A5 // The Maze Runner

Chapter 22

Newt and I followed Clint who was carrying the new girl towards the Med-hut where Alby was already resting, Minho and Thomas trailing behind us. We stood over the girl while Clint finished checking up on her.

"How's she doing, Jeff?" I asked noticing Newt crossed his arms over his chest.

"She's fine. Her heartbeats okay, her breathings fine," he answered.

"But why won't she wake up?" Newt asked next.

"Hey man, I got my job the same way you did."

Minho chuckled at his answer but Newt and I noticed Thomas's eyes were glued on the unconscious girl like his wheels were turning. He was deep in thought while looking at her.

"What, do you know her?" Newt questioned annoyed, hoping Thomas had a reason for the way he was looking at her. Thomas quickly glanced up at him before returning back to the girl while shaking his head 'no'. "Really? Cause she seemed to know you."

"Guys I think we should worry about the note," I said looking up at Newt. He looked at me before placing his hand on my waist.

"Love we'll worry about the note later," Newt told me, rubbing my back gently. Even in times of confusion, Newt was there to help comfort me.

"I think you should worry about it now," Thomas added.

Newt looked over to glare at Thomas but stopped when Jeff's voice was added into the mix.

"He's right, Newt. If the box isn't coming back up, how long do you think we can last?" Newt licked his lips and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Nobody said that. We'll just... we'll just wait till she wakes up and see what she knows. Maybe then we'll finally get some bloody answers."

Thomas mumbled something under his breath before running out of the room.

"Well where you going?" I called out before he could leave. He paused for a moment.

"Back into the maze," he told us before leaving the hut for good. Minho looked to Newt for approval before chasing after him.

Newt and I spent the next moment putting our heads together to contemplate what to do next. He was leader right now and it was obviously adding a lot of stress onto him and I wasn't even sure I was much help.

The Glade was flipped inside down in a span of 24 hours, thanks to what everyone assumes is the new greenie's fault. Plus, our leader was missing and in his absence, Newt was put in charge. We were just kids— most of us didn't actually know our exact age— dealing with adult problems and acting like adults. It was sickening.

"Maybe someone should stay with her while we deal with Alby," Clint said while Jeff left to tend to Alby's wounds. He had already been given the serum so the screams were starting. Clint and Jeff had, under Newt and my call, began covering Alby's mouth with a piece of cloth to cover his screams, therefore someone needed to be right beside him to shut him up.

"I'll stay with-"

"I'll stay," I cut off Newt in a flash. Clint had already left the room, so I grabbed Newt's neck and directed our eyes together. "Look you have enough to deal with. Let me do this one thing. Plus, she'll probably want to talk to a girl more than the scrawny blond Brit."

He smiled at my words and pressed our foreheads together. "I've got this, okay? You're not doing this alone, sweetheart. I'm right here."

He put his large hand over my small one and closed his eyes. He was still a kid, a kid who had the same feelings as any other boy with a girlfriend. Unfortunately as leader, he just had to tuck the feelings away when other people were around.