Chapter 3
AN: No, I know I really can't write romance, I tried my best but I really don't know how :P
I do not own the Maze Runner or its characters, all rights go to James Dashner.
Thomas was still in an acute state of shock as he struggled to fully comprehend everything Rat Man just told him. It had all felt so real. Then again, so had the bodies back when they first escaped from the Maze. Or even the bricks. WICKED could truly do whatever they wanted to his perception, and that was not a very encouraging thought. Making his way to the showers, he stopped for a moment to take a long, hard look at himself. And didn't really like what he saw.
"I must have spent longer in the simulation than I first thought" he mused. He wasn't looking the best, losing that almost superhuman state of fitness being a Runner had forced him to be. In fact, he looked like a wreck right then.
He quickly showered and dressed himself, feeling much better after letting the hot water run down his body. A T-shirt and jeans. Running shoes. They seemed almost tailor made for his size. For all he knew, it was. His tattoo from WICKED could be clearly seen, making him wish he found a collared shirt instead, if only so he didn't have to be reminded of it.
He wasn't sure just what to believe anymore. What was the point of having Rat Man brief him if words couldn't be trusted, not here at WICKED. If he couldn't trust his own mind, what could he trust?
He waited outside the bathroom, wondering when Rat Man would return. It felt uncannily similar to when he had first been rescued from the Scorch, and he wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not.
He heard Rat Man's heavy-heeled footsteps echoing down the corridor, then saw him walking quickly towards him.
"Well, aren't you looking spiffy?" Rat Man commented, leering at Thomas.
"Do you always say that?" Thomas asked idly, not really interested in hearing the answer.
"Well, yes. What else did you expect?" Rat Man asked with false curiosity, continuing the charade.
Thomas didn't bother replying, but was continuing the line of thought from earlier.
Sad as it was, there was really nothing he could do. WICKED could control him and his friends, as they had the Swipe in their brains. He was Immune, so the citizens of the world hated him as he couldn't catch the Flare. Cranks aren't dependable as they don't have the capacity to think rationally. WICKED had it all covered, and that meant that he was truly powerless.
Looking up, he realized he alone, and there was a door in front of him. Rat Man must have left to do something else, and he assumed that his friends were on the other side of the door. Opening it, he realized it was the same room as the last time. All eyes were immediately on him, as the occupants gauged him to see if he was a threat. All of them were tense, here in the WICKED Compound, where WICKED called the shots, even more than usual.
Too bad it's a waste. Even if I was a threat, WICKED wouldn't let you do anything unless they wanted you to.
"This again, shank? I get the impression you like to dramatically come in late." Minho called out. Laughter and jeers quickly followed, and the tension in the room disappeared. A feeling of relief washed over Thomas as he made certain all his friends were there. And they all were, even the Gladers and Immunes who died while rescuing the Immunes from the Maze, and Newt.
Newt?
He was just sitting there, laughing with Minho like nothing had ever happened, and he never turned into a Crank.
"Newt?" Thomas called out in surprise and confusion, "What are you doing here?"
"I'll explain later. For now, there's someone else looking for you." He quickly waved Thomas away.
And there she was. His best friend, whom he thought had died, trying to save him. Thomas wasn't sure just what to say to Teresa, so he just let her start.
"Hey, Tom." She said, and it seemed lacking, given the last time she had seen her. Yet conveyed in those two words were an entire complex of emotions, some of which couldn't be described, only felt. Hope, relief, happiness – those were only what could be heard on the surface. The two of them, who had gone through so much, who were there from the start – what passed between them could never have been conveyed in words, not by the most gifted poet or writer.
They shared a deep connection, a bond, of friendship perhaps, but Thomas secretly hoped they shared more, that their feelings for each other went deeper. Teresa's last act in the simulation had shown him that, had cleared away the fog in his mind. He saw it all clearly now, what she had been trying to tell him ever since the Betrayal Variable in the Scorch. She truly cared for him, slinthead though he might be. He had to say something, at least try to make an effort to show her he understood now.
"Teresa, I-"Thomas began, only to get cut off by her.
"Shut up, Tom." She said as she pulled him in for a kiss. And in it was everything he had lacked when they kissed in the Scorch. For a moment, it was like nothing mattered anymore, or ever would again. It gave him hope for the future, for their future. And for once, he didn't even think of Brenda.
"How very… touching." For once, it wasn't the rest of the Gladers that interrupted them. Not even they were that cruel. No, it was Rat Man. Thomas hated him with a burning passion bright enough to last to the Moon and back.
He was standing on the stage, leaning on the lectern, a sneer plastered on his face. That wasn't a good sign. Whatever news he was about to deliver, it put him in good spirits, and that did not bode well at all for the group.
"Everybody, take a seat. We don't have that much to cover, as it's all cut and dried. Good news is, we've found the Cure, and a vaccine. Bad news is, majority of everyone out there is a Crank, and they aren't too friendly. That's right, ladies and gents. We're enlisting you to be our representatives in distributing the Cure."
AN: Yes. I truly am evil. I'll leave you in the dark about Newt for another chapter. I promise I won't make it two. Review and tell me what you think! PS: I promise my English compositions are more well-written than these, but then this is about a fictional universe. Also, in case you haven't read my profile (trust me, its just a bunch of incoherent rambling, I was half asleep when I wrote it, and distracted no less) I tend to try to keep a one-chapter buffer, but because of me messing up cause I wasn't thinking straight when I first woke up, I accidentally published Chapter 2, which I originally intended to publish at this point in time. Soooooo I don't have a buffer for Chapter 4, and Chapter 4 itself is only a quarter of the way through, so don't kill me if a day or two passes before the next chapter. I promise it'll come out, and I might take a little longer cause I have a couple school activities for the next couple days. Thanks for reading, and see you next time!