Narrator: The Gladers had been asleep for some time when the helicopter finally landed, and the group of solders hurriedly began to wake them. Disoriented and confused, they were forced out and made to run through the desert towards a large compound. They heard people yelling, the horrible sounds of screeching in the distance, and the sound of guns. Once the Gladers were safe inside, they were escorted to a large room, and promptly locked in. Looking around, they saw a large table covered in food. Hunger took over as they scrambled for the food until someone started a small food fight. It felt good for them to laugh after what they'd been through. One person, however, did not participate. Glancing around, they saw Julia tucked in a corner, huddled in her arms. She seemed to have dissociated from her surroundings as she cried silently. The Gladers glanced at each other; the pain of their friend's sadness cut them all.
Newt went over and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her. "Love, come on. You should eat something," he whispered to her. She said nothing, gave no sign that she even heard him, just stared blankly at the floor. Fry started grabbing some food and plating it for Julia, then kneeled in front of the girl, placing the food on the floor. "Come on now, I know it's not my cooking, but it's good!" Still no reaction from the broken girl in Newt's arms. "You know, the food might make you feel…" Teresa began, speaking gently to Julia, but was cut off when Julia had launched an apple at the girl, hitting her in the head. "Do not speak to me! If you say anything to me, I'm cutting out your tongue!" Julia screamed at her. Everyone looked at Julia in shock while Newt pulled her back into his arms, shushing her and calming her down. "Julia, that was unnecessary! Try to be nice, please," Newt begged her. The anger left as quickly as it came, and she flopped back into Newt and began to cry.
No one knew what to do. Minho desperately wanted to comfort his friend, but how could he when he was the one that killed her boyfriend? Slowly, as if afraid of what would happen, Thomas approached the broken girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. Newt smiled as he watched the boy. "Julia," he called her softly. She glanced up at him, tears streaming from her eyes, but said nothing. "I'm sorry. I know you don't what to hear it and probably don't believe me, but I am." Julia said nothing, she hissed and turned away from him, but it held no bite the way it used to. "Come on, Princess. Look around; we're free," Minho said, trying to be upbeat. Newt and Thomas looked at each other, longing in their eyes; no words were needed, they looked at one another as if they were the only ones in the room. Then the moment was halted as the door opened and a man they hadn't seen before walked in, asking if they were okay.
The man, Janson, led them out of the room and through the compound, explaining everything to the kids. A woman came over and spoke to Julia and Teresa, leading them away so they could get cleaned up. Julia didn't move, so Newt nudged her away, telling her he'd see her when she was done. The boys went off to shower and get changed. Then they were led into another room with doctors and other people assisting with medical work. They gave the kids shots, checked their health, and took blood. Julia was brought in, led by the hand of the woman from earlier. She was dazed and looked as broken as she felt. Teresa was told to sit on one of the beds, and Newt got up and hugged his friend. Julia didn't react, she let Newt sit her down so she could be taken care of, holding her hand the entire time. A guard went over to Thomas, asking him to follow him. Julia looked up as he passed by, a look of distrust appeared on her face. Thomas just shrugged at her. "Julia, you got to stop. Tommy isn't a bad person, he's not going to do anything to us," Newt pleaded with her. She said nothing but squeezed his hand.
A few other guards come over to escort them all to a large room filled with other kids, all talking and eating. As Julia walked by, everyone quieted down and stared at her. Boys whistled and girls fawned over her. Newt and Minho tried blocking her as much as possible while they went over to the only table that would fit them all. Striking up conversation with two other boys at the table, they explained everything to the Gladers. They stared at Julia with wide eyes but ceased when Minho glared at them. Then Thomas appeared and Minho left to get him, bringing him over to the table. He sat next to Newt and listened to the conversation. Then Janson came in and began reading off names of kids that were chosen to leave. Thomas saw Teresa being led away from the outside of the room by other doctors. When he tried to follow, a guard stopped him. Begrudgingly, he walked back to his friends. "What did they want with you?" Julia asked. "Not here," he answered. She glared at him, but the usual fire behind her eyes had been snuffed out. "Wrong answer," she said. Thomas opened his mouth, but Newt immediately changed the subject, desperately trying to keep Julia under control to avoid fights or any kind of breakdown.
An hour later, two guards came over, led by Janson; they were going to show them where they'd be sleeping. "We have private accommodations for Miss Julia. If you could…" "I'm not going anywhere," Julia said in a deadly whisper. "Ma'am, I understand you are scared, but I cannot let you stay in a room filled with boys. That would be…" Suddenly, Julia reached for the gun in one of the guards' hands, kicked him away and pointed it at Janson. Everyone screamed and jumped away to the other side of the room or pressed themselves against the walls. The boys started panicking, yelling at Julia while she glared at Janson, a crazed look on her face as she seethed. He threw his hands up and backed away as she screamed at him. "If I said I'm not going, then I'm not going!" Some of the other guards ran over, but Janson began to panic. "No! Don't come any closer! Don't touch her!" The guards immediately backed away and put down their weapons. Janson turned toward Julia and told her she could go wherever she wanted. "Now, can we please put down the gun?" he asked calmly.
Julia stood there, glaring at the man like she wanted to shoot him, but then she threw the gun across the room, and Newt immediately ran to her and pulled her close, apologizing. Janson nodded and told the guards to show them to their rooms. No one spoke during the walk, and once they all filed and the door was shut and locked behind them, Newt turned to Julia. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" he shouted at her. Julia looked at him like she was on the verge of breaking, while Thomas spoke to Newt, whispering for him to be understanding and not freak out. Newt sighed and pulled Julia into a hug, then led her over to a bed and made her lay down. He squeezed her shoulder, walked over to the beds near Thomas and climbed up. Everyone else got into bed, except Thomas. He stood there, watching Julia, filled with pity. She seemed to out of whack to sleep, so he walked over and sat on the floor near her.
He pulled out Chuck's carving, turned it in his hands for a moment, then took Julia's hand and gave it to her. Julia looked at it, pain in her eyes, then glanced at Thomas. "Why give me this?" she asked. He sighed and propped his arms on the edge of her bed, resting his head on his hand. "Because he meant something to you, too. He adored you, and you cared for him," Thomas told her. She looked away as tears began to form, and gripped the carving tight, her hands shaking. Gently, Thomas wrapped his hands around hers, willing her to relax and not cry. "Tommy," Newt called from the top bunk, watching the two of them. Thomas nodded, told Julia goodnight and went to get up, but she told him to wait. Thomas watched as she opened the small pack that she carried back in the Glade and took out a piece of paper. She unfolded it, smiled sadly at it, then handed it to Thomas. He inhaled sharply, choking back tears. It was a drawing of Chuck, sitting in the middle of the Glade. He was smiling up at the sun, a small block of wood and a knife in his hand, carving something. Thomas looked at Julia through watery eyes, and she smiled sadly. They exchanged their mementoes of the boy that they both felt they'd failed, and in that moment, Thomas hoped they could be friends going forward. He wanted to talk to her, but she had fallen asleep, so he went over to his own bed, and laid down, willing for sleep.
*Next Day*
Newt- "Tommy, listen, you're just on edge, you've been through a lot, we all have." Tommy was currently telling us about his little escape last night and the supposed bodies he saw being transferred into some secret room. Julia was hanging off my shoulder, looking annoyed and tired. But she seemed to be listening to Tommy for once instead of blowing up. "You don't know what you saw. And for all you know, if they were bodies, it could've been people that are infected with that virus," I tried my hardest to convince Tommy that there had to be a logical explanation to what he saw. I hated he was having doubts about our freedom, it was like having flashbacks to him entering the Glade and pointing out how wrong everything was. "I don't get good vibes from this place either, but I can't fully back you here, shank," Julia said. We were all thrown by Julia's response. Tommy nodded to her and decided to drop the conversation, but he still seemed worried.
Julia sighed and rubbed her temples, turning to Tommy. "Look, I just want one day of normalcy and peace. Don't ruin it." He threw his hands up but didn't respond. "Come on you shanks, let's go get breakfast," Fry said. Everyone filled out, but I grabbed Tommy's hand and pulled him back. Julia stopped and watched us, told everyone to beat it, then shut the door and leaned against it. I sighed. "Tommy, please, just drop it. Stop worrying about something you know nothing about." I was begging at this point. Julia came over and side-hugged me, glancing at Tommy. "Newt, go wait outside." That wasn't a request, that was an order. I patted Tommy's shoulder as I passed him, then left the room and stood outside, praying she wasn't going to start a fight.
Thomas- I was wary of Julia; clearly, she didn't trust me much, but after last night and knowing she was wary of this place too, I was less scared than I normally am. "I think you know what I'm going to say, shank." I sighed. "I can't just drop it…" "Hey, listen to me; I'm not trying to write off your concerns, but like I said, we deserve a normal day after…" she trailed off and I frowned. Then she shook it off and straightened herself up. "Don't you want that?" she asked me. "Of course, I do! Look, if this place really is all well and good, then great! Then we're free, the nightmare's over, and we can all breathe easy!" Then she smirked at me. "Then you and Newt can finally get over yourselves, while you're at it." I was confused. "Sorry, what?" She looked annoyed. "Really? Both of you are going to play this game with me? That or you're both just dumb." "I have no…" "You guys look at each other like you're the only ones that exist, even when your surrounded by people. And honestly, sometimes you look at each other like you want to…" I cut her off by flailing my arms out in a stop motion. I sighed. "So… is it really that obvious?" I whispered. She smiled at me, a real smile. "Yeah, to me, anyway. Unless everyone else just ignores it." Then she sighed and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Make me a promise, okay, shank?" I nodded. "When the time is right; tell him how you feel. Please, he deserves to be loved." She may be smiling, but her eyes were blurry. I felt so bad for her; Gally was an asshole, but she loved him, and here she was worried more about her best friend than herself. I went to hug her, but she stopped me. "Ew, no, we're not there at all. No touching." I snorted and followed her out.
*Time Skip-Thomas Finds Out the Truth
Julia- After doing some pacing and plenty of silent conversations with Newt, Thomas actually busted through the vent, panicking and saying we needed to go. Newt was trying to calm him down, but he was going nuts, saying some Ava chic was alive and "they" were coming for us. "It's WICKED!" We all froze. "It's still Wicked; it's always been Wicked!" Newt and I shared the same horrified looks as Thomas barricaded the door. Then he forced us all through the vents, along with this Aris kid, who Thomas had been plotting with. We ran around the facility, kidnapped a doctor to find dumb Teresa, joy, everything just went to shit by the minute. We found the dumb shank, busted her out, then, when we tried to escape through another door, but we were trapped, and Janson showed up. He tried reasoning with Thomas, saying he just wanted us to be safe and all this other crap. But naturally, Thomas didn't believe him. "Let me guess; Wicked is good?" Then the door behind us opened, thanks to Aris, and we ran for it, Thomas made it in the nick of time as it was closing.
We both paused though to flip off Janson, because to Hell with that shank, then we all got out of there and ran through the sandstorm that Janson called the Scorch. Teresa was running ahead like the idiot she is and jumped into a buried building. And that's when Thomas told us what he and Aris found; people being harvested for our blood. Apparently, there was something in us that Wicked wants. When Newt asked what Thomas' plan was, he didn't really have one, but said there are supposedly people called the Right Arm in the mountains that could help. And that's when I lost it. I was hyperventilating and freaking out, slowly dropping to my knees and clutching my head, crying my heart out. I hardly registered Newt next to me, trying to calm me down, to no avail. Then Thomas came over, and I lost it! "Why does everything happen to you! Why is everything your fault?! From the second you came into our lives; everything went to shit! And now this?!" He had the gall to look so apologetic and I swung at him, but he grabbed my hands and started speaking to me. "Julia, listen! I know this is Hell, and I know this is scary, but I need you to try and be calm. You're hurting and you're angry and I get it! I am too! We all are! But I need you to be that tough bitch that I know you are and trust me!"
I stopped crying and stared dumbfounded. "Did you just call me a bitch?" I asked in a broken voice. "Yes; the tough bitch that wasn't afraid to threaten us with knives, get all up in my face, point a gun at some random person to get what she wanted, and could rule the world." This shank has some balls, but what the hell? Newt looked scared for Thomas, so did Minho, who was the only one that ever called me a bitch. I breathed deeply, trying to collect myself. When the tears stopped, I grabbed Thomas by the collar of his shirt and yanked him near my face. "I hate you! I do not trust you," I paused, closing my eyes and breathing again before I continued. This time, when I spoke, my voice was steady. "But I do trust your luck. And the minute that luck runs out, I'm killing you with my bare hands. Got it, shank?" And this idiot actually smiled. "There she is. And I'll hold you to that threat, Princess." Thomas held out his hand, and I shook my hand, clasping it in agreement. Peace, for now.