~Rebecca~

She opened her eyes as she sat on her bed, and then she saw Ava, expectantly looking at her with her arms crossed.

"What's going on, Rebecca?" she asked.

"Oh, so now you wanna play the caring mother?" Rebecca retorted.

Ava frowned. "I'm serious. What have you done? Maze A, seriously? Why do you have to change the order of things?"

Rebecca huffed, squinting her eyes at her mother. "Wow... well she's like a daughter to me. And there's nothing I wouldn't do for her. She found love. Something... something I'll never find myself. But I want it for her because it makes her happy. I sent her to be with him, hoping they would fall in love all over again even after the Swipe—and they did. I trained her for survival, and here she is, safe and sound."

"That shouldn't have been your priority when we were nearing the peak of a major breakthrough for the cure," she scowled. "And now it's all ruined."

Rebecca nodded mockingly. "See? I try talking about why I'm so unhappy here, and you always change the subject back to WICKED and their stupid mission."

Ava frowned, clearly not understanding her daughter. "Because our whole lives depend on the success or failure of this experiment."

"Right, but I'm only caring for Sara in a way my mother never cared for me. My mother should've given up little moments of her life to truly be there for me. But you never did that. WICKED was always more important for you. You didn't even raise me! And I'm not like you, so don't get in the way of me doing for another what you never did for your own daughter," she sneered.

"I'm trying to fix my mistakes. I know I've upset you, but you're not letting me prove that I can be different," said Ava, a look of hurt on her face.

Rebecca laughed humorlessly, then she lowered her voice. "It's kind of too late now, don't you think? But..." she paused, looking her straight in the eyes, "you can start by leaving. I feel sick and I need sleep."

Before she left, Ava turned back to her. "She's just another unfortunate girl in the world, she's not that special other than being Janson's niece. Please don't risk everything for her like that, Rebecca. For your own safety."

"You're wrong," said Rebecca, with a hollowness in her unfocused gaze. "She's not just another girl, and I need to keep her away from Janson."

Rebecca knew her mother wasn't convinced. After all, the explanations she made up were ridiculous. 

And refraining from telling her mother why she took responsibility over Sara from the very beginning didn't help her case. 

Not even Sara knew the reason.

~Newt~

He had no words for what he'd just witnessed.

They tried escaping the Maze and then were face to face with WICKED. Rebecca called that man 'Janson', so there was no way they were who they said they were. And then those people had to send Gally to kill Thomas, and Alby ended up sacrificing himself.

They were all just kids who didn't look a day over seventeen! They were just trying to survive, why couldn't people understand that?

And then Sara. She looked so determined, so prepared, and she knew what she was doing. And now her plans were ruined because of WICKED.

They landed next to a huge building. As they dismounted, the air blew in Newt's face, startling him. It was so cold, and the outside world was covered in trees with snow caps on top. And the mountains had them too. The sight made a flash of a memory cross his mind for a second. Maybe he'd seen snow before, and maybe it was when he lived with his family.

As they entered the building and walked through the hallway, Newt whispered to Sara, "Are these people 'The Right Arm' you talked about earlier?"

She gave him a pained expression, and subtly shook her head. "WICKED," she mouthed to him.

What? Didn't we just get rescued from them?

Sara grabbed his arm to settle his visible panic. "We rode in circles," she mumbled, then looked around to watch out for anyone who could be observing them. "We're in the same building, but on a different floor."

Minho overheard her. "Great, we're still shucked. So, what's next?"

But Sara didn't have time to answer. The people dressed in black guided them into a huge lounge, where there was a table in the middle. They brought in stacks of boxes and set them on the table, allowing the Gladers to come closer as they began to smell food.

Everyone rushed to the boxes to take a look.

Newt hadn't realized how much he was starving. His stomach felt empty, and it immediately started grumbling at the sight of food. 

Enemies or not, the people had given them pizza.

After eating like a bunch of pigs, the Gladers were directed to take a shower and put on clean clothes. Newt had a hard time separating from Sara, but he knew she had to get cleaned and changed in a separate room.

After he pulled on a clean long-sleeve shirt, some trousers, and shoes, he threw away all his dirty clothes into a bin. He looked at the hoodie Sara had given to him, once smelling really nice. It was time to say goodbye to certain things like that now.

Soon, they all met in the lounge once again, everyone looking fresh from the pounds of dirt they washed off their bodies.

Sara then walked up to him. Although the dirt and soot could never suppress her beauty before, she looked more radiant than ever now that she was clean.

Her brown, silky hair cascaded in flowing waves past her shoulders. Her sparkling brown eyes stood out from the rest of her face. A pearl-white smile that illuminated her features greeted him. Not even the scars on her face could dull her appearance.

God help me...

"You look... stunning," Newt said, dazzled by the sight of her.

She wrapped her arms around his torso. "Thank you, Newtie." Then she placed her chin on his chest and looked up at him, "you look even more like an angel from this angle. So handsome."

Newt smiled and chuckled at her. "Don't make me go red in the face in front of the others."

He leaned down, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Newt pulled her even closer to his body and their lips pressed against each other. Their kiss didn't last very long, but it was sweet. Some shanks were awkwardly staring—especially Minho—but they didn't care.

❀❀❀

Everyone was told to make use of the chairs and the couches scattered all over the lounge, to wait for when Group B would come and join them.

Newt felt a little nervous. Sara said his sister was with them; with Group B.

What does she really look like?

The door opened, and a large group of girls, about the same number as there were boys, walked inside the lounge. They were all freshly cleaned up, and just as confused as the rest of the Gladers. 

Newt tried to scan the group to see if he could somehow recognize his sister.

The voices and side conversations filling the room immediately stopped at the presence of the girls.

Sara shot up quickly, next to Newt. He watched her shocked expression as she looked at the girls. They stared back at her, probably confused as to why there was a girl among so many boys.

Two girls stepped forward. One was a curly brown-haired girl, and the other was pale, with dirty blonde hair.

"Harriet... Sonya..." Sara whispered in awe.

Sonya? That's...

Newt perked up immediately, and looked at the blonde girl again, but more closely this time. Could she have been...?

Lizzy. Has to be.

She was beautiful. Newt wondered if she got mum's features, hoping to see her image through his sister somehow. He wished he could see her again, even if her image was nonexistent in his memory. 

Newt smiled, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

Sara noticed, and she grabbed his hand. "Come on. Let's introduce you guys."

When they stepped closer, the girls retracted defensively. "Who are you sticks?" the brown-haired one, whom Newt assumed was Harriet, spoke up. Maybe she was their leader. It sure seemed like it.

Sticks? What the shuck is that?

Sara talked first. "I... I'm Sara, and these are my friends. Let me introduce—"

"Sara?" Lizzy interrupted her, furrowing her eyebrows. "So, it's you."

Did I bloody miss something, or does she not have an accent like mine?

Sara let go of Newt's hand and blinked back at them in surprise. The guys were silent, not knowing what else to do.

"You remember me?"

Harriet replied this time. "We all had dreams of a girl named Sara. She was mine and Sonya's best friend. We thought they were just dreams, but they seemed more than that, like..."

"Memories," Harriet and Sara said at the same time. The girls were stunned, but they seemed a lot more comfortable with Sara, for which Newt was glad.

Meanwhile, Newt noticed that Lizzy hadn't taken her eyes away from him. She averted them for a quick moment, looking around at all the boys, carefully scanning their faces, but her eyes came and settled back on Newt.

"You guys come from a Maze too, right?" Sara asked. "They said we're Group A and you're Group B."

The girls stared at each other, then nodded.

"Yeah, but how do you know all that?" another girl asked.

"I promise I'll explain everything, but for now, let's finish introducing ourselves, is that alright?" Sara suggested.

She took Newt's hand and led him forward. However, she didn't even have time to say anything.

"Wait!" Lizzy yelled. She furrowed her eyebrows and approached Newt very slowly. Newt looked to Sara for help to explain things, in case Lizzy wanted to attack him for whatever reason. But his sister did nothing other than stand in front of him, searching his face. "A—are you... Newt?"

Sara's eyes widened, and she nodded at Newt, giving him an encouraging smile.

"Uh... y—yah, that's me," he stuttered.

Lizzy sighed deeply and tears swelled her eyes. Then she placed her hands on the sides of his face and let out a quivering laugh. Newt held her arms and they pulled each other into a hug.

The girls began to cheer, with the biggest grin on their faces—Sara along with them.

Minho leaned over to Sara, but he wasn't being quiet about anything. "You do realize that he's hugging... another girl, right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sara scowled at him and hit him on the back of his head. He grabbed his head and looked at her questioningly, but Sara shushed him before anything stupid came out of his mouth.

"Newt..." Lizzy pulled away and looked at him. "I thought you wouldn't remember me; I didn't even recognize you."

"I didn't either. I only remember having a younger sister in my dreams," he told her. "And here you are, Lizzy," he whispered, then gave her a big smile.

Newt noticed the awkward stare Lizzy was giving him, which matched the look on her friends' faces.

Shuck. Did I say anything wrong?

"Lizzy?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "My name's Sonya..." she trailed off. "Unless..."

Newt nodded, feeling embarrassed. "Shuck, sorry. I just... that's what I remember about you. Your real name."

She bit her lip and started to become a bit emotional. "Newt, I love it."

Minho sheepishly looked over at Sara. "Oh... siblings. I knew that." She rolled her eyes at him.

Then Newt took Sara's hand again. "Lizzy, I'm sure you know Sara." His sister nodded. "Well, she's my girlfriend," Newt said, with a smile.

Lizzy's grin widened. "My brother has a girlfriend, and it's you?!" she exclaimed with excitement all over her face. She wrapped her arms around Sara. "I'm so glad you guys are together, ahh!"

"You're so sweet, Sonya, thank you," said Sara. Then she lowered her eyebrows. "You do prefer me to call you that, right?"

Newt's sister smiled at her. "Everyone knows me as Sonya. But you and Newt can call me Lizzy. It makes me feel more at home. And you're part of my family now."

Sara turned to look at Newt, and she looked so excited from Lizzy's words that Newt grinned at her. He loved to see her be that happy; it was a rare treat.

Harriet came up next and gave Sara a hug. "It's so nice meeting you again," she whispered.

"You too, Harriet."

Chuck was also super excited. He tugged at Newt's sleeve. "Shank, you have a freaking sister?" he almost squealed as he looked up at Newt.

Sara chuckled, looking at all the Gladers. "I told you, shuck-faces. Rebecca made this possible."

"You sticks talk weird," Harriet snorted. "And who's Rebecca?"

"Sticks? And you say we talk weird. What the shuck is wrong with you—got klunk inside your head?" Minho taunted her with a smirk.

The girls stared at him in confusion. Newt could only imagine how the guys would be acting in front of the girls if they were to continue together now.

They all introduced themselves one by one. The guys let all the girls do it first, which was the first nice thing they did collaboratively, as far as Newt could remember.

Newt only retained very few of their names. Harriet and Lizzy obviously, an Asian girl named Yuna, a pale girl with black hair named Rachel, and a girl that uncanningly resembled Sara. Her name was Claire.

"I hope at least one of y'all knows how to cook. If we escape, I ain't cookin' alone now that the group's gotten bigger," said Frypan, and everyone laughed.

"I was the cook back at the Field," one of the girls retorted, and Frypan flashed a smile in her direction.

"The Field?" asked Thomas. "Is that like the Glade but for the girls?"

"I guess," Sara replied.

Winston shrugged. "Well, if we're becoming a larger group now, I'm not complaining about the company. And lovely company at that," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Newt rolled his eyes.

"Okay, enough messing around," Sara spoke up. "Now, I need you girls to listen up. We have a major issue, and I've got a lot to say," she announced to everyone in the lounge.

As opposed to the Gladers, the girls seemed to understand the situation a lot more clearly. Sara explained everything before the Maze, her plan with Rebecca, and everything regarding their current situation. Their questions were minimal compared to how many the Gladers had thrown at Sara all at once, back in the Glade. But now the truth was revealed to both boys and girls. No more lies, no more pretending. 

The girls, without a second thought, agreed to join the crusade.

Next step? Figure out how to escape WICKED.

Right in the middle of the discussion of plans, the doors opened. In walked Janson, that blonde woman dressed in all white, and Rebecca.

"You!" Minho shouted as he made a run toward Janson. Two guards walked up from behind Janson and pointed their weapons at Minho, stopping him in his tracks. "You said you weren't WICKED!"

"I expect more respect from you Subjects," Janson scolded. "I had to convince you all to come with me. Or how else would you have come willingly? I assure you that you will cooperate once you hear me out."

"We will if you stop calling us Subjects," Thomas sneered at him.

"And after you bloody answer our questions," Newt added.

"Where's Teresa?" Thomas asked.

Rachel chimed in as well. "What about Aris?"

"What's gonna happen to us?" Someone else asked.

"Silence!" Janson shouted above all the questions thrown at him. "As of now, all of you have the Flare, and the only way to get the cure was if you followed our exact instructions. But someone maliciously interrupted our valuable experimenting," he muttered furiously.

We all have the virus? Weren't we 'special' or something?

"I thought we were all immune." Sara's horrified expression said it all.

Janson's eyes softened as he looked at her. He explained that the virus was airborne and therefore, unavoidable. If they wanted to get the cure, the group of boys and girls had to continue with Phase Two of the trials. 

Apparently, only WICKED had enough resources left to work in favor of a cure. But now that Rebecca and Sara ruined the Maze trials, there was no way they could continue the experiment.

"If you're immune, then you'll want to be around to help your non-immune friends obtain the cure. And if you're not immune, well... you'll obviously want the cure to stay alive," Janson said so, in a casual tone.

Newt felt so bad for Sara. Being the niece of such a rat-faced shuck like Janson must've been truly awful.

"So that's it?" Minho started making his smart-aleck comments. "We get sick and turn into cannibalistic psychos if we don't find this cure? Sounds like a plan."

"You kids have two options. You can be patient and wait for us to obtain a real blueprint for immunity against the Flare, but if you don't cooperate, we'll terminate you and repeat the Maze trials with new candidates who are still out there in the remaining cities."

And they call themselves the hope of humanity?

Newt looked over at Rebecca, and he noticed her head was bowed. She'd helped them so much, and her work barely seemed to be getting any results. That was frustrating for everyone.

"And how can we say no, right?" Sara boldly challenged her uncle. "So what, we give ourselves in for science, a lot of us die in these insane trials for a stupid cure you don't know is effective, or if it even exists for that matter; and if not, we all die anyway, and others will have to go through the same things? Until when, Rat Man? Until you kill off all of humanity?"

Wow. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Minho snorted. "Yeah, Rat Man. Gonna answer the young lady?"

Rat Man was furious, and his nostrils flared up as he breathed in and out heavily, scanning the large group of kids.

"Tell me why Teresa and I look like we were part of this mess from the start. I don't get it. There's no way I'd agree to do this to my friends. Ever," Thomas muttered with disgust.

"Thomas." Janson focused on him, giving him a pitying look. "Yours, Teresa, Aris, and Rachel's work has been of unimaginable value. If only you could see what your efforts have brought upon our investigation. Teresa and Aris know how to appreciate this phenomenal opportunity far better than you and Rachel."

"Stop! I don't wanna hear any more of your klunk," Sara cried out. "You forced them to do this—that's what it is."

Janson stifled a mocking chuckle. "Make your choice," he said, going serious again. "Stay in your designated dormitories if you'll proceed with us. If not, you can try to confront the guards, and we'll know you've made your choice, so you'll face the consequences. But for now, I need Subject B17 to come with me."

Newt didn't know why it was necessary to give everyone silly labels like that. It terrified him that those people could do whatever they wanted to them, whenever they wanted, however they wanted. And now, someone from Group B had to go with him. His heart skipped a beat as he feared that it could be his sister.

The guards went past her, however, so Newt began to calm down. But then he felt the color entirely drain from his face as he realized who exactly did Rat Man want.

"No! No... please." She dropped to her knees and begged, beginning to cry.

"Sara! No!" Newt rushed forward, Minho and Thomas as well, and they charged at the guards who were taking ahold of her arms. Two more guards approached the scene, and each pointed their weapons at the three of them. And every so often, the guards threatened to shoot at the rest of the group if they tried to help in any way.

Sara looked back at Newt with frightened eyes as she was taken away with Rat Man. Newt and the guys watched helplessly as she disappeared with everyone accompanying him, right as the door closed.

No...