TMR / TBS Imagines 2

Newt // Nicotine *REQUEST*

* This was requested by @Lightning_nicole
This was very different for me and it's a very different type of story. I hope it isn't too hard to follow! *

This is nothing like what the Gladers expected the outside world to look like. They hoped an adult (notice the word adult rather than another kid) would be waiting on the other side ready to explain everything that had happened and tell them what they were to do next. Instead, they ended up inside a control room, dead bodies scattered across the floor from the aftermath of an attack on the compound and instead of an adult explaining everything, they were given a video.

"Hello. My name is Doctor Ava Paige. I'm Director of Operations of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. If you are watching this, you have successfully completed the Maze Trials. I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you but it seems circumstances have prevented it. I'm sure by now, you must all be very confused, angry, frightened. I can only assure you that everything that's happened to you, everything we've done to you, it was all done for a reason. You won't remember, but the animal kingdom has taken over. Scientists believed that they could save the dying wolf population by creating a new, better species to jumpstart the next generation of better adapted wolves. We thought that by controlling them, they could replace men in battle, saving our soldiers. But things didn't go as planned."

The Gladers looked around at each other, baffled by this new information. All this time while they were inside the maze fighting for their lives, unimaginable things were happening just beyond the maze walls.

"The animals outsmarted us in every sense. They predicted our next moves and attacked us at every opportunity. Their population grew as our diminished." Doctor Paige took a break when she heard the screams of people being murdered behind her. The control room was being attacked yet she looked unfazed when she returned her gaze back to the camera.

"In time we found that there was a way to control the wolves using your blood. They no longer ravaged on humans but instead returned to their normal domestic state. We thought you kids were the key to everything. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed, inside harsh environments, where their brain activity could be studied, all in an effort to understand what makes them different - what makes you different. Unfortunately, your trials have only just begun. As you'll no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods. Progress is slow, people are scared. It may be too late for us... for me... but not for you. The outside world awaits." Ava Paige pulled out a silver revolver from her desk and pressed the barrel to her forehead. A few Gladers around the room gasped but there wasn't anything they could do about it. "Remember: Wicked is good." Most of the Gladers turned their heads away once she pulled the trigger and only a moment after, the projector turned off.

The group stood in their places with their eyes looking around the room to see if anyone had an idea of what to do next. All of this information seemed to go in one ear and out the other—they couldn't wrap their heads around it.

"I think we should go this way." Thomas spoke first out of the group, pointing to the door at the end of a short hallway with the word 'EXIT' in capital letters glowing above the doorway. The Gladers agreed seeing as none of them had any better ideas.

They loitered towards the door, no one in any hurry to see exactly what was out there. Based on what Ava Paige said, they feared wolves would be waiting to attack right outside the door.

Thomas opened the door carefully before pushing it open, peeking his head out first to check if anything was waiting on the other side. When he sighed and swung the door open the rest of the way, the others followed him outside.

They found they were inside an abandoned city, not a single person or animal in sight. Each building was wrapped in a layer of thick vines, small flowers poking out in patches all over. The vegetation in this area seemed to be out of control as it took over any vehicle, building or pole that stood in its way. This place seemed to have not been touched in years.

"Do you think it's a good idea to keep going? You heard what that doctor said. The wolves won't hesitate to kill us." Teresa voiced her concern for Thomas's plan but when nobody gave any others, she caved and continued walking.

(Y/N) was walking alongside Newt when her eyes caught on a small box on the ground, miraculously untouched by the vines. She immediately recognized the small box as a pack of cigarettes with the full 20 cigarettes inside. She hadn't touched these since a year and a half ago when Newt convinced her to quit but as she held them in her hand and looked at the city around her, she just couldn't let go.

She bent down to her knees claiming she had to tie her shoe. Newt strayed back a second to wait for her and while he wasn't looking, she shoved the box into her pocket where he wouldn't see them. She reached for his hand again once she stood back up and followed her brother Thomas who was leading them deeper into this unknown world.

-----

The group walked aimlessly for days in that city only to lose Winston and Jack to a pack of wolves. They did find another group of people who were similar to them and were kind enough to take them in. Hiding out in the mountains made the group feel like they belonged somewhere again since they were finally free to do as they pleased without WICKED's interference. Everyone was happy, except for (Y/N).

This wasn't the first time she was unhappy; the first time being the first few months of her 1 year anniversary in the Glade. She didn't care to help the Right Arm with their attacks on WICKED since she saw the world as already so screwed and broken that nothing they did would make it okay. She wanted to be free from all this: the maze, WICKED, the wolves. She trusted the nicotine inside that pack to free her.

She would sneak off every free second she got to have another, each time coming back doused in either dirt or some form of perfume to mask the smell so that Newt wouldn't know. Newt loved her but she knew he would get her to quit again if he knew.

This plan of hers worked for days until the last cigarette burned out. Her pack was empty and she hadn't found another one before finishing. Now her fingers twitched as her brain begged for another hit. Her skin itched and burned in desire for another cigarette but there weren't any in sight for her to find. She was cut off, going through withdrawal.

Newt noticed her strange behavior the day she was withdrawn, even if he hadn't known why. He knew about her smoking in the Glade but he couldn't imagine where she could get her hands on another pack to fulfil her need, nor did he think she was capable of relapsing. He hoped she was better now, out of her depression, and didn't need to smoke anymore.

"(Y/N), what's going on with you," Newt approached the girl after spending a lot of time with her brother worrying over her. He couldn't stand to see her hurting any more.

"Nothing," she moaned, wanting them to get off her back. She turned around and started stalking off towards where she usually snuck off to smoke but this time it was to hide from them. Of course, they didn't let her out of this as they followed her.

"(Y/N) we just want to-" Thomas stopped talking when he saw the buds littering the grass at her feet. Newt had told him all about her experience with cigarettes in the Glade and he hoped that with Newt's help, she had gotten better.

"You're smoking again?" Newt asked breathlessly. He felt this was his fault, that he didn't do enough back in the Glade to stop her from smoking ever again. He felt he failed as her boyfriend.

"Why does it matter?" She hissed back at the two most important boys in her life. She didn't want to take her pain out on them but she was desperate for a cigarette and they were keeping her from it. "We're all gonna die anyway. If not because of WICKED, then because of these shucking wolves. At least this way I chose how I wanna die."

Newt ignored Thomas telling him to give her space and placed his hands on her upper arms. She wriggled under his hands to get out of his grasp but gave in and looked up at him. Her eyes filled with tears and she became exhausted in his hold. She didn't want to be depressed nor did she want to be addicted to smoking but it was the hand dealt to her and she had to deal with it.

"You're not alone." She was surprised by what he said. She assumed he would reprimand her until she agreed that smoking wasn't the best option. "You have me and Thomas who are going to help you through this. Just don't give up yet, alright?" She nodded in answer and wrapped her arms around his body to bury her face in his chest.

Newt didn't cure her all those months ago back in the Glade but he did help her, as will he do now. None of them were given this life easy but they were given each other and that's all that mattered in a world today that has been overrun with wolves.