The Scorch Trials - James Dashner [102]
“Yeah.” Somehow Thomas knows this version of himself in the vision he’s seeing feels dead inside. His words mean nothing. “All that matters now are the patterns. The killzone. Nothing else.”
Teresa nodded. “No matter how many die or get hurt. If the Variables don’t work, they’ll end up the same anyway. Everyone will.”
“The patterns,” Thomas says.
Teresa squeezes his hand. “The patterns.”
When he woke up, the light dimming to a dull gray as the sun sank to a horizon he couldn’t see, Harriet and Sonya were sitting just a few feet from him. Both staring at him strangely.
“Good evening,” he said with false enthusiasm, the troubling dream still fresh in his mind. “Can I help you ladies?”
“We want to know what you know,” Harriet said quietly.
The lingering fog of sleep quickly vanished. “Why should I help you?” He wanted to sit and think about what he’d dreamed, but he knew something had changed—he could see it in Harriet’s gaze—and he couldn’t pass up the chance to save himself.
“I don’t think you have much choice,” Harriet said. “But if you share whatever you’ve learned or figured out, maybe we can help you.”
Thomas looked around for Teresa but couldn’t see her. “Where is—”
Sonya interrupted him. “She said she wanted to scout the area to see if your friends followed us. Been gone for about an hour.”
In his mind, Thomas could see the Teresa of his dream. Watching those screens, talking about dead Creators and the killzone. Talking about patterns. How did it all fit together?
“Forget how to talk?”
His eyes focused on Sonya. “No, um … does this mean you guys are having second thoughts about killing me?” The words sounded stupid to him, and he wondered how many people in the history of the world had ever asked a question like that.
Harriet smirked. “Don’t go jumping to conclusions. And don’t think we’ve gone all righteous. Let’s just say we have our doubts and want to talk—but your odds are slim.”
Sonya picked up her line of thought. “The smartest thing right now seems to be to do what we were told. There are a lot more of us than you. I mean, come on. If it was your decision, what would you do?”
“Pretty sure I’d choose the option of not killing myself.”
“Don’t be a jerk. This isn’t funny. If you could choose, and the two options were you die or all of us die, which one would you pick? This is all about you or us.”
Her face showed she was very serious, and the question hit Thomas like a thump to his chest. She was right, on some level. If that really would happen—they’d all die if they didn’t get rid of him—then how could he expect them not to do it?
“You gonna answer?” Sonya pushed.
“I’m thinking.” He paused, wiped some sweat off his forehead. Once again, the dream tried to creep to the front of his mind and he had to push it back. “Okay, I’m being honest here. I promise. If I were in your shoes, I’d choose not to kill me.”
Harriet rolled her eyes. “Easy for you to say, since it’s your life on the line.”
“It’s not just that. I think it’s some kind of test and maybe you’re not really supposed to do it.” Thomas’s heartbeat picked up—he really did mean what he said, but he doubted they’d believe him even if he tried to explain it. “Maybe we should share what we know, figure something out.”
Harriet and Sonya exchanged a long look.
Sonya finally nodded; then Harriet said, “We’ve had our doubts about this whole thing from the beginning. Something about it isn’t right. So yeah, you better talk. But let us get everybody over here first.” They stood up to go rouse the others.
“Hurry, then,” Thomas said, wondering if he really did have a chance to get out of this mess. “We better do this before Teresa gets back.”
CHAPTER 48
It didn’t take long for them to gather everyone—Thomas figured the intrigue of hearing what the dead-guy-walking had to say was just too good to pass up. The girls stood in a tight group in front of him; he remained tied to the ugly, lifeless tree.
“All right,” Harriet said. “You talk first, then we will.”
Thomas nodded and cleared