Chapter 67 Chapter 67: Heading to the Labyrinth Again

Thomas showed them the letter he had found in the recovery room, and it didn't take long before they all agreed, even Teresa and Gary.Abandon the righteous army, go their own way, and start heading towards the labyrinth. Brenda glanced at Thomas' map and said she knew exactly how to get there.She gave him a knife, and he clutched it tightly in his right hand, wondering if a knife would keep him alive.They slipped out the side door and headed for the double doors, only to hear Vince and the others yelling at them that they were crazy and that they'd be dead in a few minutes, Thomas didn't hear a word.

The door was still ajar, and Thomas was the first to go through.He crouched down to avoid being attacked, but the hall was empty.The others followed one by one, he decided to trade concealment for speed, and rushed into the first long corridor.The lights flickered on and off, like ghosts, as if all the ghosts killed by WICKED were waiting in corners and alcoves for their arrival.But Thomas felt they were on his side, too. Brenda pointed the way, and they turned a corner and walked down a flight of stairs.They took a shortcut through an old storage room and came to another long corridor.Also walked up some stairs.Turn right first, then left.Thomas walked quickly, scanning his surroundings from time to time, noticing what was going on around him.He didn't stop for a moment, he didn't even bother to catch his breath, and he didn't doubt Brenda's sense of direction in the slightest.He's a runner again, and he feels good nonetheless.

They walked to the end of the corridor and turned right. Thomas had just taken a few steps forward when a man jumped out of nowhere, grabbed him by the shoulders, and knocked him to the ground. Thomas fell and rolled to the ground, trying to push the man away.He heard someone yelling and others struggling.It was so dark inside that Thomas could barely see who he was fighting, but as he punched and kicked and slashed with the knife, he felt as if he touched and tore something, and a woman screamed.A punch flew in and hit him on the right cheek, and something pinned him tightly above his thigh.

Thomas stopped, mustered up his courage, and gave it a hard push with all his might.His attacker hit the wall, then flung himself back.They rolled to the ground and hit another pair of fighters.Concentrating with all his strength, he gripped the knife tightly and continued to slash, but it was difficult to hit his assailant because he was so close.He clenched his left hand into a fist and jabbed violently, hitting the assailant in the jaw. At the same time, he stabbed the man's abdomen with a knife through the gap.Another scream was heard, another woman's voice, definitely the voice of the person who attacked him, and he finally pushed her away.

Thomas stood there, looking around to see who else he could help.With the faint light, he saw Minho straddling a man, beating him hard, the man had no ability to resist.Brenda and Jorge were teaming up on another guard, and as Thomas watched, he got up and ran.Teresa, Harriet, and Ares were leaning against the wall, gasping for air. They were all fine, they had to run. "Come here!" he called out, "Minho, leave him alone!" His friend gave the man another two hard hits before he stood up, and finally kicked the guy. "Okay, we can go." So they turned around and continued running.

They ran down another long flight of stairs, and one by one fell into the room below.Thomas was stunned to see where he was.This is the basement where the Griever boxes are kept, and the first place they come to after escaping the maze.The windows of the observation room were still broken, and there were shards of glass everywhere on the ground.Inside were about forty oval boxes of Griever charges, and it looked like the place had been sealed since the Gladers came in a few weeks ago.The shiny white surface Thomas had last seen was covered in dust. He knew that as a member of WICKED, he had spent countless days and nights here, trying to build the maze, and he felt ashamed again.

Brenda pointed to the ladder, which led to where they wanted to go.Thomas shuddered at the thought of the slippery and sticky Griever slopes they had last escaped, and they couldn't just climb down the ladder. "Why is there no one here?" Minho asked.He turned around and searched the place, "If they keep people here, why are there no guards?" Thomas thought for a moment and said, "Who needs soldiers guarding a maze when it's working for you? It's going to take us a long time to figure it out." "I don't know," Minho said, "It feels strange."

Thomas shrugged. "Well, it's no use sitting here unless you get something useful. Let's go up and get something out." "It works?" Minho said, "I don't have anything." "Then let's go up." Thomas climbed up the ladder and into another familiar room, the input station room, where he had once entered the code to turn off the Griever.Chuck had been there, and he was terrified and brave, but within an hour he was dead.Thinking of the lost friend, he felt great sadness again. "Home, sweet home." Minho muttered.He pointed to a round opening above them, which had been the previous exit to the cliff.The labyrinth was still in full operation at the time, holographically masking it so that it looked like part of an endless artificial sky stretching infinitely beyond the stone edge of the drop zone.Now that it was all closed, of course, Thomas could still see through that opening to the walls of the maze, with a ladder directly below.

"I can't believe we're back here," Teresa said, coming to stand beside Thomas.Her voice sounded in shock, the way Thomas felt. For some reason, standing there, listening to her casually say this, Thomas realized that they could finally get along in peace.Dedicated to saving lives, trying to make up for what they've done, everything can start over, and he wants to use all of his existence to believe that. He turned and looked at her. "Crazy, isn't it?" She laughed for the first time, and he didn't remember when she laughed like that. "It's crazy."

There were so many things Thomas couldn't remember—about himself, about her, but she was there, helping, that's all he could ask for. "Don't you think we should go up there?" Brenda asked. "Yes." Thomas nodded, "We should go up." He was the last to leave, and when the others had climbed through, he climbed to the top of the ladder, climbed out of the cave himself, and walked across the two planks that spanned the entrance and the stone floor at the edge of the labyrinth.Just below him is the work area with black walls, which used to make people feel like they were falling all the way down.He looked back up the maze and stopped, trying to get a good look at the whole place.

The once blue and bright sky is now a gray ceiling.The holographic technology at the edge of the cliff has been completely turned off, and the once dizzying sight is nothing but a piece of plaster.But he was still breathless at the sight of the vine-covered wall leading to the cliff.Without any fantasies, they stood there majestically, like ancient boulders rising from the ground, grayish green and cracked here and there.They seem to have been watching there for a thousand years, like giant tombstones, representing countless undead. He is back.