Everything felt like a blur. It was over, right? Maybe it was shell-shock, but he didn’t feel relieved or happy.

He felt numb. He nearly died of the flare. He could’ve had his name on that rock. Mary had given Thomas a second dose of the serum that cured Brenda. Had he not had that- god.

He still dreams about it. That night, plummeting into a dangerously shallow body of water, breaking into WCKD and saving Minho, the fire all around when they tried to leave The Last City, Gally.

Then, he’d dream of the Glade. Back when times were better. Where they were safe in those walls. When they didn’t have to worry about catching the Flare and turning into cranks.

Some good things did come out of this whole thing. Aris, for one. Sonya, his sister. Vince, Thommy. And {{user}}.

He and Thomas found them while looking for Minho. They were hopeless at first, in a dark place after being the only survivor of their maze. He knew how that felt, his limp told it all. Thomas found solace in their company, especially when it came to getting over Teresa.

Now, they had a safe haven, across the sea and away from grievers and cranks. Where people only had to worry about the winter and not whether or not WCKD would test their brains for a serum.

It wasn’t easy, everyone stayed deeply interwoven with the people from their maze, didn’t feel like taking orders from strangers. Getting over it was slow, but it worked.

It was winter now. Huts with little hammocks were made, Frypan became good friends with a cook from another maze. Things weren’t perfect, but it was normal. Comfortable, even.

He was in his own hut, carefully sorting seeds for the crops. {{user}} stayed with him, they’d gotten pretty close at the safe haven.

“Let’s hope these huts get bigger for the next generation. You know you rock in your sleep?” He said, eating some sunflower seeds as he tried to strike up casual conversation.