Disclaimer:

I do not own The Maze Runner, but adding onto the previous disclaimer, my birthday just passed and I got both The Scorch Trials and The Maze Runner on DVD. I AM COMPLETE.

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Seeing Teresa again brought mixed emotions to the surface of my mind. While I was happy she was alive, the sight of the spear in her hand and the stone-faced expression she wore made that joy flush down the drain until I was full of only shock. My eyes tried to calculate any hidden emotions she buried but I was met with nothing except emptiness.

Thomas took a single step forward, but movement from behind Teresa stopped him short. Girls emerged on either side like some sort of gang. They surrounded us quickly, armed with a variation of weapons and each wearing a murderous expression as they formed a wide circle around our group.

This was it. This was Group B.

My eyes shifted around the girls I was supposed to be with. They all appeared to be of varying ages like we were, meaning they had sent similar age groups up to their Maze. It made me wonder where I would fit in if Teresa hadn't sent me up with Thomas. Who replaced me? Who was the female version of Thomas if Aris was the male version of Teresa?

Another thing I noticed was that nobody appeared even the slightest bit familiar. Where was Sonya? She should've been among them, but I didn't see her anywhere. A girl as tall as her should've been recognizable in the group of about twenty females. Twenty. So much more than we had.

I felt myself beginning to slide off of Thomas' back and a pang of fear hit me. Something told me that if either of us moved, they'd kill us on the spot. My fingers dug into his shoulders in an attempt to keep me steady while he tried not to wince.

"What's this crap about, Teresa?" Minho asked sarcastically. "Nice way to greet your long-lost buddies."

She didn't respond, only walking a bit closer until she stood about ten feet from where Minho and Newt stood side-by-side.

"Teresa?" Newt wondered with his eyebrow raised in confusion. "What the bloody—"

"Shut up," she snapped with conviction. It was a tone I wasn't used to hearing her use- there was clearly something off about her. "Any of you makes a move, the bows start shooting."

Teresa lifted her spear so she could throw it more easily if she had to. She began walking in a wide circle, trying to get a better view of us all. Her eyes passed among the Gladers as if searching for something. When they landed on Brenda, they seemed to pause before moving on. And then they settled on Thomas and I. Or, rather, mostly Thomas.

"Teresa?" I heard him whisper. When she didn't move, she tried again. "Teresa, what's—"

"Shut up." She used the same commanding tone as before, her icy blue eyes burning into his. My gut twisted.

"Thomas, I'm gonna fall," I hissed through my teeth, willing my lips to move as little as possible. The sweat on our skin caused me to slide more than usual. My mind was a whirling mess as I tried to think of anything that could prevent them from attacking upon the slightest movement. A plan hit me so quickly that I barely had time to process it before I spoke. "Drop me."

He hesitated, nodding with such a small incline of his head that only I could see it due to my close proximity. Quickly, he loosened his grip on my legs while I released his shoulders. I fell with a shriek, smacking my head on the sand and causing the headache to return in a burst of sharp pain. It was all I could do to hope it had looked like an accident.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Thomas shouted to the girls with the bow and arrows, holding up a hand to stop them when they prepared to shoot. "Wait. She's hurt."

The girls looked to Teresa for affirmation. She lowered her hand and they relaxed their stances slightly.

I played my part well due to the fact I was already in pain. A groan of agony came as I shifted uncomfortably on the ground, attempting to appear like I was vulnerable. Group B didn't seem to know what to do about me. In fact, they almost seemed uncomfortable.

"Teresa," Thomas tried again, his voice pleading. "What's—"

Teresa reared her arm back and swung the end of her spear into Thomas' right cheek, causing him to shout in pain and crumple to his knees. My instinct to protest kicked in until I remembered my part. If I suddenly got up and started yelling at her to stop, I wouldn't appear wounded enough to be carried around.

I choked back my anger painfully, focusing by clenching my hands into fists in the sand. To anyone else, it would simply look like I was trying to conceal my pain. I wanted to tackle Teresa to try and talk some sense into her. What the hell was she doing?

"I said shut up." She reached down and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt until he stood again. "Is your name Thomas?"

"You know who I—"

Once more, she swung the spear back and connected it with his head, this time hitting him in the ear. He cried out and clutched the spot where she had hurt him. His voice was a scream when he said, "You know who I am!"

"I used to, anyway," she sneered in a way that made me grit my teeth to keep from yelling at her. "Now I'm going to ask you one more time. Is your name Thomas?"

"Yes!" Thomas replied in exasperation. "My name is Thomas!"

Teresa nodded and moved back to point the tip of her spear at him once again. Her head jerked toward me. "What happened to her?"

"That's none of your business," Newt spoke up harshly. Teresa ignored him, staring expectantly at my brother.

"She, uh—" Thomas was breathless as he searched for an answer. "She got hurt in the city."

"You're lying." Teresa edged the spear closer to his chest. "Tell me the truth, or I hit you again."

Thomas appeared to look right in her eyes just then. He wet his lips and answered in a defeated tone, "It was W.I.C.K.E.D. They put something in her brain and it almost killed her."

I wanted to protest and tell him that the thing actually kept me alive, but now was not a good time. Especially when she was appearing to consider that this was the truth.

Teresa turned and looked down at me. "Can you walk?"

I shook my head, knowing it was better to lie. If Thomas had carried me but I was able to move independently, then things might not add up. I couldn't risk them getting suspicious. And, if I was considered weak, maybe no harm would come to me.

"You both are coming with me," Teresa informed us. "If those jerks planted something in her brain, she could be a threat. I'm going to need a round-the-clock watch on this girl. Remember, anyone tries something, the arrows fly."

"No way!" Minho protested. "You're not taking them anywhere."

Teresa said nothing to him- she didn't even acknowledge that there were others present. "This isn't some stupid game. I'm going to start counting. Every time I hit a multiple of five, we'll kill one of you with an arrow. We'll do it until Thomas is the only one left, then we'll take him anyway. It's up to you."

Panic burst in my chest, spreading cold fear through my body despite the heat. If they thought I was dangerous, what would they do to me? Maybe telling her the truth wasn't the best idea.

"One!"

Thomas held up his index finger to her as a signal for her to wait. She didn't continue counting, so he bent down and scooped me up in his arms like how he had me initially. I even performed an effective head-bobble so my cheek was against his arm.

The thudding of my heart matched with my lack of hearing caused me to almost not be able to hear the protests from the others. But I managed to catch a few words- most of which were from Newt. I could pick out his voice among the others quicker than I could blink.

For the first time, the device in my head spoke.

"WARNING: DANGER. WARNING: DANGER."

I ignored it, focusing on pretending like nothing was wrong. If Teresa suspected I was hearing anything inside of my brain, I knew she'd schedule me to be at her side all the time so she could personally watch me.

I was able to see her face much more closely now. Teresa's skin had a layer of sweat and grime coating it, cheeks red from the sun. Her bright blue eyes were cold and distant. Even her facial structure had a bit more of a difference to it. The way she held herself was so much unlike the kind, clueless girl who woke up in the Glade. She was so much unlike the determined, thoughtful girl in my memories. Where was the real Teresa? Where did she go?

"Fine," Thomas said. "Take us."

"I only made it to one," Teresa replied.

"Yeah, I'm really brave that way."

Teresa's jaw set and her eyes blazed with annoyance. "Bring the bag!"

Two girls walked toward us after that. One was a dark-skinned girl with her hair cut almost to her scalp, who had a bag in her hands. The other--

It took all my willpower to keep my eyes from going wide. Sonya.

She looked almost the same as in my memory, but her cheeks were more hollow and her jaw more defined. Long blond hair was plaited in a side braid across her shoulder. She wasn't so tall next to the other group members; instead, she appeared almost average height.

"We're taking them with us!" Teresa announced to the others behind us. "If anybody follows, I'll hit him again and we'll start shooting you. We won't really bother aiming. Just let the arrows fly any old way they feel like."

"Teresa!" Minho's voice yelled. He sounded filled to the brim with anger, and I could picture him with his fists clenched until his knuckles were bone-white. "You catch the Flare that quickly? Your mind's obviously gone already."

Teresa's eyes were alight with rage. She raised her spear as if to hit Thomas again, but then she caught sight of me in his arms and froze. I tried my best to appear as helpless as possible under her calculating stare.

With a sigh, she slowly lowered her weapon. She looked at me when she spoke— a harsh whisper that felt like a steel blade to my ears. "We only brought one bag. You're lucky." And then, to someone else, "Sonya!"

The girl stepped forward with an emotionless expression. "Yes?"

"You're strong." Teresa pointed to me. "Take her."

Sonya nodded. After Teresa stepped out of the way, she replaced her spot in front of Thomas and held out her arms. My brother swallowed thickly and pressed his hand into my arm as if asking me if I was willing. I turned my cheek so I was facing him, nodding in confirmation. He hesitantly passed me over.

Almost as soon as I was safely in Sonya's arms, Teresa hit Thomas so hard in the head that blood speckled the sand. I gave a jolt in her grip. However, Sonya turned away and started walking back to the circle. My eyes were wide with fright as I turned my head to try and see him from behind us. All I could comprehend was the other girl lifting a brown sack.

"Stop resisting," Sonya hissed beneath her breath. "We aren't supposed to kill you, too, but don't give us a reason to."

I refused to meet her eyes and instead kept staring at what they were doing to Thomas. Sonya's steps were so wide that I was certain we'd be too far away for me to see him in a matter of minutes. My eyes shifted onto Newt, only to find him already looking at me. His face was twisted with grief and disbelief, eyebrows pinched and mouth slightly agape.

"Got a nice view?" Sonya asked. "Wouldn't get used to it."

I barely caught sight of a pair of sand-covered boots beside us before a cloth was shoved down over my eyes.

-/-

The walk to our destination seemed to take ages. I bounced around blindly in Sonya's arms until she got tired and passed me on to another girl. That game continued until I was dumped rudely on the ground without warning, causing a grunt to escape as I hit what felt like rock. Most of the time, Sonya walked so far in front of the others that I couldn't hear anything that was happening to my brother.

"Flo," Sonya's voice hissed from above me. "If she's already hurt, there's no reason to rough her up even more."

"I don't care," a new, slightly rougher voice sneered. "She doesn't look injured at all. Stick's probably just fakin' to save her boyfriend."

I blanched at that; I couldn't help it. Thomas? My boyfriend?

"He's my brother," I managed to croak out. My throat was dry from lack of water, making me sound like a frog.

"See?" the girl said pointedly.

Sonya sighed. "Whatever. Just get her some water, at least. She's not the prisoner here."

She's not the prisoner here. Did that mean Thomas was?

The sound of footsteps retreated. Once they were out of earshot, I felt a shadow block the sun. A pair of gentle hands eased the blindfold down until it was looped around my neck. My eyes were met with a searing, blinding white light that forced me to close them again until they adjusted. Slowly, the silhouette of Sonya leaning above me eased into view.

"Sorry about Flo," she whispered with a wince. "She's not quick to trust people. I'm Sonya. What's your name?"

"Dylan," I replied hoarsely. It was a stark reminder that while I knew Sonya, she had no idea who I was. It filled me with unease. How did I know to trust her? Could I trust her? "What are you doing with Thomas?"

"Not sure." Sonya shrugged and stood up, causing the sun to once again flood over me. I shielded my eyes with my hand.

I tried to lift my head, but I was met with an ache from bouncing around so much. My hand went up to rub it. "Can you at least tell me where I am?"

"Our camp," was all Sonya got to answer before a girl of whom I assumed was Flo came back with my water.

Flo was an Indian girl of average height and weight, her long, wavy black hair up in a ponytail at the crown of her head. Her features were stern on her round face, brown eyes hard as steel. She glared at me with such hatred that it sent a chill down my spine. Then again, I was used to people disliking me, so I accepted the small plastic cup and downed it all in one go. The water was room temperature and tasted a bit funny, but I didn't expect the cleanest water from the Scorch.

I set the cup aside and slowly eased myself up onto my elbows. We were in the mountain range, it seemed, and we had traveled a decent way up one of them until we reached their camp. It was an alcove in the side of the rock that seemed about forty feet deep. However, when I looked around, I noticed they had dumped me outside of the mouth of their cave. It explained how I had been nearly blinded by the midday sun before.

"Why am I over here?" I questioned, looking back at Sonya. "Can't I come inside?"

"Man, do you ever shut up?" Flo asked in an annoyed tone with a roll of her eyes. "Just stuff it already."

"Flo," Sonya warned with a pointed glare at the girl. Then, to me, she said, "Yeah, I'll lead you in."

Flo grabbed Sonya's thin arm with a tight grip, causing her to stop and shoot her a questioning look. Flo spoke under her breath, but with my lack of hearing, I could only hear what sounded like "W.I.C.K.E.D" and "trust." However, Sonya shook her off and helped me to my feet. The other girl gave a scoff and pushed past us into the cave.

As soon as I stepped foot inside, my eyes narrowed on Thomas tied to a bone-white, sickly tree with bare branches and a trunk thin as ever. The dark-skinned girl who had stuffed him in the bag was busy gathering him something to eat. Blankets were strewn around, weapons piled into a corner, and trash lined the area near the opening. I swallowed thickly, feeling it go down like nails in my throat. We had nothing except the clothes on our backs, a few guns and knives, and two Cranks to help us get to our destination. They were practically on cloud nine compared to us.

"Come on," Sonya urged me deeper inside. She didn't seem to notice my nearly pathetic stumbling after her. My fingers massaged my temples as I followed closely behind.

"Here."

A granola bar flew at me. My reflexes caused me to catch it before it darted past my head, the wrapper crinkling as I tore it open and started to eat. Nothing had ever tasted so good since those apples in the facility. I was hit with a pang of nostalgia at the memory of Theo throwing the apple at me.

"That's Harriet," Sonya whispered as she pointed to Bag Girl, who had been the one to throw the bar at me. "She was our leader. Who was yours? It wasn't Thomas- I can tell. Was it the Asian one?"

I shook my head. "No. He was named Alby. He sacrificed himself in our Maze."

Sonya's eyes softened. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for."

My eyes met Thomas', and I held up the granola bar with a slight twitch of my lip. He raised his own as if we were going to clink them together from afar. Even though they had the decency to supply him with food and water, the fact that he was tied up meant that something bad was eventually going to happen to him.

His tattoo popped into my mind faster than I could swallow my food, causing me to choke. To be killed by Group B. How could I forget? Were they actually going to kill him?

My gaze flickered to Flo, only to find her conversing with Teresa about something I couldn't hear. However, her eyes darted to me on more than one occasion and made it fairly obvious that I was the subject. Teresa nodded and said something that looked like, "I know."

The granola no longer felt appetizing, but I tried my best to force it down anyway. Turning away from them helped. Despite the fact that Sonya had claimed I wasn't a prisoner, it sure felt that way. Girls avoided my eye and wouldn't look at me. I felt even more like an outsider than when I came up to the Glade.

"Hello? "

I waited for the voice to respond, anxiously bouncing and trying not to look too obvious. The people here already thought I was a spy. I didn't need them thinking I was crazy, too.

But the voice that answered wasn't the robotic one that I had grown to feel slightly comfortable with. It was female. It was too familiar to miss.

"Dylan, it's Teresa. Don't turn around. Just wait until tonight, and I'll tell you everything."

gif is my group b favessss

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you gotta see how things actually unfold before you start rioting!!!!

questions:

-is dylan safe with group b?

-will sonya protect her, or no?

-what do you think will happen with flo?

i'm super excited because i'm almost finished!!!! yay!!!!

-kristyn