The Scorch Trials

Thomas awakes, hears himself breathing, but sees only an expanse of white. A voice speaks to him telepathically, asking if he is alright. Thomas realizes that something about the voice is off, that it is not Teresa’s voice, after all. When he asks who is speaking inside his head, the voice turns out to be Brenda’s and she tells him that things are “about to get bad for you” (354). Thomas begins screaming frantically, and then wakes up.

Thomas wakes up in a room by himself, and realizes that everything is wrong. Yet again, they have been tricked by WICKED. He is in new clothing, and the padded room has a desk in it, just like the desk in the dorm room. Thomas tells himself not to panic, to wait and see what will happen. He tries calling out to Aris and Teresa in his mind, but no one responds, so he falls back to sleep.

Thomas is awakened by Teresa speaking to him telepathically. She sounds scared, and tells him that they were all placed in a different room from him, and have been there for several days. They were told that the Flare was rooted too deeply in him, and that he is going crazy as a result of it. Thomas tells Teresa that it is all a lie, that he is locked in a room somewhere, and that all of it is just another part of WICKED’s Variables. He then wonders if he can really trust Teresa. With the fear of betrayal rising inside him, Thomas decides that he needs to cut ties with Teresa. She calls to him again, and he tells her to stay quiet and listen to him. He is glad to be speaking to her telepathically, because he does not think he can say what needs to be said to her face. When Teresa agrees to listen, Thomas tells her to “go away,” to leave him alone and to tell WICKED that he is done playing their games. Teresa pauses, and then agrees to leave him alone. Before leaving, however, she tells Thomas that “WICKED is good” (358).

As in The Maze Runner, the epilogue is a memo from Ava Paige, the Chancellor of WICKED. The Chancellor says that now is not the time for emotions to get in the way of their progress. They have made great strides, but there is still much work to be done. She says that when the memory of each “subject” is fully restored, she has every confidence that they will be willing to do what WICKED will ask of them, and that they have the necessary Candidates in place as well. She notes that the future of the human race is more important than the deaths and sacrifices the subjects have endured. They will soon have their patterns, blueprints and, finally, the cure. The “Psychs,” says the Chancellor, are deliberating, and when the time is right, the Swipe will be removed from the subjects, and each one will be told whether or not they are immune to the Flare.