He opened his eyes slowly, a dimly lit light shining down on him. Blinking away the blurriness, he suddenly jolted up, confused as to where he was. Glancing down at his hands, he noticed they were bloody and scratched.
      Kill me. If you're my friend, kill me.
      The words echoed in his head, though he wasn't quite sure where they came from.
       "Easy there, boy." He let out a grunt as he felt someone's hands push down on his chest harshly, shoving him back into the chair he was laying down on. He struggled against the grasp of the man, squirming helplessly.
     "Did it work?" A soft woman's voice could be heard from somewhere across the dim room.
       A man in a white doctor suit leaned over his body, his long gray beard tickling the boy's chin. "Yes; Newt responded well to the Variable. The immunity worked; the bullet did no damage to him. But it could easily take him months to recover; but by then the entire earth will be close to extinction. Hopefully he'll be ready to cross the Flat Trans before that happens."
      "Well, what do will we do with him then...?" The woman responded.
     The doctor snorted, lowering his wide glasses slightly. "What do you think, Mary? We already talked this over. Get him cleaned up and rested, and send him with Thomas and the others. I know they burned the entrance of the Flat Trans, but since we created it, we can put it back."
    Mary nodded solemnly, either not hearing or just not responding to the doctor's belittling tone. " It's a miracle how the Flare disappeared from him; was it the operation? Too bad the rest of Earth has already reached the final stages of being a Crank.. we could of performed the operation on them, but it's too risky." She let out a long sigh. "When will he be ready?"
     "We'll let him rest for a little bit. Hopefully, it won't take him too long to recover from the sedation." He repeated.
     Mary nodded once more, and decided to change the subject. "I can't believe this is the last WICKED headquarters in the world." She lowered her voice. "I wish we could join the Immunes at their paradise, though we'd probably be dead in a couple of seconds." She chuckled, attempting to use some humor to lighten up the mood, though it didn't seem to work.
     The doctor sighed. "I suppose."
     Newt's eyes flickered from Mary to the unknown doctor, confusion still littering his brain. The thoughts were too much for him; he could feel his eyelids drooping until all was black and he entered the endless void once more.

      "Well, why don't ya shucks ask me what I want to do instead of shipping me off anywhere you want to?!" He growled at the group of people waiting for him to enter the Flat Trans. "How am I supposed to talk with Thomas after all I said to him at the city? How will he know I didn't mean it?!" He paused, catching his breath.
      "He'll understand. He's not-" One of the man started to speak, his voice much too calm.
      "It's all your fault!" Newt screeched. "Maybe if you hadn't.. if you hadn't done another one of your stupid VARIABLES, we wouldn't be in this situation! Thomas probably hates me now... If everyone claims you to be so smart, then how could you not have figured out that this was all pointless?! Pointless! Why couldn't I just..." He felt a loss of words as he leaned against the nearest wall, slowly sliding down until he was crouching, placing his head in his hands.
      "Newt, I think everyone would be glad to see you. Thomas isn't stupid, he knew you were a Crank. He's dealt with Cranks before; obviously he knows what they're like." Newt recognized Mary speaking to him as he glared up at the remaining members of WICKED. "They'll be happy to see you; unless you'd rather stay in this empty, desolate, unhappy place that's going to get completely wiped out in a matter of weeks?"
       Truthfully, Newt hadn't really thought his situation through, but the rage pulsating from within him could not be contained.
       "You HURT my friends and I. You made us go through so much pain. I think all these tests are just a big pile of klunk. For all I know, you could be sending me to the Flat Trans as yet another one of your variables. You said we'd get the cure as soon as we made it to the safe haven, but no! Of course I had to be infected. All WICKED does is lie!"
       The doctor from his earlier operation crossed his arms, his nose scrunching up. "Newt, we promise we aren't lying to you. Go through and see what's out there for yourself; we just want the immunes to start a new civilization; a new earth. What's the point of living on this one?" The man's voice was obviously annoyed, rising to a high pitched squeak.
    Clenching and unclenching his fists angrily, Newt thought the words over and over, contemplating the potential outcomes of any decisions he could make. Finally, he raised his eyes to stare intently at one of the members of WICKED. "Fine. I'll go through. But I'll prove to ya shuck-faces that y'all are lying again. I bet my friends are over there, dying."
      Not waiting for an answer, he stepped onto the platform casually, walking through the thick gray mist. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the corners of Mary's mouth curving upwards into a smile as he felt the mist swallow him whole.

      The bright sun glared down at Newt, forcing him to shield his eyes. But somehow, the sun felt... good. Relaxing. Normal. The word seemed unfamiliar to him, everything that had happened was so strange. He would of never expected this to happen while living in the Maze, though then again, every corner was a surprise.
       He quickly eyed the beautiful area he had arrived to. It had beautiful flora and fauna, a deer lifting her head from her grazing to stare at Newt with her warm, big eyes.
    Newt felt his insides get warm, in a good way. Maybe they weren't lying. The place seemed very... natural. Closing one eye to focus better on his surroundings, he noticed a group of small houses in the distance on a big hill, and people. Kids, running and playing. Adults, watching and laughing. This couldn't of been another trick, right...?
      As soon as he had adjusted to the beautiful and bright region, he heard a loud thud as pain shot through him like a bullet. He crumpled to the ground, shocked.
       "Who are you, shuck-face?!" Newt somehow still recognized the familiar voice of his old friend, Minho. He's truly here, Newt thought, a new warmth rising to his heart.
     "Mi-" Newt grunted as best as he could through the searing pain.
     "Slim it, shuck face! I'm taking you..." Minho dropped the rolling pin that he had used to whack Newt, an interesting weapon of choice.

      "Newt? Is that you...?"