Two years ago, I never thought I would be in a chopper, being flown away to my safety. If someone would've asked me where I thought I would be, I'd probably say somewhere within the four concrete walls of the bloody Glade, pulling up weeds until I become an old, sentimental geezer. Never once in my miserable years that I've remembered would I guess that I would be holding onto a beautiful girl as she slept away her sorrows, clutching to my white sweater as I ran my fingers through her hair.

But that's what life does I guess. Throws surprises at you until you have no more energy to continue taking the hits. And then, just when you think that you've gotten all the bloody surprises you can take, life manages to throw another one at you. Just when you think that you've started to gain the smallest amount of luck, it suddenly all disappears. I'm not saying that's what's happening to us now...hell, this is the most relieved I've felt in a long time. I was sick of surprises. Now, we were on the road to freedom. If these guys are who they seem to be, then I'll take what I can get. Maybe they were going to lead us home. Or to a new home, where we could restart. That's all I really wished for.

Mae stopped crying a few minutes ago. She wasn't weeping like she was when she held onto Chuck, but they were silent tears. Ones that made her chest heave up and down with every sob she tried to contain. I wish I could tell her to let it all out, but I knew she wouldn't listen to me. She kept wiping away the water that leaked from the corners of her eyes as soon as they fell, trying to contain herself from the emotion that was pouring out with no intention to stop. So, I just did what I could. I held onto her and tried my best to shield her from the others who gave her sympathetic looks. That's not what she needed right now. She needed to feel comfort. If I were her, I would probably feel worse if people felt sorry for me.

As hard as I tried, sleep wouldn't come. I just stared out the window and focused on the shallow breathing of Mae as I watched the world fly by. I had watched the sun set behind the clouds, and that might've been the second most beautiful thing I've ever seen. The way the sky turned all sorts of different colors...the sun never set like that in the Glade. But it all seemed different. Some of the guards were watching it as well, but they didn't have the same awestruck reaction that I did. One of them even shook their heads. I thought about asking them what was so wrong about the sun setting, but then I realized how orange everything was. Despite being beautiful, I don't think a proper sunset was supposed to look like that. It's not like I would ever know...I couldn't remember.

Eventually, the light started to fade and everything around us became dark. The sun disappeared behind the clouds, and all that I could really hear were the sounds of Mae's calm, steady breath against my chest, and the muffled words that the guard occasionally spoke to the pilot. I had asked him where we were going multiple times, but they all ended in the same way. "Away from WICKED," or "Somewhere safe." That's all I really needed to hear.

"Shit!" He suddenly yelled, making some of the other Gladers, including me, jump out of my thoughts. The guard turned to face the pilot, "We've got some company!"

"What's goin' on?" I asked out of curiosity. He turned back around and gave me a smirk. A creepy smirk, "We've got some Cranks on the loose. Don't worry, we'll make sure you guys get inside safely. You're just gonna have to run."

The last few words repeated in my mind a few times before I nodded to him. I didn't have time to ask what the hell Cranks were before I gently moved my arm off of Mae's back and patted Minho on the arm. He nodded towards me, silently letting me know that he heard the guard.

When I felt the helicopter jolt, and my body lifted off of the ground for a few moments, I knew it was time for us to go. I gently shook Mae awake, and I watched as her eyes slowly fluttered open, "Hey. Hey, we gotta go, okay?"

She rubbed her eyelids with the back of her hands, "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"I don't know exactly," I answered with honesty, "But we need to move, c'mon."

She chose to oblige, slowly nodding and sitting up. As soon as she did, the door to my right slid open, and the guard that had been sitting in front of me jumped out and put his mask back over his head, hiding his face. He waved me out, and I jumped onto the warm ground—I didn't have time to take in my surroundings.

"Let's go!" He shouted to us. I held my hands out for Mae, who was still half-asleep. She dragged her body out of the helicopter, and so did everyone else. Just as I turned to run away, I realized that Minho and Thomas weren't there. I stopped in my tracks, refusing to let go of Mae's hand. I turned back in the direction of the chopper and I saw Minho yelling at Thomas to wake up.

The sleeping boy eventually jolted awake, and only then did I turn back around and start running towards the giant building. The first thing that I noticed was that I was running on sand that constantly seemed to get in my eyes. It was blowing every direction I looked, and the dirt I was kicking up behind me probably wasn't helping. I looked over at Mae just in time to see her cough into her elbow. I sighed and pulled her along faster, trying to ignore the pain in my left leg I felt with every step I took.

I turned my head to the left and saw more guards than I could count with their backs turned to us, creating some sort of armed path as we ran to the front door. People were shooting to the left and right of me, but I didn't have a chance to see what they had their guns pointed towards. Running through them felt...weird. Like they were treating us as some kind of royalty. I had the faintest idea of what kings and queens were, but I can't remember what they did or what they looked like. It was like getting half of everything.

We ran through the large doors of the warehouse just in time, Thomas only barely making it through. He seemed to have a knack for waiting until the last minute to do things. But once we were inside, I could finally get a good look at where the hell those people had taken us. Crates of things lined all of the doors, and people were running around here like there was something to be done. Some men were ushering small vehicles through, and I pulled Mae closer to my side, hoping that none of them would hit her and her half-conscious mind. But all the while, there was only one question rendering my brain: where the hell are we?

"Kids," Someone called us. We all turned our heads around to see a guard shooing us in a different direction very hurriedly. Without really having a choice, and not having a reason to run from them, we all followed.

We were led to a strange hallway with flashing yellow lights everywhere we looked. The man opened the first door on his left and ushered us through, telling us to hurry up. Mae surprisingly didn't say a word throughout it all, I think she was still confused as to what the hell was goin' on. So were the rest of us. I gently pushed her through the door, leaning onto the wall to stop my bloody leg from buckling and making me fall over. The man pushed Thomas in, and started to close the giant metal door when the boy asked another question.

"Hey, wait, wh-what's goin' on out there?" He asked nervously, trying to catch his breath from being shoved down the hall.

The guard didn't stop moving the door, and I thought he was going to just ignore Tommy, but he responded in a rush, "Nothing we can't handle."

Then the door shut. I sighed and turned my body around, not paying attention to Thomas slamming on the door and yelling for the people to get us out. But when my eyes finally landed on the large table filled to the brim with freshly cooked food, I thought I was going to bloody faint. My mouth dropped open, and all of us just stared at the banquet, wondering if this was a dream or if this was actually happening. It seemed too good to be true. After all that we've been through...all of the bad luck that we've had, life manages to throw us another surprise.

Everything that we could imagine. Corn, rice, chicken, grapes...all at our fingertips without having to worry about rationing or saving some for the next day. It was all right here, and yet we were too shocked to move or say anything.

That is, until Frypan made the first move.

"I call dibs on the rice!" He shouted and started to run forward, making the rest of us snap out of our trance and run forwards toward the feast as well. I saw Mae run towards a bundle of red grapes, immediately grabbing a handful and shoving them into her mouth. I grabbed a piece of chicken from the variety, and I didn't hesitate to sink my teeth into it, almost jumping for joy when it hit my tastebuds. I widened my eyes and grabbed another pice and handed it to Mae, who was no longer to my left.

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked around, eventually seeing her next to Minho, handing him a pitcher of water. She shoved a spoon into rice and ate it, slowing down for only a moment to chew. Thomas was going the same thing. I thought he was going to choke from the amount of food he had shoved between his cheeks.

Frypan let out a laugh, and I grabbed one of the circular brown things that sat untouched at the end of the table. I finished chewing a bite of chicken and replaced it with the taste of the cookie, and I thought I was going to drop dead. A wave of unfamiliar joy coursed through me as I devoured the cookie, reaching back for another one when something cold hit my face. I looked up to see Mae reaching her hand into the rice to throw some at me, a mischievous smirk on her face. Everyone started to laugh and follow after her actions, throwing different kinds of food at each other while stuffing our faces with it at the same time.

I moved my way around the table and started running towards her with a smile on my face while she let out a loud laugh. Frypan was yelling about rice, but I wasn't paying any attention to that anymore. Once I reached the girl, I wrapped my hands around her small waist and hoisted her up into the air with the little amount of strength I had left in me. She let out a small yelp, and laughed, while the others started to throw more crumbs of food towards us.

"Get the grapes!" She yelled at me, holding her hand out. I shifted her in my arms so that I was now holding her marriage style, and I walked back towards the table, I let out a hearty laugh at her determination to grab the bundle of grapes that Minho was keeping from her, all while trying to stay bundled up in my arms. Eventually Minho just gave up, and Mae retrieved the purple and green grapes from him. I carried her over to a couple of sandbags.

I gently set her down and kissed her forehead before getting myself comfortable, leaning back against a small ladder. All the guys plus Teresa joined us a few minutes later, all rubbing their stomachs like they had eaten a whole elephant. We were scattered across the room, all relishing in the fact that we had just eaten a full meal—no more of Frypan's stew. For a moment, it was like we hadn't just escaped one of the scariest things in the universe. Like we hadn't just fought off a bunch of Grievers, and we didn't lose a bunch of our friends in the process. It was like we were just normal teenagers feasting and laughing while throwing food around and basking in the strange feeling of happiness. We were normal.

"I don't know who these guys are," Frypan started, leaning against a pillar in front of me, "But they can cook." He shoved another spoonful of rice into his mouth.

"Who are they really though?" Teresa asked from her place below Mae's feet. We all looked down at her as she continued, "I mean we don't know anything about them..."

I raised my eyebrows, "Well, we know they're no friends of WICKED."

"That's good enough for me," Minho piped up from his place laying flat on the table we just ate from. He propped himself up on his elbow and looked at all of us, "You guys think too much...We're free. Enjoy it."

Mae scoffed from her place next to me, and I looked over to her. I could tell that she had a million thoughts running through her brain, but she's hardly spoken a word since we got out of the Maze. The only thing I've heard her say was to ask me if everything was alright, and to get the grapes. I made a promise to myself to ask her if she wanted to talk about anything when we were in private...somewhere where the others couldn't hear her possibly cry. I knew she wouldn't want that. Hell, she hardly let's out her emotions when she's around me. I guess I'm no better though.

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard from the metal door we had come through to get in here. We all turned our heads, and I swallowed the lump in my throat and swiveled my head around just as a person appeared in the door frame.

He was wearing a leather jacket and a white turtleneck of some sorts. I don't think I've ever worn one of those, but I could see myself hating it. I could see Mae hating it as well. But he was dressed nicely. He sure looked a hell of a lot better than we did.

"You kids all right?" He asked us, pulling a weird smile on his face, "Sorry about that...we had ourselves a bit of a swarm."

"Who are you?" Thomas asked, standing himself up from his place on the floor.

The man just smirked and tilted his head to the side, "I'm the reason you all are still alive...And I intend on keeping it that way."

Way to be bloody humble, I thought.

"Now, come with me. We'll get you kids squared away," He casually ordered. I looked at Thomas once before looking back down at Mae, who had her eyebrows furrowed in a confused look. The bags under her eyes told me that she still needed rest, but some reason, it made me breath out the slightest laugh. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes, as if questioning whether we were going to follow the man or stay in our spot. But Tommy started walking forward, and all of us got up and followed after him.

He led us through different hallways and jumbles of people before speaking again, "You can call me Mr. Jansen," We turned a corner and he led us through what looked like a wood shop—another hint of a memory, "I run this place."

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked ahead of me at Minho, who was doing the same thing. All of us were examining the area around us, the words the man was speaking only hitting our ears and then flying right back out. Of course I wanted to know everything...I probably wanted all the bloody answers in the world, but I would be a fool if I thought I would get all of them from one guy who ran one facility.

"For us it is a sanctuary. Safe from the horrors of the outside world," He spoke loud enough so that we could hear the words he was saying while he continued to walk ahead of us. Mae hissed through her teeth as a spark fell onto her arm. She quickly swatted it away, and I gave her a look, asking her if she was okay without actually saying it. She nodded towards me just as the Jansen guy started to speak again.

"You all should think of it as a way station. Kind of a home between homes," He pointed to a couple of sparks that were flying from the ceiling, "Watch yourselves."

Mae let out a breathy laugh and shook her head, rolling her eyes as well. Thomas stepped forward eagerly, following the man, "Does that mean you're taking us home?"

Jansen looked back at Tommy, "A home of sorts. Sadly, there won't be much left of the home you came from."

I coughed as I walked through a cloud of smoke, feeling the sting in my eyes. I looked around at every new sound that entered my hearing, but at the same time, I was trying to hang onto the little slivers of information that this guy was giving us. I tried to push away the last sentence that he said, not wanting to feel sadness at a time like this when there was too many other bloody emotions to feel.

"But we do have a place for you. A refuge, outside the Scorch, where WICKED will never find you again," He turned around to face us, "How does that sound?"

Sounds bloody great, I thought. But as hard as I tried, I couldn't shake the weird feeling from my chest. I looked at Minho, the same thing flashing across his face as he asked a question.

"Why are you helping us?" He asked Jansen.

The nicely dressed man turned back around, "Let's just say the world is in a rather precarious situation," He turned around and locked eyes with Mae before quickly darting them away to Minho, "We're all hanging on by a very thin thread. The fact that you kids can survive the Flare virus makes you the best chance of humanities continued survival."

I furrowed my eyebrows at the words, feeling as though that was a weird thing to say. What exactly was he talking about when he said that? I had so many questions although I felt as though there wasn't ever a right time to ask them. When I looked to the path ahead of me, it seemed like he had been leading us to a door of some sorts.

"Unfortunately, it also makes you a target," He turned around once more, locking eyes with Mae again before looking away so that nobody would notice. But I did, "As no doubt you may have noticed."

Mae let out a breathy laugh, but not one loud enough to hear over all of the commotion going on around here. There was so many things to look at, it was like I had to have fifty eyes all at once. But they focused on Janson as he suddenly stopped.

"Beyond this door lies the beginning of your new lives," Hey swiped a weird type of card and suddenly the door opened up to a long hallway. I felt Mae back into my chest, and I gently placed my hands on her biceps. Again, the Janson man looked at her with a smirk.

"First things first," He continued, clapping his hands together, "Let's do something about that smell..."