Chapter 14

It was silent, the only sound being the boys' breathing and a single thump as the Mourner tried to get in. "We didn't leave anyone out there, right?" Somebody asked.

"Just three." Thomas answered, "and there's no getting them back."

There was a moment of silence, but it was quickly brought to a halt when they realised they could well be stuck. Somebody fumbled around and a torch flicked on, lighting up the floor and everyone was cast in shadows. "Better." Minho said. "We should get moving, find where this place leads."

Minho took the torch and walked at the front, so everyone behind was in the dark. Thomas desperately wanted to find Newt, but in the darkness he couldn't tell which blonde head was, even his limp blended in with everyone else. Even with a torch, the tunnel looked like it stretched on forever. Maybe Gally was right, maybe they were all going to die, or share a fate worse than death.

There was only one way to find out, and that was to keep walking.

~*~

They didn't know how much time had passed, but Minho suddenly stopped and a couple people bumped into him and he dropped the torch, disappearing down something and they were plunged into darkness once again. "Way to go, you shank, made me drop the torch." Someone muttered an apology. "There's some sort of drop, but I think it's a slide or something."

"A slide? Where does it go?"

"I don't know, it curves round. The only way to find out is to follow it." Minho started climbing in and pushed himself down.

The sound of him sliding around faded away, and they waited in silence for a call, a shout, anything. "It's safe!" It sounded fairly distant, but it meant Minho was okay.

The boys were all filled with a form of giddiness now. This was it, they were finally getting out the maze! What better way to go out than on a slide, too? The boys started going down, a few of them letting out some happy cheers. Thomas waited until he thought everyone was down and he stepped forward to go in himself when something grabbed his arm and he yelled in surprise. "Tommy it's me! Calm down."

"Newt.. Don't do that." Newt laughed. "How'd you know I was at the back?"

"I was walking beside you the entire time, I saw you close the door so I just.. assumed correctly. Now come on," he fumbled around until he was holding Thomas' hand. "We do this together."

Thomas squeezed his hand and he let Newt sit down first, protectively holding onto him from behind. "Ready?" Thomas nodded and pushed, falling down surprise.

Newt let out the first cheer, and then laughter. They felt safe for once. Free! They were returning to the real world! Maybe their families were waiting, maybe they'd get their memories back, maybe everything would turn out okay after this. The chances were low, but... maybe.

A bright light at the bottom illuminated the tunnel, and it was simply a blue plastic slide, nothing more. Both boys squinted became blinding and erupted in front of them as they were tossed out onto a rubber landing patch.

There was sounds of applause and cheering around them, but it was too loud for the other gladers to be doing it themselves. Thomas put a hand above his eyes and stood up, seeing the others stood in a circle formation and looking out into the distance in awe.

Thomas helped Newt to stand, their hands still clasped together. They were in some sort of arena, the ground completely made of rubber, and in the top of the area were hundreds if not thousands of seats filled with people wearing pristine white lab coats and some of them had goggles.

Newt looked to Thomas for some sort of clue to what was going on, but he was just as clueless as the others. It made him worry slightly so he squeezed his hand gently, making Thomas turn to look at him. Newt gave him a weak smile before turning to look somewhere else in the crowd. Newt was beginning to realise Thomas was all-knowing, he was WICKED's pet but to only some extent.

Finally the claps began to die down and most of them disappeared down some staircases in the stands, but a select few came through a door on the opposite side of the arena. Thomas rushed to the front and drew his weapon, as did Minho and a few others. "Woah! Calm down!" One of the lab people cried, raising her hands up. "You're in safe hands now, no harm will come to you."

Nobody lowered their weapons. "You may have those sharp knives and spears you've created, but we have guns and lasers in this very ceiling, so I wouldn't try anything if I was you." A man stepped forward, pushing up a pair of glasses. "We are WICKED, World in Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department. Follow us, will you?"

Their name was almost as suspicious as having guns in the ceiling. Reluctantly, most of the boys dropped their things but a few kept hold of their knives in their belt. Not wanting to be left behind, they all started walking forward in a big group, Newt coming forward to the front.

The came out into what could be described as a hall of glass. The floor was tiled, but all the walls were glass, showing whatever room was on the other side. Most of them were labs, computer rooms, and some were offices. "We've been monitoring you all for the past two years; how you react to stimuli, and your ability to survive in a completely different biome." There were some dirty looks at Thomas as the man began talking. "As all of you probably remember now, Thomas was our wingman, helping us create it all until it was ready and the planet began to go... downhill, shall we say."

"We sent in Thomas because he would trigger certain events, giving you all a bit of a boost to hurry and solve the maze-"

"How on earth were we meant to find a code if it was on some creature's tail that didn't exist until Thomas came along!?" Minho growled, a runner holding him back.

"It always existed, the different sections in the maze. Each one would be closed at a certain time, and it repeated after every month. Surely your.. runners? Would have noticed this."

Everyone looked to Minho and he simply shrugged, now feeling embarrassed. "Our doors never shut, it never occurred to us."

"Anyway, we created that monster to make you all hurry up a little, you were taking longer than we had expected. We were going to let it run until you either found the way out, or you all simply died off. Glad you chose the former, it means we didn't waste two years on you." Thomas and Newt's grip equally tightened on the other's hand, thinking of Chuck and Alby. "But now you're out, the rest can begin."

"We have rooms for you, and a different set of clothes. You'll all be sharing, but I doubt you mind."

The boys followed them to a large room; it had a navy blue carpet, and the walls were as white as their lab coats. Beds lined the edges of the room, but far too many for them all to occupy, so they must have planned to have more of them survive... There was a door off to the right, but it was shut so nobody could see what was back there. "Some food and water will be up shortly." The man said, grabbing the door handle, "you are safe now, so please put your knives away." He shut the door.

Nobody spoke, they just walked around the room and all chose a bed. Minho, Newt, and Thomas chose ones together in a line by the door; Winston took the window, Frypan by the other window, and all the beds on the right side of the room for whatever reason remained empty, nobody chose them.

One boy went over to the mystery door and opened it up, erupting in a cheerful glee. "Showers! Running toilets and a sink!" Most of the boys copied his cheer, throwing their arms happily in the air.

The majority ran to try and grab a shower, Newt inclusive, but he stopped when he noticed Thomas wasn't coming. "Aren't you coming, Tommy? We can always share." He winked suggestively, trying to lighten the mood, but Thomas just shook his head and put it in his hands. "Hey.." Newt walked back and knelt in front of him, pulling his hands away and holding them. "The maze is behind us now. We're never going back, we're free."

"Then why did that guy say the next part can start? What's the next part? He said it himself, the world went downhill and that's why all of you started going up there. What's happening outside, Newt?" Thomas turned to look at the window, but they had a view of another building.

"There's plenty of time to think about these things later on. Let's just be clean for once, wear some new clothes. How does that sound?" Thomas didn't say anything and Newt looked over his shoulder, seeing some disappointed gladers come back in. "Well, even if we did shower together it seems they're all taken. We'll wait until it's quieter.

Newt sat on the bed with him and held his hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of it to try and calm him down. The poor guy seemed more stressed out of the maze than he did in it, he was getting so worked up over a couple of sentences. When the showers freed up, he forced Thomas to go by basically dragging him into the bathroom.

They showered separately, dressed in the cubicles, then returned to Thomas' bed. Thomas lay down on the sheets, looking up at the ceiling. Except for when he was sick, when was the last time he slept in a proper bed? It felt weird, and he had been there what felt like minutes probably compared to poor Newt and Minho, the only ones of the original four left behind. Newt sat down, putting a hand on his arm. "You should get some sleep Tommy, we'll get answers later on. I'll wake you when the food gets here, okay?"

Newt was talking to other gladers, eventually leaving the bed. Thomas rolled onto his side, facing the wall. If the sheets and pillows weren't so comfy, he might not have slept.. but he was out like a light.