Serendipity - The maze runner, Newt

Chapter 26 - Waking up

Newt's Pov:

Maylin had been gone in the forest for a good ten minutes now. I was with Zart, hurrying to finish our tasks so we could go eat. As I was chopping a dead tree with a machete, I heard a scream coming from the forest. I wasn't certain, but I thought I heard someone shouting for help.

"Did you hear that ?" I asked Zart, stopping what I was doing.

"Hear what ?"

"The scream, coming from the forest."

He stopped what he was doing and looked at me.

"I didn't hear anything."

I had a bad feeling about this. Something deep down inside me told me I hadn't imagined it and that something bad was happening.

"Maylin is in the forest, maybe it's her ?... I'm going to go check, just in case." I said.

Zart nodded. I headed towards the forest, running. My leg slowed me down a bit, but I pushed through, too worried to pay attention to it. Once in the forest, I heard a boy's voice along with feminine sounds. I quickly turned my head, desperately searching for the source of those moans.

I finally spotted Liam, looming over Maylin who was lying on the ground. She appeared to be desperately trying to struggle free. He was assaulting her, bloody hell.

I rushed towards them and kicked Liam repeatedly. Then, I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him away from Maylin. I continued to strike him violently until he lost consciousness. Once Liam was no longer a threat, I quickly turned to Maylin and knelt beside her. Her shirt was raised, her pants were slightly unbuttoned and she had large red marks all over her body, as well as around her mouth.

"May, bloody hell, what happened ?" I said to her, the worry evident in my voice.

She didn't answer and just looked at me with tears running down her cheeks. I hated seeing her like that, and I was dying to kill Liam. I hugged her and sat her down.

"I'll take you to the infirmary. If the fact that I'm carrying you bothers you, let me know, I don't want to mess with you." I explained.

She nodded feebly and I took her in my arms, as if she was a princess, bridal style. I looked at her face as I was running with her in my arms, and I must admit that she was kind of a princess after all.

Maylin had fallen asleep in my arms, or perhaps she had fainted. So, I carried her to the infirmary, where Clint and Jeff welcomed her with worried expressions. I simply explained to them that Liam had assaulted her, without specifying that it was actually a sexual assault. I didn't know if Maylin would want to talk about it, and I didn't want to make that decision for her. The boys then took care of her, and I left, even if I didn't want to, but I had to find Alby.

Maylin's Pov:

I woke up with a headache. I sat up and took a moment to look around where I was. I was in the infirmary. Flashbacks of what had happened came back to me. I could still feel Liam's hands on my body. I lowered my head. A tear ran down my cheek without me even realizing it.

"Maylin, you're awake."

I lifted my head and saw Jeff. He handed me a glass of water, which I took. I took a few sips before placing it on the table next to me.

"How long have I been asleep ?" I asked him.

"About a day. You fainted yesterday. Newt brought you here."

I nodded audibly.

"Would you like to tell me what happened ? I'm not forcing you, so don't feel obligated." He asked me.

I really liked Jeff. He had always been kind and caring toward me, but I didn't feel like talking about it with him right now.

"Sorry... I don't want to talk about it."

"It's okay, no problem. Clint and I treated your injuries, but it might still hurt a bit. You have serious bruises on your body. You also hit your head with something in the woods, so be careful with it."

I nodded, thanked him, and got up to leave the infirmary. As I passed through the door, I saw Chuck in the distance. He spotted me and walked over.

"Maylin, you're finally awake ! You really scared me, seriously ! What happened to you in the woods ? Were you attacked by an animal ?? I heard that one of the cows escaped."

Chuck's question surprised me, I thought Newt would have at least told him who was responsible. And how did a cow escaped ??

"It wasn't really an animal, it was Liam. But I don't really want to talk about it now, Chuck." I said, my voice slightly trembling.

"Liam attacked you ??.. I understand that you don't want to talk about it. You know, I may not be as mature as Newt, Isaac or Minho -well I don't really think that Minho is mature but it's not a conversation for now- but if you need to talk, I'm here. Otherwise, do you want to go eat ? Frypan has started serving the meals !"

I was impressed by his ability to change the subject so quickly. What Chuck had just said touched me. I was really glad to have met him. However, I wasn't very hungry, but I knew Chuck was eager to go eat, so I went along with him.

On the way to the cafeteria, I spotted Newt in the distance. When he saw me, he hurried over to me and Chuck. While looking at him running, I saw, again, that he was limping slightly. I stared at his leg as he finally reached us.

"Maylin, you're awake. Are you feeling..better ?" He said, with his usual accent, looking at me sadly.

"Yes, I'm okay." I replied simply.

Of course, there was a large part of lie in my answer. Newt seemed to notice but didn't say anything, since Chuck was still there.

"We were about to go eat, are you coming with us, Newt ?" Chuck asked.

Newt nodded and followed us toward the cafeteria. Frypan then served us food, he had made chicken with potatoes. He took the opportunity to ask how I was doing, which was very kind of him.

I sat across from Chuck, with Newt beside me. I had no appetite at all and just moved my fork around on my plate, never bringing it to my mouth. Newt noticed this, so he leaned closer to my ear to speak to me without Chuck hearing.

"You need to eat, Maylin. You've missed the last three meals, you need to regain your strength." He whispered to me.

I sighed. "I feel like if I swallow anything, I'm going to vomit..."

Newt put his hand on my shoulder but immediately withdrew it. I suppose he must have been afraid that his touch would bother me, but it didn't.

"Please, May, at least eat a little bit." He asked me, pleading with his eyes.

I sighed again and ate a little, as he had requested.

The food was hard to swallow. I felt like I could vomit at any moment. The dish was good, that wasn't the issue. Frypan is a great Cook, no doubt about it. Once I had eaten almost half of my plate, I gave the leftovers to Chuck. We finally finished eating, and Chuck went back to work. Newt and I then walked around the glade. We were quite quiet, but Newt broke the silence.

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Sorry this is short !!

Could you tell me if I should do longer chapters or if this is okay ? I don't know if my chapters are too short !