Bet you loved the title.
You'll have to read to find out
Hahaha...*coughing*...hahaha
Disclaimer: I hate doing these but whatever...I don't own anything. Keep reviewing, please
Chapter 24 - A Cure?
I listened to Mary as she worked on the supposed cure. She'd drawn blood from Thomas and was mixing it with a bunch of other chemicals.
"In the beginning, we were lost. All we knew for sure was that the younger you were, the stronger your chances." Mary stopped working, looking at me and Tommy.
Tommy frowned, "You worked for WICKED?"
Mary nodded her eyes far away. " A long time ago. You know, at first, we had the best intentions. Find a cure, save the world. It was clear you kids were the key because you were immune. But why?" She resumed working again, talking and mixing at the same time. "Eventually, we found an answer. An enzyme produced by the brains of the immune. Once separated from the bloodstream... it can serve as a powerful agent to slow the spread of the virus."
I glanced at Brenda again. She was in a fitful sleep, tossing and turning. Jorge was sitting with her.
"So, you found a cure?" Tommy questioned with hope in his voice. I sat up straighter as well. Surely the Right Arm hadn't found a cure. They would be so afraid of cranks entering the safe haven if they had.
Mary shook her head sadly. "Not exactly. The enzyme can't be manufactured, only harvested from the immune. The young. Of course, that didn't stop WICKED. If they had their way they'd sacrifice an entire generation. All for this," She held up the small syringe reverently. "A gift of biology. Of evolution. But one not meant for all of us." Mary injected it into Brenda and she immediately settled down.
"How long will that give her?"
Mary regarded Tommy with sad eyes "It's different for everyone. A few months maybe. But that's the catch, isn't it? She'll always need more."
Mary began cleaning up. She smiled sadly as she watched me looking at Jorge and Brenda. They shared a special bond, forged due to survival. I was an outsider, even after living with them for a year.
"Okay. Let's go outside. Let them rest. Let's go. She'll be fine." Mary stopped on her way to the door "Thomas. Skylar?
He looked back at Brenda who was being watched by Jorge. I let them be. I didn't want to intrude. I'd see Brenda later.
...
"You know she can't come with us, right?" Thomas nodded. He left the medical tent but I stayed behind.
"Can you write down the formula for that? It might come in handy."
Mary nodded and wrote something down. I took the paper. "Do you happen to have good internet here? I still haven't looked at that drive. I still have the laptop though. Do you know where it would work best?" I'd swiped a flash drive and laptop from WICKED when I escaped. There had never been a good time to examine the contents. The warehouse didn't have a good internet connection and I had usually been on missions. Not the best place to look at top secret files.
Mary looked out of the tent. "Where your friends are. There you should get a decent image."
I smiled. "Thanks."
...
I left to find my friends. But before I did that I changed into something warmer. It was bloody freezing in the mountains.
I moved closer to my friends, just enough so they could see me and I'd be able to hear them.
I flipped on the laptop and plugged in the drive. Several of the files contained plans for finding the cure. Another file contained notes while the last one, updated a few days before I escaped, was mindblowing.
It was a formula. A very complex one but it was based on making a substitute for blood and creating a whole new concept.
This idea was revolutionary! This idea could be the cure.
At the bottom was Tommy's name.
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W
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K
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D
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G
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(A/N: Hahaha...Bet you're complaining right now about how evil I am. Bet you thought I'd end it there...I thought about it but thought I'd be too cruel....)
.
.
"Tommy! Get your shank butt over here! Bring Teresa and Aris!"
They scrambled to come over.
"Look at this. Do you realize what it is? This could be exactly what we need!" I showed them the formula, letting Aris take the computer to scroll through the files. "Tommy, were you working on a cure before you were sent into the maze?"
He bit his lip. "I can't remember." He told me remorsefully.
I nodded, running a hand through my hair. "Does any of this look familiar? Aris? Teresa?"
Aris shook his head in a negative but Teresa nodded. "When we escaped WICKED had given me my memories back. I totally agreed with them but Sky changed my mind." Everyone turned their eyes to her as she explained. "It's not right to use kids in this way. We should have saved as many as we could and hidden or something. Anything but the Trials!"
Teresa grabbed Tommy's hand when he still seemed confused. "But Tom, you were working on a cure before you were sent down. I never knew you finished but you seemed to have been onto something. I know you spent a lot of time researching and annoying the doctors."
Teresa handed me the laptop back. "Sky, we have to show this to Mary, now!" I shut the lid and raced off after Teresa, leaving two very confused boys and an even more confused group of Gladers. Minho's voice drifted after me. "What just happened?"
...
Teresa and I rushed into the hospital tent. "Mary!"
She turned around surprised. "What do you need?"
"We...found...something.." Teresa responded, trying to breathe after running.
Mary looked at me for clarification. I handed her the laptop. "That drive was Tommy's. It contains a formula that might be a cure! It might need some tweaking to compute with injections already in the bloodstream but it looks solid. Of course, it needs to be tested but so do most things."
Mary's eyes widened as I spoke: "Let me see."
...
We spent an hour looking at the formula then we started tweaking it. Brenda was to be our test subject since she was the only crank around. I'd ask Jorge for permission when we tested the formula.
We had to take into account that Brenda was given the 'cure' with real blood. We also had to look into whether or not weight and height mattered.
Four hours later and a lot of math, we had a solid compound. The formula looked complex but in reality, you just had to get the blood substitute, plasma, and mix it together with a bunch of other things. When we were ready I went to find Jorge for permission to give it to Brenda.
...
I found him sitting away from all the hustle and bustle of the camp. "Jorge, we've created something that might be the cure. We need your permission to test it on Brenda." I knelt down and grabbed his hands when he didn't answer. "It won't hurt her. It just might prove some discomfort though. Can we do it?"
Jorge nodded slowly. "I trust you." Anything to save Brenda.
I hugged him gratefully. "Thank you."
...
I ran back to the tent. Mary had created the injection and she was preparing Brenda to receive it. I nodded as she looked at me. "Jorge said we can do it."
Mary nodded. "This should cure her. We'll know if the bite disappears. If it doesn't then it didn't work and Brenda shouldn't be in any more danger than already. She might toss and turn though because the disease is in her blood and we're causing it to travel to the wound and 'explode' for lack of better terms."
I took a deep breath as Teresa created more copies of the formula in case it worked. She didn't do blood so she wouldn't be injecting Brenda, I would. "Give me the needle."
Mary handed me the needle and I injected Brenda. She kept moving away from me but I got it in eventually. She stopped moving as soon as I injected her but then she started to toss and turn violently. We backed up slowly. Brenda continued to toss and turn and moan in pain for the next half hour but when she stopped we all approached.
Her leg still had the bite but it was slowly receding. We watched until it disappeared completely.
"Yes," I whispered. There was hope yet.
Mary couldn't believe what we'd accomplished. "After all these years..."
Teresa shook her head. "We still have to make sure its permanent. And we don't know how well it'll work on cranks past the gone." She didn't want to overlook anything.
Mary nodded in agreement with Teresa's words.
"So we'll have to watch her for a year?" I questioned. Brenda wouldn't be happy with that but she'd suck it up since being watched by scientists was better than dying.
Mary nodded grimly. "It's for the best. The one WICKED created should only last a few months at the most. If in a year she's still cured we can either go to WICKED or try and cure people ourselves." Mary moved over to a chair, sitting down heavily. "I still can't believe we never thought to look into the blood. I mean, we found a cure using blood. How did we continue to think the problem was in the brain?"
I shook my head, smiling at WICKED's idiocy. "I don't know but WICKED's not exactly known for being out of the box thinkers. Plus, they never asked the kids, who were supposedly gifted and smart, for their opinions or theories."
Teresa laughed, feeling free for the first time in months. "So true. I can't tell you how many of my ideas were shot down due to their narrow-minded thinking. Even if I was devoted to WICKED they still saw us as only test subjects."
...
I took one look at Brenda, who was sleeping peacefully, before leaving the tent. Jorge was pacing outside.
"She's sleeping," I told him. His shoulders sagged in relief. "The bite disappeared but we're not sure if it's permanent."
He nodded before engulfing me in a big hug. "Thank you for trying Sky. It means a lot to her and me. You're a great sister."
I blushed and hugged him back. "And you're a great role model. I may have only known you for a year but you've been like a father to me. I know Brenda sees you in the same light. We both consider you family. So thank you for taking care of us."
Jorge hugged me once more before shoving me gently in the direction of my friends. "Go tell them the news." I nodded happily. Jorge smiled as I raced off. He shook his head fondly before entering the medical tent.
...
I ran to my friends and surprised Newt by kissing him full on the lips. It was a quick kiss but it left him blushing and me grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
"Care to tell me why I deserved a kiss like that?" Newt whispered to me with a smirk.
I blushed but addressed everyone when I spoke. "We think we've found a cure for the Flare. Mary is hopeful and so am I." I told them excitedly.
Newt congratulated me with a quick kiss. "I'm proud of you love."
Minho patted me on the back. "Nice work Sky. But," He paused, a smirk appearing on his face. "I think I'll refrain from kissing you."
I gently smacked his arm. "Shank!" I said in embarrassment.
Tommy smiled at me, saying all he needed in that smile while Aris ran off to tell his friends.
Teresa was nowhere to be seen which was odd. She;d been as happy as me with the breakthrough. "Has Teresa been by?"
Tommy shook his head. "No, but she ran by just a minute ago. She had a hand on her neck as if in pain. I tried to follow but she said to give her space. Maybe she went to Mary?" His last sentence came out as more of a question.
I frowned. "Maybe..." But that wasn't possible. I'd just come from the medical tent. Teresa wasn't anywhere near there. "I can't imagine where she'd be. I just came from the medical tent and she wasn't there. Mary should look... at her neck..." My eyes widened. They wouldn't...they would!
"Guys, I need you to be ready for anything. I think I know why Teresa ran but I need you to trust me. I have to hurry. The clock is ticking and I don't have time to explain." I left, running as fast as I could to the medical tent.
The boys called after me but I ignored them.
"Mary!"
I feel evil *hides behind tree as angry mob comes by*
Had to do it. The chapter was getting long. Plus, I could have ended it earlier.
I'll post soon.
Later Gladers...