Duos

Thomas and Minho found themselves in a group of their own. With flashlights in either of their hands, the two boys walked side-by-side and walked themselves into an even larger area of the building. Above them, they could see a dome-shaped glass roof that was thousands of feet above them, and through it they could see the dark sky. The building, however amazing it looked, was completely wrecked: there was debris everywhere, not a single thing looked to be in its initial place, and everything was an utter mess. Plus, it looked as though people used to live there, yet for some unknown reason, they fled… or were killed. Either way, neither Thomas or Minho had any time to figure that out, so they just kept on walking… Until…

"Thomas."

Upon hearing his name, Thomas glanced toward Minho. "Yeah?"

"All those kids that we left behind back there… I don't wanna end up like that." However, Thomas didn't respond to Minho's words, nor did he even look at the boy. Thomas was merely standing beside him, inspecting a machine-looking thing with his flashlight. The sight made Minho glare at Thomas. "Hey. You hearing me?"

"Y-Yeah…" Thomas snapped back into reality after feeling Minho bump his arm. "I'm hearing you."

"...Are you?" Minho asked knowingly, making Thomas smile an awkward smile.

"I mean, yeah. You're right here."

"Then why doesn't it feel like you're here?" Minho inquired, and Thomas' body stiffened in place. Those words caught Thomas off guard, because they sounded so… poetic compared to the other things that the always serious boy had said. "You're mind's been somewhere else this entire time, Thomas. You've been thinking really hard about something, haven't you?"

"That's…" Thomas huffed. "Where did that come from?"

"Oh, please," Minho huffed back, but he had a smile on his face. He stared over toward Thomas, and it was almost like Minho was reading his mind. "I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you were this stupid."

"Wow," Thomas deadpanned, "thanks."

"Hey, don't look so sad. This is me worrying about you," Minho acknowledged. "So, c'mon. It's annoying staring at that miserable face of yours. What's going on with you?"

Thomas raised an eyebrow. "Hold up… You insulting me is… your version of 'caring'?"

"Don't change the subject."

"I'm not - I'm just confused."

"About what?"

"About… a lot of things," Thomas muttered, pointing his head downward. "I just feel like… I feel like… I-I want to…"

"You want to redeem yourself." But when Minho ended for Thomas, the young boy didn't respond. Instead, Thomas continued to look down… and just listened to what Minho had to say. "You don't want to live with regrets. You want to be better. You… want to make up for what… you did in your past." Minho then let out a long sigh. "But however hard you try, however many crazy stunts you pull, the regret never leaves. So you keep trying, hoping that a miracle will happen… But, again, one never comes, so you start questioning if… if you even deserve to live free of what you regret."

For a few moments, Thomas simply stood there and took in Minho's words. There was another side to Minho, one that Thomas had never seen before, and it wasn't anything that Thomas had expected. Minho had always come off as action-oriented: someone that valued acting instead of words. He was always running face-first into danger, opting to punch someone instead of actually talking it out. Minho was also so blunt and brash, never mincing his words no matter the situation. So the fact that that same stoic boy had read his mind and sympathized with him, made Thomas' eyes widen with realization. Maybe… Minho was more perceptive to feelings than Thomas had initially thought. Or, maybe, instead of sympathizing, Minho was truly empathizing.

"...I get it, though," Minho spoke up after a quiet pause. His tone was lower, darker, and it held a slight sadness to it. "I know what it feels like to try so hard… and then not get the outcome you want. It makes you feel like crap. I-It makes you feel like you're some sort of…" Slowly, Minho looked his eyes into Thomas', and Thomas looked back into Minho's. "I get that you feel guilty, and I'm not gonna say that what you did was right. However, you changed. You changed and you saved us, Thomas. You might be a stupid shank, but you're my friend… And I don't regret that."

For the first time in a few days, Thomas was able to smile. It was quite small, just the quiver of his lip, but it was there. And although there was a trace of sadness within that smile, the thankfulness within his eyes made up for it. Moreover, it was sad that Thomas' guilt hadn't left - the memories were still tearing apart his heart. Still, it felt good knowing that there was someone who wouldn't pile more guilt onto him. That there was someone who accepted him for all his sins. As he stared into Minho's dark eyes, Thomas saw a friend. A true, genuine friend. And, once upon a time ago, Thomas believed that to be impossible. That there was no one, especially a boy he had put into the Maze, who would call him a friend.

But there was.

Surprisingly, there was hope for Thomas.

"Thanks, Minho," Thomas said as he took a deep breath. "That means a lot."

"Yeah, well, don't get used to it," Minho snapped, his attitude completely changing. "You're still stupid, and you're still dumb. You're extra stupid, too. The dumbest of the dumb."

Thomas snickered. "Aren't those all the same thing?"

"Of course not," Minho said while he turned around to continue his exploration. "Only a dumb person would say that."

Thomas shook his head, but followed after Minho with a bright smile on his face. Little did those two knuckleheads know, though, what they would discover next. Their running days were far from over.


In a more discrete corner of the building, Teresa was changing her clothes. The ones WICKED had given her were not suitable for the outside world, and she had no shoes, so there was a need to change. A shirt, a sweatshirt, pants, socks, and some good walking shoes were all that Terea had found, which was a total miracle considering how terrible the building looked. They were even in pretty good shape, too. However, once Teresa had tied her last boot up, she heard someone walking toward her. At first, she thought it to be one of the boys, but to her surprise, it was the only other girl: Hope. And, well, she didn't look too good. Hope's head was turned downward, while her pace was fast, agitated, fearful. So, seeing this, Teresa immediately stood up from where she was sitting. "Hope?"

"O-Oh." Hope stopped in her tracks, her body stiffening. Though, unluckily for Hope, she had looked up from the ground when she'd heard Teresa. And that made something previously unseen… seen. "Teresa, um, hell-"

"Why're you crying?" Teresa asked anxiously, causing Hope's eyes to widen in response. "Did something happen?"

"N-No!" Hope quickly replied, even more quickly wiping away her tears. "This place is just really dusty, that's all. I'm… I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," Teresa acknowledged as she slowly started walking toward Hope. "You look sad."

"Do I…?" A sad smile crossed Hope's face. Instinctually, she also wrapped her arms around her body, not allowing Teresa to see her scarred underarms. "Sorry… I didn't mean to…"

"Why're you apologizing?"

"Because now you look sad."

"I'm just worried."

"You shouldn't be."

"Why…?"

"Because I'm fine," Hope restated with a shrug. "There's nothing wrong. I'm just… a little frazzled, y'know? I woke up in a strange room, surrounded by strangers, and now I find out that they were WICKED the entire time? Plus, I think my wound is doing something to my head."

"How is that feeling, by the way?" Teresa questioned. "How sore is it?"

"Surprisingly, it's not that bad," Hope said. "Those WICKED doctors sure know what they're doing."

"Though…" Suddenly, Teresa's expression turned dark. She looked away from Hope, her eyes filled with apprehension and confusion. "I don't… know what they did to me."

Hope's expression turned scared as well. "What do you mean…?"

"Do you know what they did to you?" Teresa furthered her questioning. "Did they do anything… strange?"

As Hope looked into Teresa's downcast eyes, she remembered her old friend. The young Teresa, who was always so curious and bright. But now, that young girl had grown up into someone confident and brave. Someone that wasn't afraid to do what she believed to be right. Hope had seen that Teresa back in the Maze, when she had faced the Grievers head-on and wouldn't give up without a fight. However, the Teresa Hope saw now - the Teresa standing right in front of her - wasn't so confident. There was an uneasiness within her eyes, and it looked as if fear was controlling her. Something was wrong with Teresa, yet Hope didn't have the confidence to say anything about it. Hope didn't have any confidence at all. After all those years in confinement, Hope didn't get much of social interactions, so she became quite shy. That girl in the Maze was the childhood version of herself: the one who was never confined within a dark room. Therefore, instead of asking what was wrong, Hope answered Teresa's question with an answer.

"I don't know if this counts, but… I remember," Hope ultimately confessed. "I don't know how they did it, but I remember my past."

"Y-You do?" Teresa stuttered in utter shock. "What… What do you remember?"

"Everything," Hope said honestly. "I remember every single thing."

"Well, that's…" Teresa shook her head. "Why do I only remember some of it, then?"

"Wait, what?" Hope muttered. "Don't tell me…"

"I'm starting to remember things, Hope," Teresa admitted, her eyes now staring straight into Hope's. "I don't remember everything yet, but I do remember some things… And they're not good things."

"Teresa…" Hope said the girl's name in a serious tone. "Do you think the others remember, too? If WICKED let us remember, then…"

"But we're different, remember?" Teresa queried in a knowing tone. "You, me, Thomas… The three of us are different somehow, especially when it comes to WICKED. Plus, we were stuck in rooms. We had no idea what was going on. If the boys remembered as well, then that could have blown WICKED's entire cover. They would have known something was off, which is why Thomas picked up on it first, because he does remember some things."

"Good point," Hope agreed, but then let out a long sigh. "It's still terrible, though. Those boys… don't deserve what they've gone through."

"Neither does the rest of the world," Teresa remarked while her eyes drifted around. She gazed at the broken building, sympathy swimming within her blue eyes. "The Flare, the Scorch… It's destroyed everything. The people on this planet never deserved this. It's too horrible."

Hope nodded. "I know… It's strange how the world likes to toy with humans."

"Yeah, well, the only thing we can do now is prove that we're not giving up," Teresa stated, her tone changing from depressed to confident. She looked back at Hope, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. "So, you need new clothes, right? You want me to help you pick out some?"

"O-Oh, uh, you don't need to do that," Hope stammered out. "I don't wanna waste your time."

"Trust me, you're not. This'll be fun, too," Teresa chirped. "Just trust me, okay? I got you covered."

"Well…" Hope gulped. "If you say so…"

Thus, Teresa helped Hope find a new outfit for herself, which was something that, without Teresa's help, the unknowing Hope would have failed at.


In yet another part of the building, Aris and Chuck found themselves in a group of their own. With the loyal Hugo at their sides, the two youngest teenagers searched the building for anything that could aid them. However, unlike the two previous groups that had previously known one another, this group knew absolutely nothing about the other. Furthermore, Aris wasn't the most talkative of people, so the friendly Chuck had a challenge on his hands. Chuck would never back down from making a new friend, though.

"So," Chuck looked over his shoulder at the boy, "your name's Aris, right?"

"Yep," Aris said with a single nod. He and Chuck were on opposite sides of a room, either of them searching through piles of random things. Hugo was sitting in between them, so when Aris made no move to introduce himself, the dog and Chuck shared a look. Still, Chuck wouldn't give up.

"W-Well, my name's Chuck," Chuck greeted, but the only response he got… was another nod. The boy gulped. "Um, well, it's nice to meet you, Aris."

Aris nodded. Again.

"I heard you were in a Maze full of girls."

A nod.

"What was that like?"

A shrug.

"Uhm… Y-You're younger than everyone else, right?" Chuck stuttered with a strained smile. "How old are you?"

Aris finally spoke. "Fifteen."

"I'm thirteen, so it's not that far off," Chuck chirped, feeling proud of himself for getting at least one word out of Aris. "It's nice having another boy my age around, and it must be nice for you having other boys around too. Don't get me wrong, I like girls. I just think that boys have a lot more in common, y'know?"

"...They were nice."

"What?"

"The girls in my Maze… They were nice," Aris murmured, and Chuck could see his back slouch further down. "They… never left me out of anything. I was included. Always."

"That's nice…" Chuck said, a smile adorning his face. He then turned around and sat onto the ground, his full attention on Aris. "My situation is kinda the same. Not the girl part, but the included part. I was younger than everyone else, so I always felt kinda… different."

"Really?" For the first time, Aris stopped his searching and glanced behind him at Chuck. "You felt different with boys like you?"

"I always felt like I needed to prove myself," Chuck explained as he placed his elbow against his leg and his cheek against his fist. "And they always treated me like some kid. They didn't actually say it outloud, but… I could tell that that was what they thought about me."

"...Same here," Aris remarked before he turned his entire body around as well. He even sat down onto the ground, now facing Chuck. "I mean, the girls always included me in everything, yeah, but I could still tell whenever they treated me differently. They were cautious. Quiet sometimes. Some of the girls wouldn't even talk to me."

Chuck nodded in understanding. "I might not get the no talking part, but I get the cautious part. The others always acted like I was some baby that needed to be watched over."

"Same here. I was the "boy," not their equal."

"Pfft. I was the "child," not their equal."

"Dang… We really are the odd-ones-out, huh?"

"Sure are!" Chuck beamed. "But at least we have each other now, right? We're not odd-ones alone anymore!"

"Yeah…" The smallest of smiles graced Aris' face. "I guess we're not."

Chuck smiled a relieved smile back, while Hugo (who was still sitting in the middle of the two) started wagging his tail in happiness. Some friendships were changing, while some were only starting. Either way, this group of crazy teenagers would need each other in the long run, because without it, they would get lost in the darkness. Their reason for marching forward wasn't for their own sakes, but for the sakes of their friends.


In one more area of the building, Frypan was searching for things familiar to him: food, water, and supplies that pertained to such. So far, Fry had found a few water bottles, two handfuls of protein bars, and even some canned goods. He used a backpack he had also found to store the goodies within, testing to see if the weight was run-ready or if he would have to ask for help. And, well, it seemed that Frypan would have to choose the latter, since the backpack started to feel more like a dumbbell than a useful sack. More so, there was barely any room left and so much more food to store, so the teenager needed someone's help. Therefore, when Frypan noticed Newt slowly walking toward him, he smiled with joy. "Perfect timing, man! Can you go find another backpack and… help me… with… Newt?"

Once Newt had walked out from the darkness, Frypan ultimately noticed the expression on his face. It looked sad, but also confused. It looked angry, but also extremely worried. Newt's eyes were looking downward, and his hands were clenched into fists. Something bad had happened. Very bad.

"What happened, brother?" Siggy asked his friend while walking straight up to him. "What's got you lookin' so down?"

"I'm not really 'down'. I'm just…" However, in the next second, Newt let out an annoyed scoff. "No… No, that would be a lie. A big bloody lie."

"Hey, let's go sit down," Frypan proposed, motioning over toward a toppled over column. "Take a break."

Without any energy to reject, Newt followed Frypan and they both sat down onto the raised cement. Then, not wanting to allow his friend to see his fragile state, Newt kept his head down; he placed his arms against his legs and leaned over, his back arched and his bangs hiding his face. But because Siggy could be quite the people-reader, he understood exactly how to make Newt look at him. "Hope said something to you, didn't she?"

"What?" Almost immediately, Newt snapped his head right toward Fry. "H-How did you…"

"Man, only Hope could make you look this heartbroken," Frypan remarked with a smirk, causing Newt to shake his head.

"I'm not heartbroken."

"You sure look it."

"I'm angry," Newt argued, turning his head to glare into the darkness in front of him. "I'm angry at WICKED."

"Woah…" Frypan blinked. "Isn't that supposed to be Thomas' thing?"

"I'm being serious, Fry."

"Me too," Siggy said. "I'm serious, because it's not like you to be this angry. You might get annoyed easily, but not angry. Which is why I knew that… it must have been Hope who did this to you."

"She didn't do anything."

"But she did say something."

"She… She just…" Newt then took a deep breath, prompting his eyes to change from angry… to sad. "She just takes every little thing to heart, and she feels things ten-times harder than everyone else."

Frypan's eyes never left Newt. "It's a blessing and a curse… Especially to those around her."

"And I just want what's best for her, but Hope doesn't want that," Newt explained in a dejected tone. "She doesn't want what's best for herself - that's, like, last on her list of what's important. Everyone else matters so much more than her. Everyone's happiness… is more important than her own."

That final sentence hit Fry hard. The memory of Hope's first couple of weeks in the Glade, when he had been so jealous of her, flashed into his mind. Siggy remembered the moment he confronted Hope about his feelings, and instead of her getting rightfully angry with him, she got angry with herself. She was disappointed with herself, when truly, Siggy should have been disappointed with himself. And all Hope had wanted was to make him feel better. Even when he had a terrible attitude the week before, Hope spent her time planning something to lift his spirits. She didn't need to do it, but she did. Hope did it to make Siggy smile, and that… that was something no one else ever did. So that was why Hope was so precious within Siggy's heart, since she was exactly what he had always needed. Just like how Siggy served everyone food before himself, he equally cared for others before himself… So when Siggy found someone to do the same for him, it felt more amazing than anything else.

Hope helped Siggy feel that he deserved to be prioritized, too.

"...It's hard, man." When Siggy eventually spoke up, he lifted his hand to place it onto Newt's shoulder. "It's really hard."

"I'm not gonna give up on her, though," Newt claimed. "I don't care how many times she pushes me away. I won't stop."

"How sweet," Siggy gushed as he moved his hand on Newt's shoulder onto his heart. "My heart's just bursting with feeling! When you two finally get together, I'm gonna hold a celebration with a ginormous sign that says 'Finally!'"

"That is," Newt's frown turned into a smile, "so stupid."

"Hey! It's a great idea!"

"It's really not."

"Why not?!"

"Because neither Hope nor I would want that."

"You think I care?!" Frypan barked playfully. "All I care about is making you so embarrassed that it makes your I'm-the-perfect-gentleman attitude turn into-!"

"Siggy." All of a sudden, Frypan heard his true name being said. This made his smile fall and his eyes find Newt's, who was now staring over at him seriously. "How are you holding up?"

"Huh?" Frypan was completely taken aback. "What're you talking about?"

"Gally," Newt answered, making Siggy's eyes widen like saucers. "He was your best friend. Do you… need to say something? Vent?"

"But I'm not scared. I'm angry."

Siggy let out a quiet gasp.

"Fry! Fry! Alby just made me a Builder!"

Then, Siggy let out a quiet breath of air.

"Alby made me a Keeper, Fry!"

And finally, a single teardrop fell down his cheek.

"S-Sorry, um…" Siggy instantly wiped away the tear. "I dunno what came over me. I'm just, uh, tired, I guess."

"Take your time, Siggy," Newt said, seeing right through the act. "Don't try to forget about it. It'll only make things worse later. Just… go at your own pace. And if you need us - any of us - we'll be there."

"I know…" Siggy sighed while looking right back into Newt's eyes. "I know, brother. I know."

The two boys who most prioritized others over themselves… were the exact people to know exactly what the other was feeling. Newt and Siggy understood each other more than anyone else, and that was why nothing could be kept a secret between them.

"Uhm, why do you two look like you're about to makeout?"

"What the…?!" Frypan let out a shout of surprise, while Newt only glared at the culprit.

"Bloody hell, Winston! What was that for?!"

"Hey, I didn't mean to sneak up on you," Winston grumbled. "You two were just so captivated by each other that you-"

"What do you want, Wins?" Frypan interjected before Winston could finish that sentence. "Did you need to tell us something?"

"Well, I have a whole lot of clothes in my hands, so I'm obviously giving you guys clothes," Winston mocked and then threw the mountain of clothes onto the two boys. "Hurry up and change. We all know Thomas won't want us staying here for long."

Newt and Frypan both huffed, but they still smiled up at their friend, because when it came to Winston, he was either stating an opinion or… he was trying to cheer someone up. And both of those boys knew what the answer was.