I'll run away with you. | the maze runner [newt]

2.01

CHAPTER ONE

The island did justice to its name, it truly served as a safe haven. It was a place where everyone felt at ease, a place they could call home.

Everyone contributed in their own way. Some cooked meals, others made sure everyone had proper beds to sleep on and after a few months they even sent people off for scavenging hunts back on the mainland.

A lot had changed, people changed. Some tried to forget about everything that had happened, some tried their best to accept their past. It had been six months, six months of safety, six months of building a new life, six months without the people they lost.

Laughter and chattering could be heard from the island's beach, white pale sand protecting the island from the ebbing waves. The sun was near setting but that meant a beautiful sight, the sky was a mixture of orange, yellow and red, even a little pink was seen. It was people's favourite part of the day, seeing the sun sink in the ocean.

An inviting smell of the prepared dinner got everyone excited. People started finishing what they were doing and headed to the communal dining area near a big campfire.

As the people had expected, a certain sound became louder and louder above the islanders. A few stood up, squinted their eyes and tilted their head to see clearer. Soon enough through the clouds the plane became clearer.

"They're back, took them long enough."

The black plane slowly lowered until it touched the white sand. The engine was turned off and only a few seconds later people exited the plane dressed in uniforms like soldiers, carrying guns but mostly wearing a smile on their faces, happy to return onto the island.

"Almost forgot what you looked like, shank!"

"It's nice to see you too, Gally." Frypan said, wearing a cooking apron.

"Smells good, Fry. I can't wait to eat something decent again." Brenda said smilingly.

"I'm not surprised that you missed my cooking." Frypan grinned.

"You're full of shit." Brenda joked.

They all headed for the dining area and found themselves a place full of delicious smelling food. All were chattering and enjoying their meals, within minutes most had finished, especially the soldiers. But they remained seated, catching up with each other on the past few weeks.

"Thom, you're suspiciously quiet today."

Thomas sighed, his eyes moving to his friends, they were all staring at him. 

"Fry, you're sure Julia hasn't returned to camp yet?" Thomas asked.

"I haven't seen her in weeks, she left when you guys did, but I have to say I expected her to be back by now." Frypan told.

Gally sighed, staring into the horizon where the sun had now completely disappeared into the depths of the ocean.

"She should've gone with us, onto the mainland." Brenda said.

"She didn't want to. I think she might be scared." Aris joined the conversation, sitting beside Brenda on the sand.

"Scared of what? Cranks?" Minho asked, plopping down onto the sand too.

"She's not scared, she's in pain and seeing the cranks, being the exact reason why New- he died, won't help." Thomas said.

"She can decide that for herself, depressing Shanks!" a very familiar voice joined the conversation. Everyone jumped up in surprise.

The small silhouette of the girl became clearer as the moonlight shun upon. Her brown hair was in a long braid that nearly reached her waist. The scar on her face was clearly visible as if the moonlight wanted people to see it.

A few dead animals hung over her shoulder next to a bow and a quiver full of arrows that she carried. She wore an all-black outfit, covering most parts of her skin, protecting her from the forest. She had been hunting for weeks. The forest was a quiet place, inhabited by all sorts of small animals. It was not just to hunt that she went there, she loved the feeling of being free and going wherever she wanted to go, whenever she wanted. 

The look in her eyes was familiar to her friends. It reminded them of the look she had when she was rescued from WCKD by her friends. Something had changed within her. Something was missing, the part that always made her eyes light up at the sight of it, or better said, him. 

"Julia!" Thomas leaped towards his sister, wrapping his arms around her. He held his breath when he felt her fragile body, realizing how much impact death could have on a person. Thomas himself had been struggling with grief but in the same way it had an impact on his sister. 

Minho, Frypan but especially Gally were simply staring at the small brunette, studying the way she acted. They were almost afraid to greet her properly, to hug her and tell her how glad they were that she was back. They were afraid to say anything, afraid to break her, afraid to make her collapse into tears.

"It's only been what? Three weeks? You're all acting like you've seen a ghost." Julia muttered. She grinned, trying to ease the tension. She threw the dead animals off her shoulder and onto the sand.

"Brought you the good stuff, Fry."

"You never seem to disappoint me, little one." Frypan said with a cautious smile.

She smiled and almost immediately turned around to walk away. Trying to ignore the eyes burning in the back of her head she got into her hut.  It was a small space she shared with two others, Sonya and Brenda. Only Sonya had been sleeping there for the past three weeks as the other two girls had been away.

Inside were two bunkbeds and a small closet they shared with each other, no one really owned many things which made it easy to live in such a small space. With a sigh Julia dropped her things and sat down on one of the beds. Her eyes quickly fell on the beautiful ring around her finger. Her hands were covered in smudges of dirt, but the ring remained perfectly clean.

"I'll run away with you." she mumbled, referring to what was written inside of the piece of jewellery. She repeated his name in her head but never spoke it out loud. It was like it had become a bad word, everyone tried their best to avoid saying it. 

Her head started to hurt as soon as every memory tried their best to slip back into her mind. She found herself falling asleep of exhaustion. It seemed that only exhaustion was able to bring her to sleep these days.