Chapter 16

"You've got to be kidding" Thomas spat. Paige had left the room; he was only talking to himself. Teresa hadn't said anything – she had only looked at him, not shifting her gaze. The pressure of her look burned him. They were unstrapped from the uncomfortable beds now, and instead had been led to a small, dark room. In the middle there was a comfy, double bed. The pumped pillows and soft, white sheets were incredibly tempting after spending hours strapped down. Thomas ignored the temptation and stood at the foot of the bed with Teresa. Paige had told them that their chips would be inserted into their brains tomorrow morning, and that this evening was for them to 'bond'.

Thomas almost laughed at the word.

"What are we going to do Tommy?" Teresa asked, her hand reaching out to squeeze Thomas'. He quickly pulled it away.

"I'm not sure yet"
"You have to love me for this to work?"

"I don't"

"I know that…I know that it's my fault too"

"Whatever, the point is – this is not going to happen"

"It's happened before…"

"Yeah – and it will never happen again"

"Why not?"
"I'm loyal to Brenda…"

"But is she loyal to you?"

Thomas considered this for a second. Who was still left that she could possibly get close to? There was Jamie; he was a boy from the Scorch. She had known him for ages – and they were close. Maybe he was a possible threat to Thomas. But as far as Thomas was concerned – there wasn't a problem. Jamie had hooked up with someone from Group B. A pretty young girl called Larissa; she was all he ever talked about.

But if Minho was coming back…

Could the hell he was going to unleash involve Brenda?

"Teresa, I'm sorry. We can't do it."
"Do you remember the time that we used to?"

"I had a vision about us being together, before the world started to collapse. Something about an Italian"

"Ah…that was our anniversary dinner"
"Anniversary?"
"Oh yeah, we had been together for two whole years before the maze"

"Were we a good couple?"

"The best, Tommy. In fact – I have something for you…"

Teresa reached into the pocket of her denim jacket – pulling out a small booklet. On the front it was simply labeled 'Perfect Memories'.

"Look" Teresa insisted. They both sat down on the edge of the bed – and Thomas leaned over to look at the booklet. Teresa slowly flicked through – flashing various pictures. None of them were recognizable to Thomas until she came to the fifth and sixth page. The pictures were small, but the two pages were covered in pictures of them both. Thomas spotted one of them at dinner, one of them at a park, another one of them in the lab together. Their smiles stretched to their ears in each of them – they were unbelievably happy together. Teresa turned the page again – it was the last two pages of the book. A picture had been stretched out over the two pages. It was a picture of them both, kissing on a beach somewhere hot. On the bottom of the picture, in small writing, were the words 'my everything'.

"Wow" was all Thomas could muster.

A small tear formed in Teresa's eyes but she quickly wiped it away before Thomas noticed. He was speechless, and sat there staring towards the back wall. Without uttering a word – he reached towards the booklet which Teresa held – and carefully took it from her. Thomas then reached into the small plastic wallet that held the picture – and took it from it. Teresa raised her eyebrows in confusion but Thomas just ignored her. Instead he slipped it into his own pocket – and then handed it back to her.

"I never knew we were that big Teresa"

"I don't blame you – you never got your memory back"

"For the record – you look beautiful in every one"

"Just as handsome as you my dear"
"This doesn't change things though – I can't cheat"

"I understand"
"Besides…we both need to love each other"

"Well Tommy…one half of it is there"

"Just not mine"

"No…"

Teresa stood up from her seat next to Thomas; she turned her head away so he wouldn't see the other tears forming.

"We need to get some sleep Thomas"

"Okay…I'll take the floor"

"You won't even sleep next to me?"

"Depends what you're comfortable with"

"I'm comfortable with you"

Thomas hesitated but walked over to the right side of the bed and slipped into it – kicking his shoes off before he did so. The soft cushions and the memory foam mattress consumed his body. It was heavenly.

Teresa did the same as him, slipping into the left side. There was a single dim light that hung from the ceiling. As soon as they were both settled – it flickered off.

"Guess they were waiting for us to sleep Tommy"

"I guess so"

"We shared a flat together you know"

"Really? But we were so young"

"Our parents dumped us for a reason. They didn't want to look after us so we had to look after ourselves. We were from the same neighborhood so we came into WICKED at the same time. WICKED then set up a flat for the both of us based on those circumstances. We were cared for until we both turned 13 – then we were left to fend for ourselves."

"Wow"

"I know…we struggled a lot at first but, once we found each other – other things seemed to not matter"
"When did we get together?"

"You asked me on my 14th birthday. You had forgotten to get something for me and decided to surprise me with the question instead."
"Were you not pissed I didn't get you something decent?"
"You were the only decent thing in my eyes, Tommy"

"I must have felt the same then"

"You definitely spent the following 2 years showing it"

"So…after 16 we stopped?"

"We celebrated our 2 year anniversary, but the day after you were sent in to the maze with no memory that we had ever existed"

"Did that hurt?"
"You're an intelligent person Thomas – don't ask such a stupid question. I cried the whole time until they sent me in after you"

"Wow"

"That word should be your fucking catchphrase"
"I'm sorry"

"No don't be…It's a lot to take in I know. I wish you could remember how good we were. Maybe then you'd want it again"
"In all honesty – I do. But loyalty is something I just can't break. I do love Brenda and I'm devoted to her"

"Well I gu-"

Thomas was interrupted as the door burst open. Paige stormed in, her arms swaying by her sides. In her left hand she carried a walkie-talkie.

She didn't utter a word – but instead chucked it towards Thomas.

She then turned and walked back out.

Thomas, in shock, reached for the radio, and held it up to his mouth. He was half expecting it to be some sort of sick prank – he already knew the effort it had taken to talk to Teresa with one of these.

"Hello?"
"Thomas it's me – Brenda"

Thomas' heart skipped a beat at hearing her voice. He couldn't even remember how long it had been since he last heard it.

"Brenda how…"

"I found a walkie- talkie in one of the fields. It had Paige's voice coming from it instructing me to wait. I waited, and then you came"

"Wow"

"Thomas I expect I don't have much time. I don't know why I've been given the chance to talk to you but I do and I'm going to use it. I'm scared"

"Why?"
"That dream I had…the vision. The graveyard. You remember?"
"Yeah – what about it?"

"It read Minho, Sonya, Aris, Gally, and then…"

She paused.
"And then it was you – Thomas"