Thomas and Edward sat silently in a room by themselves in front of cameras. Thomas cradled his blue pendant in his hand, silently crying.

"You okay Tom?" Edward asked.

Thomas didn't answer. "How could I let this happen to him? How could I allow WICKED put him in that maze after everything we shared?"

Edward pressed his lips together and came over to hug him. "We're gonna think of something,"

Thomas held him tight. "I'm so glad you're here with me. I miss mum and dad. So much,"

Edward sniffled. "Me too. I think every day about that night we were given our new names. It's like we chose to forget them completely and pretend like our childhood never happened,"

He pulled back and wiped his tears away. They shared silent looks of guilt and regret. Their silence was interrupted by loud noises emitting from the holographic camera recordings. They turned and saw Minho and his partner Amelia sprinting through the mazes, avoiding closing walls and rising blocks.

Thomas frowned. "That's not supposed to happen until nightfall,"

"What is Ava doing?" Edward breathed. His respect-turned-repulse towards Ava began the day she sent Chuck up without him saying goodbye but what they were seeing made his resentment ever greater.

They watched the recordings for several minutes until to their shock, Amelia was separated from Minho by a wall of spinning blades and no matter how fast they were, they had no luck finding each other. To make matters worse, it was nearly nighttime and the gates to the Glade would close.

Minho would make it. But Amelia would be stuck there for the night. At that thought, Edward felt his insides twist from her getting eaten by Grievers. "I can't believe I invented them in the first place. I was stupid to think Ava would ensure they were harmful and they killed anyone who was stuck in there for the night,"

"She couldn't possibly allow them to hurt Amelia, could she?" Thomas asked.

"We can't trust Ava's intentions. We have to talk to her," Edward rushed out of the room, Thomas following after him.

Edward. Edward!

..........................................................................

Edward woke up with a jolt. Teresa was sitting above him. "Hey,"

"Hi,"

"You okay? You were having a very bad dream,"

Edward sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I'm fine,"

"You two love birds sleep well?" Chuck teased.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Chuck please stop it,"

"What? It's funny,"

"Not to me," he said, standing up. "Everyone awake?"

"I'm up," Aris popped up.

Minho, Frypan and Winston groggily sat up and rubbed their eyes. Once again Edward chuckled softly when he saw Newt and Thomas waking up next to each other. "Caught you two again,"

"Don't you start," Thomas warned getting up?

"He's right. Don't we have somewhere to get to?" Newt said already marching out of the shelter. Everyone moved out after having a careful sip of water. Edward stood back to make sure no one was tired and was left behind. Before he was about to leave, he saw a silver heart-shaped necklace. It was the same one which Minho treasured, the one that belonged to Amelia. He picked it up.

"Wait Minho. You dropped this," Edward picked up the necklace and looked for him. Minho turned around and was shocked. He took it. "Thanks," he shoved it into his pocket. "I don't know what I would have done if I had left it,"

"It was so generous of you to keep it. Why don't you wear it?"

"It wouldn't feel right,"

"Did you like Amelia?"

Minho was uncomfortable with his question.

"I understand you feel guilty. How do you think I felt about Alby?" he showed Alby's pendant around his neck. "Amelia would want you to wear it,"

"I can't," Minho said. "We'd better keep moving," he turned around and walked off with the others much to Edward's dejection. He walked up to his brother as the group continued the length of their journey. "Did you dream anything last night?" he asked.

"Not exactly,"

"I did,"

"What did you dream about?"

"I dreamed about you...wearing that pendant you have around your neck. And....back in the maze, Minho said there was a girl before Teresa,"

"Amelia," Thomas breathed.

Edward stared at him. "How do you know?"

"She appears in my head. Around Ava Paige,"

Edward pursed his lips and continued. "I dreamed...we were watching her on the cameras and Minho when they were running. They were separated and it was nearly nightfall. We knew she was going to get killed so we went to Ava Paige to try and reason with her. That's all I remember,"

"Mmm," Thomas wondered. "I know that girl is of importance to Ava but I just can't remember what it is. My memories are coming back slowly but it's unlikely I can get every single one. How are you getting them?"

"I think the Griever venom in my system's slowly helping me recap some. It won't last for very long though. l don't think,"

The conversation ended. The Gladers hiked across the endless stretches of sand for hours. Their water was used slowly and carefully.

At some point, Chuck collapsed from exhaustion. Edward decided to carry him and Frypan took his backpack.

Thomas still suffered frequent stings on his back from the tattoo on his neck but Newt kept an eye on him. As they walked close, Thomas clutched the pendant around his neck. He tilted his head and Newt and wondered if perhaps...He wanted to speak out his thoughts, but the guilt of the past bared down on him again like a heavy rock and he bit his tongue.

Soon the sky unexpectantly turned quite cloudy and it became cooler. The teens decided they would rest again for a few hours on the plains of sand which had turned flat and stiffer. Thomas laid his head down on his backpack not noticing Newt was resting near him. Edward allowed Chuck to sleep near him so he could keep him warm. Teresa lay down next to him too.

The only thing that echoed in the air around them was Chuck's snores. But weariness kept their eyes closed.

Thomas fidgeted in his sleep. Bad dreams floated around his mind again.

............................................................................................................

"Ava, please! You cannot allow the Grievers to kill her!" Thomas implored.

"I cannot disturb the experiment," Ava answered stubbornly.

"So that's it? You're going to let her die knowing full well you can do something about it?" Edward questioned repulsively.

"Ever since you took us in as your wards, you've doted on us more than any of the other kids here. And now you're allowing us to cooperate freely whilst your daughter is trapped in the Maze. Why?" Thomas demanded.

"Because I admired your father deeply," said Ava solemnly. As she spoke, the brothers detected a hint of guilt in her facial expressions. "When I took you two in, I promised myself I would keep you safe,"

"How are we any different from all those other kids? Our friends? My boyfriend. We went along with you two years ago because we trusted you. But now this has gone far enough," Thomas declared.

"I would watch your tongue Thomas," The Rat-Man next to her warned, only to receive ignorance.

"First you program my creations to kill Gladers. Then you start operating things at night. And you didn't even give any of us a chance to say goodbye to our friends," Edward said back.

"Leave now," Ava ordered.

"We expected more from you," retorted Thomas distastefully. He took his brother's hand and left through the door.

......................................................................................................................

Thomas woke up but his breathing was slowly and quietly. He had suffered another terrible dream. He couldn't take it anymore going to sleep and then remembering things as if he was going back in time. It was too traumatising yet in a way it felt like connecting to the family which he and Edward had lost as kids. He sat up to keep his eyes open for a while when he saw lights in the distance. With the dark sky now hanging above their heads, the mountains seemed to have drawn closer to the group and Thomas could just make out some faint buildings.

"Hey, Ed! Newt! Guys get up!" Thomas shook Newt's shoulders.

"What?" he asked.

"What do you see Tom?" Edward asked.

"I see something!" Thomas woke up everyone and pointed ahead. "That's lights!"

Scrunching their eyebrows, they saw what he was seeing.

"You think that's the Right Arm?" Chuck wondered.

"It could be," Edward said optimistically.

A sudden boom from the sky made the group turn. They looked back and saw masses of dark booming clouds bounding towards them. Electric blasts echoed across the sky.

"That doesn't sound good," Chuck gulped.

Lightning struck again. They saw a blast strike the earth.

"Everybody run!" Thomas shouted. Scooping up backpacks and jackets, the Gladers started sprinting for their lives feeling the tremble of thunder yards behind them.

"Come on guys!" Edward urged. He noticed Teresa falling behind a bit. He urged her to run faster.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" she complained.

"Stay together!" Thomas implored. He kept close to Newt to make sure he didn't trip on his sprained leg.

But no matter how fast they sprinted, the thunder and lightning caught up to them. Lightning struck from the electric air.

"Watch out!" Edward screamed. "Look out Chuck!" he pulled Chuck out of the way of a lightning strike but Chuck's hair stood on end.

"Thanks, Eddie," he said.

"Come on Chuckie," he pulled him along.

The group kept running but more lightning struck the earth. Several boys fell behind. The survivors couldn't go back for them. It was too risky. Edward tried to run back for poor Winston but Teresa pulled him back, sadly yelling to him that it would be no use and that he was gone. As she pulled him and Chuck along, Edward looked back and saw his electrified unresponsive body. The life inside him was dead in seconds.

Thomas with Newt and Minho noticed that Edward, Chuck, Teresa and Aris were a little distant from them. "Edward!" he cried out. "Over here!"

Guided by his voice, Edward tried to sprint to him but the largest bolt of lightning struck the space between them. He was knocked back.

Thomas screamed as the electric blast burned his irises. He then braced himself as the lightning send clouds of dust into his face. "Edward!" he cried. He tried to find his brother but he was blinded by the flash that zapped in front of him and the dust. "Edward!"

"Tommy!" Thomas felt Newt behind him. "Come on! We have to keep running!"

"I can't...I can't see properly!"

"I'll be your eyes! Just trust me!"

Before Thomas could argue, he was pulled across the soil. He struggled to keep running on his feet without seeing properly. Half his mind was on running whilst the other half was on his brother. Was he alive?

Edward's head was blurry. He couldn't hear anything except the panics of Teresa's voice in his mind.

"Edward!" Chuck's voice rang in his ears. "Come on buddy! Wake up!"

"Come on Ed! Wake up!" Aris screamed.

Edward blinked his eyes. "What..."

"Help me, Teresa!" Aris said.

Before Edward could respond, Aris and Teresa lifted him off the ground. They began running at a slower pace with Chuck running far ahead of them. "Come on! Come on!" he cried out. "We have to find the others!" He tried to find them but the booms and lightning strikes made him jump and unable to find them.

"We've got to find shelter!" Teresa cried.

Aris stared ahead and he saw a round open hatch underneath a large metal shack. "Over there! We can hide down that hatch!"

He and Teresa heaved Edward into the shack and Chuck went over to open the hatch. "Little hand?"

ARis helped him pull it open.

"What about the others?" she asked.

"We can't look for them. All we can do is hope they found shelter," Aris said. "Come on. Help me get him down," Teresa gently helped Edward over to him and Aris and Chuck gently lifted him down a rusty ladder into a dark tunnel below. Aris turned on his flashlight. Teresa followed after them and closed the hatch and turned on hers too.

They settled Edward on the sandy floor and Chuck moved his weary head onto his lap. Teresa and Aris sat on either side of him. The group did nothing but sit silent, hearing the loud booms of thunder on the other side of the hatch with flashlights as their only source of light.

"Where did that hatch come from?" Aris wondered.

"I don't know," Teresa said.

Thomas, Newt, Minho and the rest of the Gladers managed to reach a giant warehouse with doors and just in time they barged inside.

"Where are they?" Frypan cried out, keeping the door open and peering out for them.

"There's nothing we can do for them now," Minho said regrettably. "We have to wait for the storm to stop,"

"Tommy, are you okay?" Newt gently helped Thomas sit down.

"My eyes. I can't open them," Thomas cringed. "They hurt,"

"That lightning sure did you damage," Minho observed.

"I can see a bit...but...it's so bright,"

"Just give it time. It won't last for long," Newt assured.

"How many did we lose?" Thomas asked.

"Seven. Including Winston," Frypan said, falling other his knees.

"I'm so sorry Frypan," Thomas apologised. "I hope Edward and the others found shelter,"

"We'll find him, Tommy. Don't worry," Newt assured. "They hopefully found shelter and we'll be back with them soon,"

"Where exactly are we?" Minho asked. He stood up and peered around with his flashlight as a searching tool.

"Here. Try this," Using some of the spare water they had left, Newt damped a piece of cloth he had torn from his scarf and gently applied it to Thomas's eyes. "How does that feel?"

"Okay but...I can't feel my sight getting any better,"

"You think the Right Arm is hiding in this giant warehouse?" Frypan asked.

"I doubt they'd hide in this shaggy place," Minho said.

Thomas's nose wriggled when a disgusting odour whiffed up his nostrils. "What is that smell?" He tried to stand up but Newt grabbed his shoulders.

"You shouldn't be walking on your own. Not like this,"

"What if I'm like this forever?"

"It won't last long. In the meantime, I'll be your eyes," Newt gently helped Thomas up and kept a firm grip on his hand. He flashed on another light. Suddenly they saw Cranks jumping up at them. They stumbled back against the closed doors. They realised the monsters were chained to blocks.

"What a surprise," a voice which didn't belong to any of the boys spoke up.

The group saw a man between forty and fifty striding toward them. He was safe from the Cranks as they couldn't reach him.

Even though his sight was somewhat damaged, Thomas could just make out that he looked and sounded Hispanic and he wore a long black coat. When he came much closer, he saw dark eyes and black-grey bristles covering a round-edged chin.

"You all look like shit," the man said. "Haven't seen anyone come out of the Scorch in a long time?"

"Who are you?" Minho held up his knife.

"Are you threatening me?" the man warned.

"You're darn right I am if those monsters are under your command,"

"Minho don't," Thomas implored.

The man eyed Thomas carefully. "He sounds like a smart lad," He cocked his head to the side. "You don't look so good. Your sight looks damaged. The lightning sure did a mark on you. Follow me,"

"We're not going with you," Newt said, keeping a protective hold on Thomas.

"Would you rather stay here?" Another voice spoke behind them. The boys saw a young teenage girl with short wavy dark hair and dark eyes appear behind.

"We can't trust them," Frypan said.

"He's right. We've got to focus on finding our friends," Newt said.

"Oh, so you're lost?" the girl asked mockingly.

"We're not lost," Thomas answered back, disdained by her manner.

"I would listen to Jorge. Those eyes need treatment. And he'll know what to do,"

"How do we know we can trust you?" Thomas was not going to blindly trust anyone. He had already had enough experience with WICKED scientists who had tubed him up like a lab rat.

"You don't," Jorge answered. "But my girl Brenda's right. I'm the only one out here in this Scorch who can fix you up. Either you follow me or you can go back out there in that storm or stay here with all these monsters,"

The boys turned to Thomas. He could feel their gaze.

"Fine," he said. "But once this storm passes, we go our separate ways. And don't think we won't be suspicious. You aren't the first people who promised us safe passage,"

"Good," Jorge praised. "Follow me," He turned around and walked off, Brenda following after him. She cocked her head back to the boys and tilted it forwards, signalling them to follow her.

Thomas was guided by Newt safely past the Cranks. The other boys remained behind. Please be safe Edward. I'll find you soon.

Another Maze runner chapter is done. I hope you all enjoyed it. Get ready for the next one.