I spin around, my eyes scanning the room for any potential threats. My heart rate is still very fast after the alarm nearly gave me a heart attack. Does it mean that the Cranks got in? My eyes flick over to the door, and I desperately want to run over and look outside, but I suppose there's no need to cause more panic, The Gladers have a look of perplexed recognition on their faces, and mill about the room in a most unorganized fashion. Some of them gawk at the ceiling and walls, as they try to figure out where the source of the sound is. I am also trying to find where the alarm is coming from, but nothing indicates that the sound is coming from any specific place. No speakers, no heating or air conditioning vents in the walls, nothing. It's a sound that's coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.Other Gladers sit down on the beds, with their hands covering their ears. I listen closely to the sound, trying to identify it. I can't remember ever hearing it before, but it sure is putting me on edge. It wails loudly, bouncing against the walls of the small room, creating an ear-piercing echo. I bring my hands up and press them firmly to my ears, knowing that I can't afford to lose my hearing. I'm starting to get a headache though, which certainly isn't going to improve my already horrid situation.

"It's the bloody Newbie alarm!" Newt shouts, and grabs Thomas' arm. I shoot him a confused glance, but he doesn't see it.

"I know!" Thomas replies, and I guess it is something from the Glade that I didn't learn.

"Why's it ringing?" I can barely hear Newt over the alarm. My entire body is screaming that something is wrong, but I have no idea what it is. Thomas shrugs, looking over at Newt with a bit of annoyance. This makes me want to snap at him that we would all like to know why the obnoxious siren is filling the room, but I restrain myself. I'm finding more and more that I want to do anything I can to protect Newt from anything and everything, from Thomas being annoyed at him to whoever killed those people hanging from the ceiling outside. It's strange, caring so much about someone else. I'm worried that it's going to be a weakness of mine; that I'll be vulnerable because of it. With my sister, I sort of have to care about her. Family is something that you love from the minute you are born. But I am choosing to feel this way about Newt. Or, maybe, I don't have a choice. Maybe I was just meant to find him. Maybe our lives have been preplanned, and we have no choice in who we love and what we do. Oh, wonderful. Now I sound shuckin' crazy. Minho and Aris come out of the bathroom, rubbing their necks absently. Frypan goes over the door that leads back to the common room, and is about to open the door when Thomas yells.

"Wait!" Thomas runs over to Frypan, and Newt follows. I stay where I am though, for reasons unknown to me. I notice then that the room is very hot and very crowded.

"Why?" Frypan asks, and stares at Thomas, looking slightly puzzled. His hand hovers only centimeters above the door.

"I don't know," Thomas' voice can barely be heard. I bite my lip anxiously and try to concentrate on what Thomas is saying. But my thoughts are scattering everywhere, each one screaming different things at me. "It's an alarm. Maybe something bad is happening." Brilliant observation Thomas. I'm a bit surprised at the bitterness in my thoughts, and quickly shake it away.

"Yeah! And maybe we need to get out of here!" Frypan shouts. Without waiting to see what Thomas says, he pushes the door forward. When it doesn't move, he pushes harder. When it still doesn't budge, he leans against it with his full weight. Nothing. It might as well just been part of the wall. "You broke the shuck handle!" Frypan yells, then slaps the door with the palm of his hand angrily. Thomas crosses his arms and leans against the wall. Most of the Gladers seem as run down as Thomas - sick of looking for answers or a way out. All of them are either sitting on the beds, or standing with a blank expression on their faces. I sit on the nearest mattress, and lean back against the wall behind me, hoping desperately that the siren will stop sometime soon. I call out to my sister again, though I knew it was futile effort.

Teresa! I am surprised at the utter exhaustion in my thoughts as I call out to her. All I want right now is to lay down in the mattress and sleep until all of this is just a horrid nightmare from which I can awaken. Sadly, that's impossible. I call out to my sister once more, but even if she responds, I'm not sure that I'll be to hear her over all the noise. Then, suddenly, the alarm stops. I have never realized how grateful I am for silence. It falls over the room like a soft blanket, and I close my eyes, enjoying the small moment of peace. I know it will be short-lived, but I'm going to hold on to this feeling of tranquility, for it may be the last one I get for a while. For a few minutes, we soak in the sweet sound of nothing. Newt is the first one to speak.

"Don't tell me we're still gonna get bloody newbies in our laps." He runs his hands through his hair, making it stick up at cute angles. I have to bite down hard on my lip to keep from smiling. Even if I was stuck in a pit with a bunch of Grievers, he could still manage to make me smile. That's just the kind of person that he is.

"Where's the box in this shuck place?" Minho mutters sarcastically. And that's just the kind of person he is. A slight creak makes me jump up quickly and stare at the door as it swings open. It swings several inches open, a slice of darkness marking where it now stands ajar. I suppose someone must have turned the lights off, which means that there could be a potential threat outside. I instinctively grab a glass shard and walk over slowly, every nerve in my body tense was I prepare for an attack. I stand in front of the door for about a minute, staring into the dark. There's no sign of movement, and whoever is out there is either very stealthy, or has gone. "Guessin' they want us to go out there now." Minho says. There's a hint of uncertainty in his voice, though.

"Then why don't you go first?" Frypan offers, stepping to the side and gesturing for Minho to walk past him.

"No problem. Maybe we'll have a new little shank to pick on and kick in the butt he we have nothing else to to do." Minho walks to the door, but pauses before he steps out into the hallway. His eyes are downcast and his head down as he speaks. "We could use another Chuck." Minho's voice is soft, and when he speaks, I'm hurtled back in time to that horrible moment.

Gally reaches behind him and pulls out something shiny and long. It's a dagger. As the scene in front of me unfolds, it's as if the world is in moving slow motion. I see Gally throw the dagger at Thomas, but I can't move. I scream, but no one can hear me. All I can do is watch, listening my cries echo in my mind. Then suddenly, Chuck is there. In front of Thomas. The dagger buries itself in Chuck's chest and I watch as Thomas falls to his knees, clutching Chuck in his arms.

"Chuck!" He screams, and feel my hands fly up to cover to my mouth. He is staring in horror at Chuck, whose blood is dripping one the ground, a shade of scarlet that I never want to see again. "Chuck..." Thomas whispers, shaking his head to himself, as if to try and convince himself that what is happening isn't real. "Hang on. Fight it. Someone get help!" Thomas is screaming frantically now. I gently rest a hand on his shoulder, and he reaches up and takes it.

"Thomas...find my mom..." Chuck whispers, his light brown eyes filled with such pain. Then, with one last shuddery breath, he lies still. Thomas jerks up. In that moment I'm sure he's lost it. He rushes forward, throwing himself on top at Gally. Minho, Newt and I run forward, dragging him back.

"No!" He shrieks madly. I don't know what to tell him. "I promised him! I promised I'd save him! I promised him!" Then he starts to cry. I sink to my knees, hugging him. He buries his face in my shoulder and we sit in the menacing silence.

I struggle not to gasp out loud as I pull myself out of the memory, like a diver coming up for air. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, calming myself down. That memory is one of my least favorite ones to recall. Chuck had only been twelve, much to young to die. He was so sweet and always made me laugh. Then WICKED had to come and take him away. I tighten my grip on my make-shift knife as I think of WICKED. They took away whoever I was before the Maze, and replaced it with the monster that currently resides inside of me. The monster that will destroy them if it gets the chance. Minho pushes the door open, and the single bar of blackness becomes a wide swath of it; the common area on the other side is as dark as it had been when we had first left the boys' room. He steps through, with Thomas close behind him. I follow, squinting into the darkness and hoping that I won't run into a body hanging from the ceiling.

"Wait here." Minho says to Thomas and I. "No need to play bumper cars with the dead folks again." I'm glad I'm not the only one worried about running into a dead person. It's a reasonable fear to have, you know. "Let me find the light switches first."

"Why would they have turned them off?" Thomas asks, and I feel someone bump into me. I jump forward, bracing myself in case a hit a body. Thankfully, I don't. "I mean, who turned them off?" I have a pretty good idea of who. WICKED has been messing with us for a while. Who's to say that they're not still using us as pawns, that we're not still stuck in the sick game they're playing? Minho turns towards Thomas, the light from Aris' room spilling across his face, illuminating the smirk set firmly there.

"Why do you even bother asking questions, dude? Nothing has ever made sense and it probably never will. Now slim it and sit still." Minho says, and steps into the darkness. It swallows him immediately. His soft footsteps can be heard in the silence, as all the Gladers hold their breath. "Here they are!" He shouts finally, from approximately where I thought the light switches would be. A few clicks sound, and I cover my eyes. I feel the change of lighting, and slowly raised my hands, letting my eyes adjust to the bright light. It takes me about half a second to realize what is different. The bodies are gone, with no sign that they'd ever been here in the first place.