"Too bad we'll never see the end of the Trials."
"I know," the man answers. "But the future will thank us."
The first purple traces of dawn were what woke up Thomas the second time. He couldn't remember stirring once in his sleep since his middle-of-the-night talk with Brenda―not even after the dream.
The dream. It had been the strangest one yet, lots of things said that were already fading, too difficult to grasp and fit into the pieces of his past that were slowly, very slowly, beginning to come together again. He allowed himself to feel a little hope that maybe he wasn't in on as much to do with the Trials as he'd begun to think. Though he hadn't understood much in the dream, the fact that he and Teresa had been spying meant they weren't involved in every aspect of the Trials.
But what could the purpose of all this be? Why would the future thank those people?
He rubbed his eyes and stretched, then looked over at Brenda―her eyes still closed, her chest moving with slow and even breaths, her mouth slightly open. Though his body felt even stiffer than the day before, the restful slumber had done wonders for his spirit. He felt refreshed. Invigorated. Somewhat perplexed and brain-dead over his memory-dream and all the things Brenda had told him about, but invigorated all the same.
He stretched again and was just letting out a long yawn when he saw something on the wall of the alley. A large metal plaque, riveted to the wall. A sign that looked very familiar.
He pushed the door open and stumbled out onto the street and over to it. It was nearly identical to the sign in the Maze that had said WORLD IN CATASTROPHE―KILLZONE EXPERIMENT DEPARTMENT. Same dull metal, same lettering. Except this one said something very different. And he stared at it for at least five straight minutes before he moved an inch.
It said:
THOMAS, YOU'RE THE REAL LEADER
CHAPTER 36
Thomas might've gone on looking at the plaque all day if Brenda hadn't come out of the truck.
"I was waiting for the right time to tell you," she finally said, completely snapping him out of his daze.
He jerked his head to look at her. "What? What're you talking about?"
She didn't return his gaze, just kept staring at the sign. "Ever since I found out what your name was. Same with Jorge. It's probably why he decided to take his chances and go with you through the city and to this safe haven of yours."
"Brenda, what are you talking about?" Thomas repeated.
She finally met his eyes. "These signs are all over the city. All of them say the same thing. Exactly the same thing."
Thomas felt a weakening in his knees. He turned around and sank to the ground, resting his back against the wall. "How ... how is this even possible? I mean, it looks like it's been there for a while. ..." He didn't really know what else to say.
"Don't know," Brenda answered, joining him on the ground. "None of us knew what it meant. But when you guys showed up and you told us your name ... well, we figured it wasn't a coincidence."
Thomas gave her a hard stare, anger fighting its way up inside him. "Why didn't you tell me about this? You'll hold my hand, tell me about your dad being killed, but not this?"
"I didn't tell you because I was worried about how you'd react. I figured you'd probably run off looking for the signs, forget all about me."
Thomas sighed. He was sick of all of it. He let the anger go and blew out a long breath. "I guess it's just another part of this whole nightmare that makes no sense."
Brenda twisted to look up at the sign. "How could you not know what it means? Could it be any simpler? You're supposed to be the leader, take over. I'll help you, earn my way in. Earn a spot at the safe haven."
Thomas laughed. "Here I am in a city full of whacked-in-the-brain Cranks, there's a group of girls who want to kill me, and I'm supposed to worry about who the real leader of my group is? It's ridiculous."
Brenda's face wrinkled in confusion. "Girls who want to kill you? What're you talking about?"
Thomas didn't respond, wondering if he really should tell her the whole story from beginning to end. Wondering if he had the heart to go over it all again.
"Well?" she pressed.
Deciding that it would be nice to get it off his chest, and feeling like she'd gained his trust, he caved and told her everything. He'd given her hints and small parts, but now he took the time for details. About the Maze, about being rescued, about waking up and finding that it had all gone back to crappy. About Aris and Group B. He didn't linger on Teresa, but he could tell she noticed something when he mentioned her. Maybe in his eyes.
"So do you and this Teresa girl got a little somethin' going?" she asked when he was done.
Thomas didn't know how to answer. Did they have a little something? They were close, they were friends, he knew that much. Though he'd only gotten back some of his memories, he sensed that he and she had maybe even been more than friends before the Maze. During that awful time when they'd actually helped design the stupid thing.
And then there'd been that kiss ...
"Tom?" Brenda asked.
He looked at her sharply. "Don't call me that."
"Huh?" she asked, obviously startled, maybe even hurt. "Why?"
"Just ... don't." He felt terrible for saying it, but couldn't take it back. That was what Teresa called him.
"Fine. Shall I call you Mr. Thomas? Or maybe King Thomas? Or better yet, just Your Majesty?"
Thomas sighed. "I'm sorry. Call me whatever."
Brenda let out a sarcastic laugh and then they both grew silent.
Thomas and Brenda sat, backs against the wall, and the minutes stretched on. It was almost a peaceful quiet until Thomas heard an odd thumping sound that alarmed him.