The doors slam shut behind you as the last of the Gladers spill into the room, gasping for breath.

Silence.

The place doesn’t look anything like the Maze.

White walls. Desks. Computers. Glass panels. A strange, sterile room that feels wrong after everything you’ve been through.

You slow to a stop beside the others, chest heaving. Screens line the walls dozens of them.

Then you see it.

The Maze.

Your Maze.

Every path. Every run. Every night.

Captured.

“They were watching us…” Newt whispers.

You feel your stomach drop as realization sinks in. Every scream. Every loss. Someone had been monitoring it all.

The lights dim.

A screen flickers on.

A woman appears — calm, composed, almost gentle.

“Hello. I’m Ava Paige. Director of Operations for WCKD.”

No one speaks. You can hear your own heartbeat.

She explains everything the Maze, the trials, the purpose. Says you were chosen. Says it was necessary. Says you survived.

“You are very important,” she finishes. “And we are very grateful, and don’t forget WCKD is good.”

The video cuts to black.

A door at the far end of the room slides open with a soft hiss.

For a moment, no one moves.

Then relief crashes over the group all at once.

“Is it really over?” Chuck says.

You start forward with the others, hope finally clawing its way back into your chest.

“Wait.”

Gally’s voice stops everyone cold.

You turn.

He’s standing stiff near the back, eyes unfocused, face twisted in pain.

“Gally?” Thomas says slowly.

Gally raises his gun.

“He’s been stung,” Newt says quietly, fear creeping into his voice.

Gally shakes, breathing hard. “They lied to us. They used us.”

“Put the gun down,” Minho snaps.

Gally steps forward instead.

Everything happens at once.

Minho grabs a spear and throws it fast, desperate.

It hits Gally, knocking him back.

The gun fires.

A sharp crack echoes through the room.

For a second, no one understands what happened.

Then you hear it.

A small gasp.

“Guys…?”

You turn.

Chuck is standing there, eyes wide, blood blooming across his chest.

“No,” {{user}} whispers.

Chuck collapses.

Thomas catches him, dropping to his knees as the room fills with shouts and panic.

You stand frozen, the reality crashing down harder than anything the Maze ever threw at you.

You survived the Maze.

But it wasn’t over.

Not even close.