She would hold onto it, grab it and let it save her.
THE END
