The Death Cure by James Dashner Read Free Book Online

they were. They all should’ve made a run for it before those guards showed up. “Sorry. It just didn’t feel right yet. And once they had all those weapons in our faces, it seemed kind of pointless to waste the effort trying anything.”
    “Yeah, well” was all Minho said. Then, “You and Brenda had a nice little reunion.”
    Thomas took a deep breath. “She said something.”
    Minho sat up straighter on the bed. “What do you mean she said something?”
    “She told me not to trust them—to only trust her and someone named Chancellor Paige.”
    “Well, what’s her buggin’ deal anyway?” Newt asked. “She works for WICKED? What, was she just a bloody actress down in the Scorch?”
    “Yeah, sounds like she’s no better than the rest of them,” Minho added.
    Thomas just didn’t agree. He couldn’t even explain it to himself, much less to his friends. “Look, I used to work for them, too, but you trust me, right? It doesn’t mean anything. Maybe she had no choice, maybe she’s changed. I don’t know.”
    Minho squinted as if he was thinking but didn’t respond. Newt just sat down on the floor and folded his arms, pouting like a little kid.
    Thomas shook his head. He was sick of puzzling everything out. He walked over and opened the small fridge—his stomach was rumbling with hunger. He found some cheese sticks and grapes and divvied them up, then practically shoved his portion down his throat before drinking a full bottle of juice. The other two gobbled theirs as well, no one saying a word.
    A woman showed up soon after with plates of pork chops and potatoes, and they ate that, too. It was early evening, according to Thomas’s watch, but he couldn’t imagine being able to fall asleep. He sat down in a chair, facing his friends, wondering what they should do. He was still feeling a little chagrined, like it was his fault that they’d yet to try anything, but he didn’t offer any ideas.
    Minho was the first one to speak since the food had come. “Maybe we should just give in to those shuck-faces. Do what they want. One day we’ll all sit around, fat and happy.”
    Thomas knew he didn’t mean a word of it. “Yeah, maybe you canfind a nice pretty girl who works here, settle down, get married and have kids. Just in time for the world to end in a sea of lunatics.”
    Minho kept at it. “WICKED’s going to figure out this blueprint business and we’ll all live happily ever after.”
    “That’s not even funny,” Newt said grumpily. “Even if they did find a cure, you saw it out there in the Scorch. It’s gonna be a buggin’ long time before the world can ever get back to normal. Even if it can—we’ll never see it.”
    Thomas realized he was just sitting there, staring at a spot on the floor. “After everything they’ve done to us, I just don’t believe any of it.” He couldn’t get past the news about Newt—his friend, who’d do anything for someone else. They’d given him a death sentence—an incurable disease—just to watch what would happen.
    “That Janson guy thinks he has it all figured out,” Thomas continued. “He thinks it all comes down to some sort of greater good. Let the human race kick the bucket, or do awful things and save it. Even the few who are immune probably wouldn’t last long in a world where ninety-nine-point-nine percent of people turn into psycho monsters.”
    “What’s your point?” Minho muttered.
    “My point is that before they swiped my memory, I think I used to buy all that junk. But not anymore.” And the one thing that terrified him now was that any returning memories might make him change his mind about that.
    “Then let’s not waste our next chance, Tommy,” Newt said.
    “Tomorrow,” Minho added. “Somehow, some way.”
    Thomas gave each of them a long look. “Okay. Somehow, some way.”
    Newt yawned, making the other two do the same. “Then we better quit yapping and get some buggin’ sleep.”

CHAPTER 9
     
    It took over an