Chapter 54 Chapter 54 Can't Believe Anymore

Whispers in the dark. It was the first sound Thomas heard as he regained consciousness, low and hoarse, scratching his eardrums like sandpaper.He couldn't understand anything.It was so dark it took him a second to realize his eyes were open. Something cold and hard pressed against his face, the ground, and he hadn't moved since the gas knocked him unconscious.To his surprise, his head didn't hurt anymore.In fact, there is no pain anywhere.Instead, a sense of refreshing relief ran through his body, almost making him dizzy.Maybe he's just glad he's alive. He put his hands under his body and pushed himself up to sit up.Looking around and seeing nothing - not even a gleam of light to break the darkness - he wondered why the green light from the door Teresa had closed had disappeared.

Teresa. His joy was gone, remembering what she had done to him, but then... He is not dead.Unless life after death is a dark, lousy room. He rested for a few minutes to clear his mind and regain his composure, before he finally stood up and began to grope around.The three cold metal walls are evenly distributed with holes protruding outward.A smooth wall feels like plastic to the touch.He must still be in the same small room. He pounded on the door. "Hi! Is anyone there?" His thoughts began to spin rapidly.Those evocative dreams, I've had several now - so much information to process, so many questions.In the labyrinth, the first things he remembered slowly began to become clear and solid as the pain changed.He had been part of WICKED's plan, part of all these things.He and Teresa had been close—even best friends.All of this seems normal and done for a higher good.

It's just that Thomas doesn't feel so good about it now, he just feels angry and humiliated.How to explain everything they did?WICKED - what are they - doing?Although he didn't think he was, he and everyone else were just kids.child!He doesn't even like himself that much anymore.He wasn't sure when he had these psychological turns, but something inside him had cracked. Then there was Teresa, how could he ever have so much affection for her? Something cracked and hissed, interrupting his train of thought. The door began to open, slowly swinging outward.Teresa stood there, bathed in the gray light of early morning, her face stained with tears.Once there was enough clearance, she threw her arms around him, pressing her face against his neck.

"I'm really sorry, Tom," she said, her tears wet his skin, "I'm really, really, really sorry. They said they'd kill you if we didn't do what they asked If we do that. No matter how horrible those things are, I'm sorry, Tom!" Thomas couldn't answer, couldn't bring himself to hug her back.The betrayal, the sticker on Teresa's door, the conversations between those in his dreams, the pieces were slowly falling into place.As far as he knew, she was just trying to cheat him again.That betrayal meant he could never trust her again, and his heart told himself he couldn't forgive her.

In a way, he realized that Teresa had kept the promise she had made to him in the first place anyway, that she had done those horrible things against her will.It was true what she had said in that little hut, but he also knew that it would never, ever be the same between them. He finally pushed Teresa away, the sincerity in her blue eyes doing nothing to dispel his suspicions. "Well... maybe you should tell me what happened." "I told you to trust me," she replied, "I told you bad, bad things were going to happen to you, but the bad things were all acting." Then she smiled, and the smile So beautiful that Thomas longed to find a way to forget what she had done.

"Yeah, but you didn't look like you were struggling much, nearly killed me with a spear, and threw me in a gas chamber." He couldn't hide the suspicion that was raging inside him.He looked at Ares, who looked a little sheepish, as if he was intervening in a private conversation. "I'm sorry," the boy said. "Why didn't you tell me we knew each other before?" Thomas replied, "Why..." He didn't know what to say. "It's all acting, Tom," Teresa said. "You have to trust us. We've been promised from the start that you won't die. This little room thing has its purpose, and then things It's over, I'm sorry."

Thomas looked back at the still open door. "I think I'll need some time to process all of this." Teresa wanted him to forgive her—to have everything go right back to the way it was.And instinct told him to hide his pain and hatred, but it was difficult to do. "What happened there anyway?" Theresa asked. Thomas glanced back at her: "Why don't you talk about it first, and then I said, I think I have the right." She tried to shake his hand, but he avoided it, pretending his neck was itchy and needed to be scratched.He felt a tiny tinge of innocence when he saw the look of hurt flash across her face.

"Look," she said, "you're right, and you deserve an explanation. I think it's okay to tell you everything now—not that we know much about that why." Ares cleared his throat and interrupted obviously. "But, well, we'd better walk while we talk, or run. We only have a few hours left, and today is the deadline." Those words completely jolted Thomas out of his insensitivity, and he glanced down at his watch.There were only five and a half hours left, and if Ares was right, they were on their last day of fortnight—Thomas himself was a little lost, wondering how long he had been in that room.If they couldn't get to that safe haven, then all these other things wouldn't matter, and hopefully Minho and the others found it.

"Okay, let's just forget about that for a while," he said, and then changed the subject. "Is there any change out there? I mean, I'm looking in the dark, but—" "We know," Teresa interrupted him, "that there is no sign of buildings, nothing. It's even worse in daylight, just an endless flat wasteland, not a single tree, not a single hill, Not to mention a safe haven." Thomas looked at Ares, then back at Teresa. "So what are we supposed to do? Where are we going?" He thought of Minho and Newt, the Gladiators, Brenda and Jorge. "Have you seen anyone else?"

Ares replied, "All the girls in our group are down there, heading north as they were supposed to, and a few miles away. We're at the bottom of the hill, a mile or two west of here. Where your friends were found, can't be sure, but it looks like there's no shortage of them, and they're heading in the same direction as the girls." Thomas was filled with relief that his friends survived — and hopefully all of them did. "We gotta go," Teresa said, "just because there's nothing there doesn't mean anything. Who knows what WICKED is doing? We've got to do what they tell us to do, come on."

Thomas had had a brief moment when he wanted to give up, to sit back and forget about it—whatever was going to happen, just let it happen.But the thought disappeared almost as soon as it occurred to me. "Okay, let's go, but you better tell me everything you know." "I will," she answered, "and get ready to run as soon as we're out of this dead wood." Ares nodded, but Thomas rolled his eyes. "Wait a minute, I'm a walker." She raised her eyebrows. "Well, then, we'll have to see who stops first." In answer, Thomas stepped out of the small space and led the way into the dead woods, refusing to wallow in the storm of memories and emotions that would only weigh him down. The sky hadn't brightened yet, and dawn was approaching quietly.It was windy and the gray clouds were so thick that Thomas wouldn't know what time it was without a watch. Yun Duo, what happened last time... Maybe the storm won't be as bad this time, maybe. Once they left the dense dry forest, they walked without stopping.A well-marked trail led into the valley below, twisting and turning a thousand times like a jagged scar on the face of that mountain.Thomas reckoned it would take hours just to get down to the bottom of the mountain—running up the steep, slippery slope looked like it would break a foot or a leg if you weren't careful.If that happened, they would never have arrived. All three of them agreed that they would try to walk as fast but safely as possible, and then go full speed once they were on level ground.They started descending—Ares, then Thomas, then Teresa.Black clouds billowed above their heads, and winds blew from every direction.Like Ares said, Thomas could see two separate teams in the desert below—his Glader friends, not far down the hill was Team B, maybe a mile or two away . Thomas felt comforted again, even walking felt lighter. After the third sharp turn, Teresa spoke behind him: "Well, I think I'll pick up the story where we left off." Thomas nodded, unable to believe how good his body felt - his stomach was miraculously full, the pain from the blow was gone, and he felt energized by the fresh air and breeze.He didn't know what exactly he inhaled in that gas chamber, but it definitely didn't seem to be poisonous gas.His doubts about Teresa still tormented him; he didn't want to appear too nice. "Let's start with that time we were talking to each other in the middle of the night - the first night after being rescued from the maze. I was half asleep when these people showed up in my room Here, they're all in fancy costumes, pretty scary, baggy jumpsuits and goggles." "Really?" Thomas asked, turning his head, sounding like the people he'd seen after being shot. "I was terrified - I tried to call you, but all of a sudden it cut off. I mean, the telepathy went off. I don't know how I knew, but the feeling went away , and from then until now it has only come and gone now and then." Then she spoke in his thoughts.You can hear my voice clearly now, can't you? Yes, did you and Ares actually talk when we were in the maze? Uh…… Her voice trailed off, and there was a worried look on her face as Thomas looked back at her. what happened?he asked, turning his attention back to the road in front of him before doing something stupid like stumbling and rolling down a hill or something. I don't want to talk about that topic yet. Talk—he paused before saying it out loud.talk about what? Teresa didn't answer. Thomas shouted into her head as best he could.talk about what? She remained silent for several seconds, then finally answered. Yes, he and I have been talking since I showed up in the Glade, mostly while I was unconscious.