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SAMSON CAUTIOUSLY MADE HIS WAY OVER TO THE OTHERS, AND WOULDN'T TAKE HIS EYES OFF OF JANSON. He was dressed in all white, from head to toe, and was flipping through a binder on the desk. Strangest of all, he looked completely oblivious to what was going on around him, as if the Gladers weren't even there.

"I came out here looking for you, and instead I found him and that pile of goods," Newt said with a shrug. "And then, I found you."

"It is WICKED," Samson whispered through gritted teeth. He turned back around to face Newt. "That man, I've seen him before, in my Changing. He works for WICKED."

Newt scoffed. "Figures," he bent over and grabbed an energy bar from the pile. "He reminded me of that lady from the WICKED video back in the Maze,"

Samson nodded. Newt handed him the energy bar he'd picked up and Samson relaxed his shoulders and turned back around to face him. He smiled up at Newt and took the bar.

Another rush of lightheadedness came over him and he sighed, blinking twice to try and regain his balance. "I need to sit. It was stupid of me to think that I'd be feeling one hundred percent again after eating just one apple," he laughed half-heartedly.

Samson slid down against the wall and opened the energy bar's packaging. Newt sat down next to him after he'd grabbed a pear from the pile. Thomas and Minho suddenly burst into the common room from the boy's dorm and everyone's heads turned their way for a moment.

"Hey, Sam!" Leo called from across the common room, startling Samson. Leo looked as if he had never been so happy to see someone before. He hopped over towards Samson and Newt. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever," he grinned.

Leo sat down next to them,carrying an apple in one hand and a package of dried fruit in the other. "So, what's up?"

Samson raised a brow at him. "I could ask you the same,"

He laughed. "Finally getting some food in my system after three days makes Leo a happy camper,"

Leo's head snapped back behind him for a moment towards Thomas and Minho. Thomas was standing in front of Janson's desk and was staring closely at the man. Leo frowned at him.

"I'll be right back," Leo stood up. "I wanna get over there and let Thomas know that there's an invisible--" Leo, Samson, and Newt all watched Thomas slam himself into the glass around Janson's desk that Samson hadn't noticed beforehand. Leo sighed. "--wall."

"Invisible wall?" Newt questioned, cocking his head up at Leo.

Leo nodded. "Yeah. Fry and I figured it out. He got a little too close and slammed into it the same way Thomas just did," Leo's eyes trailed back over to Thomas for a moment, and Samson did the same. Thomas and Minho both went over to the pile of food which snapped Leo and Samson back into their conversation.

"But it's not even glass. It doesn't really feel like glass, and no matter how close you are, there's nothing there. You'll only know it's there if you touch it."

"So what's he doing here?" Samson asked. "Is he just gonna watch over us, just like he did in the Maze?"

Leo shook his head. "No. He keeps saying that he's gonna tell us about 'Phase Two of the Trials'. Whatever the heck that means," he scoffed, sitting back down next to Samson.

Phase Two of the Trials. It was just as Samson had suspected. WICKED was far from finished with their experiments on the Gladers, and their tribulations had only just begun in the Maze. For some of them, like Newt and Minho, the Maze Trials had lasted years, and they'd lost so much along the way. Samson wasn't sure he even wanted to know what was in store for them in a second phase.

"How much time do we have left 'till he tells us now?" Newt asked.

Leo rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and revealed his watch. "Ten minutes, I think,"

Newt groaned and rolled his eyes. "Can't he just get on with it?"

"Just finish eating and don't be whining about it. The last thing I want is for him to make us wait even longer because we were complaining. I want some answers,"

Newt nodded. "Good that,"

Samson sighed to himself and finally took a bite of the energy bar. He could taste the chocolate chips and dried cherries in his first bite and it brought a smile to his face. It even resurfaced a tiny, forgotten sensation from his past. A sweet tooth.

Ten minutes later, all of the Gladers were sitting in front of Janson's desk, waiting impatiently for some answers. Samson, Newt, and Leo sat pressed against the wall, watching the Gladers whisper back and forth to each other.

Janson pulled his chair back and opened up one of the drawers in the desk. He pulled another file from the drawer and smiled.

"Shut your bloody holes," Newt hissed at the Gladers. "I think it's time."

The room quickly fell silent and Janson cleared his throat. "Thank you for gathering in an orderly manner so I can tell you what I've been--instructed to tell you. Please listen carefully,"

"Why do you need that wall!" Minho shouted.

"I said shut it, Minho!" Newt snapped back.

Janson continued as if he hadn't heard the outburst at all, which to Samson seemed extremely strange. "You're all still here because of your uncanny will to survive despite the odds, among other reasons. About sixty people were sent to live in the Glade. Well, your Glade. Another sixty in Group B, but for now we'll forget about them."

All heads turned toward Aris for a moment, and he frowned up at Janson. Samson felt sorry for him. He knew how it felt to be the Newbie and the odd one out. He understood how alone and scared he probably felt, being without his friends.

"Out of all those people, only a fraction survived to be here today. I'm assuming you've figured this out by now, but many of the things that happen to you are solely for the purpose of judging and analyzing your responses. It's not really an experiment as much as it is...constructing a blueprint. Stimulating the kill zone and collecting the resultant patterns. Putting them all together to achieve the greatest breakthrough in the history of science and medicine."

Samson still couldn't understand how watching their brain activity helped WICKED in discovering a cure for that disease--the Flare. Human trials, experiments on children no less, was wrong. Throwing teenagers into a Maze and putting them through hell and back, all of the casualties they suffered in the process, what was the point of it all? If they were immune like Dr. Paige had told them, Samson believed in a better idea than putting them through intense tests.

"If we're really immune, why wouldn't WICKED just protect us?" Samson whispered to Newt and Leo. "It doesn't make sense. They're killing immunes. People who could survive this disease and re-populate the world someday,"

Leo and Newt both merely shrugged and turned their attention back to Janson.

"These trials you're going through are for a very important cause. As some of you may have already figured out, I work for WICKED, which stands for World In Catastrophe Killzone Experiment. We're trying to save the world from the mayhem the Flare has brought."

Janson turned around and sat back down at his desk. "I can't tell you much, other than the fact that we have resources. Nearly unlimited money, unlimited human capital and technology advanced beyond even the most clever man's wants and wishes. And as you make your way through the Trials, you'll continue to see evidence of this technology. You should never, ever believe your eyes. Or your mind, for that matter. This is why we did the demonstration with the hanging bodies and the cranks. All I will say is that sometimes what you see is not real."

Samson couldn't believe it. He didn't know what Janson meant about the cranks, but he couldn't believe that those hanging bodies weren't real. The stench of them, their purple tongues hanging from their mouths, it was a scene that he'd never be able to forget. He hoped that all of those people were still alive somewhere. But then again, if they worked for WICKED, he couldn't care less about what happened to them.

Janson's eyes slowly passed over every Glader in the room. "The Maze was a part of the Trials. Not one test was thrown at you that didn't serve a purpose for one collection of Killzone patterns. Your escape from the Maze was even part of the Trials. The murder of that young boy. The supposed rescue and subsequent trip in the bus. All of it, part of the Trials."

Tears welled up in Samson's eyes. It was all too much to take in. WICKED had them in the palm of their hand the entire time. Even in those twelve hours that were spent eating pizza, and sleeping in nice, proper beds, they hadn't been safe. WICKED had still been watching them.

"Phase One is over. And we are still dangerously short of what we need. So we've had to up the ante, and now it's time for Phase Two. It's time for things to get difficult."

Samson had heard enough. "Why won't you just leave us alone! We're sick of being your lab rats," he shouted at Janson, tears spilling from his eyes.

Minho joined in. "Yeah! If anything, you're the rat!"

Janson ignored them both. "You all know of the sun flares that have ravaged the earth, and the Flare. WICKED is working to find a cure for this disease, and you all play a big part in our search for the cure, as I've tried to explain. And you'll have every incentive to work with us, because, sad to say, each one of you had already caught the virus."

The room erupted back into rumblings of fear and shock. Dr. Paige told them they were immune. Samson shook his head in disbelief. He didn't know what to believe anymore. Janson was a liar. Dr. Paige was a liar. WICKED was corrupt and full of deceit. He had gathered that during his Changing. He couldn't trust anyone but his friends. They were all he knew was true.

"No need to worry. The Flare takes a while to set in and show symptoms. But at the end of these Trials, the cure will be your reward."

Samson could feel Newt's eyes on him and he finally turned to look at him and took his hand instinctively. He wondered how he could be feeling. Newt hadn't reacted the same way that most of the other boys had after hearing they were all plagued with the Flare. He'd just stayed quiet and looked to Samson. He was so selfless and after everything Samson had learned about his past, he could put the pieces together as to why.

Janson cleared his throat, and a small smile plastered across his face. "Phase Two. The Scorch Trials. It officially begins tomorrow morning at six o'clock. You'll enter this room, and in the wall behind me, you will find a Flat Trans. To your eyes, the Flat Trans will appear to be a shimmering wall of gray. Each of you will step through the door thoroughly five minutes after the hour. So again, it opens at six o'clock and closes five minutes after that. Do you understand?"

Most of the Gladers sent him small, quick nods, but kept their eyes low. Samson did the same.

"Good," he smiled again. "At that point, the Scorch Trials will have begun. The rules are very simple. Find your way to open air, then head due north for one hundred miles. Make it to the safe haven within two weeks time and you'll have completed Phase Two. At that point, and only at that point, will you be cured of the Flare."

Janson started to stack his papers and files together on his desk. "It's simple, really. There are no rules, or guidelines, few supplies, and nothing to help you along the way. Go through the Flat Trans at the time indicated. Find open air. Go one hundred miles north to the safe haven. Make it or die."

Several Gladers raised their hands or began bursting out questions after that, about the Flare and this so-called safe haven. Samson watched Janson closely. He simply continued to stack his files as if he couldn't hear the Gladers. Perhaps that was what the invisible wall was for. He was scared of them.

Eventually, Minho ended the riot "You shanks shut up! This shuck-face ain't answering, so quit wastin' your time."

Janson nodded to Minho, as if thanking him, and then began walking towards the wall. He turned back once more. "Good luck to you all. I'm sure we'll meet again soon." And with that, he went back towards the wall and inexplicably walked right through it.

The invisible wall started to fog up around the Gladers, and then Janson's entire set-up--the desk, his papers, the chair, were all gone.

Samson and the others stood up, bewildered by the sight, but no one said a word.

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leo was so cute in this chapter?? i love him

i still hardcore/lowkey ship thomas and leo SO it's not canon but i keep writing in hints so catch that guys

anyways

love always,

chloe