Thomas couldn't believe how far away he felt from the girl he'd once thought was his best friend. Even in all of his memories―it was always the two of them. "What is this? Are you trying to come up with all the ways possible in the universe to hurt me? Just shut your shuck mouth and do whatever it is you brought me here to do!" His chest heaved with angry breaths, his heart thumping a deadly pace.
"Fine," she replied. "Aris, let's open the door. Time for Tom to go."
CHAPTER 51
Thomas was done talking, to either of them. But he certainly wasn't going down without a fight. He resolved to wait and watch for the best opportunity.
Aris kept his knife pointed at him as Teresa made her way toward the big rectangle of illuminated green glass. Thomas couldn't deny his curiosity about the door.
She reached a point where the glow silhouetted her whole body. It made her edges fuzzy, as if she were dissolving. She walked across the cave until she'd left the light completely, then reached for the stone wall, started punching a finger on what had to be some sort of keypad that Thomas couldn't see.
She finished up and stepped back toward him.
"We'll see if that actually works," Aris said.
"It will," Teresa replied.
A loud pop sounded, followed by a sharp hiss. Thomas watched as the right edge of the glass began to swing outward like a door. As it opened, wispy streams of white mist swirled through the widening crack, almost immediately evaporating into nothing. It was like a long-abandoned freezer releasing its cold air into the heat of the night. Darkness lurked inside even as the rectangle of glass continued to emit its strange green radiance.
So the door wasn't a window at all, Thomas thought. Just a green door. Maybe toxic waste wasn't in his near future. He hoped.
The door finally stopped, thumping with an icy screech against the wall of jagged rock. A pit of black now lay where the door had once been―there wasn't enough light to reveal what lay inside. The mist had completely stopped as well. Thomas felt an abyss of anxiety open up beneath him.
"Do you have a flashlight?" Aris asked.
Teresa put her spear on the ground, then pulled her backpack off and dug through its contents. A moment later she pulled out a flashlight and flicked it on.
Aris nodded back toward the opening. "Take a look while I watch him. Don't try anything, Thomas. I'm pretty sure what they have planned for you is easier than getting stabbed to death."
Thomas didn't answer, keeping his pathetic oath to stay silent from here on out. He thought about the knife and whether he could take it from Aris.
Teresa had stepped up right to the side of the gaping rectangular hole; she shone her flashlight inside. Swept it up and down, left to right. It cut through a fine cloud of mist as she did so, but the dwindling moisture was thin enough to reveal the interior.
It was a small room, only several feet deep. Its walls appeared to be made of some silvery metal, their surfaces broken up by small protrusions maybe an inch high, each ending in a black hole. The little knobs or spouts were set about five inches apart, making a square grid across the walls.
Teresa turned to Aris, flicking off the flashlight as she did so. "Looks about right," she said.
Aris snapped his head back to look at Thomas, who had been so focused on the strange room he'd missed another chance to do something. "Exactly like they said it would be."
"So ... I guess this is it?" Teresa asked.
Aris nodded, then switched his knife to the other hand, holding it more tightly. "This is it. Thomas, be a good boy and go on inside. Who knows, maybe this is all a big test and once you're in they'll let ya go and we can all have a happy reunion."
"Shut up, Aris," Teresa said. It was actually the first thing she'd said in quite some time that didn't make Thomas want to punch her. She then turned back to Thomas, avoiding his eyes. "Let's get this over with."
Aris waved his blade, indicating that Thomas should walk forward. "Come on. Don't make me drag you in."
Thomas looked at him, struggling to keep a blank expression as his mind spun in a million directions. A surge of panic boiled inside him. It was now or never. Fight or die.
He turned his gaze to the open doorway and started slowly walking toward it. Three steps and he'd halved the distance. Teresa had straightened, her arms tensed in case he caused trouble. Aris kept his weapon trained on Thomas's neck.
Another step. Another. Now Aris stood directly to his left, just two or three feet away. Teresa was behind him, out of sight, the open doorway and the odd silver room with walls covered in holes right in front of him.
He stopped, looked sideways at Aris. "What did Rachel look like as she bled to death?" It was a gamble, a pitch to throw him off.
Shocked and hurt, Aris froze, giving Thomas the split second he needed.
He jumped toward the other boy and swung his left arm in an arc to smack the knife out of his hand. It clattered across the rocks. Thomas slammed his right fist into Aris's stomach, sending him to the ground, desperately trying to suck in a breath.
The click of metal against rock stopped Thomas from kicking the boy at his feet. He looked up to see that Teresa had picked up her spear. They locked eyes for an instant; then she charged him. Thomas threw his hands up to protect himself but it was too late―the butt of the weapon swung through the air and smacked him on the side of the head. Stars floated before his eyes as he fell, fighting to stay conscious. As soon as he hit the ground, he scrambled to his hands and knees to get away.
But he heard Teresa scream, and a second later the wood came crashing down on the top of his skull. With a thump Thomas collapsed again; something wet oozed through his hair and trickled onto both temples. Pain tore through his head, as if an axe had been driven straight into his brain. It spread to the rest of his body, making him nauseated. He somehow pushed off the ground and flopped onto his back to see Teresa with the weapon raised above her once more.
"Get in the room, Thomas," she said through heavy breaths. "Get in the room or I'll hit you again. I swear I'll keep doing it till you pass out or bleed to death."
Aris had recovered and gotten back to his feet; he stood right next to her.
Thomas reared both legs back and kicked out, connecting with a knee on both of them. They screamed and crumpled, falling on top of each other. The physical effort sent a horrible rush of pain raging through Thomas. White flashes blinded him; the world was spinning. He groaned as he struggled to move, got back on his stomach, tried to get his hands under himself. He'd barely pushed a few inches off the ground when Aris landed on his back, slamming him down. Soon the boy's arm wrapped around Thomas's neck, squeezing.
"You're going in that room," Aris spit in his ear. "Help me, Teresa!"
Thomas couldn't find any strength to fight them off. The double blow to his head had somehow sapped him of everything, as if all his muscles had gone dormant because his brain didn't have enough energy to tell them what to do. Soon Teresa had grabbed both of his arms; she started dragging him toward the open doorway, Aris pushing him. Thomas kicked feebly. Rocks dug into his skin.
"Don't do this," he whispered, giving in to desperation. Every word sent a surge of pain across his nerves. "Please ..." All he saw now were flashes of white on black. A concussion, he realized. He had a terrible, terrible concussion.
He was barely aware of his body crossing the threshold, of Teresa resting his arms against the cool metal of the back wall, stepping over him, helping Aris flip his legs up and over so that he now lay in a heap, facing the side. Thomas couldn't even find the strength to look at them.
"No," he said, but it was merely a whisper. The image of the sick boy, Ben, being Banished back in the Glade swam into his brain. An odd time to think it, but now he knew how that kid had felt in those last seconds before the walls slammed shut, trapping him in the Maze forever.
"No," he repeated; it was so quiet he couldn't imagine they heard him. He ached from head to toe.
"You're so stubborn," he heard Teresa say. "You had to make it harder on yourself! Harder on all of us!"
"Teresa," Thomas whispered. He dug through the pain and tried to call out to her telepathically, even though it hadn't worked in a long time. Teresa.
I'm sorry, Tom, she answered back, in his mind once again. But thanks for being our sacrifice.
He hadn't realized the door was swinging closed, but it slammed shut just as that last horrible word floated across his darkening thoughts.
CHAPTER 52
The back of the door they'd shut on him glowed green, turning the small room into a creepy, sickening prison. He might've cried, might've gushed tears and snot and wailed like a baby if his head didn't hurt so much. The pain drilled through his skull, and his eyes felt as if they were boiling in lava.
But even then, through all that, the deeper ache of truly losing Teresa gnawed away at his heart. He just couldn't let himself cry.
He lost all concept of time as he lay there. It was as if whoever was behind it all wanted to give him a chance to reflect on what had happened while he waited for the end. On how Teresa's message to trust her no matter what had ended up being a cruel trick that only magnified her two-faced treachery.
An hour passed. Maybe two or three. Maybe only thirty minutes. He had no idea.
And then the hissing started.
The faint light of the glowing door revealed sprays of mist shooting from the holes that dotted the metal walls in front of him. He turned his head, sending a fresh wave of pain across his skull, and saw that all the openings were expelling similar jets of fog.
And it all hissed like a squirming nest of poisonous vipers.
So this is it? he thought. After everything he'd been through, after all the mysteries and fighting and fleeting moments of hope, they were just going to kill him with some kind of poison gas? Stupid, that was what this was. Stupid. He'd battled Grievers and Cranks, survived a gunshot and infection. WICKED. They were the ones who'd saved him! And now they were just going to gas him to death?
He sat up, actually crying out from the jolt of pain it caused. He looked around, looked for anything he might be able to ...
Tired. So tired.
Something in his chest felt wrong. Sick.
The gas.
Tired. Hurt. Body exhausted.
Breathing in gas.
Couldn't help himself.
So ... tired ...
Inside him. Wrong.
Teresa. Why did it have to end that way?
Tired ...
Somewhere on the edge of his consciousness, he was aware of his head thumping against the floor.
Betrayal.
So ...
Tired ...
CHAPTER 53
Thomas didn't know if he was dead or alive, but it felt like he was asleep. Aware of himself, but as if through a haze. He slipped into yet another memory-dream.
Thomas is sixteen. He's standing in front of Teresa and some girl he doesn't recognize.
And Aris.
Aris?
All three of them are looking at him with grim faces. Teresa is crying.
"It's time to go," Thomas says.
Aris nods. "Into the Swipe, then into the Maze."
Teresa does nothing but wipe away some tears.
Thomas reaches out a hand and Aris shakes it. Then Thomas does the same with the girl he doesn't know.
Then Teresa rushes forward and pulls him into an embrace. She's sobbing, and Thomas realizes that he's also crying. His tears wet her hair as he hugs her tightly.
"You have to go now," Aris says.
Thomas looks at him. Waits. Tries to enjoy this moment with Teresa. His last moment of full memory. They won't be like this again for a very long time.
Teresa looks up at him. "It's going to work. It's all going to work."
"I know," Thomas says. He feels a sadness that makes every last bit of him ache.
Aris opens a door and beckons for Thomas to follow him. Thomas does, but manages to look back at Teresa one last time. Tries to look hopeful.
"See ya tomorrow," he says.
Which is true, and it hurts.
The dream faded, and Thomas fell into the blackest sleep of his life.
CHAPTER 54
Whispers in the dark.
That was what Thomas heard when he began returning to consciousness. Low but harsh, like sandpaper rubbing across his eardrums. He didn't understand any of it. It was so dark it took him a second to realize that his eyes were open.
Something cool and hard pressed against his face. The ground. He hadn't moved since the gas had knocked him out. Shockingly, his head didn't hurt anymore. In fact, nothing did. Instead, a feeling of refreshed euphoria swam through him, almost made him dizzy. Maybe he was just happy to be alive.
He got his hands under himself and pushed up into a sitting position. A look around did nothing―not even the faintest glimmer of light broke up the utter darkness. He wondered what had happened to the green glow of the door that Teresa had shut on him.
Teresa.
His elation drained away. Remembering what she'd done to him. But then ...
He wasn't dead. Unless the afterlife was just a crappy room of blackness.
He rested for a few minutes, letting his mind wake up and settle before he finally got to his feet and started feeling around. Three cool metal walls with evenly spaced upraised holes. One smooth wall that felt like plastic. He was definitely in that same little room.
He pounded on the door. "Hey! Anybody out there?"
His thoughts started spinning. The memory-dreams, several now―so much to process, so many questions. The things that had first come back to him with the Changing in the Maze were slowly starting to come into focus, solidify. He'd been part of WICKED's plans, part of all this. He and Teresa had been close―best friends, even. All of it had seemed right. Doing these things for the greater good.
