Chapter 34 Rest.
His dreams were a strange collection of flashing lights, faces both familiar and strange, and words that looped over each other. At some point the confusion and disorientation faded, giving room for an awareness of the situation. He wasn't an unknown spectator of random images, he was Thomas.
Thomas opened his eyes. He had thought he was dying, but he didn't think ghosts could have headaches, so clearly that was not the case. Also, ghosts had the luxury of hovering above the floor, and he was just lying on the floor. He sat up. White walls, medical equipment, Sonya. He knew where he was. No sign of Harriet or Alby, though. He called their names a few times to no effect. Had they won or lost? He checked the door, which was unlocked. A victory, then. He thought he would go search for the other two, but hesitated before leaving. Sonya was still asleep. She hadn't..? No, she was breathing. The other gas lasted longer, it seemed, though he had no way of telling how long that was.
He left then, intending to walk in a circle through the building calling for Harriet and Alby.
"Thomas?" He heard Alby call back.
"I'm coming," he said, following the direction the voice had come from. He heard two pairs of footsteps approaching and met up with Harriet and Alby halfway through a corridor.
"Did everything work out?" He asked. The lack of other people was a clear indication, but details were good.
"In a way," Harriet began. "We opened the door and everybody was asleep as expected, but we didn't find Teresa or Newt. Brenda wasn't there either. Did they get away somehow?"
"No. I didn't see them," Thomas said. "We need to find them. Who knows what Brenda is up to? We have to…" He trailed off. Have to… what? Go out into the forest and look for them?
"That's not the problem," Alby said. "We know exactly where they are."
"Then where are they?"
"The lobby. We saw them on the cameras, that girl —Brenda— holding Newt and Teresa at gunpoint right outside the front door."
"And you let her in?"
"Of course we did. The entrance can be opened and closed through a computer, so we just locked the door to the lobby and opened the front door. Once they got inside we locked it." Harriet explained.
"And? Are Newt and Teresa okay? What did Brenda say?"
"They fell asleep almost instantly, except for Brenda. She said that they were her hostages and would be until she could talk to you."
Why him? They had been friends before, that was true enough, but she claimed she didn't remember. Maybe it was because she knew they had been friends, figured Thomas would trust her.
The three of them made their way to the lobby.
"Don't try anything," Alby warned. "She promised to kill them on the spot if she felt threatened. I had half a mind to open the door and shoot her, but it's too risky."
Thomas knew what he meant. The lobby was entirely visible from the hallway, with a glass wall. Brenda would see them if they got close.
They turned the corner, and there they were. Brenda sat crosslegged on the floor, facing the glass wall. The limp bodies of Newt and Teresa were there too. Teresa lay with her head in Brenda's lap, a knife against her throat, and Newt was propped into a sitting position with a gun to his head.
"Hey, Brenda! I'm here. What do you want?" He asked, standing as close as possible to the glass to make sure his voice carried.
"Don't act all impatient. I've been here for hours. My legs have not only fallen asleep -they are in a coma."
"Sorry. I find it a bit difficult to crack jokes when you are pointing weapons at my unconscious friends."
"Oh, yeah. They're my hostages. Tell me, which one do you like the most; vampire queen or tall and handsome?"
"Will you stop it?!" Alby snapped.
Brenda sighed. "As I've already told Alby over there: if you do anything to hurt me, vampire queen will bleed out, and if you don't back off then, he won't be handsome anymore. Don't take this the wrong way. I don't want to do either of those things, but I'm sure you understand my concerns regarding my safety."
Thomas nodded. She didn't want to kill them, she just wanted to talk. It was fine for now.
"I understand. I'll listen to what you have to say as long as you don't hurt them."
"Where to start…" she mumbled. "Long story short. The Right Arm are freakin' idiots. I'm working for WICKED, always have."
Thomas made an incredulous sound, something between a snort and a giggle.
"Well, not always," she said, not really paying attention to Thomas or his twitching face. "I mean, I didn't go on missions as a— hey! Why are you laughing?"
She was staring at Thomas in confusion as he doubled over with laughter.
"Of course you are!" He said between fits of laughter. "They always— wow, that's the second time I fell for it." Good old WICKED, playing tricks on him like they always did. He wasn't even mad, not yet, anyway. He should have seen it coming.
He looked up at the ceiling, at a surveillance camera, giving it a little wave. "Good one, guys. You got me, again. Seriously, I did not expect you to do the same thing twice."
"What are you doing, greenie? Who're you talking to?" Alby looked at him as if he'd gone mad, which made Thomas stop laughing— mostly, anyway.
"It's WICKED. Don't you get it? They're watching us. It's part of the test— everything is. I bet this is another simulation!" The humor had begun fading, giving place for the biting resentment he kept trying to ignore.
Alby slapped him hard across the face. "That feel fake to you?"
"Ouch! That was completely unnecessary! I could feel pain just fine in the last simulation.
"I get it, Thomas," Harriet said. "We could be in a simulation, or maybe we've always been in one. I could be the only real person for all I know. Point is: What if it's not a simulation? We don't know, but what's the harm in trying to make things better? Even if it's fake, at least we can learn and improve so we're ready for the real world."
"Oh, I like that. Very wise," Brenda quipped. "Right, so if you're done with your mental breakdown…"
"Okay, so you're saying you work for WICKED. Do you expect us to unlock the door or something?"
"No, no. My colleagues should be up and running in…" she stopped to consider, "an hour or so. Joan knows me."
"And you expect us to trust her?" Alby asked disdainfully.
"That's harsh. You do know who—?"
"Yes."
"What do you know?" Thomas asked.
"She…" Alby did not finish the sentence.
"She's his mom," Brenda filled in.
"My mom that had me put inside a maze, yes. I don't trust her."
"I was going to say that she could open a video link to Chancellor Paige. I think you can trust WICKED's leader not to be in cahoots with the Right Arm."
Thomas looked at Alby. Having a parent seemed like something unreal, but having the person who's supposed to protect you put you inside a death trap didn't exactly sound like good family fun.
"Don't," Alby said before anybody tried to comment.
"You said one hour, right?" Thomas asked Brenda.
"Something like that. They were supposed to be incapacitated for eight hours, and it's been seven. I don't know how having the gas in the building for a while effects the time. It's probably gone by now, though."
"And what about Newt and Teresa?"
"We got here five hours ago. You can do the math."
Three hours. He would reunite with them in three hours. Although, a lot could happen in three hours…
"What about the Right Arm? Vince and the rest from the second base? They knew you went on the mission, but do they know what happened?"
"I called Vince earlier and told him what happened."
"You— What?" Thomas sputtered. There would be a second attack, but when?
"Yes. I told him everything went according to plan. Oh, don't look so worried. I'm on your side, remember? It didn't go according to his plan."
"And what about the rest of them? The ones who got left in the base?"
"Kids and old people. They're waiting for the group from headquarters to pick them up."
"Pick them up? Are they all coming here?"
"All of them," Brenda confirmed, "including the other subjects."
Thomas recoiled, stepping back from the glass screen. She had called them subjects like it wasn't pure chance that she wasn't one of them. She'd told him about a memory wipe earlier, but he'd let himself hope for a second that she had been lying about that, too. If she knew him and his friends, she wouldn't call them subjects. Maybe they could find their way back to their old friendship. Then she would understand them better. And he missed her company. Well, they had a whole hour to hang out now.
"What now?" She asked, puzzled.
"We're not 'subjects', or 'lab rats' or whatever else it is you and WICKED call us," Harriet said. "We're people just like you, except you're luckier."
"Noted," Brenda said, serious for once. So there was hope for her yet. "I called Vince a few hours ago, but don't worry; it'll take them at least three days to get here."
"How will they do that, exactly? We clogged the tunnel to the train. Are they gonna have everybody walk all the way through the forest?"
"Of course not. They have helicopters. They're pretty far from the base, though, so they wouldn't be detected when they took off in case WICKED was on the lookout. They're still gonna be careful. They think this place is safe, but they don't want to be seen by the main WICKED HQ. They'll get the helicopters as close as possible, and then they'll transport people a few at a time. It'll take at least a day just to prepare the helicopters for flight, and then they have to be extra careful up in the air."
"That's good. We can handle smaller groups," Thomas said. "Assuming you're not lying or wrong."
"Don't think I'm taking this lightly. They have Jorge."
"So what you told me earlier, about how you got attacked by the Right Arm. Is it true?"
"That bit is true, unfortunately. You didn't think they'd let me go right from working for WICKED to leading their missions, did you? They're keeping him as a hostage to make sure I stay loyal. The two of us decided that I would pretend to be more sympathetic to their cause —tell them some useless pieces of information— while he would refuse to cooperate. That way they had an excuse to keep him there, and they would trust me more with a hostage."
"You're a pretty good actor. I thought you were on their side." He remembered talking to Brenda in the dilapidated base. She had sounded so convinced when she argued against him about the Right Arm.
"Oh, please. You didn't need to tell me that their plan to finding the cure was sketchy." Her face lit up. "But I'm glad I could fool you. Not that it's very difficult. For somebody who's supposed to be intelligent, you can be incredibly oblivious."
Thomas rolled his eyes.
"I wanted to be an actress, you know. Back when I was little and the world was alright. I couldn't wait until I was old enough to join the local theatre-group," she said, dreamily. She allowed herself to reminisce for a second before the wry smile returned. "I got to join WICKED, though. Basically the same thing."
"So that's why you never told me the truth? Because you like acting?"
"No. I wanted to test you. I'd heard stuff about you from WICKED, and I wanted to see what you were made off."
"So the memory loss..?"
"Exaggerated, but yes. I lost a few weeks around the time you completed your first trial. I remember meeting you once, years ago, but other than that I'd never seen you in person."
"And what did you think about me?"
"I thought you seemed manipulative. You were going to befriend me so I would help you if you recall. You weren't very good at it, though. Teresa tried, and it almost worked. She's nice and clever, more likable, better-looking for sure. Anyways, I realized that you weren't all that bad, eventually. You care about your friends. You ran away for his sake, didn't you?" She nudged Newt with her foot.
"You were being too slow and the Flare was too fast. What else was I supposed to do?" Thomas asked, a bit annoyed at her. Why hadn't she tried to speed up the mission if she was working for WICKED and knew how precious time was?
"Look, I'm not saying you did the wrong thing based on your knowledge. Only, you didn't know that I was trying to contact WICKED so I could warn them in time. But, from what I gather, you guys did a good job on your own. I don't mind taking some risks, as long as they pay off, and this one did. I am proud of you," she rolled her eyes.
"Thanks," Thomas said sarcastically.
Harriet had made Alby show her the way to the kitchen, and neither of them had returned as of yet. Thomas sat crosslegged opposite Brenda, him right by the glass wall and her still against the far wall with Newt and Teresa. Waiting.
"That gun's safety is on, right?" He asked, seeing how close her finger was from pulling the trigger.
"And why would I tell you that?"
"I just don't want you to accidentally shoot Newt."
"I know what I'm doing. I won't pull the trigger unless I have to." Then her smile twisted into a mocking grin, which couldn't mean anything good. "Newt, is it? Didn't you say his name was Isaac? That's what Vince told me."
"I know that you know his name."
"And that Vince doesn't," Brenda added.
"He asked whether I wanted to bring Newt or the infected girl from Group B to the other base. I started to say Newt's name, but then I remembered that I didn't want him to know who I was friends with. I made up a name for the girl and said I wanted her to come, and he decided to keep her there, so it was the best choice."
"And that's why you called Ariadne 'Naomi'."
"And I didn't want him to know what I'd been about to say, so I gave Newt the first name that came to mind."
"I get why you would think of that name, but it's still stupid."
"It worked though."
"Well, Vince isn't the brightest guy. He may, in fact, be the dullest one I've seen in the Right Arm?"
"Then why is he the leader?"
Brenda shrugged. "Something to do with what he did before the sun flares. He was either a businessman or a mafia boss. I don't remember."
An hour or so later, Thomas heard what he'd been waiting for.
"Hello?! Is anybody here? Help!" It was Ben. He tried to dismiss the memories of the last time he'd heard Ben calling for help, by the eastern door of the Maze, on the wrong side of the opening.
"See? They're waking up." Brenda said.
Thomas took off, running towards the Big Room where most of the people had been.
Ben was the only one fully awake. Some of the others were stirring, though most lay still.
"What's going on, Greenie?" Ben asked, looking scared. He wasn't sure if the fear was purely based on confusion, or whether Thomas had something to do with it. Ben had seemed nervous around him, and he wouldn't look him in the eye. Their previous encounters considered that would be understandable.
"It's all fine now," Thomas started, before giving a brief summary of what had happened. By the time he was finished, others were starting to get up. A dozen different people demanded to know what was going on all at once.
"Tell them," he told Ben, "I'm getting Harriet and Alby."
Ben only stared blankly at him as he left, but Thomas was sure he'd heard.
He made for the kitchen, and thus did not expect the collision from the side. He yelled in surprise as he was slammed into the wall from the side.
He turned to look at the culprit and saw Alby, grimacing. "Oh. There you are."
"Your elbow is sharp, you know!" Alby complained, clutching his gut.
Thomas began apologizing until he looked behind Alby and trailed off. It was Harriet, standing with her arm around a fully awake Sonya.
"About time you woke up," he said. Seeing her eyes open was almost unnerving after such a long time.
"Yeah, I agree." Her voice was understandably hoarse, but she smiled nonetheless.
"The others are waking up as well," he informed the trio.
"Yeah, we know," Alby said, "we were just going to them."
The four of them walked back together, slowly for the sake of Sonya, who wasn't back to full energy.
They found the room in relative order, meaning people were sitting around the table while chatting over each other and looking scared, rather than running around in their panic.
"Thank goodness," Joan said, barely heard over the noise. "Everybody! Stop talking and let's listen!"
The crowd took a minute to quiet down, conversation flaring up once more as the two doctors who'd been helping Sonya showed up, but soon all eyes were on them.
Thomas did most of the talking. Sonya was reuniting with her friends in Group B as silently as she could, and Harriet was by her side. Alby just didn't offer to explain.
"And she is still in the entry hall?" Joan asked after he'd told them about Brenda.
"Yeah, both doors are locked. She said that you know her," Thomas said.
"And that you could call someone else to confirm her identity for us," Alby said pointedly.
"I do know her if you count the one meeting. And I can contact the chancellor if you want me to," Joan replied, not looking at her son.
Chancellor Ava Paige had dark bags beneath her eyes and her ever-present smile was empty, even through the screen.
"Yes. She is following my instructions," she said, voice distorted by static.
She didn't say anything else. No explanation, or thanks, or any acknowledgment of the suffering she'd put them through. He would have been angry, but it was hard to be mad at somebody who looked so tired and drained. He firmly held on to the opinion that being the test subject was worse, but heading up the search for the cure couldn't have been very easy.
"Told ya," Brenda smirked.
Thomas had expected Paige to confirm it, though he probably trusted Brenda more than the chancellor. That being said, he didn't think Brenda was working for the Right Arm. Alby looked like he didn't trust either of them or anybody else for that matter, glaring at Brenda as Joan unlocked the door.
Brenda put away her weapons and stood up to stretch her arms and legs. Finished reviving her limbs, she hoisted Teresa off the floor and pulled an unmoving arm over her shoulder. "Is there somewhere I can put her? I don't think she wants to wake up on the floor," Brenda asked, because she was nicer than Alby and Harriet in that way.
Alby was first through the door, followed closely by Thomas.
"It really is him," Alby mumbled, smiling wider than Thomas had ever seen him do.
He let Alby help Newt to his feet, and walked next to them while Joan led them somewhere. He was relieved to see that Newt was almost completely unscathed. He had looked fine through the glass, but the distance had made him doubt. Though the trek through the forest had barely marked his face, his hair resembled an actual bird's nest. He wasn't sure how he had accomplished that, seeing as Teresa's hair was just a bit messy despite being both longer and thicker. He would have to ask later.
The room they put Newt and Teresa in was similar to the rooms at the main WICKED-HQ, only smaller and more homely. Two sets of bunk-beds stood back-to-back along the wall, fitting narrowly. A round table with four cushioned chairs around it stood in the middle, and a bookshelf was in the right-back corner. That in itself wasn't any different; it was the soft color scheme, so unlike the sterile whiteness of WICKED, the garish colors of the place they'd been taken after the maze, or the Right Arm's base, which was homelike, but broken. This room was like something he couldn't quite remember, but it was comforting, and normal. He tried to ignore the pale linoleum around the edges of the big, brown carpet.
Brenda left to discuss something with Joan, but not before tucking Teresa into one of the beds, because Brenda was, indeed, much nicer than Alby and Harriet. No, strike that —Alby had done the same thing for Newt. Maybe it was just that nobody liked Thomas. Well, somebody had put blankets over him that one time in the Glade when he'd fallen asleep by the south wall, though he was pretty sure that had been Newt.
While the only person who liked him was snoring away, he decided that he had to go talk to someone who definitely disliked him —if not hated him.
"Hey, Alby? Do you know where Ben is?"