Him || The Scorch Trials

Ten

Mara woke to the searing sunlight pulsing down on her skin, making it impossible to sleep any more. She crawled out from under her sheet and carefully pulled her body away from Newt's grasp, trying hard not to wake the sleeping boy.

She looked up at the miserable and foggy sky, which thrust its powerful winds through her ruffled clothes. It was more intense than it had been during the night, lashing and whipping with a fierce blow, but the wind wasn't strong enough to knock her over. Still, its violence managed to throw her off balance and stumble a little as she stood up.

To her surprise, not many of the Gladers were awake, only Minho and a few others. They were all sitting practically in silence, circling a basket of food, which was placed directly in the centre of their circle. It was half empty, and alarmingly one of their last packs of food.

"Mornin' boys." Mara whisper yelled, both trying to be heard and not wake the others as she walked over and sat in a free spot between Minho and another Glader. "What's on the menu?"

"Nothing special." One boy replied, the new one; Aris. "Just a few sandwiches and fruit and bits."

"You're Aris, right?" The boy nodded. "I'm Mara. If you don't know who I am, my mother's one of the bastards who put us in the maze. And for some bloody stupid reason, I put myself in the maze by my own choice. So there, now you know."

Minho smirked as Mara leant forward and picked out a small apple. She bit into it, letting the relieving taste spiral through her taste buds.

"Just for the record, I already knew." The boy shrugged. "Some of the others wouldn't stop talking about you."

"Seriously?" Mara asked, a smile appearing at the corners of her lips. Some of the Gladers had been talking about her non-stop, and she had an idea of who that had been. It made her happy to know that they cared about her, and she could easily say that she cared about them too. She looked up to Minho. "Do you think we'll get to the city today?"

"Yep, as long as these shuckfaces decide to wake up from their shuck baby dreams sometime soon." Minho replied, looking over at the still sleeping Gladers.

"Then let's hope that happens." Mara said, taking another bite into her apple.

They sat together for a while as they ate, and one after one other Gladers began to join them. Newt woke up not long after Mara finished her apple, slotting in between Mara and Minho in the circle of Gladers.

"Sleep well?" Mara asked as he sat down and reached over to grab an apple for himself.

"You could say that. Why didn't you wake me up? We should've left by now." Newt said, glancing up at the town in the distance as he bit into his apple. He was too desperate to get there, he was willing to risk his sleep and health just to get the others past that city alive.

"You're allowed to sleep in a little, Newtie." Mara chuckled, placing her hand on his knee.

"But we can't waste time to-"

"Newt, it's only an extra hour. We'll probably stay in the town for some time anyway, so it's really not that bad." Mara told him. They needed the sleep, and an extra hour really didn't hurt. "Plus, it looks pretty bad, not walking conditions. Might not get too far today."

Mara looked up at the sky, as did Newt. It was masked by a thick layer of clouds, giving an even more gloomy and dreary feel to the desert around them. A strong gust of air blew around them, making it harder to talk to one another as it outweighed the volume of their voices.

"Looks like a storm's on its way. Just what we bloody need." The boy huffed, once again biting into his apple.

"We need to start walking soon." She shouted over the wind. "Maybe we can talk properly when we reach the city. You know, something that's not to do with this bloody world or WICKED or any of that. I just want a day off."

Newt shuffled to turn his entire body to face Mara. He threw the remains of his apple into the basket they were using as a bin before bringing his full attention to her. Then, he reached over to Mara and took her hands in his, holding them in the air encased with his warm touch.

"I know, love. That's what we all want." Newt smiled lovingly. He brought his right hand up to Mara's cheek and brushed his thumb along her skin, bringing a cooling sensation to the spot he touched. "I know we can't go home, or anywhere, really, but they must've set up cities like that one all over the world. When we get out of this, and we will, I promise we'll find one and stay there, settle down. Then you can have as many days off as you want. I promise."

Mara couldn't control the smile that peeked at the corners of her mouth. An overwhelming sense of hope took her over; Newt wanted to be with her, and she wanted to be with him. As long as they could both make it out of WICKED's grasp, they could just live the rest of their lives in a small city somewhere and just live a normal- or whatever was considered normal- life.

All she could think was how lucky she was to have him in their situation. Without Newt as her anchor, everything would have been more painful, and even if it did sound cheesy she knew it was the truth.

She leaned forward as he dropped his hand. Her breath hung over his ear and his hands pulled her into him, bringing them together in a tangled heap. "I love you."

Newt pulled back, allowing Mara to come face to face with him. A smile broadened across his gloried face and reflected the light the sun should have provided. He brushed away the stray strands of hair that fell across Mara's face and tucked them behind her ear, then leant forward and puckered his lips, placing a soft and gentle kiss on the tip of her nose.

"I love you too." He told her through his smile, moving his head down to reach Mara's lips. She moved forward, closing her eyes as her lips connected with his.

A giant smile crept onto Mara's face at the soft and lingering touch Newt left on her lips, a numb sensation crawling along her body as he held her. It was short and sweet, but perfect to her.

For a few seconds, they hovered in place, forgetting the madness around them as if they were somewhere else. Mara almost believed that they were in a normal world, a world long forgotten in time. It felt like she was just a teenage girl living a life of freedom and choice, but as soon as the moment was over reality came crashing down, hitting her with a strong misery.

The wind began to pick up around them, throwing Mara's hair in front of her face and rattling through her clothes. Everything had intensified, forcing the two of them to focus on getting to shelter immediately.

Mara climbed to her feet, looking around at the Gladers surrounding her, each of them grabbing their supplies and covers, preparing to leave. She spotted Minho talking to a now awake Thomas- who seemed to have been the last to wake up- and jogged towards them, her stomach churning as her wound bounced up and down with her body.

"We've gotta get out of here before it gets worse." She shouted to the boys, stopping as she reached them.

"Maybe we can get there and find a place to hide before we're soaked by the storm." He agreed, shouting over the rough air.

"What if we get there and a bunch of Cranks try to kill us?" Thomas yelled, throwing his hands over to the city. He had a point, but they had no other option than to run for the city. They were running out of food and water, and they needed the shelter badly.

"Then we'll just have to fight them." Mara told him, Minho nodding beside her.

"What else do you wanna do?" He huffed, indicating that he thought Thomas' question was stupid. "We're almost out of food and water."

"Come on, the longer we stand about and talk about it the worse this storm is gonna get." Mara shouted, they needed to get out of the open area and run, even if they did come across a few cranks.

Thomas paused, but he nodded not long after. "All right, then. Let's go."

Mara turned to the group of Gladers, who all stood ready to leave, looking to them and waiting their instructions. "We're gonna head for the town. We'll walk for now, but if it gets any worse prepare to run. Got that?" She shouted, watching as the others nodded in approval.

"Good that." Minho nodded, then he turned to the city. "Let's go."