Chapter 64: What's The One Thing Scientists Hate More Than Anything?

Not everyone's brave enough to leave. There are many that want to stay in the Glade, where it's relatively safe, instead of going on into the outside world, into the unknown. "Normals are such cowards," Leo comments to that. But all of my group easily decides to go. We are a team, and even though leaving terrifies Ben, Graham, and Theo, they agree to come without hesitation simply because Leo, Newt and I are going to go without any doubt. Leo and I know what's out there, and Newt wants more than anything to leave the Glade. To him, it has always been and will always be a prison, even if I apparently made it better and easier for him. In the end, two dozen decide to leave, including Franklin, Alby, Thomas and Teresa of course, Chris and Minho and the other Runners. Frypan stays behind. Zart comes, reluctantly, following my lead.

We all arm ourselves, all of us who decide to leave. But none as much as me and Leo. We have seen all kinds of battle, we know better than anyone how to prepare. Ben, Theo, Graham and Newt follow our lead, also bringing more weapons than most. Even Alby brings extra weapons, after noticing that we are. Minho calls us shanks and says we're just weighing ourselves down with all the weapons.

"You must not be that tough after all, if you need so many weapons," Teresa comments, looking up and down at me.

"When you die out there because all you have is a silly little sword, die knowing that Hopper and I will be laughing at your stupidity as we carve up Grievers," Leo says as Newt puts a hand on my arm, both of them effectively stopping me from lunging. I just glare at Teresa, and she glares at me, until Ben takes a step backwards and puts himself directly in between her and I, cutting off our views from each other. I look away, slinging a quiver across my back, then the bow, and a spear.

"Chucky, you stay with me," Thomas tells Chucky, the youngest of all of us – and barely shorter than me. Thomas glances at me, earning another disgusted and angry look for both him and I from Teresa. I can't help but grin, loving how angry it's making her.

"Alright," Alby says, nervously gripping his bow. "Let's go."

"Ah, ah," Leo steps up and in front of everyone before anyone can move. "Let's do this in a way that all of us will actually live." He whistles, waving us forward, and Newt, Graham, Ben, Theo and I push past everyone else so that we're at the front too. While I was banished, Leo trained them all to fight. They're still not as good as him and I, simply because they haven't had as long to practice, but they are going to be much better than the rest of the Gladers. "Here's how this is going to go," Leo starts.

"You're not the leader, Leo," Alby snaps angrily.

"Oh, but I'd wager if Hopper were up here in my stead, you'd have no quarrel about it," Leo points out.

"Well of course not, nobody argues against Hopper, she's too cute," Minho says simply.

"You argued against me all the time!" I argued.

"That was when you were a Greenie and wanted to run into the Maze without having a shuckin' clue about it," he points out.

"Look, if you want to lead these fools blindly into an unknown battle," Leo says to Alby. "Be my guest. We'll stay behind so that your stupidity doesn't kill us."

"Alby, just trust him," Newt speaks up.

"Sure, let's trust the crazies," Teresa mutters.

"Do you want Hopper to kill you?" Ben asks, turning to the other girl. "She's killed Grievers. You'd be child's play to her."

Teresa doesn't say anything this time, just glaring at me.

"Excellent," Leo takes that as a sign to continue. "Then it's decided. Hopper and I have killed Grievers before…"

"You have?" someone asks.

"How did you think I was getting the skin to make my drums?" he asks, as if it's completely obvious. The boy who asked about it just blinks, eyes wide, and visibly pales. Theo, Graham and I laugh. Newt looks somewhere between puzzled and partially horrified.

"As I was saying. We'll take point. Graham, Theo, Ben and Newt right behind us, and you," he points at Teresa, "can actually come right up front with me so that I can throw you right to the Grievers." Teresa visibly bristles and fumes angrily. Especially when she sees Thomas struggling not to laugh. Chucky's not bothering to try, he's giggling. I think I like him, I decide.

And then we are off, running away from the Glade and through the Maze, in a lose formation, little more than just a big group. It's already been decided, Thomas, Teresa and Chucky will barrel through, jumping into the Griever Hole to punch in the code while the rest of us punch a hole through for them and hold off the Grievers to make sure they get in. And Leo and I will drive into the Grievers first, ruthlessly and brutally, with Newt, Graham, Ben and Theo behind us if necessary. But hopefully between me and Leo, we'll be able to take the brunt of the attacks.

The others stop when they first hear the Grievers. They probably thought we would have stopped too. But we don't. Leo and I rush forward, weapons ready, and throw ourselves to the line of waiting Grievers.

Behind us, there's a moment when none of the other Glader's move. Some are just hesitating because they're afraid or unsure, but many of them I know are just watching me and Leo with bafflement, unable to really believe that here we are, fighting Grievers, the deadliest of creatures that they know, completely ruthlessly and with absolutely no fear. Even I have to admit that actually watching a warrior fight can be an amazing thing. We move like water and wind, nothing holding us down, nothing able to grasp us. Leo is a very talented fighter too, but he didn't learn the way that I did. He didn't learn to listen and the watch every angle and to know how to move away and against it all while still using each movement to drive into the next strike.

But then the hole is punched, we've separated the Grievers, made a clear path between them and the Griever hole. Someone yells, "Go!" and Thomas, Teresa and Chucky are rushing forward, ducking and dodging between the Grievers, as the rest of the Gladers join the fight.

One Griever gets past, following them into the Griever Hole. I drop my bow and empty quiver as I slide under a Griever spike before it can pierce through me. I come up on the edge of the Cliff, and throw myself right off it, jumping into the Griever Hole. As I fall, I pull my spear lose. I land killing, my spear going deep into the Griever. Another Griever follows in, and I leave my spear where it is so that when the living Griever drops down on top of the dead one, my spear pierces it too as I throw myself off and land rolling on the ground. I'm on my feet instantly though, because no matter what, you never get caught on the ground.

"Hopper!" Thomas called behind me. I risk a glance over my shoulder even as I know another Griever is coming, and Thomas tosses me his spear. I snatch it out of the air and throw myself forward, diving at the next dropping Griever. Before it even lands, though, all the whirring and clicking stops, and all the Griever's still, everything falls silent.

"Did we do it?" Chucky asks, whispering.

"I think so," Teresa answers, also whispering.

"Why are we whispering?" Thomas asks.

"I don't know," Chucky giggles. Then that shrill whistle comes, the signal between us that Theo started.

I whistle in response, telling them I'm still alive and that I'm down here. And then Leo yells, "VICTORY TO THE INSANE! FUCK YOU, WICKED!" And just about everyone erupts into cheers and Thomas, Chucky and I start laughing. Even Teresa can't hold off her own laughter for longer than a few seconds. Because we're alive, despite all those Grievers that tried to kill us.

And then the Gladers start dropping down, on top of the Gladers. "Oh, gross!" Ben complains, the first to come down. "Heads up, you're landing on Grievers!" he calls up to everyone above.

"Well I've certainly landed in worse," I hear Leo comment.

"You okay?" Ben asks me.

I nod, "You?"

He nods, and smiles, almost laughing as he hugs me. "You guys good?" he asks Thomas, Chucky and Teresa once we pull apart and he looks over at them, while others jump down to join us.

"Yeah. Did anyone die?" Thomas asks.

"I don't think so," Ben shakes his head.

"Hopper was so awesome!" Chucky says, and I can't help but smile, feeling my cheeks turning pink.

"Hopper's always awesome," Ben grins, hugging me against his side again.

And then Newt jumps down, rolling off the Grievers and landing clumsily. "That's bloody disgusting," he scowls, tossing Griever slime off him.

"Ew," I make a face.

"Couldn't you have at least let them come in a little bit before you killed them?" Graham asks once he's down. He pulls off his jacket and discards it on the floor, ridding himself of a good amount of the slime. "At least then we would have such a disgusting landing."

"Try tracking refuge in the sewers beneath Italy," Leo says. "Far more disgusting." This, of course, earns him several strange looks.

"How would you know something like that?" Thomas wonders.

"Oh, didn't you know?" Leo grins at him. "I didn't lose my memory entering the Maze." Thomas, and all the others who didn't know that, just blink at Leo, stunned into stillness. "Shall we then?" Leo asks pleasantly, as if all this is is a casual walk.

"By the way," I add, just because I want to further the confusion and stunnedness, I remember everything too." Pulling Newt with me by his hand, I follow Leo.

"They also entered the Maze voluntarily," Ben adds, following us. "Try figuring that one out."

Graham and Theo follow along next, but all the good lines have been taken, so they do it silently except for their laughs at everyone's expressions. "I think poor Thomas's brain melted," Graham comments, catching up to us.

"That's messy," Leo grins. Then he stops so suddenly that Newt and I bump into him, and then Ben, Graham and Theo bump into us.

"What's going on?" Theo asks. All the Gladers, one by one, push their ways to the front until we're all in all but a line, staring at what's in front of us. Newt angles himself in front of me a little bit, protective even though he knows very well I can take care of myself. But I let him stay in front of me, as long as there is nothing on the attack yet, and I just hold onto his sleeve and the back of his shirt.

We've come into a big open room, surrounded by other rooms that have big glass windows in between them and this one. And inside each of the smaller rooms is a person, a scientist, watching us.

"Oh for the love of," Leo starts forward, furious. But he stops, when the only door in this room opens and another scientists comes out. With Gally. Gally was the only one taken by the Grievers. He gave himself up to them, and none of us were fast enough to stop him. We'd thought he was dead, but here he stands, very much alive, looking tortured and angry and scared. Newt pushes me a little bit more behind him, but I don't think he's even conscious he's doing it.

"Leonardo," the scientist greets. Then she turns her gaze to me, half-hidden behind Newt, "And Grasshopper."

"Good, then we don't have to waste time with introductions," Leo says simply, starting forward again. He stops again when Gally raises the knife in his hand.

"Stay back," Gally yells, his voice shaking. Can these scientists control minds? Because Gally does not look like he wants to be doing what he's doing.

"You two have caused quite the disturbance," the woman beside Gally says.

I let go of the back of Newt's shirt and step forward so that I'm beside him. Then I let go of his sleeve too and step up until I'm beside Leo. We are being directly challenged. I can't hide away from that.

"We do tend to have that effect," Leo grins madly.

"It's our blood, it's said," I smile sweetly, interlacing my fingers behind my back.

"I'm not sure I entirely believe that," the scientist says.

I giggle and Leo lets out a bark of laughter. Finally a situation the both of us are born to deal with, no matter what training we've had, no matter where we've lived, no matter what lives we've had.

"Oh, my dear, I assure you," Leo takes a step forward, and suddenly he's behind the woman, whispering in her ear, "We're here to destroy all that you believe."

He knocks her upside the head, knocking her unconscious instantly. And as he does, Gally throws his knife right at Thomas. But Chucky dives in front of it and I spin around, throwing out my hand with fingers spread wide. The knife stops in mid-air, less than an inch from Chucky's chest.

Everything goes still, silent. But it's a new kind this time. It's not the distance I've always felt before at the end of a fight. There's none of that today. My heart does stop, my breath doesn't still. Instead, my heart pounds, and I feel more alive than I ever have when facing danger. I feel alive instead of just active.

"Leo," I say, breaking the silence, breaking the pause. "What's the one thing scientists hate more than anything?"

He has Gally restrained now, and his mad grin is brilliant and thrilling. "Magic," he answers. It's like a switch is flipped, like something snaps, and the both of us are in motion. I bring my arm up as I turn and then throw it forward again, and the knife soars through the air and into one of the glass windows, shattering it. The knife sticks right in the shoulder of the woman behind it, pinning her to her chair. Leo's in motion in the same instant, taking a Glader's club with barbed wire wrapped around the end and swinging it fast and hard at the closest window to him, and in the same instant that my window shatters, his does too. And then all the Gladers are moving, breaking the windows, taking down the scientists behind them, the people who did this to them, who stole away their memories and put them in the Maze simply for their own entertainment. Leo and I start the war cries, but the Gladers quickly and eagerly echo them and the air is alive, charged with their energy, and it hurts my heart with how amazing it feels and I laugh in between war cries because this is no longer just fighting. This is freedom. Saving those I love and those I've sworn to protect. We won. In the face of everything scientific and normal, insanity has won!

Gunshots start going off, and they're not ours. Gladers scramble to group together again, me and Leo joining them because above all else anymore, we are Gladers now. Nothing else matters. Not the desert warrior that I was made to be, not the inventor that Leo has always been. All that matters right now is that we are Gladers.

"Oh goody, more grown-ups," Leo comments once the gunshots stop.

"Don't worry, kids," one of them says. "We're the good guys."

Leo steps closer to that one, sniffing as if he's the animal between us. I have to press my lips together to keep from laughing. Then Leo says, "Are you? Because I still smell normal on you." And I burst out laughing.

"Come on," another of the grown-ups, a woman, says. "Let's get you guys out of here."

"Ah, now that, I can agree with," Leo grins.

In seconds, we're outside, and outside, here, it's not desert. "Oh my gods," I almost whimper, my hand falling out of Newt's grip as I wander away from him a few steps, closing my eyes as I turn my face up to the sky. It's raining. Thunder echoes in the sky and the clouds are almost black, but rain is pouring down them. I haven't felt rain on my skin since I was a little girl in the forest.

"VICTORY TO THE INSANE!" Leo screams into the sky, trigging a round of victory cries from the Gladers. I can't help but laugh, even as I realize tears are falling down my cheeks. I never thought of the Glade as a prison. It was the first time in years that I was able to walk among trees and feel grass on my bare feet. But still, this is a moment of freedom for me just as much as it is for the Gladers. Because this means, I am officially no longer a desert warrior. Not if I don't want to be. Now, I can go and do whatever I want.

Arms wrap around me and I open my eyes to look up at Newt. He's just as soaked with rain as I am. It's holding our clothes right against our skin and dripping from our hair.

"What happens now?" he asks me, having to raise his voice over the pounding rain.

I smile, wiping at my cheeks because somewhere among the drops of rain, there are tears too, even if Newt can't see them. "Doesn't matter. You're not getting rid of me anymore."

"Good," he smiles, every bit happy, in his smile and in his eyes, and he kisses me.