Chapter 17

Brenda's vision was unreliable.

There was no way Thomas could possibly die, not after all he had been through. Minho had managed to go against her prediction by escaping death. The other three people whom they had lost – did not die a week apart quite like she suggested either. Sonya died the same night that Minho was meant to. Aris died two weeks after. According to Brenda – Gally had been found dead the previous night. That would make his death a week after Aris'.

It didn't make sense.

What had happened to the days where their minds were full of hopes and dreams? Everyone was consumed with the idea that they were in 'paradise' and that nothing could go wrong. No harm would come to them – was what everyone thought.

If only they knew how far they were from the truth.

Now they were just dropping like flies.

It was too confusing for Thomas – he had other things to think about today. He looked over to his left; Teresa lay on his side gracefully – her head resting gently on Thomas' arm. Her top had fallen slightly during her sleep and Thomas forced himself to look away from the inviting sight.

A loud noise woke Teresa. Thomas was already up and quickly looked towards her in concern. She quickly leapt out of bed and ran over towards him – clutching his arm for support.

It was the sound of the door being unlocked.

Thomas wasn't surprised at all when Paige appeared with several guards on her tail. She nodded at Thomas and Teresa curtly and then beckoned them to follow her.

Neither of them moved.

"Okay, now, let's make this easier for all of us yeah?" she said calmly. Her voiced irritated Thomas to the core.

Again, neither of them moved.

"God, you two are awful teenagers" she spat. Paige clicked her fingers and in a swift motion the guards rushed in towards Thomas and Teresa. They were both grabbed viscously and forced towards the floor. Thomas heard Teresa cry out in pain and done his best to block out the sound. They were both handcuffed – this time separately.

"You're going to love this" one of the guards sneered.

A metal chain was attached to the chain between Thomas' handcuffs – creating a T shape. The guard then began to pull the long chain – dragging Thomas along the floor by the chain of the handcuffs. The way in which it had been done meant that Thomas' arms stretched awkwardly upwards – stretching out of their sockets. He made no attempt to wriggle free as he knew it would make the pain worse. He simply cussed as his face bumped into the floor as he was pulled along. He wasn't able to look behind him but he was almost certain they were treating Teresa the same.

"You know Thomas, You could have just came with us, you didn't have to make us do this" Paige muttered from above.

"Fuck you"

"Oh – that's nice"

Thomas and Teresa eventually came to a stop as they were dragged into a room far away from the one they were in. Thomas' arms were numb with pain and he was sure both of his shoulders were dislocated. He missed their comfy bed already. The WICKED guards leaned down to undo the chain and the handcuffs. He was then pulled upwards by his shirt onto his feet. He stumbled a bit at first but soon found his balance. He span round to look for Teresa and found her running towards him. She embraced him briefly, and then pulled herself away to stand close to him. She reached her hand down to hold his; he didn't pull away this time.

"Welcome to the surgery" shouted Paige.

"I think we're in the wrong place"

"Ha, funny boy Tommy. Trust me – you're wanted here"

"Why does it have to be Teresa?"
"Sorry?"
"Why do you want me to have sex with her specifically?"

"You two are cute"
"Were"

"Huh?"
"We were cute"

"I swear you're still together"
"No, you split us up"
"Oops, oh well – I guess it will make this more interesting"
"Can't you put me with Brenda instead?"
"Oh yeah I heard that you were with the Scorch girl"
"Answer my question"

"No, you can't have sex with her again. You two are our main subjects so we need you to do it"

Paige wondered off before Thomas could say anything more. She appeared to be speaking to one of the doctors. Thomas used the opportunity to talk to Teresa.

"I can explain…"

"I can't believe you had sex with her Tommy"

"What difference does it make?"
"A big one!"
"Calm down Teresa, I thought you were dead"

"And look how you celebrated…"
"That's not fair"

"None of this is fucking fair Thomas – nothing has ever been fair since the day we were born"

"Things would have been different if I knew you were alive. I mean you took your time to get in contact with me!"

"Oh god yeah I'm so sorry – I was busy bleeding internally"
"Whatever"

"Ooh, Look at how much you care"

"You don't get it do you?"
"Get what!"

Thomas grabbed Teresa by the arms and pulled her close to him. Her face was centimeters away from his now; her warm breath graced his face.

"You're all I care about right now Teresa"

Thomas leaned in towards her, closing the already small gap.

"STOP" Paige shouted.

Thomas and Teresa broke from their moment and turned round to face her.

She held a gun – and pointed it towards them both.

"Behind me, are the two beds which I want you to lie on. The chips will then be inserted into your brains. Then you will be led to another room where we will conduct the final experiment"

Thomas and Teresa knew there was no point in arguing. They walked up to where Paige had been instructed – their feet dragging behind them.

The beds looked comfy at least.

They briefly squeezed hands before walking to their separate beds – as soon as they lay down – men and women in lab coats rushed over to them both. Different equipment was turned on and various things were attached to them both. Thomas paid no attention; he only stared towards Paige as she smiled at them in the corner.

"We're ready" called out one of the doctors.

"Okay good" another one said.

"Shall we tell them?" a different one said

"I'll tell them" Paige answered.

The horrible lady walked to the edge of their bedsides. Their beds were close to each other so she stood in the middle. She surveyed them both before opening her mouth to speak.

"There's something I forgot to mention" Paige started.
"That's no surprise"
"Shut up Tommy – and hear me out"

"Okay"

"You see – in order for this love experiment to work – we need love of course. The reason we're using you two is because you're our main subjects and in order to fully map the brain of an Immune person – we need all the information about that person we can get. We couldn't possibly use Brenda because we do not have the results of her reactions to anything. We are using the results of yours and Teresa's reactions from the Maze, the Scorch – and anything else after that before your chips were removed. The combination of these reactions is what has completed our plans to 80% for both of you. That final, and important 20% is what we need to complete our work. It is therefore vital that it is you two we use for this final experiment"

"How come love is such a big part?"

"What is it they say…love makes the world go round? I'm guessing that's why"
"Why couldn't you use another couple?"
"Based on your history – you two had the strongest connection. The better the connection – the better the results"

"Okay…but that connection is no longer there. That's your fault by the way"
"I'm fully aware of that – but I have a solution. Well – the doctors do."

"Go on?"
"Do either of you know what the date is today?"

They both shook their head.

"It's January 26th, three years ago you chose tomorrows date as the date that you asked Teresa out – her birthday. You were together for two years after that, but this past year has been filled with the actions of our trials"

"Okay, your point?"
"When we insert the chip – we're going to insert all the memories of your relationship, with bits added in – as if you had spent this past year as a couple too. Your memories of Brenda will be forgotten – and instead replaced with memories of Teresa only – as if you and Brenda were never a couple. Thus, your affection for each other will be incredibly strong. You will both be happy and romantic towards each other when you wake, as it will be your 3rd year anniversary in your eyes – as well as Teresa's birthday. Your bond will also be much stronger as you have both been through so much in the past year."

"That doesn't make sense – I will still remember all the bad things that happened with Teresa"
"Oh don't worry – we're slightly altering that memory"
"Define slightly"

"Basically, you will think it's Brenda that done that to you instead. Your affection for Teresa wouldn't have changed"

"I don't believe this. You can't take that away from me – me and Brenda have already come far – you can't ruin us!"
"You don't have to believe it – when you wake up it will be seem like everything is natural. You won't be angry towards us about ruining your relationship with Brenda because you won't have a memory of you two being together. You won't be angry at us because you won't remember the surgery"
"So you're brain washing us – how can you expect that to work?"
"We managed to brainwash Minho – we can do it with you two as well"

"You cruel bitch"

"Thomas, this isn't for my benefit – it is for the world's benefit"
"I don't care"

"You don't care about the world surviving? I'm sure that's not true"
"There is nothing left to save - the Flare has killed most of the world's population"

"There is nothing that communities cannot solve – as long as they have this cure we are working towards"

"You're still a cruel woman"
"Sue me"

She nodded towards the doctors, and in an instant, they both fell into blackness.