EPIPHANY ? newt

13 , questions

"Seph, you've got a death grip on my sleeve - no, don't let go." Newt ordered as I tried to pull away. "Come on, I know you're not alright. Let's go try find the woman, I'll go with you. We can see how Brenda's doing as well."

If I was telling the truth, the thought of checking on the injured girl and seeing where Thomas had been taken was tempting - but I didn't want the woman bothering about me when Brenda was obviously a lot more sick. "Fine..." I agreed slowly, "but we only mention this if she's done all she can for Brenda. I want her safe, Newt."

The blonde didn't look too pleased, but he nodded, taking my hand and leading me down the path to where the others had disappeared. The rest of our group had dispersed around the camp by then, but Teresa followed behind the two of us, I guessed she was worried about Thomas.

Newt stopped outside the tent, slowly lifting his hand and moving the cloth entrance open enough so that we could see what was going on inside. Brenda was still breathing erratically, while Jorge sat next to her. Thomas was sitting next to a table a little ways away, where the woman stood. She was mixing something in a jar that looked suspiciously like blood. Teresa peered in next to us, interested, as bits of the conversation going on inside floated to our ears.

"...clear you kids were the key, because you were immune. The question was why? Eventually, we found an answer. An enzyme produced by the brains of all the immune, once separated from the blood stream, can serve as a powerful agent to slow the spread of the virus down." The woman was saying as she filled a syringe with an aquamarine coloured liquid which I would have called pretty if I didn't know it was from inside our brains.

"So... you found a cure?" Thomas asked, looking at the woman with hope in his eyes.

She sighed, turning to him as she shook her head grimly. "Not exactly... the enzyme can't be manufactured - only harvested from the immune. The young. Of course, that didn't stop WICKED. If they had it their way they would sacrifice an entire generation... all for this." She help up the syringe, an awestruck smile on her face as she whispered, "A gift of biology... of evolution. One not meant for all of us."

The woman walked over to Brenda, and quickly inserted the needle into the girls arm with skill. I watched in shock as it seemed to take effect almost instantaneously - the writhing girl calming within seconds, as Thomas asked how long the liquid would help her for.

"It's different for everyone. A few months, maybe. But... thats the catch, isn't it? She will always need more." The woman stood up again, putting a hand on Jorge's shoulder. "Let's go outside - let them rest for a while. Come on, she'll be fine."

Her words caused both Newt and I to move back a bit out on instinct, and Teresa walked away quickly. I slowly tried to follow her, but Newt grabbed hold of my arm again, giving me a stern look as I sighed, moving back to him nervously. The two adults walked out, stopping in surprise seeing us. "Oh, did you two need something?" The woman asked in a gentle voice as Jorge walked away.

Newt nodded before I could chicken out. "Actually, my friend, Seph, she's not been... well. I-I was wondering if you could take a look at her or something, and maybe try help."

The woman squinted at me for a second, before nodding. "Dehydration, malnourished, deathly pale... you guys really have been through a lot, haven't you? Why don't you go find your friends, dear? I've asked Arron to get you guys some food and water." She smiled at Newt's hesitation, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'll take care of her, don't worry."

She ushered me back into the tent that Thomas and Brenda were still sitting in, talking softly as we walked in. The woman got me to sit near the other side of the room, at a table. "So, whats the matter, Sephora?"

It took me a second to realise she had just called me by my full name, even though no one had used it. "How... how do you know my name?"

"I knew you, before the maze. We spoke quite a bit. I know of your... condition, Seph. And I know what can help - is that whats been acting up?" The woman asked, only filling me with more questions.

"Yes, it is- but wait. You knew me? How? What was I-" It was a strange question to ask, but one that had been burning at the back of my mind ever since I had woken up inside that cage back in the maze. "What was I like?"

"You, believe it or not, were pretty similar to who you are now. WICKED took away your memories - not personality. You were scared when you were taken into the maze, you were worried about what issues your illness would cause more than anything. I told you I'd take care of it while you were in there." She explained.

"You... worked with WICKED?"

The woman nodded almost sadly, as she prepared another injection. "Yes, a long time ago. We started off with completely good intentions. Find a cure, save the world. Somewhere along the line WICKED lost its way - it also lost me that day. I wanted nothing to do with them after that - thats when we formed the Right Arm."

"What... what do I have? Whats wrong with me?"

I watched as she filled a sunset orange liquid into the syringe, the same colour of vial that Estell used to give me back at the facility. "It's called Lyther, an illness caused to some who were born during the worst parts of the scorch. The sun rays were only bad enough to cause it for 53 hours, so its extremely uncommon. Thankfully - we have a cure. And it doesn't effect your brain the same way the flare does - not sending you into a state of psychosis."

"So, what? This is just my life, now? I have to get an injection every single day of my life to not get the feeling that I'm going to pass out almost every minute? Or the headaches?" I asked.

The woman shook her head as she pressed the needle into my arm. "Oh, no. When I said cure - I meant cure. Not this stuff. This is only temporary. We don't have access to it currently, so yes - for now we have to make do with the injections. But you only need one dose of the cure to permanently destroy the Lyther inside you. I have no idea why WICKED didn't give it to you - but they refused. Maybe they wanted a way to be able to keep you under their control if they ever needed, as some sort of leverage."

"Okay... and-" I cut myself off when I heard the woman chuckle softly. "What?"

"Nothing... its just, you ask a lot of questions." She said, smiling at me.

I felt heat rise in my cheeks. "Sorry - this was gonna be the last one. I-I was just wondering... if... you know, you knew us before we were put in the maze, I was wondering if you-" I didn't know where I was going with this. "Did we know each other? Teresa? Thomas? Minho? ...Newt?"

The woman sighed. "Its complicated. Yes, Thomas, Teresa, Minho and Newt knew each other. They were even in contact with Aris and Rachel and the others from your maze. But you... you never got to meet them. You were kept away from the rest."

I frowned, standing up. "Why so?"

The woman looked away, seeming uncomfortable for the first time during our conversation. "Because your mother didn't want you to make more relationships than necessary. She thought it would only cause you more pain."