CHAPTER 30 - Remember Where Your Loyalties Lie

                                    

                                          
Thomas glances at me, a confused look spreading across his face. 
"How do you know my name?" he asks her. 
"Interesting," she says thoughtfully. Mary walks over to Brenda, kneeling down by her side. She puts a hand to the girl's forehead, then takes it away and looks back to Thomas. "The first time we spoke, you said that you couldn't take it anymore. Watching your friends die, alone, in that Maze. And you too, (y/n)."
Newt and Minho let go of me as I fix my stare on the woman. "You were in WICKED?"
"Yes," she replies. "At first, we had the best intentions. But... well, some things change. You two were observing those changes every day you were trapped there. The last time we spoke, you gave me the coordinates of every WICKED compound, trial and lab."
Me and Thomas exchange another brief glance. We always knew we were a part of WICKED once, but hearing that we broke their trust makes it less shameful, less immoral. It makes me feel like I want to laugh right in their faces, in Ava Paige's trusting stare and Janson's smug smirk.
"You were our source," Vince continues, smiling as he looks from Thomas to me. 
"We couldn't have done any of this without you," Mary concludes. She looks back at Brenda. "Take her to the tent. Get these guys some warm clothes and food. Thomas, I need to extract some blood from you, to help prevent your friend from getting more ill." 
The two men who were holding Jorge pick Brenda up from the ground and carry her to a small tent on the edge of the camp, with Jorge, Mary and Thomas following. Vince goes into a separate tent and returns a minute later with bundles of clothes and tins of food. 
"Get changed, fill your stomachs," Vince tells us. "I'll find you some empty tents to sleep in tonight, then tomorrow we'll head off to the Safe Haven." 
I grab a burgundy hoodie from the pile of clothes and throw it over my head, relishing the feeling of new, warm clothes, the fabric soft against my skin. Everyone begins to sort through the cans of food, but I linger at the side, looking to Brenda's tent. 
"(y/n), are you not having any food?" Fry asks. I shake my head. 
"I'm not really hungry," I answer. "I'm just going to check on Brenda."
I begin to walk away, when I feel someone tugging on my arm. I turn around, expecting to see Newt, when I see Teresa instead. 
"Oh - hey Teresa, what is it?" I say. 
"Do you regret it?" she asks, in an urgent tone. 
"Do I regret what?" 
"Selling WICKED out like that. Do you regret it?" 
"Well... to be fair, I can't even remember doing it," I answer truthfully. "But, no. If it saves all these people in the Right Arm, then no."
"Oh..." she says flatly. "Even though WICKED want to find the Cure, you don't regret possibly destroying their whole  operation?"  
I narrow my eyes as I look at her. "Teresa, what are you saying? We know  that WICKED aren't good, despite what they might've brainwashed us. They aren't doing it for the 'greater good'. They're doing it for themselves."
"How can you say  that?" she snaps. I flinch at her sudden outburst. "They want  the Cure, (y/n), just as much as everyone else does. Why would they possibly  do it for their own benefit?" 
"What's going on?" an accented voice asks. I turn around, letting out a tense breath I didn't even know I was holding. 
"Nothing," I lie to Newt. "Just... nothing. I'm going to see Brenda now."