Saving Newt

Chapter 11

Because the previous chapter was kinda embarrassingly awful.... I wrote this one at the same time so I could update them in quick succession. That does mean there may be some typos and confusing bits... Sorry!
Hope you enjoy this chapter,
Annabelle_the_reader
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Minho kept a steady pace as they ventured into the maze, smirking to himself that he selected Brianna and it was beginning to look like a good idea as she was easily keeping up with him and talking to him about the nature of the maze.

'Not bad, Greenie,' Minho complimented and Brianna smiled, enjoying every moment of it, even when she easily was confused by Minho's path through the walls.

The early morning light crept across the maze, the luster of the light made everything look bright and crisp, even the ivy on the cracked walls.

He sucked in a deep breath and, whilst still running, proceeded to say, 'Take out a knife and slice of part of the ivy on the walls,' He ordered.

Brianna nodded once, removing her knife and copying his action. Minho could easily slice it in one swift motion, but it took Brianna a little longer to get the hang of cutting and running simultaneously. 'Like a trail of breadcrumbs.'

'Breadcrumbs.' Minho asserted, smiling as they both recalled the shared memory of the fairy tale, yet neither could remember the ones who had told them about it. This outburst of memory almost stopped Brianna in her tracks with shock. 'You can be a Gretel and I'll be Hansel.'

'Really?' She teased. 'You look like more of a Gretel to me.'

He rolled his eyes and gently pushed her to one side. She stumbled, but regained her balance quickly and gently pushed him the other way. He pouted and they both laughed, as they twisted, darted, swerved and turned through the maze, making what appeared to be like random movements, but was actually a carefully planned route.

Their talking died down and all they could hear was their steady inhales and exhales of breath as they pounded through the maze. Brianna attempted to make a mental note of their journey, but she forgot almost instantly, particularly as her brain had seemed to turn to mush after half an hour of running. Besides, all of the walls looked the same: bare except covered in vines and leading nowhere in particular.

Brianna was amazed at how naturally the sequence of the maze came to Minho. They reached places where there was three different routes, but he immediately took the left without hesitation. She felt safe and secure with him, but anxious that she would have to do this on her own later.

After Brianna had gotten used to the simple rhythm of running, Minho withdrew a notebook and pen from his bag, before returning it to his shoulders. 'Note taking is very important in the maze, more important than the running. You have to know where you're going and what you've done.' He explained and Brianna nodded, hanging on his every word. Since entering the maze, Minho had been the only person to gain respect from her. He wondered why that was when Alby had much more authority than he did.

She jotted down a few simple things, finding it quite challenging as they hadn't slowed at all. Brianna was quite skilled and remembering details; the parallel walls, covered with vines about five centimetres thick and reaching only half way up the walls; the clicking sound that occurred whenever a Griever was near, but that it didn't seem to bother Minho which meant they were still too far away to worry about and the cracked floor, but not fractured or resembling ancient rock.

Minho began to slow to a halt at a small clearing, after they had run for a few hours and covered around six and a half miles. It didn't look like much, but Brianna was confident that this was where they usually stopped because the dirt on the ground hadn't been rucked up a as much, as if someone who had previously kicked up the dirt and moved it around didn't run along this stretch.

'How're you doing, Brianna?' Minho questioned, removing a bottle of water from his bag and taking a huge sip, sloshing it through his dry mouth before swallowing in. Brianna did the same, realising everything Minho did was for a reason, even the way he would occasionally jump up and down to keep his pulse going while they were resting.

'Good, thanks.' She smiled, placing her hands on her legs to stretch out her muscles as Minho perched on a nearby rock. She pulled out her water bottle and took an enormous sip, letting the cool taste float down her throat, feeling refreshed immediately. Then, as her eyes inspected the ground, she continued, 'Why do you stop here for a lunch?'

'How did you...' Minho trailed off, puzzled.

'Dirt.'

'Dirt?'

'Dirt.' She confirmed, pointing to the ground. Minho followed her gesture and nodded at the level ground, impressed by the intelligence of the new Greenie. 'It's too level for you to run along.'

'Oh...' He nodded. 'That's very observant of you.' She beamed in response, delighting in the small approval of Minho, leader of the runners. 'This passage is always in the same spot, but the route here is often a little different because of the rearranging walls.'

They sat down on the rocks, removing their food from their bags and tucking in, pleased to taste the food once again. After running all morning, it was nice to have a break at some point. 'What does WICKED stand for?'

'Sorry?!' He spluttered chocking on his sandwich as his head snapped in her direction. She reddened slightly, embarrassed by her random question and pointed at the beetle scuttling across the ivy, it's colour shiny. 'We don't know, but that little piece of Klunk is a beetle blade, we call 'em, don't touch them, they'll slice your shuck hands if your not careful.'

Brianna looked disappointed, hoping to have been able to get closer to the shiny beetle that was so intriguing and fascinating to her. She was like a magpie, drawn to everything special and sparkly to her.

'You spoke about the maps, who do you remember them and how to draw them?' Brianna asked, breaking the short, awkward silence that followed as they hungrily devoured their lunch, leaving nothing left as if it was the last meal they will ever eat. Minho was used to the running, but Brianna still found herself struggling to catch her breath as often as he could, yet it still came strangely easily to her, as if she was made to run.

'The walls only change a little.' Minho chuckled slightly, but not in a heavily amused way. 'Therefore I can rely mostly on memory, but I just jolt it by writing down notes about everything fifth turn. Because runners take the same route every day, we can copy the previous day's map with just the new alterations. Easy.'

Brianna nodded, intrigued at how simple Minho made running in the maze seem. He had done it for almost two years, but it felt to Brianna like he had done it for much longer. He was almost professional.