Chapter 6 Chapter VI List of Immunized Persons

The room suddenly fell silent, except for the occasional hum and faint beep of the machine.Thomas knew he was immune—at least he was told he was—but didn't know about the others.He almost forgot about it, and the unbearable terror he had felt when he first learned of it came back. "In order for the experiment to have an accurate result," the Rat Man explained, "you have to have a control group. We try to keep the virus away from you as much as possible, but it's airborne, so it's extremely contagious." He paused and scanned everyone's eyes. "Just fart," Newt said, "we all think we've got that damn disease anyway, and you can't scare us."

"Yes," added Sonia, "don't pretend to be a ghost, just say it." Thomas noticed Teresa fidgeting a little beside her. Did someone else say something to her?He figured she'd be immune, like him, or WICKED wouldn't have singled them out. The Rat Man cleared his throat. "Well, most of you are immune and helped us collect a lot of valuable data. Right now, there are only two candidates among you, but I'll talk about it later, let's look at the list first. The following people are not immune Yes, Newt..." With a shock in his heart, Thomas bent down and stared at the floor.The Rat Man said a few more names, but none Thomas recognized, and he barely heard them, the dizzying hum filling his ears and making him feel clouded.He was surprised by the reaction himself: he hadn't realized how much Newt meant to him until he heard the announcement.It suddenly occurred to him that the Ratman had said before that the members of the control team were like glue, gluing all the data of this project together, making the data interrelated and generating meaning.

Colloid, that's the title given to Newt: the tattoo that remains on his skin to this day, like a black scar. "Tommy, calm down!" Thomas looked up and saw Newt standing there, arms folded, forced smile, Thomas straightened up. "Calm down? That old bastard just said you're not immune to the Flare. How could you..." "I'm not worried about that goddamn flare, man. I never thought I'd live like this—and it's not so good to be alive." Thomas couldn't tell if his friend really thought so, or if he was trying to come across as tough.But the creepy smile remained on Newt's face, and Thomas could only force a smile. "If you think it's cool to go slowly crazy and want to eat people, then I don't think we'll cry for you." His words have never been so hollow.

"That's good," Newt responded, but the smile was gone. Thomas finally turned his attention to the others in the room, but was still dizzy.One Gladiator, a kid he'd never known much, named Jackson, stared blankly at the sky, and another kid was fighting back tears. A girl in group B had red and swollen eyes from crying. Several of her good friends hugged her and tried to comfort her. "I'm going to put this aside," said the Rat Man, "mainly because that's the only way I can tell you what I want to say about myself, and remind you that the whole point of this operation is to find a cure. No Those who are immune are mostly in the early stages of the Flare, and I have every confidence that you will be well cared for until it strikes, but the Burn Judgment needs your participation."

"What if you can't find a solution?" Minho asked. The Rat Man ignored him. He walked over to the nearest bed, and tiptoed to put his hands on the metal contraption hanging from the ceiling. "This is something we're very proud of here - a masterpiece of science and medical engineering. It's called a retractor, and it's used to perform this operation, and it's going to be placed on your face. And I promise, when it's done you'll It will look just as beautiful. Some thin wires from this device will hang down and enter your ear holes. From there, they will take out the machinery in your brain. Our doctors and nurses will give you sedatives to calm your nerves, There are also some medicines to reduce discomfort."

He stopped and scanned the room. "When the nerves repair themselves, you go into a kind of trance-like state, and then the memory comes back, similar to the so-called pain changes some of you experienced when you were in the maze. But I promise, it won't be that bad, it's mostly To stimulate the brain thought patterns. We have several of these rooms, and a team of doctors waiting to start. Now, you must have thousands of questions, but most of them can be answered by your memory, so I Waiting for the conclusion of this process before doing more Q&A." The Rat Man paused, and then finished speaking: "Give me a few minutes, and I'll make sure the medical team is ready. You can make a decision during this time."

He crossed the room, which was so quiet except for the rustle of his white trousers as he moved, and then disappeared through the first stainless steel door, which closed behind him.Immediately afterwards, it was like a pot was exploding in the room, and everyone started talking. Teresa came to Thomas, and Minho followed behind her.There was so much noise in the room that Minho turned sideways so she could hear him. "You idiots know and remember better than anyone else. Teresa, I've never kept it a secret: I don't like you, but I still want to hear what you think." Thomas was also curious, wondering what Teresa was thinking.He nodded towards his former friend, waiting for her to speak.There was still a part of her that foolishly expected her to finally say what it was going to do against WICKED.

"We've got to do this," Teresa said, and that didn't surprise Tomas in the least, dying his last hope forever. "I think it's the right way. We need to recover our memories so we can see how things work." to decide what to do next.” Thomas's mind was spinning like a top, trying to tie everything together. "Teresa, I know you're not stupid, but I also know you're in love with WICKED. I don't know what you're up to, but I won't buy it." "Me neither," Minho said, "Dude, they can control us and play with our goddamn brains! How do we know if they restored our memories or implanted something new? "

Teresa sighed. "You people don't get it all! If they can control us, if they can do with us what they want, or make us do anything, then why do they bother to give us choices? Besides, he said But they're also taking out the things that allow them to control us, which I think is fine." "Well, anyway, I never believed you," Minho shook his head slowly, and said, "Of course I wouldn't believe them, I'm on Thomas' side." "What about Ares?" Newt kept silent, and Thomas didn't even notice that he and Frypan walked behind him. "Didn't you say that he was with you before going to the maze? What did he think?" ?”

Thomas scanned the room and found Ares talking to some of his B group friends.He had been with them since Thomas had come.Thomas found it understandable: Ares experienced the experience of the maze with that group of people.But Tomas would never forgive him for helping Teresa back to the Scorched Earth, luring him back to the house on the hill and forcing him into it. "I'll ask him," Teresa said. Thomas and his friend watched her go by, seeing her chat eagerly with the B group. "I hate that girl," Minho finally said. "Well, she's not that bad," Frypan responded.

Minho rolled his eyes. "It's her business if she wants to do this, I won't do it." "Me neither," Newt agrees, "and I'm the one who's supposedly infected with this goddamn flare, so I'm more at risk than anyone else, and I'm not going to get scammed again." Thomas had already thought about it. "Let's hear what she has to say, she's here." She and Ares talked briefly for a while, and then said to Thomas and the others: "It seems that he is more determined than us, and they all agreed." "Well, it helps me decide," Minho replied, "If both Ares and Teresa agree, I'm against it." Even Thomas couldn't have said it better, every instinct told him Minho was right, but he didn't say it out loud.Instead, he stared at Teresa's face, and she turned to look at Thomas.This is how familiar his eyes are: she expects him to stand by her side.But the difference is that he now has serious doubts about why she wants his support so much. He stared at her, trying to look as expressionless as possible, and Teresa's face fell. "Whatever you want." She shook her head, turned and left. In spite of all this, Thomas felt a thump when she left. "Ah, man," said Frypan, pulling Thomas out of his trance, "we can't let them put that stuff in our faces, can we? I'd rather be back in my kitchen in the big house, I swear." "You forgot the Griever?" Newt asked him. Frypan paused, then said, "They never bother me in the kitchen, do they?" "Yeah, well, we gotta get you a new place to cook." Newt took Thomas and Minho by the arm, pulling them away from the crowd, "I've heard enough of this bullshit argument, I'm not going to lie in those on the bed." Minho reached out and squeezed Newt's shoulder. "I do not know either." "Me too," Thomas said, and finally said what he had been holding back for weeks, "We're going to stay together, deal with it, and behave," he added softly, "but when we get the chance, we Get out of this place."