Old Feelings

"You kids doing alright?" the nicely-dressed man asked once all the teenagers were standing before him. "Sorry about all the fuss. We had ourselves a bit of a swarm."

"Who are you?" Thomas asked, prompting Chuck to ask something as well.

"And how about Hope? Is she okay?"

"I'm the reason you're all still alive," the man answered with that perfect smile of his. "And your friend just got out of surgery. She's fine, but she's resting, so it'd be best not to wake her." Then, upon seeing everyone let out sighs of relief, the man turned away to start walking down the hallway. "Now, come with me! We'll get you kids squared away!"

Furthermore, despite the teenager's confusion, they followed the strange man nonetheless. They had nowhere else to go, anyway. Thus, with the authoritative man walking about five feet in front of the group (Thomas, of course, leading that group), he led them through the compound with a serious yet friendly tone. "You can call me Mr. Janson! I run this place! For us it is a sanctuary: somewhere safe from the horrors or the outside world! You all should think of it as a way station! Kind of a… home between homes! Watch yourselves!"

Above them, a spark of fire and metal flew on top of the group. Everywhere around them, construction was being conducted and those sparks were created by melting metal together, so those sparks weren't at all rare. Still, to the unknowing teenagers walking through the compound, it did confuse them a little. But Thomas was just being Thomas, so he just kept asking questions. "So does that mean you're taking us home?"

"A home of sorts," Janson replied, his smile never faltering. "Sadly, there wouldn't be much left of wherever you came from! But we do have a place for you! A refuge, outside the Scorch, where WICKED will never find you again!" Janson glanced behind his shoulder at the teens. "How does that sound?!"

Minho glanced toward Newt, and Newt returned that glance. Then, Minho popped a question himself. "Why're you helping us?!"

"Let's just say that the world out there is in a rather precarious situation!" Jason stated. "We're all hanging on by a very thin thread! The fact that you kids can survive the Flare Virus makes you the best chance of humanity's continued survival! Unfortunately, it also makes you a target, as no doubt by now you've noticed!" Janson then stopped in front of a large metal door; he used his keycard to open it up before turning around to face the group. "Behind this door lies the beginning of your new lives! …But let's do something about that smell, shall we?"

While all of his friends were enjoying their hot showers, Thomas could only stand there. With his hand pressed against the wall in front of him, Thomas stared down at the wet ground where his blood was flowing into the drain. He didn't feel fine. He felt far from it, really. He couldn't find it within himself to feel okay, because Thomas almost felt like… he didn't deserve such an emotion. And he was confused. He was conflicted over so much. Regardless of all that he'd done to help his friends, Thomas felt guilty about all that he'd done before that. At that point, Thomas could only see fragments from his past, and yet he could still feel every emotion he had felt. He was feeling exactly what he felt back then, even though he couldn't fully remember what happened.

Moreover, there was still his mistrust within Thomas' stomach. Something about this place felt wrong. Felt askew almost. His gut was telling him one thing, while his eyes and ears were seeing and hearing another. Thomas just wanted to make sure that his friends were safe. That nothing bad would happen to them ever again. He had to protect them. Thomas couldn't let them die like Alby or Zart or Jeff or Clint or Gally or any of the countless other boys that had died. No more would Thomas stand back and let them die. He wouldn't be able to stomach it, but he… Already, Thomas felt…

"It's going to be okay, Thomas."

There was this depression forming within Thomas.

A depression that was fierce and angry.

It was guilt.

It was loneliness.

Guilt and loneliness were starting to consume Thomas.

"We'll be together forever."

And why did he keep hearing her voice?

Why, in his darkest moment, did Thomas hear those comforting words?

Didn't he not deserve them?

"Thomas?" After his shower, the group found themselves in another new room. This room held doctors, nurses, medical tables, medical supplies, you name it. Every teenager had a doctor or nurse of their own, who was taking their blood or giving them "nutrient injections." They even had Minho running on a treadmill, and had Teresa walled off from the rest of the boys. But nevertheless, after a doctor had taken Thomas' blood, he suddenly heard his name being called from above. "You're Thomas, right?"

"Yeah?" Thomas mumbled quizzically. He looked up from his chair and saw a muscular man - he was obviously one of the soldiers.

"Come with me, please," the man said simply, not a single word of explanation. Regardless of that, however, Thomas' curiosity always won him over, so the boy stood up to follow behind the soldier. The older man led Thomas out from that medical room and into a smaller room. A room that, if you were a fan of crime, looked awfully like an interrogation room. There was a table with a single chair in the center of it, in which Thomas sat down on that single chair once the soldier had left. To his left, there was a dark mirror that showed his reflection. But his reflection wasn't what made Thomas stare in the direction of the mirror: it was the obvious camera recording above it.

Bzzt! But then, a buzzer buzzed and the door reopened. With it, walked in the perfectly dressed and perfectly manicured man named 'Janson.' Moreover, he was wearing that perfect smile of his. It unnerved him. Thomas had started feeling unnerved by that smile. He didn't know why, but… the teenager didn't seem to like "perfect" things.

"Thomas, thank you for seeing me," Jason greeted as he walked up to the table. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I was just hoping that we might get a moment to chat in private, away from the others."

"Is Hope doing any better?" Thomas questioned instinctually. "She awake?"

"Sadly, no. Your friend is very much asleep," Jason replied, pulling up another chair to the table and sitting down on it. "It's good for her, though, after all she's been through. You kids have been through Hell."

Thomas looked the man up and down. "What'd you wanna talk to me about?"

"I won't take up too much of your time, but I do have one question," Janson stated. It was then that Thomas noticed something shift within his eyes. Janson's perfect expression turned… tense. "What do you remember about WICKED? And you're not in trouble. We're just trying to have a conversation - I'm just trying to understand."

"Understand what?"

"Whose side are you on?"

That made Thomas look away. That single question made Thomas look down in shame, because although the question was easy to answer now, he knew that, back then, it wasn't so easy. Right now, Thomas would easily say no. He would never work for those people again, yet he knew that, only a couple months ago, he would have just as easily said yes. And that hurt him. That fact made Thomas' guilt come straight back. Even as he finally answered Janson's question, it was hard for Thomas to look the man in the eyes. "I remember I used to work for WICKED. I-I remember that they sent me into the Maze. I remember watching my friends die in front of me… I'm on their side."

"...Interesting," Janson said after a short pause. He had never once looked away from Thomas that entire time. "You say you worked for WICKED, but they sent you into the Maze. Why would they do something like that?"

"I don't know," Thomas snapped. "Maybe you should've asked them before you killed them all."

"I see… I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Janson acknowledged, but he didn't stand up from his chair. Not just yet, anyway. "And how about you? That girl seems to be taking up a lot of your mind."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Thomas asked, making Janson's smile only deepen.

"You seem to care a lot about her, I mean. You two… close?"

"We're friends, yeah. But I don't see why that mat-"

"Oh, would you look at that?" Janson abruptly interjected, smiling down at his watch. "I apologize, but I need to be somewhere. Duty calls, you know?" Likewise, not letting Thomas get a single word in, the man stood up as quickly as he sat down. "Enjoy the rest of your stay here, Thomas. You and your friends have all been cleared, so you can go join the others. Soon, you'll all be moving onto greener pastures."

"Wait," Thomas said right before Janson could leave. "'Others'?"

With another soldier at his side, Thomas walked down yet another hallway. However, once he had turned down into another-another hallway, was when he started hearing voices. And the closer he got to those voices, the jollier they sounded. Furthermore, at the end of the hallway, Thomas saw an opening. This opening led into a large room, where the teenager saw what looked like other people walking around or sitting. The fuzzy, far away scene piqued his curiosity, so Thomas started walking faster toward the room. He wanted to know if what he was seeing was true or not. And to Thomas' surprise, he was right. Thomas walked into a room full of teenagers just like him, in which each of them looked to be sitting in some sort of cafeteria. They all had smiles on their faces, obviously enjoying their time.

Thomas had to stare. There were so many of them.

"Hey!" Just then, a familiar voice called out to him. "Thomas!"

"Hey, Minho," Thomas greeted after seeing his friend run up to him. "What's goin' on?"

"We weren't the only maze, man," Minho replied with a smile on his face. "Come on."

Minho led Thomas over to one of the cafeteria-shaped tables, where Thomas found all of his other friends sitting. Thomas sat down next to Newt, while Minho sat down on Thomas' other side; Chuck was at the end of the table, discreetly feeding Hugo some of his leftovers; Winston and Fry were there as well, but Teresa was still nowhere to be seen. It did worry Thomas a little, yet his attention was pointed elsewhere when a boy (who Thomas had never seen before) started talking from across the table. "And there was this big, loud explosion, and these guys came out of nowhere. Started shooting up the place."

"It was intense," another unknown boy added. "They pulled us out the Maze and brought us here."

"What about the rest?" Newt asked. "The other people left behind in the Maze, what happened to them?"

"I don't know," the first boy responded. "I guess… WICKED still has 'em."

Thomas and Newt shared a look, prompting Newt to ask another question. "How long you guys been here?"

"Not long - just a day or two," the same boy said. But then, he looked over his shoulder and to his right. He was looking at some boy sitting in the corner of the room; he was skinny, young, and was wearing a hoodie over his head. "That kid over there has been here the longest. Almost a week."

"His maze was nothin' but girls," the second boy commented.

"Really?" Minho muttered in surprise, causing the first boy to smirk.

"Some guys have all the luck."

"'Luck'?" Chuck tilted his head innocently. "What's that supposed to-"

"Good evening, gentlemen! Ladies!" All of a sudden, Janson's merry voice cut through the air like a knife. His entrance made the entire cafeteria turn toward him, and they all saw him walk in with two guards at his side. Janson stopped to stand before the entire cafeteria, a clipboard in hand. "You all know how this works! If you hear your name called, please rise in an orderly fashion, join my colleagues behind me, where they will escort you to the Eastern Wing! Your new lives are about to begin!" Upon hearing this, the teenagers erupted in applause. Except for Thomas' group, of course, who had no idea what was going on. Regardless, Janson opened up his clipboard and continued on. "Connor! Evelyn! Justin! Peter! Allison!" Each time a name was said, the other teenagers would cheer. "Squiggy! Franklin! And Abigail!" However, that was when Jason closed his clipboard with a snap, and when the teenagers' cheers also turned into dejected sighs. "Now, now, don't get discouraged! If I could take more, I would! There's always tomorrow! Your time will come! Go on, eat up!"

Clap, clap, clap! Once Janson had finished his speech, he turned around and started walking out with the other called-on teenagers. Naturally, the cafeteria erupted in applause once more, but Thomas' group was still as confused as ever.

"Where are they going?" Minho questioned.

"Far from here," the first boy answered as he turned back around in his seat. "Lucky bastards."

"Some kind of farm," the second boy remarked. "A safe place. They can only take in a couple of people at a time."

It didn't make a lot of sense, but our main group kinda just took the information as it was. They had no reason to be suspicious just yet, so they could only take the information as the factual truth. If there was a safe place, then there was a safe place. Nevertheless, there was one person in that group that wouldn't sit still. He couldn't, especially when he saw something shocking on the cafeteria's far wall. There, he noticed that there were windows leading into a hallway, and within that hallway Thomas could see a group of three women walking down it. Though, it was the fourth girl that caught Thomas' eye.

"T-Teresa!" Thomas called out, immediately standing up and sprinting over toward those windows. However, the moment that Thomas got to the door leading into the hallway that those windows looked into, he was stopped by two guards. This made Thomas glare at them. "Where are they taking her?"

"They just have to run a few more tests," one of the guards stated. "Don't worry, they'll be done with her soon."

"Is she okay?" Thomas quickly asked, making the same guard nod.

"She's fine."

Once more, with no probable reason to argue, Thomas could only accept the man's words. Why would they need to lie, anyway?

Click! After dinner, the main group was shown to a new door that opened with a deep, low click. This new door led into what looked like a large bedroom lined with multiple bunk-beds. The room itself didn't have much character to it: it was as metal and as stone as every other room in the compound. Still, those beds were something those boys in Thomas' group had never experienced before. At least, not that they had remembered. Frypan was the first to enter the room, but the second he tried to steal the closest top bunk-

"Too slow," Minho said after easily jumping up onto the high-up bed. "Sorry."

"Heh," Winston chuckled once he'd laid down on a bed himself. "I could get used to this."

"Yeah," Newt smiled, "it's not bad."

Click! The soldier that had brought the teenager into that room closed the metal door, causing it to instantly lock. And Thomas, who was standing beside Newt, didn't like that fact at all. He didn't like how guarded the place was, and he really didn't like how Janson had questioned him before. Moreover, he wanted to see Hope and Teresa - he wanted to make sure they were all right. Too many things were being unanswered, so Thomas' immediate gut-feeling of uneasiness was starting to get stronger. Way stronger. So strong that Thomas had to voice his question to Newt.

"Hey," Thomas looked over at Newt, "what do you think those guys want with Teresa?"

"Well, if there's one thing I know about that girl, she can take care of herself," Newt said with a shrug. But then, seeing that Thomas wasn't fully convinced, Newt gave Thomas' arm a little nudge. "Hey. Don't worry about it."

Therefore, Newt climbed up onto the top bunk and laid down on it, while Thomas eventually found himself laying on the one underneath it. Chuck, on the other hand, laid his tired body down onto the bed underneath Fry's, which made Hugo instantly jump up onto it as well. Thus, with Hugo snuggling up to him, Chuck voiced his own question. And this single question made all of the tired boys' eyes snap back open. "Thomas. Did they say anything about Hope?"

"Not really," Thomas huffed. "She's still "resting," I guess."

"Hey, if they saved her life, that's good enough for me," Siggy acknowledged. "Seriously, I almost died myself when I saw her bleedin' out like that. It was crazy."

"What's crazy is that we're actually out," Winston remarked, his arms laying behind his head. "I still can't believe that we're here. That we're alive. I mean, who would've thought that I'd live long enough to be here."

"I still think this a dream, honestly," Minho said, causing Frypan to let out an amused scoff.

"This? Coming from the guy who told us to "not worry" before?"

"Hey, I never said that I was worried," Minho shot back, but there was a smile on his own face. "It's just that… the Glade was the only life I knew. The only place I ever remembered being. So now that I'm never gonna see it again, I'm just… I'm not missing it or anything, I'm just-"

"It feels weird being put in a whole new world," Newt ended for his best friend while he stared up at the ceiling. "We have no idea how this world works, because we don't bloody remember anything. And the world that we're bloody used to is gone. We don't know or have anything anymore."

"Yeah…" Minho sighed. "All that."

"But it's better than being in the Glade, right?" Thomas asked in an anxious tone. "Do you… like it here?"

"Definitely," Frypan said without hesitation. "The good food's all I need."

"I like the beds," Winston beamed, prompting Minho to snicker.

"Me too, man. Me too."

Chuck wrapped his arm around Hugo's fluffy body. "I'll like it better when Hope's better."

However, when the youngest boy said this, the entire mood did a whole one-eighty. They all stopped talking or smiling, grim frowns on all of their faces. But no one had a grimmer look on his face than Newt, who turned over on his bed to face the wall; with his back turned toward everyone, Newt laid his arm out in front of him, his hand barren. Alone. He hated to admit it, but he missed sleeping in the same bed as Hope. He missed her warmth. He didn't want to seem like a baby or anything, either, buthe missed knowing that she was right beside him. He missed her proximity, and the security that that proximity gave him, since Newt knew that if he was acting like a baby, Hope would be there. She'd be right there, and she wouldn't judge him. She would just comfort him. Hope would tell Newt the precise thing he needed to hear, making all of the sad stuff simply wash away. It was the same for the other boys, too.

It was true that the food was good. Super good. However, Siggy missed making it with Hope. He missed their long, friendly talks. He wanted to hear her laugh again.

It was true that the beds were nice. Super nice. However, Minho found himself reminiscing about when he found himself lying on Hope's lap. And it was then that he realized, maybe, Minho preferred her comfort to this soft bed.

It was true that Winston liked the beds, too. He loved them, really. However, Winston also found himself reminiscing about Hope. He found himself remembering how she'd helped fix his relationship with Zart. He remembered how she listened to him, never judging him. That patience made Winston like Hope more than those beds.

It was true that Chuck loved that he was still with his friends. He was grateful that his friends were okay. However, he missed Hope's company. He missed her voice. At that moment, Chuck wanted Hope to sing to him the same way she'd done the night after he'd caused that food war. Again, he loved his friends lying in that room, but none of them could comfort him like Hope could.

Finally, it was true that Thomas was glad he'd helped his friends. He was glad that he'd started his journey of redoing his wrongs. However, there was this confusion and this guilt and this misery gnawing at Thomas' heart. And, somehow, he knew that only Hope could answer his feelings. He knew that only she could give him the answers he so desperately wanted.

So yes, each of those boys were glad that they were alive and well. They were glad to be rid of that Maze and that life of survival. However, they did miss their hope. They missed her more than all of those beautiful stars in the Glade, which now, when those boys did look up, they only saw a stone roof. A stone wall.

A/N: Two chapters with only Hope, two chapters with only the boys and Teresa. I wonder what'll happen next.