~Sara~

"Becca," Sara called out to her. When Rebecca turned around, Sara whispered, "you need to hide."

"I have to get both groups out of here," the woman said, beginning to get frustrated.

"But things got out of control. It's for your own safety," Sara pressed on. "They're probably looking for you too."

Teresa, that sneaky shank. She must've slipped away and gone to get Janson or something.

How come no one ever saw her leave? Sara knew she had telepathic abilities, but did she teleport too? She'd like to think rather not.

"I'm sorry in advance," said Rebecca, frowning as she addressed the whole group. "I'll maintain appearances, but just know that I'm on your side. I'll get busy to see what I can do to get you all out."

Suddenly, the dim lights in the dark hallway all increased their intensity. The Gladers whipped their heads around, and a group of stone-faced adults stared back at them with crossed arms.

Doctors stood there, all dressed in white lab coats. And in the middle of the crowd, there stood Chancellor Ava Paige side to side with Janson. They all looked like ghosts, hunting for the souls of the living.

Sara was the only one Janson kept his eyes on. Shock filled his entire countenance at the sight of her. Rebecca did an amazing job of protecting her from him, because Sara could tell this hit as a huge surprise.

Rebecca stepped forward, putting up a frantic façade. "Assistant Director Janson, Chancellor Paige! Here they are. These poor kids. WICKED had them under their control, can you even imagine?"

Sara and the Gladers all looked at Rebecca like she was crazy.

What exactly does she think she's doing?

Janson gave her a bright smile, shaking off the surprised look on his face. "Rebecca, darling, I appreciate your help." Then he turned to the group with a concerned expression. "I'm sure you're all confused, scared, exhausted. But don't worry, we're here to help you."

"So, you guys aren't WICKED?" Minho asked suspiciously.

Sara really wanted to scream. Were they really thinking about luring the Gladers into headquarters by pretending to be their saviors?

"No, we'll take care of you and give you food, clothes, a bed to sleep in. And when you're nourished back to health, we'll send you somewhere safe, where WICKED will never find you again," said Janson.

Can someone please kill me right now?

Chancellor Paige spoke up. "I assure you, things happen for a reason, mistakes are made, but in the end, it's for a good cause. And that is that we get to rescue young people like you and keep them away from all the dangers of the world."

Everyone was confused, and it was frightening not knowing what was going on, or what their next plan was. What startled them even more was that Rebecca walked over to them, and she stood next to Paige and Janson. The boys looked at Sara for an answer, but she had none.

Suddenly, a boy with a large sweatshirt and hood over his head emerged from another dark hallway to their left. They all looked at him curiously, then they stepped back a little as they observed him pulling down the hood from his head.

There was a loud, unanimous gasp.

"You!" Minho shouted, bewildered. "How are you still here?"

Thomas took a bold step forward, trying to get near him. "Gally?" he asked, sounding doubtful.

Gally's eyes were bloodshot, and he tried to say something, but it was like something were physically straining him from pronouncing a single word. It reminded Sara of that day when Alby was going through the Changing, and when he was about to tell them what he saw during those visions, WICKED forced him to nearly choke himself before he could say anything else.

Now, they were doing the same to Gally.

Sara disliked him, and she still held a grudge for all the times he tried to get rid of her, but she felt bad for him now. A large part of her felt awful that WICKED had the audacity to lie to them by pretending to save them, and now they were doing some trick on Gally for whatever reason.

Sara's eyes quickly snapped to his hand as he reached into his pocket torturously slow. When he pulled it out, there was a shiny, long dagger in his hand. The lights from the hallway produced a blinding reflection off the surface of the dagger.

The Gladers all stared in horror as he gripped it tightly in his hand, and swung his arm back to throw the dagger, sending it flying through the air. It spiraled at unimaginable speeds, but time seemed to slow down. It was aiming straight at Thomas, who was standing next to Chuck, and Sara sensed even more movement nearby.

Everything then happened so fast. Sara was too busy pulling Thomas off to the side as soon as she saw Gally's eyes on him. Chuck lunged forward and shielded Thomas's body... but the dagger didn't strike the young boy. No, it plunged into someone else's chest with a sickly wet noise.

At the very last moment, milliseconds before Chuck got stabbed, Alby pushed the boy away and got in front of Thomas.

Everyone stood completely still. Things took a second to sink in.

Sara's eyes were blurry, yet she could see a frightened Chuck sitting on the ground as Alby's breath hitched. The knife was stuck deeply into his chest. The wound left a rapidly growing, crimson splotch on his shirt, and he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. His body began to shake, and he coughed, blood spewing out of his mouth.

Newt was the first one to get to him. "Alby, no!"

"Alby!" A few others screamed, huddling together, right behind Newt.

Sara dropped to her knees next to Newt, rendered silent at the horror of it all. Thomas and Chuck crouched down next to her.

"Alby..." Sara's voice cracked.

"Hey, look at me. Alby, please," Newt began to sob. "No..."

With a gasping bit of energy remaining, Alby tried to whisper something to him. Sara placed a hand on Alby's forehead to calm him down as he spoke. "I—it's... it's okay..."

"No—stop. Mate, no... you can't do this to me," cried Newt.

"Why'd you do it, Alby?" Thomas choked out, with regret in his voice.

"You saved my life..." There was so much sadness in Chuck's voice, and it broke Sara's heart.

"It's... too horrible... out there. Not worth... n—not worth living..." and Alby didn't get to finish as his breathing stopped, his eyes switched focus, and his body went still.

Newt choked out a sob, and Sara let out silent tears. He let go of Alby's body and threw his arms around Sara, clutching her tightly as he buried his face into her shoulder. His muffled cries only made her squeeze him tighter.

Yet another person died after she'd promised she'd get everyone home.

Alby wasn't very fond of her in the Glade, but he did learn to loosen up to her; even if it took Newt to intervene. And when Sara was caught in her lie, he took the responsibility of a leader.

He led the boys for almost three years, maintaining order, and keeping them as safe as possible. And even though the experience in the Maze broke his hope, he came along with them despite what he saw.

He preferred to die than going back to a Flare-infested world. But he respected the choice of the others. He was willing to sacrifice himself to the Grievers for them to escape, and now he sacrificed himself for Thomas and Chuck. Two people of which he deemed more worthy of living than himself.

Thomas reached over and gently closed Alby's eyes. No more suffering for him.

That last look before death stole him from them, it was for Newt. He'd been Alby's companion for almost three years. His mate. The person who complemented his leadership. Newt was the one who always put order and balance into any of Alby's decisions—especially the most reckless ones. As he was dying, he was passing the responsibility onto Newt.

Now, Newt felt the weight of everything. The death of one of his best friends, and the responsibility to lead the Gladers in these new circumstances they found themselves entangled in.

Next thing they knew, Thomas was beating the klunk out of Gally until two Gladers pulled him away. On another note, Minho hoisted his own spear, and sent it flying through the air until it sank into Gally's chest.

Then, a crashing sound startled everyone, and gunfire was unleashed in the hallway, bursting the lights on the ceiling. Everyone flinched and covered their ears.

Armed men in black suits invaded the hallway, shooting at all the doctors, at Ava Paige, Janson, and even at Rebecca. Sara clutched her as she fell to the floor, beginning to bleed, but she gave Sara a reassuring look.

No one else noticed when she whispered, "It's fake. I'll see you soon, Sara."

The men literally had to pull and drag Newt away from Alby's body, and they bid the group to follow them. Next thing they knew, they got hauled into a helicopter, and repeatedly got told that everything was fine. Since the group was a large one, they were split into smaller groups, and each was mounted into a different helicopter.

"Where are you taking us?" Thomas asked them.

A woman who was sitting next to them began to tell them all about the Flare and how they were being rescued, taken to somewhere safe.

Yeah, right.

"But didn't they say they weren't WICKED? Why did you have to save us from them?" Winston asked.

"And what about Teresa, where is she?" Thomas chimed in, worriedly.

They got no answer.

Sara was really confused. If HQ was right above the dark hallway where they previously were, why were they in a helicopter? HQ was their destination in the first place.

She huddled next to Newt, and he wrapped his arms around her. His face was still wet from his tears, and his sulking state from Alby's loss was beyond heartbreaking. Not to mention the blood on his hands, from holding Alby.

Sara was uncomfortable, frustrated that she couldn't somehow tell the boys about her suspicions while these strangers were right there with them.

Who could one really trust these days?

~Rebecca~

Everyone was back at headquarters. After the whole scene underneath in that hallway, Rebecca was even more disgusted with WICKED.

She couldn't even imagine how Sara and the boys felt after witnessing that. Rebecca could've prevented Alby's death if things had happened according to plan.

She went to get herself cleaned, the fake blood washing off as she took a shower. They were to get ready and meet up again to receive the Gladers after they got cleaned up.

Ever since Janson had requested her presence in all council meetings, she hated every moment of the ordeal.

At least the trials were ruined.

Rebecca didn't even know where Teresa was, but she was sure the girl was the one to inform Janson of the Gladers' whereabouts.

Of course, Rebecca had a plan in mind to buy them time but was uncertain if it would work.

She walked out of her room, and she was met by the one and only man that knew how to ruin her life.

"Mr. Janson?" Her voice was a bit uneasy.

"Rebecca, let's get to the bottom of this. Either you have a lot of explaining to do for yourself, or for someone else. We're having a meeting. Come with me," he said.

"Yes sir," she replied. "I—uh... I actually have something to share that you might want to see."

He looked at her curiously, then nodded. "Present it to the Council."

They all took a seat in the large rectangular table in the middle of the room, and Rebecca had her touchscreen in hand.

Janson clasped his hands together, and he had a deep scowl across his face.

"Somebody," he began, gritting his teeth, "has interfered with the experiment. The sacred mission we all swore upon, and which cost us valuable time and money, ladies and gentlemen."

Her mother spoke up, and Rebecca was dreading to listen to the garbage that would come out of her mouth. "It is of greatest sorrow to know that there is a traitor among us. Somebody who doesn't share the same values and vision for a cure like the rest of us. A cure is of uttermost importance. I know you're all aware of that. We implore for your cooperation to get to the bottom of this issue."

Janson's eyes averted and scanned everyone's faces until they took a comfortable landing on Rebecca. "Thank you, Chancellor Paige. Now, that being said, I demand to know who is responsible for this," he said, a dark look in his eyes. "Rebecca," he began, and the woman almost jumped in her seat, "why were you alone with the subjects of Group A?"

She felt her legs trembling, but she maintained firm eye-contact with him. Then she spoke up, masking her nervousness with great confidence. "I have a full report for you, sir."

Her mother observed her with pride, then urged her to speak. Rebecca ignored her encouraging smile.

"I've conducted a thorough investigation, and I've discovered that Dr. Lynne didn't agree with our methods," said Rebecca, and the Council broke out in soft murmurs with one another. "I started investigating her history and her work with WICKED after that certain..." she cleared her throat, "...incident. And I discovered her entire scheme. It was her."

Janson frowned before he started laughing. "She's dead. Somebody had to help those kids out of the Maze, and as far as I know, dead people haven't come back to life yet."

"I know, sir," Rebecca continued. "She had set up a system that was programmed to tamper the mechanisms of the Maze and the Grievers. Sir, she was planning this for years."

Rebecca pulled up a false report she typed herself and showed it to him on her touchscreen. That had been saved in her files since the day Dr. Lynne was killed, for an emergency.

Rebecca hated the way Janson spoke of her death so casually, but she shouldn't have been surprised. She knew what he was capable of.

"Well, would you look at that? Fate found a way to chastise her ahead of time, for us," Janson said, a smirk plastered on his face.

Rebecca continued. "When I found out, I went to look for them. When I found them, I sent Teresa to inform you of the situation."

"Fantastic work, Rebecca. No wonder you're my favorite," he said smiling at her. "And yes, Teresa told us that something wasn't right. And now we're preparing her for her next mission."

Unbelievable.

"Alright, now that that's taken care of, let's focus on reverting this mess," he announced, loudly.

Janson made her sick. If it weren't absolutely necessary to pretend in front of every council member, she would lean over and vomit.

But Rebecca wondered if she was any different. She was ruining Dr. Lynne's reputation with her lies and the fake report. She didn't even respect the fact that she was gone. And gone because of her. Janson shot her because Rebecca lied to save her own life in a desperate moment. If she hadn't done that, the Gladers and girls would've probably died right after her.

Maybe she was just like WICKED.

She couldn't be any different no matter how hard she tried. That was the reason The Right Arm refused to help her take the kids to a safe place. They only saw a WICKED employee, and not a woman who tried to save innocent people's lives.

She became lightheaded and stumbled against the table.

"Rebecca!" Janson caught her arms. Her vision went blurry, but as it cleared for a second, she could see her mother's face appear next to his.

Rebecca couldn't tell if Ava was confused or not with her behavior; concerned, maybe?

"Are you alright, Miss Rebecca? You're awfully pale," said Ava.

Rebecca wanted to laugh at Ava's pretense in front of everyone else. That was what the chancellor had done for years anyway.

"I'm fine—it's just... I haven't gotten enough sleep. I'm exhausted," Rebecca huffed, annoyed.

Ava raised an eyebrow at her as Rebecca walked off to her room.

"Get some rest. I'm gonna need your assistance once we're ready to face the Subjects again," said Janson.

Stop calling them that!

Once everyone else left the meeting room, Rebecca stood behind the wall next to the entrance, to overhear the conversation between Janson and her mother.

"Janson, I have an important matter to discuss with you," she heard Ava say.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I reviewed the subject files again, and I saw that you didn't send Subject B17 into her Maze as I am now aware that she is your niece," said Ava, and Rebecca listened carefully. "I apologize for not informing you about her insertion, but I had to do it myself. I didn't even let Rebecca, who was in charge of the insertions, know about any of this. I know how dearly she cares for the girl, and she wouldn't have taken the news well," she added.

Rebecca let out a sigh of relief. At least Ava kept her promise, even if that was the only promise she didn't break.

"I'm terribly sorry, Chancellor Paige. Yes, she's my niece. I didn't want her to be away from me," said Janson, and Rebecca peered through the door and the frame to see him bow his head.

Rebecca shook her head. That wasn't why he wanted to play the good uncle. Never was.

Ava pursed her lips. "I'm aware, but it doesn't matter. It was your responsibility to send all the children you could find. That included your niece. But seeing as we have major issues at hand, I'll let it pass. It's done, and she was inserted."

Janson raised his head and smiled. "Thank you, ma'am. I promise I won't let something like that happen again. But may I ask..." He furrowed his eyebrows and Rebecca leaned closer as he lowered his voice, "...Why did you send her to the wrong Maze?"

Oh dear.

She could hear Ava falter only slightly. "I... felt it would produce greater stimuli in the boys' brain patterns upon her arrival. Some observations were made, and indeed, they gave us promising data. Your niece is a beautiful young lady."

"The cameras never showed footage that she was in either Maze. How is that possible?" Janson continued, and Rebecca was already thinking the worst. If he obtained anything out of Ava, it was over.

"I thought they did." Her mother's voice was a bit uneasy.

"You mean Lynne also fiddled with surveillance?" Janson's anger was increasing. "How did you make observations about Sara if we couldn't even see her?"

"My monitors were working just fine. I thought all of them were entirely functional. You might want to get that revised, then," Ava said, frowning at him.

"I will," he mumbled, then he groaned loudly, slamming his hands on the table. "How could one person, who's not even alive anymore, trick the entire WICKED personnel? We're its heart and brain. It's outrageous."

"I'd say it is," she agreed.

Rebecca's accelerated breathing subsided, and she exhaled in relief. But it was loud.

"Did you hear that?" Janson asked Ava.

"No."

He suddenly received an alert on the communicator device on his wrist.

"Assistant Director?" the voice spoke through the device.

"Yes?"

"Sir, just to inform you that Group B was found. They were in the underground vault," said the lady on the line.

Rebecca gritted her teeth with frustration.

"Perfect," said Janson, sounding more satisfied than he was a few seconds ago. "Take them with Group A. Let them get washed and then feed them. We'll figure out our next step."

"Yes, sir." 

The communication was cut.