Free (Maze Runner fanfic Newtmas Newt x Thomas)

Chapter 7

"EVERYBODY HIDE!" Newt ducked his head back in, shutting the window and curtains. "Tommy, wake up! You've gotta wake up have to hide, now!!"

He shook him by the shoulders, trying to wake him up but he wasn't responding. There was a growl from downstairs and a load of crashes, signalling the Mourner had made its way into the homestead. It could bring the whole place down, the floor could disappear from under their feet!

Newt pulled back the curtain and looked outside, seeing dead bodies covering the ground. Some twitched, others trying to get up and move. What about the other runners? Minho? Where was he? Was he alright? Safe?

Now screams were in the hallway, footsteps thundering past and doors slammed shut. Newt was cornered, unless he jumped out the window there was no escaping but he couldn't just leave Thomas behind!

The door was smashed open, pieces of wood flying in every direction. Newt scrambled under the bed and held his breath, hoping that since Thomas was unconscious, it might mistake him for already being dead. Did that even matter to a monster?

The Mourner grunted, its heavy steps making the floorboards creak, its knuckles scraping against the floor. It let out a loud roar, its tail whacking into the furniture and smashing it all to pieces. It approached the bed and started to sniff at something. Newt put his hands over his mouth, trying to pant quietly through his nose.

It let out another mighty roar and swung at the bed, breaking it in half and flinging Thomas at the wall. "Tommy!" Newt cried, looking at him but then back at the creature.

The glade had fallen quiet, all Newt could hear was his own breathing and the Mourner's huffs, steam coming out its nose like a bull. Was everyone else already dead? Did it kill them all? Was he the last one?

The Mourner reared its tail back, bared its teeth, and plunged its tip into Newt. Newt screamed, the tip of the tail ripping into his stomach, seeming to be twisting around. Just to cause him more pain.

It pulled its tail back out and Newt slumped forward. It gave out one last huff and left the room in search of others to kill. Newt was lying so he faced Thomas, seeing him crumpled against the wall but he couldn't see any blood. Maybe he'd live through this..

Newt, however, clutched at his stomach, gasping for air and pressing with all his might to try and stop the blood flow. His top stuck to him, it was slowly soaking with blood, and he began to cease his pressing.

He couldn't hang on any longer, the pain was too much, there was too much blood. His vision blurred, the edges turned black, his ears white noise. Then it all went black. His hands fell to his sides. His eyes didn't even close. He welcomed death's embrace.

~*~

Thomas awoke to the sound of rain. Wait, rain? He sat up with a groan, feeling tufts of grass beneath him and leaves in his hair. Looking around, there was a small campfire surrounded by a few wooden benches with people sat on them. Others were messing around with leaves and blankets in another area; were they beds?

A make-do roof was keeping them out the rain, the raindrops leaking through in a few spots, but there weren't any leaf piles near them. Everything was right next to the box, and the map room was on the other side of this.. makeshift camp?

The homestead- was gone!? So was the slaughterhouse, and the animal pens looked like they'd be crushed and fixed again in a rush. Just what happened? How did Thomas get to the middle of the glade?

He stood up and walked over to the campfire, frowning at everyone who looked at him with no emotion on their faces. "Where is everyone?"

A few motioned with their heads to behind them, where bodies all lay on their own patch of leaves. They almost looked lifeless; a few glowed, most were sweating heavily, and others were just lying there, unmoving. It was like everyone just.. stopped.

Thomas saw Chuck sat on one of the patches, hugging his knees. "Chuck." The young boy lifted his head, smiling to see it was him. "What happened here?"

His smile disappeared. "Well..."

Chuck was hidden in the slammer, with Gally and a few others. They were all fairly nearby it when they heard screaming and then Newt yelling 'Mourner', so all the boys headed straight for it and took in anyone who also tried. It was a miracle it didn't get destroyed, but after prowling through the homestead it ran straight to the forest and disappeared back into the maze afterwards.

The homestead was in shreds, you could hear the remaining wooden supports creaking when you got close. The slaughter house was completely destroyed as well as the farm so the surviving animals were running around aimlessly, squealing and squawking in fear. "Find any survivors, especially the medjacks." Gally ordered, heading first towards the homestead.

Chuck searched the farms, finding two gladers in the mud, both pierced by the Mourner's tail. One was barely breathing, while the other actually seemed to be fairly conscious with their eyes half open and looking around.

Gally had to tread careful, one wrong step could bring the whole thing down. Alby was dead in the hall, head ripped clean off. About seven more were dead upstairs; Thomas was unconscious but otherwise unharmed, one medjack was covered in deep scratches and trying to walk, the other lay still on the ground but he was alive. Newt.. took a while to find a pulse but it was there, but without treatment he'd be dead like the rest.

One by one, Gally carried out the living and took them to the centre by the box where they had decided to gather everyone, someone trying to treat them. Thomas was the last to come out since he needed the least amount of help, when snap, the whole homestead came crashing down. The floor disappeared from beneath his feet as he tried running for the stairs, the two falling through and landing in one of the rooms below with a crash. Gally had passed out, being underneath, but he only sustained a broken ankle and a bruised spine so he couldn't move too much for a while.

With nowhere to sleep or hide from the sudden rainfall, a temporary shelter was made by those who were awake and well enough to move around. The kit Newt had managed to open was full of yet another new liquid, so everybody still alive and stabbed got given a shot, and so far everyone seemed to be pulling through. A fire was made, Frypan was able to continue as cook, and the all the runners stopped running.

Turned out that all the other runners who had been out didn't run into the Mourner once. One claimed to hear it, but he never saw it; so Minho and the others were all alive and well. They took after everyone.

"You've been out for three days, but you're also the first one to wake up. I don't know what happened, but the Mourner didn't stab you again. I'm just really glad you're okay." Chuck sniffed and wiped at his eyes, so Thomas pulled him into a gentle hug.

When Chuck calmed himself, Thomas pulled back. "Isn't everyone going to scream from the changing?"

"Probably. Everyone was hit the same day, so they're all probably gonna start screaming like an orchestra. We're trying to find supplies that weren't destroyed and the Mourner hasn't been back yet, so right now we just hope everyone pulls through."

Thomas sighed, but suddenly he panicked and looked around frantically. "Where's Newt..?"

"He's alive. He's somewhere over there," Chuck pointed at the glowing bodes, "row four I'm pretty sure."

Thomas dashed off before Chuck had even finished his sentence, finding him almost immediately. Just like everyone else, he was shirtless; bandages were wrapped tightly around his stomach where he'd been struck. A frown was etched into his face, sweat made his head stick to his forehead; he was clearly trying to ignore the pain, skin beginning to glow. "Newt..." Thomas whispered, taking hold of one of his limp hands.

He let the silent tears fall, lying down beside him and crying his heart out. He felt like all of this was his fault, and not just Newt getting stabbed but everybody else too. Did he cause this, coming into the maze? He wanted different memories, he wanted to piece together what was happening, why they were here..

The thoughts gave him a headache, as well as his crying, so he tried to distract his mind and stared ahead at the ground instead. He stayed that way, until his headache made him sleepy, and he drifted away.