𝙏𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 cuts through the air as it lowers itself down to the ground, cutting Blake out of her thoughts as she feels herself being pushed onto her knees beside Minho.

"Hey! Easy!" The boy shouts at the guard as Blake winces at the tiny rocks digging through the material of her pants.

"Let go of me you, dickhead!" The girl seeths as she rips  her shoulder away from the hand of the guard.

"Line them up right here! On their knees!" A guard yells in the distance, making Blake grit her teeth harder as she shares a look between each of the boys.

A sudden sound causes the girl to whip her head down the line to see a guard holding a scanner to the back of Sonya's neck. Yelling out "C4." As he then moves to scan Aris.

"How many did we get?" Janson's annoying voice catches the small brunette's attention as the guard scanning moves down the line.

"All of them—give or take." A man answers as he writes the teenager's identifications down.

"Give or take what?" Janson questions

"Well, they lost a few."

Blake attempts to shove the hands off of her neck as the guard pushes her hair to the side, wincing as the grip on her shoulders tightens.

The scanner buzzes as the guard holds Blake into place.  "A3" The man calls out, making Janson's lips pull into a smirk as he turns around to see the small girl glaring daggers into his skull.

Blake glares at the man as he stalks toward her "Get this one up." Janson orders

A guard grasps onto Blake's upper arm, pulling the girl to her feet as she tries shaking the man off her, stumbling as she gets to her feet.

"Good to see you again, Blake." Janson says as he keeps the smug smirk plastered across his face.

"𝙁𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪." Blake spits back as Janson walks closer.

"Where's Thomas?" Janson asks politely as he stops in front of the girl.

"Far away from you." Blake answers as she glares at the man in front of her.

A sudden smack sounds through the air as Blake stumbles back, groaning as tears blur her vision.

𝘏𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵—

Screams and shouts of protest escape from her boys kneeled behind her as guards aim their guns at them to keep in control.

"You hit like a bitch." The small brunette taunts as she spits the crimson liquid out of her mouth onto Janson's boots.

The man simply chuckles at the girl's antics before sprinting forward and connecting his knee with her stomach.

"𝙃𝙚𝙮!" A mixture of shouts continue from behind.

Blake gasps as she falls onto the ground, clutching her now throbbing torso as she looks up to meet Janson's smirk.

Coughing as the girl tries to push herself up, Janson crouches down to her level. "Where's Thomas."

A chuckle rumbles through the girl's chest before glaring at the man in front of her. "Eat Shi-"

"Right here" A familiar voice yells, yards away.

Blake's emerald orbs widen with worry as she peers over the group.

𝘕𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘐𝘋𝘐𝘖𝘛. The small girl cusses as she watches Thomas raise his hands up in surrender.

"Freeze!" A guard calls out as they push the boy forward.

Janson's smile grows bigger as he flickers his eyes between Thomas and Blake, sending the girl an even bigger grin as she glares from the ground below.

A hand grabs onto Blake's upper arm and pulls her from the ground to stand as Thomas makes his way over.

Green eyes connect to worried Whiskey brown as he comes to a stop in front of the rat man.

"Thomas.." Janson smiles as he looks the boy up and down before settling a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Just as quick as the hand meets Thomas' shoulder Janson guy punches the boy—sending him doubling over in a pained grunt.

Blake blinks and looks away as she lets a gasp leave her lips. "Fucking stop." The girl whispers as her heart squeezes in pain for the boy.

"Now, get them back in line." Janson says as he turns away from the two brunettes.

The guard, still holding onto Blake's upper arm, leads her back to her original spot and pushes her back down onto her knees, making the girl flinch and groan once again as the aches and pains shoot through her body.

Another grunt sounds from beside Blake as Thomas lands on his knees, gritting his teeth together as he tries to calm himself.

"Bring her in." Janson says as he walks to the other guy standing off to the side.

"Why didn't you run?" Minho asks from the other side of Blake.

Thomas breathes in and out a few times as he catches his breath and tires to remain calm, still keeping his gaze in front of him as he finally answers "I'm tired of running."

Angry emerald eyes snap to her right, glaring at the boy beside her. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘛𝘏𝘈𝘛 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥.

Thomas' felt the angry emerald orbs burning into the side of his head. Snapping his whiskey orbs to meet hers, Blake narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"I know you're lying."

"Wha-" Thomas began

"You aren't stupid enough to come back without a plan." Blake interrupted as she kept her gaze on his. "So what are you really planning?"

The boy swallowed, making his adam's apple bob as he opened his mouth to speak, but a sudden whirling caused the two to advert their gazes from each other and look up into the sky—noting a new aircraft lowering to the ground in front of them.

The air from the plane blew the mixture of sand and debris around as it lowered to the ground. Strands of Blake's hair whipped around her face as she glared at the incoming aircraft. A few stands stuck on the small girl's busted lip as she held her hands up to try and block the bright lights and wind blowing.

Blake blinked rapidly, trying to adjust her eyes as the hissing of the plane's door swung open—revealing a new set of WCKD guards.

𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵.

Just as the guards piled out, a woman in all white appeared behind them—walking till she and Janson met halfway.

𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩? Blake questioned as she glared at the two adults talking.

"Is this all of them?" The woman asked

"Most of them. It'll be enough."

"Start loading them in." The woman replied as she walked away from Janson.

"Okay, you heard. Let's go! Get them on!" Janson yelled as guards started hauling kids to their feet.

The woman smiled as she walked over to Blake and the boys, flickering her gaze between the two brunettes as she raised her hand up to signal to the guards.

Blake and Thomas both tried escaping the guards gasps as they hauled the two teenagers to their feet.

Wincing as Blake stumbled to stand, the woman greeted the two with a smile that sent unpleasant tingles down the small girl's spine. "Hello, Thomas. Blake."

"Sorry, I had my memories stolen from me—who are you again?" Blake sassed as she held the woman's gaze.

"Blake, good to see you've remained the same. I'm Doctor Ava Paige."

Blake's glare hardened as she kept her eyes trained on the woman in front of her.

"She's responsible for us going into the maze and why you have no memories." Thomas informed the girl next to him as he also kept his glare on the woman. "You didn't get to see the video she left for us back at the maze when we escaped. Faked her death after she told us about the flare."

Anger fumed from the small brunette as she watched the woman smile at the two.

𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘊𝘒𝘋? 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵. 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳.

Blake's thoughts were quickly disrupted by a figure coming into view—instantly angering the small girl even more as she recognized the only other female that was sent up into her maze.

"I'm glad you're safe." Ava smiled as she turned toward Teresa's saddened expression.

"What the hell? Teresa?" Fry asked in disbelief as his eyes narrowed.

"Wait. What's going on?" Newt asked from between Minho and Fry.

"She's with them." Thomas answered after a pregnant pause, blinking as he tried to calm himself.

Blake's body shook with anger as her gaze connected with the other girl. Gritting her teeth together she ignored the blond asking "Since when?"

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧!" Blake seethed as she darted forward to try to wrap her hands around Teresa's throat, but is pulled back by a guard.

Teresa flinched back at the small girl's outburst, sagging her shoulders as her face fell even more.

"You fucking bitch! I'll kill you for this!" Blake spat as she thrashed in the guard's arms, locked around her small frame.

"Oh, Teresa's always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good." Janson replies to Newt's question as he sends the fuming brunette a smirk. "Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time."

Thomas' eyes connected with Teresa's for a split second before flickering over to a seething Blake beside him, still slightly thrashing in the guard's arms as she tried her hardest to strangle the other girl.

"I'm sorry. I had no choice. This was the only way." Teresa spoke as she looked between the group.

"Bullshit." Blake spat again

"We have to find a cure." Teresa continued, ignoring Blake's remarks as Thomas' soft gaze on the small girl turned into a glare as he returned his whiskey orbs back on Teresa.

"She's right. This is all just a means to an end. You both used to understand that, Thomas." Ava added in "No matter what you think of me...I am not a monster. I'm a doctor. I swore an oath to find a cure! No matter the cost. I just need more time."

Blake glared at the woman in all white, rage pumping through her veins as her body started to shake from anger. 𝘐 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰—𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯.

"More blood." Mary interrupted from afar, making heads turn to her as Ava greeted "Hello, Mary."

"I hoped we'd meet again. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances."

"I'm sorry about a lot of things, too. But not this. At least my conscience is clear." Mary said as Blake shifted her eyes between the two adults, noting the growing tension.

"So is mine." Ava whispered as a gunshot rang out.

Blake and the others all flinch back as they watch Mary fall lifelessly onto the ground.

"No!" Blake thrashed in the guard's grasp. Tears blurred the small girl's vision as she watched her only motherly figure fall to the ground.

"Mary? Mary? Mary!" Vince yelled as he fell to his knees beside the woman, "Mary!"

Teary emerald orbs blinked as Blake turned her head away from the couple, not wanting to see another person die.

As Blake met the figures standing in front of her, she narrowed her eyes at Janson standing off to the side of Ava with a gun still raised in the air—smoking and still aimed in Mary's direction.

"No!" Vince screamed as Thomas shifted his saddened gaze away. "Mary, no!"

"You son of a bitch!" Blake spat again as she reached an all time high of pure rage.

"Come on, Janson. Load them up. Let's go." Ava said as she turned around to leave.

Blake's guard pushed her harshly forward, making the girl stumble as she took a step.

"All these people. Get rid of them. Let's go!" Ava ordered

Just as Blake's guard brought left her side to grab Thomas—the boy quickly threw his elbow back and hit the guard in the face. Quickly reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket, Thomas pulls out a bomb.

"Get back! Get back!" The boy yells as the buzzing of the device begins.

Janson quickly steps in between Thomas and the guards aiming their guns at the boy. "Stand back! Hold your fire!"

"Everyone, stand back!" Thomas yells as Blake and the others freeze. All of the glader's eyes widen into the size of golf balls as their friend holds up a bomb in his hands.

"Hold your fire!" Janson yells

"Stay back!" Thomas says as he points a finger to the rat man.

"Thomas, put it down." Janson tries as he attempts to stalk forward.

"Let 'em all go!" Thomas screams out angrily as he clutches the bomb tighter, shifting on his feet as he does so.

"You know I can't do that!" Ava says as she steps beside Janson.

"Thomas, please stop!" Teresa tries to calm the boy "I made a deal with them. They promised we'd be safe. All of us."

Blake scoffed out a laugh as shifted on her feet beside Minho, wiping the blood off of her lip as she felt the liquid dripping down her chin.

"And I'm supposed to trust you now?" Thomas questioned in disbelief.

"It's true. It was her only condition."

"Shut up!" Thomas screamed

"Everything can go back to the way it was. Thomas, do you really want all of them to die?" Ava asked as she stepped forward, tilting her head to the side as she quickly looked over to the panicked and angry brunette girl. "Blake, included?"

Thomas' shoulders slouched a little as he turned to meet his favorite pair of emerald orbs.

"Listen to her, Thomas. Think about what you're doing." Janson spoke, causing the boy to return his gaze back onto the adults in front of him.

The boy panted and shifted on his feet as he tried to push the fear away.

Blake shared a glance to her best friend beside her before slowly coming up behind the boy she had fallen for.

Laying a small hand on the boy's bicep, Blake smiled at Thomas as he turned to meet her gaze. Newt, Minho, and Fry all followed to step behind the two brunettes as Thomas panted.

"We're with you, Thomas." Newt said as Blake smiles up to the boy.

"Till the end." Blake added in as Thomas' loving gaze met down at hers.

"No. Don't." Ava shook her head as she watched the teens.

"Do it, Thomas. We're ready." Minho whispered as he reached out to rest his hand on Blake's shoulder, smiling down at the girl send her a 'goodbye'.

Blake gazed through her long lashes up at the boy as he shook his head, flickering his eyes between the girl, his friends, and then the adults.

"We're not going back there." Thomas' shaky voice made Blake's heart squeeze as she saw him hold back the tears. "It's the only way."