Chapter 5. Reunion.

Nobody spoke as Thomas and Newt were lead back to the corridor they'd been in before trying to escape. This time Rat Man had no problem with opening the door. He pushed some buttons on a panel on the door, and to Thomas' disappointment, he held one of his hands in front of the panel so the gladers couldn't see the password. He realized how stupid it had been to try to escape. Now Rat Man was suspicious of them. If they had just decided to bide their time they might've heard or seen what the password was. Now they had nothing except for each other.

But what if WICKED separated them? Thomas shuddered at the thought. He would never willingly let Newt out of his sight again. Not after Denver. Thomas wondered how long Newt had been in the berg before getting caught and sent to the Crank Palace. It probably hadn't been real, not physically anyway. But it had felt so real, and even if their bodies hadn't been there, their minds had.

Thomas wondered what it felt like to go insane as Newt had. It must've been horrifying, losing control to the virus. And now it was happening again unless Thomas could find a way to stop it. He knew he had to succeed, he would not let his friend go through the same thing again.

Thomas wondered what the others would do if- no, not if, when they were reunited. He was sure none of them would want to cooperate with WICKED after everything that had happened. would Thomas be able to convince them to help him? If it meant saving Newt he was positive that the gladers would at least listen. he would have to come up with a plan, which would have to include getting the cure, saving Newt, and destroying, or at least escaping WICKED. Why could things never be easy?

He decided to start by gathering as much information as he could, getting a hang of the situation. Everyone at WICKED kept saying that they were close to finding a cure, but they never seemed to be getting any closer. Were they lying in an attempt to motivate them? Thomas would have to find out. Maybe he could strike a deal with them, information in exchange for his cooperation. But how could he be sure that the information wasn't just lies? The only thing he could think of was asking different persons about the same thing, he might find out if he was being lied to then, assuming everyone wasn't in on it.

Thomas still despised the thought of cooperating with WICKED, but at the moment he would just have to deal with it.

Suddenly Thomas heard something. It sounded like voices, though he couldn't hear what they were saying. He looked at the others around him, but he was pretty sure it hadn't been any of them.

It got louder as they walked, and Thomas felt a sliver of hope. were they about to get reunited with their friends?

They stopped in front of another door. At first, Thomas thought Rat Man didn't have the password again, but he realized that wasn't the case when the rat man turned around to look at them.

"I'm sure you are eager to meet your friends," Rat began, "but before we go inside, just know that we can easily separate all of you if you cause any trouble, and you know what will happen if you try to escape again. I'd recommend being on your best behavior."

With that, he opened the door, and Thomas resisted the urge to run inside when he saw his friends.

Most of the people in the room were sitting on chairs or couches, talking rapidly to each other, but when they saw Thomas and Newt, most of the conversation died down.

Minho stood up from his chair and approached them cautiously, a few of the others behind him.

"what's wrong?" Thomas asked him. Then he realized Minho wasn't looking at him, he was looking at Newt.

"Newt?"

"That's me," Newt said, a bit awkwardly.

"But you look… Well, normal," Minho said hesitantly, "are you still…? you know…"

"A crank?" Newt said, finishing the sentence.

Minho's gaze fell to the floor. Newt sighed.

"Well, I s'pose I am, though I'm not as far gone as before."

"Before…" Minho repeated thoughtfully.

He looked up with an expression that showed sadness, but not surprise.

"Don't worry, I still have a little time left, and I promise I won't threaten to shoot you again," Newt said hurriedly in an attempt to cheer his friend up.

Minho forced a smile, but he was obviously not out of genuine happiness. "Don't worry, we'll find a way," he said

"You sound just like Tommy," Newt sighed, though he sounded more endeared than annoyed.

"Speaking of Thomas," Minho looked at him, "where the shuck did you go?"

"Nowhere really, I just needed to think," Thomas said.

"You can think?" Minho asked in mock-surprise.

"Very funny," Thomas said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, going off to think was one of your few smart decisions," Minho said.

"How so?"

"Well, the rest of us got sucked into the sea by this huge wave and I'm surprised none of us drowned," Minho explained.

"Are you sure about that?" Thomas asked.

"Sure about what?"

"Are you sure you didn't drown?" Thomas specified.

"Do I look like a ghost to you?" Minho asked.

"No, but I got shot in the head, and I sho- I mean, Newt died."

Thomas cursed himself for almost telling Minho what had happened.

"Wait, what?" Minho asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

Thomas was about to respond but was interrupted by the nasal voice of Rat Man.

"Listen up, everyone!" He shouted from the other side of the room, where he was standing on some kind of stage like he was about to give a speech.

"I know that you are confused. Please get seated and I will explain everything".

Thomas hadn't noticed until then that the chairs and couches were all facing Rat Man's direction.

Thomas sat down on a couch along with Newt and a very confused Minho.

This explanation better be good, he thought as he fixed his attention on Rat Man.