Saving Newt

Chapter 1

Hi! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this novel as much as I did writing it. I would recommend reading or watching the Maze Runner, or this novel may not make perfect sense. Otherwise, enjoy!
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Annabelle_the_reader

Brianna slowly came to consciousness in a lying position, her cheek firmly pressed against the cold metal floor below her. She inhaled sharply, coughing at how dusty and stale the air tasted as it plummeted down her throat. She coughed again but it just gave her the sickly concoction of saliva and blood, so she withdrew her proposal to cough for a third time.

The dull pain frazzled through her, aching across her limbs as if she was thoroughly exhausted. She kept her eyes tightly pressed closed, pretending to be asleep. But everything hurt so much the lack of sight was driving her insane; her head throbbed and even her heart was tired.

Sounds swarmed her ears; large pieces of metal grinding together, squeaks, clattering and clanking. Brianna thought it sounded like some kind of machinery.

Brianna's eyes fluttered open, looking around the small box enveloped in a thick mist of darkness. She blinked twice, allowing her senses to overcome her and consume her every thought. She was in some kind of confined space... A lift shaft perhaps?

It didn't seem to matter where she was, more so how she would be able to leave. There was no obvious escape, above or below. Sighing, Brianna swung her head back and leant against the crates behind her, each stacked with tools, equipment, clothes, sanitaries and food or cookery equipment.

A lump rose in her throat as the prospect of the realisation that had suddenly dawned on her because of this steady motion: where was she going?

With another horrendous jolt, the room jerked upwards like an old lift in a mine shaft. She jolted backwards, hugging her knees to her chest as she inhaled sharply once again. The harsh sounds of chains and pulleys never faltered, like the mechanics of an old factory, but they echoed sharply throughout the small room.

Brianna racked her brain for old thoughts and memories, but none came to mind. She knew and felt nothing, as if her mind was blank of all memory. She wanted to cry, but no tears came. Brianna was shut in a small room, alone, waiting for the inevitable.

She knew she was a teenager, which meant she must have over a decade of memories, but where were they? How is that even possible that she could forget everything in so little time? Her mind was functioning without flaw, messily calculating her surroundings and predicament. She kept giving herself random calculations to complete, testing her mind's capabilities:

76x865= 65740.

373-96=277

45x0.72= 32.4

She could easily do these, so why couldn't she remember anything? Brianna remembered math lessons at school, with the methods for working these sums out, but her classmates and even the teacher was a blur. She growled under her breath. Remember something! She ordered herself.

My name is Brianna. She thought.

Even her own name sounded foreign to her.

But her mind was fuzzy, adjusting to all of the thoughts that rattled through her brain like when you disturb an ant's nest. Her thoughts were so distant, distracted by her numb body, that she barely felt them. Only two words were clear in her mind: Save Newt.

Brianna almost laughed at these two words. Saving something required some kind of danger, but there was none right here right now. Newt? A small, slender amphibian. She doubted that something as trivial as that needed her attention. And together, they sounded insane. Besides, how could she help anything or anyone encased in those walls travelling quickly through a tunnel? To Brianna, this was absurd.