The healer [The maze runner Newt x OC]

Chapter fifteen

Grace had to do a double-take. Pulling on Newt's arm to see his wristwatch when her eyes widened in fear. If the doors weren't closing anymore, the Grievers could get into the Glade. 

Alby pointed at the girl. "I want her locked up. Now. Billy! Jackson! Put her in the Slammer,
and ignore every word that comes out of her shuck mouth." Teresa didn't react, but Thomas did enough for the both of them. 

"What're you talking about? Alby, you can't—" He stopped when Alby's fiery eyes shot a look of anger at him. "But ... how could you possibly blame her for the walls not closing?"

Newt stepped up, lightly placed a hand on Alby's chest and pushed him back. "How could we
not, Tommy? She bloody admitted it herself."
Thomas turned to look at the girl, paled at the sadness in her blue eyes. "Just be glad you ain't goin' with her, Thomas," Alby said; he gave both of them one last glare before leaving. Thomas turned to Grace, a pleading look on his face, silently asking her to talk to Newt. 

She leaned closer to Newt. ''Newt, shouldn't someone stay with her?'' Billy and Jackson came forward and grabbed the girl by both arms, started escorting her away. Before they could enter the trees, though, Newt stopped them, his eyes on Grace. 

"Stay with her. I don't care what happens, no one's gonna touch this girl. Swear your lives on it."
The two guards nodded, then walked away. Thomas turned to Grace, mouthing a 'thank you' as she nodded. 

The next thirty minutes were full chaos, Gladers were running around the Glade. Newt and Alby had gathered all the Keepers to put them in charge of making assignments and getting their groups inside the Homestead within the hour. 

Since the group of Medjacks was small it took some time to get all the medical supplies into the Homestead, the three of them moving as fast as they could. Grace had taken upon herself to keep the Griever Serum hidden, there was only one left and it looked like they were going to need it, stuffing it in between the belt of her jeans, she continued carrying other medical supplies into the Homestead. 

Glade was exhausted when Newt ushered them into the Homestead, holding onto Grace's hand for a moment, looking at every inch of her face as she gave a quick smile. ''We'll be fine ... I'm sure of it.'' He nodded just as the last couple of Gladers were entering, Newt shooing them in like errant chickens. Thomas stepped inside as well, followed by Newt, who closed the door behind him.

Grace laid in her sleeping bag in between Jeff and Clint. The girl rolled over multiple times, her eyes tightly shut in fear, softly shaking when she suddenly felt a hand on hers. She opened her eyes to see Jeff, nodding at her as she visibly relaxed. ''Like you said ... We'll be fine.'' He whispered as she nodded, trying to keep her breathing steady. 

A mechanized surge of machinery sounded from outside, followed by the familiar rolling
clicks of a Griever on the stony ground, as if someone had scattered a handful of nails. Grace and Jeff both shot up from their sleeping bags. 

One of the Grievers sounded like it was moving toward the house. Then the clicking of its
spikes against the stone suddenly turned into a deeper, hollower sound. The whole building shuddered.

Newt, Minho and Thomas came rushing downstairs, Newt quickly taking Grace into his arms, holding her close. The crunching and groaning and snapping of the wood became the only sounds around them. They grew louder, closer and the Gladers had gotten as far away from the window as possible. 

''Grievers?'' Grace nodded as she turned to Newt, holding onto him for dear life. ''Thomas, what do we do?'' Before anyone could answer, one of the Griever arms was inside of the homestead, grabbing onto a Glader as Thomas screamed. ''Everybody, run,run, run!'' The Runner, who were the fastest, ran in the front, leading the others out of the Homestead. Grace held onto Newt's  arm as they stood right in front of a Griever, ready to turn around until Teresa threw a torch onto its body, engulfing it in flames. ''Everyone, go, go, go!''

Her eyes roamed around the Glade, rushing over to the Map room which was still open at the time, rushing to it, she stopped in her tracks, seeing the Map room ablaze. ''What is happening tonight?'' Newt turned to Grace, the girl finally noticing the red stain on his head. 

''Newt, you're bleeding.'' His hand moved to his head, hissing in pain when she looked around, pulled a white towel from her pocket. ''Here, hold this to it.'' He did as he was told, watching a figure running towards the west door. ''What the shuck?'' She came up next to him, seeing Minho running into the Maze. 

The two glanced at each other, seeing the Grievers retread to the Maze. ''Let's go.'' They rushed into the same direction, calling out for Thomas from behind."Minho followed it out there!" Thomas yelled when Newt and Grace caught up to him.

"I saw," Newt said, pulling the towel away to look at it; he grimaced as Grace pushed it back. "Shuck it, that hurts like a mother. Minho must've finally fried his last bit of brain cells."

"I'm going after him."

"Time to be a bloody hero again?" Thomas looked at Newt sharply. "You think I do things to impress you shanks? Please. All I care about is getting out of here."

"Yeah, well, we have bigger problems right now." Grace answered, her head turning to the smoke coming from the direction of the Map room. "What?" 

"Somebody—" Newt began.

"There he is!" Thomas shouted. Minho had just turned a corner up ahead and was coming
straight for them. Thomas cupped his hands. "What were you doing, idiot!"

Minho waited until he made it back through the Door, then bent over, hands on his knees, and
sucked in a few breaths before answering. "I just ... wanted to ... make sure."

"Make sure of what?" Grace asked, still fully in the dark about the Maze. Minho straightened and put his hands on his hips, still breathing heavily. "Slim it! I just wanted to see if they went toward the Cliff. Toward the Griever Hole."

''The what?''

"And?" Thomas said.

"Bingo." Minho wiped sweat from his forehead.

"I just can't believe it," Newt said, almost whispering. "What a night."

''What the shuck is the Griever Hole?'' Grace questioned, looking between the three boys. ''We'll explain later.'' Thomas's turned to Newt and Grace. "What were you about to tell me?" he asked. "You said we had bigger—"

"Yeah." Grace pointed his thumb over her shoulder. "You can still see the buggin' smoke. Somebody burned the Map trunks," Newt said. "Every last one of 'em."

I always wondered how Newt suddenly got that towel for his head so our prepared Medjack had it from now on. I really like to work on this chapter as it explains so much more about the Griever attack and the aftermath. If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a vote, comment and add this book to your reading list to stay updated. See you on Saturday!

-X Violet's-library