CHEATING DEATH - A Maze Runners' Tale • 001

CHAPTER 5

I decided to take it upon myself to keep an eye on newt despite Minho telling me not to worry about it. I was sitting across from him at the picnic table and it was clear he had chosen a seat that had a direct view to the now opening doors to the maze. I saw him sneaking glances at the doors in between large bites of his breakfast. He was finishing faster than anyone else and I decided to also pick up the pace myself so I could hopefully figure out what he was doing.

I watched as he got up and set his dish in a bin where the dirty dishes were supposed to go. He walked to the tool shead and pulled out a wooden handled garden hoe.

Everyone else was too distracted to notice newt pacing back and forth in front of the maze. I stayed at the picnic table but I was keeping a close watch on him.

"Margo you seem distracted." Winston interrupt my thoughts.

"I'm always distracted." I replied though my voice was distant in my own thoughts as I proceeded to watch as newt began inching into the maze.

Newt turned his head to me and I quickly averted my eyes from where he was. I poked at my food with a sudden loss of appetite due to my concern for the blonde boy who had been acting weird.

Once I looked up I saw that he had disappeared. His garden hoe was leaned against the wall of the maze and he was nowhere to be found. The only way he could have disappeared in time is if he had run into the maze.

"Hey Minho do you usually carry weapons into the maze with you?" I asked as I dropped my fork onto the metal dish abruptly.

"Yea obviously. It would be a death sentence if we didn't." Minho answered as I paled. I knew exactly what newt was doing now.

I stood as fast as I could and flipped the picnic table over with the boys still on half of it. It's already failing support system completely collapsed on itself and the boys were buried in a pile of wood and nails.

I bolted for my life to the doors and clearly managed to go unnoticed as I snatched newts garden hoe and ran straight into the maze. Don't break the rules they said.

I listened for quick steps and ran after them only to hear them stop after a while. I was completely lost and hadn't paid an ounce of attention to where I was going.

I began to panic as I looked up and saw the towering walls of the maze surrounding me. I almost felt like they were going to eat me before I heard a pulling sound and then a snap. Another pulling sound. Two more snaps.

A loud cry of pain and then a thud.

"NEWT!" i screamed at the top of my lungs as I broke into a sprint once again. "NEWT I NEED YOU TO SCREAM SO I CAN FIND YOU!" I shouted again at the top of my lungs almost riping my vocal cords.

All l heard were loud moans that sounded human enough for me to assume that was where newt was. I had listened to Minho go on about grievers he had seen so I could say I knew a thing or two about how to tell when your about to die from one.

I ran past what felt like hundreds of the same corridors until I saw a disheveled wall of ivy and a body at the bottom. Newt laid there with his led sticking in odd directions as he tried to shield his eyes.

I didn't say a word and just ran straight to his side and belt beside him. I tore my shirt off to reveal a sweaty tank top as I tore my shirt into long strips of fabric.

"Do you have a bloody death wish? Why are you out here?" He asked out of breath in a deeply pained voice.

"Your the one with the death wish newt. Trying to kill yourself out here without anyone noticing." I lectured as I moved on to snap his garden hoe in half. "Guess who did notice. I did, And I'm not gonna let your little shuckhead lay here and die of a broken leg. Bite this." I said harshly as I gave him the handkerchief that was previously wrapped around my hand.

He bit down on the cloth and I proceeded to move his broken leg and set it in place as best as I could as newt screamed and thrashed. I moved to sit on top of him to hold him still as I put the broken pieces of the hoe on either side of his leg and took the strips of fabric and tied them together.

I yanked the handkerchief out of his mouth and shoved it in his hand as I got to my feet. I could tell newt was nearing either throwing up or passing out. Maybe even both. I grabbed his arms and hoisted him up as he put all the weight on his unbroken leg.

"Wrap your arm around my shoulders and lean back I'm gonna pick you up and carry you back while you give me directions." I said as he did what he was told. It may have just been adrenaline or newt was just light but I managed to carry the boy with no major struggles though i was moving quite slow.

"G-go th-" newt tried to say but his voice was cracked and he couldn't speak from the pain.

"Just point." I said sympathetically as I did my best to pick up the pace.

Newt was guiding me like this for about an hour before I finally began recognizing the taller walls that belonged to the glade. I started moving faster as we got closer.

My muscles were tense and sore and I was probably about five minutes away from dropping newt when I had the klunk scared straight out of me.

There was a big slimy pokey weapon armed griever rolling right towards us. I froze for a moment but didnt drop newt though i felt him shift uncomfortably.

"The doors just two turns to the right. You have to run Margo." Newt croaked and I followed his words without further hesitation.

I was running as fast as I could with all of newts dead weight in my arms when the griever caught on to us. It was rolling forward and barely missing us with it's spikes.

I felt my arms start to give out and newt gripes my shoulders like his life depend on it. Because it did. I shifted the boy so he was now riding on my back. I was able to run much faster by now and the griever was slowly backing away. It must not like being this close to the entrance to the glade.

I slowed down to catch a break and that was one of the biggest mistakes I had ever made. The griever came hurling at us and newt screamed so loud I would probably go deaf. He must have gotten stung.

"MARGO!" I heard newt scream again as my vision blurred and I felt a sharp poke in the side of my arm as I continued to dash to the door with newt on my back.

Newt wasn't the victim of the griever. I was.

My brain was foggy after that last final thought. I was practically dead in my mind. I only needed to bring newt to safety then I could collapse on the cold green grass of the glade and take my last breath.

I began to stumble and my vision cleared for a moment to see I was running through the entrance to the glade. A sudden burst of energy came over me and my vision became more distinct again as the weight on my back was lifted.

"What happened?!" Someone shouted.

"I bloody broke my leg. Margo came to save me and we got chased by a bloody griever. It's her you should be worried about." Newt said dramatically as he pointed at me.

I felt like I was laying down but I soon realized I was standing because I began to fall backwards. I hit the soft grass and groaned as the wind got nocked out of me. I was still conceous but my vision was thinning as was my ability to think, hear and even smell.

"What happened to her?"

"Check for injuries."

"Uh Jeff?"

"What."

"She's been stung."

"She's been stung?!" That voice I did recognize as Minho.

"Carry 'em to the med-jack hut we need to give her the serum."

"Man and she was supposed to be doin' med-jacks today. She saved newts life and now look at her." Minho said in a panicked voice as I was lifted off the ground.

Minutes felt like hours untill an overwhelming sense came over me. It was a simple prick in my arm and I felt like everything had been washed away.

Until the pain started.