CHAPTER 56
The wind intensified, whipping and swirling.
Thunder rumbled in the darkening sky, giving Thomas an excuse to pull away from Teresa. He decided again to hide his hard feelings. Time was running out and they still had a long way to go.
Doing his best acting job, he gave Teresa a smile and said, "Guess I got it―you did a bunch of weird stuff, but you were forced to, and now I'm alive. That's it, right?"
"That's about it."
"Then I'm gonna quit thinking about it. We need to catch up with the others." The best chance he had to make it to the safe haven was to work with Teresa and Aris, so he would. He could think about Teresa and all she'd done later.
"If you say so," she said with a forced smile, as if she sensed that something wasn't quite right. Or maybe she didn't like the prospect of facing the Gladers after what had happened.
"Are you guys done up there?" Aris yelled, still facing the other direction.
"Yes!" Teresa called back. "And don't expect me to ever kiss you on the cheek again. I think my lips have a fungus now."
Thomas almost gagged at hearing that. He set off down the mountain again, moving before Teresa tried to hold his hand.
It took another hour to get to the bottom of the mountain. The slope leveled a bit as they got closer, allowing them to increase their pace. Eventually the switchbacks stopped altogether, and they jogged the last mile or so to the flat and desolate wasteland stretching to the horizon. The air was hot, but the overcast sky and the wind kept it bearable.
Thomas still couldn't get a very good look at the slowly converging Groups A and B up ahead, especially now that he'd lost the bird's-eye view and dust had clouded the air. But both the boys and the girls still moved in their own tight packs, heading north. Even from his vantage point, they appeared to be leaning into the stiffening wind as they walked.
Thomas's eyes stung from the dirt flying through the air. He kept wiping at them, which only made it worse, made the surrounding skin feel raw. The world continued to darken as the clouds thickened in the sky above.
After a quick break to eat and drink―their remaining supplies were dwindling fast―the three of them took a moment to observe the other groups.
"They're just walking up there," Teresa said, pointing ahead with one hand while shielding her eyes from the wind with the other. "Why aren't they running?"
"Because we still have over three hours until the deadline," Aris responded, looking at his watch. "Unless we totally figured wrong, the safe haven should be only a few miles from this side of the mountains. But I don't see anything."
Thomas hated to admit it, but the hope that they were just missing something from a distance had faded away. "By the way they're dragging, they obviously can't see it, either. It must not be there―they don't have anything to run to but more desert."
Aris glanced at the gray-black sky. "Looks ugly up there. What if we get another one of those nice lightning storms?"
"We'd be better off staying in the mountains if that happens," Thomas said. Wouldn't that be a perfect way to end all this, he thought. Burned to a crisp by bolts of electricity while searching for some safe haven that had never been there in the first place.
"Let's just catch up to them," Teresa said. "Then we can figure out what to do." She turned to look at both boys and put her hands on her hips. "You guys ready?"
"Yeah," Thomas said. He was trying not to sink into the pit of panic and worry that threatened to swallow him. There had to be an answer to all this. Had to.
Aris just shrugged in response.
"Then let's run," Teresa said. And before Thomas could answer she was already gone, with Aris close at her heels.
Thomas took a deep breath. For some reason it all reminded him of the first time he'd run out into the Maze with Minho. Which worried him. He exhaled and set off after the other two.
After maybe twenty minutes of running, the wind forcing him to work twice as hard as he'd ever had to in the Maze, Thomas spoke out to Teresa in his mind. I think I've had some more memories come back to me lately. In my dreams. He'd been wanting to tell her, but not really in front of Aris. A test, more than anything, to see how she responded to what he'd remembered. See if he could find any clues to her true intentions.
Really? she answered.
He could sense her shock. Yeah. Weird, random things. Stuff from when I was a little kid. And ... you were there, too. I had glimpses of how WICKED treated us. A little about right before we went to the Glade.
She paused before answering, maybe afraid to ask the questions that eventually came to him. Does any of it help us? Do you remember much of it?
Most of it. But there wasn't enough there to really mean a whole lot.
What did you see?
Thomas told her about each little segment of memory―or dream―he'd seen over the last couple of weeks. About seeing his mom, about overhearing conversations about surgery, about him and her spying on members of WICKED, hearing things that didn't make a whole lot of sense. About them testing and practicing their telepathy. And, finally, about saying goodbye right before he went to the Glade.
So Aris was there? she asked, but before he could answer, she continued. Of course, I already knew that. That the three of us were all part of this. But weird about everyone dying, the replacements, all that. What do you think it means?
I don't know, he answered. But I feel like if we had the time to just sit and talk about it we could help each other bring it all back.
Me too. Tom, I'm really sorry. I can tell you're having a hard time forgiving me.
Would you be any different?