Hey guys, alright just as a heads up I've made the Gladers a lot more independent from the creators in the maze. Besides sending up Greenies they didn't help much with the Gladers way of life.

The hotel was teeming with people. It was impossible to walk more than a few feet without stepping on someone or having to shuffle through throngs of people. Broken families waited with hope and fear in their hearts that they would tonight be reunited with the missing piece of their families. They weren't supposed to be there or even know that another W.I.C.K.E.D testing ground had been found. The information had been leaked from a friend to a brother-in-law to a family member of a taken child, whom spread it through the channels of a support group looking for their children. Within hours the hotel had been packed with bodies of anxious, weary parents. Waiting to see if there child would walk through the doors.

A bell chimed alerting another had joined the room. All eyes and body turned to the door. A woman led in a group of ten bedraggled teenagers followed by a scowling man. Within seconds everyone was on their feet moving closer trying to get a better look, all talking at the same time, asking question-if they had seen such and such, and where they okay, are there more coming…?

It was chaos.

It was Red that regained control. "HEY, EVEYBODY SHUT UP!" His booming authoritative voice cut through and everybody quieted. "You should be ashamed of yourselves," He continued in his voice falling back down to its normal tone, "You're behaving worse than these kids and they have been through hell. I don't know how you found out about us bringing them here and I really don't care. I don't need to tell you about protocol, you should have been waited to be informed. It doesn't-"

"Kendal!" A woman pushed through the mass of people and towards the Gladers eyes locked on Mila. The Gladders in the midst of the chaos had found themselves doing as they always did, grouping together. They had condensed into a small circle that Mila had found herself on the outside of after freezing in shock of the sheer mass of adults. It had been like being pulled out of the box again, except worse because the group was a mess. A warm hand was griping her forearm from behind her jolting her out of her trance. Mila immediately shuffled back until she was pressed tightly against Newts side. Mila looked up and could see his gaze still locked on the woman who had disturbed the brief moment of peace. Her own eye glanced back to the woman.

There wasn't anything too special about her compared to all the others tired anxious faces. She was tall with a slender build and heart shape face. Short blonde hair lay impossibly straight against her chin, bangs cut bunt across her forehead. The only thing really notable was her blue eyes that seemed to be flecked with grey.

Newt eyes flickered back to Mila stunned. "What?" He shook his head. He hadn't meant to stare but… That woman, she looked so much like Mila. Could that really be her mom? Mila's hand grabbed the bicep of his arm that was holding her. She looked scared and completely overwhelmed. She took an unconscious step back and he followed her putting them back into the protection of the circle of Gladers who rallied around them.

"Kendal, Kendal please! Kendal!" The blonde woman was frantic now trying to come closer. Security from the hotel had to come restrain her. Red had strung into action at this point and taken the lead getting the Gladers through the mass of people and into the hallway towards the activity rooms and kitchen dining room. They stopped in front of a glass walled room, a pool taking up most of the contents. The echoes of the people talking in the entrance could still be heard but it was all disjointed, never making out clean word with so many people talking at once.

"Alright kids, listen up." Red didn't bother raising his voice as he normally did- these teenagers listened better than most groups he had been with in the Army. Ten exhausted faces turn their attention back to him. "Behind here are the pool showers. You guys go get cleaned up, we will find you some clothes to change into. When you're done straight down this hall is the kitchen. Get something to eat and after we will show you to where you can sleep." Red thought about saying more, something that would make this rag-tag group feel safe after the hell he was sure they had been through, but he couldn't think of anything worth its salt and decided this group probably wouldn't like to be babied anyways.

Teresa was hesitant, separating just didn't feel right. They were a group, they should stick together. Even though she was the last that had been sent up in the box and had only stayed for a month in the Glade the principles had been ingrained in her very being, just as much so as the others who had been there for years. It was the only life she knew. She looked over and saw that Mila seemed to be having similar hesitations, her hand gripping Newt's. Teresa could tell she was still shaken by the early events, her face was incredibly pale. Newt whispered something to her and then Mila gave a halfhearted smile before heading to the door. Teresa followed her as she walked past and with one more look at the boys the door shut.

The little hallway twisted into an open room with sinks lining one wall, a few bathroom stalls next to them, lockers taking up most of the space in the center and showers on the far side. Each stand up shower had a rod and shower curtain. There was a hook in between the showers with a small mesh bag with travel sized soaps and a towel.

Teresa opened the bag smelling one of the soaps. It smelled very florally, sweet and fake. She turned a comment on her tongue when she saw that Mila was already stripping down. It wasn't like Teresa hadn't ever seen her naked. It was hard not to when you shove that many people in a small place like the Glade. Privacy wasn't something you were privy to. They had one shower in the glade, and it was outside behind the homestead. Besides being out back facing the trees there was no privacy to it. I was a shower head and that was it.

Teresa had found showering a difficult task. Mostly because you never knew when somebody would walk around the house and catch you showering. It never seemed to be on purpose and the boys would always apologize and leave. After the first time Teresa boycotted showers for a week. Mila who had been there a lot longer than her, almost a year, let her on the secret to shower late at night after dark when all the boys were sleeping. And there were no fancy smelling soaps, you just washed off in the lukewarm water and ran your fingers through your hair and hoped for the best.

Mila had a huge ugly bruise taking up the majority of her back. It stretched from shoulder blade to shoulder blade down to her mid back. The top looked the roughest probably when she had the most impact on whatever she had hit. Teresa thought about asking where it came from before dismissing the idea. They all probably looked like hell, no need to comment on it.

The water poured down on her skin. It was hot, making her jump and turn down the heat to about halfway. She pressed her forehead against the tiles, watching dirty brown water swirl down the drain. Teresa just stood there for a few minutes letting the water warm her skin and sooth her muscles. It was so quiet. The only sound she could hear was the water running. It was like she was alone.

Completely alone.

Her body shivered, the thought it made her strangely uncomfortable, to the point where panic was bubbling in her chest. Her vision started narrowing, and she couldn't seem to get enough air into her lungs.

"I'm leaving clothes on the bench for when you're done." The woman voice cut through Teresa's panic, jolting her back to reality. She heard Mila say something muddled before footstep retreated. Teresa started scrubbing at her body and hair. Turning off the tap she reached around and grabbed her towel wrapping it around herself. She opened the curtain to see Mila already searching through the bag of clothes. She pulled out an obnoxiously bright pink shirt, making a face at it she offered it to Teresa who took it despite its color. Mila pulled out the next one it was also quite bright but a shade of orange with the word Simple Life stitched across the chest in yellow.

"Well they definitely won't lose us." Mila grumbled dropping her towel.

Xxx

The boys were already in the dining room, food laid out like a buffet on a long table. Minho was exhausted but nothing could stop him from getting food. It seemed to help him catch his second wind (or maybe fifth or sixth). He had already eaten a plateful and went back for his second helpings like many of the boys. It was hard to enjoy his meal though when he had to watch that. "Shuck man, will you just eat something? You're making me uneasy."

Newt eyes which were locked on the doorway begrudgingly turn to his friend. "They've been in there a long time. Maybe I should go check-"

"There fine, there just shucking girls. It takes girls twice as long to do everything. Now eat your shucking food." Newt took an absentminded bite of his sandwich but he turned in his seat again to look to the doorway. He could hear Minho grumble.

"You trust these people Minho?" Thomas set his second plate down flopping into the chair next to Minho.

"Are you shucking kidding me? Trust them? No I don't shucking trust them you slinthead! But we need to keep ourselves up to par just in case we need to make a break for it. Until we find out what were dealing with I say we keep to ourselves and be ready for anything. Hey Newt what are you-?"

Newt stood up, "They've been gone too long. I'm just going to check-" The British boy trailed off midsentence as the girls walk through the doorway. He let out a sigh of relief, sitting back down and starting to eat.

The girls joined and silence took over the room and all that could be heard was the hitting of silverware and clicking of glasses on the table. Mila turned to Frypan who was kitty-corner to her and said, "I like your food better." This got a smile out of the cook and Mila took a long drink of her water. The food here wasn't as fresh- not straight out of the garden like their meals use to consist of; it made the food feel heavy in her stomach.

Xxx

Red and his partner Viola walking into the dining room to show the kids where they would be sleeping. "Alright time to get-Well I'll be damned." Red looked around the empty room, "Where the hell did they get off too?"