Only Herself to Blame...

We all stopped dead.

"Who the shuck are you?" Minho shouted, stepping infront of me bravely.

"Peace. Please do not be scared by the guns. They are here for our own protection and we will not use them unless you put us in danger. We are here for one thing only, then we will leave you in peace." said the woman.

"You still didn't answer our question. Who are you?" A glader shouted. They had all seemed to form a wall around me, like my body guards.

"My name is Jane." The woman said.

"Jane!" I whispered.

She was the same woman who looked afted Jai and I. And then Corby. She had wanted to rescue us, but the head scientists wouldn't let her.

I ran towards her and the guards raised their guns.

"Stop." Jane told them. "Don't shoot her."

I ran into Jane's open arms and hugged her. She had done some terrible things, yes, but she had protected me. She was like a mother to me.

"My beautiful Zoe. How I have missed you these past months." She said into my hair.

"Jane!" I repeated.

We pulled away and I walked back to the Gladers, who were all looking at me with confused, scared or angry expressions.

I stood on my own, not wanting Jane to notice Jai or Corby. I didn't know why, but it felt like the right thing to do. Of course, it didn't work.

"Zoe? Where is Jai? And Corby?" She asked me.

I pointed to them and they stood on either side of me, not knowing fully who this woman was.

Jane sighed. "You have both become so tall. And handsome." She said to them.

One of the guards cleared his throat.

"Yes." Jane said. "Anyway. I don't want you guys to freak out, but Zoe isn't supposed to be here. She put herself in the Box. I am now going to take her away, and-" she raised her voice over the shouts and yells from the gladers. "If you do anything to stop us, WE WILL SHOOT!" she shouted.

The gladers became silent. I nodded and faced them. I knew that if I doubt,  the Gladers would get injured. I couldn't allow that.

"Thankyou, guys, for being my friends. Thankyou for accepting me and being kind. Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou."

Again, I hugged each Glader, holding on longer now. I knew that I would eventually have to go, and I would accept it, because Jane was doing it for a good reason. I trusted her.

I kissed every Glader on the cheek too.

It was hardest to say goodbye to Newt, Gally, Corby, Jai and Minho. "Goodbye." I whispered to everyone.
"Thankyou."

"Remember me, Jai. We were best fends outside of this place. We may see wacko there again." I whispered into Jai's ear, and I moved on to Corby.

"Keep trying to communicate with me. Keep me updated on the Glade."

I hugged Minho. "You have the best hair in the while Glade, Minny. Don't ever forget that." He gave me a sad smile, and nodded.

"Thankyou for being my friend Gally. You were one of my first friends here. Thankyou."

I bowed my head and took a step back from all of the Gladers, sad that I had to go. 

"NO!!" Gally, Minho and Jai shouted at the same time.

"Please guys. Stay strong. For me. Remember, I love you all." I said, trying to sound brave.

I turned to Jane, fighting the tears. "Let's go."

"Zoe?" I turned around to look at Gally. "I love you too."

"Me too." said Minho.

"We all do!" Alby shouted, and the Gladers were cheering and agreeing, before looks of sadness washed over their faces once again.

"Thanks, Guys." I said. A crushing feeling was settling into my chest, and a lump was form g in my throat, becoming painful.

Jane took my hand and walked me over to the box. Then she turned back to the Gladers once more, who had followed us.

"As soon as we step into this Box, your memories of Zoe will disappear. It is an additional affect we added when building the maze, so if anything went wrong, your memories were able to be altered. I would like to thank you all for looking after Zoe, and taking care of her. Goodbye." She said, and jumped into the lift, followed by 7 guards.

"Goodbye Gladers." I said, looking around all the faces of my friends, who wouldn't even remember who I was.

I jumped into the lift, with the last guard following me.

***

I had been curled up in the corner of the lift for the past hour. Jane said it took three hours to get to the bottom, so I had 2 more hours to think about the Gladers.

I thought about the party we had. I thought about me running off from them all. I thought about Zak, who I hadn't even talked to properly. I thought about Gally, who had been my first friend.

I closed my eyes and sighed. Nobody would know that I had had a crush on Gally. Nobody would know that he used to creep into my dreams and make the nightmares go away, replaced by comforting memories of us together.

I opened my eyes and spoke fot the first time in the Box.

"What's going to happen now?"