The Boy With The Limp || TMR Fanfic || DISCONTINUED

Chapter 28; Triggering The Ending

    The following two days were a blur to Hazel. After Nick's banishment, Minho had asked Hazel if she wanted to continue running in the maze with the other Runners, but Hazel declined his offer. So for the past two days Hazel helped the two Med-Jacks, Jeff and Clint, with managing the injured Gladers. She kept her brother company -during her breaks- on the day of Thomas's punishment, a one day sentence in the Slammer. And she spent the previous day with Newt, weeding the Gardens.

    Hazel woke up to a weak, lifeless light streaming through the cracks in the Homestead walls. Her first thought was that she had woken up earlier than she usually did, that dawn was still a couple hours away. But then she heard the shouts of the Gladers and she immediately knew that something was wrong. She looked out the window, through the curtains. The sky was a dull grey shade, not the natural pale light of the sunrise.

    Hazel, bolted upright, and looked to her left. And surprise, surprise, Newt was nowhere to be seen. Hazel jumped off the bed and walked towards the window, pushing the curtains aside. She craned her neck towards the heavens. There was no blueish hue, no orangey shade, not a single indication that dawn was approaching. Every last inch of the sky was a boring shade of grey. Colourless and dead.

    She looked down at her watch (the one that Minho gave to her incase the changed her mind about not wanting to be a Runner) and saw that it was almost an hour past her mandatory waking hours. The warm, bright light of the morning sun should've woken her up, had it done every morning. Hazel glanced back at the sky, half expecting it to magically change back to normal, as if it were a trick of the light.

    But it was all grey. Not a cloud in the sky, not a single hint of the early morning sun. Just plain, boring grey. The sun had completely disappeared.

    Hazel found most of the Gladers standing out in the open field, standing near the entrance of the Box, pointing at the dead sky, all the boys talking at once. She spotted Newt standing in the crowd.

    "What do you think happened?" asked Hazel as she approached him.
    "I don't know," answered Newt. "But whatever it is, it can't be good."
    "Where's Thomas?"
    "He left with Minho earlier."
    "Do you think they'll find anything new in the Maze today?"
    "I doubt it, but the Maze is unpredictable, anything could happen out there."

****

    Hazel saw Minho and Thomas run out of the Maze, headed for the Map Room. Newt and Alby then stood up and started walking towards the Map Room. Hazel stood up and followed the two boys. Minho and Thomas had just stepped out of the Map Room when Hazel caught up with the two leaders.

    "Hey," said Minho. "We were just-"
    "Get on with it." interrupted Alby. "Ain't got time to waste. Find anything? Anything at all?"
    Minho actually flinched at the harsh rebuke, but he looked more confused than angry to Hazel. Which was understandable. "Nice to see you, too. Yeah, we did find something, actually."

    Oddly enough, Alby almost looked disappointed. "Coz this whole shuck place is fallin' apart." He shot Thomas a nasty glare as if it were all his fault.
    What's wrong with him? thought Hazel, looking at their leader in annoyance.
    She glanced at Thomas and he gave her a look that said, "what's his problem?" "I don't know." mouthed Hazel, shaking her head.

    "What do you mean?" asked Minho. "What else happened while we were gone?"
    Newt answered for Alby, nodding towards the Box as he did so. "The bloody supplies didn't come today. Come every week for two years, same time, same day. But not today."
    All five of them looked over at steel doors attached to the ground.
    "Oh, we're shucked for good now." whispered Minho.