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"Hey, Zee." A boy who thought he was about 9 years old greeted when he saw a girl who he thought was about 7 years old awake.

The girl suddenly smiled when she saw who it was. "Thomas."

Thomas helped her to sit on her bed. She just looked around. They are in a room that is not that big; there are two beds, the walls and ceiling are grey, there are metal doors in front, and there are also two small drawers next to the beds.

"Is it true that we're really safe here?" Zelia asked. Is she tripping her own eyes or what she saw was true when she noticed sadness in Thomas's eyes, but it immediately disappeared, and he smiled at her.

"Of course! You saw the kids our same age, didn't you? It means we're not the only two here. We're safe from the monsters." Hearing this, Zelia smiled and hugged the man tightly.

"You are really the best brother in the world." She heard Thomas laugh softly, and he hugged her back.

"I know I'm always the best."

The memory shifted, the grey room dissolving, and suddenly she was older, maybe twelve. Zelia is on the roof, but another young man is with her. Instead of Thomas, who's talking to her, the guy looks like an Asian. She thinks that he and her older brother are the same age.

"You really won't stop talking to me?" The young man asked as he just looked in front of him where the city lights could be seen.

"Nope! You're the only one who isn't my friend here. I've talked to Newt, Tucker, Sonya, Kendrix, Harriet, Rachel, everyone here. Why are you avoiding me? Thomas won't hurt you anyway," Zelia said, looking at the young man while poking his arm.

He rolled his eyes, but he just let the girl do what she was doing while still looking straight ahead. "He looks intimidating though; I think if I speak to you, he's ready to punch me. I guess your brother has a grudge against me."

Zelia laughed softly, causing the man's heart to beat faster. He tried his best not to show it, and he just wished that his companion didn't notice it somehow.

"Minho, that's just how Thomas is, but he doesn't just punch you for no reason. For sure, he just doesn't want to show it to you, but he also wants to be your friend."

Minho felt strange when he heard how Zelia said his name. He combed his hair using his left hand to calm himself and looked at her as his heart sank even more. She was smiling at him while still looking at him.

"I hope you're telling the truth about that."

The memory shifted again, and this time she was older still, 15 years old, she thinks. She's back again in the grey room, but this time is different. An all-black guard was holding her arm while it was wearing a mask, and she saw Thomas screaming and struggling as the two guards held him.

"No! You promise me that he doesn't have to go there!" Thomas shouted at a man and a woman in front of them, both in white suits.

"Things have changed. She has potential to be our Candidates and Variables. She's smart like you, Thomas," said a woman with blonde hair.

"No! I did what you wanted to do! I built the Maze even though I don't want to! You make me watch our friends dying! You can't let her be sent to that place!" Thomas still shouted while still trying to get close to his younger sister, who was now confused.

"Thomas, we need her, they need her. She will be the reason why both of your friends will be alive until the end." The man said they call him Rat-Man because of his big nose. Minho came up with the name.

"But you promised me that he doesn't have to go to that place! How many times have you told me that if I do what you want, she won't leave this place!" Thomas shouted as his tears gradually came out.

Zelia's heart was broken by what she saw because she could not see her brother like this. She is aware that he always protects her, no matter what happens. But she realized who will protect Thomas if only the two of them are left and their parents are gone?

Zelia took a deep breath before looking at the blonde-haired woman. "I'll do it. Send me to that place."

She felt that the three looked at him, especially Thomas. The woman was about to speak when suddenly the girl spoke again. "But in one condition. Don't make him do that he don't want like you all did to the Maze."

Zelia saw how the woman smiled. "Very well said, Zelia."

"Get her to the room where we start the procedure," Rat-Man said. They were about to leave when Thomas suddenly spoke.

"Wait! Let me come with you. It's fine with me if you tie me a rope or anything, but let me come. This is the last day we see each other again, so please. Let me say a proper goodbye to her." The two adults looked at each other before nodding and leaving the room.

The memory faded, and Zelia’s eyes snapped open, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath. She couldn't tell where she was now because her vision was blurry. Am I dead?

But in a few minutes, her vision gradually returned to normal, and she saw the familiar ceiling. She's in her room.

She tried to remember what happened to her before she passed out. Alby is awake, he remembers something, the Maze door isn't closing, Griever stung her, Teresa called her, and she passed out. Wait, what?

She slowly sat up and looked at her right leg to see where she was stung. She saw that her pants were torn at the bottom, which was obviously cut by someone to see her wound. She can no longer see blood, but it is left as a scar. She touched it and winced, not because of the pain but because of how awful it looked.

Zelia looked up when the door opened, and she saw Minho. When the young man saw her awake, he immediately came inside the room and sat next to her to hold her left arm.

"Have you been awake? Newt called me to say that Thomas is awake." He explains. It was obvious to the young man that he was worried for the girl.

"I just woke up. What happened?" Zelia asked and saw how Minho pursed his lips. It's like he doesn't want to say what happened.

He took a deep breath before speaking. "We survived the sudden entry of the Grievers into the Glade. Thanks to you actually, all the Gladers can fight back to protect themselves. But..."

"But what?" Zelia asked as he stopped talking and Minho just looked at her for a few minutes. He gave her a gentle squeeze on her arm before he continued.

"We lost 13 people. Including...Alby." Zelia seemed to be deafened by what she heard. Her tears began to fall because he didn't expect them to lose their leader. Alby? How? Why?

"He saved Chuck from the Griever. Alby hit it with wood several times when he noticed the Griever's needle, planning to stab Chuck. And he successfully removed the needle; that's why it released Chuck. We thought it was gone, but the Griever took Alby. Thomas tried his best to save Alby too, but it's too late. They took him."

Not noticing that Zelia's tears started to fall one after the other, she felt Minho hug her to calm her down. If she had never been stung by the Griever, is there a chance that Alby would be alive today? How about the other people? They lost them. Will anything change if she did something more useful?

Just thinking about what happened to them only hurts her more. She couldn't save her friends. They were also silent for a few minutes, Minho let Zelia cry on his arms in silent while caressing her back to calm her down.

"Thomas is my older brother," Zelia said unconsciously while she and Minho were still hugging each other. She felt that the young man kissed her hair before he pulled away from their hug and looked at her.

"I know. Thomas told us everything he remembered." Zelia frowned and noticed that there were no tears coming out of her eyes. Minho wiped her cheek, seeing that it was still wet even though the girl was no longer crying.

"After the Griever took Alby, Thomas immediately went out to chase the Griever, but Gally met him. He gave Thomas a punch, so Newt and I immediately stopped Gally before he attacked Thomas again. He blamed Thomas because of what happened to us today—why someone died, why some Grievers entered the Glade, everything. Before we knew, Thomas stung himself using the needle that Alby removed from the Griever."

Minho explained, and Zelia didn't expect Gally to hurt someone. She knows that he has a grudge against Thomas, but not to the point that he will punch him.

"How am I still alive?" The girl asked, and she felt the young man grab her left hand to caress the back of her hand.

"It turns out Teresa has three serums on her pocket. She used one on Alby then on both of you and Thomas. I thought I'm going to lose you too. I saw how Griever stung you. I ran faster, but thankfully, Teresa came back to help you get to the Homestead. But I saw that she's struggling; it's my hunch that you passed out. I immediately went to carry you inside the Homestead. Thankfully, they were there, Jeff and Clint, so they could look at your wound, and Teresa immediately gave the serum to the Med-jacks."

Somehow Zelia breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. Minho noticed that, so he gave her a smile and tightened his grip on her hand.

"Is there something I wanted to know more about?" Because of the young woman's question, the young man suddenly remembered something, so his face suddenly turned into a frown.

"Gally took Newt's place. He's the first-in-command now. They convince every Gladers, well aside from you, me, Newt, Teresa, and Chuck, how dangerous Thomas is. He told them that Teresa and Thomas need to be Banished."

"Banished?!" Zelia said in shock, and Minho nodded at her. "I mean, technically Thomas built the Maze, but he doesn't deserve that kind of punishment."

"We know that's why we have a plan."

"What plan?"

I just hope this is a good plan. My memories just came back; I don't want my brother to be gone from me again.