Chp1

Thomas P.O.V

Thomas was relaxing on the beach when it all went wrong.

The past year had been peaceful and happy. People were recovering. Thomas wasn't sure if he could ever recover himself, but with Minho and Brenda beside him, he was content. The nightmares were lessening.

Back to the present. Minho came over and sat down beside him. They sat quietly, not speaking. Comfortable.

Suddenly, the air started to shimmer in front of them, warping and bending. A gray screen flickered into existence. Cold dread filled Thomas. A flat trans, he thought numbly. Beside Thomas, Minho tensed. He jumped up, ready to take whoever came through it down.

Could it be WICKED? Some part of him thought. Could they have found them? Ready for more testing, the Maze rebuilt?

A man stepped through. He had grayish hair, neatly parted, combed to the sides. It lay slick and thin. He had a wispy gray mustache, curled slightly at the end. His eyes glittered black, shining with a sort of evil. He was wearing a crisp gray tuxedo. When he saw the two teens, looking ready to fight, his lips curled at the side. A sadistic smile. He raised his hands in a mock placating gesture.

''Boys, boys, there will be no use fighting me. Settle down.''

Minho didn't back down. Thomas also stood up, his fist curled. It was two against one. They would win.

The man noticed this. He shrugged, a careless gesture which seemed odd on his formal looks. ''Well, I didn't want to do this…'' he snapped his fingers, and everything froze. Thomas felt panic rising in his chest. He couldn't move. Not even open his mouth.

Minho looked murderous, but there wasn't much he could do about it either.

''Now that you have calmed down, I'll take you. I'm… call me Father Time. As you can see, I have a certain control over it.'' he gestured towards the two frozen boys, smiling cruelly. ''Now…''

He snapped his fingers, and everything went black.

-line break-

Thomas awoke up in a dark box. Rattling, moving up.

Nausea rose in his chest. The Box. But it couldn't be.

Someone bumped against him. A little relief trickled through. At least he wasn't alone.

The Box shuddered to a stop. Its doors opened, letting in sunlight. Sunlight. The sun wasn't gone yet. That was good too.

He clumsily stood up and pulled himself out.

Thomas took in his surroundings. Everything was how they had left it when they escaped from the Maze the first time, Homestead, The Slammer, the fields and animals.

A moment later, Minho, Brenda, Frypan and Aris were pulling themselves out. There were more in the Box who were just starting to stir.

A blond head popped out, looking scared, confused and annoyed. It hardly took a moment for Thomas to recognize his old friend's face.

''Newt?'' Thomas asked, flabbergasted. Everyone scrambled to help pull him out. It was impossible. Newt was dead. He had… killed him.

That didn't mean Thomas wasn't happy to see his friend.

Newt shot Thomas a look: a look that said, I remember. But it was not your fault.

The reunions had to wait, though. Someone else was waking up.

Thomas peeked over the edge and he nearly believed that he was hallucinating. But a familiar face, with blue eyes and black hair, was squinting up at him.

Teresa.

He reached out a hand and she gripped it and he pulled her up. He then gaped at her. ''How are you… how are you alive?''

She rolled her eyes and shrugged, smiling. Then she engulfed Thomas in huge hug.

''I missed you. For the ten minutes I was alive before coming here, I missed you,'' she murmured into his shoulder. ''I missed you too,'' he whispered back.

They broke apart. Everyone looked either shocked, confused, or angry at being here.

Back in the Glade.

Thomas shivered. Horrible memories were coming back to haunt him. Wait. Memories. He could remember everything. A small smile made his way onto his face. He could remember how to escape, the code, and how to deactivate the Grievers.

''Here we are again, stuck in this buggin' maze,'' Newt grumbled.

Minho took control. ''Okay, we can make temporary camp, we know how to escape and we will escape by tomorrow. Everyone has their memories, right? I'll go out in a bit to find the Cliff. We'll set out tomorrow night. Out of this place by tomorrow. We'll make it,''

Thomas had a suspicion that it wasn't going to be so easy. But he couldn't think of anything else.

Everyone dispersed, ready to make camp for the night. Frypan took to the kitchens, ready to prepare a meal. Aris and Teresa were talking about something. Minho had taken off into the Maze. Brenda was sitting alone, clearly not wanting to be disturbed.

He headed over to Newt, who was leaning against a tree, his head in his hands. He was trembling a little.

He sat down beside him, quietly, not speaking a word. They sat like that for a long time.

''Thank you.''

Newt had said that. Thomas looked over in surprise. ''thank you? I never did anything to deserve thanks.''

Newt smiled a little. ''You bloody saved me. From becoming a Crank. So thank you.''

Thomas didn't say anything to that. They again lapsed into still, comfortable silence.

First chapter down! Are you liking it? Hating it? The demigods will make their appearance in the next chapter. Please review! And sorry for any OOC-ness. I'll be updating this somewhere from every three days to once a week, I'm sorry but I'm not regular at all. Again, please review!

Always crazy,

Punk