Thomas just got on the Berg safely with a lot less people than they had started off with. His closest friends are there though which is good. Minho, Frypan, Newt, they are all alive and that is all that matters to Thomas. He is sitting on a couch with the two people that are his best-friends, Minho and Newt. He does see Teresa with some of the Group-B girls but could care less about her at this point. When he sees Jorge, he sees Brenda. Thomas knows there is something off about the two but he just can't put a finger on it. All Thomas knows now is that he is safe on the Berg with no more tests.
"Hello shuck face, you alive in there?" Minho waves his hand up and down in front of Thomas' face. Thomas blinks a few times and pushes Minho's hand away from his face. "Sorry, it is just hard to believe where we are and that it is all done."
Newt whispers so only the three boys can hear, "I already know something is up like look at all the people here that work for W.I.C.K.E.D." Thomas and Minho look around the inside of the Berg and shrug, "None of them are wearing the green suits. Why? Don't we all have the Flare?" That gets gears in Thomas' mind spinning. Maybe the workers have the Flare too, maybe they are immune, or even they have an invisible wall around them like Rat Man had. Thomas thinks of so many possibilities.
"I think they are robots." Minho says in a sarcastic voice. "Robots? Come on I can cut them and they'd be bleedin'." Thomas says with a look of disgust. He right now feels really confused, curious, and all the feelings he has ever felt (that he remembers). Thomas feels relieved that he is away from the scorch, anger and distrust of Teresa, feels love for being with his best-friends, he feels all these feelings. Even a little fear that this, really isn't the end.
Minho sighs, "We lost him again." This Thomas smiles at and turns to Minho, "You guys will never lose me now." Thomas doesn't believe the words but really tries. He knows not to get his hopes up but if he really thinks about it, maybe it will come true.
"Well, we might lose you to her." Minho points in front of him. When Thomas turns to see who, he sees Teresa making her way over to where he is. "Well, we will leave you two alone." Newt grabs Minho and they walk around a corner probably to the eating area. When Teresa sits next to Thomas, he just acts like she isn't even there. Just sighs and closes his eyes, staying silent.
Teresa finally speaks up, "Hey." This utterly disgusts Thomas on how she just says 'hey' Thomas shakes his head and puts his face in his hands. "Hey? After you beat me up and bloody threw me in a weird room all you say is hey?" He says once he lifts his head back up.
"I don't know how many times I need to say it but sorry and it was the only thing to do to keep you alive Tom." This makes Thomas snap. "Don't you call me Tom! Only my friends can call me that and you aren't a friend because if you were, you wouldn't have hurt me inside out! Don't come near me or talk to me again!" He stands up and storms away down a hallway just trying to get away from 'The Betrayer'
Thomas stops after he makes a few turns and ends at a dead end. He just sits in a corner and punches a wall with all the rage inside of him. Thomas abruptly feels pain and regrets punching the wall because of it being chrome metal.
"Whoa be careful there." Brenda's voice appears in front of Thomas. She makes her way next to him seeing what had happened between Thomas & Teresa. "Are you okay?"
Thomas says in a low voice, "It was just a shuckin' wall."
"I didn't mean the wall." Brenda tells Thomas looking right at him. He then looks up makes eye contact with her. Thomas sees concern in Brenda's eyes. Thomas closes his eyes and rests his head against the wall. "I am fine. Just… I just don't want to be betrayed again. She may say she is sorry but can easily betray me again if I let my guard down." After Thomas says that, a dark look sweeps across Brenda's face.
He doesn't notice because his eyes all well shut. "Well I don't know. She seems very sincere and I am sure she had to. W.I.C.K.E.D. could have easily controlled her."
"What makes you so sure?" Thomas raises an eyebrow because he has never seen someone so confident well of course, that he remembers. When Thomas is about to say something else, he hears footsteps that stop probably at the last corner he turned a few feet away.
The person says, "Oh… sorry. I didn't know you both were in here. I really want to talk with you Thomas." The voice belongs to Teresa and instead of fury, Thomas feels depressed at the sound of her voice. Then he starts thinking on why she called him by his name. Then it hits Thomas, he yelled at her to not call him that only minutes ago.
"I don't think I want to talk with you." Thomas whispers his heart beat racing and lungs taking in less air. He starts gasping for air and hears Teresa doing the same. "Thomas! Teresa! Oh my goodness…" Are the last words he hears and they belong to Brenda?
~*3*~
Thomas opens his eyes feeling very sleepy. When his vision is clear, Thomas realizes he is in a completely different area. Now he is in an all-white room. The floor is cushioned as well as the walls. There is a door that looks like solid metal with a slot on the bottom. A toilet lay in the corner and it is completely white like the rest of the room.
"What the…?" Thomas says as he stands up feeling a sharp pain in his head. When Thomas turns around. He sees Teresa unconscious on the floor about ten feet from where he was. Thomas is now just wondering what wicked game W.I.C.K.E.D. is playing.
Thomas walks with soreness shooting throughout all of his body. He sits in the corner opposite of the toilet. He feels wide awake now not knowing what to do. Teresa and he both had like… panic attacks just, they didn't come from panicking. Like, it all of a sudden happened. W.I.C.K.E.D. must have done the panic attacks to the two and probably everyone else who are part of the trials.
He tries to think himself to sleep by closing his eyes and just thinking. Thinking about the pieces of memories he has gotten back. Thomas knows he took a big part in creating the maze but, he never had enough memories to know why. Just small bits of them.
"Why are we in here?" Teresa's voice shows confusion, anger, and sadness. Thomas opens his eyes and sees Teresa slowly getting to her feet looking like she is feeling the same pain Thomas felt. "I bet you know so stop playing these bloody games betrayer, just stop. There is no point." Thomas glares right at the girl that seems fragile and innocent.
She seems really, really hurt by that. "Do you really think I want this stuff to happen? Do you really think I want to be trapped in a room with a selfish jerk? Do you really think am so desperate to be with you? You need to be realistic Thomas. Like, seriously." Teresa walks all the way to the opposite wall from him and faces the only empty corner. What she just said, it really hits Thomas on how he was acting. Like, yeah he did act rude because being whacked in the face with a spear isn't fun. He realizes he started getting over himself when he accused Teresa being a part of this.
"I didn't mean to make any accusations Teresa…" Thomas says not really apologizing, he thinks he has nothing to say sorry for because she is the one that hurt him. Teresa shrugs and stays silent. The two just sit in their spots not moving or talking.
When it feels like forever, the little slot at the bottom of the door opens. "Hey! Hey! Let us out! Or at least explain!" Thomas jumps up and goes to the door screaming. He lays down making him wince in pain and puts his face on the floor to see who is outside of this room. A few seconds and plate slams in his nose. Thomas backs up on his back holding his nose.
After that one plate is pushed in, one more is and the slot is shut. Thomas goes back to it. "Come on! Open the door!" He pushes on the slot but it doesn't budge. Instead, it sends a shock through him. Thomas sees nothing but white while feeling electrocuted. His pain before has been multiplied like twenty times more.
"Thomas!" Teresa shouts and rushes over to the boy who looks like he is having a seizure. Thomas can't think straight. He is shaking with bits of electricity bouncing all over his body. Teresa tries to put her hand on his shoulder to support him but she quickly jerks her hand back when little bits of electricity hits her.
After a few minutes of shaking, seeing white, and hearing Teresa say supporting things, Thomas finally just stops moving with sweat all over his forehead.
"Thomas?" Teresa asks in a soft quiet voice wondering if he is even alive. Thomas doesn't move, not yet. He is afraid of all the pain about to shoot through his body if he moves again. "I am okay." Thomas says slowly keeping his eyes shut.
Teresa lets out a long sigh full of relief. When Thomas opens his eyes and sits up, Teresa is right next to him worried. "We know not to touch that door." Teresa says while holding his hand.
"That's funny…" Thomas says staring down at their hands. "I can't feel anything. I am numb in my arms. Like, I can move them but I just can't feel them." Teresa then let's go and grabs one of the plates. Both plates have a simple ham & cheese sandwich.
Teresa says, "We should eat up." Before she takes a bite she stands up with her plate, "I am still mad at you jerk." She walks over to her corner and plops right back down. Thomas shrugs hiding the real feelings he has. Thomas wants to forgive Teresa now but, can't. Not after how she hurt him, especially how she broke Thomas' heart by kissing, Aris. That is going to leave a scar on him forever.
Thomas grabs his plate without even feeling it (because his hands are numb) and stands up. "Them bloody shuck faces!" Thomas falls right back to the ground dropping his plate. The pain in him is now worse than before.
"Be a true Glader, tough it out." Teresa mutters. Every time she makes some kind of comment like that or anything, something in Thomas breaks. "How about you touch the shuckin' thing and go through the pain!" She just ignores him and eats.
Thomas grabs his plate again and eats right there sitting up. He doesn't try scooching or crawling or walking because he knows how much it is going to hurt. "Might want to look away from the toilet." Teresa says to Thomas as she makes her way to the toilet when done eating.
"You are going right now? I am still eating." Thomas complains. Teresa scowls at Thomas looking like thunder about to boom. "Well I need to let it go or pee myself. I don't want to do this while you are in the same room but I have to. So deal with it."
Thomas stares at her as she slowly makes her way to the toilet. "You are going to look away right? I am not going to use the toilet while you are looking." He looks the opposite direction staring at her corner. At this moment, he is in the middle of the room not daring to stand up.
~*3*~
"LET US OUT!" Thomas hollers like he is being thrown in a room full of acid. "I can't take this anymore! I smell like a dog that threw up and put that in the trash and then got dumped in a bloody sewer! I am getting fed the same shuckin' food EVERY DAY!"
Teresa groans, "Just give it a rest. Don't forget I am here and am going through the same stupid stuff. And there is no point in yelling, they're not going to let us out until you show some weird brain patterns to this while being quiet." Thomas ignores her and bangs on the door like there is no tomorrow; that is possible.
Surprisingly, the door swings open knocking Thomas back. "Ow." The Rat Man is standing there with nothing at all- completely defenseless.
Let him talk first.
Teresa's voice fills Thomas' head. He looks at her unsure if he should do as she says or not.
"Whatever she said, listen to her. Now, yes, this was another test. Time to get you two washed up and to the rest of you friends." Rat Man turns around and starts walking. When he sees neither Thomas nor Teresa follows he stops, and turns around. "You coming?"
Thomas gets back to his feet and Teresa gets up as well following the weasel faced man. The Rat Man leads them around a few corners down some hallways and to one room. He opens the solid steel door wide and motions for the two to go in. "I am not sure…" Thomas eyes Rat Man.
"Well if you want to look like that and smell like that, suit yourself." He smiles his ugly smile. Teresa sighs and walks in. Thomas can see the room is a big locker room. A bunch of lockers, rows of wood for sitting, and a couple of showers. Next to one showers is a pile of clothes; probably for Thomas because they are bigger than the clothes by the farthest shower.
Thomas walks in and goes to the shower and Teresa does same with the other one. When the two are done they take a look in the mirror. "Oh my hair needs fixing." Teresa says with a look of disgust as she looks in the mirror.
"What do you mean? It is fine." Thomas looks at Teresa really missing the friendship they had before she had been 'The Betrayer' He really misses her. "What?" Teresa asks when she realizes how much Thomas was just staring at her.
He says, "I just miss you." Teresa stops and stares at Thomas. "There is no need to miss me. I am right here." Thomas chuckles very shortly like it wasn't needed.
"I'm sorry for being a jerk." He finally says. "I am sorry for being a bit brutal when trying to keep you alive." Teresa smiles. Thomas feels good and forgives Teresa for what has happened in the Scorch. Finally, he chooses what his heart wants.
He kisses Teresa on the lips feeling like he is on cloud 9. She kisses back but stops shortly and pulls away. "We should get going." Teresa stares at the ground. "O-okay." Thomas stutters. She already starts walking away leaving Thomas standing there like an idiot.
After a few seconds, he decides to follow. Teresa is outside of the door with Rat Man waiting. "Ready?" The weasel faced man asks in a snotty voice. Thomas nods and Teresa walks by Rat Man avoiding Thomas. He grabs her shoulder and whispers, "Is there something wrong?"
She shrugs and keeps walking getting out of Thomas' reach. He sighs and starts walking again not wanting to be left behind to face with whatever could happen. For all he knows he is in W.I.C.K.E.D. headquarters or on the berg still. Many things could be on both.
"And here we are." Rat Man motions with his hands once he opened two wide doors. All the Gladers and girls from Group B are in there with looks of anger and frustration. "You said it was over!" Newt hollers at Rat Man. Teresa joins the girls and Thomas joins the Gladers.
Minho notices him first, "Its Thomas! Did she do it to you too?" Thomas is clueless. "Who and what?"
"Brenda man, Brenda."