Chapter 12.

"Do you think the others are still in the cafeteria?" Thomas asked his friends as they walked through the corridors of the WICKED-complex.

"Probably, we haven't been gone for that long. Besides, they're probably not gonna go anywhere while they're waiting on us," Minho speculated.

"We should just go get them and then find someplace private, so you can tell us about the meeting," Newt suggested.

"I hope for own your sake that you're not naive enough to think any place we're allowed to go is private" Gally said bitterly.

"I'm not, but I don't think the cafeteria is a good place to discuss anything. I'd rather be somewhere quiet," Newt explained. Then he yawned.

"Are you getting tired?" Thomas asked him.

"No," Newt said, though he didn't sound very sincere.

After that they walked in silence.

They didn't have any trouble finding the right way back, what with having three ex-runners in their small group.

After ten minutes they passed a peculiar set of doors that Thomas had seen on the way to Rat man's office. He estimated they were halfway to the cafeteria.

After five more minutes the pace dropped. At first Thomas didn't notice it, but he realised it as they gradually got slower and slower. He realised soon why it was happening.

It was Newt. He was in the front of the group, leading the way and also steering how fast the others walked.

Minho walked up to him.

"What's wrong?" he wondered.

"Nothing's wrong, just a little tired, that's all," Newt said, "it's probably gonna wear off soon."

It did not wear off soon. They kept walking, Gally in the front this time. Newt and Minho were next to Thomas. Every time Thomas looked at Newt he seemed to get more tired, but he kept a relatively steady pace.

It took twice as long as it should have, but they reached the cafeteria at last.

They stopped outside the room.

"Should I go and get them so you get a head start to the room?" Gally suggested.

"Actually, no," Minho said, "I think we should do this later. Newt looks like he's about to fall asleep, and we need everyone for the discussion. You can go and tell them they can in stay there for a while if they want, we'll have a gathering later."

"I am not about to fall asleep," Newt protested, looking very much like he was about to fall asleep.

"See you later," Gally said, before walking into the cafeteria.

"Let's go," Minho said, "walking to the room will probably take fifteen minutes give or take. Can you stay awake that long?" He looked at Newt.

Newt simply nodded, he must've been too tired to look offended.

"Come on then," Thomas said as he started walking.

Newt made to follow, but he stumbled. Minho caught him before he fell.

"Careful," he said.

After that they started walking. Minho was still holding Newt, in case he stumbled again. Thomas was in front of them.

The next fifteen minutes were uneventful, though by the time they reached their room, Newt was leaning heavily on Minho.

The door was closed, and for a moment Thomas was afraid it would be locked, though when he pulled on the door handle he found to his relief that it wasn't.

Minho put Newt down on the closest bunkbed, though the latter appeared to be asleep already.

Minho turned around to face Thomas.

"We need to talk," he announced.

"About what?" Thomas asked, though he suspected he already knew.

"About what happened in the simulation," Minho clarified, "and how I reacted. I shouldn't have punched you, I'm really sorry about that. When I saw what happened I got so angry I didn't consider how you felt at that moment."

"It's okay," Thomas reassured him, "I deserved that. I mean, I was the one who pulled the trigger, no one forced me to do that."

"Don't blame yourself, you were forced. If you hadn't done it he probably would have killed you and then himself. I also doubt Newt was the only one being controlled by WICKED, they probably influenced you decision," Minho said. He sounded different, more serious than usual, his voice was softer.

Thomas knew that Minho was right, but he didn't think he'd ever stop blaming himself for what he'd done.

"I know that look," Minho said, "you still feel like it's your fault, and I suspect telling you it's not won't change that. Just know that you're not alone, all of us have something we blame ourselves for. The trick is to move on, don't dwell on the past. Newt used to do that before you came to the maze and you know how that ended."

"Yeah, you're right," Thomas said.

"Of course I'm right," Minho said with his usual smirk, "and if you need to talk about it or something I'm here, don't forget that."

"Thanks, Minho," Thomas said.

Minho opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment they heard a creaking sound from behind.

Thomas turned and saw that it had just been Newt shifting position in his sleep. He was lying on his side, facing Thomas and Minho. He looked younger in his sleep, without the sadness and stress they all experienced.

"The most important thing right now is that he's still here," Thomas said, "we can save him this time, and doing that is probably the only way I can forgive myself."

"Then it's a good thing we're gonna succeed," Minho said.

"Did Rat man say anything new about when the cure will be ready?" he added as an afterthought.

"He told us they have a theory about how to create the cure, they'll test it out during a new trial and if it works they should be done within a few weeks," Thomas reported.

Minho looked burdened by that information, but not surprised.

"A few weeks," he repeated, "we can do it, we have to. I know Newt, he can do just about anything as long as he doesn't give up."

"We'll have to help him as much as we can, make sure he doesn't get upset, and stuff like that," Thomas said, "we need to be there for him this time. wether he gives up or not is up to him, but we can affect that decision."

Minho nodded.

They stood in silence for a few seconds, looking at their friend. Seeing him so at pease gave Thomas a feeling of hope, he felt like they could get out of their current bad situation, find the cure and get away from WICKED, be happy.

Minho looked back at Thomas.

"When all this blows over- the flare, WICKED, you know- be good to him. If you hurt his feelings I'll have to hurt you,"

"Hurt his feelings? What do you mean?" Thomas asked in confusion.

"Man, you are one oblivious shank, what he sees in you is beyond me," Minho said, shaking his head. He sounded like he was back to his normal self. Thomas felt no less confused.

He was about to ask Minho what he was talking about, but the other gladers came into the room before he had the chance to.

"Can you tell us how the meeting went now?" Frypan asked.

"No," Minho said, "Newt is sleeping, I don't think we can wake him up, and if we have the gathering without him he's gonna get annoyed." He said the last part like it was something scary.

"Are you scared of annoying him?" Thomas asked jokingly.

"Yes," Minho said seriously, "did I ever tell you about the time when I had to spend three days in the slammer?"

"No, what happened?"

"I made fun of his accent one too many times, so he convinced Alby to call a gathering. He put me on trial for being too annoying, and he swayed all the keepers to his cause."

"To be fair, you were annoying us all, it didn't take much convincing," Gally said.

Thomas wished he'd been around to see that. He realised with a chill that he might have witnessed it, before he was sent to the glade, he couldn't be sure, but he knew the gladers had been monitored, and he had helped WICKED with the variable. He decided not to think about that.

"So what do we do now?" Gally asked, "we just wait?"

"Well we can't have the gathering now, but while we're waiting you guys can tell me more about what happened in the glade before I got there," Thomas suggested.

Minho smiled wickedly.

"That's a great idea. Just wait til' you hear about how Gally got lost in the deadheads."