THE SCORCH TRIALS

Thomas's legs were starting to burn from their steady pace on the slope. 'Okay, but. . . how do you know when you're talking to me and when you're talking to him? How does that work?'

'It just does. That's like me asking how you know when you're telling your right leg to move and when you're telling your left leg to move. I just. . . know. It's built into my brain somehow.'

'We've done it, too, man,' Aris said. 'Don't you remember?'

'Of course I remember,' Thomas muttered, annoyed and frustrated on so many levels. If only he could have everything back—every last memory—he knew the pieces would fall into place and he could just move forward. He couldn't fathom why WICKED felt it was so important to keep their minds clean of memory. And why the occasional leakage lately? Was that on purpose or an accident? A lingering effect of the Changing?

Too many questions. Too many shuck questions, all without answers. 'All right,' he finally said. 'I'll keep my mouth and brain shut. Keep going.'

'We can talk about Aris and me later. I don't even remember what we spoke about—I lost almost everything when I woke up. Our comas had to be part of the Variables, so maybe we could communicate just so we wouldn't go crazy. I mean, we were part of setting it all up, right?'

'Setting it all up?'Thomas asked. 'I don't—' Teresa reached forward and swatted him on the back. 'Thought you were gonna be quiet?'

'Yeah,'Thomas grumbled.

'Anyway, these people came into my room dressed in those creepy outfits and my telepathy with you cut off. I was scared and only half awake. Part of me thought it was just a bad nightmare. Then the next thing I knew, they put something over my mouth that smelled horrible and then I passed out. When I woke up I was lying in a bed in a different room and a bunch of people were sitting in chairs on the opposite side of this weird glass wall. I couldn't see it until I touched it—almost like a force field or something.'

'Yeah,' Thomas said. 'We had something like that, too.'

'So then they started talking to me. That's when they told me this whole plan of what Aris and I had to do to you—and they expected me to tell him. By, you know, speaking in his mind, even though he was now with your group. Our group. Group A. They took me from my room and sent me to be with Group B; then they told us about the mission to the safe haven, about having the Flare. We were scared, confused, but we had no choice. We went through these underground tunnels until we got to the mountains—we avoided the city altogether. When you and I met in that little building, and then everything that happened from the time we came down to you in the valley with all those weapons— all of that was planned.'

Thomas thought about the sketchy memories he'd had in his dreams. Something told him he'd known that a scenario like this might need to happen before he ever went to the Glade and the Maze. He had a hundred questions to ask Teresa, but decided to hold back for a little while longer.

They turned at another switchback; then Teresa continued. 'I only know two things for sure. One, they said that if I did anything against their plan they'd kill you. Said they 'had other options,' whatever that means. The second thing I know is that the reason for all this was that you had to truly and absolutely feel betrayed. The whole purpose of what we did to you was to ensure that that happened.'

Again Thomas thought of the memories. He and Teresa had both used the word patterns right before he left her. What did it mean?

'So?' Teresa asked after they'd walked in silence for a while.

'So . . . what?' Thomas replied.

'So what do you think?'

'That's it? That's your whole explanation? I'm supposed to feel all happy now?'

'Tom, I couldn't take any chances. I was convinced they'd kill you unless I went along. No matter what, in the end you had to feel like I'd completely betrayed you. That's why I put so much into it. But why this was all so important? I have no idea.'

Thomas realized suddenly that all this information had started another headache. 'Well, you sure were good at it. What about in that building? When you kissed me? And . . . why did Aris need to be involved in all this?'

Teresa grabbed his arm and made him stop and turn to face her. 'They had everything calculated. All for the Variables. I don't know how it all fits together.'

Thomas slowly shook his head. 'Well, none of this crap makes any sense to me. And excuse me for feeling a little ticked off.'

'Did it work?'

'Huh?'

'For some reason they wanted you betrayed, and it worked. Right?'

Thomas paused, looked into her blue eyes for a long time. 'Yeah. It did.'

'I'm sorry for what I did. But you're alive, and so am I. And so is Aris.'

'Yeah,' he repeated. He really didn't feel like talking to her anymore.

'WICKED got what they want, and I got what I want.' Teresa looked at Aris, who'd kept walking for a while and now stood down on the next level of the path. ' Aris, turn around, face the valley.'

'What?' he replied. He looked confused. 'Why?'

'Just do it.' She didn't have the mean streak in her voice anymore, hadn't since the gas chamber, but if anything, that made Thomas even more suspicious. What was she up to now?

Aris sighed and rolled his eyes, but did what she said, turning his back to them.

Teresa didn't hesitate. She wrapped her arms around Thomas's neck, pulling him in. He didn't have enough will to resist.

They kissed, but nothing stirred inside Thomas. He felt nothing.

CHAPTER 56

The wind intensified, whipping and swirling.

Thunder rumbled in the darkening sky, giving Thomas an excuse to pull away from Teresa. He decided again to hide his hard feelings. Time was running out and they still had a long way to go.

Doing his best acting job, he gave Teresa a smile and said, 'Guess I got it—you did a bunch of weird stuff, but you were forced to, and now I'm alive. That’s it, right?'

'That's about it.'

'Then I'm gonna quit thinking about it. We need to catch up with the others.' The best chance he had to make it to the safe haven was to work with Teresa and Aris, so he would. He could think about Teresa and all she'd done later.

'If you say so,' she said with a forced smile, as if she sensed that something wasn't quite right. Or maybe she didn't like the prospect of facing the Gladers after what had happened.

'Are you guys done up there?' Aris yelled, still facing the other direction.

'Yes!' Teresa called back. 'And don't expect me to ever kiss you on the cheek again. I think my lips have a fungus now.'

Thomas almost gagged at hearing that. He set off down the mountain again, moving before Teresa tried to hold his hand.

* * *

It took another hour to get to the bottom of the mountain. The slope leveled a bit as they got closer, allowing them to increase their pace. Eventually the switchbacks stopped altogether, and they jogged the last mile or so to the flat and desolate wasteland stretching to the horizon. The air was hot, but the overcast sky and the wind kept it bearable.

Thomas still couldn't get a very good look at the slowly converging Groups A and B up ahead, especially now that he'd lost the bird's-eye view and dust had clouded the air. But both the boys and the girls still moved in their