''I wanna know what's behind that door.''

Y/n halted her eating and looked up at Thomas. He was looking at the door, almost as if he was trying to open the with his mind or using x-ray to see through. The Gladers were back in the cafeteria, eating their lunch as Janson was calling out more people to bring to the so-called safe place.

''Now, we've been over this,'' Newt spoke quietly. ''You said they were covered up so you don't know what you saw.''

Thomas had snuck out the night before and had apparently seen bodies being brought into a room with white cloths covering them. He was convinced they were the people Janson calls to take away.

''I know exactly what I saw. They were bodies,'' Thomas repeated. ''Aris said they bring a new batch every night.''

Minho furrowed his eyebrows. ''Who the hell is Aris?'' Thomas pointed towards the boy who's apparently been here for a week. ''Well, I'm sold.''

''I believe Thomas, this place is weird,'' Y/n said as she continued digging into her food. ''It gives me the creeps, really.''

''You seem to be enjoying yourself, though,'' Frypan said, nodding towards her almost finished plate.

Y/n gulped down her food so she can speak properly. ''Just because they're suspicious doesn't mean their cooks aren't good.''

People started clapping as the new 'lucky' ones are taken away. Y/n bit her lip as she watched them go, feeling bad that they didn't know what was expecting them.

''Okay, until we know anything for certain, we should just keep our heads down and try not to draw any attention, all right?'' Newt ordered, though Thomas didn't look like he was listening.

That proved to be true as it didn't take him even a second to get up and start walking towards the doors, trying to follow after the group that was being led out.

''What is he doing?'' asked Newt as he straightened up.

''I think he's drawing attention to himself.'' Frypan explained the obvious.

Everyone turned around to watch as Thomas tried to push through and the guard wouldn't let him. Thomas turned around and pursed his lips. Y/n put her fork down. ''That shank is about to pull something stupid, isn't he?''

And Thomas suddenly turned around and tried to run through the doors, but the guards quickly caught him and pushed him back. ''Back off!''

All Gladers suddenly stood up and ran towards Thomas and the guards. ''What's your problem, man? What the hell?''

''Back off!''

All guys pulled Thomas back and Y/n noticed Janson running towards them. He pushed through the two guards and looked at Thomas in anger. ''What's happening here? Thomas? I thought we could trust each other.''

Once again, Y/n felt a headache forming in the back of her head, but she decided to ignore it.

''You know we're all on the same team here.'' Janson placed a hand on Thomas' shoulder.

Thomas nodded. ''Are we?''

Janson put his hand down, his expression remaining calm. ''Get them to their bunks.''

The Gladers were forced back into their dorm, getting locked in immediately. As they made it in, Y/n sat down on her bed, putting her head in her hands and trying to get the headache to go away.

''What the hell was that about?'' Minho asked.

Newt joined in. ''You didn't really think they were just gonna let you through?''

''Nah, of course I didn't,'' Thomas said and Y/n looked up, seeing him hold up a keycard.

''Oh.''

''Maybe you're not that much of a shank,'' Y/n murmured as she looked back down, focusing on her headache.

''I'm gonna find out what's on the other side of that door,'' Thomas said.

Newt crossed his arms in front of his chest. ''Right.''

''Newt, they're hiding something. Okay?'' Thomas reasoned with the others. ''These people are not who they say they are.''

''No, Thomas, you don't know that!'' Newt said, following after Thomas. ''The only thing that we do know is that they helped rescue us from WICKED. They gave us new clothes. They gave us food. They gave us proper bed. Some of us haven't had that in a long time.''

''Yeah, but . . .''

''Some of us a lot longer than others.''

There was a rattle and the vent from under Thomas' bed slid away. Despite the pain, Y/n quickly stood up and watched with the others as the boy from the cafeteria, Aris, appeared from under the bed. ''Hey, Thomas.''

Frypan stepped back. ''What the . . .''

''You got it, didn't you?'' Aris asked and Thomas held up the card.

''Who is this kid?'' asked Minho, looking around as if another one was going to jump out from another corner.

''Yeah. Yeah, let's go.'' Thomas pocketed the card again and crouched down next to Aris. ''All right, look, maybe you guys are right. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. But I gotta find out for sure. Just cover for me. I'll be back as soon as I can.'' Thomas slid under the bed without letting anyone protest, following after Aris.

Y/n sat down on the bed again, the headache remaining. She was about to get another memory, right? That's what usually followed after those headaches, so why couldn't it just come quicker? Was the dramatic and painful build-up really necessary?

''Are you getting the headache again?'' Minho asked as he noticed Y/n's position. She didn't answer, which worried him even more. He sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him and rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe her. 

She felt her head hit Minho's shoulder and as her eyes opened again, she was sitting behind a monitor. On the screen was a view of the Glade and two figures - beside the camera were two profiles with Minho and Newt's pictures on them.

Her eyes moved up and she made eye contact with Thomas, who sat across from her. Teresa was next to him, trying away on her keyboard. Next to her was Aris and there were a bunch of other kids Y/n didn't know.

''Good job, everyone.'' She looked up and saw Janson walke behind Thomas and Teresa, his hands behind his back. ''We'll be producing results in no time.''

Y/n followed him with her eyes and as he got closer she pressed a button, switching her camera angle to Frypan in the kitchen. Her gaze quickly moved to the screen, but she could feel Janson now standing behind her and peering over her shoulder.

''Keep focused on your work, Y/n,'' Janson said as he neared her ear. ''And remember. WICKED is good.''

Much like the night before, Y/n's eyes snapped open and she sat up straight, startling all the boys. Her eyes frantically looked around, noticing she was back in their room at the facility. Minho was still sitting next to her while the other boys stood around them in a circle.

''Woah, Y/n, you alright?'' Newt asked, taking a step closer to her.

''It's Janson,'' Y/n said as she quickly stood up, looking between all boys. ''Janson, he's bad. He's bad, we have to get out of here!''

''Y/n, Y/n, slow down.'' Minho got up as well, putting a hand on her shoulder. ''What're you talking about.''

''You know how I've been getting flashbacks? Ever since I came up from the box?'' asked Y/n and all boys nodded. ''I know why. I know why I was in the Glade. I remember and I think they're returning my memories. Yesterday — yesterday I had a whole bunch of them come back after the injections, that's why I was feeling like shit. I'll tell you more but we have to go, we have to go, now!''

Minho furrowed his eyebrows. ''That's why you looked like you were drowning yesterday?''

''I think,'' Y/n said as she frantically looked around. ''We have to go, we have to find Thomas and get out—''

The vent flew out from under the bed again and everyone quickly turned to look at Thomas emerging. Thomas looked around his friends before he started talking. ''We gotta go. We gotta go right now.''

''What the hell are you talking about?'' asked Minho as Thomas ran to tie a cloth at the door handle.

''What do you mean 'we gotta go'?'' Newt asked.

''They're coming. Come on. We gotta go.'' Thomas continued moving around frantically. ''They're coming for us.''

''It's WICKED, isn't it?'' asked Y/n, causing Thomas to turn and look at her. ''Janson's with WICKED.''

Thomas quickly nodded. ''It's always been WICKED. Ava's still alive, Y/n, we gotta get out of here.''

There was a slight ache in her brain at the mention of the name. The blonde woman from her flashbacks appeared in her mind. Her eyes widened. ''The Chancellor?''

''Yes, the Chancellor. They're going to kill us, hurry up!'' Thomas said as he pressed a mattress against the already blocked door.

''Thomas.'' Newt pressed his hand next to Thomas' head, giving him a stern look. ''What did you see?''

It took them a minute before everyone was going into the vents and crawling after Thomas. They made it to a bigger vent exit and Thomas opened it, ending up in a long hallway. He ushered everyone to hurry out of the vent before deciding to run forward.

''You guys go ahead. There's something I gotta do,'' Aris said, causing everyone to go back.

''What're you talking about?'' asked Thomas.

''Trust me, it's important,'' Aris reasoned. ''You guys wanna get outta here, right? Just go.''

''I'll go with him,'' Winston offered.

''Okay, Winston, go! Go! Come on,'' Thomas ushered the others again.

''You sure you can trust this kid?'' asked Minho as he and Y/n ran next to Thomas.

''You don't want to know where we'd be without him,'' Thomas said.

They turned right and walked right into a doctor — the one who'd checked on Teresa the day before. She looked at them in suspicion. ''What are you kids doing out?''

And alarm suddenly started blaring and everyone looked up, realizing that most likely answered her question. Thomas quickly grabbed her by the arm and made her bring them to Teresa. They continued down the hallways and as they took another turn, a man with a weapon appeared at the end. ''Freeze!'' He started shooting at them and the Gladers quickly went back to the hallway they came from, trying to escape the man.

As Y/n turned around to see where Minho was, she noticed he'd stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking towards the end where the man would appear to shoot them any moment. ''Minho, you idiot, come here!''

''What the hell are you doing?'' Thomas yelled.

Minho let out a far cry as he took off in a sprint. Just as the man appeared from the corner, Minho rammed his knee in the man's chest, knocking him in the wall. Everyone ran back to the two as Minho stood above the passed out soldier, watching in surprise.

''Shit, Minho,'' Newt commented.

''That was so hot,'' Y/n suddenly said, causing everyone to look at her. She looked up as she noticed the gazes. ''Did I say that out-loud?

Thomas picked up the weapon and grabbed the doctor again, pointing it at her back. ''Okay. Let's go. Come on. Let's go.''

The doctor led them to a room. She opened the door first then Thomas burst in, yelling at the doctors inside and demanding to know where Teresa was as he pointed the weapon at them. He looked at the curtain, handed the weapon to Minho and quickly pulled it away, revealing an asleep Teresa behind.

Minho turned to the doctors who were trying to escape the line of fire. ''Get down! Get down!''

''Okay, hands! Give me your hands!'' Newt called as he grabbed something to tie their hands with.

''Just do as he says.'' Frypan added.

''Give me your hands!'' Newt yelled again as he started wrapping bandages around the doctors' wrists.

''You're never gonna get away with this,'' she said as everyone ignored her.

Y/n took a step back and looked out of the small window in the door, seeing a bunch of soldiers making their way towards the door. ''Not to burst everyone's bubble, but they're coming for our asses!''

Newt looked around and bent down to push a table. ''Y/n, move!''

Y/n quickly moved next to Newt and the two pushed the table in front of the door so it wouldn't fully open, then quickly backed off to stand behind Minho as he had his weapon pointed at the incoming soldiers.

''Everyone, stand back!'' Thomas called as he started hitting the window behind them with a chair, Newt following suit.

The glass broke and Thomas quickly jumped over. Teresa put a small blanket over the glass so she wouldn't get cut and Thomas helped her out. Newt and Frypan jumped over as well.

''Minho, come on!'' Y/n called as she watched the men almost make their way in the room.

''Y/n, go! I'm right behind you!'' Minho yelled as he was taking small steps back. ''Go now!''

Listening, Y/n turned around and sat up on the blanket Teresa had laid out. She could feel the glass slightly digging in her skin as she swung her legs over the frame and jumped down. Minho quickly turned around and threw Thomas the weapon before jumping over the window as well. He grabbed Y/n's hand, giving it a squeeze as Thomas went to open the door.

There was a masked man on the other side, but Thomas acted quickly and shot with him the weapon, sending him convulsing on the ground. ''Shit. Okay, come on!''

They continued running down the endless hallways as the sirens continued blaring. A man on a speakers spoke about a converge on level three, which Y/n assumed was the level they were at. Eventually they made it to the hallway they first came in at the beginning and Y/n felt a sense of relief, realizing they'll be out of WICKED's clutches soon.

Thomas slid the keycard in the card reader. Nothing. He did it again. Nothing. Again. Nothing. ''No, no, no, no.''

''Thomas!'' Everyone turned around to face Janson and his men, who were closing in on the Gladers.

Thomas loaded his weapon and moved forward. ''Open this door, Janson!'' Minho continued trying to open the door with the keycard.

Janson put his hands up. ''You really don't want me to.''

''Open the damn door!''

''Listen to me!'' Janson yelled. ''I'm trying to save your life. The Maze is one thing, but you kids wouldn't last one day out in the Scorch. If the elements don't kill you, the Cranks will. Thomas, you have to believe me. I only want what's best for you.''

''And why should we believe WICKED?'' asked Y/n as she took a step forward, ignoring Minho's protests. ''You thought you were so slick, huh? Played it all nice as if you weren't ready to string us up to try to find that cure of yours. WICKED is good, my ass.''

Janson's gaze shifted from Thomas to Y/n as he lightly shook his head. ''You're not getting through that door, Y/n.''

The card reader suddenly turned green and let out a beep. The door started to lift up, revealing Aris and Winston on the other side. ''Hey, guys.''

''Come on!'' Frypan said as he ran out, everyone following suit. Y/n continued looking at Janson, remembering the fear she felt in her memory. She felt a hand wrap around her biceps and looked at Minho to see him pulling her out.

''Thomas, come on!'' Minho called once they were on the other side of the door.

''Thomas!'' Newt yelled as well.

Thomas started shooting at Janson and his men, who quickly took cover behind their shields. Thomas shot until he ran out of ammo, then threw the weapon and started running back towards his friends. The door started closing and everyone started yelling at him to hurry up. He managed to slip through a small gap just before the door fully closed, sealing the Gladers away from Janson.

Aris smashed the keycard reader so they wouldn't be able to open the door again and everyone watched as Janson attempted to get to them. Thomas raised his middle finger at the Rat Man, as everyone started running towards the exit.

Y/n and Janson made eye contact. His face repulsed her, but he couldn't get to her now. ''Fucking piece of shit.'' She started backing off as Janson slammed his hand on the glass window, turning around and catching up to her friends.

Maybe this time they were truly going to be free.