The Misfire:Book 1 (Newt || A TMR Fanfiction)

26. On Broad Daylight

(A/N: Pic above was supposed to be the book's cover but I changed my mind...😂)

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'Maya's PoV:

I was woken up by the strong scent of sweat and masculine odor. I rubbed my eyes and bolted up only to realize I was in the Homestead. Last night I've had too much of Gally's drink, again. I must've passed out, again. I glimpsed at Jeff who was mumbling in his sleep on a hammock across the room. I quickly kicked off the sheet covering my body and crawled out the bed I was in, only to trip and fall on the floor.

"Maya?" Newt suddenly came out from nowhere and rushed to carry me back to the bed.

I stooped down and buried my face in my hands, embarrassed. He giggled and slowly pulled my hands away.

"You're red as a shucking tomato."

I groaned and stooped down even more while shutting my eyes to avoid his dreamy eyes. Newt tucked a few strands of my messy hair behind my ear and caressed my cheek.

I'm never touching Gally's drink again, Ever!

"I brought you here cause you fell asleep on Winston's lap last night. Did you know you were hugging a shucking rock while you dozed off?"

I groaned again before shrugging my shoulders. I held Newt's hand timidly, playing with his fingers. He chuckled and pulled me into his lap, nuzzling his face on my hair.

"What are you guys doing?"

We looked around and Chuck was standing there, scratching his head, his curly hair bouncing at the motion of his fingers.

"Oi you wee little fat shank, how long have you been standing there, eh?" Newt hissed.

~

It was too muggy at the Glade today so I excused myself without permission and headed to the forest.

Dead leaves and twigs cracked each time I stepped on them. I listened to the slight trickle of the tiny stream of water nearby. The Deadheads was clammy and quiet so I decided to stay there for awhile, not caring if Zart would be pissed that I was not helping in the gardens anymore.

I stopped by my tracks as I felt a jolting sensation in my head--the shucking surge. I leaned by a tree and closed my eyes to calm myself down. I suddenly heard footsteps and heavy breathings a few meters away and glanced at where the sound was. But no one was in sight.

For a second, I saw a silhouette, standing by the corner and lunging at something. I gasped, trying to shake the image off my mind. Fortunately, it was gone but my stomach was churning and for some reason, I could not figure out what I was feeling or what the surge was trying to warn me about. Or maybe it was just paranoia making me look like a fool.

I was about to find Erin when I noticed Thomas making his way to the woods, carrying a bucket and talking to himself. He was zoning out as he neared the graveyard and almost tripped on George's grave.

"Careful," I warned, slowly walking towards him, "You don't wanna disturb a dead person."

"Maya? What are you doing here?"

"What are YOU doing here?"

"Uugh, Newt told me to uuhhm, to get some fertilizer."

"He always does that. Well, it's over there." I pointed to the mound of fertilizer at the further part of the woods.

Thomas nodded his head and looked back down again at George's grave. "What happened to him?"

"Well, he died."

His eyebrows furrowed. I was obviously just being sarcastic and funny but he didn't seem to buy it.

"He got stung; tried to kill me."

Thomas looked me straight in the eye. His lips were parted and he appeared genuinely tensed. He blinked several times before stooping down.

"Well you should uuggh, probably get those fertilizer Newt asked for." I patted his shoulder before leaving the place.

As soon as I was away from the woods, I stopped walking and stood still. My body felt so heavy and I couldn't think clearly. I never undestood why. Something was not right. And that's when it clicked.

Ben

All of a sudden, I heard somebody screaming.

I turned to where the noise came from. Two familiar figures emerged from the woods; Thomas waving his hands desperately and shouting for help, Ben following behind, his arms reaching for him. Ben lunged for Thomas' leg, tackling him to the ground. Without second thoughts, I dashed and was the first to arrive to where the two gladers wrestled each other.

"Ben, stop! What are you doing?" I tried tugging his arm away, failing to overpower his strength.

"Help me." Thomas pleaded as Ben began choking him and I mustered all my strength to pull his strong hands away but he got furious and punched me upward on the jaw, knocking me hard on the ground.

I noticed people running towards us and Newt arrived first, slamming a shovel on Ben's head. Gally, Newt and Frypan struggled in holding Ben down as he grunted and squirmed from their grip. Winston knelt beside me and helped me to stand up.

"Yow what the hell happened?" Fry asked.

"I don't know. He just attacked me." Thomas replied as Chuck helped him on his feet.

Everyone was now gathered around and I saw Alby among the others, pacing towards us. He glanced at me worriedly before looking at Ben.

"Out of the shucking way!" I heard Erin push through the crowd. She gasped and covered her mouth as she saw Ben; his temple bleeding, being held on the ground, grunting and clenching his teeth.

"Lift his shirt." Alby commanded.

I already expected the worse. What I really hated was the fact that I knew about it too late. I could've saved Ben from being stung just like how I could've stopped Stephen from killing himself.

But it was too late.

And I already knew what was gonna happen next.

Gally questioned how could Ben be stung during broad daylight. Just like what I thought; things would be changing. And something else is going to happen, even worse than this.

"Bring him to the pit." Alby instructed while trying to ignore Ben's pleas.

The boys followed and held unto Ben tightly as he struggled and kept begging for them to listen to him, but no one did, expect Erin who was desperately trying to help him.

"Please be gentle. Don't hurt him." She begged but Alby firmly wrapped his arm around her and prevented her from going near Ben.

Erin turned to me, eyes glassy and frightened. Having no ideas of comforting her, I managed to mouth a sorry to her as tears started falling from her eyes.

"You knew this was going to happen?" She stomped towards me but Alby was quick to stop her. Erin screamed in frustration before storming off.

I knew she felt that I betrayed her. But what she didn't know was that I could never control the forewarning. The surge either warned too late or a few minutes just before danger strikes. I wanted to confront her but she needed more that just an apology. She needed Ben to be saved.

But things were too late.