Different | The Maze Runner / Newt ¹ ✓

{3.9}

Disclaimer:

Can we just take a step back, stare at this, and appreciate the fact that this book is now almost forty chapters long? Insane. ALSO be prepared to maybe tear up a little. But from joy. I promise.

-✼-

It had been half a day. A full twelve hours. Seven hundred and twenty minutes. Forty-three thousand, two hundred seconds. And Minho and Thomas still hadn't returned from the Maze.

Maybe I was just paranoid. Maybe the events of the past week had instilled some sort of constant fear inside of me that another one of us would die. What would I do if Minho and Thomas got hurt out there? How would I handle it? My heart started to quicken its pace as I thought of the possibilities. Were they okay?

My hands slid down my cheeks as I paced back and forth in the Homestead. Builders were crowding around everywhere, trying to fix the massive hole in the front of the building that the Griever had created. Everyone was instructed to use the back door if they needed to enter. I probably shouldn't even have been there, but no one really had it in them to ask me to leave.

It was early in the morning. The sky was the same dull grey, the air crisp and the grass fresh with dew. In about an hour, I'd be starting my first shift in the Gardens.

"Has anyone seen Theo?" I asked to the hoard of working Builders bumbling around me. The commotion seemed to quiet a bit as I spoke for the first time in the almost fifty minutes since I had arrived.

Jackson ran a hand through his damp, dirty-blond hair and turned to look at me. "Haven't seen him lately. Why?"

I shook my head, puzzled a bit at his response. Why hadn't Jackson seen Theo? They were fellow Builders— surely they would have crossed paths at some point. Especially since Theo had told me he was pretty high up.

Before I could answer, another boy that I didn't know the name of stopped near me. "You know, Jackson's right. I haven't seen him in a few days."

I felt the urge to throw up as a wave of nausea crashed into me. My feet carried me out the back door and across the Glade, tearing through the grass like my life depended on it. It was mostly devoid of people since it was so early in the morning. Breaths came out in short pants as I raced to where I knew I could find help.

"Chuck!" I shouted at the top of my lungs when the stout boy came into view. His curls were messier than usual, signaling that he had just woken up. He turned to me. I noticed he had a sleepy look in his eyes that disappeared once he saw the alarm on my face.

"What?" he asked, seemingly more alert. I stopped in front of him, breathing slightly heavily.

"Where did Theo go? And don't you dare lie to me," I warned as Chuck opened his mouth to speak after my question. His jaw shut and he looked like he was contemplating something. "Chuck, please."

The boys sighed and directed his despondent gaze to the ground beside me. "He told me not to tell you; said you'd get too worried. The permission came from Alby, then from the Med-jacks. He got two check ups before he was allowed to go. I never saw that kind of determination in anyone ever."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing myself to be patient. "Chuck, what are you talking about?"

His beady eyes locked on mine. "Theo volunteered to be a Runner."

My head swam. Theo? No. Impossible. I remembered his words from when I was first elected.

"I tried out to be a Runner, yanno. Obviously I didn't make it. Almost did, but I tripped and injured my hip pretty badly."