RECKLESS [The Maze Runner || Newt || Book 1]

11 - Bad decision

Clara woke up before the sun had risen, the anticipation of going back into the maze too much for her to stay asleep, she felt Newt lying beside her and heard his breathing. She climbed out of the bed as slowly as she could, trying not to wake the sleeping boy. He stirred slightly and Clara froze, one of her feet still sitting on the bed, but thankfully he didn't wake up and she managed to stand up completely. 

Putting her shoes on she snuck out the door, turning around once more to make sure that Newt was still asleep before she left the homestead, jogging towards the nearest set of doors. The sun was rising and as if its rays were a signal, the maze doors started opening, the familiar thundering of the giant stone walls moving almost deafening her and as soon as the doors had opened, she ran inside.

Retracing their steps from the day before, she ran through the winding passages, the sound of her steps echoing off the maze walls. After a few minutes, she reached the spot where they'd left Freddy and felt her heart drop. In the spot, she'd left his body was nothing but a patch of loose ivy. 

She walked forward, kneeling by the vines, and pushing them aside, noticing the same sticky substance that was dripping from the creature's mouth coating the wall. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she realized that the creature must've come back for Freddy, and she shivered as thoughts of what it did to the boy rushed through her head. As she stood up to leave the maze, she noticed something shining on the floor to her left, she walked towards it and bent down realizing that it was blood. She wiped the spot on the floor with her fingers and they came back coated in red, the blood wasn't dry yet. 

The desperate hope she had that the boy was still alive was crawling back into her system and she spotted another small drop of blood a few meters ahead of her, she stood up and slowly followed the small trail of blood, reaching behind her and pulling the machete she'd stolen from Newt out of its holster, gripping it so hard her knuckles were turning white. 

The trail of blood seemed to grow larger and larger, turning from small droplets into puddles. She reached the end of the trail, and a large pool of blood was in front of her feet, but there was nobody to be found. She turned to her right and noticed the small backpack she'd given to the greenie for the run, and she felt bile rising in her throat as she realized that Freddy was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly a loud click sounded from behind Clara, she quickly spun around, pointing the machete in the direction of the sound, but saw nothing. A glimpse of metal to her left. She turned, but it disappeared. She took a step backward, her foot landing in a slimy green liquid and she froze again, looking at the puddle of goo underneath her. But before she could run, a pair of metal claws slammed down in front of her, the same hideous creature stepping out from behind a wall.

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Newt groaned as he woke up, his entire body aching from the day before, he checked his watch and realized he'd slept far later than he meant to, it was past lunchtime. His eyes roamed around as he briefly wondered where he was but suddenly remembered he was in Clara's room. He turned to look at where she'd fallen asleep but noticed she was no longer lying next to him. Newt sat up, looking around the room for her and finding nothing, he checked the bathroom before moving downstairs. 

At this point, all of the other Gladers were either at lunch or doing their jobs. He glanced around the hammocks, looking for the familiar brown ponytail but it was nowhere to be seen. Walking into the kitchen he spotted Frypan at his usual place behind the serving counter and walked up to him,

"Hey, Newt! Got some bacon for you." The cook smiled, tossing a piece of bacon at the boy who gratefully accepted it, shoving it into his mouth.

"Thanks, mate. Listen have you seen Clara anywhere?"