Chapter 24 Chapter 24 Tools of WICKED

As it turned out, Thomas found he didn't have to explain anything at all.Brenda and Jorge have been with WICKED for a long time, know exactly who Gary is, that he was pretty much an outcast in the Glade, and that Gary and Thomas have had Gary's memories of the pain because of Gary. Become an irreconcilable opponent.But all Thomas can think of at this moment is how the angry boy threw a knife and stabbed Chuck, causing Chuck to lose too much blood and die in Thomas' arms. Then Thomas lost control and beat Gary until he felt like he was killing him.Now, if the note had actually been written by Gary, perhaps he hadn't killed him, which surprised him with a sense of relief.Although Thomas hated this guy, he didn't want to be a murderer.

"It couldn't have been written by him," Brenda said. "Why?" Thomas asked her, relieved and now in suspense. "What happened to him after we were taken? Would he..." "Dead? Impossible. He was in the infirmary for a week or so, his cracked cheekbones healed. But it was nothing compared to the wounds in his heart. They used him to kill Chuck, Because the psychiatrists thought there would be value in such a mindset. Everything was set up and they forced Chuck to shake in front of you." Thomas's original anger at Gary White was now fully transferred to WICKED, and his hatred for the organization was growing.That guy was a complete ass, but if what Brenda said was true, then he was just a tool of WICKED.What made Thomas even angrier was that Chuck was killed instead of him, which wasn't wrong!

Brenda continued, "I also heard that there was a psychiatrist who engineered the interaction as a variable not just for you and the other Glader witnesses, but also for... Chuck's designed at the last minute." For that horrific split second, Thomas felt like he was going to explode with rage, and even felt like grabbing any random stranger around him and beating him up like Gary. He took a breath and brushed his hair with trembling hands. "Nothing surprised me more." He gritted his teeth and said this. "Gary's brain just couldn't handle what he was doing," Brenda said. "He was completely insane, so they had to send him away. I'm sure they thought no one would believe his story."

"Then why do you think it can't be him?" Thomas asked. "Maybe he's okay and found the place." Brenda shook her head. "Ah, anything is possible. But I've seen that guy, he seems to have a flare. He's trying to eat chairs, spitting, yelling, and pulling his hair." "I saw him too," Jorge added. "He walked past the guards one day. He was running around the hall naked, screaming hysterically, saying he had a blade beetle in his veins." Thomas tried to make sense of it. "I was wondering what he meant by the righteous army."

Jorge answered him: "There are rumors about them everywhere. Some say that they are a secret organization dedicated to overthrowing WICKED." "That's all the more reason to do what the note says," Thomas said. Brenda looked skeptical. "I think we need to find Hans first." Thomas picked up the note and shook it. "We're going to meet Gary, we need someone who understands the city." More than that, his gut tells him that's where they should start. "What if it's a trap?" "Yeah," Minho said, "Maybe we have to think about it."

"No," Thomas shook his head. "We can't guess them anymore. Sometimes they just play tricks and make me do the exact opposite of what they think I want to do." "What?" The three of them said in unison, their faces full of confusion. "I'm going to go with my gut from now on," Thomas explained. "I feel like we're going to meet Gary in this place, at least to find out if it's him. He's involved in the glade, and he has every reason to stand our side." The others stared at him blankly, as if ready to continue arguing with him.

"Okay then," Thomas said, "you're going to look at me like that, and I'm going to take you to agree, and I'm glad you all agree. The question is, how do we get there?" Brenda sighed exaggeratedly. "Have you heard of taxis?" They ate a casual meal at the mall, then hailed a cab to take them into town.When Jorge handed the driver a card to pay, Thomas worried that WICKED would track them down.Once they were seated, he whispered to Jorge so the driver wouldn't hear him. Jorge just looked at him suspiciously. "You're worried because Gary knows we're coming, don't you?" Thomas guessed.

If the hot head said yes. "A little bit, but the way the man introduced himself is a bit weird. I just hope he accidentally said the word escape, and this righteous army organization has been looking for us. I heard that their base is here." "Maybe it has something to do with Teresa's group being here first," Brenda suggested. Thomas felt uncomfortable. "You sure you know what you're doing?" he asked Jorge. "We'll be fine, buddy. Now that we're here, WICKED will have a hard time catching up to us. It's easier than you think to fit into this city, just relax."

Thomas didn't know what the chances were, but he did lean back in his seat and look out the window. All the way through Denver, the scene took his breath away.He remembers the machines that flew over his head as a child—the unmanned but heavily armed police planes that everyone called police machines.But there were so many things he had almost never seen before: the soaring skyscrapers, the spectacular holographic advertisements, the endless stream of people, he couldn't believe it was real.Part of him wondered if his optic nerves were somehow being manipulated by WICKED, if this was just another virtual scene.He also wondered if he had ever lived in such a city before, and if so, how could he have forgotten its splendor.

As they drove through the crowded streets, it occurred to him that maybe the world wasn't so bad.This is a whole community of thousands of people going about their normal lives.But as the car drove on, details that he hadn't noticed at first slowly began to stand out.The longer the drive, the more uneasy Thomas became. Almost everyone he saw was uneasy.They seemed to be dodging each other, but not just out of politeness.They seem to take all measures to avoid others as much as possible, just like in the mall just now, many people walked while wearing masks or holding rags to cover their mouths and noses.

The walls of the building were littered with posters and advertisements, many of which had been torn up or spray-painted.Some warn people about the flare, and some tell people what to do if they encounter an infected person.Thomas also spotted a poster featuring a close-up of a deadpan woman with her hair brushed back, with the slogan "Prime Page loves you" written underneath. Premier Page.Thomas recognized the name immediately.She was someone Brenda said she could trust—the only one she could trust.He turned to ask Brenda, but he hesitated, his instinct telling him to wait until it was just the two of them.As the car drove by, he noticed that the posters looked similar to her, but most of them were covered in graffiti.Covered in devil's horns and silly beard, it's hard to see what she really looks like. Guards of some kind patrolled the streets in swarms: hundreds of them, all in red shirts and gas masks, with weapons in one hand and virus-testing kits in the other, talking to Thomas and his friends. It's the same one we used before we came to town, only a smaller model.The farther they moved from the outer wall, the dirtier the streets looked, littered with rubbish, window panes shattered and almost every wall covered in graffiti.Despite the sunlight streaming in from the tall windows, the place looked dark. The taxi turned into an alley, and Thomas was surprised to find that it was empty.When they reached a concrete building that was at least twenty stories high, the car stopped, and the driver took Jorge's card from the card slot and handed it back to him, which Thomas saw as a sign to get them out of the car. After they all got out, the taxi drove away.Jorge pointed to one of the nearest stairs and said, "Number 2792 is right here, on the second floor." Minho whistled and said, "It looks very homely." Thomas agreed that the place was anything but pretty, and the drab gray brick walls covered in graffiti made him nervous.He didn't even want to go up the stairs to see who was waiting inside. Brenda pushed him from behind. "Your idea, you go ahead." He groaned secretly, but said nothing, just walked to the other side of the stairs and climbed slowly, while the other three followed at a distance. The wooden door of apartment 2792 was crooked and crooked, as if it had been there for a thousand years, with only a few scattered drops of green paint on it. "It's crazy," Jorge whispered. "Totally crazy." Minho snorted, "Thomas beat him up before, he can do it again now." "Unless he comes out with a gun in his hand." Jorge retorted. "Will you shut up?" Thomas said, his nerves on the verge of a breakdown.Without another word, he reached out and knocked on the door.After a few agonizing seconds, the door opened. Thomas immediately recognized the dark-haired kid who opened the door as Gary from the glade, no doubt about it.But his face was covered with scars, and the bulging bumps looked like thin white worms.The right eye looks perpetually swollen, and the big nose, which had looked a bit out of shape before the Chuck incident, is now visibly crooked. "Glad you're here," Gary said hoarsely, "because the end of the world has already happened to us."