blind | newtmas | -discontinued.

chapter nine

There was barely any light in the Glade the time Thomas is woken up by quiet hushed voices. He squints, and he's met with the dark purple hue that's the dawn. He takes a moment, to admire the sky above him, and he wonders if there was anyone else out there who was seeing what he was seeing now. Thomas starts to feel a bit queasy and a bit small when he starts to think about what could be beyond the Maze. He lets his mind board this train of thoughts. He thinks of his life, his life before all this. It's odd, and he'll deny it if anyone asks, but he's getting these flashbacks, and they're definitely from his past. He rides this train until he remembers what had woke him up.

He gets up slowly and quietly, movements careful not to wake up Chuck, who was asleep just a few inches away. Thomas treads his way through the hammocks of sleeping boys, until he's out and into the openness of the Glade. The sky is now providing a few rays of lights, as if it was slowly moving out of its hiding place.

Thomas looks around, and frowns when he catches a glimpse of three bodies stood right at the entrance of the Maze. He never really realized how tall the Maze doors were, and he's amazed, really, at how they were opening so slowly. He squints, and sees that the three people were Minho, Alby and... Newt.

He watches as two of the three boys exchange a glance between each other, and before they embark into the Maze, give the other boy, a reassuring pat on the shoulder. The two disappear, leaving the blonde boy standing alone. Newt looks extremely small as he stands in front of the towering Maze doors, and something about this causes Thomas to start walking towards him.

Newt's frowning, as he subconsciously bites his lip in worry. He hears footsteps coming towards him, and instinctively, he grips tightly to his wooden cane in his right hand. He turns around, listening closely to where the sounds were coming from. There's something in him that makes him know who it was.

"Hey," Thomas says, his voice raspy and low, "You okay?"

Newt nods. "Yeah, I'm just worried." Thomas isn't convinced, and so is Newt.

It's quite between them, but unlike before it's uncomfortable and it's tense. "Look, I'm sure they'll be fine." Thomas assures, resting his hand on Newt's shoulder.

"Yeah I know," Newt sighs, "It's just Alby's never really left in charge before. Yeah, I'm supposed to be second in charge, but there was never really a situation where I had to be."

Thomas presses his lips into a thin line. "Things will be fine, nothing bad is going to happen today." He pauses. "Can I just ask you something?"

"Yeah, shoot."

"Why'd Alby go into the Maze?"

Newt takes a breath. "They went to trace Ben's footsteps. A Griever's never been out in daylight before, so they went to check it out."

"Is that safe? I mean, if Ben got stung, who knows if one of them will."

"They're Runners, they're the strongest and the fastest," Newt says sternly, crossing his arms, "They have to be to find a way out. The Maze is tough but the two of them know it well enough to be out of danger. The only thing they have to worry about is getting back in time."

Thomas nods, taking his hand off of Newt's shoulder. He starts to feel a frown grow on his face. There was something laced in Newt's word. He spoke about the Maze and the Runners as if he had experienced them himself, but Thomas thought that surely, he hadn't. He stares into Newt, glad that the boy couldn't see him, and he tries to understand what he meant.

He's silent now. A little part of him stopping instantly when he's reminded of the strong limp the boy has as Newt walks away and how his voice was sewn with experience and brokenness.

***

It's later in the afternoon, and Newt finds himself sitting on the trunk of the tree, facing the doors of the Maze. He knows by how cold it was getting that Alby and Minho were supposed to be getting back soon. He gets up, and starts to pace around. He counts his steps in his mind, just to make sure he doesn't get lost, and he quietly clicks his tongue. The boys around him watch him with care, quietly taking away anything from the floor that Newt could trip on.

Thomas glancing at the blind boy from the distance, transfixed on his graceful movements. There was something about the way that Newt moves that looks so composed. It feels like his heart breaks when he sees the frustrated look on the boy's face.

Suddenly, Newt hears the shuffling of footsteps, and he realizes that it was time. He follows the rest of the boys, but at his own slow pace. He walks, frown on his face, until he feels as if something was missing. His left hand, shoots back to his back pocket of his pants.

It's not there.

His heart races, and he checks his other pocket, but it's not there either. Newt is flustered, but he doesn't have to find it, as he starts to hear the crowd yelling and shouting. He shoves his thoughts aside, and he jogs toward the group of boys. They part like the sea when Newt comes along, and they allow him to the front. He hears Thomas next to him, and Gally behind him.

They're all yelling, and he's not sure what's going on. All he sees is darkness, but he can imagine what was going on. Boys were yelling about how Alby was stung and how Minho should just leave him and run, and it's not hard to put the pieces together.

"They're not going to make it."

The walls of the Maze start to close in, and Newt's heart is racing faster before. All he can hear are the screams of the boys and he's scared. He's scared for Minho and Alby, and there was nothing he could do about it. The walls were jeering shut, but then, Newt feels Thomas next to him dart straight into them.

Instinctively, Newt drops his cane and swings his arm toward Thomas's quick body. His fingers feel the fabric of Thomas's clothes, and his skin, but he's missed by seconds. And just like that, his friends were lost to the Maze.