Chapter 9

It was as if his vision and movement had been turned off. His other senses worked fine but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move his limbs or open his eyes.

He felt himself being lifted by the arms. Pain ripped through his still healing shoulder. 

        "Just his vision is blocked so mind what you say." a woman's voice snapped.

He suddenly heard a very frantic Alex shout, "What did you do to him? Is he okay?"

        "Be quiet!" a man said to her.

He heard her began to struggle. "Let go of me you creep!" she yelled. There was a sound like someone being hit. The man apparently holding Alex cried out in pain. 

From behind Newt, there was the sound of a bullet clicking into place. A cold barrel was pressed into the back of Newt's neck. Fear shot through him but he still couldn't get his muscles to obey his brain.

All noise had stopped. 

        "Another move like that and he dies," the woman said coldly.

        "Alex, calm down," Dylan said shakily. "We'll be okay."

        "Well I don't know about that," she paused. "Sedate her as well."

        "Wait what? No. Hold-" her sentence was cut off by a sharp squeal. There was a thump as she hit the floor.

        "I don't think we're going to have any problems with you now are we?" she said apparently talking to Dylan.

There was a pause as he probably shook his head.

        "Excellent. Take Subject A5 to the other girl like Janson said. Take these two to another holding room.

Dylan breathed out, probably trying to stay calm. "Whatever you gave them... it's not going to hurt them is it?"

        "If we wanted you hurt we could have done so within seconds of you stepping off that Berg," she said. "Cooperate and no one gets hurt."

He must have nodded because the cold gun barrel pressed into his neck was removed. "You two, follow me." The two gaurds began to walk with Newt in tow.

-

They walked for what seemed like forever. At first, Newt tried to remember the turns they took. He had been a runner in the Maze, so his memory was sharp, but they took so many turns it was impossible to remember them all. At one point, he was certain they took four rights in a row.

By the time they stopped dragging him around. He had no clue which was was which or how to get back to Rat Man's room.

He heard a beeping sound, like a code being entered into a keyboard, and a door whooshing up.

They basically tossed him into the room. His head hit the carpeted floor and the door whooshed closed. He heard soft footsteps.

        "I guess you're the one they said would come," a girl's voice said. It was soft and seemed to be laced with concern and possibly sorrow.

She flipped him onto his back, which hurt immensely. He couldn't speak but a low groan escaped his lips.

        "What? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" She put a small finger under his nose to see if he was breathing.

        "Whatever they have you should only last about an hour. I would put you I'm the bad but if you're hurt I don't want to make it worse." She sighed. "I really hate these people."

-----

Just as she promised, the affects of whatever they gave him started to ware off about an hour later. He finally opened his eyes. He could move his head but that was it.

The girl was asleep on one of the two beds. He couldn't see her very well under the small mound of sheets and pillows.

Five minutes later, he could move his arms. He pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around. The room was once again all white. The sheets, the furniture, the walls, everything.

Another five minutes and he could move everything again. He got up and sat on the bed ajacent to the one the girl was in. She was bagining to stir in her sleep like she would wake up at any moment. And she did. Her eyes fluttered open and then widdened when she saw Newt staring at her.

        "Umm... hi," she said tentatively. "Im Gwen."

Newt nodded, "I'm Newt."

        "Wait what?" She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. "Like, Newt-from-the-first-Trials Newt?"

        " 'Fraid so. How do you know me exactly?"

She ignored his question, "Why on earth did you come back! Why didn't you stay with the others? They're never going to find them. Why are you here?"

        "I was never with them in their little immune paradise. I didn't know I was immune so I made Tommy shoot me. He missed and here I am trying to find them."

She tilted her head. "What do you mean you didn't know you were immune?"

        "They told me I wasn't."

        "Seriously?"

        "Yeah."

        "There's another reason I hate these people! Telling a person they're dying when they have their whole life ahead of them!"

This girl was strange. She seemed to be trying to confince herself that WICKED was bad.

        "How long have you been here?" he asked.

        "Since I was eight."

That's it. They brainwashed her.They kept telling her that WICKED was good.

        "Gwen?"

        "Yeah?"

        "WICKED is not good. They are evil shanks who try to justify their actions by saying that it's all for a reason. For a cure. I don't care how much they tell you they're good. They're not."

She breathed out. "I thought I was crazy! They always tell me WICKED is good. But how can testing on people, taking away their lives, be okay?"

        "It's not," Newt assured her.

They settled into silence.

The gears in Gwen's head seemed to be turning at 100 miles per hour. Newt stared at her.

She had light brown, wavey hair that came a little past her shoulders. Her light brown eyes studied the floor, deep in thought. She was quite thin, as if she sometimes got too distracted to ear. Her fair skin seemed to glow in the light of the room.

Her head suddenly snapped up. "You got shot?"

Newt nodded but it was more of a statement than a question.

        "They'll probably be coming by soon. They can fix it to where it;s like it never happened.

As if on cue, the door whooshed up and two gaurds with launchers and a woman came in.

        "We have been instructed to take Subject A5 to the infirmary for the treatment of his bullet wound," she said. Her voice matched the one from Rat Man's room.

Newt gritted his teeth to keep from screaming at her. He hated being refered to as 'subject'. Like gus life was nothing more than an experiment. But these people were ruthless. To them, he was nothing more that a lab rat.

He stood up and walked to the door. The gaurds holding launchers stood behind him. The woman led the way.

They once again walked the labyrinth hallways. He once again tried to memorize the turns they took, but there were just too many.

After walking through the bland identical hallways and taking dozens of turns, they arrived at the end of a hall. Another code was entered on a keyboard and they walked in. It was basically the same as Bernard's place except much more sterile. Doctors were gathered around a table. One of them looked up at him when he walked in.

        "We have been instructed to repair your shoulder. When you awake, it will no longer be a problem," he said.

Before he could respond, there was a sting in his arm. His knees turned to water and he dropped to the floor. Blackness engulfed his vision and he was out.

---

For the first time in a while, he dreampt. Although this was different from a normal dream, somehow. In his dream he saw a woman. She had a very serious face, aged quickly by stress. Her blond hair was pulled back into a tight bun.

        "Hello, Newt. I'm Chancellor Paige. I know you must have some mixed feelings about me, but I assure you, I want to help. Along with the surgery to repair your wound, they have re-implanted a device that monitors your brain. It's how they mapped your killzone patterns in the Maze and the Scorch. I have personal access to these devices and can communicate with you without them knowing what I am saying to you. I also have the ability to switch them on and off at will. I will only be able to speak with you when you are asleep. I know where your friends are and I want to help you find them. Please try to trust me." Her immage vanished and she was gone.

A/N

Hey you guys. Hope you're all doing well. i know this isn't the usual day I update but I didn't on Saturday (sorry 'bout that) so I decided to give your lovely faces an update today! Also, this chapter is longer than most of my chapters are so... yeah. 

Also, OMG 1,000 reads! I LOVE Y'ALL!!!! Yes you too *points at you* ;) Thank you soooo much.

Stay Magnificent! -StM