"After the Maze, I got picked up by a group headed to the city." Gally spoke as we all followed him through the parking garage that was now used as some kind of shelter. "They realized I was immune, patched me up, brought me here. To Lawrence."

We turned a corner as I tried to make sense of what was happening. Turns out the aftermath of getting tasered lasts a lot longer than actual lightning does. Who would've thought...

"This group's been at war with WICKED every since they took control of the city. But WICKED can't hide behind those walls forever. A day is gonna come where they're gonna pay for what they've done."

I jogged a little to keep up with everyone, letting my hand slide against the concrete barrier that kept me from falling. "Um, Gally you're starting to sound a lot like those slintheads that got blown up."

He glanced at me before licking his lips. "They're not slintheads, Mae. They're angry. You should be too."

"Oh believe me, I am." I nodded, faintly remembering the blood as it seeped through my mother's shirt. But I shook my head, pushing the memories away. "I just don't see what yelling and waving a whole bunch of stupid signs is gonna do. If they want to get back at WICKED then actually do something."

Gally looked at me again, the smallest of smirks tugging at his lips. "You know, you've always been wise."

"I still hate you."

"Okay." He replied, coming to a stop.

I followed his actions, halting as the boys came to a stop next to me. Brenda and Jorge were in the back, probably feeling awkward about this whole situation, as neither of them knew our history with this guy. I quickly looked over my shoulder at them, seeing Brenda give me the smallest of smiles as she followed behind. I returned the favor, reminding myself to talk to her later.

"Listen." Gally's voice made me turn my head back around as I rolled my eyes. "He doesn't get a lot of visitors, so...let me do the talking. Alright? And try not to stare."

He turned on his heel and began to walk in another direction, down another hallway. I was the first one to follow him, not even caring that Gally had somehow been brought back to life by some random spirit or some shit like that. I cared that he killed Chuck, but for some reason I felt as though Gally had changed. He was calmer—not ready to throw a temper tantrum every five seconds. Maybe getting a spear through the chest was good for him.

In some weird way.

"A rose took my nose, I suppose. A rose took my nose, I suppose." The man was whispering the phrase under his breath, fiddling with a flower in the sunlight.

The room was cluttered, but organized. Books were scattered throughout the place, on desks and stacked on chairs as well as the floor. Dim lanterns lit up the area, the only natural light being that of the window that was propped open above a garden of roses. The sun beamed into the room, creating a silhouette around the man who had some sort of medical equipment hooked up to him.

"Gally." He spoke to the boy, earning a head nod in return. "Glad to see you made it back. Jasper told me what happened."

"It was a slaughter." He simply stated, shrugging his shoulders. "There's nothing we can do against those guns. "

As I looked at the man with a weird obsession for roses, I noticed something...off about his appearance. He was in the darkness, making it harder for me to see, but he was weird.

"No." He dragged out the word. "But they can only poke the hornet's nest for so long, before they get stung." The man cut off a rose and slowly brought it up to his nose, sniffing it. As I watched him, I raised my eyebrows. He didn't have a nose.

He spoke again without looking up to acknowledge us. "Who are these people? Why are they here?"

Just as Gally was about to respond, Thomas stepped forward. "We need to get into WICKED."

So much for letting him talk, I thought. I rolled my eyes at Thomas, wanting to smack him upside the head for never being able to stay quiet for long.

"Gally said you could get us through the walls?"

Lawrence finally lifted his head, turning toward us. Chills crawled up my spine as his eyes loomed over the six of us, and I noticed how his little hair was sticking up in all directions, looking like he just rolled out of bed.

"Well, Gally should know better than to make promises he can't keep." He spoke, his voice sounding haunted as he crushed our dreams again. I glanced over at Gally, feeling the smallest hint of sympathy for the boy as he lowered his head in shame.

Thomas stayed silent as Lawrence smirked and sighed, grabbing the rod that looked like it had to follow him everywhere. "Besides. That wall is only half your problem." He began walking toward us. "Getting inside WICKED is impossible."

"There might be a way now." Gally spoke up, shaking his head as though he was annoyed by himself or what he was going to say. "But it doesn't work without Thomas."

I furrowed my eyebrows, looking at the boy before glancing at Newt. He held the same confused expression as me, before closing his eyes and exhaling through his mouth. He looked like he knew what the reason was. I didn't ask.

"Is that so?" Lawrence taunted, like he didn't believe Gally. He began to move forward, the haunting wheels creaking on his life support.

As I looked at the blue liquid, I was immediately reminded of the serums they injected me with when we were taken by WICKED. At the thought, my hand found it's way to my neck, rubbing over the scars that would always be there. Lawrence was infected, and it was no doubt because he looked half dead. Wherever they got the serum for him, it saved his life for now.

He moved closer to Thomas, his rotting face showing in all its glory. "You know what I am?" He questioned. "Thomas."

With every inch he moved closer to the boy, the more I felt on edge. I wanted to pull Thomas back, to tell this dude that we weren't interested, and to find a way inside WICKED by ourselves. And as Lawrence got up close to his face, I took a step forward instead of back, ignoring Gally's glare.

"I am a businessman." He whispered to him, and then he retreated, the corner of his mouth twitching up as he laid eyes on me. He continued. "Which means, I don't take unnecessary risks. Why should I trust you?"

Million dollar question, I thought. Why should we trust him?

"Because I can help you." Thomas spoke in the same tone of voice. "You see, if you can get me through those walls, I can get you what you need."

The man wore a surprised expression without actually holding one. His mouth was slightly opened, and he leaned back, deciding whether to fall for Thomas' promise, or to give up on him.

"And what is it that you think I need?"

"Time." He glanced at the bag that was holding the little bit of blue liquid left. "Every last drop."

Lawrence let out a breathy laugh, looking at the little life he had left before he went completely insane. I watched them negotiate, voicing each others needs to come to a compromise. I didn't know if Thomas was really going to go through with the promise he just made, but there was no going back now. We couldn't laugh and say 'just kidding'. We had to go through with this. We were going to go into WICKED, and we were going to save Minho.

"Is that what you think I need?" He asked, pushing Thomas to the limits of his patience.

But he stayed strong, not breaking although you could practically feel the tension building off of him. "WICKED has something we both want."

"I'll tell you what." He breathed, looking at Thomas with a knowing expression as the rest of us patiently listened. Lawrence looked at me again, then at each of us, almost as if he was counting heads. "Three can go for now. The rest stay down here with me."

Thomas slightly furrowed his eyebrows, questioning the methods of the half-man standing in front of him. He seemed to catch onto his confusion, because he pursed his lips. "Just a little insurance to make sure you find your way back."

I let go of a breath and turned my head to look at Newt, who was already looking at me. He was standing a couple feet behind, looking unsure and worried as he licked his lips, bringing his right hand up to his mouth and beginning to chew on his nails. Knowing exactly what he was trying to tell me, I sent him a small comforting smile, reminding myself to talk to him once we were by ourselves.

"We have a deal."

The four words made me turn my head back around to face Thomas and Lawrence, who clasped their hands together in a business handshake. He smirked, liking the deal that was just made—hell, it benefited him. But I was unsure about all of it. We had no plan, we didn't even know our way around the city...this could all be one giant pile of shucking klunk.

Jesus, Mae. Be positive. Yay positivity! I told myself, shaking my head right after.

"Gally. Show 'em the way."

He nodded, cocking his head for us to follow. All of us kept our eyes on Lawrence as he took a few steps backward, finally giving Thomas the space he needed and deserved. The boy let out a breath, and I finally stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned, looking at me before shaking his head and wrapping his arms around my torso, hugging me for a reason I didn't know.

I awkwardly pat his back, trying to comfort him. I really only hugged one person, and although Thomas and I were great friends, I don't think I've had very many emotional occurrences with him besides the day that Ben was banished and the night where the Cranks chased us. He's never really talked to me about my mom, and I'm partially grateful. I haven't opened up about that to Newt even.

But I suddenly realized that whenever times seemed to get hard, Thomas and I were always there for each other. And as he hugged me, burying his face into the crook of my neck, it occurred to me that this whole day has been especially hard.

So, I hugged him back.

"You're doing great. I'm proud of you." I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. The boy sighed and nodded, letting go of me and staring at the ground for a few seconds before turning to Gally, giving him a nod.

I watched them walk away, only tearing my gaze when I felt a familiar hand touch my bicep gently. "What was that?" He asked, his voice calm and innocent.

"Someone just needed to tell him that he was doing a great job. And that they were proud of him." I turned to Newt. "It's been a long day."

He scoffed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders before nodding and beginning to follow the others. "That is has, love."

Newt and I walked behind everyone in silence, hallway after hallway, staircase after staircase, Gally seemed to be leading us to a completely different building. The sun was starting to dim, the dull heat feeling good against my skin, and the jacket that Newt let me wear. The place smelled of smoke, strangely comforting me as we walked.

We trekked down another ramp, moving to what seemed like the bottom floor of wherever the hell we were.

"Alright, who's going?" Gally asked as we entered some sort of concrete room, the only recognizable feature being the giant black piece of metal in the center of it all. Sun leaked through the walls, lighting the place up quite a bit as we all looked at each other, clueless.

"Um." I spoke, nodding toward Thomas. "I think he should choose. I mean, you did get us this far."

He nodded, eyes darting around the seven of us as Gally took off whatever was around his chest and replaced it with a thin grey hoodie he picked up along the way.

"I-I think Newt should come. And—And Mae." He said, making me raise my eyebrows. I wasn't objecting, just surprised. A string of agreements followed as I looked at everyone for permission, a weird feeling coming over me. But I nodded, accepting the offer.

"Okay." My voice cracked, and Gally chuckled as he bent down, getting a firm grip on the metal before clenching his teeth and moving it out of the way. I remembered when it took three of us to move the red trapdoor from the tunnels the day we met Brenda and Jorge.

I looked back at her, and she winked, shaking her head and glancing down at what I had been looking at. I smirked, turning away from her to look down the hole that led to...who knows at this point.

"We're going down there?" I asked, disgust laced in my voice as Gally nodded, grabbing a ladder from the wall next to him. "Fantastic."

My eyes lifted up to see Newt putting some kind of maroon jacket on over his flannel, sitting down to tie up his shoe. I watched as he did so, admiring him again. I never knew how I got so lucky to know him. He was everything I've ever wanted, even on the harder days. I wouldn't trade what we had for anything in the universe. Even if it meant that none of us would have ever suffered the shit we have so far. Maybe that was selfish of me...

Suddenly, Newt stopped. I furrowed my eyebrows, watching as his hand began to shake. He lifted them up from his shoe, looking at his palms as though he was disgusted with them. He clenched them together as he furiously blinked, then he shook his head.

He looked back at us, and immediately met my eyes.

By one look, I knew he was hiding something, and he seemed to know that I knew, because he opened his mouth as he stood, ready to say something to me. I just licked my lips, breaking his gaze and bending down to watch Thomas climb down the ladder. When he reached the bottom, he waved at me, and I carefully climbed down. Newt was next.

As we reached the bottom, water soaking our shoes for some odd reason, Gally handed the three of us flashlights. "You're gonna need these for a second until I turn the lights on."

"Lights?" I asked flicking on the switch and furrowing my eyebrows when it didn't turn on. I brought the lens up to my eye, barely listening to Gally as we began to walk in the darkness.

"We have to walk around the corner here. There's a light switch." He turned to me and smirked at my way of struggling to turn on a stupid flashlight. "You have to slap it a few times, Mae."

I glared up at him before returning my gaze to the tool in my hand, slapping it just as Gally said. Suddenly, a bright light shone right in my eye, causing me to yelp and move it away. "Son of a shucking asshole, I hate flashlights."

The boys started to giggle in front of me as I rubbed my eyes, trying to rid the giant ball of white that obscured my view.

Newt made a noise as he waded through the water we were stepping in. "This is gross."

"You think you're having a hard time?" I complained. "Try walking blind."

"Jesus." Thomas groaned, agreeing with all of our whines. "Yeah, this is great."

Gally ignored us as we rounded a corner, shining his light on the wall to the left. A small contraption was attached to the brick, and we all watched as he pulled a lever, turning on a string of small lights that lit up the tunnel.

I raised my eyebrows and turned to Thomas. "I wish we had these six months ago when we were running from those crazy bastards. That would've helped a little."

He broke out into a smile and nodded. "Agreed."

We both turned back to Gally, who started to wade through the gross water. "Stay with me. We got a ways to go."

As the boys started to look around, letting me tag along in the back, I wondered what was up with Newt, and why he looked like he was hiding something. This whole day has been a rollercoaster for us. First, he left in the early hours in the morning. If I hadn't woken up from a nightmare, then I would have woken up and expected Newt to be there with me, when really he was getting eaten by Cranks. Then, Thomas led us straight into a mob, where we almost got blown into bits. I got tasered, and then Gally just shows up out of the blue. And now, we're here. Walking through water that's probably a million years old.

What a great life we had.

I looked in front of Thomas to see Newt following with his head down, not saying a word. I wanted to talk to him about his arm, or whatever the hell that was back there, but under these circumstances, we would just have to leave that for later.

I thought of my mom. The words that Vince said to me before we left. I don't know if I'll ever see him again. I wondered if my mom would be proud of me. I missed her. As I remembered that night, picturing her mouthing the three words that broke and put my heart back together at the same time. I never got to say it back. I think I loved her too. I mean, she was my mom.

On hard days, I found myself almost forgetting what she looked like. I would dream about her every so often, but I never really got to see her face. Her voice was no longer the soft tone I remembered it to be, but now only screams as she yelled at me for shooting her in the stomach.

I remembered feeling happy the day I met her. It might be the first time I've ever actually felt that. No matter how much I smiled, and made jokes, and laughed, I never really knew what the full meaning of happiness was until I hugged my mother. And I never felt more heartbreak than the moment where her eyes met mine, and she fell to the floor in Vince's arms.

"Here we are."

The words brought me out of my thoughts just as my eyes began to water. I blinked the tears away, keeping my lips in a line and stepping back to allow Gally to look through the hole in the brick. He glanced back at us. "Alright, this way."

He began to crawl through the hole, turning his flashlight back on. I didn't bother with mine, not wanting the light to blind me again. Thomas bent down and looked at Newt and I for a moment before huffing through his nose and following Gally.

Just as I was about to bend down to do the same, I felt a hand grab my arm.

"Hey, you alright?" Newt asked in his gentle voice, making me want to hug him.

I nodded silently, giving him a weak smile before turning around. But he grabbed my bicep again.

"Mae." He spoke, almost apologetically. "W-Whatever you saw back there, i-it's not that big of a deal. I was...I was just nervous to come down here."

Shaking my head, I responded to him in the same hushed tone of voice. "That's not what I was worrying about. But now I know that something is wrong, because you just lied. You should know you're a terrible liar."

I didn't give him the chance to respond before I ducked and started to crawl through the dirt hole. Newt crawled in after me, and us three squished together as Gally sat on the edge, watching as a loud train flew past us. The noise grew louder and louder until the vehicle was roaring past us, almost too loud for me to hear my own thoughts.

"Okay!" Gally yelled at us, squinting his eyes due to the wind. "We gotta be quick about this! We're not gonna have a lot of time! Stay on me, okay?"