InsaneJournal

There are MAJOR spoilers for the second and third books in the series ahead.

At 11:52am

FADE IN:

A small sort of montage of a few scenes;

Two little blonde children, a boy around seven and a girl around five, are tucked on either side of a pretty blonde woman with a book in her hand. She's reading to them and they're both listening very intently. "...The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this, but all he said was, 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?'..."

~*~*~

"Do we have to go, Mommy?" The little girl was asking as her mother finished braiding her hair.

She smiles gently. They've been over this, but they don't understand how important having faith is in times like these. "Church is important, sweetie, yes, you have to go."

"Oh, all right." She pouted in the mirror and about that time, the boy from before rushed
into the room.

"Dad's making me wear a suit, be glad you're not a boy, sister!"

The pair's mother just laughs softly and shakes her head a little.

~*~*~

The kids are playing outside, chasing after each other and laughing. The camera pans in through a window where Mom is doing dishes and Dad is standing off to the side, leaning against the counter. "We need to tell them." His voice is soft, but firm.

Her face falls at that. "Oh, must we? They'll be so worried, and there's nothing anyone can do."

"They need to know. They deserve to know what's coming."

Her right hand involuntarily jerks awkwardly in the hot water and she sighs. "I haven't lost it yet, it's just the little things. Let me just enjoy them while I still know who they are."

He sighs heavily and moves to stand behind her, his hands on her shoulders as he stares out the window at the kids.

~*~*~

The next scene is much more melancholy compared to the others. Mom is so far past the Gone, she's not even ranting and raving and screaming anymore. She's not paying attention to anything anymore. When her children try to speak to her, she just stares blankly at the wall. She had given up. They don't understand it, but she's dying.

"Leave your mother alone, kids. We don't want you to get the Flare, all right?" Dad says, as if anything could save them, like this was just the flu, and not a virus that changed you from the inside out and ate away at everything that made you, you. He tugs them away from the door.

Later that night, the kids are huddled up in bed together and a screeching can be heard from down the hall. "I'm scared," the little girl whispers, clinging tightly to her big brother.

"I know. It's okay. I'll keep you safe," he says, hugging her closer.

"LIAR! YOU FILTHY DIRTY ROTTEN LYING LIAR! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME! I KNEW IT!"

They could hear their mother's shouts all the way down at the opposite end of the hall. Then a loud shout of anger, a crash and then a gunshot echoed in their ears until the hum made them go deaf.

CUT TO:

A montage of scenes of their father; He's going downstairs in the house and loses his balance a couple of times--

He's talking to his son, explaining something, and the entire time, his left hand twists in continuous circles, over and over again. He doesn't notice, but the boy can't seem to take his eyes away from his dad's hand--

Smaller versions of a few clips from Sara's video including the boy coming to comfort his sister as she cries about missing mom and the whole series of clips ends on him promising they were going somewhere safe.

CUT TO:

The camera follows the boy creeping through a house, different from the one they were in before. He sneaks up the stairs to the attic and hands over the food he was carrying in his arms to his sister. "This should last us for a few days, at least." They're older now, and they've probably been in this routine for awhile.

~*~*~

Later that night, she's asleep and he's failing at it when he hears footsteps downstairs. His eyes widen a little and he's not sure who could be down there. Unless--

He creeps over to the entrance to the attic and pushes the door down just enough to peek out. He seems two people, they look like medic types of some kind, and they have strange suits and masks on. Probably trying to make sure they don't get sick.

"We'll find them eventually," The man nearest the attic entrance's muffed voice says.

"I know," A woman's voice this time, accompanied with a sigh. "It's just-- we've been looking for awhile now. Maybe they're dead, Chris."

"They're smart kids. They're just hiding." He starts to walk in the other direction when the boy is hit with a sudden urge to cough that he had no chance of stopping. The man stops and turns and the boy is just frozen. If he moves, the door will move and give him away, but apparently it didn't matter. "Mary!" he calls out to his companion. "I think I found 'em." He says, his voice almost a sing-song tone, as he
walks over to investigate.

He barely manages to move away from the door before the man yanks on the cord and pulls the ladder down. "Get down here, kid. Your sister with you?"

He's not sure how this man knew he had a sister, but he's too dumbfounded to do anything except nod. He doesn't know what these people want. He scrambles over to wake her up, listening as the man continues to talk to them. "We're gonna take you kids somewhere safe, all right? We're here to help."

Mary comes into view as the two children descend the stairs. "That's right... come with us. Chris and I are here to save you. You'll be fine." She takes the little girl's hand in her own gloved one and walks with her.

Chris eyes the boy suspiciously behind the mask he's wearing, but the kids both comply, walking out of the wreck of a house they'd been staying in.

~*~*~

Mary and Chris are walking the kids into a huge building with too-white walls and beige tile floors. They come to a fork in the hallways. Mary goes with the little girl to the left and Chris tries to lead the boy down the hall to the right.

"What? No!" He spins and tries to go after his sister, but Chris grabs him around the middle. "No, let me go! I have to go with her! You can't take her away from me!"

It was then that the girl seemed to realize what was happening and she also tries to run, but to no avail. She let out a scream as Mary snatched her up, "No, no, no! I have to be with my brother! He's all I have! You can't do this!" Even though the girl struggled and squirmed to get out of her arms as much as she could, there was no chance for escape.

Both of their screams fade away as their captors footsteps clap down separate hallways and the screen fades to black.

~*~*~

The screen is still black, but the sound of metal grinding against metal can be heard, harsh sounds bounce off the walls until finally, some light seeps in and focuses on Newt, standing with a hand on the wall to steady himself. He stood there, slow realization dawning on his face--he didn't remember anything. His family. His friends. His name. What was his name? Newt. No, it felt wrong. But it's the only thing that was perfectly clear in his mind. He leans heavily against the wall, eyes squeezing shut as he tries to picture it, anything at all. His school, his neighbourhood, mom, dad, his best friend... but nothing comes to him. Empty faces the only things he could conjure.

He lets out a scream as another jolt knocks him to the ground and he just stares upward in the darkness, waiting, wondering what was coming next.

Finally, a last jolt and the noises stop and doors above him swing open. A couple of familiar faces (to the Glader boys, anyway) are around the box--Minho, Alby, a few others scattered about.

It was the beginning.

CUT TO:

Another series of scenes-- The boys bustling around a dorm room, trying to figure out what's going on--

A thin man in a white suit sits at a desk, feet propped up and crossed at the ankles reading a book--

then the boys all gathered around the desk as near as they could get anyway because there was an invisible barrier between them and the man at the desk. Clips of a speech he's giving are shown.

"You're all still here because of an uncanny will to survive despite the odds, among...other reasons. About sixty people were sent to live in the Glade. Well, your Glade, anyway. Another sixty in Group B, but for now we'll forget them..."

"Many of the things that happen to you are solely for the purpose of judging and analyzing your responses ... These trials you're going through are for a very important cause."

"I represent a group called WICKED ... it stands for World In Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department ... We exist for one purpose and one purpose only: to save the world from catastrophe ...If I can tell you anything today, it is that you should never, ever believe your eyes. Or your mind ... sometimes what you see is not real, and sometimes what you do not see is real. We can manipulate your brains and nerve receptacles."

"The Maze was a part of the Trials... Not one Variable was thrown at you that didn't serve a purpose for our collection of killzone patterns ... Your escape was a part of the Trials. Your battle against the Grievers. The murder of the boy Chuck. The supposed rescue and subsequent trip in the bus. All of it ... and now it's time for Phase Two. It's time for things to get difficult..."

Cut to scenes of the boys crossing The Scorch-- Rough winds tearing through their hair, various objects flying by, lightning strikes too close for comfort, eventually finding the rundown house for shelter.

CUT TO;

Maybe it's in the lines on his face or the different clothes or how he somehow just looks older than he is, but it's obvious a significant amount of time has passed between now and the last scene. A lot of events gone unshown have taken place and left the boy a wrec. Thomas is in a small bathroom on the Berg. The lighting is soft and we watch in the reflection of the mirror as he seems to suddenly remember something he hastily pulls and envelope out of his pocket and rips it open. He takes out a slip of paper with a note scribbled on it.

FADE TO:
Thomas is in a van with a couple other people, barreling down the road at wicked speeds. They're headed straight for three cars in a line. The van connects with the cars, there's a crash and Thomas is thrown around the back of the van, glass is breaking and the grating sound of metal against concrete can be heard. When it's over, Thomas gets to his feet and looks out the window just on time to see the cars
screeching off in another direction and then his eyes land on something familiar.

Newt.

He's banged up and looks like he's been through actual Hell—scratches and bruises cover his face, his clothes are ripped and barely clinging to his too-thin frame, his pans were filthy, covered in blood and dirt.

"We're okay. She's shot to hell, but hopefully she'll get us another couple of miles to the hanger." The driver of the van was saying as he shifted the car into gear, but Thomas is barely listening, staring out the window at his friend.

"Stop! Stop the van! NOW!"

An argument between the two breaks out, but in the end, the driver stops as Thomas makes a break out the door, but he pulls him back. "What the hell is wrong with you, kid? What do you think you're doing?"

"Let go! Let go of me!" He screams and yanks himself out of the man's grip, "I saw my friend out there, I just wanna say goodb--"

"You think that thing ot there is still your friend?" The man's voice is cold and detached. "Your friend is nothing but an animal now. Worse than an animal."

But Thomas isn't listening, he throws some snarky comment at the guy about a short goodbye and bursts out of the door, rushing toward his friend, closing about half the distance between them before the madness in Newt's eyes makes him stop short. "Hey. Newt. It's me, Thomas. You still remember me, right?"

At first, the blonde just gives him a blank, unseeing stare, but suddenly, a flicker of clarity dances across his face, "Oh, I bloody remember you, Tommy. You just came to see me at the Palace. Rubbed it in that you ignored my note. I can't go completely crazy in only a few days."

The look on Thomas' face gave way to the dagger-in-the-heart he was feeling at Newt's words. "Why are you here? Why are you with... them?"

"It comes and goes, man." He says and looks at the Cranks scattered around them, then back at Thomas. "I can't explain it. Sometimes, I can't control myself, barely know what I'm doing. But usually it's just like-- and itch in my brain that throws everything off-kilter just enough to make me angry."

"You see fine right now."

"Yeah, well. The only reason I'm with these wankers from the Palace is because I don't know what else to do. They're fighting, but they're a group. You find yourself alone, you don't have a bloody chance."

"Newt, come with me this time. Right now. We can take you somewhere safer, somewhere--"

Newt laughs, and when he did his head twitches strangely a couple of times as he did. "Get out of here, Tommy. Just get away."

"Just come with me," Thomas begged, "I'll tie you up if it makes you feel better."

Suddenly, Newt's features twist with anger and his words are dripping with rage, "Just shit up, you shuck traitor! Didn't you read my note? You can't do one last, lousy thing for me? Gotta be the hero like always? I hate you! I always hated you!"

"Newt--"

"It was all your fault! You could've stopped them when the first Creators died. You could've figured out a way. But no! You had to keep it going, try to save the world, be the hero. And you came to the Maze and you never stopped." As his rant continued, his voice rose in volume, "All you care about is yourself! Admit it! ... We should've thrown you down the Box hole!" His face was a brilliant red as he takes a few heavy steps forward, hands balled into fists.

The man from the van yells, "I'm gonna blast him! Get out of the way!"

"Don't!" Thomas whirled to face the man, "It's just me and him! Don't do anything!" And he was facing Newt again. "Newt, stop. Just listen to me. I know you're in there. Enough to hear me out."

"I hate you, Tommy!" Thomas takes a step backward as Newt continues to advance on him. "I hate you I hate you I hate you! After all I did for you, after all the freaking klunk I went through in the bloody Maze, you can't do the only thing I've ever asked you to do!"

"Newt," Thomas is taking a few more steps back away from his friend. "You need to stop. They're going to shoot you. Just stop and listen to me!" But Newt screamed and lunged at him, tackling Thomas to the ground, knocking the breath out of him.

"I should rip your eyes out!" He yells at him. "Why'd you come over here? Expect a bloody hug? Huh? A nice sit-down, chat about good times in the Glade?

Thomas stares up at him in terror, his hand slowly going for his gun.

"Wanna know why I have this limp, Tommy? I never told you, did I?" Thomas pushes him to tell him what happened, gripping the gun in his hand as he listens. "I tried to kill myself in the Maze. Climbed halfway up one of those bloody walls and jumped right off. Alby found me and dragged me back to the Glade right before the Doors closed." He looks away for a moment and shakes his head.

"I hated that place, Tommy. I hated every second of every day. And it was all...your...fault!" Suddenly, Newt spins around and grabs Thomas by the hand holding the gun and yanks it toward himself, forcing it up until the pistol is pressed to his forehead. "Make amends! Kill me before I become one of those cannibal monsters! Kill me! I trusted you with the note! Now do it!"

"I can't, Newt--" He tries to pull his hand away, but Newt's grip is too strong. "I can't."

"Make amends! Repent for what you did!' Newt's whole body is shaking, his voice drops to an urgent, rough whisper. "Kill me, you shuck coward. Prove you can do the right thing. Put me out of my misery."

"Newt, we can--"

"Shut up! Just shut up! I trusted you! Now DO IT!"

"I can't."

"Do it. Kill me or I'll kill you! Kill me before I become one of them!"

"Newt... I..."

"KILL ME!" He screamed so hard that his voice just sort of disappeared in the scream somewhere and with one shaky breath, there was a sudden clarity, a true sanity in his eyes and a softness to his voice that made it obvious this wasn't the virus talking any more. "Please," he begged, "Tommy, please."

The screen fades to black and the sound of a gunshot rings out.