Juliet's eyes widened with fear when she heard the familiar sound of the Bergs.

" Juliet, what's wrong?" Newt asked when she noticed she looked shaken up. She didn't say anything, she was frozen in place and he looked in the direction she was looking at and his eyes widened when he saw the lights the Bergs that belonged to WICKED.

" What are they doing here?" Frypan's eyes widened as he looked at the Berg.

" Do you know why?" Minho glanced over at Juliet and she quickly shook her head. " N-no. I don't know."

Then she realized something that made her feel like she and the others were betrayed. " Teresa."

" What about Teresa?" Minho asked with confusion laced in his voice.

" She was the one who must've called them." Juliet replied, worried for what was going to happen as the two Bergs moved closer to the base. " She's the only other one besides Thomas and Mary here who worked with WICKED. I know Thomas and Mary would've called them and I didn't think that Teresa would've either, but I guess I'm wrong about that."

The four of them ran back down to the base just as there was a bomb shot at them. Another bomb was shot at a different point of the base and now half of the base was on fire.

The four of them found Aris, Harriet and Sonya and they followed where Vince and Mary were leading them to.  WICKED shot at one of the guys that were running with them and Mary ran over to him. Vince followed her, trying to pull her away, but they were backed up by WICKED. Minho and Frypan hid behind some barrels while Juliet and Newt hid behind two other barrels that were near them. 

" Where's Thomas?" Frypan asked.

" I don't know." Juliet replied as she looked around for him.

" Harriet, ammo!" Vince told her as he shot at one of the WICKED men.

" Vince! Harriet!" Minho called out, noticing that they were nearby and the four of them ran over to where they were at which was difficult since bullets were being shot at them and fire was everywhere.

" How can we help?" Minho asked them.

" You need to cover us!" Harriet replied as she lifted a box of ammo was set at his feet and she unloaded into Vince's gun he was using.

" Do you know how to use this thing?" Vince asked as he handed the gun he had to Minho who nodded. " Cover me!" he told Minho.

Minho went to the back of the truck to shoot while Newt was also handed a gun. Newt went to the back of the truck as well while Frypan and Juliet were given guns to use in front of the truck. Juliet had to admit she never used a gun a day in her life so she was a little confused at first, but after seeing the others using it she quickly got the hang of it.

She hated how it seemed like there were more WICKED than there was of them. Each time they shot at a WICKED security, another one was there.

Everyone was panicking, trying to get to safer places away from WICKED and the fire. Juliet could see WICKED guard's hiding behind different things to protect themselves from their bullets before they went to shoot at them.

As he looked at his gun after shooting a bullet, Frypan announced, " I'm out!"

Juliet heard a beeping noise off in the distance and she knew what it was. " Guys, look out! They're gonna throw a bomb at us!" she warned them as one of the WICKED security throw a bomb in their direction and it unfortunately landed in the back of the truck Vince was standing on.

Before she knew it, the weapon was activated which was when she let out a scream of pain whenever she felt electricity all over her body as she fell to the ground, the same thing happening with the others.

All of them were out cold almost instantly, none of them being able to stop WICKED from walking towards them. The last thing she remembered was hoping that Thomas was safe wherever he was before she went unconscious.

Each of them woke up around the same time, seeing that they were now in the hands of WICKED which feared Juliet. Everyone was arranged into rows that didn't have a pattern, but the groups were indeed organized by age, a kid that was in the maze, or a Right Arm solider. Juliet didn't belong in the maze or the Right Arm solider category, but she was put on the left side of Minho anyways.

She didn't even realize how afraid she was until she jumped when something barely touched her arm. She looked over realizing it was only Minho trying to get her attention.

He looked at her with concern. " Are you okay?"

She could only nod, not being able to say anything and looked down whenever Janson walked over.

" How many did we get?" he asked the guy that was writing stuff down as he looked at everyone they got.

" All of them. Give or take." the guy answered.

" Give or take what?" Janson looked over the rows of people as the guy replied with, " Well, they lost a few."

Juliet glanced over her shoulder and noticed a WICKED guard standing behind Minho. Minho tried getting the guy off of him, but the guard succeeded as he scanned the back of Minho's neck.

" A-4." he announced to the guy in front that was writing stuff down.

Juliet's nerves grew as the guy moved behind her which also confused her since she thought she wasn't tagged. The guy moved her hair to the side as he scanned the back of her neck. " A-0." he announced and moved off to scan the others.

She could feel eyes on her and she knew her friends were probably just as confused as she was. She wasn't in any maze, she worked with WICKED. Why was she tagged?

She looked up, not liking that Janson was standing in front of her and looking directly at her when he asked, " Where's Thomas?"

Juliet stayed quiet, never going to tell him because she wanted Thomas could be safe. She only glared at Janson, showing her hatred for him. Everything was silent for a moment, the only sound heard was of the Bergs and some of the WICKED's guards announcing who the kid's were.

" Right here." the voice of the person she wished didn't give himself up said, walking out of his hiding place, with his hands up in defense while WICKED's guards aimed their guns at him.

" Go!" one of the guards demanded, roughly pushing Thomas down the aisle between kids and adults that were at the base. He was pushed forward until he was standing in front of Janson and Juliet feared of what was going to happen next.

" Thomas." Janson said and Juliet hated the smile that was on his face. Her eyes widened when Janson pushed him to the ground. She noticed that Vince went to move forward, probably to tackle Vince, but a WICKED guard pushed him back on his knees.

" Get him in line." Janson demanded and one of the soldiers pulled Thomas up. He was then shoved to his knees besides Juliet. He looked over at her, his face full of worry and concern and she sent him a small smile, hoping to ease his nerves.

" Okay." Janson smiled and then walked over to the guy that was still standing in front. " Bring her in." he told him.

" Why didn't you run?" Minho asked Thomas.

Thomas shook his head as he replied with, " I'm tired of running."

Then suddenly there was a bright light above them and Juliet looked up along with the others, seeing the Berg flying to them.

Everyone was quiet as the Berg landed and it opened, revealing four WICKED soldiers, who began to walk forward with Ava Paige following them. The soldiers and Mrs. Paige walked forward until Ava was standing besides Janson. " Is this all of them?" she asked as she glanced around at everyone.

" Most of them." Janson replied and Ava stared at him, not that happy that they didn't get all of them. He nodded as he tried to reassure her, " It'll be enough."

Ava was silent for a few seconds before she nodded and told him, " Start loading them in."

" Yes, ma'am." Janson nodded and began ordering soldiers to load them in. Juliet frowned as she watched multiple people being shoved in the Berg. She looked over her right shoulder, not liking the solider that was standing near them. She bit her lower lip as Thomas was forced to stand up and was shoved forward, now standing in front of Ava.

" Hello, Thomas." Ava greeted.

Juliet looked over when Teresa walked over. She honestly wasn't surprised that Teresa was working with them, but she did feel betrayed. " I'm glad you're safe." Ava tells Teresa while Juliet slowly stands up along with Minho and Newt.

" Wait, what's going on?" Newt asked and Juliet knew that the others were more surprised than she was. She could easily tell that by their expressions and she felt bad for them since they've been through a lot with Teresa and then Teresa stabs them in the back only for a stupid cure that might work.

" She's with them." Thomas answered and Juliet could tell that he was angry. Minho and Newt looked over at him with wide eyes.

" Since when?" Minho asked.

" Oh," Janson walked over to them. " Teresa has always had an evolved appreciation for the greater good. Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time."

Juliet knew she wasn't the only one that felt betrayed as she glanced at her friend's faces. " I'm sorry." Teresa apologized as she looked at them and it looked like she really was sorry. " I had no choice. This is the only way. We have to find a cure."

" She's right." Ava agreed. " This is all just a means to an end."

She then looked over at Thomas. " You used to understand that, Thomas." she said before she looked over at Juliet, who was standing between Thomas and Minho. " You too, Juliet."

" No matter what you think of me, I am not a monster. I am a doctor. I swore an oath to find a cure!" Ava told them. " No matter the cost."

Ava was silent for a moment before she said, " I just need more time."

" More blood." a different voice announced and everyone looked over to see it was Mary who said that.

" Hello, Mary." Ava said to her. " I'd hope we meet again. I'm sorry it had to be under these circumstances."

" I'm sorry about a lot of things too, but not this." Mary shook her head. " At least my conscience is clear."

Juliet hated the stone cold look Ava had and she had to admit it gave her chills. " So is mine." Ava said and Juliet's eyes widened as she let out a gasp whenever Mary got hit with a bullet.

" Mary? Mary!" Vince asked as he tried to get the soldiers that were holding him back to get off of him. He ran forward after getting the soldiers off of him as Mary fell to her knees with a look of shock on her face.

As Mary fell backwards Vince caught her while he sat on the ground with her upper body in his lap, trying to get Mary to stay awake. Once he realized that Mary was gone, he laid her body on the ground and glared at Janson when he saw Janson was holding a gun that killed Mary.

" Come on, Janson." Ava said to him as he put his gun away in his jacket. " Load them up. Let's go." she said while grabbing Teresa's arm, pulling her with them as Teresa stared back at them with wide eyes, not thinking that would happen.

Juliet's heartbeat increased, her nerves growing as she watched soldiers began to drag Vince away. She frowned, tears starting to form in her eyes when she noticed Sonya and Aris being guided to the Berg.

" Sonya! Aris!" Harriet called out and stepped forward, wanting to do something to get them.

" Sonya!" Newt called out, a frown etched on his face and he went to move towards his sister, not wanting her to be takening away, but Minho stopped him

She tensed and stayed frozen in fear whenever she felt a hand grab her arm. She only looked into Thomas' eyes seeing that he was just afraid as she was. Everything happened so fast. A solider went to grab Thomas, but he quickly got out of his grasp, getting something out of his pocket and she realized it was a bomb that they had back at the mountains.

" Get back! Everyone, stand back!" Thomas demanded as he showed the bomb to everyone, threatening to press the button as soldiers aim their guns at him.

The soliders that were guiding Sonya and Aris to the Berg stopped. Juliet was thankful that the solider that was behind her went away and so she moved closer to her friends as they stayed a few feet away behind where Thomas was standing.

" Hold your fire!" Janson yelled to the soldiers as he ran in front of them while Ava walked over.

" Let 'em go." Thomas told them, referring to the others that they put in the Berg.

" Thomas, put it down." Janson said to him as he raised a hand out, but that didn't stop Thomas.

" Let 'em all go!" Thomas exclaimed.

" You know I can't do that!" Ava sighs and Teresa walks over so now she's standing besides Ava.

" Thomas, please stop." Teresa pleads and Thomas glanced over at her. " I made a deal with them. They promised we'd be safe. All of us."

Even though Juliet wanted to believe, she didn't. Thomas rolled his eyes. " And I'm supposed to trust you now?"

" It's true." Ava chimes in. " It was her only condition."

" Shut up!" Thomas yells, not wanting to believe this.

" Everything can go back to the way it was. Thomas..." Ava steps forward after glancing at Thomas' friends as she continues to speak. " do you really want all of them to die?"

" Listen to her, Thomas." Janson speaks up. " Think about what you're doing."

Thomas was silent as he breathed heavily, not really knowing what he should do. Juliet shared a look with Minho, Newt and Frypan before the four of them walk over to Thomas. She stands on the other side of Thomas with Frypan while Minho and Newt stand on his right side. Thomas looks back at them with surprise.

" We're with you, Thomas." Newt told him as he nodded.

Thomas glanced at each of them before looking at Juliet last. Even though he didn't say anything, she knew that he was wondering if they were sure about this. She nodded and sent him a small smile to try and reassure him. " We're sure about this, Thomas."

" No." Teresa breathed while she started to get tearful. Ava shook her head, her own eyes starting to get misty. " Don't."

" Do it, Thomas." Minho says and Frypan nodded. " We're ready."

" We're not going back there." Thomas tells Ava and Janson.

Ava stared at him with worry. " Thomas?"

" It's the only way." Thomas replied and with a shaky had he the device that would signal the bomb. Juliet closed her eyes shut as she waited for the explosion.

" Thomas!" Ava suddenly yells with her arm reaching out.

Juliet only opened her eyes whenever she heard a truck horn blaring and she looked over with furrowed brows. The others opened their eyes and looked over with confusion.

Everyone was surprised to see a truck rushing towards them, running over stuff that was in the way and they could hear someone yelling. Juliet smiled whenever she realized it was Jorge.

Her eyes grew wide when the truck drove into one of the Bergs and they both knocked over. Everyone fell backward whenever they landed on the ground, debris of one of the Bergs,flying everywhere and that was when things went back into chaos.

Thomas was on the ground as he looked around at everyone running and WICKED soldiers grabbing kids, guiding them to the Berg. As Newt helped Juliet off of the ground Thomas moved over to them, looking panicked.

" You good?" Minho asked him.

" Freeze! Drop it, kid!" a WICKED solider yelled, aiming his gun at Thomas. Juliet raised an eyebrow, but looked down at Thomas' hand seeing that the bomb had been turned on. She backed up along with the others as Thomas threw the bomb at the soldiers.

" Run! Get down!" Thomas tells his friends as he runs to the side and get down on the ground.

Juliet was in the middle of running with the others when she was knocked to the ground from the explosion. It was hard to see because of the smoke, but she felt a hand grab hers and help pull her up. She started to panicked, but calmed down seeing it was Minho.

Once she was up, she was running with Newt and Frypan while Minho shot at some of the soldiers with the gun he had. She started worrying about where Thomas was, but let out a breath of relief she didn't know she was holding when Thomas came running over to them.

" Come on, Thomas! We gotta get out of here!" Minho told him.

" Minho, let's go!" Thomas said to him after looking back over his shoulder seeing Minho wasn't following them yet. Minho looked back at him as he was reloading the gun.

" Get out of here, go!" Minho told him and Juliet frowned, not wanting to leave him behind.

She made the mistake of slowing down, wanting to make sure that Minho would follow them, but then she felt someone grab her arms. " Let go of me!" she yelled as she struggled to get out of the WICKED soldier's grasp.

" Juliet!" Thomas yelled with fear in his eyes when he saw a WICKED soldier had her. He went to rush over to her, but Newt pulled him down behind the crate he and Frypan were hiding behind.

" I have to get her!" Thomas told him as he peeked out above the crate to see that now the soldier was on the ground, knocked out and Juliet smiled in victory. Juliet ducked as bullets were being shot at her way and she started moving to where Thomas and the others were at.

She heard the sound of Minho's scream and looked over with wide eyes when she saw him get hit with the electricity gun. " Minho!" she heard Thomas yell the same time she did as Minho fell to the ground.

She then felt hands grab her arms again and she began to struggle out of the guard's grasp. Her fear increased and she didn't stop struggling as the guard began to drag her towards the Berg.

" No, I won't forget him! Not again!" she didn't want to forget Thomas. She didn't want to forget anyone again.

She already has once and she knows if she went back to WICKED they would make her forget about him and everyone else again. She kicked and pulled away, trying her hardest get out of the guard's grip, but he was much stronger than her.

That was when she felt an awful pain surge through her body. Her legs gave out causing her to fall to the ground while Thomas screamed her name. Thomas wanted to go over to pick her up, he wanted to protect her so bad, but a guard came towards Juliet, picked her up and began carrying her unconscious body to the Berg.

Thomas had enough of watching. The least he could do was try and get her back. He tried to run after her which ended him running into the line of fire. " No! Tommy, get back!" Newt yelled as he rushed after Thomas.

Grabbing onto Thomas' arms, Newt stopped him from running into the Berg and instead pulled him back. They hid behind some barrels as Newt said to Thomas, " They took Minho, too, okay? I want to save them, but if we try, they'll get us too!"

Thomas knew that Newt was right, but he hated that he was going to lose her and just when they confessed their feelings to each other. Just when things were starting to get good, WICKED had to come and ruin it.

He stood between Newt and Jorge, staring at the Berg with fear and sadness, knowing that he just lost his girlfriend and one of his best friends. The Berg's door lifted until it was sealed, trapping everyone that was inside. Once the Berg lifted off the ground, the wind picked up and made its way back to the WICKED compound.

****

The next day was different without a lot of them gone. Thomas couldn't stop thinking about Juliet. He felt like it was his fault she got taken away. He could've done something. He could've did better at keeping her safe.

There weren't that many left. The aftermath from the night before was sad to look at. There were dead bodies, debris and broken stuff everywhere. Thomas was packing up his bag as Jorge walked over and sat down besides where Brenda was sitting near Thomas was at. 

" What do we do now?" Frypan wondered out loud.

Everyone was silent for a moment and it was obvious everyone was still upset from what happened the night before.

" Well," Vince spoke up. " we pick up what's left of us. We stick to the plan. We get you kids to the safe haven." he stood up as he picked up his gun and sighed as he looked at what was left of the base. " Then we start over, I guess."

Thomas shook his head, making up his mind of what he was going to do as he stood up and put the bag strap over his shoulders. " I'm not going with you." he announced and everyone looked at him.

" What?" Vince asked in disbelief.

" I made a promise to Minho. I wouldn't leave him behind." Thomas explained as he held onto the strap of his bag that was over his shoulders. He let out a shaky breath and then said, " And I made a promise to myself that I would always protect Juliet and I broke that promise last night."

He looked at each of them, hoping they would understand that he had to do this. " I have to go after both of them."

Newt and Frypan stood up while Vince spoke about how WICKED just kicked their butts. " Just think about where you're heading."

Thomas shrugs his shoulders. " I'm not asking anyone to come with me."

" Thomas, listen to me." Newt stepped forward. " I've known Minho for..well, as long as I can remember. Even though I haven't known Juliet for that long, I feel like I've known her for a long time. And my sister was taken by WICKED. I haven't seen her in I don't even know how many years and then WICKED takes her away from me."

" So, if there is any way that we could help them...trust me, I would be there with you standing next to you." Newt continued to speak. " This, what you're talking about...is impossible."

Jorge and Brenda walked over to them as Jorge chimed in, " More like suicide."

Thomas looked over at him, but then shrugged his shoulders as he nodded. " Maybe."

" But I know what I'm supposed to do now." he said as he picked up his gun and put the strap of the gun over his shoulder. " It's not just about Minho, Juliet, or even Sonya and Aris. It's about all of us. It's about everyone that WICKED's ever taken away, everyone they will take."

" They'll never stop." Thomas shakes his head. " They'll never stop. So, I'm gonna stop them. I'm gonna kill Ava Paige."

" I have to admit..." Harriet speaks up as she looks over at Vince who looks at her. " I'd like some revenge."

" Well, that's a good speech, kid." Vince commented.

He looked over at Thomas and asked, " So, what's your plan?"

A/N I can't believe I'm done with this book!! I honestly teared up a little bit writing the scene where Minho & Juliet gets taken away. Idk why, but I always tear up during that scene in the scorch trials. I hope you guys liked this book & don't worry there will be one more book for sure!! don't forget to check out some of my other books!