Leo 5

I wake up, and the universe is still and quiet. Only the soft huff of Dawn's breathing fills the morning air. Even Ella has stilled to a quiet. Since there is no window, I can't tell if it is night, or morning, or sometime in between. I think I misplaced my watch.

The world has come to a still. I exist in a place that no one else has existed before and will ever exist again.

It's odd. As I crawl out of bed, I realise my arms are sturdier than they've ever been before. They tense, lifting me out of the scratchy sheets. My feet shuffle along the ground as I walk to the next room. The doorknob is cold in my hands, colder than my bare feet. I turn, the sound awakening the day.

In the room next to ours, there is a man, who wasn't here before, sitting at a desk, that wasn't here before. He's reading a book.

I slink into the wall behind me trying to blend in with the shadows of the dimly lit room. He cocks an eyebrow at the sound of me shuffling.

"Take an apple," he instructs, without lifting his eyes from the page. Carefully holding it closer to his face, he inspects the words.

There is a table in front of him, loaded with food. I take a step forward towards it, and the bowl of fruit in the center of it. There are bags of nuts, granola bars, and all different kinds of food I've never seen in the Glade but recognize from the time before it. Not that I remember those days. My mouth waters at the memory of chocolate.

"I thought you would be early risers. I planned on being here an hour early, but you're the first awake with only half an hour to spare." He still doesn't look up, not even to glance at the silver watch on his wrist. It is thick, and heavy, and nothing like the watches we have.

I take a step closer to him, but he interrupts me. "Just take an apple. Don't try to grab the desk. There is an invisible forcefield. Eat something and wake up your friends."

I back away, turning to head back into our room. My hand wraps around the doorknob.

"Try to see if Ella is awake," when he says the words, I feel myself shudder. "I've missed her."

I run into the bedroom, glancing over at Ella. She continues to turn in her bed, sleeping. Untouched. I climb up to the top bunk, grabbing Dawn's shoulder and shaking her awake.

"Lee," she groans, stirring. She slowly sits up, shoving her hands at me. I climb back down to the ground. "Can't I sleep in for shucking once?"

"No," I tell her, my voice firm and steady. She can't sleep in.

I hear Michelle shifting in her bed, and when I look over to Teresa, she is already completely upright, staring at me. Her hair is a mess around her head, but her eyes are wide awake.

"There is a man here," I tell the girls, peering around at them. I wait for them to freak out, or react or anything. "He's waiting in the next room. He brought food, and he's going to tell us what's happening. I think."

"Who is he?" Dawn asks, finally shuffling around in her bed. She leans off the bunk bed, trying to get a better look out the door.

"He's got to be with WICKED," Teresa chimes in. "He's going to help us."

Michelle scoffs. I expect her to be rolling her eyes, but instead she is rubbing them, trying to peel herself out of bed. Every movement is agonizingly slow.

"We need to get up and get moving." I tell them, looking around. "I'll get Harriet."

I chose to ignore Ella. I move out the room, into the foyer, and then into the next.

I haven't been in this room while the girls slept. The door stops when I bump into someone.

"Shucking watch it," I don't know the girl who mutters. I've been so distracted with Ella, I've only been talking to Dawn these last few days. I barely remember yesterday.

"There's a man here," I tell her, looking around the room

"Stuck, really?" She sits up, shimmying out of her sleeping bag. She smacks a couple of the bags next to her, trying to wake up other people.

When she steps into the light, I feel like I recognize her. She has dark black hair, pillowing around her, and warm skin.

"You just gonna stand there, stick?" She demands, pushing past me to look out the door.

"I have a name," I tell her.

"Yeah, I know," she is distracted, moving about the room. She gently kicks every girl she passes, causing them to grumble and mutter. No one else uses an expletive though, oddly enough. "You're Leo. I'm Hilde. I thought you'd've remembered."

I didn't, but now I do. Her and the lock-picker, Rose, got into a fight two days ago.

"Wake up," Hilde moves over, shaking Harriet. "There's some stick outside."

"That's a load," Harriet mutters. "You're dreaming. Leave me shucking alone."

"I saw him with my shucking bare eyes. I think he's with WICKED." Hilde persists, and Harriet reluctantly pulls herself upright.

"WICKED?" Another girl asks from around the corner. She's the girl I think is their Med-jack. Marie, I think. She's the one with the insulin.

Harriet is up on her feet, moving out the door. Sonya is quick to follow, and soon all the girls are up and moving out of the door. I manage to make my way through the crowd, catching up to Harriet. "Don't touch his desk."

"Why not?" Rose pushes past me, moving for the man. She's a foot away from the desk when she smashes backwards, flying backwards and falling through the group of girls gathering behind her.

I move down on to the ground, pushing my way through the crowd. Rose lies on her back, her eyes fluttering open and close. Her nose is bleeding, and she holds a hand against it.

"I don't need your help," she picks herself up off the ground, her joints moving slowly. Hilde is giggling behind us.

"You have 23 minutes before I can implement Phase 2 of the Trials," the man behind the desk sighs. "So, if you'll take advantage of this time to eat, that would be wonderful."

At once, the girls see the table of food, and are besides themselves as they push over to access it. I hang back, moving over to the group from my Glade, who've already been able to access it. Dawn grabs my shoulder, pulling me back. She offers me an apple. As I take a bite, I notice Michelle is holding a wet cloth to her nose.

She notices my glance and rolls her eyes. "So, what?"

Dawn nudges her and winks, before chucking some nuts back into her mouth. "See, Rose's doesn't look so bad in comparison.

"Slim it," Michelle mutters, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

"At least we can eat," Teresa, the eternal optimist, offers. "I don't think he means us harm."

"Yeah, yeah," Michelle rolls her eyes. "The last thing you wrote on your arm was WICKED is good or whatever."

"I believe that," Teresa tells her, though she doesn't elaborate as to why.

When the crowd has died down, I make my way over to the food. I take three bananas and bring them to Ella. I place them under her bed. Before he died, Jeff taught me a way to feed the unconscious. I don't know if it will work, since I'm lacking pretty much every tool I need, but I'm willing to try.

I'll come back for her later. Leaving the room, I turn my attention back to the food on the table. I take a couple crackers and some grapes for myself. The crackers are firm and hard against my teeth, and the grapes are bruised. Here, the food isn't right. Something about it is off. Honestly, I would prefer to eat Fry's food, which is saying something.

"Why are you here?" Dawn calls across the room.

The man behind the desk doesn't bother casting an eye towards her. "I need to wait to provide you with information."

Dawn is frustrated with this answer, but she sits down against the ground anyway. I feel badly for her since she is stuck between Teresa and Michelle. Although, the two seem to be getting on more than not lately. Still, she is caught between a rock and a hard place.

We wait in silence. Eventually, I am so full that I can't imagine ever eating again. Michelle has barely eaten, but I don't remember the last time I saw her eat. She's grown thin too, now that I'm looking at her. Her skin is hollow, and so are her cheeks. They used to be so full.

"There we are," the man drops a folder on the table. Finally revealing his face to us. He is younger than I was expecting. Especially given the position he holds.

There is a hush that falls on the room as he speaks. No one dares argue against him. The same feeling was in the air when Harriet spoke to the group. No one offered her a shred of doubt. They reward this man with the same grace.

"So, as you may have surmised, you are not the only Glade," he glances down over the files, his eyes raking over them. I can make on small lines of texts from here, but they aren't thick enough to read. "You had more success than the other group as well. 31 to their 25. Over half of you lived, which is impressive."

He glances across us, his eyes lingering on me.

"Now, much of what happened to you was to analyse the patterns in your brains," he notes. "More specifically, your responses to stimuli in the killzone. Your group was very good at providing us with that, since you had so many run ins with Grievers. Perhaps that is why more of you survived. That's up for further analysis before we can come to any conclusion.

"But, your data has helped us move forward towards the greatest achievement in medicinal history. And, we still have more situations to test out. Still more variables to present, and soon enough you will be rewarded. You will have saved the human race."

I wait for anyone to interrupt, to scream at him for watching their slaughter, but the girls remain silent. Dawn is building in anger beside me. I imagine this conversation, only with our friends by our side. Minho bursting into flames, providing a welcomed distraction for Dawn. Newt, holding my hand as firmly as I want to hold his. Squeezing his aching heart into mine.

The girls don't seem fazed. What happened to them when they went through the Changing?

"I work with WICKED," he states the obvious. "Which may sound menacing, but is just an acronym. World in Catastrophe: Killzone Experiment Department. We are searching for the cure to the Flare. The bodies that were hanging are an example of our abilities, as they were not real, as I'm sure you've surmised. Sometimes the things you see will not exist, and vice versa, due to our programming. Most of that is behind you, in Phase One.

"And now we move to Phase Two, which is where things beginning to become difficult." He instructs, carefully looking across the crowd. "You have been rewarded with the more complex task of the two, as your group has the most survivors. You must cross the Scorch in exactly two weeks. It is one hundred miles long, the Safe Haven is due North, but I am sure you can manage. Over the course of this time, Group A will be instructed do the same. Simultaneously, you must track them down, and kill a member of their group."

He freezes, staring me down. Who is he going to say? Anybody in particular? Is that it? Do we have to decide who dies? I don't like this, at all. We can't just kill somebody.

"And if we don't?" Dawn stands up, moving closer to the man, He doesn't flinch as she stands only inches above his desk. "Then what?"

"You all have the Flare," he tells us. "A disease which has ravaged the earth. I am sure you have already met many who suffer from the disease. Cranks, as we call them. Past the mountains, there is the Safe Zone. At the end of the two weeks, if the boy is dead and you are there, we will give you the Cure. If not, you will die."

"Who is the boy?" Dawn presses forward.

The man leans forward on his desk. "Thomas."

I am ashamed at the relief that washes over me. Only then, do I realise that I was begging for it not to be Newt. Part of me didn't care who it was outside of that.

Still, I want nothing to do with Thomas's death. I know him, only a bit, but well. Maybe better than any of the other girls.

"I have outlined how to capture him, so listen carefully. Tomorrow, you will arrive in the Scorch. You will be navigating your way through the underground tunnels. On the first night, Teresa alone will go and meet Thomas in a building. It will be marked for you to find. Her job is to make him feel as if he could be safe. Then, you will not have contact until the tenth night. Then, you will kidnap him on the tenth morning. By our calculations, you should be well into the mountain by then. Make sure to bag him until he is out of Group A's sight. There will be a special place on the North side of the mountain to kill him."

"At 6 AM tomorrow, a flat trans will appear." He tells us, gesturing to the wall behind him. "It will appear to be a wall of shimmering grey. You have five minutes to cross it. Anyone who does not will be promptly executed. Understand?"

The girls nod, but I can't find myself to agree.

"Perfect," he stands up, cracking his shoulders. "If you'll excuse me, I will have to be on my way. I am late for Group A."

He crosses the desk, before sending me a look. "And Leo."

My heart stops beating.

"I know you will not remember this for some time," he tells me, "but I must thank you for facilitating this. Many will live due to your co-operation. Make sure to tell Ellie I say hello, and tell her I am sorry for her loss."

As he finishes the sentence, the screen before him fills with white smoke, and then he is gone.

He left nothing in his place.

Michelle glances over at me, and I shake my head. "I've got no idea what he's talking about."

It seems this is a satisfactory answer. Not just for her either, since the rest of the room goes about its business after that.

Dawn stumbles forward, glancing around the room. She doesn't seem to believe what she has witnessed.

"We aren't killing Thomas." She tells us. "We can't."

"I'm good for it," Michelle yawns, standing up.

"Who's Thomas?" Harriet asks, moving in.

Words are whipped violently around the room, becoming a blur.

"All y'all sticks calm!" Harriet shouts, sticking a hand up in the air.

Bodies migrate against the walls, as girls grumble. I don't follow suit, and I don't think I'm expected too. Harriet runs a tight ship. They lived because they are all obedient to her, and the operate as one body, with one will.

We have fewer, because we killed each other. From Ben, to Jackson.

"Now, who is Thomas?" Harriet asks.

"He came before me," Teresa offers. I let her have the floor. "He was my partner. He helped design the Maze."

"We have to kill him to live," Harriet glances back over at Dawn. She crosses her arms over her chest. "Why shouldn't we?"

"He saved our lives," Dawn looks around. "Multiple times. He spent a night in the Maze, and he didn't die."

Whispers erupt all around us. Harriet glances at those around her.

"Stuck," she says.

"Thomas is evil," Teresa cuts in. Her face is still and calm. She doesn't make eye-contact with me, or maybe with anyone. Firmly, she speaks. "He hurt me."

Dawn spins, turning to face Teresa. Her face has gone red, frowning and then still, frowning and then vacant. Over and over. "What did he do?"

Teresa won't make eye contact with us. She won't speak.

"Teresa," I begin, stepping closer.

She backs away. "I don't want to talk about it. But, if we have to kill Thomas to live, we should do it sooner than later."