Bound | Newt Love Story

10 | The Banishment

Med-jacks run in and out of the room I was placed in, carrying rags and bandages. Newt is sat on the side of my bed, holding my hand in his. 

"I'm fine, guys, really." I say, trying to get everyone to calm down. 

Clint sits down on a stool and starts wiping down my elbow with a cool rag. "No you're not." Clint remarks, staring up at me. "I'm the one who decides if you're fine, remember?"

I smile, "I know. I was just trying to get them to calm down a bit." I say, looking over at the dozen of Gladers crammed into the tiny room, all freaking out.

"Hey! Guys!" Clint yells. "Everyone out!" Everyone stares at Clint and then, one by one, nod and leave the room. Once everyone has cleared out, Clint turns to me. "Okay, so there are a few cuts in your elbow so I'm going to need to clean them out so that they don't get infected."

I nod and watch as Clint stands from his stool and walk over to a cabinet, pulling out a jar of clear liquid. "This might sting a little." He says, dipping a rag down into the jar. The rag comes up dripping wet and he places it onto my elbows.

"Aah!" I gasp out, squeezing Newt's hand tightly. Newt's eyes gaze upon me, worriedly. His left hand in mine with his other, propping his head up with concern. The stinging eventually went down and Clint replaced the rags with bandages. 

"So everywhere else you seem to be okay. Just a little bit of mud...nothing you can't get off in the shower." Clint smiles.

"Thanks, Clint." I smile. "I can continue running, right?" I ask.

Newt's body tenses up, I can feel it. 

Clint glances over at Newt and then back at me, "Yes, you should be just fine to continue running." Clint ducks his head out of the room and leaves.

I look over at Newt, the remanence of tears on my face and my left arm shaking from the still-existant pain, and give him somewhat of a smile. He stares back at me, his eyes blank. I squeeze his hand and he squeezes mine back.

"What happened to him?" I ask, my eyes not leaving his. He looks at me, confused. "Ben."

Newt inhales deeply before engulfing my hand with both of his. "He was stung."

My breath gets caught in my throat. "By the Grievers?"

Newt nods, his eyes filled with concern. "He's going through The Changing."

My eyebrows furrow, "What's The Changing?"

Newt licks his lips in concentration before answering, "It's a state of very painful unconsciousness that occurs immediately after a person is stung."

"Immediately?" I ask, my question more rhetorical. "That means he must have been stung..."

Newt nods. "Yeah..."

"How could one get in? How could one even be out in the daylight?" I answer, my words fumbling over each other. 

"Slow down, love." Newt says, holding my hand tightly. "At the moment...we don't know."

I swallow hard and drop my head against the pillow on the bed. 

Newt's grasp on my hand changes, "Love, there's something that has to be done to Ben."

I furrow my eyebrows and sit up more. 

"He's going crazy and he's in immense pain. It's something we do to everyone who gets stung." Newt says nervously.

"What is it, Newt?" I demand.

"We're going to banish him."

Tears begin to form at the brim of my eyes as I rethink back to what happened in the Deadheads. Ben was stung. He couldn't prevent it. Did that mean he deserved to be banished? Of course, he tried to kill not only me but Thomas...but it's not his fault he was stung. 

"Okay." I breath out. 

Newt looks up at me, confused. His beautiful blue eyes pierced with concern as he still embraces my soft hand with his rough one.

"I just..." I start, cutting myself off when I feel the lump in my throat growing larger. 

"Shh, shh, shh." Newt says, climbing onto the bed next to me. "It's okay, love." He whispers kissing me on the forehead, while he holds me 

"I just want to be there." I finally finish.

I feel Newt go confused, but then he relaxes. "If that's what you want, love."

***

The burst of wind coming from the inside of the Maze, sends chills down my spine. My body tenses as I look around at all of the Gladers crowded around the Maze door. Only the Keepers of each job have a long stick with a sharp spear at the end of it. Alby and Newt are at the front, stares as cold as ice. I stand in-between Newt and Gally, my hands shaking slightly. I'm more of standing behind Newt, his arm stuck out slightly, protecting me. 

"Just listen to me." Ben's voice comes from the right. I look over and see Minho basically dragging Ben by his hands, which are tied above his head. "Just, please, listen to me!"

Ben's in bad shape. His body is filled with cuts and bruises...whether they were caused by the Grievers or the Gladers...I don't know. 

"Please, Minho!" Ben begs. "Alby!" Ben's voice comes out like a growl as he passes between Alby and Newt. Ben's face contorts and his head whips around, staring straight at me. I instinctively grab Newt's forearm. Newt tenses up and pulls me closer to him. 

Minho drags Ben to the middle of the crowd and pulls out a knife from his pocket. He slits Ben's throat, causing Ben to gasp and fall to his knees. I turn and see Thomas running up, but Chuck stops him, not letting him get too close to Ben. Loud sobs come from Ben as he coughs up blood. Minho walks closer to the Maze doors with a bag in his hands. I'm not sure what in the bag, but I'm sure it's food and water of some sort. The expressions on all the rest of the Gladers' faces are pained. Newt's is pained but he's more of trying to protect me than anything. 

Ben's gaze finds me again. "Why'd you protect him?" He cries out, breathing hard. "I could've killed him if it wasn't for you!"

By this point I'm literally completely behind Newt, out of sight of Ben. 

Ben gives up and looks back at Minho who throws the bag deep into the Maze. "No!" Ben screams. 

Then the whirring starts. The bursts of wind become harder as visibly the doors start to crank up to close. 

"Poles." Alby yells out. Newt and the rest of the Gladers pull down their poles, barring in Ben. Ben scrambles around, staring at all of them. "Move in!" Alby announces. 

I see the muscles in Newt's back retract as he stars walking forward along with everyone else. My feet don't move as I watch them. 

"No! No, please!" Ben screams out as the spears start getting closer to him and the doors of the Maze start shutting. "Please don't! Listen to me. Listen to me!" 

Ben backs away from the spears and the Gladers move in closer. Newt's feet are on the edge of the Maze and my heart starts pumping loudly as I watch the doors closing with Newt so close to them. Ben looks at the doors and realizes that if he doesn't start running now, he'll be crushed. Ben turns around and takes off into the Maze. The spears lift up and out of the Maze as Ben's screams drift off when the doors bang shut. 

Silence takes over the crowd as a slight circle forms at the mouth of the Maze. Newt's head has dropped to the ground and I see the pain in his face. I walk over to him, trying to be quiet, and grab his arm, resting my head on his shoulder. Newt relaxes in my embrace and melts into me. 

Alby turns, his face pained, to the crowd. "He belongs to the Maze now."