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PROLOGUE

Teresa looked at her best friend and wondered what it would be like to forget hih she’d now seen the Swipe implanted in dozens of boys before Tho eyes and a constant look of contemplation--how could this kid ever be unfamiliar to her? How could they be in the same room and not joke about some smell or make fun of some clueless slouch nearby? How could she ever stand in front of him and not leap at the chance to communicate telepathically?

Impossible

And yet, only a day away

For her For Tho table, his eyes closed, chest rising and falling with soft, even breaths Already dressed in the requisite shorts-and-T-shirt uniform of the Glade, he looked like a snapshot of the past--so day at an ordinary school, before sun flares and diseasebut ordinary Before death and destructionwith theiras the Maze Before human brains were known as the killzone and needed to be watched and studied All in the name of science andThomas and noered the mask onto his face There were clicks and hisses and beeps; Teresa watched as metal and wires and plastic tubes slithered across his skin and into the canals of Thomas’s ears, saw his hands twitch reflexively at his sides He probably felt pain on sos, but he’d never rees fro hisher

Sory Make her screareater part was as solid as the rock of the cliffs outside Yes, the greater part within her was entrenched in certainty so deeply that she knew she’d feel it even after to would be done to her She and Tho to what had been asked of the others And if they died, so be it WICKED would find the cure, et back to normal Teresa knew this in her core, as row old and leaves fall fro breath, then ht for a horrifying second that he s were inside his head doing who knehat to his brain But he stilled and resu The clicks and hisses continued, her best friend’s oodbyes, and the words See you to in her head For some reason that had really struck her when Thomas said it, made what he was about to do all the more surreal and sad They would see each other toh she’d be in a cohtest idea who she was--other than an itch in his mind that maybe she looked fah--all the fear and training and planning--it was all co to a head What had been done to Alby and Newt and Minho and all the rest would be done to the back

But the cal inside her She was at peace, these soothing feelings keeping the terror of things like Grievers and Cranks at bay WICKED had no choice She and Tho a few to save the many? How could anyone? She didn’t have time for pity or sadness or wishes It hat it as done was done; ould be … would be

There was no turning back She and Thomas had helped construct the Maze; at the sa back her ehts faded then, seemed to float in suspended animation as she waited for the procedure on Thomas to be complete When it finally was, the doctor pushed several buttons on his screen and the beeps and hisses and clicks sped up Thomas’s body twitched a little as the tubes and wires snaked away frorew still again and theThe nurse leaned forward and lifted it off Thomas’s face His skin was red and marked with lines where it had rested Eyes still closed

For a brief an to cruht then, he wouldn’t re that they’d meet soon in the Glade and not know each other It was a crushing thought that reminded her vividly of why she’d built the wall in the first place Like amortar, she sealed the breach Sealed it solid and thick

There was no turning back

Two men from the security team came in to help move Thomas They lifted him off the bed, hoisted him as if he were stuffed with straw One had the unconscious boy by the arurney Without so lance toward Teresa, they headed for the door of the operating roo taken The doctor and the nurse went about the business of cleaning up--their job was done Teresa nodded at the, then followed the men into the hallway

She could barely look at Thoh the corridors and elevators of WICKED headquarters Her wall had weakened again Thomas was so pale, and his face was covered with beads of sweat As if he were conscious on sos awaited him on the horizon It hurt her heart to see it And it scared her to know that she was next Her stupid wall What did itwith all the memories anyway

They reached the baseh the warehouse with its rows and shelves of supplies for the Gladers It was dark and cool down there, and Teresa felt goose bu her arms She shivered and rubbed theurney as it hit cracks in the concrete floor, still a look of dread trying to break through the cal face

They reached the shaft of the lift, where the large metal cube rested

The Box

It was only a couple of stories below the Glade proper, but the Glade occupants wereand arduous journey It was all meant to stimulate an array of emotions and brain patterns, froht terror A perfect start for thosethe trip herself toripped in her hands But at least she’d be in a co darkness Thomas would wake up in the Box, completely alone