Chapter 50 Chapter 50 Fatal Injury

The trees may have been dead long ago, but their branches still tugged at Thomas' clothes and scraped at his skin.The logs gleamed white under the moon, and the speckled shadows on the ground gave the whole place a spooky feel.Teresa has been walking in silence, drifting on the hillside like a ghost. Finally, he worked up the courage to speak: "Where are we going? Do you really want me to believe that all of this is a drama? Why don't you stop when everyone else agrees not to kill me?" ?” But her answer was very strange.She asked almost without turning her head: "You met Ares, didn't you?" She didn't stop and continued walking.

Thomas paused for a second, utterly startled. "Ares? How do you know him? What does he have to do with this?" He quickened his pace and caught up with her again, curious but a little afraid of the answer for some reason. She didn't answer right away, walking cautiously among the particularly thick branches; one of the branches bounced back after she let go and hit him in the face.Once through there, she stopped and turned to him, where a ray of moonlight lit her face, and she didn't look very happy. "I happen to know Ares very well," her voice strained, "more than you'd hope. Not only was he an important part of my life before the maze, but he And I can talk with our thoughts, like you and I once did. Even when I was in the Glade, we talked all the time, and we knew they'd get us back together eventually."

It took Thomas a while to realize that she had said something so unexpected that he was just kidding, it must be another WICKED prank.She waited, arms folded like she loved watching him struggle for words. "You're lying," he said finally, "everything you do is lying. I don't know why, or what happened, but—" "Oh, come on, Tom," she said, "how can you be so stupid? How can anything surprise you after all that has happened? Everything about us is some kind of absurdity." Part of the experiment at the time, and the experiment is over. Ares and I are going to do what we were asked to do, and life will go on. WICKED is all that matters now, that's all."

"What are you talking about?" He felt more empty than ever.Teresa looked past him, over his shoulder.He heard the sound of branches being trampled on the ground, and he insisted on his dignity, not turning around to see who had slipped behind him. "Tom," Teresa said, "Ares is right behind you, and he has a very big knife. If you move, he will cut your neck. You will come with us, You have to do as we tell you, understand?" Thomas stared at her, wishing the anger in his heart would show clearly on his face.He had never felt such anger in his life—in the part of his life he could remember. "Say hello, Ares," she said.And then, worst of all—she smiled.

"Hi, Tommy," said the boy behind him.He must be right, just not as friendly as before. "I'm thrilled to be with you again." The point of his knife rested squarely on Thomas' back.Thomas remained silent. "Well," Teresa said, "at least you're acting like an adult on this one. Keep following me—we're getting there." "Where are we going?" Thomas asked in a steely voice. "You'll find out soon enough." She turned and walked through the woods again, pushing her spear aside.Thomas didn't wait for Ares to push him, and quickly followed him. The bushes became denser and denser, but the moonlight flew away.Darkness surrounded them, sucking light and life out of him.

They came to a cave, and the thick trunks of many trees formed a tight wall at the entrance.Thomas hadn't received any warning—one minute they were cautiously weaving their way through the patch of thorny branches, and the next they were in a high, narrow cave on the side of the mountain.A dim light shone from the depths of the cave, a rectangle of sickly green light, and Teresa looked like a zombie when she moved aside to let the other two enter. Ares walked around him, and when he retreated to the wall opposite Teresa and leaned against the wall, his blade was like a gun in Thomas' chest, and Thomas couldn't do anything. , can only look and go between the two of them.All his instincts had told him that these two were his best friends until now.

"Well, here we are," Teresa said, looking at Ares. He didn't take his eyes off Thomas. "Yeah, here we are, alright. Is it true that he talked the others into letting him go? Is he some kind of superpsychologist?" "It's actually kind of helpful, it's a lot easier to get him here." Teresa looked down at Thomas, then walked through the cave to Ares.As Thomas watched, she tiptoed, kissed Ares on the cheek, and grinned: "I'm so happy we're finally together again." Ares smiled, and he shot Thomas a warning glance before risking his eyes away long enough for him to bow his head to Teresa and kiss her.

Thomas looked away abruptly and closed his eyes.Her plea to believe her, that quick whisper she told him to hold on to—it was all about getting him here, making it easier to get him here so she could finish WICKED set for some nefarious purpose. "Get this all over," he said finally, afraid to open his eyes again, he didn't want to know what they were doing, why they weren't talking, but he wanted them to think he had given up, " Get this all over now." They didn't answer, and he couldn't help sneaking a peek.They were talking to each other in low tones, kissing in between, and something like boiling oil filled his insides.

He looked away again, focusing on the odd light source behind the cave.A huge miserable green cuboid was installed inside the black stone, shining with a blurred light.It was as tall as an average man, and its dull surface was speckled and stained—like a dirty window into what looked like radioactive waste, glowing dangerously.Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Teresa leave Ares, apparently their love affair was over.He looked at her, wondering if the look in his eyes could show how much she had failed him. "Tom," she said, "if it helps, I'm really sorry I hurt you. I did what I had to do in the maze, and being close to you was the best thing I could do. Good chance to get the memory we need to figure out the code and get out. I also have no choice in this scorched earth, in order to pass this experiment we had to bring you here, not you Death is our death."

Teresa paused for a moment, a strange gleam in her eyes: "Aris is my best friend, Tom," she said calmly and gently. Those words finally broke Thomas. "I...don't...care!" he screamed, though it didn't sound like he meant it at all. "I just want to say that if you care about me, then you should understand why I would do anything to pass this experiment and keep him safe. Wouldn't you do the same for me?" Thomas couldn't believe that the girl he had once thought was his best friend was now so far away, even in all his memories - always the two of them together. "What are you talking about? Are you trying to hurt me in every possible way in the universe? Shut up and finish what you brought me here to do!" His breath heaved violently, his heart beating at a deadly pace.

"Okay," she replied, "Ares, let's open that door. Time to let Tom go."