Chapter 5

Thomas eventually managed to fall back to sleep soon after the piercing screams died out. The sun had risen, but Thomas saw no urgency in moving. He was shattered, and as much as he wanted to see Brenda – he needed to care for himself.

He woke later on in the day, around noon. He took his time getting out of bed; Thomas winced as he stood up. The pain in his ribs was much less than it was yesterday – but it was still there, latching onto him like a leech.

He opened the door of his room and headed towards Brenda's room. He found Minho standing outside, a grim look on his face.

"Stop there Thomas, you can't go in" he said firmly.

Thomas – agitated by this remark – tried to push past him. He was met by a quick jab into his bad rib.

He cried out in pain.

"I said stop. I know you mean well, but Gally's orders say she needs to rest until she's 100% healthy, and I'm to keep you busy and rested yourself until she is" he said firmly. Thomas saw no point in arguing; he knew he was beaten.

"Besides Thomas, its time for a good old-fashioned gathering"

Several Gladers had gathered around the campfire – with clear instructions towards the other Gladers to stay away. Around the campfire, sat Frypan, keeper of the cooks; Sonya, who had become keeper of the farms; Gally, keeper of the Med-Jacks and finally Minho, the real leader. Thomas himself had no real purpose there – but Minho considered him as his right-hand man, and felt it impossible to leave him out. Jorge was also a member of their council – but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Listen up shuck-faces" Minho called out, standing on top of his log so everyone could see him. "Yesterday, one of our friends was found deep in the forest in the early hours of the morning. She had marks of a Griever's sting – something that we are all very familiar with from back in the Maze"

He paused to clear his throat – studying the concerned faces of those who were watching him.

"As far as I was concerned. Grievers were ridden of when we destroyed WICKED and then stepped through the Flat Trans to end up in this 'safe' place. And I'm pretty sure we destroyed WICKED right? I watched our friends get crushed by their building blocks…"

He paused once again, noticing Thomas shifting in discomfort. He realized what he had just said, and quickly moved on to change the subject.

"Now erm, I'm not sure whether there is only one Griever in that forest, or whether there is more. Brenda said the Griever attacked her from above, which means they could be hiding up there – just waiting for an opportunity to sting us"

Another pause.

"What's worse? Our serum is running in short supply. I believe we only have two bottles left after healing Brenda. That leaves us with little chances"

A final pause.

"Oh, and if they're willing to jump people on their own, who's to say they won't run out and kill us all when we're sleeping! We don't even have that many weapons left after coming here – and definitely not enough ammo to defend ourselves against a wave of them"

He paused, went to say something else, but then stopped. And sat down back on his log – making it clear he was finished.

Gally was the first to speak, the lapsed silence broken by his coarse voice "If this is as dangerous as you make it to be, what do you say we do about it? I thought we could trust that bitch Paige. I bet she set us up!"

"Slim it Gally" Minho snapped.

"We can't just blame her – she did save us after all" Thomas added, followed by a number of glances shot in his direction. Gally's eyes looked like they were burning with anger.

Thomas decided to continue.

"Look, maybe this is just a loose Griever? After all we have no idea where we are – we could be closer to the WICKED compound than we think, or at least the remains of it. Maybe in the fire…one broke out and ended up hiding here"

Everyone sat back for a moment, considering the words that Thomas had just came out with. There were no flaws in it, although the machines were controlled by WICKED – there was no guarantee that they would stop working just because WICKED did.

Frypan spoke.

"Okay…let's say you're right. A Griever got loose from the compound. But here's what I'm stuck with. They may be able to continue to run by themselves –but how do we find and stop this one? If we can only afford to lose two people…"

Minho stood up on his log again and cleared his throat.
"Maybe you're right. The chances are slim, but if we don't do anything about it, we could be looking at more casualties. I hope you're right Thomas, you can bet your klunk-ass I will kill you myself if you're not"

The decision was made that they would attack the forest tomorrow evening. Only the council members were chosen to go. They did not want their Gladers in uproar – and decided to tell them that the Griever had already been dealt with this morning.

Not that they still had the challenge of dealing with it the following night.

They would leave shortly after everyone had fallen asleep, taking as many weapons as they could carry.

After the arrangements were made, Thomas scurried off. Making his way back to the hospital building. As much as he had tried to focus on the last part of the Gathering – his attention had been drawn to Brenda and her condition.

He walked through the unmanned reception, making his way to the far room where Brenda was. The door was closed, and he had to brace himself before opening it.

He pushed the door open, and was amazed at what he saw. Brenda was on the floor, doing press-ups in a quick motion. It took a while for her to notice her presence, and she done a few more before stepping up to face him.

She looked the same as she did before; in fact…she almost looked better. Her eyes glistened and shone their beautiful colour. She smiled at him, and he melted into her arms as she pulled him into a hug. She had a comforting hold, with a delicate scent of lavender coming from her body. "Hi Tommy" she said eventually. They had been hugging for ages, and he began to pull away expecting her to do the same.

She just slipped down and held onto his hands instead.

"You're looking fit then" he said softly.

"And in what way do you mean that?" she asked inquisitively.

"Both, my dear" He responded.

She smiled, and put her hands on either side of his head. Gently, she pulled his head towards hers and kissed his lips. He wrapped his arms around her upper back, gracefully slipping them down to her waist. Their kissed seemed to last for ages – but couldn't have been more than a minute or two.

It was perfect.

"Thomas…I need to tell you something"

"That you love me?" He said laughing

"Yes but…Well you know how people who go through the changing remember bits of their past?" she asked, her arms now on his waist also.

"Yes…I remember that clearly," he said shuddering.

She pulled him closer.

"Well…I didn't need to remember any of my past did I? My memory was never wiped" she responded, nervousness creeping into her voice.

"So what did you see then?" He quickly responded, keen for her to spit it out.

"I saw the future, Thomas"