NIGHT BEDS ━︎━︎ THE MAZE RUNNER

xxx. JUDAS.

night beds // stand on my throat.

WAS THIS A TRAP? A TEST? Was she being monitored by hidden cameras inside the penthouse? Who else could be hiding stuff from her?

"Now you know why I brought you here, MaryKate. Why I prefer being hidden, why I did what I did years ago up until now."

MK cringed as she usually did when Ruth Arabella called her by her full name. It felt like she was in trouble whenever someone didn't call her by her usual nickname. 

She shook her head. "No . . . no. I'm not going anywhere with you. And I'm not leaving my friends."

"Not even your boyfriend, subject A9?"

"His name's Gally, and he's not a subject, we're not subjects."

"You don't wanna leave him?"

"Why would I want to leave him? What makes you think I have the slightest thought in my mind to just leave?"

Aunt Ruth stared at her. Her face was so calm, and it haunted MK because of that. She wanted to smack that manner off her. 

"Night beds," Ruth said.

MK blinked, gripping the sleeves of her jacket. "What?"

"You longed for the feeling of resting on a bed at night. Peace and quiet, a comfy bed to lie down on with a soft pillow so your neck wouldn't be sore in the morning. You want that. You told Ava Paige that you've always wanted that. All they could give you was your bunk inside the cells before the Maze trials."

"You're saying I'll have that if I go with you?"

MK let out some air from holding in her breath. That is something anyone would want. She suffered from Ruth's delusion nightmares injected into her system, and some nights she was scared to fall asleep. She didn't like sleeping inside the backseat of a truck and sometimes a hammock or a bed made out of thin layers of blankets just wasn't what she really needed.

"What your friends are doing is a suicide mission. They're already dead. But what's in it for you? The fact that you get to live in a luxurious, normal, happy, secluded life with me . . . a small family and my team. A family was what you wanted back. You wanted your family back."

"How is that gonna work on you? You already have a luxurious life. I mean look at this place. It smells rich. And you're immune too."

"That is true. I am acquaintances with a few people from WCKD, they can allow me to relocate with them. I will no longer live in here like a prisoner. We have water, food, medicine, clothes, things to entertain you. You can have all those things, all you have to do is come with me."

Was it worth just walking out like that? Hating her aunt but getting to live a life she always wanted? No cranks, no Griever stingers, no blood on her hands? A hot shower?

MK looked up from her plate. "And if I refuse?"

"You won't. I know this is something you want. Besides, where are you gonna go if I let you walk out? The city is on fire, there's those cranks outside in the desert. You have nowhere to go."

"Then I'll find my friends. The base camp I was in."

"Good luck trying to fight down the cranks along the way. You will not last."

His name pops up in her head like text on screen. "Gally. Let me at least say goodbye to him."

"No. we made a promise, to n-"