𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐒 - 𝘚𝘊𝘖𝘙𝘊𝘏 𝘛𝘙𝘐𝘈𝘓𝘚

5 ~ 𝙖 𝙒𝙄𝘾𝙆𝙀𝘿 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤

Lottie

I finished the book in four hours, not able to take a break since I was so immersed. When I finished the last page, I looked up. The boys had left me alone, surprisingly. Apparently, Brenda had spent the last few hours teaching them a game with a battered deck of cards. From what I could see, Frypan was the best at the game, and even though I knew he would never admit it, Minho was the worst. 

I crawled over to watch them for a few minutes before interrupting. "Thomas?" 

He looked up from his position on the couch. He wasn't playing, since he was one of the first to lose. "Yeah?"

"I know why WICKED put me in the Maze; it was because I betrayed them. But why would they put me in the boys' Maze when there was already a girls' one?"

Thomas shrugged. "I dunno, maybe they thought sending you would cause the boys' brains to be stimulated more, or something."

"Well she was a shock, for sure," Newt said, throwing down a card. Minho took one look at it and punched him in the arm. 

"Shuckface! I was about to win."

"Ow, Minho!" Newt rubbed the place where he was punched and turned back to me. "I bet WICKED got a load of research from that day." He said, almost bitterly.

"That's just the thing," said Thomas, grinning. "They didn't. In fact, the amount of data they received lowered. Everyone was frantic; they were even considering taking you out of the Maze and locking you up. And guess who prevented that from happening." He raised his eyebrows and pointed both thumbs at his chest. "This guy."

I smiled. If this was true, that meant I'd been giving WICKED a hard time even inside the Maze. "Thanks, Thomas. Is that why Chancellor Paige was so flustered when we escaped? Or is she always like that?"

"WICKED didn't mean for you guys to escape just yet; they expected the Trial to last at least another year. They had so many plans; they were going to send me into the Maze. And then Teresa, as "the last one ever". Then they would have the Door stay open at night, and then have the Grievers come and kill one a night... It was a whole mess." Thomas shook his head. "But, they had to improvise. Once they realized that you guys were figuring out the Maze, they stopped closing the Doors, and then sent Grievers. They especially went for you, Lottie, because they thought if they got you out of there, the Trial would go on as planned." Thomas grinned at me. "Because of your brilliant mind, they weren't able to stop you. That's what they were trying to get you to tell them; how you remembered so much during the Changing. That wasn't normal."

I shook my head. "I don't know how I did it. Memories just started coming back – WICKED tried to stop them, but it wouldn't work. I remembered just enough to get us out of there."

"Your brain must be super powerful, then." Minho piped up, still looking sour about losing the game. "Shocks me; I'm surprised you even have a brain from what I've seen you do." He smirked when I threw my book at him, deflecting it with a lazy wave of his arm. "Hello? Brenda? It's your turn."

Brenda had frozen, with her mouth agape as if she'd just remembered something important. She slapped a hand to her forehead and gasped. "Thomas! The microchips!" She was on her feet in a flash. 

"What about them?"

"They work as trackers; we have to get them out of their necks!" 

At this, Thomas stood too. "The chips!" He repeated. "Damn it. Those things can-"

He was cut off by me punching him across the face. He jerked back, holding a hand to his jaw. He looked at me in hurt, but then his expression softened to realization at the look in my eyes.